Fastpass+ Tiering System Doesn't Look Good to Me...

[PrestonatorSR]

Ok, fervent Disney loyalists on these boards are appropriately counseling me to "give Fastpass+ a chance" before I condemn it. Fair enough...I WANT to do that.

But the more I research, the more discouraged I become. The tiering system is particularly disheartening--so really you can't get fast passes for Soarin AND Test Track?! You can only get one of those? And then at DHS, you can only get 2 of the big 3? Wow! And I assume it's a similar situation at AK.

Tell me again why I should love the new Fastpass plus system over the old system that allowed me to hustle and get fast passes for ALL major attractions--sometimes more than once on the same day?

Sorry to be the negative Nellie, but I'm really struggling to see what the magical benefits of Fastpass+ are...

 

[Eastern]

Other people get to ride the attraction, too? You can always do ride without the FP+ first. There are still people who don't want to get out of bed early and that will always benefit the rope droppers.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

AK and MK don't have a tier system, so you can book whatever you want.

There are pros and cons to the new system, the biggest pro being you don't have to worry day of to make rope drop to get better Fast Passes and you don't risk pulling one during a conflicting time of a show or ADR.

The tiering can be annoying, but if you have more than one day at a park you can switch up what rides you do on each day, or just arrive at rope drop and go to the ride you don't have a FP+ for first.

 

[Dis703]

Positives:

No need to hustle anymore to collect FP tickets.
Pick the FP time that works for you rather than getting an assigned time that may not work for you.
If your plans change or the ride line is short you can modify your FP, choose another ride or change the time.
Not necessary to hit rope drop to collect FP.

I was never a big fan of the old system but the new one works very well for us.

 

[ArwenMarie]

There may be some positives to FP+, but the tiering is horrible IMO. There's just no way around it.

 

[missnikki411]

I'm not a fan of the tiering at all. Especially at HS. There are so few attractions there that one would need a Fastpass for so then being further limited to the tiered selections is a pain. I'll always miss the old system though.

 

[snayak]

I'm OK with the FP+ tiering - there is nothing wrong with having to wait standby for a popular attraction.

Waiting for 40+ minutes doesn't make me jump for joy, but I'm no better than anybody else in the park, why shouldn't I have to wait from time to time? I can always choose to skip.

It's a brave new (Disney) World.

 

[Mikie]

Agree with the overall benefits above. Tiering stinks. The fact that you no longer have to choose 3 pre-booked FP and that you can then get additional from your phone is new. What I haven't seen is whether you get any luck if you book, say only Toy Story and Star Tours at FHS, then start using your phone to look for RnR. Not needing to use up 3 possibly unnecessary FP before looking for a second tier 1 could be helpful, but I don't know what availability has been like.

 

[gap2368]

I think the new way is much better for the resion all ready said and you walk less since you do not have to walk across the park to get a FP then walk back a few hours latter to redeem

 

[loves to dive]

I never liked the old system and rarely even used it. I wasn't about to run with the herds to try to get one for that must do ride. I'm not a rope drop or close the park person. The tiering is a pain, I'll agree with that but now you can book just one or two FP and then after you use those, book another one even in a different park. You aren't tied down to picking three that first time and having to choose a throw away one. You even have a chance, slim I'll admit, of getting one of those other first tier rides after you've used your first one. I can't tell you how many times I've been standing in a line for something I had booked for a FP later in the day switching my FP to something else. I like the fact that I can just get on MDE on my phone and switch things around or cancel something.

 

[rg35]

Why do folks who hate the tiering system think it is horrible? Simply because you have to wait in line to ride and can't game the system like the old paper FP by having a runner go and collect fastpasses for major attractions?

Get a fastpass for Soarin', hit rope drop and ride test track, then do everything else in Epcot at a leisurely pace. It's not really that bad. Same at DHS. Get FP+ for two headliners whenever, and then hit the one without a fast past early if you don't want to wait in the line. The new system also makes it possible to ride select headliners whenever you want to. No need to be at the park first thing or send someone running around to collect fast passes early in the morning.

Personally, I feel it makes for a more laid back experience.

There aren't enough major attractions at DHS and Epcot to not have a tiering system. If everyone was able to book FP+ reservations for every major attraction in those parks, the standby line would basically never move. There are people who don't stay at Disney resorts who have shorter booking windows, and there are people who don't know about creating smart touring plans. Disney parks need to be a reasonably pleasant experience for everyone, not only people staying at Disney parks or "power users" who are creating detailed touring plans and mapping out the most efficient way to do things in advance.

 

[butterfly71076]

You can't have every person choosing the same 3 FP+ that is why you need the tiered system. The FP's would be gone for all major attractions and less people would get a chance to ride if it wasn't tiered. I love the new system, it works really well for us. It seems fairer in everyone has the same chance to ride.

 

[Oswin]

Let's be real. Under the old system, if you went to get a Test Track FP, by the time you were eligible to grab a Soarin FP they would all either be for much later at night or gone.

 

[ArwenMarie]

There's a difference between acknowledging that the tiering is needed at those parks (it absolutely is) and also realizing that it would be better for you as an individual if there wasn't tiering. Both of those things can be true at the same time.

Ah well, it doesn't matter now, tiering is here to stay until they build a lot more rides at those parks.

 

[bluezy]

I was very skeptical of FP+ before we used it for the first time. We were legacy FP power users and I thought the new system would be horrible. It's not. I wouldn't say the new system is "better" than the old, but I don't think it's worse either. While I don't like the tiering at DHS & EP, I understand why it needs to be done. And we find it easy enough to work around in both of those parks. For Epcot, we usually spend a few hours there on our arrival day so we schedule Soarin' for that night. Prior to FP+, we never knew what FPs might be available when we'd arrive at EP at 3:30-4:00 in the afternoon. Only once were we able to get a Soarin' FP at that time. Now we have no problem scheduling a Soarin' FP for 4:00 in the afternoon. On our full day at EP, we do rope drop and head straight to TT since we like to ride that at least twice and then we have a FP scheduled for later. Our upcoming trip in June will probably require us to adjust things at EP since (hopefully) Frozen Ever After will be open by the time we arrive and we'll have to use a FP for that. So we'll probably do TT at rope drop as a group and then we'll use the single rider line later in the day/evening for our 2nd ride. At DHS, we like to ride TSMM at least twice so we schedule FP for TSMM and ToT (and something else) for late morning. We do rope drop and head straight to TSMM. We're usually finished riding TSMM by 9:20 and then head straight to RnR to ride standby. By the time we're finished there, it's almost time for our ToT FP. If anyone wants a second ride on RnR, we use the single rider line.

During our trip last June, we were able to get a 4th or more FP at every park. At MK we used 10 (3 prescheduled and 7 additional) and that was during about 10 hours in the park. If we hadn't taken a 5 hour break in the afternoon, we probably would have used more than 15 FPs that day. I'm looking forward to being able to schedule additional (or modify current) FPs from my phone rather than having to go to a kiosk to do it. Not having to run from one ride to the other to collect FPs is my favorite part about FP+.

Just give it a chance...you might like it.

 

[marciemi]

What I haven't seen is whether you get any luck if you book, say only Toy Story and Star Tours at FHS, then start using your phone to look for RnR. Not needing to use up 3 possibly unnecessary FP before looking for a second tier 1 could be helpful, but I don't know what availability has been like.

It's not the availability that's the issue. If you only book one or two FPP's (including a Tier 1), the system will not let you book another Tier 1 until you either use or pass the window of two Tier 2's (in the same park). So in your case, if you booked only TSMM and ST, afterwards it would only let you book another Tier 2. Once you did that one (or passed the window), then you could book another Tier 1. Although you could book a Tier 1 for Epcot immediately after using just one Tier 1 at HS. Once you've done all 3, availability is of course good for the rides you don't really need FPP for (GMR, Land, etc.) and hit and miss with the others. I haven't had an issue getting RnRC but usually not until like 5pm (assuming I'm looking at lunchtime). I've managed to get TSMM on my last 2 trips in the park for almost immediately, but only for 2 people (and obviously I realize someone had just cancelled them). The advantage now is you can look easily for the 4th on your phone and just keep refreshing and catch some of those dropped ones if you're persistent.

 

[disney world dreamer]

Agree with the overall benefits above. Tiering stinks. The fact that you no longer have to choose 3 pre-booked FP and that you can then get additional from your phone is new. What I haven't seen is whether you get any luck if you book, say only Toy Story and Star Tours at FHS, then start using your phone to look for RnR. Not needing to use up 3 possibly unnecessary FP before looking for a second tier 1 could be helpful, but I don't know what availability has been like.

if staying in the same park you must use both tier 2's before you can get another tier 1.
if you want to park hop you can look for a tier 1 at the other park.
at least that is according to those that have been a number of times since the enhancements took place.
i'll see if it works in practice in sept when i go from HS to epcot on the same day.

 

[DonaldDuck77]

I think a better tier solution would be to leave HS as is, and make Epcot have 2 tier 1 choices and 1 tier 2 choice. Move spaceship earth and mission space to tier 1. And if we really want to be "fair", have it in the system that you can't book your 2nd tier 1 choice until you are within 30 days.

 

[disney world dreamer]

i personally love FP+ in comparison to legacy FP.

my family was never about literally running from here to there to get fastpasses so usually we only ended up with 2 for the entire day.
we also did not like that you had to go on THEIR time.
we'd rush to get a TSMM FP and it would be for 10-11 but we wanted to start out at RNRC and TOT and then see the 11am BATB show so we'd have to go back and foarth back and forth back and forth all day long to do the things we wanted!

now i don't have to worry about rushing around and being confined to what else we can fit in between fastpasses.

now i sit at the computer 60 days in advance and choose what i want a FP+ for and what time i want it for so they work around my meals and other plans not the other way around.
at HS i opt to get one for TSMM and TOT (and muppest at a throw away although sounds like i won't have to do that anymore).
i go at RD and to RNRC and TOT twice each.
then i head to GMR, my TSMM FP+, VOTLM, and if time allows muppets.
then i watch BATB and use my TOT FP+ and by that time i'm usually done for the day at HS.

at epcot i get FP+ for soarin, SE, and figment.
i RD TT, then do my SE FP+, head to the land, ride living with the land, use my soarin FP+, each lunch at sunshine seasons and then head over to my figment FP+.

at MK i usually RD fantasyland and use my FP+ for the mountains.
if i can i get 4th FP+ for jungle cruise since its one of my favorites.
if i can get a 5th i use it for POTC.

i haven't personally used FP+ at AK but my sister has used it quite successfully for kilimanjaro safari, dinosaur, and EE and has then gotten a 4th FP+ but i can't recall what she used it on.

btw AK and MK don't have tiering.
its only HS and epcot which should be one of the first things you come across during research.

to me as long as you know how to best utilize the system for you its not a negative change.

i find it so ridiculous that people judge it to death before they even try it.
its one thing to come on here saying you hate it afterwards but its childish to pick away at it before hand.

 

[Mikie]

@marciemi and @disney world dreamer thanks for the correction. I didn't realize you have to go to a second park in order to get back to tier 1s (or book the throwaway tier 2, OR use it) important disctiction! I, too, prefer FP+ for the way we tour (wanting to do just about everything, which fills your day and means you're not trying to repeatedly trying to pull FP for just a few rides). But the tiering, while necessary for Disney is troublesome for many visitors.