Followed the plans on here and no Elsa FP

[mousehockey37]

Who here suggested running at RD? Or going around the CMs? All people did was suggest being there for RD (and getting there early enough to be at the front of the RD crowd). What is wrong with that?

Well... no one brought up the RD procedure... People also suggested staying home and having someone dress up as the character. What're your thoughts on that? At least my thoughts are directed to being IN the park...

 

[dfb]

OP - I wanted to add that one of my favorite things about staying at AKL are all the free activities they have. Make a point to look into this. It's been years since we stayed there, but my daughter did sugar cookie decorating in Boma and we also did the culinary tour of Africa, where they take you to Boma and let you try several soups, and then to Jiko where you have an appetizer. I think it was bread and dips when we were there. One day, they did a rubber duck race, and my daughter got to decorate her duck before the race. We still have the duck. Also, they did medallion rubbings in the lobby. There are these gorgeous gold medallions on the floor of the lobby with intricate designs etched or carved into them. They give the kids paper and crayons, and they rub over the medallions and end up with a neat keepsake. I feel like AKL has the most fun free stuff of any Disney resort.

Also. I don't know what they called it but at night CMs bring Night Vision Goggles to the animal viewing station. It's fun to look for animals thru the NVGs, although not too much activity, they'll help you spot some critters. And it's fun to hang out at the outdoor fire pit to visit & recap the day.

 

[itchin2go]

Also. I don't know what they called it but at night CMs bring Night Vision Goggles to the animal viewing station. It's fun to look for animals thru the NVGs, although not too much activity, they'll help you spot some critters. And it's fun to hang out at the outdoor fire pit to visit & recap the day.

Yes. I also remember they did these "bead activities", where every time you completed one, you got a bead, and you were supposed to collect a bunch of them.

They may give you a list of activities when you check in, but if not, I think they're always posted in that area between Boma and Jiko, outside the restrooms.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Well... no one brought up the RD procedure... People also suggested staying home and having someone dress up as the character. What're your thoughts on that? At least my thoughts are directed to being IN the park...

People need to specifically list out what the exact RD procedure is in order to suggest that being at the park at RD is a good strategy for getting to do very popular attractions with less waiting? OK...

I gave my suggestions to assist the OP already (both in continuing to look for FP+ before and if she's unable to get a FP+ at all).

 

[mousehockey37]

People need to specifically list out what the exact RD procedure is in order to suggest that being at the park at RD is a good strategy for getting to do very popular attractions with less waiting? OK...

I gave my suggestions to assist the OP already (both in continuing to look for FP+ before and if she's unable to get a FP+ at all).

Haha.... totally ignoring the part where I said about people told the OP to stay home and get a someone to come dressed as Elsa... gotcha. No opinion on that, but we can jump me about my RD posts...

 

[cakebaker]

Listen, Disney created this system. And it is threads like this that expose its weaknesses. Nobody knows when they plan to go months in advance how difficult it is to actually get a FP for stuff like this.

Under certain circumstances it can be difficult to get 2 fp+'s- A&E and SDMT, and a 1 day vacation to WDW would be one of those. This isn't due to a fault of the system, but the amazing popularity of these 2 things.

There was never FP+ before. Had A&E come along with the old fp, they would've run out within a couple of hours at most. The only difference here is the OP knows in advance and can plan accordingly. They can keep an eye out for cancellations and if not, do what they would've had to do with the old system- go at rope drop.

I understand the OP's frustration and that probably led to the hyperbole in the post regarding 6 hour waits that do not exist, the notion of only planning the vacation for 1 attraction and booking at a deluxe resort only to get a 60 day window for FP+.

 

[disney world dreamer]

I don't know what to do. Our whole trip is about one thing...meeting Elsa. As crazy as that sounds. We have one full day at Magic Kingdom and a night at the Halloween Party. So standing in line for 6 hours will literally eat up our whole trip.

Staying at Animal Kingdom...stayed up till 12 am 60 days out...not one Elsa fastpass. I am so disgusted with Disney's ways...everything is so competitive. If I had known this would be like this I would have vacationed elsewhere...I can't get my money back at this point and I feel the vacation is going to be awful.

Do you have any suggestions? I also don't know how to switch my fastpass for just one or two people to check that way. Currently there is 3 of us. When I do...it deletes everything. At 12 at night there was no Mine train or Elsa...I find this so unfair- it's the only reason I paid top dollar at Animal Kingdom Lodge...to get this dang fastpass. TIA

who said staying at AKL was gonna secure you A&E FP+???
you could have stayed at all star sports and had the same 60 day out advantage.

if meeting else is the ONE thing you wanted to do and it the WHOLE POINT OF YOUR TRIP then i would think that waiting in the SB line would not be that big of an issue for you.
it won't be 6 hours. at most it would be 90 minutes and if you went at RD or later at night it would be maybe 30 minutes.

for my sister's upcoming trip i choose their MK FP+ for each individual person.
they have 4 people but one is under 3 so i had to make FP+ selections for 3 people.
i was able to easily coordinate their A&E FP+ times so that they overlapped.
the one thing you have to be aware of though is that it will not allow you to book FP+ separately for children under the age of 7 although it would have let me make my niece's age any age even if she was not already 7 which she is.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Haha.... totally ignoring the part where I said about people told the OP to stay home and get a someone to come dressed as Elsa... gotcha. No opinion on that, but we can jump me about my RD posts...

I stated that no one said anything about running or going around CMs, just showing up at RD and asked what was wrong with that suggestion. It was an honest question, not jumping on you.

as to the other - as I said, I wasn't jumping on you, I was asking a question. The other post, while I disagree with it, was rather straightforward. There was no need to ask any questions.

 

[EvieBug]

Wow. Lots of judgements in this thread. For some of us, these "hot" items ARE a main reason for our trip.

I have little - both young and tiny in size - kids. My daughter, who will be eight, is only tall enough for the 44" rides. And we have a 3 yr old. So things like A&E are a big deal for us, since we will be bypassing anything we can't ride as a family. And yes, we can all stand in line. But if everyone was truly ok with lines I wouldn't see so many threads about gaming the FP+ system or how it's ruined people's "commando" touring style.

Is it going to ruin my trip if I can't get the FPs that I want at 60 days? No, but I will be bummed out and not thrilled about entertaining two kids in a long line.

And it's ok to express that, just like its ok to complain about free dining creating a lack of ADRs, or badly behaved kids or tour groups or whatever you feel detracts from your enjoyment of your vacation. Geez.

 

[itchin2go]

Under certain circumstances it can be difficult to get 2 fp+'s- A&E and SDMT, and a 1 day vacation to WDW would be one of those. This isn't due to a fault of the system, but the amazing popularity of these 2 things.

There was never FP+ before. Had A&E come along with the old fp, they would've run out within a couple of hours at most. The only difference here is the OP knows in advance and can plan accordingly. They can keep an eye out for cancellations and if not, do what they would've had to do with the old system- go at rope drop.

Yes, but in the case of A&E, Disney could easily add capacity, i.e. another Anna and Elsa in another park ... or a character meal. This one seems easy to solve.

I wonder if they like the frenzy over A&E. Kind of takes the focus away from the lack of new stuff in the parks.

 

[HulkBuster]

Had A&E come along with the old fp, they would've run out within a couple of hours at most.

sure but with new and improved fast pass, most people have a few minutes and somtimes don't get a chance at all.

 

[bcrook]

Yes, but in the case of A&E, Disney could easily add capacity, i.e. another Anna and Elsa in another park ... or a character meal. This one seems easy to solve.

I wonder if they like the frenzy over A&E. Kind of takes the focus away from the lack of new stuff in the parks.

Simple solutions. Easy and relatively cheap.

 

[disney world dreamer]

Wow. Lots of judgements in this thread. For some of us, these "hot" items ARE a main reason for our trip.

I have little - both young and tiny in size - kids. My daughter, who will be eight, is only tall enough for the 44" rides. And we have a 3 yr old. So things like A&E are a big deal for us, since we will be bypassing anything we can't ride as a family. And yes, we can all stand in line. But if everyone was truly ok with lines I wouldn't see so many threads about gaming the FP+ system or how it's ruined people's "commando" touring style.

Is it going to ruin my trip if I can't get the FPs that I want at 60 days? No, but I will be bummed out and not thrilled about entertaining two kids in a long line.

And it's ok to express that, just like its ok to complain about free dining creating a lack of ADRs, or badly behaved kids or tour groups or whatever you feel detracts from your enjoyment of your vacation. Geez.

its one thing to complain in general.
its another to basically blame the DIS because you "had" to stay at AKL and you "had" to stay up until midnight and you didn't get what you wanted.

and yes no one likes waiting in a long line but if your entire trip was planned to meet one single character then you should be able to wait 1 hour for that character and not care that it took 1 hour way from something else.

in my opinion OP took this thread to an extreme which is why there are the posts that that there are.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

sure but with new and improved fast pass, most people have a few minutes and somtimes don't get a chance at all.

Hey now reality has no place in these types of discussions.

 

[cakebaker]

Hey now reality has no place in these types of discussions.

And the reality is, fp, Fp+ or no fp at all- there are people who are going to have to stand in line.

Popularity is to blame and nothing else.

 

[alicat8]

I'm hipping here, so sorry if this is redundant, but just a few thoughts:
1. The stand by lines will probably not be that long. We were there last August-when it was still a crazy house AND summer break, and at a few points, the wait was only an hour.
2. Keep checking, because FPs sometimes pop up.
3. You might not want to rest your ENTIRE trip on meeting a character. The meet n greets can really be hit or miss depending on who's working and their mood. I worked my butt off to get FPs for Anna and Elsa too, and when we met them I was really disappointed. They were barely in character and barely interacted at all with my daughter. It was defi itely our most boring character meet of the trip. I know they were overworked at that point, but still-I was glad I hadn't waited more than 10 minutes in the FP line! When we met them in CA last week, they were amazing. It's just too iffy to put too much into it! Plenty of other opportunities for a great day!

 

[disney world dreamer]

Yes, but in the case of A&E, Disney could easily add capacity, i.e. another Anna and Elsa in another park ... or a character meal. This one seems easy to solve.

I wonder if they like the frenzy over A&E. Kind of takes the focus away from the lack of new stuff in the parks.

well when FEA opens i believe they will put an A&E M&G back in epcot.
lets just hope they also keep the one at MK too so that the lines are more evenly distributed.

the reason there is a lack of new attractions is because they are in the process of creating new attractions.
its a pain that they are closing so many in such a short period of time but its so that they have the area to put the new ones in.
hopefully within the next couple years we see tons of attractions popping up but until then there will be a lull.
maybe people that don't care for the lull can vacation elsewhere until the new attractions open.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

And the reality is, fp, Fp+ or no fp at all- there are people who are going to have to stand in line.

Popularity is to blame and nothing else.

Yet in any other system you could have control of what impacts you on a specific date. Unless you have been checked into a Disney hotel since some time in 2014 you are completely at the whims of Disney and other guests.

 

[Angel Ariel]

well when FEA opens i believe they will put an A&E M&G back in epcot.
lets just hope they also keep the one at MK too so that the lines are more evenly distributed.

There is a dedicated m&g building being built in epcot for A&e that is supposed to open around the same time as the ride, I believe. There are rumors, though, that they will remove a&e from MK when they move back to epcot, though. I sincerely hope those rumors are wrong.

 

[itchin2go]

well when FEA opens i believe they will put an A&E M&G back in epcot.
lets just hope they also keep the one at MK too so that the lines are more evenly distributed.

the reason there is a lack of new attractions is because they are in the process of creating new attractions.
its a pain that they are closing so many in such a short period of time but its so that they have the area to put the new ones in.
hopefully within the next couple years we see tons of attractions popping up but until then there will be a lull.
maybe people that don't care for the lull can vacation elsewhere until the new attractions open.

Regarding A&E in Epcot, yep - that will help, but I still don't know why they haven't already worked A&E into a character meal or added another M&G elsewhere. There must be a reason.

Regarding new attractions, yeah - I know that's the party line. I'm just not buying it at this point.

Don't get me wrong - I love DisneyWorld and I'm looking forward to our upcoming vacation. I'm just becoming disillusioned with current management. I see missed opportunities, problems that are easy to solve NOT being solved, and focus in the wrong areas. I see guests being asked to do more, while getting less. I'm not at my breaking point yet, but my enthusiasm is waning.

Regardless, I hope what you said above is dead-on, and I'll eat my words. But I'm pretty worried that I'm right.

BTW - have we really gotten to 5 pages with no one telling the OP to "Let It Go!" (kidding)