For those who think only DISers hate FP+, check their Facebook page

[glamdring269]

I think it's obvious who the 5th dentist is.

Mesa....your trip sounds awesome! We did that same DL/Hawaii tour in 2011. You are going to love it!!

If you get the chance, I highly recommend sunrise atop Haleakala at 10,023 feet.

I just want to point out a slight alternative here. If you don't want to get up ridiculously early for sunrise then go for sunset. It's amazing as well. Just remember that even though it might be 80 when you start driving up it's pretty cold up top. Bring a jacket.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I think it's obvious who the 5th dentist is.

Mesa....your trip sounds awesome! We did that same DL/Hawaii tour in 2011. You are going to love it!!

If you get the chance, I highly recommend sunrise atop Haleakala at 10,023 feet.

Beautiful pic! Must have been an awesome thing to see in person!!

 

[redrosesix]

I actually agreed with this line of thinking. Right up to the point where they said they discovered that fans want to interact more with their electronic devices on vacation. I'm still waiting to see the survey model on that question. I'm not buying that's true of a majority of their guests. And now I'm questioning many things I might have accepted blindly about this entire project.

Same. I always left my blackberry in my room when I didn't want to take work calls. We had cheap phones to just text each other. Hate that we all have to take our nice new android phones on rides with us now. And my DD is going to be texting her friends non-stop and watching Pretty Little Liars while waiting in lines. She even thinks it would be better if she took her tablet to the parks!! It's bad enough she gets sucked into the screen at home -- she won't even be really with us in WDW not fun, not fun, not fun.

PS. she could be right about the tablet though -- much less likely to crash.

 

[Batgirl67]

Same. I always left my blackberry in my room when I didn't want to take work calls. We had cheap phones to just text each other. Hate that we all have to take our nice new android phones on rides with us now. And my DD is going to be texting her friends non-stop and watching Pretty Little Liars while waiting in lines. She even thinks it would be better if she took her tablet to the parks!! It's bad enough she gets sucked into the screen at home -- she won't even be really with us in WDW not fun, not fun, not fun.

PS. she could be right about the tablet though -- much less likely to crash.

I live to "unplug" on vacation. It is my way of recharging. If I go to look at a phone them I will be tempted to look up other things and then I will miss noticing things in the parks.

And that was exactly my 14 year old niece this summer in the parks, she only put the tablet down when we were on a ride or it lost battery charge. It was like she was this quiet shadow with us. Granted we only had to entertain the 6 year old in lines but I think she missed out on the silly family conversations we were having.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I live to "unplug" on vacation. It is my way of recharging. If I go to look at a phone them I will be tempted to look up other things and then I will miss noticing things in the parks.

And that was exactly my 14 year old niece this summer in the parks, she only put the tablet down when we were on a ride or it lost battery charge. It was like she was this quiet shadow with us. Granted we only had to entertain the 6 year old in lines but I think she missed out on the silly family conversations we were having.

You can still "unplug" in WDW. Carrying your phone for a limited need only expands to being "plugged in" again if you let it. At least, this is what my wife tells me.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I totally agree that they are not rolling the dice here. They have a plan and it will all be rolled out eventually. That's why it's interesting to talk about what they have already done and see if there are any clues as to what their big plan is
.

The new system has nothing to do with making FP "fair". They are attempting to keep guests off rides and spending more $$$$ in the parks. They will also save on payroll. The machines don't receive a paycheck or benefits.

Disney no longer focuses on loyal customers. They believe, this group will return, no matter what.. They have set their sights on the "once in a lifetime experience" guests. So, they really don't care, what we think. It's all about their bottom line.

 

[xie]

Oh, I get that - but FP+ is only a tiny piece of this project. It is just the one being talked about most right now.

FP+ is what people are talking about most here, but trust me it is FAR from the only problem with this 1bn dollar project.

Room locks are huge problems. People are spending hours just to get working room keys. Park entry is causing problems. All KINDS of issues exist with the RFID system that don't have anything at all to do with FP+.

And add on top of that the difficult user experiences with the website and the mobile apps crashing and burning. It's just not magical.

I could deal with functional and not magical, if it just kind of did its job like a KTTW card did. But it's BROKEN and not magical. It sucked hours out of my vacation.

 

[xie]

I might feel extremely frustrated if Disney's issues with the phantom fp's caused cms to not believe me when I'm just trying to prove my legitimate fp. I'm hoping for the best in February. I'm already a little frustrated that I have to remember my real fp times around the phantoms.

They have no choice. When we were there at New Year's there were more people scamming their way into line than there were with legitimate green scan results. The CMs were overwhelmed with people claiming they had FP+, and insisting they be let in.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

FP+ is what people are talking about most here, but trust me it is FAR from the only problem with this 1bn dollar project.

Room locks are huge problems. People are spending hours just to get working room keys. Park entry is causing problems. All KINDS of issues exist with the RFID system that don't have anything at all to do with FP+.

And add on top of that the difficult user experiences with the website and the mobile apps crashing and burning. It's just not magical.

I could deal with functional and not magical, if it just kind of did its job like a KTTW card did. But it's BROKEN and not magical. It sucked hours out of my vacation.

People had to deal with these same problems with the old system. I know that I did. And no WDW web site or application has ever been worth a spit. Whoever runs their IT department needs to find another line of work.

In other words, these things have always been a problem for WDW guests. It has not hurt their business model.

 

[Sammie]

Plenty on here keep saying only the small group of recovering FP abusers here on the DiS will care about the loss of fun. It's pretty clear from the comments that there are lots of upset folks. And most of the folks who loved it didn't use the final form.

-Jason

There were thousands of likes on the posting and at best a few hundred that did not like it.

Again, some, even hundreds are not going to like the changes, however I really think there will be more than do like than don't.

I also don't understand the need to stay plugged to your phone. Surely people can remember what time 3 Fastpasses are, if not get a print out. The only time we used the App was to change something and we had no problems with it working and being fast.

I guess we are just blessed with great tech magic or something, as I just don't run into the problems others are reporting.

I can appreciate and even understand this will change the way some have toured in the past and they don't like that. However it is going to make it better for so many others than never got one Fastpass because they were gone.

I think a program that makes a situation better for many over the wants of few is a good plan.

 

[kittyab]

We were there in Nov with the magic bands and FP+. We had no problem with the system. It did take some extra planning on my part but that is something I love to do anyway.

I can see those who are off site having issues with planning out their FP picks. I hope there is staffers that will help guide them so they can make the most of their picks.

But I don't see the magic band system going away.

 

[AmyB2006]

FP+ is what people are talking about most here, but trust me it is FAR from the only problem with this 1bn dollar project. Room locks are huge problems. People are spending hours just to get working room keys. Park entry is causing problems. All KINDS of issues exist with the RFID system that don't have anything at all to do with FP+. And add on top of that the difficult user experiences with the website and the mobile apps crashing and burning. It's just not magical. I could deal with functional and not magical, if it just kind of did its job like a KTTW card did. But it's BROKEN and not magical. It sucked hours out of my vacation.

You can have the exact same problems with a KTTW card. These problems aren't exclusive to magic bands. But I do agree that sucks when you do have problems. No one wants to deal with that.

 

[Angel Ariel]

People had to deal with these same problems with the old system. I know that I did. And no WDW web site or application has ever been worth a spit. Whoever runs their IT department needs to find another line of work.

In other words, these things have always been a problem for WDW guests. It has not hurt their business model.

Those things were never something that families *needed* to use in the parks for anything...until now.

No, it may not have hurt their business model when it wasn't necessary to interact with the IT in order to plan your vacation. Disney is intentionally creating a system where they *want* the customer on their electronic devices, accessing Disney's site/app (per their own words). A poor site/app experience is a LOT more likely to "hurt their business model" now than prior to MM+/FP+.

 

[AmyB2006]

I too like the idea of a screenshot, though I would take the extra step and make the screenshot my lock screen picture so I wouldn't have to go through my gallery to find the picture either... Course, this also means my phone can take screenshots, and I don't know that it can...Ive never tried! Off to figure that out

Even better! See now we're thinking. Lol. I know it's easy on an Apple device... Home button and on/off button pressed together.

I know you can do it on an android, but they probably all have different methods. I can't help there. I left the Android world long ago and haven't looked back.

 

[xie]

People had to deal with these same problems with the old system. I know that I did. And no WDW web site or application has ever been worth a spit. Whoever runs their IT department needs to find another line of work.

In other words, these things have always been a problem for WDW guests. It has not hurt their business model.

It is now, for some of us it's reached a tipping point. The straw that broke the camel's back. Pick your idiom. So I think that this, combined with some of the other ongoing issues they have, are starting to hurt their business model, as you put it.

Of course there have been issues, always. We've certainly had the odd problem over the years, and it's usually been fixed with alacrity and good humor. However...

I can tell you that the 9 day trip we took a few weeks back was, bar NONE, the worst experience we have ever had at Disney. Judging from the long lines of people at the front desk having same and similar issues, it wasn't just us, either.

It was bad enough that we cancelled our two upcoming onsite trips, are letting our APs lapse, and we now have no future trips planned for WDW for the first time in many years. We are going to Universal for a week in September, and Yosemite and Jackson Hole in 2015; we will not set foot on WDW property again until we are somewhat assured that service has improved. I'll never say never, but I don't expect to be staying on that property again until at least 2016. And we have been a 2-3 trip per year family.

It wasn't just the broken tech itself. We had a lot of poor service. Worse than we have ever experienced at the WDW resort. Multiple times during the week we got to the point where we left property entirely. We almost checked out 2 days early. A fair amount of that poor service was because CMs were just overwhelmed and tired and not paying enough attention, partly because of the broken tech, and partly because service has been on a downhill road there for a while. (For example, we have experienced some rude and some extremely inattentive servers in the restaurants our last two trips, and that never ever used to happen. We used to love eating out at WDW.)

 

[Angel Ariel]

Even better! See now we're thinking. Lol. I know it's easy on an Apple device... Home button and on/off button pressed together.

I know you can do it on an android, but they probably all have different methods. I can't help there. I left the Android world long ago and haven't looked back.

It's the same for the Rezound...hold the on/off and then press Home. You learn something new every day

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

There were thousands of likes on the posting and at best a few hundred that did not like it.

Again, some, even hundreds are not going to like the changes, however I really think there will be more than do like than don't.

I also don't understand the need to stay plugged to your phone. Surely people can remember what time 3 Fastpasses are, if not get a print out. The only time we used the App was to change something and we had no problems with it working and being fast.

I guess we are just blessed with great tech magic or something, as I just don't run into the problems others are reporting.

I can appreciate and even understand this will change the way some have toured in the past and they don't like that. However it is going to make it better for so many others than never got one Fastpass because they were gone.

I think a program that makes a situation better for many over the wants of few is a good plan.

I also suspect that more will like than dislike FP+ overall. If I think about it selfishly (!!), I hope that they get a lot of feedback around 1) 3 per day max, 2) only in one park, and 3) tiered booking... and that they make some adjustments.

I will say that the reason I enter my FP+ windows into my calendar WITH alerts is because I wouldn't remember the 3 in a day!

 

[BuckeyeBama]

It is now, for some of us it's reached a tipping point. The straw that broke the camel's back. Pick your idiom. So I think that this, combined with some of the other ongoing issues they have, are starting to hurt their business model, as you put it.

Of course there have been issues, always. We've certainly had the odd problem over the years, and it's usually been fixed with alacrity and good humor. However...

I can tell you that the 9 day trip we took a few weeks back was, bar NONE, the worst experience we have ever had at Disney.

Fair enough, but not everyone feels that way. Your feelings are real, but they are yours. I was there last week and left with the opposite feelings. I was ready to walk away from WDW forever, but am now hooked again. Tat's life.

It doesn't make you or me right or wrong. We are just in different places. Two reasonable people can look at the same data and see very different things.

 

[redrosesix]

The new system has nothing to do with making FP "fair". They are attempting to keep guests off rides and spending more $$$$ in the parks. They will also save on payroll. The machines don't receive a paycheck or benefits.

Disney no longer focuses on loyal customers. They believe, this group will return, no matter what.. They have set their sights on the "once in a lifetime experience" guests. So, they really don't care, what we think. It's all about their bottom line.

Agreed!! The obvious tip-off was when they stopped having different merchandise in each of the parks and didn't change the offerings from year to year. They don't want us regular visitors to buy ONE more thing -- they want the one-time visitor to buy A WHOLE BUNCH of things (kinda cheap things but definitely a whole bunch).

They're looking for the families who will do BBB and the Pirates League for all of their kids, the family portraits and the keepsake books. Those people who may never be back and want to experience everything in this one trip, and will never really complain about things since they're going somewhere else next year.

There were thousands of likes on the posting and at best a few hundred that did not like it.

Again, some, even hundreds are not going to like the changes, however I really think there will be more than do like than don't.

I also don't understand the need to stay plugged to your phone. Surely people can remember what time 3 Fastpasses are, if not get a print out. The only time we used the App was to change something and we had no problems with it working and being fast.

I guess we are just blessed with great tech magic or something, as I just don't run into the problems others are reporting.

I can appreciate and even understand this will change the way some have toured in the past and they don't like that. However it is going to make it better for so many others than never got one Fastpass because they were gone.

I think a program that makes a situation better for many over the wants of few is a good plan.

This is my concern -- that we will have to make a change and I don't want to be stuck in those god-awful lines for an hour, just to find out that nothing I want is available when i can actually get to it. We'll be using FP+ for some of our faves like Splash Mountain, which regularly goes down. In the past when it went down we just grabbed a FP and came back later. and sometimes it wasn't up and running again that day -- np when I was able to do other rides instead. But with FP+ I want to change that sucker out asap so we get to do at least something.

Otherwise my phone would have stayed in my room so my work couldn't call me just to ask where the super awesome important looking stationery was (yes, this has happened).

I used to work in an airport and none of us used our own personal apps to figure out when flights were arriving -- we all just looked at the monitors. Kinda like the monitors with wait times in Epcot. That would be enough tech for me on a vacation.

 

[mom2rtk]

Even better! See now we're thinking. Lol. I know it's easy on an Apple device... Home button and on/off button pressed together.

I know you can do it on an android, but they probably all have different methods. I can't help there. I left the Android world long ago and haven't looked back.

According to the T-Mobile web site, my smart phone does not have the capability. So not all android devices apparently can.