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

[BuckeyeBama]

I do think it's too early to know whether that approach is going to be a good one. It could be once they get all of their CMs fully trained. If it requires no more effort and time in line that getting a legacy FP, then fine. But it could also be that they pull back on kiosk staffing once they get past this initial period and lines only get worse. And there is lots of talk from people who had to keep checking back over the course of the day to get a FP slot for the ride they want. It's bad enough to have to keep doing that out in the park with a smart phone. But if you have to keep checking back via standing in line at a kiosk...... that just makes it a no-go in my book.

A fair point. Another alternative (for those with smart phones) is to go to the full featured site in the web browser instead of using the app. We didn't try this while on our trip, but I tried it last night and it worked very well. I understand that this does not help people w/o smart phones.

But remember that this is a feature of FP+ that was not available with FP-. With FP-, if you missed your window, you missed out entirely. It would be great if the app and kiosks were easier to use to change FP+ reservations on the fly, but I expect that my decision to change plans at the last minute might result in some inconvenience on my part. I can live with this one.

Again, I am just talking about options, not claiming that any are perfect or will work for everyone. Just trying to help people learn to get better use of a bad system.

 

[Angel Ariel]

A fair point. Another alternative (for those with smart phones) is to go to the full featured site in the web browser instead of using the app. We didn't try this while on our trip, but I tried it last night and it worked very well. I understand that this does not help people w/o smart phones.

But remember that this is a feature of FP+ that was not available with FP-. With FP-, if you missed your window, you missed out entirely. It would be great if the app and kiosks were easier to use to change FP+ reservations on the fly, but I expect that my decision to change plans at the last minute might result in some inconvenience on my part. I can live with this one.

Again, I am just talking about options, not claiming that any are perfect or will work for everyone. Just trying to help people learn to get better use of a bad system.

Yes it is a new feature, but imho it wasn't a necessary feature when you could pull fps all day long. Aside from pretty much 3 rides (TT, soarin, TSMM), you could pull fps for most everything else almost all day long. To hear reports now that rides that rarely ran out of fp until evening are running.out before noon is concerning.
The ability to change fps around is only a great feature if there are still fps to change to.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Yes it is a new feature, but imho it wasn't a necessary feature when you could pull fps all day long. Aside from pretty much 3 rides (TT, soarin, TSMM), you could pull fps for most everything else almost all day long. To hear reports now that rides that rarely ran out of fp until evening are running.out before noon is concerning.

Irrelevant - those days are gone. I am trying to help people understand the features and how to leverage them. Bringing up the "good old days" doesn't change the points of that discussion.

The ability to change fps around is only a great feature if there are still fps to change to.

Agreed. So far, that hasn't been a problem unless you are making the changes late in the day. Time will tell.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

Check out the comments on WDWs Facebook page, showing the first , very stupid, FP+ commercial. I would think there are some VERY nervous Disney execs, if they are paying attention.

https://www.facebook.com/WaltDisneyWorld?ref=ts&fref=ts

-Jason

~LOL @ the commercials, but I seriously doubt the execs are "nervous." I hope they are listening though, and at least give the guests who need more FP+ and opportunity to get more.

 

[Angel Ariel]

But remember that this is a feature of FP+ that was not available with FP-. With FP-, if you missed your window, you missed out entirely. It would be great if the app and kiosks were easier to use to change FP+ reservations on the fly, but I expect that my decision to change plans at the last minute might result in some inconvenience on my part. I can live with this one.

Irrelevant - those days are gone. I am trying to help people understand the features and how to leverage them. Bringing up the "good old days" doesn't change the points of that discussion.

I wasn't bringing it up for "the good old days" or to in any way suggest that those days were ever coming back.

I was addressing the point you made that this is a feature of FP+ that wasn't available with FP- and that if you missed your window you were just out of luck. That wasn't always the case, and IMO that's important to recognize when comparing the two systems (and I was not the one that made the comparison originally, I was just responding to it).

The entire point of my post was the part you quoted and agreed with - that the ability to change FP+s around is only a positive feature for FP+ if there is availability to do so. You generally were able to pull another FP for later in the day for most rides if you missed your window, so if FP+ ends up providing *less* opportunity to do so, then it is no longer a positive feature of the system.

Agreed. So far, that hasn't been a problem unless you are making the changes late in the day. Time will tell.

There have been reports of it being a problem for headliners as early in the day as 10am (there being no headliner availability until after 5pm). As that was never the case with the old system (most FP-s were available well into the afternoon/evening), that is a point of concern and something that anyone with an upcoming trip should keep an eye on for themselves. I know I would never have expected to hear/see a report like that about FP+ availability in MK, as we never had problems getting FP-s all day long in MK, even during spring break.

I think it's important to acknowledge that FP+ availability may not be what FP- availability was (same-day), due to the prebooking. If I were planning a trip right now for any time in the near future, esp. a busy season, I know i would want to be warned that could be a possibility.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Anyone who has a clue about "facebook activism" would be familiar with the fact that the threshold for people to "like" something, is far lower than even to "comment" on sometime.

It's also generally far more likely that a person will bother to take the time to write something if they're unhappy. Generally, people appear to take the time to complain far more than they take the time to compliment. Age old marketing reality.

I obviously have no idea how all of this will shake out in the end, but I am certain that comments on a FB post at this stage aren't enough to draw any conclusions from, positive or negative.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

...The entire point of my post was the part you quoted and agreed with - that the ability to change FP+s around is only a positive feature for FP+ if there is availability to do so. You generally were able to pull another FP for later in the day for most rides if you missed your window, so if FP+ ends up providing *less* opportunity to do so, then it is no longer a positive feature of the system.

Sorry - I misunderstood. Thanks for the clarification. When we were there last week, we had no problems rebooking FP+ reservations for other times, though we only did it twice. All of our FP+ reservations were for afternoon/evening, and we were able to change them in the afternoon for other reservations of the same ride later that same day. And we are talking about Peter Pan once, and Soarin' once - so popular rides.

I know that there is more pressure on the system now, so understand that our experience may not be possible in a few months. That is why I said that time will tell. I haven't given up hope that this can work for us, though I understand that it will not work for everyone.

But I also understand that no system will work for everyone.

ETA - if this system doesn't work out for our family long term, we will just stop going to WDW. My wife just doesn't like WDW enough as it is, and if I have to choose between WDW and my wife's happiness, WDW loses. So I get those posts. I will be very sad to see my WDW trips end, if it comes to that. Not angry - but very sad.

 

[Mkrop]

Irrelevant - those days are gone. I am trying to help people understand the features and how to leverage them. Bringing up the "good old days" doesn't change the points of that discussion.
Agreed. So far, that hasn't been a problem unless you are making the changes late in the day. Time will tell.

Beg of Dec we could not change our FP+ for TSMM early in the morning, first the app would not load and then once it did we kept trying until we literally walked up to the ride at 9:25am when all the FPs + and - were gone for the day. We wound up keeping the FP+ and we did get to ride but we really wanted to change and were unable to do so.

 

[Shaden]

A fair point. Another alternative (for those with smart phones) is to go to the full featured site in the web browser instead of using the app. We didn't try this while on our trip, but I tried it last night and it worked very well. I understand that this does not help people w/o smart phones.

But remember that this is a feature of FP+ that was not available with FP-. With FP-, if you missed your window, you missed out entirely. It would be great if the app and kiosks were easier to use to change FP+ reservations on the fly, but I expect that my decision to change plans at the last minute might result in some inconvenience on my part. I can live with this one.

This the second time I have seen the bolded argument above made, and its absolutely incorrect.

In FP-, if you missed your window, you didn't miss out entirely, you just went and grabbed another FP. And you kept doing this, all day if you wanted to.

 

[rastuso]

And the world is flat.. You have to look at the bigger picture and look down the road. The FP+ system is made to be monetized. If i'm correct, then soon Disney will start selling additional FP+ reservations by tier for a fee. So if you want to ride another tier one ride in a park, you just purchase another FP+ reservation for you and the people in your party if applicable. In my mind, that's the reason for the whole 3 per day and the tiered rides at the parks. It's incentive to make people consider purchasing additional FP+ reservations. It's the old made new again. They've taken the old ticket book system and are remaking it as a new digital a la carte ticketing system. You get a base of 3, and will, imo, be able to purchase more. The buffet that was FP- will simply be replaced by the digital a la carte system that is FP+. Disney has decided that people are willing to spend a little more for convenience and to cater their vacation to their touring style. Now that FP- is gone from all of the parks, I believe it's the next step, but time will tell...

Not sure why saying something patently false is similar to me stating the fact of FP+ for the foreseeable future.

I do thing FPs will be monetized. However, I think they will add more to deluxe resorts, and that will be it. Let's not forget another FACT! Disney has too many people coming to the parks to give them all E ticket rides. If they sold FPs, they would be VERY limited. And as such, VERY expensive. Universal has ride capacity to spare, so they can sell lines skips. However, even when they aren't needed they are $5-10 each. When they are needed, they are closer to $15 each. I would definitely expect Disney to charge AT LEAST $20 each. They have essentially set that price. You get 3 FP+, and a you pay about 60 a day for a multiway ticket (yeah, it's cheaper for a 7 day ticket, but would you really pay for extra FPs if you are held captive at WDW for a week anyway?

So, who on here is now willing to pay $80 for their family of four to add Test Track as their families incredible FOURTH ride of the day?

<crickets/>

Jason

 

[Disneychick75]

Not sure why saying something patently false is similar to me stating the fact of FP+ for the foreseeable future.

I do thing FPs will be monetized. However, I think they will add more to deluxe resorts, and that will be it. Let's not forget another FACT! Disney has too many people coming to the parks to give them all E ticket rides. If they sold FPs, they would be VERY limited. And as such, VERY expensive. Universal has ride capacity to spare, so they can sell lines skips. However, even when they aren't needed they are $5-10 each. When they are needed, they are closer to $15 each. I would definitely expect Disney to charge AT LEAST $20 each. They have essentially set that price. You get 3 FP+, and a you pay about 60 a day for a multiway ticket (yeah, it's cheaper for a 7 day ticket, but would you really pay for extra FPs if you are held captive at WDW for a week anyway?

So, who on here is now willing to pay $80 for their family of four to add Test Track as their families incredible FOURTH ride of the day?

<crickets/>

Jason

It's as simple as Disney limiting the number of extra FPs sold/per ride/per day. They'll know how many are assigned in groups of 3 to onsite guests. They can up sell before the guests arrive and leave additional for day guests or not. Maybe day trippers will only be allowed 3, then onsite guests are allowed to buy more depending upon the tier of their stay. There are many ways to set this up and still have some available for point of sale.

 

[rastuso]

It's as simple as Disney limiting the number of extra FPs sold/per ride/per day. They'll know how many are assigned in groups of 3 to onsite guests. They can up sell before the guests arrive and leave additional for day guests or not. Maybe day trippers will only be allowed 3, then onsite guests are allowed to buy more depending upon the tier of their stay. There are many ways to set this up and still have some available for point of sale.

But none of that matters when they don't have enough FP for all their guests to begin with.

Jason

 

[going/again]

They knew then how many FP+, and to whom, they were going to make available. And we have only seen a few of their cards. They are still playing this hand very close to the vest - probably because they want to control the message throughout.

Its not the message they want to control its our vacations.

 

[going/again]

Room locks are huge problems. People are spending hours just to get working room keys. Park entry is causing problems.

We were locked out of our room twice, first time they came with a key to open the door, 6hrs later they sorted problem out, 4 days later same thing this time my wife was in the room and wouldn't go out till it was fixed, 7.5 hrs later.

 

[going/again]

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.

29 stays at WDW min 15 days each stay never been locked out of room once with KTTW.

Magic Bands twice in four days.

 

[crostorfer]

~LOL @ the commercials, but I seriously doubt the execs are "nervous." I hope they are listening though, and at least give the guests who need more FP+ and opportunity to get more.

According to the reports that came out after the stockholders meeting in November, yes, they are indeed very nervous. Blame is being shifted, and Iger is trying to distance himself from this project.

http://micechat.com/49401-my-magic-plus-failure/

 

[going/again]

Not sure why saying something patently false is similar to me stating the fact of FP+ for the foreseeable future.

I do thing FPs will be monetized. However, I think they will add more to deluxe resorts, and that will be it. Let's not forget another FACT! Disney has too many people coming to the parks to give them all E ticket rides. If they sold FPs, they would be VERY limited. And as such, VERY expensive. Universal has ride capacity to spare, so they can sell lines skips. However, even when they aren't needed they are $5-10 each. When they are needed, they are closer to $15 each. I would definitely expect Disney to charge AT LEAST $20 each. They have essentially set that price. You get 3 FP+, and a you pay about 60 a day for a multiway ticket (yeah, it's cheaper for a 7 day ticket, but would you really pay for extra FPs if you are held captive at WDW for a week anyway?

So, who on here is now willing to pay $80 for their family of four to add Test Track as their families incredible FOURTH ride of the day?

<crickets/>

Jason

If this is the case, won't they just not give so many free ones away so they have more to sell.

 

[mom2rtk]

If this is the case, won't they just not give so many free ones away so they have more to sell.

So you think they would cut back to only 2 per guest? I guess the literature says "up to 3" but I still just don't see that happening. At least not any time soon. Too much uproar over 3 already.

 

[Nancyg56]

So you think they would cut back to only 2 per guest? I guess the literature says "up to 3" but I still just don't see that happening. At least not any time soon. Too much uproar over 3 already.

I don't often post on these threads, but I have an opinion in regards to how Disney will manage limited FP+ passes. I believe that eventually they will be used as a driver for onsite resort stays. In recent years we have seen that Disney is no longer interested in giving guests who use the DDP a huge savings to incent them to stay onsite. I think that is because those guests who like it use it, and would not need it to book an onsite stay, value or no. Now that that perk has run its course, WDW needs another incentive to get people to choose pricey onsite stays, and what better incentive than a FP that will give you a leg up during your vacation? Right now, testing is still in progress, but in the future, II wonder if instead of free dining, we will see additional FP for onsite guests, or early FP booking for FP guests. In an environment where time = money, how many guests, especially those guests who family size means limited onsite resorts to choose from, will decide to choose onsite in order to capture the ability to book attractions in advance.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

If this is the case, won't they just not give so many free ones away so they have more to sell.

So you think they would cut back to only 2 per guest? I guess the literature says "up to 3" but I still just don't see that happening. At least not any time soon. Too much uproar over 3 already.

I was thinking of it like this. If there are 5,000 FP+s for Soarin' given out every day, 2,500 of those would be in the "free" stack and 2,500 in the "pay" stack.