FP+ and Hopping (need guinea pigs!)

[Laketravis]

Right. Eternally optimistic. Please note that the last two parks to morph are the tiered parks. Why????? I prefer to think it's because hopping will be enabled.

The way the FP+ system is now, it make people less likely to park hop, which means less money for Disney.

I was pretty much convinced that the one park FP+ limit was here to stay, but thinking about it from a different angle.......

WDW is implementing FP+ and adding it to attractions that didn't have FP before in order to increase capacity.

But all this time I've been thinking of attractions in the same park as "capacity".

If I take a couple of steps back, and include ALL of the parks in my idea of "capacity", it starts to make sense that if WDW wanted to help spread people out to different attractions, it is also beneficial to consider the combined yield of all of the parks each day as well - how many days a year does AK sit virtually empty while MK is packed?

So not only spreading people out among attractions but also spreading them out among parks now makes sense, and FP+ for hoppers would do that.

It's pretty cool the different ways they could do that, too. Maybe you schedule your first park of the day online and ahead of time, but if you change parks during the day (and they always know what park you are in), maybe a few more FP+ opportunities are presented.

Who knows, but now I'm beginning to believe that the current one park per day limit is only temporary.

 

[DavidNYC]

Exactly. The way the FP+ system is now, it make people less likely to park hop, which means less money for Disney. In fact, I was thinking for our upcoming trip in August, I was going to get single park tickets for the first time ever. Hopefully by August they will have figured this all out.

Completely disagree. To me this makes park hopping much more attractive. First few hours of the day in the parks are very light crowds even at the busiest times. You can go to a park in the morning - lunch using standby and then hop to another park and still be able to get fastpasses for rides that would not have had paper fastpasses available under the old system.

When I used to park hop to Epcot, if I wanted a FP for Soarin or TT it would pretty much be towards the end of the day. This trip, I hopped to Epcot at 2:30, and did 3 FP rides in the next 3 hours.

 

[Laketravis]

Completely disagree. To me this makes park hopping much more attractive. First few hours of the day in the parks are very light crowds even at the busiest times. You can go to a park in the morning - lunch using standby and then hop to another park and still be able to get fastpasses for rides that would not have had paper fastpasses available under the old system.

When I used to park hop to Epcot, if I wanted a FP for Soarin or TT it would pretty much be towards the end of the day. This trip, I hopped to Epcot at 2:30, and did 3 FP rides in the next 3 hours.

Same here. And if we could have gone a step further and made additional FP+ reservations for Space Mountain, Wishes, and BTMR for later that evening at MK, we probably would have paid even more for that hopper option.

Man, those Disney bean counters are some purdy smart fellas.

 

[Angel Ariel]

There are a lot of guests, especially those with small kids in the group, who would prefer the parade, Wishes, a character greeting, or one of the Fantasyland rides to the mountains.

There are also a lot of guests, I'd imagine, who like both the FL rides/child-centric attractions AND the mountains.

 

[mom2rtk]

There are also a lot of guests, I'd imagine, who like both the FL rides/child-centric attractions AND the mountains.

Yep. And there's the problem. With FP- you could make everyone happy. We'll ALL go on Peter Pan but then we'll all go do BTMRR. When FPs are limited to 3 it's more complicated than whether some in your group will suffer through a ride they aren't that excited about. But will they give up a FP for something they really want to ride for something they aren't that excited about.

It makes that balance of traveling with a multi-age family that much more complicated. And people don't want complicated vacations.

 

[PlayaMan]

It makes that balance of traveling with a multi-age family that much more complicated. And people don't want complicated vacations.

And yet you admit that traveling with a multi-age family is complicated in and of itself. Even with the utopia that was FP-,it was still complicated for a multi-age family to visit Disney.

Yet through all the complications of traveling with a multi-age family, millions of families have done so for years upon years because in no small part they value the complications of ANY vacation worth in in return for the experiences shared by families on their vacations.

 

[mom2rtk]

And yet you admit that traveling with a multi-age family is complicated in and of itself. Even with the utopia that was FP-,it was still complicated for a multi-age family to visit Disney.

Yet through all the complications of traveling with a multi-age family, millions of families have done so for years upon years because in no small part they value the complications of ANY vacation worth in in return for the experiences shared by families on their vacations.

Hey UNC, how are you today?

 

[morethananyonex]

And yet you admit that traveling with a multi-age family is complicated in and of itself. Even with the utopia that was FP-,it was still complicated for a multi-age family to visit Disney.

Yet through all the complications of traveling with a multi-age family, millions of families have done so for years upon years because in no small part they value the complications of ANY vacation worth in in return for the experiences shared by families on their vacations.

That doesn't mean FP+ doesn't complicate it more. It does, no question, especially in MK. When you have a limited number of FP+ to use, you need to decide if you're using it for rides for young ones that have huge lines (Peter Pan, ETWB, Meet & Greets) or if you're using it for bigger rides that also have huge lines. Before in MK you could do both. Now you can't. FP did not run out in MK like at Epcot and DHS. You really could pull for all the rides you wanted.

I'm not sure why the go to argument for FP+ seems to be comparing it to Disney BEFORE FP- was implemented. They have had FP- for years, and that is what people are used to and are comparing it to (rightfully so).

 

[PlayaMan]

Hey UNC, how are you today?

Was that hyperbole? Must have been.

Guess it is easier to accuse me of being someone else than having discussion. Care to present any proof of I am some UNC person or is this just more of your speculation like you do with FP+?

Back to your point though before you went ad hominem on me. Care to tell us how uncomplicated Disney vacations were back in the days of FP-?

 

[Ashlotte]

Completely disagree. To me this makes park hopping much more attractive. First few hours of the day in the parks are very light crowds even at the busiest times. You can go to a park in the morning - lunch using standby and then hop to another park and still be able to get fastpasses for rides that would not have had paper fastpasses available under the old system.
.

Yes, but what is the purpose in changing parks? Why waste the time traveling? It would make more sense to book all of your FP+ times in the afternoon when it is crowded, and then ride standby in the morning, but in the same park. There is no hopping benefit and in fact, you are only losing valuable park time in transit. At least, this is how I see it, so unless you really can pull extra FP+ when you arrive, I will be staying put and not buying hoppers.

 

[mom2rtk]

Was that hyperbole? Must have been.

Guess it is easier to accuse me of being someone else than having discussion. Care to present any proof of I am some UNC person or is this just more of your speculation like you do with FP+?

Back to your point though before you went ad hominem on me. Care to tell us how uncomplicated Disney vacations were back in the days of FP-?

OK, you go with that.

As for park planning with FP-?

Choose a park. Show up at said park. Choose a ride. Decide on the spot if you want to pull a fastpass or wait through standby.

Repeat as many times as desired.

 

[PlayaMan]

That doesn't mean FP+ doesn't complicate it more. It does, no question, especially in MK. When you have a limited number of FP+ to use, you need to decide if you're using it for rides for young ones that have huge lines (Peter Pan, ETWB, Meet & Greets) or if you're using it for bigger rides that also have huge lines. Before in MK you could do both. Now you can't. FP did not run out in MK like at Epcot and DHS. You really could pull for all the rides you wanted.

I'm not sure why the go to argument for FP+ seems to be comparing it to Disney BEFORE FP- was implemented. They have had FP- for years, and that is what people are used to and are comparing it to (rightfully so).

The assertion was that people do not like complicated vacations. I just wonder when a Disney trip for a multi-age family hasnt been complicated.

And then there are the millions of Disney visitors who do not find it to be highly complicated to just get in SB lines.

I wasnt the one making the comparison initially. Read mom2rtk's post and see where it was HER assertion that FP+ was making thinks MORE complicated for multi-age families with the implied, multi-age family planning is complicated but then saying in the next sentence that people dont want complicated vacations.

Contradictory statements by their very nature

 

[mom2rtk]

Read mom2rtk's post and see where it was HER assertion that FP+ was making thinks MORE complicated for multi-age families with the implied, multi-age family planning is complicated but then saying in the next sentence that people dont want complicated vacations.

Contradictory statements by their very nature

It's always going to be more complicated when a resource everyone wants in a large group (FP slots) is more limited than it was before. Under FP- you could take turns throughout the day pulling one that made the little ones happy, then one to make the older ones happy, then back to the little ones, and on and on.

When you have to stop at 3 is when it gets harder. Not sure why that's complicated.

 

[PlayaMan]

OK, you go with that.

As for park planning with FP-?

Choose a park. Show up at said park. Choose a ride. Decide on the spot if you want to pull a fastpass or wait through standby.

Repeat as many times as desired.

Burden of proof is on you. So go with that if you like.

But you said that the FP+ makes things MORE complicated for multi-age families. So there was always some level of complication before with FP-

Yet, people loved their "complicated" vacations and still do.

And for some families, FP+ will make things LESS complicated than before.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Yep. And there's the problem. With FP- you could make everyone happy. We'll ALL go on Peter Pan but then we'll all go do BTMRR. When FPs are limited to 3 it's more complicated than whether some in your group will suffer through a ride they aren't that excited about. But will they give up a FP for something they really want to ride for something they aren't that excited about.

It makes that balance of traveling with a multi-age family that much more complicated. And people don't want complicated vacations.

This is exactly what's making the 3 FP+ limit at MK so hard for me, personally. I'm going to give up my favorite rides -- BTMRR and Splash -- because I'm going to use our three FP+ and the lower crowd early morning hours on all the rides that my kids like, and I'm not going to abandon my family to wait in a 60-90 minute standby line. Eventually, at least one of my kids will want to ride the mountains too, but probably one never will and it's important to give him a good day too.

 

[morethananyonex]

The assertion was that people do not like complicated vacations. I just wonder when a Disney trip for a multi-age family hasnt been complicated.

And then there are the millions of Disney visitors who do not find it to be highly complicated to just get in SB lines.

I wasnt the one making the comparison initially. Read mom2rtk's post and see where it was HER assertion that FP+ was making thinks MORE complicated for multi-age families with the implied, multi-age family planning is complicated but then saying in the next sentence that people dont want complicated vacations.

Contradictory statements by their very nature

I answered in my post. It's not that FP- was not complicated at all, it's that FP+ is more complicated. In the MK, FP- is less complicated than FP+ for a multi age family. Under the current rules, a family cannot FP+ more than 3 different attractions unless they want to split up. The difficulties are obvious in MK when you have so many options to use FP on that do truly need it. In the past, you could pull more than 3.

For those guests who never used FP at all, why are they part of the discussion when comparing FP- to FP+? That's not what is being discussed. It's very uncomplicated to get in stand by line after stand by line, you just spend most of your day waiting, but that's neither here nor there.

You were making the comparison I was responding to. Your response to mom2rtk's post suggested that touring with a multi age family is always complicated, and people still did it in the days before FP- too. Both true points, however you cannot compare FP+ to days with no FP at all IMO, the comparison should be to the most recent system, FP-, which has been around for almost 15 years if I'm not mistaken. I wasn't directing my comment completely at you, just that I've seen many people respond to FP+ criticisms with "well, think how bad it was when you had to wait for EVERYTHING", but that's just not a relevant comparison anymore.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Care to tell us how uncomplicated Disney vacations were back in the days of FP-?

Not uncomplicated, but more flexible, less limited, easier to make everyone happy.

I don't even want to think about the tiers at DHS. If they stay, I will probably never convince DD to ride RnRC with me.

 

[pilferk]

No, they specifically said they used FP+ at Animal Kingdom in the morning, then hopped to MK and used additional FP+ there that they chose at the park. There have been widespread reports of IT folks saying that the system, when fully rolled out, would support park-hopping, and allowing day-of reservations at each park (in addition to the three reserved by on-site guests) is a huge wrinkle if it's true.

Did not work for us, today, with our bands Had fps at ak this am. Just left mk.

Now...if I'd taken my band off, posed as an off site guest, and given an alternate email addy...we could have done it. (Edit:maybe).

But not via our mbs.

We are not ap holders. Resort guests with 6 day hoppers.

 

[wordwitt]

Did not work for us, today, with our bands.bak to mk. Had fps at ak this am. Just left mk.

Now...if I'd taken my band off, posed as an off site guest, and given an alternate email addy...we could have done it.

But not via our mbs.

Bummer! But thanks for the report.

 

[pilferk]

Regardless of using MDE, I am assuming that you need to scan your ticket before making selections at the FP kiosk. So they would track by your ticket number and if you tried to make more at another park, it would come up as already having used your FP+ allotment for the day?

I think it's supposed to, but I'm not sure it is right now. Your pre-books appear to be linked to your profile..though after full roll out that may change.