LCoulter
Whoah Mouse
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2008
- Messages
- 1,408
We just returned from a trip using FP+ and MDE from Feb 15 through Feb 22 which was a busier week than we normally go since we usually go in the fall during slower weeks.
I was a nervous wreak about this trip because of FP+ and MDE and although there were some minor clitches, we were able to work around them or get them fixed and it ended up being a good vacation. We are a rope drop family and dont usually stay really late with DD6. We normally get 1-4 legacy fastpasses per day so are not commando. We are very flexible and will skip any ride with more than a 20-30 minute wait and will check back later to see if wait is down.
We planned our FP+ at the 60 day mark and made changes and tweaks right up until we arrived. There were some clitches with the system where it was down or extra slow so it was a bit of a pain but manageable.
Minor Annoyances:
-For some reason, most times, I needed to scan mine twice at the parks because it wouldnt work the first time .not sure why. DD and DH had occasional problem.
-I had a problem the first time I tried to open our door but it seemed to suddenly start working so it may have been just that I wasnt lining Mickey up properly. DH and DD had no problems with room entry.
-MDE kept logging out so DH and I had to log back into the system one five times a day which was kind of annoying.
-Sometimes the system was clitchy and slow to change fastpasses. It was annoying when there werent any available to change to or at least nothing of interest. It was annoying when you walk up to use Fastpass and there is a 10 minute standby line .but you can go standby and change your pass or depending on which ride, we would do standby and then use our FP+ so that we can ride twice in a row.
-Sometimes it is annoying having a schedule but most times we found other things to do or short line rides nearby to occupy our time until our FP window arrived.
-There were times when we were able to change Fastpass times for an attraction but found that the earlier in the day you do it, the more likely that you are able to make changes. Occasionally we got lucky and were able to change the experience to a decent ride, but usually found the best rides gone by around lunchtime or even earlier for Toy Story and Soarin.
-At times, there were lines for attractions that normally dont have lines. It was more crowded then we are used to though. One time Pirates seemed to have a huge 40 minute stand by line but a little while later it was down to 10 minutes. Occasionally the FP line just to enter the que was long but they would then start scanning only one band per party so the line would quickly go down.
Major Problems:
-My password in MDE stopped working on the I-Pad and I-Phone on day 4 which may be related to the next problem below. My password has a ! in it and it was as if the system no longer was accepting special characters. I decided that I didnt want to waste my time calling to correct the problem as Guest Services in the park and the hotel were no help with this. Even more weird, is that when DH used regular laptop computer, he can login fine with my password
.so he logged in as me and tried to change my password but where you change your password you have to type in your old password and it didnt recognize my special character, even though he was logged in with it.
-One evening when DD6 and DH headed to Disney Quest, I went to MK alone. This was half way into the vacation, after using our magic bands for 4 days with only minor problems. I scanned my band twice and Mickey turned blue both times so I was pulled aside by someone that had an ipad and scanner. She scanned me and said that was not my magic band
I told her yes it was
.I have the green one, DH has blue and DD has yellow and I have been using the green one for four days. She insisted again that it was not my band and asked who Robert was
.I told her that he is my DH. She asked me where he was and I explained that he and DD were at Disneyquest. She told me that the band is connected to his annual pass. I asked why we havent had a problem in the past 4 days but she didnt have an answer. Thankfully, she said that she will let me in THIS time.
I went immediately to guest services because I was afraid I would have a problem charging my dinner and I didnt have cash. Guest services had no idea what problem the CM was having with the scanner because it looked fine to them and my charging looked fine too.
-I dont think 3 FP+ is enough, particularly for MK and I dont think they should be tiered or limited to one park.
Now the positive:
-I liked being able to charge with the band instead of having to dig out a card. Also we had memory maker attached to it. I liked being able to swim with it. I didnt find it uncomfortable, even when it was hot. I did end up wearing it a little louse because I found that when it was really snug, it was uncomfortable.
-I really, really liked having Fastpasses booked for Soarin and Toy Story and not having to race across the park for Fastpasses or skip the rides all together to avoid the hastle.
-First thing in the morning or even the day before, we were able to complete switch Fastpasses to another park and pretty much get what we wanted.
-Some of our Fastpasses were for later in the day, to a park that we would hop to. Other times we had Fastpasses starting just before lunch for our morning park .hit rope drop, then use our fastpasses .this mothod worked to ride some attractions twice once at rope drop and then a little later with fastpass.
-I liked having the wait time available on the phone and would sometimes use that to determine which ride to go on next. At times, it didnt seem accurate though so it we showed up at a ride that looked longer than posted time, we would leave.
In Conclusion:
Disney definitely has to do more tweaking to the system and to the computer system to make it more stable and hopefully they will get to that point.
We had a great vacation, despite the crowds which were mostly on the weekends. We did manage to find magic, despite the crowds and MDE and FP+.
We are looking forward to our fall trip.
I recommend taking a photo of your fastpasses just in case the system goes down and you cant view them. With my phone, you touch the power and home button at the same time quickly and it snaps a picture of the screen (I have I-Phone 4, I think)
I was a nervous wreak about this trip because of FP+ and MDE and although there were some minor clitches, we were able to work around them or get them fixed and it ended up being a good vacation. We are a rope drop family and dont usually stay really late with DD6. We normally get 1-4 legacy fastpasses per day so are not commando. We are very flexible and will skip any ride with more than a 20-30 minute wait and will check back later to see if wait is down.
We planned our FP+ at the 60 day mark and made changes and tweaks right up until we arrived. There were some clitches with the system where it was down or extra slow so it was a bit of a pain but manageable.
Minor Annoyances:
-For some reason, most times, I needed to scan mine twice at the parks because it wouldnt work the first time .not sure why. DD and DH had occasional problem.
-I had a problem the first time I tried to open our door but it seemed to suddenly start working so it may have been just that I wasnt lining Mickey up properly. DH and DD had no problems with room entry.
-MDE kept logging out so DH and I had to log back into the system one five times a day which was kind of annoying.
-Sometimes the system was clitchy and slow to change fastpasses. It was annoying when there werent any available to change to or at least nothing of interest. It was annoying when you walk up to use Fastpass and there is a 10 minute standby line .but you can go standby and change your pass or depending on which ride, we would do standby and then use our FP+ so that we can ride twice in a row.
-Sometimes it is annoying having a schedule but most times we found other things to do or short line rides nearby to occupy our time until our FP window arrived.
-There were times when we were able to change Fastpass times for an attraction but found that the earlier in the day you do it, the more likely that you are able to make changes. Occasionally we got lucky and were able to change the experience to a decent ride, but usually found the best rides gone by around lunchtime or even earlier for Toy Story and Soarin.
-At times, there were lines for attractions that normally dont have lines. It was more crowded then we are used to though. One time Pirates seemed to have a huge 40 minute stand by line but a little while later it was down to 10 minutes. Occasionally the FP line just to enter the que was long but they would then start scanning only one band per party so the line would quickly go down.
Major Problems:
-My password in MDE stopped working on the I-Pad and I-Phone on day 4 which may be related to the next problem below. My password has a ! in it and it was as if the system no longer was accepting special characters. I decided that I didnt want to waste my time calling to correct the problem as Guest Services in the park and the hotel were no help with this. Even more weird, is that when DH used regular laptop computer, he can login fine with my password
.so he logged in as me and tried to change my password but where you change your password you have to type in your old password and it didnt recognize my special character, even though he was logged in with it.-One evening when DD6 and DH headed to Disney Quest, I went to MK alone. This was half way into the vacation, after using our magic bands for 4 days with only minor problems. I scanned my band twice and Mickey turned blue both times so I was pulled aside by someone that had an ipad and scanner. She scanned me and said that was not my magic band
I told her yes it was
.I have the green one, DH has blue and DD has yellow and I have been using the green one for four days. She insisted again that it was not my band and asked who Robert was
.I told her that he is my DH. She asked me where he was and I explained that he and DD were at Disneyquest. She told me that the band is connected to his annual pass. I asked why we havent had a problem in the past 4 days but she didnt have an answer. Thankfully, she said that she will let me in THIS time. I went immediately to guest services because I was afraid I would have a problem charging my dinner and I didnt have cash. Guest services had no idea what problem the CM was having with the scanner because it looked fine to them and my charging looked fine too.
-I dont think 3 FP+ is enough, particularly for MK and I dont think they should be tiered or limited to one park.
Now the positive:
-I liked being able to charge with the band instead of having to dig out a card. Also we had memory maker attached to it. I liked being able to swim with it. I didnt find it uncomfortable, even when it was hot. I did end up wearing it a little louse because I found that when it was really snug, it was uncomfortable.
-I really, really liked having Fastpasses booked for Soarin and Toy Story and not having to race across the park for Fastpasses or skip the rides all together to avoid the hastle.
-First thing in the morning or even the day before, we were able to complete switch Fastpasses to another park and pretty much get what we wanted.
-Some of our Fastpasses were for later in the day, to a park that we would hop to. Other times we had Fastpasses starting just before lunch for our morning park .hit rope drop, then use our fastpasses .this mothod worked to ride some attractions twice once at rope drop and then a little later with fastpass.
-I liked having the wait time available on the phone and would sometimes use that to determine which ride to go on next. At times, it didnt seem accurate though so it we showed up at a ride that looked longer than posted time, we would leave.
In Conclusion:
Disney definitely has to do more tweaking to the system and to the computer system to make it more stable and hopefully they will get to that point.
We had a great vacation, despite the crowds which were mostly on the weekends. We did manage to find magic, despite the crowds and MDE and FP+.
We are looking forward to our fall trip.
I recommend taking a photo of your fastpasses just in case the system goes down and you cant view them. With my phone, you touch the power and home button at the same time quickly and it snaps a picture of the screen (I have I-Phone 4, I think)
