FP+ Details Are Out!

[fflmaster]

Has there been any disboards posters doing the recent FP+ tests in either current test in Yacht Club resort or this weekends rumored Fort Wilderness resort?

If so please post if anything has changed.

 

[jade1]

I meant headliner, there wouldn't be a concern otherwise ...

Actually I assumed you meant a headliner that was your favorite attraction. The issue was your scenario meant you would not even get on one time during your stay.

I simply disagree. If it is susceptible to weather then nothing is for sure, even today.

But if you really want to hit 7DMT, just FP+ it 2 or 3 of the days. If not do rope drop or wait in SB. Plus keep checking for availability-it says there will be flexibility, so lets see at the time.

momof2n2 want to hit things multiple times-but thats not what was being addressed.

 

[WillAustin]

We will soon know. Very few folks are in any front row at Illuminations, just isnt necessary. Most are crowds or just strolling by during. Plus over a mile around seems extreme, esp when wind ruins a lot of it, we will see.

I will say that if I booked FP+ for a parade 60 days out, I'd probably expect to be in the front row for that and not 5 or more people back in a "reserved area". I know Illuminations is different than a parade, but I'm just saying...

 

[Patience]

So I have been fallowing this thread but I am not sure if this has been pointed out. On MDE the wording around the Wish List seems to have changed a little or at least I just noticed it. It says " You can search items and bookmark them to add to your itinerary when booking windows are available." Its the when books windows are available part that I thought was new, before it stressed how it wasn't a resevation it still states that on things like fireworks but it also implies that is a tool they want you to use to plan your fass pass + before your booking window. It seems like there are alot of little changes on MDE biulding up to fast pass +.

My MDE app does not say that in the Wish List tab. Where is the consistency with this crazy app???

 

[squirrel4569]

My MDE app does not say that in the Wish List tab. Where is the consistency with this crazy app???

It's on the website, not the app.

 

[agavegirl1]

So I have been fallowing this thread but I am not sure if this has been pointed out. On MDE the wording around the Wish List seems to have changed a little or at least I just noticed it. It says " You can search items and bookmark them to add to your itinerary when booking windows are available." Its the when books windows are available part that I thought was new, before it stressed how it wasn't a resevation it still states that on things like fireworks but it also implies that is a tool they want you to use to plan your fass pass + before your booking window. It seems like there are alot of little changes on MDE biulding up to fast pass +.

This is very interesting. One thing I am watching is the "data mining" possibilities of the whole MDE/FP+ project. If this is the case, I can go online and play around with possible attractions and dates prior to the 60 day mark and Disney can track my planning in addition to my reservations. Okay, a little creepy. That would give them an idea of what my priorities are before I even pull the trigger. Hmmmm.

 

[Shaden]

Actually I assumed you meant a headliner that was your favorite attraction. The issue was your scenario meant you would not even get on one time during your stay.

I simply disagree. If it is susceptible to weather then nothing is for sure, even today.

But if you really want to hit 7DMT, just FP+ it 2 or 3 of the days. If not do rope drop or wait in SB. Plus keep checking for availability-it says there will be flexibility, so lets see at the time.

momof2n2 want to hit things multiple times-but thats not what was being addressed.

So I will repeat ...

I am not going to book an entire week of FPs all in MK just so I can be sure I get to ride space, or 7DMT, especially since if I book in MK, that means I can't in the other 3 parks.

The point that I was trying to make, and many have made here, is that this system locks you into it, there is very little room for flexibility. This becomes even more problematic if you are doing a shorter trip ...

So, I book my FP for 7DMT for Monday, morning, have DHS booked, Tues, Epcot Weds, AK Thursday, heading home Friday. Monday is a crap day, lightning storms, or my kid is sick, etc ... No way I am getting a 7DMT FP on the day of (unless they reserve some for same day, but then there is a whole other host of problems they will get themselves into) ... So now I either get to TRY and get on 7DMT, stand by, but of course this might completely conflict with my FPs booked that day in the other parks, which will be equally difficult to change since other people have been on booking 60 days prior ...

Repeat complete ...

 

[SoonerSean]

The one park-one day thing is certainly a hinderance and a huge negative to the program. Certainly if you head off to MK it's easy to use 3FP+, but what if you only like Soarin at EPCOT and want to use one there. Now that's out of the question... you'd have to go there and do the stand-by line (assuming the existing FP program is eliminated).

So now 60-days out we have to plan the rides we want to FP when we have no idea what the weather will be like, what the crowds might be like, or how every one in the party might feel on a given day (we've woken up before thinking we'd head to one park only to change our minds due to the line for buses, a sudden hankering to ride something, etc.)

I really like the current system... in an average day we probably don't FP more than 4-5 things anyway because after a certain time of day the return times are late enough that they don't really allow for you to use them multiple times - which is also affected by the fact that they tell you when you can get your next FP.

So if I walk in at RD and get a FP for Peter Pan at 10:00, I can't get my next one until around then (figuring a 2-hour delay). After we ride Pan we hit BTM and get a FP that says we can return at 1:00. We now can't get a 3rd FP until say 12. Before we ride BTM we go over to SM and FP it with a return time of say 3. We get our next FP at around 2 for Buzz Lightyear and have to wait until 4. By the time we get the next one for any of the "headline" rides its for times in the evening.

Thus the current system already limits how many you can get and makes distribution fair. I just don't see the point in the new system.

 

[momof2n2]

Maybe. But I'd probably want all three for Soarin' on our Epcot day...

Shoot. I forgot - no repeats, right?

 

[d1gitman]

The one park-one day thing is certainly a hinderance and a huge negative to the program. Certainly if you head off to MK it's easy to use 3FP+, but what if you only like Soarin at EPCOT and want to use one there. Now that's out of the question... you'd have to go there and do the stand-by line (assuming the existing FP program is eliminated).

So now 60-days out we have to plan the rides we want to FP when we have no idea what the weather will be like, what the crowds might be like, or how every one in the party might feel on a given day (we've woken up before thinking we'd head to one park only to change our minds due to the line for buses, a sudden hankering to ride something, etc.)

only an issue if they don't allow same day FP+'s in conjunction with the 3 prebooked. as it is now, everyone is subject to the the good ole' "first come, first serve" distribution of FP. if FP+ allows same day bookings as well as the 3 prebookings AND there is reasonable availability to obtain same day FP+, then the 3 prebooks become nothing more than the opportunity to enhance your day by having 3 FP+'s as anchor points. IF we are only allowed 3 FP+ per day with no additional FP+'s that day, then yes, i would agree the system will suck. I just have a hard time believing they will restrict all guests to 3 FP+'s only and then it's off to the stand by lines. Who knows, maybe they've run models to prove to them that beyond a doubt, 3 FP+'s per person per park per day is the magic number and method to free up the standby lines. Seems unlikely but, who knows, yet.

 

[SoonerSean]

It's also a real potential pain that you hit your 60-day mark and go online to book your three favorite attractions and find that they are either unavailable ("sold out") or the available times don't fit with your plans.

For example we're doing Thanksgiving Day at DHS and obviously would want to do TSM. Everyone that gets there just a day before us and also plan to spend Thanksgiving at the park could conceivably book all or almost all of the available times.

In the past we would get there at RD and go and get a FP around 9AM with a return time of say 11. Now it may be that the only thing available is near closing time at 8 that night. Same with RR or ToT... we'll still do RD but now it will be because we have to be one of the first in line to TSM because the FP+ doesn't work for us.

Or say the day before we have dinner reservations at EPCOT and I go online to book our three FP+ at Soarin and Test Track and the only available times for both are in the window of 6-8 - right when we'll be sitting down in Germany eating our dinner.

Gah... this whole thing just makes my head hurt.

 

[doggydoc]

IF we are only allowed 3 FP+ per day with no additional FP+'s that day, then yes, i would agree the system will suck. I just have a hard time believing they will restrict all guests to 3 FP+'s only and then it's off to the stand by lines.

Totally agree. I can't get past the paradox that "uber" FP users are a big enough group to make a negative impact on "average" users, but too small for Disney to worry about making angry.

 

[Robo]

I can't get past the paradox that "uber" FP users are a big enough group to make a negative impact on "average" users, but too small for Disney to worry about making angry.

Similar dichotomy that said that those guests who knew that they could use FP anytime
AFTER the Return Window on the same day were so unfairly FEW,
but that when they did that, there were so MANY late FP users
that they slowed the entire FP system to a crawl.

 

[SoonerSean]

I hope you're right. If the current system continues on then FP+ would be a neat "enhancement" for your experience.

To me limiting you to one park per day somewhat suggests to me that there might be a hope that the current system will stay in place. I certainly hope so.

 

[Cafeen]

so what your saying is that you agree with me (it's okay to)

It didn't start off that way . I do see ROF as a potential positive (for Disney) side-effect, but not for quite awhile once things get smoother.

 

[daizieduck]

The fact that the bands have three year batteries sounds expensive. And wasteful? Are they reusable for multiple visits over the course of three years? Even still, I may be wrong but the majority of guests do not go more than once a year, if that? So they get a band for a four day trip and then it it's basically trash? Doesn't sound eco-friendly or cost effective?

 

[d1gitman]

Similar dichotomy that said that those guests who knew that they could use FP anytime
AFTER the Return Window on the same day were so unfairly FEW,
but that when they did that, there were so MANY late FP users
that they slowed the entire FP system to a crawl.

maybe same dichotomy that says FP+ is going to make standby lines longer? or the FP+ won't work

 

[d1gitman]

The fact that the bands have three year batteries sounds expensive. And wasteful? Are they reusable for multiple visits over the course of three years? Even still, I may be wrong but the majority of guests do not go more than once a year, if that? So they get a band for a four day trip and then it it's basically trash? Doesn't sound eco-friendly or cost effective?

we don't know that...or what percentage are locals....but Disney does, so maybe something to last 2-3 years was the breakpoint for cost of MagicBand...plus, will they charge for a new one once the first one dies?

 

[Robo]

maybe same dichotomy that says FP+ is going to make standby lines longer? or the FP+ won't work

Those two things are mutually exclusive?

 

[bauer1168]

NOW, with regular FP, they are in the same boat.

With FP+ (the Great Leveler)
with hundreds (up to thousands) of pre-arranged FP,
at specific Return Times,
and the guest-decided pre-arranged exclusion of FP reservations for other popular attractions,
the boat gets pretty leaky for a specific group.

They can send everyone over to Lights, Motors, ACTION! Stunt Spectacular!

And if TSMM was to experience problems like that when FP+ is rolled out, everyone I'm sure will be given some sort of return anytime FP or choice of FP slot for a different attraction. The problem is DHS just doesn't have enough attractions to disperse the crowds well enough. The vast majority would choose RnRc or TOT. Add those to the people who already chose those rides for their FP and you could do some serious damage to the waits in the SB line.
The same for EPCOT aswell I guess. If TT was down, vast majority would choose Soarin' or Captain E.O (lol). The SB for Soarin' could look U-G-L-Y
I guess one plus would be if a ride goes down and they have no idea when/if it will be back up and running that day, they could send a text alert to guests in the park who had FP+ reservations for that ride and let them know when it was back up and running