FP+ Details Are Out!

[fflmaster]

I was always a wait and see person when it came to the new FP+ option.

I was one of those "it's Disney they are not going to roll this out without having same day and only allowing 3 per day" people.

After reading this report and hearing the testers, I have to say BOO to FP+.

This seems like it is going to be every bit the issue that Robo and Mesaboy have been saying.

I don't see me liking the options and just have to hope that if enough people complain they will change and allow MORE then 3 FP+ per day, same day FP+ and the ability to use in multiple parks daily.

 

[P00H1010]

I think that it could be a good thing once all of the kinks gets ironed out but right now I am seeing good and bad if they go with it according to plan.
Pros:
* Knowing before your trip that you will be able to ride certain attractions
* No more mad dashes to get FPs
* The ability to adjust FP to work better for you after you "reserve it"
Cons:
* FP+ is only available for one park per day
* More to plan

Now I like all pros that I listed but have major problems with the cons. One park per day is not very accomodating to people who park hop. I know some people like to plan every detail of their trip but I feel it adds a lot of stress that I do not want with my vacation. We do 10 day trips, park hop constantly and only do about 3 ADRs because we like a laid back, go with the flow trip. We pay extra to park hop to give us that flexability. The cons I listed directly interfere with the way we tour the parks.

I think it would be more balanced and accomodating to all styles of touring if they changed the one park per day rule. They could make it just like your park tickets....if you have a base ticket then you get 3 FPs for one park per day......if you have park hoppers you still get 3 FPs but they can be at any combination of parks you'd like.

 

[Masonmj84]

One of the things that will be interesting is how this will affect standby wait times.

I'm sensing that there will be a lower total number of FPs available at headliners than under the current system. This should theoretically result in shorter standby lines at headliners (at least during the busiest parts of the day).

Of course, there are a lot of unknowns. For example, how will Disney limit FP's for headliners? Will it just be one per park per day? Or will it be based on resort tier (deluxe = 3, moderate =2, value = 1) as has been speculated on TouringPlans? Will a certain percentage be held back from the advance reservation system (attainable only in the park on the day of visit) and, if so, what percentage?

One concern I have is the potential to negatively affect the strategy of arriving before RD and riding multiple headliners standby (because of the limited availability of FPs, more guests may come at RD, particularly those that like to park hop, who will plan to ride all the headliners standby at the first park and save all of their FP+ for the second park).

So while standby lines may, on averge, be shorter throughout the day, they may be longer than they currently are during the first few hours after RD.

 

[mom2rtk]

Pros:
* Knowing before your trip that you will be able to ride certain attractions
* No more mad dashes to get FPs
* The ability to adjust FP to work better for you after you "reserve it"
Cons:
* FP+ is only available for one park per day
* More to plan



Allow me to expand:

**Potentially fewer fps over the course of a day, resulting in fewer overall rides.
**Possibility of being shut out of certain fps completely
**Angst leading up until your trip if you were unable to score prebooked Fps to your favorite rides
**Potentially much longer waits at attractions that have now added fp when it wasn't needed before (witness my experience at ETWB during the December test).

And yes, I do think they will end up having to rethink their "one park per day" plan. I don't think they want to decrease hopper sales, but I do think they are placing great value on committing people to a certain park ahead of time so they can "adjust" staffing to reflect their anticipated needs. In other words, they want to cut staff in the parks expecting fewer guests. But if it costs them hopper sales (which I think it will) then I think they'll reconsider.

 

[thunderbug548]

This is all sooo confusing to me! We are a Passholder family of 5- local (Tampa)- so we do day trips only. We look at the crowd calendar for the weekend and pick a park based on no-EMH and what we want to do. I don't want to book a day trip 60days out! I also don't want to wait in an hour line (and we never do on purpose) bc we know how to utilize FP. What does this mean for us? I love WDW but I would be less apt to renew passes if I knew we would be spending most of the day waiting in 60min lines or we couldn't get FP to the specific rides we want to do.

How will this affect locals who only go on weekends/one day vs vacationing?

 

[DebbieB]

How would you feel about your 5 year wearing a band that costs $50 to replace?

 

[Suzanne74]

How would you feel about your 5 year wearing a band that costs $50 to replace?

I was thinking the same thing about my 4yr old. We have a designated fast pass holder - my husband's wallet

I just don't want to plan my days in the park 60 days in advance - period. We go to different parks different days depending on weather, heat, crowds, our own tiredness. It just stressful and anxious to me.

 

[thunderbug548]

How would you feel about your 5 year wearing a band that costs $50 to replace?

None of us are big on bracelets (I really can't stand anything on my wrist) and I certainly don't want my 5yr old wearing one. I like the RFID AP cards that we have and they are good enough for us. If the bands are optional, we'll stick with the cards.

 

[rizzo0904]

I didn't read all posts...

My guess is FP+ will "sell out" during peak season. There won't be any additional left, and those who plan last minute may not get any. During off season they may be able to offer bonus FPs. Maybe this will spread the crowds out more during the year?

 

[MaxsDad]

Terrible idea. Might be time to sell that DVC.


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[Jennasis]

I'm still shocked by how turned off by this I am, and how little faith I have in Disney's IT infrastructure to even implement this successfully. I'm a die-hard, pixie dust huffing Disney lover. I don't even consider vacationing somewhere else. DH too. It's not a case of fearing change...I embraced FP way back in the day when it first came out. I love the rfid stuff. I just can't get behind FP+. So thankful our next trip isn't until next September. At least I'll be able to sit back and watch the program either implode under it's own hubris, or labor under its growing pains while other people figure out how the deuce it works and fill in the rest of us before I have to deal with it. Like I said earlier, my plan at the moment is to just ride standby like the old days and not even bother with FP anymore.

 

[Delirium]

Four thoughts:

1) The one park limit infuriates me. We love to use the park-hopper. Is this Disney's way of telling us they don't want us to use those?

2) This is totally unfair to families with small children. Say, a family of 4 with a 5 year old was at Hollywood Studios. The entire family wants to FastPass Toy Story, but only 2 want to ride Rock 'N' Roller Coaster (the 5 year old does not meet height requirements). That means to take advantage of their three allotted Fastpasses, the other two must FastPass an attraction without the two riding RNR. If the two that ride RNR want to do that same attraction, it forces them to do standby while the other two do Fastpass.

3) I have to laugh at the idea of kiosks in the park for those without Smartphones. Who wants to bet those lines will be as long as the Toy Story Fastpass line is today 5 minutes after rope drop.

4) If Disney thinks this is the right thing to do to better 'market' to me, I'll simply cut way back on the amount of merchandise and food I purchase while in the park. You take away something from me, I take something away from you.

 

[Shaden]

Terrible idea. Might be time to sell that DVC.


Posted from Disboards.com App for Android

That's HILARIOUS, because I was looking at BUYING DVC for our next trip, I figure we are going to go the next few years in a row, we have gone the last two, I could have paid it half off already from the last 2 trips, might as well buy it ...

But after reading this stuff, I am now on a wait and see before I purchase DVC .... DVC will still be there in a year ....

 

[mom2rtk]

Four thoughts:

1) The one park limit infuriates me. We love to use the park-hopper. Is this Disney's way of telling us they don't want us to use those?

Not to worry. They still want you to BUY them.





They just don't want you to USE them.

 

[coco392]

am I right:


3 passes per day at the park of your choice

but only at 1 park- if you start mk you can't do 2 at mk then move to dhs and save the third

 

[doconeill]

am I right:


3 passes per day at the park of your choice

but only at 1 park- if you start mk you can't do 2 at mk then move to dhs and save the third

As it stands right now, yes.

 

[Shaden]

am I right:


3 passes per day at the park of your choice

but only at 1 park- if you start mk you can't do 2 at mk then move to dhs and save the third

No its 3 per person, per day, at one park, at a given time.

So if you burn 2 at MK, and more to DHS, you can't use any at DHS, and the next day you have your 3 again. At least, that's how I am reading it.

 

[Planogirl]

I keep seeing that offsite and local guests might be shut out of riding the popular rides. Really? Does Disney want to take the chance of irritating a large group of people who spend money for passes, food, shopping and so on just to get a few more people onsite?

That seems downright stupid.

 

[coco392]

thanks doconeil and shaden

 

[Delirium]

No its 3 per person, per day, at one park, at a given time.

So if you burn 2 at MK, and more to DHS, you can't use any at DHS, and the next day you have your 3 again. At least, that's how I am reading it.

Ignore, Misread your post.