FP+ Details Are Out!

[Seeker615]

AGREED!



Disney exec's are a bunch of deer in the headlight zombies who like many Co's are spending billions to make millions.

I think the reason for FP+ changes like the weather. This is based on what employees have said and what i can gather from the media events they host/or info they put out there.
Disney appears to be chasing it's tail and becoming a follower in the industry rather than a leader.

Many new guests are not excited about all the advance planning and lack of freedom that comes with ADR's and Disney vacations in general. Many of the return guests aren't as well.

It seems to me they are gearing toward a group of individuals who are tech dependent. They should have invented a video game about going to Disney. The people who actually get off the couch and go are, in my experiences, not amused or happy with the changes. The planners think it's too much planning, and if this was an attempt to accomodate those who didn't plan/ research in the first place, what would make them think this will inspire that action now???

I just know that I am thankful we spent the time there when it was they way it used to be. We will give this a go in Jan and April and see how it works out. Maybe we will wish the changes happened sooner, or maybe it will be our last hoorah with Disney

This is all so overwhelming. I like to plan my vacations but this is getting out of hand. Scheduling rides 60 days out? Scheduling table service 180 days out? When I took the kids when they were younger we just picked a park and went. I don't want to schedule my rides. what happened to spontaneity? Vacation should be fun. Yes I agree some planning is needed for any vacation but this seems extreme for a family oriented vacation. If we go with the grandkids in a few years I can't imagine telling them "oh you have to schedule your time to meet the princesses and no we don't have that ride scheduled till 3pm. Sigh...

 

[delmar411]

There is another thread where someone confirmed with IT that they are getting the bands and reservations without receiving a notification email.

I'd imagine if the bands actually ship, then it's probably real.

I am just giving people a heads up that people have been turned away over the past couple months who weren't invited to test but booked. They are obviously farther along in the process this time but if the two FP systems aren't linked yet this could lead to other issues if there is a mass booking up of FP+ times and they are also issuing full amounts of FPs.

 

[d1gitman]

This is all so overwhelming. I like to plan my vacations but this is getting out of hand. Scheduling rides 60 days out? Scheduling table service 180 days out? When I took the kids when they were younger we just picked a park and went. I don't want to schedule my rides. what happened to spontaneity? Vacation should be fun. Yes I agree some planning is needed for any vacation but this seems extreme for a family oriented vacation. If we go with the grandkids in a few years I can't imagine telling them "oh you have to schedule your time to meet the princesses and no we don't have that ride scheduled till 3pm. Sigh...

no one has to participate in FP+ or ADR's however, if one doesn't plan, that will make it difficult if not impossible to get walk-up at TS locations. If one doesn't plan on RD or going during slow seasons then long stand by lines could be expected.

no planning and 100% spontenaeity existed pre FP, during current FP and will with FP+.

i remember in 1984 my dad's planning was RD and going counter-clockwise thru the parks. so we basically stood in lines believing ours was shorter than the one on the other side of the park

 

[racinjunkie]

This is all so overwhelming. I like to plan my vacations but this is getting out of hand. Scheduling rides 60 days out? Scheduling table service 180 days out? When I took the kids when they were younger we just picked a park and went. I don't want to schedule my rides. what happened to spontaneity? Vacation should be fun. Yes I agree some planning is needed for any vacation but this seems extreme for a family oriented vacation. If we go with the grandkids in a few years I can't imagine telling them "oh you have to schedule your time to meet the princesses and no we don't have that ride scheduled till 3pm. Sigh...

I couldn't agree more!!

 

[mom2rtk]

no one has to participate in FP+ or ADR's however, if one doesn't plan, that will make it difficult if not impossible to get walk-up at TS locations. If one doesn't plan on RD or going during slow seasons then long stand by lines could be expected.

no planning and 100% spontenaeity existed pre FP, during current FP and will with FP+.

i remember in 1984 my dad's planning was RD and going counter-clockwise thru the parks. so we basically stood in lines believing ours was shorter than the one on the other side of the park

Yeah, and nobody really has to do any attractions either.

I doubt ride capacity has kept up with the expanding attendance over the years. There are fewer low crowd times too. It just gets more and more imperative that you plan or you'll be left behind.

The truth is they had a system that worked well for spontaneity. They are choosing to scrap it in favor of a system that requires much more advance planning. You know.....provided you want to do many attractions.

 

[bcrook]

Yeah, and nobody really has to do any attractions either.

I doubt ride capacity has kept up with the expanding attendance over the years. There are fewer low crowd times too. It just gets more and more imperative that you plan or you'll be left behind.

The truth is they had a system that worked well for spontaneity. They are choosing to scrap it in favor of a system that requires much more advance planning. You know.....provided you want to do many attractions.

Its not planning. It is interacting with the new technology.

 

[d1gitman]

one other aspect to the whole FP+, MDE, etc....that I haven't really seen much debate over is the MDE app and wait times.

Let's assume MDE gets to a point where it works with reliability, in the parks (quantum leap but at some point it would have to). In conjunction with FP+ and any planned crowd control measures through FP+ and MDE, there is the good old old stand by wait times app.

Maybe with MDE the wait times from Disney will be more accurate than what I've experienced with conflicting info on 3rd party apps. The wait time app crowd is one that enters in to this equation.

Currently there is the FP crowd, regular stand by crowd and the wait time app crowd.

FP or FP+ is essentially a fixed crowd with regards to capacity, FP+ really is about flexibility and possibly behind the scenes crowd control.

Stand by is just that.

Wait Time Apps crowd has the freedom to be the 'Just In Time' crowd that further levels out the crowd balance and 'fills in all the available spaces'.

IF (big if) MDE proves to be the most accurate of the wait time apps (it should be) then that could help offset stand by lines. In theory that should be occurring now since there have been wait time apps in play for a while now. However, my case is based on the timeliness and accuracy of available apps (many of which rely on guest input). I'm not convinced that scanning wait times and being able to take advantage of shorter wait time availability has been fully taken advantage of. This is based on our experiences with multiple wait time apps Disney's during several trips in the last 18mo.

 

[d1gitman]

Yeah, and nobody really has to do any attractions either.

I doubt ride capacity has kept up with the expanding attendance over the years. There are fewer low crowd times too. It just gets more and more imperative that you plan or you'll be left behind.

The truth is they had a system that worked well for spontaneity. They are choosing to scrap it in favor of a system that requires much more advance planning. You know.....provided you want to do many attractions.

so what theme park is out there that only has 20min wait times or less because they have higher ratio of attractions per guest thus eradicating the possibility of long stand by? It doesn't seem realistic to me to expect any theme park to create a model where the parks are 1/2 empty on a consistent basis and still be able to stay in business but maybe they do exist out there, i just haven't found any yet.

 

[WillAustin]

I am just giving people a heads up that people have been turned away over the past couple months who weren't invited to test but booked. They are obviously farther along in the process this time but if the two FP systems aren't linked yet this could lead to other issues if there is a mass booking up of FP+ times and they are also issuing full amounts of FPs.

Thanks. Chances are it won't work perfectly anyway based on past experiences.

 

[mom2rtk]

so what theme park is out there that only has 20min wait times or less because they have higher ratio of attractions per guest thus eradicating the possibility of long stand by? It doesn't seem realistic to me to expect any theme park to create a model where the parks are 1/2 empty on a consistent basis and still be able to stay in business but maybe they do exist out there, i just haven't found any yet.

You make it sound like the only 2 options are unprofitable parks that are half empty and FP+ with ride reservations 60 days out. Is there nothing between those extremes?

It's not the advance planning that bothers me about this. I mean, we live far enough away that I get at least a year to plan each trip, and I sort of enjoy that part in between actual visits. What I don't like is the loss of an spontaneity once we get there. They had a system that allowed for spontaneity. That still allowed a family to do their headliners if their child gets sick and they have to change park days at the last minute.

I'm still trying to figure out what to advise my friend going the end of October. So far it has just been to pray for FP+ not to be ready yet. Sounds like a great plan, huh? Her daughter is having hip surgery very soon and should be much better by then, but they just aren't sure. She plans to ask the doctor right before they go what the girl is cleared to ride. 60 days out she won't have any idea what they will be able to do. The trip is the daughter's motivation to get through this very difficult time.

 

[mom2rtk]

Its not planning. It is interacting with the new technology.

And if we don't love it, we need to learn to love it.

I keep telling my daughter she needs to learn to love math. I think I need to learn to love FP+.

 

[mesaboy2]

I love broccoli. I love broccoli. I love broccoli.

 

[mom2rtk]

I love broccoli. I love broccoli. I love broccoli.

Well, you tried.

I'm thinking my daughter didn't even try that hard with math.

 

[squirrel4569]

so what theme park is out there that only has 20min wait times or less because they have higher ratio of attractions per guest thus eradicating the possibility of long stand by? It doesn't seem realistic to me to expect any theme park to create a model where the parks are 1/2 empty on a consistent basis and still be able to stay in business but maybe they do exist out there, i just haven't found any yet.

I used to go to Cedar Point in Ohio all the time because it was a 2 hour drive away. It was nothing to stand in line for an hour or two for a new ride. Even some of the popular older rides would get waits between 45 & 60 minutes. And this was a park that was routinely adding new E-ticket rides quite regularly. They were adding new rides that featured new technologies, new heights, record breaking speeds, etc. All that did was increase the crowds and the waits. Sure the waits slowed a little at some of the older rides while the newest got the longest wait, but you still spent the majority of your day in line for the rides.

My point is that if Disney built a new ride/attraction each year for each park it would only add to the crowds and the waits really wouldn't go do. With specials and people learning about "off-season" those times will get busier as well. Expansion can help some, but it's not the silver bullet to ending the lines. Even with FP people are seeing waits increasing with the FP lines and the SB lines are exponentially growing. The crowds are growing so the lines will grow too. The same thing will happen at Universal too as they add their new attractions. It's just kind of the way it works.

The flip side is to be like Great America in Santa Clara, CA that has a fixed amount of space and can't really add new rides or attractions and nearly closed down due to low attendance. It's sort of feast or famine in the business. Disney is the leader in this and they know that. I think they are trying to improve the experience for all guests and while you can't please everyone, I think this will be good for the majority.

 

[doconeill]

Yes it was active. They were doing guest testing. But as a tester we've also been told to only book from a select list of attractions even though there is a longer list of attractions to choose from which indicates that they aren't turning on the FP+ at all sites ATM., just the ones they want to test at.

Ack. I thought you were referring to much earlier, before ANY of the magicband testing, when for a brief time some were able to make FP+ reservations, then found out they were useless...

 

[ArwenMarie]

This is all so overwhelming. I like to plan my vacations but this is getting out of hand. Scheduling rides 60 days out? Scheduling table service 180 days out? When I took the kids when they were younger we just picked a park and went. I don't want to schedule my rides. what happened to spontaneity? Vacation should be fun.

I'll admit, I was kind of excited for FP+. We aren't turbo FP users, etc. Then I saw some people's ride itineraries that they were kind enough to share yesterday on various boards, and I just got totally turned off.

Just seeing rides all locked in on the days...blech! I already don't like ADRs and tend to keep those to a minimum. But now rides? Sometimes you need to move your park days around, for real reasons, like tiredness, someone not feeling great, weather, etc. Or sometimes you need to rearrange even your day on the fly.

Yuck.

 

[MYD714]

Its not planning. It is interacting with the new technology.

Feeling like I have to book FP 60 days in advance in order to ride my favorites...that's planning to me. If there was no option to book in advance, or if the booking window was only a few days before...that would be a fun interaction with technology.

I'm really stressed about the possible inability to park hop with FP+. We change our minds about which park to be in all the time. Additionally, I can't imagine what my next big family trip will be like. My parents, brother, and SIL thought ADRs were the devil...can't wait to hear their thoughts on the new FP+.

We were sent the email about testing in August, and I'm really torn about whether or not to do it. I'd love to try it, but I feel like it's going to add a bunch of scheduling to my trip.

We purposely avoided the DDP so that we could have more freedom to how we spend our days. Now I feel like I should have just planned out each day with ADRs because then I'd at least know where to gets FPs.

Ugh!!! I don't know what to do!!! I'm so confused!!! I think I'd be less stressed if they would just take the old FP away and not offer me a choice this year.
Should we do the testing or not???

Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Call me crazy but I think firework reservations will end up being the most popular. 1) They are suitable for everyone and 2) They are the easiest to plan for.

Maybe one night out of a week-long vacation. Depends. I think most families would still choose rides when they actually get down to planning their FPs.

 

[2Tiggies]

Maybe one night out of a week-long vacation. Depends. I think most families would still choose rides when they actually get down to planning their FPs.

Yes, fireworks are awesome and we wouldn't miss them, but they are time-eaters and even with preferred location options you would still have to get there well ahead of time because navigating your way through the solid mass of people on and around Main Street in the 45 minutes before they start is a challenge inits own right!! I'd rather get through a few standby lines and a show in that time.

 

[d1gitman]

You make it sound like the only 2 options are unprofitable parks that are half empty and FP+ with ride reservations 60 days out. Is there nothing between those extremes? i was thinking more that the critics only see two kind of parks...those that give them a way to have short lines for themselves and those that dont. to two loudest complaints i see are a) i won't be able to do attractions like i did with FP and b) i don't want to plan that far ahead


It's not the advance planning that bothers me about this. I mean, we live far enough away that I get at least a year to plan each trip, and I sort of enjoy that part in between actual visits. What I don't like is the loss of an spontaneity once we get there. They had a system that allowed for spontaneity. That still allowed a family to do their headliners if their child gets sick and they have to change park days at the last minute. So i assume by this, FP is considered to be full spontaneity? to me, full spontaneity is no FP and all stand by. FP requires planning, just to a degree that it seems many are comfortable with. It's known that certain attractions need to be FP at RD and the early hours of opening if you want to get any FP's cause by 10am they are likely sold out or return times are the last hour or two of the day. Trekking around the park to obtain FP's requires planning. So i find it comical to hear some complain about planning. I think it comes down to they like the way they have it now with FP cause they now how to beat out the next guy and the heck with them.
I'm still trying to figure out what to advise my friend going the end of October. So far it has just been to pray for FP+ not to be ready yet. Sounds like a great plan, huh? Her daughter is having hip surgery very soon and should be much better by then, but they just aren't sure. She plans to ask the doctor right before they go what the girl is cleared to ride. 60 days out she won't have any idea what they will be able to do. The trip is the daughter's motivation to get through this very difficult time.

I don't understand how the daughters ability to ride or not ride certain attractions is an issue with FP+. Plan for what she wants to ride with the assumption she has medical clearance. If she gets to WDW and is unable to ride certain planned attractions, then make the change with FP+. It sounds to me like it would be most of the mountains & headliners in question. So, prebook them knowing that if she can't ride them, she still has the option to change them. It seems pretty unanimous that the current headliners that sell out now are the ones expected to sell out under FP+ so the other attractions that would be doable are likely to be available.