FP+ Frustration

[candacewi5]

As a 1st time visitor to WDW all of this planning and locking everything in before I even am sure what I am booking. My kids don't know the rides so I am not sure which they will consider a must do. Of course, we have researched, read, & watched YouTube videos, but the videos don't give my kids any references that they can use. It is taking so much time and energy trying to book what should be a fun vacation. I have a strong suspicion this will be our only trip to WDW. Vacations are our time to relax and be together as a family. It shouldn't be this hard to plan a vacation and it shouldn't take me months to make a schedule that will most likely need to be changed once we arrive. Extremely frustrating for me and really sucks some of the fun out of it.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Just out of curiosity, what were you trying to switch and why couldn't you do it?

I have had no luck switching anything. Maybe because we are a family of 5, but every time I look I cannot switch a FP+ time or even experience for anything else. Worse than that is the fact that the old stand-in time fillers have waits now, as others have reported. I do like not having to rush to the parks in the morning, but I would rather have to RD and do the old system myself.

ETA: I have also wanted to switch days at parks based on weather, our mood, ADRs opening up, etc and of course that is out of the question.

 

[wisblue]

I have had no luck switching anything. Maybe because we are a family of 5, but every time I look I cannot switch a FP+ time or even experience for anything else. Worse than that is the fact that the old stand-in time fillers have waits now, as others have reported. I do like not having to rush to the parks in the morning, but I would rather have to RD and do the old system myself.

Were you trying to switch same day or a day or two in advance?

 

[JayT]

For the most part, FP+ was a non-issue for us. It did require us to plan a lot more in advance, and do other activities rather than just the headliners. It wasn't a deal breaker because we still got to see our favorites and explore new (to us) attractions - Tom Sawyer, Hall of Presidents, etc. But we also had three days at MK. If I only had one day at MK it would have been a different experience. The only day where waits for POC, Jungle Cruise and HM were less than 45 minutes was during MVMCP.

There were a few times where I was frustrated - DH had to change his flight a few weeks before we left, and I wasn't able to move my TSMM FP+ to a later time for him. And we didn't want to wait 60+ on SB, so he missed that ride. On our AK day we were all feeling a bit tired and wanted to sleep in, but my Safari FP+ window was 9:00-10:00 and there were no other times available when I tried to move it.

Luckily we got the FP+ Tiering glitch and had FP for both Test Track and Soarin on both of our EPCOT days. And three just isn't nearly enough for Magic Kingdom, but after seeing the crowds last week, I understand why they have to limit it. There is just way too many people there. BUT - it was really nice to sleep in, swim at the resort and relax, then arrive at MK at 2:00 PM and ride 7DMT within minutes I was really worried and had anxiety about it, but it was really OK. Relax and enjoy!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Were you trying to switch same day or a day or two in advance?

All of the above, as well as pre-trip.

 

[itchin2go]

Given that there are so few attractions for which FPs are gone days in advance, I also don't understand why anyone should feel that those FPs commit you to a particular park. If you want to change your plans, even the same day, why not just do it and accept whatever FPs are available to you?

I have my doubts about how I will like FP+ in action, but I have to agree with the above.

I don't know why it "locks you" into anything. If you make FPs, keeping them (or showing up for them) is one option, but it's not the only one. Sure, foregoing them and changing your park will have repercussions, but it's still eminently do-able ... or maybe I'm missing something.

 

[silenttuba]

Perhaps the anti FP+ crowd would prefer the ultimate fair system: no FP at all. Everyone waits in line. Can't argue that there's anything unfair about that.

I understand the frustration, but honestly, it's a theme park. If you really expect to be able to ride all the most popular rides in the world's most popular theme park multiple times without waiting in line, that simply is not a realistic expectation. Even if you've been able to do that at times in the past (and I did on my first trip to WDW last year), but you can't expect that to always be the case. It's just not possible.

(Note: reading over this post, I realize that it sounds a bit snarky, but is not intended that way, so please don't take offense!)

 

[surferdave]

Perhaps the anti FP+ crowd would prefer the ultimate fair system: no FP at all. Everyone waits in line. Can't argue that there's anything unfair about that.

I would.

 

[summerskye]

OP here. Thanks to all for the replys.

It's not a situation of trying to do every major ride. Nor is it about doing rides multiple times. I know choosing to go during the holidays is going to cause hiccups. For us, Thanksgiving week is the best option. We have traveled to Disney 6-7 times at Thanksgiving. This trip is the 1st time where I feel that changing my mind has too many consequences. It is just frustrating. ADRs at 180 day. FP+ at 60 days. Park hours somewhere in between. But wait, Disney decides to adjust open hrs. Kinda throws a curve ball into plans.

When I made the fp+ plans at 60 days, i did not think about setting up for the hopper park. I just set what i thought would work for the day we planned to visit. But like i said, changing a park day comes with the penalty of losing FPs.

For me it feels more like work and less like a vacation. Everyone is different. It may be awesome for some.

Again, thanks for the comments.

PS. To those that are happy with "at least we know we have 3 fp". WOW. That is a whole lot of money for 3 rides...

 

[IWannaBuildASnowman]

More fair. Hahahhaha. Try staying off site and only getting to book 30 days out. Then we can talk about how fair it is.

Last year it was brutally unfair to those staying offsite. You couldn't even use it, but people onsite we're booking rides with Fp+ and taking paper FPs. Some stuff was just impossible.

Having said that, I now have Fp+ for some of the stuff we did not get to do last year, so yay?

 

[elaine amj]

I would.

oh NO thanks!! That's what I deal with when I visit Cedar Point. While I work the system and go on a touring plan and all that jazz, we still regularly wait in at least one or two 1 hour lines because we want to ride the headliners. (most folks I know wait up regularly in 3 hour lines!!)

I love, love, LOVE Fastpass. While I haven't used FP+ yet (going Christmas Week!!). I'll miss legacy FP, but FP+ has a few good things going for it so it's not ALL bad. It's not all doom and gloom.

 

[Brian Noble]

If I change parks, I can't get FPs for the popular stuff.

You might be surprised. We went during Spring Break last year---so, quite a busy time. The first half of the week was pre-planned, but the second half I did FP+ reservations the night before. Plenty of good choices still available.

 

[elaine amj]

You might be surprised. We went during Spring Break last year---so, quite a busy time. The first half of the week was pre-planned, but the second half I did FP+ reservations the night before. Plenty of good choices still available.

Good to know amidst the doom and gloom.

 

[silenttuba]

PS. To those that are happy with "at least we know we have 3 fp". WOW. That is a whole lot of money for 3 rides...

Do you only go on rides you have a FP for? I know I certainly don't. When we head to WDW in February, we'll have our FP+ booked, but also have other plans to get to everything we want. And if we decide to hangs our minds and lose our FPs, so what? We'll find plenty of fun things to do.

 

[photobob]

Just back from a short trip. I was not a big fan of FP+ system for many of the reasons stated here. I do have to say though it was nice having fastpasses already scheduled so that we didn't have to be there at rope drop to get decent fastpass times and run all over the parks to get them! We have been 15 times so we don't feel like we HAVE to do all the major attractions every trip nor is missing one a detriment to our trip.

This trip for the first time since 2008 I was able to do TSM due to the FP+. I do miss the older system but there are positives to the new one and like the old one you just have to learn how to make the most of it!

 

[KimBean]

My trip has not even started and I am already frustrated. We leave for Disney in 4 days. I have already set up plans, ADRs, FP+, etc. Looking at our schedule, I thought about adjusting a couple of days. We have park hoppers so bouncing between parks is not an issue. But thanks to Disney's new FP+ system, I feel locked into our plans. If I change parks, I can't get FPs for the popular stuff. In all of our past trips, we made adjustments as we wanted or needed. Now, I feel trapped. I know it may be nice to know that we have a FP+ for this or that. But, I miss the freedom of waking up and changing my mind...

OK, stepping down from my soapbox.

If you already did all the planning why change it? No need to second guess yourself. Go and enjoy what you planned and I am sure it will be great!

 

[3 MEN AND A BOAT]

We just returned; DW, DD2, DS8 months and myself, we don't like it at all. For starters the earliest I could get a FP+ for 7dmt was my last day of a week long stay, well I thought at least I'll get to ride it. Well at 2:00 on Friday my 2yr old had a breakdown and I wasn't about to leave DW alone to handle both of them, I had to miss my FP window of 2:30-3:30. I had skipped standing in the stand by line all week because I new I had a FP for fri. We've already decided it'll be a while before we head back to the world. I used a FP for POC, DW timed me and it took 35 mins from the time I entered until I exited, the standby line said 40min wait. Trying to make changes was miserable, after arriving and seeing that my 2yr wasnt going to be able to tour the way I thought I tried to adjust our plans, and my options were extremely limited.

 

[galaxygirl76]

We also just got back and we loved the FP system. It's the ADR's that made any park changes impossible because I didn't want to give them up. We changed three park days a few days before visiting them(had AK planned for arrival day but we got in late, so moved it to our off day, switched Epcot and MK a day before visiting Epcot) and we managed to get FP's for all the rides/characters we wanted for each of them, even managed to get them on the times most convenient for us.

We didn't get to do everything we wanted, and we knew that going in that that was a possibility due to our daughter's age(we learned in a hurry that rope dropping wasn't going to happen with her) and we are ok with that because we know we'll be back.

Different strokes for different folks, what worked for our touring style may not for someone else

 

[saintsfanshelly]

OP here. Thanks to all for the replys.

It's not a situation of trying to do every major ride. Nor is it about doing rides multiple times. I know choosing to go during the holidays is going to cause hiccups. For us, Thanksgiving week is the best option. We have traveled to Disney 6-7 times at Thanksgiving. This trip is the 1st time where I feel that changing my mind has too many consequences. It is just frustrating. ADRs at 180 day. FP+ at 60 days. Park hours somewhere in between. But wait, Disney decides to adjust open hrs. Kinda throws a curve ball into plans.

When I made the fp+ plans at 60 days, i did not think about setting up for the hopper park. I just set what i thought would work for the day we planned to visit. But like i said, changing a park day comes with the penalty of losing FPs.

For me it feels more like work and less like a vacation. Everyone is different. It may be awesome for some.

Again, thanks for the comments.

PS. To those that are happy with "at least we know we have 3 fp". WOW. That is a whole lot of money for 3 rides...

I guess I should mention we go at off times since we don't have kids. We did Epcot WS then hopped to MK with our 3 FPP from 3 to 8 pm (prior to 7DMT and A&E were still in Epcot) and knocked out splash2x, BTM, HM, POC, JC, Buzz2x, met Cinderella/Rapunzel and town square Mickey. everything was 10-15 min wait except splash, BTM and Princess meet...which was perfect bc those were our 3 FPP
That's definitely not a waste of money to me. Also love that I don't have to RD at HS anymore and know I have a spot waiting for me at TSMM and can walk on ToT and Star Tours with my other FPP. Again, not everyone likes this system, and I understand. At the end of the day, to each their own.

 

[disneydude365]

If you think a garunteed for three rides isn't much.. Wow
Yeah Disney is expensive but going in with a mindset that everything on your list will be done like I said before is setting up for a failing trip

And with fast pass your garunteed fast pass lines for those three rides, but wait omg did you know there is actually another line that anyone can use?!?!?!
If you play your cards right even those won't last but 20min if you go at the right times. When I said you were garunteed three that just means you can cross those off your Disney list. Our family we have a rule go in wishing for 1 thing anything else you get is just extra icing on the cake. Don't plan for anything but that 1 thing with that mind set you'd be surprised how much fun the trip can turn out. Fast pass plus gives the chance that your one wish can happen. And quickly.

Go to Disney with the right mind set and anything will be good, go in all stressed and hour to hour planning... Have fun with that lol. Our trip coming up dec 17th-21st we only have time for one park day but it's an extra magic day so were looking at 13 hours 2 of which will kick out non resort guests and after midnight the park has already thinned out some

Your trip is what you make of it. Fast pass plus can help if you let it.