FP gone so fast??

[ArwenMarie]

But isn't that exactly what the op is talking about with the "new" system??

I think it's the same thing, A&E would be hard to get in either case paper or +. It's a case of pick your poison.

 

[cakebaker]

But isn't that exactly what the op is talking about with the "new" system??

I think I've explained it well enough as have others.

 

[LetsTalkWDW]

How can they book 75 days out?

People who have on-site stays can book for their entire trip, up to 14 days, so 60 + 14 (hey wait a minute that's only 74). Maybe LaurenT was rounding off?

Anyway her point is valid.

 

[mom2rtk]

OP, I firmly believe that once the "slow" season starts, they cut the number of A/E pairs meeting, so traveling in a lower crowd time made this much harder to get. Disney knows they continue to be in high demand, but likely (IMHO) cut the supply anyway. I'm sorry it means you could not get FPs.

I would always preferred getting FPs in the park because if you were there are rope drop, there were a lot of people, but I never failed to get a FP I wanted being there at rope drop.

I really don't think the Epcot move is going to solve anything, because I believe (based on nothing but my own speculation) that they will leave the MK when that happens. I believe the new ride will make demand to meet the duo worse, not better.

 

[JimmyV]

I think the point is that if the paper FP system were in place for A&E you would have a stampede at rope drop, and a huge line at the FP machines for tickets that would run out in 30 minutes or less given the nature and limited capacity of the attraction.

This is absolutely true. Though there is a bit of human nature that causes one to prefer this system because success is completely within one's own control. Under the old system, if your belly was pressed up against the turnstile before RD, you would have had a 100% chance of securing a FP for A&E. As you point out, there would have been a finite number of people needed to wipe out the FPs in 30 minutes. All you had to do to secure one was be among that number. And all that took was an alarm clock. It would have been messy, and ugly, and tiresome with elbows being thrown and strollers running over feet. But there are actually people who prefer that. Just like there are people who run with bulls in Pampalona.

With no FPs at all you would just have the massive standby line.

Ain't that the truth. When A&E first appeared in Epcot with no FPs, there was a mad dash to get to Norway at RD, and 4-5 hour lines soon developed. Yeah! Let's pay $90 for park admission so that dad can wait in a 5 hour line! That was ugly! And idiotic.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I don't think that A&E is any different than any other fp+ except for it's crazy popularity. Until the craze dies down, or they get a venue at Epcot finished, I'd expect the shortage to continue. I can only imagine the mess this would be without fp+. However hard it is to get, it sure beats having to rush to the park and fight the masses in person for a coveted fp.

I'm not counting on the Epcot M&G area fixing this problem. Jim Hill has indicated that it's likely that A&E will move to Epcot completely, leaving MK entirely. If the sisters still only have 1 M&G location in all of WDW, then I think we're left with waiting til the craze dies down. Who knows how long that'll be.

 

[Robo]

I am optimistic about the new A&E M&G in Norway.
I actually think (hope) that they will build it in such a way as to be able to meet demand.

I'm basing this on the fact that Disney is expanding two of their other gate-buster attractions, Soarin' and Toy Story Mania.
It's about time they realized that increasing "supply" (availability of popular attraction seats) is the correct way to answer "demand" (guests' wants.)

Up to now, their "solution" was to limit access (FP+) to these must-do attractions.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I am optimistic about the new A&E M&G in Epcot.
I actually think that they will build it in such a way as to be able to meet demand (at least handle it much faster.)

I'm basing this on the fact that Disney is expanding two of their other gate-buster attractions, Soarin' and Toy Story Mania.
It's about time they realized that increasing "supply" (availability of popular attraction seats) is the correct way to answer "demand" (guests' wants.)

Up to now, their "solution" was to limit access (FP+) to the attractions.

I hope you're right, Robo, I really do!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I'm not sure how speculating on what legacy FP availability would have looked like is helpful to the OP. A&E weren't around when legacy FP was in place, and no one has any idea how distribution would have worked for them.

How can they book 75 days out?

When you have an AP and are within 60 days of an onsite stay, your window turns into a rolling 60 day window + length of stay (up to 14 days). So if you have an AP and a 14 day stay, you can book esssentially for the next 74 days on a rolling basis until your stay is over.

This long rolling window helped me to secure the very popular Frank Oz FP+s during the last SWW for a few DISers who were local AP holders without an onsite stay. The Oz FP+s were very popular and were "sold out" by the time the 30 day window arrived. I grabbed them up when they became available to me with an onsite stay, and then transferred them to the other DISers when they were within the 30 day window.

 

[Planogirl]

This is absolutely true. Though there is a bit of human nature that causes one to prefer this system because success is completely within one's own control. Under the old system, if your belly was pressed up against the turnstile before RD, you would have had a 100% chance of securing a FP for A&E. As you point out, there would have been a finite number of people needed to wipe out the FPs in 30 minutes. All you had to do to secure one was be among that number. And all that took was an alarm clock. It would have been messy, and ugly, and tiresome with elbows being thrown and strollers running over feet. But there are actually people who prefer that. Just like there are people who run with bulls in Pampalona.

Ain't that the truth. When A&E first appeared in Epcot with no FPs, there was a mad dash to get to Norway at RD, and 4-5 hour lines soon developed. Yeah! Let's pay $90 for park admission so that dad can wait in a 5 hour line! That was ugly! And idiotic.

I think that something like this might be coming back soon. FP+ won't make a dent in demand for the new Arendelle stuff. People will be rushing and waiting.

 

[Planogirl]

I am optimistic about the new A&E M&G in Norway.
I actually think (hope) that they will build it in such a way as to be able to meet demand.

I'm basing this on the fact that Disney is expanding two of their other gate-buster attractions, Soarin' and Toy Story Mania.
It's about time they realized that increasing "supply" (availability of popular attraction seats) is the correct way to answer "demand" (guests' wants.)

Up to now, their "solution" was to limit access (FP+) to these must-do attractions.

I hope that you're right. The biggest problem I see is lack of space.

 

[LOL!]

I think I've explained it well enough as have others.

LOL!

 

[nat8199]

My only hope for the Norway A&E is that by the time my family goes again (2018?), my kids will be over A&E, so the FP+s won't be as big a deal. As of right now, I will be up at midnight on Monday trying to get A&E for the kids in our party plus one adult for the last day of our trip, though as I watch the Dibbs site every day, the chances of getting it are slim.

 

[LOL!]

I'm not sure how speculating on what legacy FP availability would have looked like is helpful to the OP. A&E weren't around when legacy FP was in place, and no one has any idea how distribution would have worked for them.

Yeah, that's kinda what threw me off track for a minute. OP: "This new system sucks" Others respond: "So did the old system". But I'm following it now.

 

[mom2rtk]

I am optimistic about the new A&E M&G in Norway.
I actually think (hope) that they will build it in such a way as to be able to meet demand.

I'm basing this on the fact that Disney is expanding two of their other gate-buster attractions, Soarin' and Toy Story Mania.
It's about time they realized that increasing "supply" (availability of popular attraction seats) is the correct way to answer "demand" (guests' wants.)

Up to now, their "solution" was to limit access (FP+) to these must-do attractions.

Having the physical space to have more pairs meeting doesn't mean they'll actually keep it staffed up on an ongoing basis.

If my guess is right, they have more space than staff for the time the OP is trying to get a FP now.

I can only hope that once the hype revs up again with the move to Epcot, they will staff it better for a while at least.

 

[ArwenMarie]

OP, I firmly believe that once the "slow" season starts, they cut the number of A/E pairs meeting, so traveling in a lower crowd time made this much harder to get. Disney knows they continue to be in high demand, but likely (IMHO) cut the supply anyway. I'm sorry it means you could not get FPs.

I would always preferred getting FPs in the park because if you were there are rope drop, there were a lot of people, but I never failed to get a FP I wanted being there at rope drop.

I really don't think the Epcot move is going to solve anything, because I believe (based on nothing but my own speculation) that they will leave the MK when that happens. I believe the new ride will make demand to meet the duo worse, not better.

That's right didn't this happen last September?

For something like this, I would prefer to know ahead of time and prebook this particular FP (or not). Then I feel like I would at least know and I could plan accordingly to dash at RD, maybe spend more time at DHS with the Frozen Fun stuff, tell your kid you will see them in the parade, stuff like that. But I see both sides.

I hope that you're right. The biggest problem I see is lack of space.

Even if they increase the meet and greets (let's hope!), I agree, the pavilion is going to be a disaster when that ride opens. I think they are going to have to use some sort of return tickets to even get into the pavilion area, some sort of controls. I don't think they are going to be able to have an open standby line.

 

[cakebaker]

I'm not sure how speculating on what legacy FP availability would have looked like is helpful to the OP.

I quite often think that any discussion of the old system and how much better or worse it was is pointless- but there are times I cave to the temptation as others so often do. I don't however think the discussion should be strictly limited to ways to assist the OP. If so, the thread is over because what she can do to help her situation has already been clearly pointed out.

I don't think it takes much imagination to know what distribution of FP at the meet would look like. We got a sample of it during the testing as I recall and we have a clear picture from many reports as to what it's like at rope drop just for the stand by line to form.

At any rate, I'm confident knowing the issues that they're having with availability that they'll add more capacity at Epcot. Time will tell.

 

[mom2rtk]

That's right didn't this happen last September?

It sure did. Isn't it interesting how availability seemed better then it's like someone flipped a switch and now it's not again?

 

[grimley1968]

At any rate, I'm confident knowing the issues that they're having with availability that they'll add more capacity at Epcot. Time will tell.

Adding capability would be the key to making any attraction-rationing system more of a useful thing. However, I don't share your confidence that Disney will increase the capacity or supply of anything anytime soon.

 

[Robo]

Discussing the "old system" is quite normal as this is a discussion board.

Regular FP is still in operation at parks other than the WDW group and, from the only indicators we have,
it looks like it's not going to be implemented at the other parks.

That means, to my simple mind, that FP+ is/was not the great answer to the super-popular attraction availability problem.