FP+ Has it calmed down?

[JennyDrake]

I was there in December and again in February--2, very different MB/FP+ experiences.

December was a WRECK. Lots and lots of problems w/ my MB and FP+, but friend travelling with me (linked to mine) had no issues. If you want to search my previous posts, I wrote it up.

Back again the end of February and ZERO glitches/issues w/ MB or FP+.

HOWEVER, still plenty of unpleasant fallout. Biggest issue for us was incredibly long standby lines, where previously there would have been no line to minimal line. (BTW, we were not there over holiday weekend.) IASSW had wait of 35 min, most attractions were 45-60 minutes with headliners 70 min. I'll concede these are typical wait times in summer, but not late February. There is very inadequate queuing for FP return lines and they snake out and about into the walkways and everywhere. They *look* worse than they are, but very poor planning and low visual appeal.

 

[JennyDrake]

-Off-site guests are still having a VERY tough time of it. The FP+ kiosk lines were extremely long from about 1 hour after park opening through the early evening. By 11am this morning at AK, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safari and Finding Nemo were all gone for the day. If they got there right at opening, no lines and lots of CMs waiting to help out. If I was staying off site right now, I would seriously consider whether it is worth going during peak season right now, until Disney rolls out their more finalized version.
.

DITTO! Thank you for commenting where I should have but forgot. FP+ lines had wait times of 45-60 minutes in FL about an hour after opening. I cannot imagine what they would be like in another hour when the main crowds arrive.

 

[WillAustin]

I think if people rushed to the parks early in the morning and then took a break to do the night time, it would work better.

This is what our plan of attack would be. Schedule the FP+s later in the evenings. Unless of course they move to a "rolling 3" where we can get another one after each one is used.

 

[Laketravis]

I think it's calmed down because more people are taking Disney's advice from the recent commercials and staying in their resort rooms.

 

[ferd]

My husband and I and our 2 year old went to the MK today. We are APs and live close so we often go to the park for a few hours and utilize FP to try to avoid lines. Today we had a FP for Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid Ride, and Pirates of the Caribbean (the first time I've ever had to FP Pirates.) Our FP+ time for Pirates was 3:55-4:55 and we arrived about 4:15. The standby line was posted as 75 minutes. The FP+ line...

Well, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:







The pics don't even do the mob scene this 'line' was justice. You literally could not even find the end. It didn't just go back, it curled around and was just the sea of people you can see standing there. It wasn't moving. People didn't know where to get onto the line. People couldn't get thru that section of Adventureland. And many people I could see getting up to the 'mickey' check-point were in fact in the wrong line and thought it was standby. It was a complete and utter nightmare. And this for a ride that generally has a line that moves (I mean, it's one of the few with a decently sized queue to meet enourmous demands.)

I'm aware it's a busy week with Spring Break and all, but I have been to the MK on 4th of July and Christmas Eve and I know crowds and 'normal' wait times versus crowded wait times. But this FP+ situation is really a disorganized mess. I am a pretty educated Disney person and know how the system works and I felt stressed and ready to scream when I walk up with a FP and see that kind of mess. I can only imagine how one-day visitors or people who have saved for years to come to Disney feel when they are met with such a mob scene.

 

[Junebugwv]

ferd, that picture of the LONG FP line sums it up. We were there Feb. 25- Mar. 7th and I gave an honest analysis on a few threads, but I never mentioned the FP lines we had to stand in. They were not crazy long like the one you posted, but there were roped off areas for us to queue to use our Fps and we had to wind around for 10 minutes to get in Safari on a mid-week day that should have been a FP walk-on.

The FP+ system has some upside for certain people, but you can't argue with your picture.

 

[Lyndarella]

My experience in Feb. was just the opposite. The FP+ lines were not long, but my MB was the problem. Every other day it said I had no FP, even tho I set them up before I left home. I will never stand in line at a kiosk to find out when I can stand in line for a ride. I just went at rope drop each day for the rides I wanted, and sometimes I was also able to use the FP+s I had set. This would be a less than magical experience for most people. The old FP system worked much better.

 

[rteetz]

So I usually plan hardcore up until the 180 day mark and then take a break. I really have been lax this time since we are starting to become "vets" and I just couldn't take the FP+ rants. So now that some people have experienced it, how bad is it? I don't see much about it on the first few pages so I'm thinking people overreacted (like the beer and wine at BOG, Starbucks, etc). I've kind of been stressed about it as we are going for the first time in August (September and April in the past) but should I be? Thanks.

I strongly recommend watching this weeks segment on FP+ and those who have experienced FP+ on this weeks Disunplugged show. If you do not know about the show or watch the show the owner of the disboards Pete Werner hosts the show and its a round table discussion on all things disney. In my opinion it beats anything else out there for disney discussion shows. In this weeks segment they had asked for peoples experiences of those who have used FP+. over 200 people replied with their experiences. The Dis team does a great job explaining the system and what it is to this date because it is still in testing and they talk about rumors and of course peoples in park experiences. Pete also shares some of his experiences. Again I highly recommend this to those with FP+ questions and doubts because believe it or not the majority of people coming back from disney are saying positive things about FP+. Most of the negativity comes from those who have not used FP+ yet.
http://www.disunplugged.com

 

[Jupiter]

It seems like they really need to do something about pirates. Isn't that the same ride that people talked about boats going off empty or with just a couple people.

It seems like the queueing systems needs some redesign or they just need to pull it from the fast pass system until they figure it out.

 

[mom2rtk]

I think it's calmed down because more people are taking Disney's advice from the recent commercials and staying in their resort rooms.

 

[Danadanes]

Om my lord that line! My husband will never agree to go back if he sees something like that

 

[prudence64]

I haven't experienced it yet myself, but I'd estimate the posts I'm reading have gone from about 80% negative, 20% positive to 50/50. It works really well for some touring styles and really poorly for others, so it just depends on your presences I think.

 

[Shaden]

I'm really curious about this too. I haven't seen any reports of lengthy FP+ lines and that they are snaking out onto walkways, causing congestion etc. I'll see how the system works for myself in May. I was able to test it in Sept but that was when legacy FP was still in place. Personally, I think it was likely an overreaction, but only time will tell.

There have actually been quite a few reports of exactly this.

EE FP return snaking out over the bridge toward nemo.

Space FP Return snaking out Under the people mover toward Laugh floor.

Thunder Run Snaking out massively out in front of splash.

Lots of reports of this ...
Also lots of pictures posted here, on facebook and on twitter.

 

[Mad Hattered]

When is it that all offsite guests will have access to advance booking??



FP+ looks alive and well to me. Besides...an escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Out of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.

 

[rteetz]

When is it that all offsite guests will have access to advance booking?? http://s27.photobucket.com/user/ferdalump/media/DSCN9068_zps08facacc.jpg.html FP+ looks alive and well to me. Besides...an escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Out of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience.

No word on advanced booking for offsite guests or if they will even get it. Disney is going to keep something as perks for on site guests. Maybe disney might do a 30 day window instead of a 60 for offsite I don't know but we haven't see the final product that is for sure. Reports are they are approaching $2 billion on MyMagic+.

 

[mmbl]

Not calming down at all. Lines for SB on things you use to walk right onto have grown tremendously long. We were 'experts' at the old system as well and after our currently okanned and booked trips using our premium annual passes, we will be saying goodbye to WDW for a long time. If Disney doesn't care that AP holders are saying - in droves- they won't renew, then I guess we know how they view loyalty and all the money AND referrals we have sent their way. We have 24 going next month because I talked it up for a family reunion. If they don't realize how much business they get from those who had been treated right (because we planned and organized and knew how to use FP) they are fooling themselves.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Not surprising, as more offsite people become aware of FP from Disney publicizing it. These lines won't "calm down" until offsite guests have advance booking of FP available, probably sometime this year.

Also not surprising, but due more to increased crowds than to FP+.

Re: the bolded - not according to the data that Josh over at easyWDW has posted and analyzed

 

[Angel Ariel]

Nothing has changed. It still doesn't work for many, many people and never will.

I can only speak for myself, but I got tired of arguing constantly about it and being labeled a "hater, negative, etc".

This is me too. I'm tired of the labels that are apparently OK to apply to those who don't like FP+, and tired of being talked to as though I'm clueless because I am not a FP+ lover.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Yeah....it's the attendance increase. Yeah.....that's it.

 

[Angel Ariel]

No word on advanced booking for offsite guests or if they will even get it. Disney is going to keep something as perks for on site guests. Maybe disney might do a 30 day window instead of a 60 for offsite I don't know but we haven't see the final product that is for sure. Reports are they are approaching $2 billion on MyMagic+.

I do believe they have already begun testing prebooking for offsite guests. I highly, highly doubt they would start testing such a thing and not eventually roll it out to all offsite guests.