FP+ is now completely worthless if you are staying offsite.

[over50visits]

Are people really arguing about if Disney or Universal is cheaper? You can get a season pass to Universal for less than 5 days admission to Disney. Heck, if you don't care about the blockout dates (which I wouldn't because I wouldn't want to go there anyway), you can get a season pass for about the same price as TWO days at Disney.

You have to come up with some pretty specific scenarios to make a Disney trip cheaper.

Universal is cheaper, resorts are more beautiful and MUCH cheaper, CMs there are universally friendly, they have the worlds best rides, their FP system can be explained in 30 seconds, they don't squeeze more money out of you at every single turn.

Disney is Disney. They have created an experience, a lifetime of memories, and they know how to charge for it. We love Disney, it is our first choice, and probably always will be. But we know the high costs of that love.

 

[Suvadoo]

The only posts I see making comments about fp+ ruining their life are ones like this hyperbolic one.

I also don't think that many of those who dislike fp+ dislike it because of lines...pretty sure most everyone here realizes lines are inevitable at a theme park.

I think it has a lot more to do with people feeling like they are spending more, as Disney raises prices every year and sometimes 2x/year, and are now getting a lesser experience in their opinion. What constitutes a lesser experience is obviously dependent on the individual person.

For myself, planning is now a more complicated experience, and one I did not enjoy this time. I dislike thr level of.planning fp+ entails. I'm completely open to liking how it works once I'm in the park...we will see how that goes next month, but a great experience in the park won't change my dislike of the increase in planning beforehand..just mitigate it and make the annoyance of the preplanning worthwhile.

This is exactly how I feel. I get tired of this, "my life is ruined" crap. I'm just disappointed with the direction Disney has chosen to go in regard to WDW. I'm just glad they haven't tried the same stunt at DLR.

I'm just curious to see how FP+ booking goes during the holidays. I'm wondering what will be available for off-site guests at their 30 day window. I'm also wondering what will be available at the day-of Park Kiosks.

 

[danjoan14]

I'm just curious to see how FP+ booking goes during the holidays. I'm wondering what will be available for off-site guests at their 30 day window. I'm also wondering what will be available at the day-of Park Kiosks.

I'll let you know. We'll be there on Thanksgiving and staying off site. My 30 day widow will open at midnight on 10/28. My guess is that all the major attractions will be filled.

 

[Suvadoo]

I'll let you know. We'll be there on Thanksgiving and staying off site. My 30 day widow will open at midnight on 10/28. My guess is that all the major attractions will be filled.

That's what I'm thinking. If only they had built new attractions!

 

[jimim]

1. not worth a FP+ or a SB wait.
2. as long as its not FP+ only you can head there first thing and you won't have to wait too long
3. the wait really is not that long
4-5 who wants a FP+ for a parade? the section they squeeze you into is small and i've seen where if the section is full its full and CM's just tell people "sorry".

i'm not saying that it doesn't suck cuz it does but you make it seem like the end of the world.
my suggestion is to check several times a day.
it only takes a few minutes so you're not going to "waste your life away".
and if you are that upset then i would contact disney via phone and let them know that you are staying offsite and tried getting the FP+ selections that you wanted right at your 30 day mark and none of them were available.
they may not be able to make it right for you but if you don't tell them what your experience has been they don't know that there is a major issue that needs to be fixed.

1. i think it was great. but that's my opinion. if you rope drop you won't wait for long. we rode it 3 times on 3 diff days all at rope drop and waited no longer than 10 mins. one time it was 5 mins. we were at the gates by 830 for the non early magic days (2), the other was an early magic hour and were at gates by 730. so it's very doable.

 

[IamGroot]

For what it's worth, I don't personally love FP+. If you could only book 1 day in advance i think it would be perfect. I think people don't like the stress of planning so far in advance. And then they miss that one FP and STEW over it for the next two months till they arrive. If you missed a FP in the park day of, you would just sigh and try again the next day.

Or if it worked like the old system but it was just digital. Aka you still needed to hit a FP booth to load it on your key.

 

[MamaBear58]

The things that lawyers will sue for never surprise me.

For every lawyer suing there's someone who hired him/her to do so. Lawyers aren't the problem. Society is.

And the fact that anyone would consider it "discriminatory" shows that people have no idea what the word means. We're an entitlement society that equates not getting what we want to being "discriminated" against.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

The only posts I see making comments about fp+ ruining their life are ones like this hyperbolic one.

I see it all the time in "No More Disney For Us," and "The Magic Is Gone," threads.

Universal is cheaper, resorts are more beautiful and MUCH cheaper, CMs there are universally friendly, they have the worlds best rides, their FP system can be explained in 30 seconds, they don't squeeze more money out of you at every single turn.

Disney is Disney. They have created an experience, a lifetime of memories, and they know how to charge for it. We love Disney, it is our first choice, and probably always will be. But we know the high costs of that love.

I don't agree with the CMs being friendlier at Universal. For the most part I've found them at best to be tolerable, (there to do their jobs and not rude,) but not friendly the way I find many CMs at Disney to be.

 

[meowmarie]

Danjoan - We are also going Thanksgiving week and staying on site. Unfortunately most of our must do's were already gone even at the 60 day mark. No A&E, no 7DMT. We did get in for Belle but it's early that week. I check every day, things pop up here and there but I hate the way their system checks. There are 5 of us all booked for one attraction. We'd happily split up to do A&E or 7DMT, but when you "change experience" it checks for 5 people automatically because that is how many are selected. I wish you could just pull up an attraction and see the slots, pick one, and if conflicts with something you have it should warn you via dining reservation style warnings. We managed to get a CRT breakfast at 8:30 one morning, hoping we can run to A&E even if we have to miss part of breakfast or something.

 

[cakebaker]

I see it all the time in "No More Disney For Us," and "The Magic Is Gone," threads.

I don't agree with the CMs being friendlier at Universal. For the most part I've found them at best to be tolerable, (there to do their jobs and not rude,) but not friendly the way I find many CMs at Disney to be.

Same here- we didn't get any rude treatment personally, but we sure saw it. Plus if I thought Disney cm's were uninformed, they don't hold a candle to the ones we ran into at Universal. It took 3 of them to decide what time the park closed and even then, the final answer was go to guest services and ask.

The cm at the carousel who didn't like the fact that a couple of kids moved while the carousel was turning was another- instead of immediately stopping the ride (which was the correct choice) and removing them, she glared at them as they passed her each time and then when the ride was over, stomped over to them, bent down and got in their faces and yelled at them. It was wrong of them to move, but the yelling at them after the ride did nothing but make her feel better. Had they gotten hurt, their parents could've easily sued Universal.

I thought then- I NEVER see that happen at WDW- and I've seen people do some pretty stupid stuff.

We stayed the Royal Pacific. It's a nice hotel, but that's all it was. The pool was pretty small and there was nothing really to do there. The breakfast buffet was ridiculously expensive and hands down, the worst breakfast I've ever had. They did make my grandson his favorite "pink milk"- which was very nice of them, but for $25 pp, I expected decent food.

What makes a quality ride is completely dependent on what you like in a ride. I honestly got tired of having to put on 3d glasses- seems like most all their rides consists of sitting in some style of vehicle, getting swung around and watching a 3d movie. Yawn......

 

[Angel Ariel]

I see it all the time in "No More Disney For Us," and "The Magic Is Gone," threads.

I've seen people say they aren't going back, or the magic is gone for them...not so much literally saying that fp+ ruined their *lives*, as the person I quoted said.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Fastpass+ is actually an improvement over the original. Less paper (save resources) and limiting to 3 until you get there it actually provides for increased ride availablility.

 

[cakebaker]

I've seen people say they aren't going back, or the magic is gone for them...not so much literally saying that fp+ ruined their *lives*, as the person I quoted said.

Eh, I think it was just a little hyperbole- like this thread title "fp+ is completely useless if you stay off site".

There are more than a few posts that have really made fp+ seem much more difficult than it is and worried lots of people needlessly. You can see it from the just back reports- a great many of them express relief because they actually went, used it and had a great time.

So, yeah- ruining their lives probably isn't true in the literal sense.

 

[itchin2go]

Danjoan - We are also going Thanksgiving week and staying on site. Unfortunately most of our must do's were already gone even at the 60 day mark. No A&E, no 7DMT. We did get in for Belle but it's early that week. I check every day, things pop up here and there but I hate the way their system checks. There are 5 of us all booked for one attraction. We'd happily split up to do A&E or 7DMT, but when you "change experience" it checks for 5 people automatically because that is how many are selected. I wish you could just pull up an attraction and see the slots, pick one, and if conflicts with something you have it should warn you via dining reservation style warnings. We managed to get a CRT breakfast at 8:30 one morning, hoping we can run to A&E even if we have to miss part of breakfast or something.

I found it easier to search if each person had a *slightly* different window. That way, you can search for one person at a time. (Granted, I only had to search for 3 people.) It is cumbersome but if you do it that way, you may find better results.

 

[cakebaker]

FP+ is basically turning into getting tickets to a hot rock concert or sporting event. If you don't know a good scalper or know someone, you are out of luck.

See? A perfect example of the kind of hyperbole I just spoke of.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

See? A perfect example of the kind of hyperbole I just spoke of.

See above. I hardly think it's ruining anyone's life or "hyperbole" but rather the interpretation, or in this case misinterpretation. I never stated it was a horrible system or it affected my trip in the slightest. But there certainly are similarities. Concerts you have to call or go on line right at the time they go on sale, just like FP+ people are going on at midnight at day 60 to hopefully, get their rides. If they are late, 7DMT is out! Now I went in July and had a great time despite it so I am hardly a "perfect example" of what you are talking about. It didn't ruin my trip even a little.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

That being said, I personally disagree with the theme of the thread. Think about it, shouldn't there be some kind of perk for those spending the money to stay on site? Isn't it smart business on Disney's part to encourage people to stay onsite? Yes you may have to wait to go on a few rides but if that is the worst thing that happens on your trip, then it will be a great time. I went in July and didn't get FP+ for 7DTR (Despite the fact it just opened and I waited almost two hours for it. That's ok gave me time to talk to the friends I was with ) Didn't get one for Test Track (went in single rider line and only waited 15 minutes instead of the 60 minute regular line). Despite it being the crowded part of the year (school being out) I still go to go on every ride I wanted to except one and that was personal choice (was too hot).

 

[cakebaker]

See above. I hardly think it's ruining anyone's life or "hyperbole" but rather the interpretation, or in this case misinterpretation. I never stated it was a horrible system or it affected my trip in the slightest. But there certainly are similarities. Concerts you have to call or go on line right at the time they go on sale, just like FP+ people are going on at midnight at day 60 to hopefully, get their rides. If they are late, 7DMT is out! Now I went in July and had a great time despite it so I am hardly a "perfect example" of what you are talking about. It didn't ruin my trip even a little.

You're misunderstanding. I didn't say your post was saying fp+ ruined your life. But to say fp+ is turning to having to know someone or find a scalper is quite an exaggeration.

 

[cakebaker]

That being said, I personally disagree with the theme of the thread. Think about it, shouldn't there be some kind of perk for those spending the money to stay on site? Isn't it smart business on Disney's part to encourage people to stay onsite? Yes you may have to wait to go on a few rides but if that is the worst thing that happens on your trip, then it will be a great time. I went in July and didn't get FP+ for 7DTR (Despite the fact it just opened and I waited almost two hours for it. That's ok gave me time to talk to the friends I was with ) Didn't get one for Test Track (went in single rider line and only waited 15 minutes instead of the 60 minute regular line). Despite it being the crowded part of the year (school being out) I still go to go on every ride I wanted to except one and that was personal choice (was too hot).

This we agree on!

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

You're misunderstanding. I didn't say your post was saying fp+ ruined your life. But to say fp+ is turning to having to know someone or find a scalper is quite an exaggeration.

Which I deleted above as it came off the wrong way. I didn't mean it as something negative, just pointing out some of the similiarities between the two. I in no way meant it to be a negative. When you want to go for a concert, you log on ticketmaster at 10 am on the on sale date and normally by 10:30 the popular shows are sold out. FP+ you log on at day 60 and right now due to the newness 7DTR is normally unavailable soon thereafter. That was the point I was trying to make. Like I said above, I was unable to get a lot of FP+ to the popular rides and it didn't affect my trip one bit.