FP+? More like FP-!

[Davey Jones II]

Hi folks. I'm starting this thread because I am very upset about the elimination of our beloved Fast Pass, and the way the Walt Disney Company is forcing this new system on us. Three fast passes per day, and only one for a premiere attraction?? How does that meet anyone's needs? And if you park hop, you can't even get any fast passes for your second park of the day. But they still charge extra for park hopping privileges!

They spent well over a billion dollars on this. Where are their priorities? Why not a billion dollars worth of new/plussed attractions instead? Isn't that what we all really want?

I also resent having a "magic band" which is designed to track my every move, just so they can market more selectively to me and extract even more money from me. Don't we have enough Big Brother without being followed through theme parks, too?

I don't feel we should take this lying down. If you dislike this buggy and restrictive new system, please complain to the company. Tell them how you feel. Write to www.guestservices@disneyworld.com

Thoughts?

 

[kaytieeldr]

My thought is that this thread is misplaced and should have been started on the Theme Parks Advice and Strategies board.

The only way this relates to Resorts is that the Magic Band opens the room - just like a keycard (trackable, including purchases/spending) did before.

 

[maxiesmom]

The system is not yet in it's final phase, so I'm hopeful they will still make some adjustments, such as allowing guests to pull more FP+. At any rate I have visited the parks with FP+, and it worked great.

And you don't have to use Magic Band to make purchases if you don't choose to. It can be your room key only.

Also, as you seem to not be aware, Disney has been spending money hand over fist in the parks. New Fantasyland, many updated queues, updated Test Track, and that is only part of what they have been spending money on.

 

[Davey Jones II]

The system is not yet in it's final phase, so I'm hopeful they will still make some adjustments, such as allowing guests to pull more FP+. At any rate I have visited the parks with FP+, and it worked great.

And you don't have to use Magic Band to make purchases if you don't choose to. It can be your room key only.

Also, as you seem to not be aware, Disney has been spending money hand over fist in the parks. New Fantasyland, many updated queues, updated Test Track, and that is only part of what they have been spending money on.

Since you had so few fast passes, were you able to do the most popular rides without waiting in endless queues?

Yes, I'm aware that they have been spending money in the parks. I'm also aware that they are earning billions in profits, and still have nothing new in the works for DHS, Epcot, and Disneyland. In the forseeable future, the only thing new coming to the entire Disneyland Resort is the new version of Soarin' (which, apparently, is not coming to WDW!).

I'm also aware that there are lots of stale, unpopular "attractions" at WDW which badly need to be replaced, such as Stitch, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the Beauty and the Beast show (and some of the other shows we've all seen a zillion times), the Back Lot Tour, etc. Other rides need plussing or refurbishment (Space Mountain is as rough as ever). There are still shuttered pavillions at Epcot, doing nothing but take up space. None of this is being addressed because they squandered a fortune on an unneeded and painfully restrictive reservation system.

I'd like to know why show is taking a back seat to RFID? What about the priorities and values of the company founder?

 

[john398]

Wasn't there an update to Star Tours recently at DHS?

 

[kaytieeldr]

And update to Fantasyland, and monorail repair (sometimes infrastructure work is mandatory), and a new resort primarily for larger parties, and while the Wonders of Life pavilion isn't a year-round attraction it's used for special events, ditto with the non-pavilion former restaurant Odyssey. I've never flown in outer space, but isn't a rough ride typical? Can't be compared with the DLR version because they're entirely different ride vehicles.
Most of the 'unpopular' attractions referenced by the OP actually are pretty popular - at least if you base popularity on lines or full theaters.

 

[Lynne M]

Moving to the Theme Parks board.

 

[paxsarah]

And if you park hop, you can't even get any fast passes for your second park of the day. But they still charge extra for park hopping privileges!

I would submit that if this is your approach, you might gain as much benefit from a revised touring plan than additional FP+. Many people choose to rope drop one park without using FP+, then use FP+ at the park they hop to later on.

 

[ElliePixie]

I understand some people getting a little upset with the change, but those people are the ones who are being able to spend long hours in the park, or getting there at rope drop or staying late. These people were getting more than 5 fastpasses per day. But these people are not the majority and are not big families with little kids. The charge will Benefit those families who were never able to get a fp for Toy Story Mania or Soaring. It will balance things out so that everyone can have a good time and ride popular rides.
I do hope that sometime they add they option to have fp when park hopping, but even if they don't, I still like the new system

 

[blessedby3]

We have a 2 week trip planned in June. I am so anxious about it. We are one of the families that enjoyed getting multiple fast passes during the day for headliners. Now we are only allowed to get 1 FP+ for a headliner…ughhh
I am hoping that they change things around and end up allowing more FP+ per person per day.
We are also staying off property so that adds in to my anxiety. My dd's and I are staying 2 nights on property in the middle of our trip, so we will have magic bands, but my DH and DS and DSIL aren't going to have them…unless they change that too.
So many changes that I am anxious about

 

[cigar95]

. . . . And if you park hop, you can't even get any fast passes for your second park of the day. But they still charge extra for park hopping privileges!

Well, FP *is* available at the second park, but not until you actually get there. We had to use the kiosk, rather than the app. (This is probably because requiring the kiosk automatically verifies that you are in the other park.)

The "how", "when", and "how many" details are still uncertain.

 

[photo_chick]

I really don't understand these threads. I'm not trying to be ornery or snarky. I really don't understand the mentality or the entitlement type attitude. If you don't like what Disney is doing then why don't you spend your vacation dollars elsewhere? Denting their bottom line is the only way Disney will listen. However, I doubt that there will be enough people who stop taking WDW vacations do this.

I for one am going in July and really don't care one way or the other about the state of FP+. I'm going to WDW and I will have a good time no matter what. But then maybe my perspective is skewed because I remember going to DLR when I was a kid and having the ticket book, waiting in lines, only being able to ride a certain number of rides at all because you had limited tickets.... And somehow we still had a good time.

 

[DividedSky]

Well, FP *is* available at the second park, but not until you actually get there. We had to use the kiosk, rather than the app. (This is probably because requiring the kiosk automatically verifies that you are in the other park.)

The "how", "when", and "how many" details are still uncertain.

is this for sure? has anyone else been able to verify this works and wasn't just a glitch?

I think that would be a great compromise if park hopper works like off-site guests currently work.

 

[cigar95]

is this for sure? has anyone else been able to verify this works and wasn't just a glitch?

When I did this, the cast member manning the kiosk was not at all surprised that it "worked".

One of the unanswered questions is whether or not this only worked because I had not used one of the FP from my original park. (And because we were rather close to closing, the system couldn't have offered me more than one reservation in any case.)

I've said in several threads - this is an area where guests with a little extra time on their hands could really do some experimentation.

 

[Hopefully]

Since you had so few fast passes, were you able to do the most popular rides without waiting in endless queues?

Yes, I'm aware that they have been spending money in the parks. I'm also aware that they are earning billions in profits, and still have nothing new in the works for DHS, Epcot, and Disneyland. In the forseeable future, the only thing new coming to the entire Disneyland Resort is the new version of Soarin' (which, apparently, is not coming to WDW!).

I'm also aware that there are lots of stale, unpopular "attractions" at WDW which badly need to be replaced, such as Stitch, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the Beauty and the Beast show (and some of the other shows we've all seen a zillion times), the Back Lot Tour, etc. Other rides need plussing or refurbishment (Space Mountain is as rough as ever). There are still shuttered pavillions at Epcot, doing nothing but take up space. None of this is being addressed because they squandered a fortune on an unneeded and painfully restrictive reservation system.

I'd like to know why show is taking a back seat to RFID? What about the priorities and values of the company founder?

I couldn't disagree with your every premise more. I also see you are pretty new here on the DIS. To me WDW is a "Theme ParK" not an "Amusement" park. I also enjoy the non-"thrill" attractions and the "Theme".
JMHO

 

[maxiesmom]

Since you had so few fast passes, were you able to do the most popular rides without waiting in endless queues?

Yes, I'm aware that they have been spending money in the parks. I'm also aware that they are earning billions in profits, and still have nothing new in the works for DHS, Epcot, and Disneyland. In the forseeable future, the only thing new coming to the entire Disneyland Resort is the new version of Soarin' (which, apparently, is not coming to WDW!).

I'm also aware that there are lots of stale, unpopular "attractions" at WDW which badly need to be replaced, such as Stitch, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, the Beauty and the Beast show (and some of the other shows we've all seen a zillion times), the Back Lot Tour, etc. Other rides need plussing or refurbishment (Space Mountain is as rough as ever). There are still shuttered pavillions at Epcot, doing nothing but take up space. None of this is being addressed because they squandered a fortune on an unneeded and painfully restrictive reservation system.

I'd like to know why show is taking a back seat to RFID? What about the priorities and values of the company founder?

I never waited in a line over 15 minutes my whole trip. The longest line was for Small World. Went on Space Mountain 5 times. Rode Splash and Big Thunder Mountain twice. Did Star Tours 3 times. Pirates and Jungle (I mean Jingle )Cruise twice. Neither did I find FP+ painfully restrictive. I found it freeing! Our last day we were able to sleep in a bit, pack up, and then go to the Disney Studios and ride Toy Story without a long wait. All because of FP+ and the fact that I knew we had a FP for it, and knew what that time was!

I also have to disagree with the list of shows and attractions you call stale and unpopular. We always do Monsters Inc Laugh Floor multiple times a trip. And I still love the Beauty and the Best Show. Which proves a point; They can't please everyone. And if they tried to please only you, they would then make me unhappy. They have to have some sort of balance, they can't change and upgrade everything because that is not what everyone wants.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I couldn't disagree with your every premise more. I also see you are pretty new here on the DIS. To me WDW is a "Theme ParK" not an "Amusement" park. I also enjoy the non-"thrill" attractions and the "Theme".
JMHO

I have no clue where this is coming from. I never used the term "amusement park" and I certainly know the difference. And WDW is not a theme park. It's a resort with four theme parks and two water parks. Also, it says under my sceen name that I joined in Aug 2008.

I also want to address some of the other comments in this thread. If you had a good experience with FP+, more power to you. I posted in order to encourage people to complain IF they preferred the old fast pass system. I know that lots of people loved the old system because people lined up for those little tickets!

I honestly don't see how this new system is much use to us, the paying customers. Maybe they've ironed out the bugs. But the so-called Magic Bands do more or less the same thing that the room key used to do. And two out of three of the reservations it offers are useless, because they are for less popular attractions anyway.

But worse yet, there have been reports that Disney execs are putting projects on the back burner because of the cost of this new reservation system -- that's the bigger picture behind the rollout of MyMagic. Are you all truly satisfied by the glacial pace of new and plussed attractions? We keep going back to the resorts and experiencing little that is new, yet they keep raising prices. Don't we deserve more for our money?

It seems that a lot of that money is being diverted into anything BUT great new attractions. For the billion dollars + they spent on "My magic+", they could have built ten new E Tickets. They certainly have enough land to build on! Ask yourself which you would rather have -- lots of great new rides, or a new reservation system that replaces the fast pass and pretty much does what the old system did?

Yes, Avatar is coming (in 2017 or so). And the new Mine Train ride is opening this year (hopefully it will be good; it better be, after they took this long to build it!). The Little Mermaid was cloned from the West Coast. Star Tours and Test Track were refreshed. That's pretty much it, for the entirety of this decade, unless they are about to surprise us with some big announcements (So far, all I hear are crickets). Are other new attractions coming? Well yes, across town, at Universal Orlando. With less resources than Disney, Universal has announced that they will sink half a billion dollars per year into new attractions (granted, not all that money will go into Orlando).

I'm not saying all this to bash Disney, or to say that Universal is better. I don't believe either of those things. I DO believe that the WDC could and should do a much better job of embracing the values and priorities of the company founder, who was all about show and continuous improvement.

They plaster his name all over everything they do and sell, but do they follow his great example? They have enormous resources, and they easily could reinvest more into the parks. Instead, they spend billions to buy up rivals (Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm) or to build small overseas parks which most of us will never see. Meanwhile, after all these years, Animal Kingdom is STILL barely a full-day park, and both DHS and Epcot STILL badly need more rides.

Is WDW worth visiting? Yes. But I believe we can hold this company to a higher standard: the standard of greatness and excellence that they set long ago. When making decisions about adding to WDW, they consistently do the minimum that they think they can get away with. Most tourists only go to WDW once every 4-5 years, so they know they don't have to budget for many new projects. That's just cynical bean counting. Where's the passion? Where's the pride? Where's the magic? Certainly not in the hearts of the suits who run the place.

If they shared more of the founder's values, doing the minimum would never be acceptable. And we, the fans, would enjoy parks which are much closer to their maximum potential. That's what we deserve.

 

[Sue M]

Arriving inn2 days. It will be my first time on full FP+ system. Last August we had it, but only 3 resorts participated, and we could still pull paper FPs in addition. So wasn't a true trial.

I'm not happy with the new tier system at all. I can make 3 FPs work, but not tier, ugh. Guess I'll have a better idea once I'm there.

My friend is there now, and feels the new system is causing longer FP lines .

Also new system will make it difficult for groups/families/friends if some are staying on property, and some off property to get FPs to ride together on attractions.

 

[Belle83]

We hated the 3 FP thing too. It really restricted the way we saw and did everything, and in the end we did less overall. The only thing I liked was being able to get a FP for Toy Story Mania without showing up at rope drop.

A CM at Animal Kingdom told us the 3-FP limit is just temporary, so that there are FP saved for people who aren't staying at Disney resort hotels. I really hope that's the case...

 

[tlady]

I have no clue where this is coming from. I never used the term "amusement park" and I certainly know the difference. And WDW is not a theme park. It's a resort with four theme parks and two water parks. Also, it says under my sceen name that I joined in Aug 2008.

I also want to address some of the other comments in this thread. If you had a good experience with FP+, more power to you. I posted in order to encourage people to complain IF they preferred the old fast pass system. I know that lots of people loved the old system because people lined up for those little tickets!

I honestly don't see how this new system is much use to us, the paying customers. Maybe they've ironed out the bugs. But the so-called Magic Bands do more or less the same thing that the room key used to do. And two out of three of the reservations it offers are useless, because they are for less popular attractions anyway.

But worse yet, there have been reports that Disney execs are putting projects on the back burner because of the cost of this new reservation system -- that's the bigger picture behind the rollout of MyMagic. Are you all truly satisfied by the glacial pace of new and plussed attractions? We keep going back to the resorts and experiencing little that is new, yet they keep raising prices. Don't we deserve more for our money?

It seems that a lot of that money is being diverted into anything BUT great new attractions. For the billion dollars + they spent on "My magic+", they could have built ten new E Tickets. They certainly have enough land to build on! Ask yourself which you would rather have -- lots of great new rides, or a new reservation system that replaces the fast pass and pretty much does what the old system did?

Yes, Avatar is coming (in 2017 or so). And the new Mine Train ride is opening this year (hopefully it will be good; it better be, after they took this long to build it!). The Little Mermaid was cloned from the West Coast. Star Tours and Test Track were refreshed. That's pretty much it, for the entirety of this decade, unless they are about to surprise us with some big announcements (So far, all I hear are crickets). Are other new attractions coming? Well yes, across town, at Universal Orlando. With less resources than Disney, Universal has announced that they will sink half a billion dollars per year into new attractions (granted, not all that money will go into Orlando).

I'm not saying all this to bash Disney, or to say that Universal is better. I don't believe either of those things. I DO believe that the WDC could and should do a much better job of embracing the values and priorities of the company founder, who was all about show and continuous improvement.

They plaster his name all over everything they do and sell, but do they follow his great example? They have enormous resources, and they easily could reinvest more into the parks. Instead, they spend billions to buy up rivals (Pixar, Marvel, LucasFilm) or to build small overseas parks which most of us will never see. Meanwhile, after all these years, Animal Kingdom is STILL barely a full-day park, and both DHS and Epcot STILL badly need more rides.

Is WDW worth visiting? Yes. But I believe we can hold this company to a higher standard: the standard of greatness and excellence that they set long ago. When making decisions about adding to WDW, they consistently do the minimum that they think they can get away with. Most tourists only go to WDW once every 4-5 years, so they know they don't have to budget for many new projects. That's just cynical bean counting. Where's the passion? Where's the pride? Where's the magic? Certainly not in the hearts of the suits who run the place.

If they shared more of the founder's values, doing the minimum would never be acceptable. And we, the fans, would enjoy parks which are much closer to their maximum potential. That's what we deserve.

I just have one word in response: BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!