FP+ - my experience

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I've been thinking alot about how I feel about FP+. We used it for the first time during New Year's week.

I did not have any problems setting up our Magic Bands and FP+ times - little glitches here and there but not a big deal. I had some problems with wifi in the park but I just got off Disney's wifi and then it worked fine. I had no problem changing my FP+ times, even on a night when MK was at capacity and we wanted to move up our times.

I actually thought I would like FP+. I like to have a schedule in mind of which park we'll be in on which days, leaving a day or two open where we can be more flexible. I liked the idea of knowing for sure that we'd get on Soarin' or TSM without rushing to the FP kiosk, of being able to schedule when it's convenient for me around ADRs parades and the like, and of being able to sleep in a morning or two without worrying that the FP will be all gone. And I did like all of that.

But the tradeoff for having 3 guaranteed rides was much longer lines for all of the other rides. I know I was there during a busy time, but Spring Break and Christmas break are when we can travel, and the lines were noticeably longer this trip. Ultimately, the detriments outweighed the benefits in my opinion.

All in all, it's not going to keep me from visiting Disney but I prefer the traditional FP.

Laurie

 

[heidijanesmith]

I've been thinking alot about how I feel about FP+. We used it for the first time during New Year's week.

I did not have any problems setting up our Magic Bands and FP+ times - little glitches here and there but not a big deal. I had some problems with wifi in the park but I just got off Disney's wifi and then it worked fine. I had no problem changing my FP+ times, even on a night when MK was at capacity and we wanted to move up our times.

I actually thought I would like FP+. I like to have a schedule in mind of which park we'll be in on which days, leaving a day or two open where we can be more flexible. I liked the idea of knowing for sure that we'd get on Soarin' or TSM without rushing to the FP kiosk, of being able to schedule when it's convenient for me around ADRs parades and the like, and of being able to sleep in a morning or two without worrying that the FP will be all gone. And I did like all of that.

But the tradeoff for having 3 guaranteed rides was much longer lines for all of the other rides. I know I was there during a busy time, but Spring Break and Christmas break are when we can travel, and the lines were noticeably longer this trip. Ultimately, the detriments outweighed the benefits in my opinion.

All in all, it's not going to keep me from visiting Disney but I prefer the traditional FP.

Laurie

Thanks for your input on FP+. It's good to hear that you were able to change FP+ times on the fly. When we were part of the test in Oct, changing on the fly did not work at all for us.

 

[iZon]

Just used FP+ for the first time last week. Too early to say what I think about it. Will have to wait for October trip to really get a sense of it.

What I did find bizarre was that it is available for Small World, the Seas and Journey/Imagination. These things never have lines. As we were going into the Seas (walk on) people were waiting for their FP+ times to kick in. Why?

One quirk is that I wasn't able to book TSM for two at the same time, but I could do it individually for 11-12 and 11:10-12:10. The system doesn't seem to understand that you really just need a five minute overlap for two people.

And I think if you pay extra for park hoppers perhaps they could allow you to book rides across parks.

One general thing. I enjoy rides more if I line up. At least for a bit, say 10 or 15 minutes. The queue theming prepares you for the tone and mood of the ride. Without it you're going in cold. I don't like running through the FP line and jumping on the ride (which you kind of have to do to avoid getting trampled). FP and FP+ have taken a lot of that away, and made the stand-by lines unbearably long.

 

[LuvSnowWhite]

Is it possible that they added these non busy attractions so that people who didn't know the intricacies of what rides are busy when would possibly choose them so as to free up more FP+ major attractions for those of us who plan out our days?
I'm curious to see how having limited FP+ and having more attractions with FP+ will affect lines throughout the park.
Did you use any of your FP+ for the fireworks at MK or Epcot? Is there value in that? Or the parades? I can see where that might have value.
What did you think about the fact that you couldn't choose Splash Mtn and Space Mtn as two of your choices?

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

I did not use FP+ for any parades or fireworks. I just couldn't see the value in using 1 of 3 slots for that. We used one of ours for Space Mtn. The weather was unusually cold so the wait for Splash was only half an hour. If it had been a nicer day, I'm sure the waits would have been much longer. The wait for It's A Small World was over an hour.

Laurie

 

[ucfknight]

What I did find bizarre was that it is available for Small World, the Seas and Journey/Imagination. These things never have lines. As we were going into the Seas (walk on) people were waiting for their FP+ times to kick in. Why?

It's a Small World consistently has 30+ minute lines during the more crowded times of the day and the busy times of year. I was there this past Saturday and the line was at 40 minutes at 3:00 PM. I have no problem with them adding FP+ to Small World.

The Seas with Nemo and Friends usually doesn't have more than a 10-15 minute wait and Imagination is usually 5 minutes or less (mostly less). Those attractions don't really need FP+, but the issue in Epcot is that it is tiered. You can only pick one tier 1 attraction and two from tier 2. They needed to add some more attractions to tier 2 to make it look like you had a wide set of choices. So they added things like The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Captain EO, and Imagination just to get up to 7 attractions in tier 2. So guests get to pick 2 out of 7 choices, which sounds better than saying you have to pick 2 out of 4 attraction that really ever need FP+.

 

[jeneric997]

Is it possible that they added these non busy attractions so that people who didn't know the intricacies of what rides are busy when would possibly choose them so as to free up more FP+ major attractions for those of us who plan out our days?

This is what I believe. When I hear someone tell a newbie, "this new system was designed to benefit you." I just shake my head. This system depends on lack of knowledge so that the first timer thinks getting a FP+ for Journey Into the Imagination is worth it. I love Figment- I won't love it if I have to wait for 20 minutes so some poor person who got it as an FP+ choice feels "locked in".

 

[iZon]

Interestingly, Star Tours had a lengthy line and the FP line had CMs with signs keeping it in order. When we were there last May Star Tours hardly had lines at all and very few using Fast Pass.

The old way, if you showed up for an attraction and it didn't have a line, you would just go in. Now you can pre-book fast passes without knowing if there's going to be a line or not, which is counter-intuitive.

The other odd thing is that you had to make three. We only wanted one for Soarin'. So our others were wasted. I suspect there will be millions of unused FP+.

As for small world, I've never seen it where it wasn't a walk-on or very short wait. We were there last Saturday and Sunday and there were no lines. So even if it is busy at times, just go during the majority of the time when there's no wait. Why lock yourself into a FP+ time that dictates your day? When you get to the park and see there's no wait, you can just forget your FP+ time and go whenever you want, which I suspect will happen a lot.

 

[mom2rtk]

Now you can pre-book fast passes without knowing if there's going to be a line or not, which is counter-intuitive.

It really is a problem with this system.

Weather is a similar sort of issue. We travel in December and almost always do Splash Mountain. But if a cold front comes through I would skip that ride. And I have yet to find a weather forecast that would help me 60 days out.

Under legacy FP it wasn't a huge deal if you wasted one, but when you only get 3, it's a much bigger deal.

 

[Robo]

Is it possible that they added these non busy attractions so that people who didn't know the intricacies of what rides are busy when would possibly choose them so as to free up more FP+ major attractions for those of us who plan out our days?

This is what I believe. When I hear someone tell a newbie, "this new system was designed to benefit you." I just shake my head. This system depends on lack of knowledge so that the first timer thinks getting a FP+ for Journey Into the Imagination is worth it. I love Figment- I won't love it if I have to wait for 20 minutes so some poor person who got it as an FP+ choice feels "locked in".

I call these non-needed FP+ choices, "Red Herring FP+."

 

[rluey29]

This is exactly what happened to us. Had FP+ for two rides in EPCOT that we're walk on. Stupid. Meanwhile my son was upset he could only ride his favorite ride once because of a 90 minute wait.

 

[glvsav37]

It's a Small World consistently has 30+ minute lines during the more crowded times of the day and the busy times of year. I was there this past Saturday and the line was at 40 minutes at 3:00 pm

Question though ....didn't they close a whole section of the queue down to make a FP+ line? And the same at some other older attractions that didn't have FP before.? Wouldn't that contribute to longer Stand by lines bc they have to load differently?

 

[LuvSnowWhite]

I think over time these issues will become more apparent. I fear FP+ is not going to be as helpful as the old system was.
On the plus side, I also believe that there will still be people who will never use a touring plan and never use FP. I don't think that will change.
I think they need to just let you choose your top 3 rides (or however many choices you get) regardless of what they are.

I also read/heard some speculation that if you stay at a deluxe resort you will get four, moderate resort 3, value resort 2, off site 2 or 3. Anybody hear anything about that?

 

[mom2rtk]

I also read/heard some speculation that if you stay at a deluxe resort you will get four, moderate resort 3, value resort 2, off site 2 or 3. Anybody hear anything about that?

Speculation on this front is rampant. But nothing official has been released from Disney on it.

 

[SleepDoctor]

What did you think about the fact that you couldn't choose Splash Mtn and Space Mtn as two of your choices?

Why not? The Magic Kingdom is not "tiering" their attractions like the other parks....

 

[LuvSnowWhite]

You are right SleepDoctor I just realized that MK is not tiered. So no problem there. Maybe it will all work out. Only time will tell. I'm sure they will be tweaking it alot as it continues to roll out.

 

[Robo]

Why not? The Magic Kingdom is not "tiering" their attractions like the other parks....

You are right SleepDoctor I just realized that MK is not tiered. So no problem there. Maybe it will all work out. Only time will tell. I'm sure they will be tweaking it alot as it continues to roll out.

But, we don't know what may happen when the Seven Dwarf's Mine Coaster opens in MK and it [likely] becomes one of the hottest tickets at WDW.

 

[LuvSnowWhite]

Good point Robo.

 

[DSLRuser]

the way I see it, we are basically going back 15 years. Disney is forcing you to ride standby again. but, will allow you to save time on 3 rides still.

inherently, it sounds fast pass waits are going from walk on to short waits at most attractions.

So, as I have read before. We lose, but Disney gains. When growing pains are over, Disney will benefit from greater efficiency. Information is key, and now they will know days if not weeks in advance where the people will be in the parks. So they can staff and stock based on this intell.

Data shows epcot has too little people in that park for a given day, Disney just has to add a special event like a concert or local radio spots to fill it up.