FP+ Royally sucks

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Wait, are you letting Disney choose your Tier 2 attractions because you don't care which ones you have for that Tier?

Nope, it gives you a few choices for tier 2, I just pick whatever the first offer they give me because no matter what you are going to be going back to change them anyway.

 

[Missyrose]

You should be able to copy the FP+ from one person to all 4 of you.

In my experience early in the week, even copying FP+ reservations from one person to the other still ends up with overlapping times for A&E instead of the same time. That M&G seems to do weird things in the system.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

You should be able to copy the FP+ from one person to all 4 of you.

That only works when there is capacity to do it. When I tried copying, it bumped us to one of the afternoon spots, which I didn't want.

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

Dumb question, but is Magic Kingdom even open at 7 am that day?

I meant I was trying at 7am on my 60 days out window.

 

[mslhb]

My window opened for me right at 11 pm CT tonight, and I was able to get A&E on our only MK day in the morning. Sorta. I had to pick 4 different overlapping windows for the 4 of us, but I did manage to get it with a little playing. My window ends at 12:10 and my husband's begins at 12:10 (kids' windows fall neatly in between), so hopefully they do abide by the grace period (we'll try for 5 minutes early for the husband). There were plenty of afternoon and evening slots for all four of us together without having to manipulate it.

No problems with 7DMT. Lots of availability there.

You should have no problems with the 5 minutes early. We did this several times in order to walk right from one fast pass to another. I assume it is built in electronically and we always got the green Mickey.

 

[sethschroeder]

So do you think that people booking sooner should be tricked into taking non-optimal times so that desirable times are left for people booking later?

Been doing some FP+ times and got to say while there is "non-optimal" times there is also plenty that fit the preferred 10-3 timeframe a lot of people look to follow. Some are off a little bit but it will never be perfect.

I go back to my original point that the current system is easier for the technology stupid masses than having you pick every single time for each FP+ you want giving you too many options.

Its all about the KISS method:
Keep It Simple Stupid
What is the absolutely easiest way to get people to pre-book FP+ times?

What if I asked you right now your going to New York City next week, I have 3 things planned for you to do (Art Museum, History Museum, Yankee Stadium Tour) what time would you like to go?

Would it be easier for you to pick exact times to go? Or for me to give you 3-4 options that you could choose from?

What if I asked you about going to Six Flags? You have 10 rides to choose from (Demon, XFlight, American Eagle, ect...) and after you choose your 3 rides now you need to put them in an order and put them at a specific time. Is that more of a headache to have to research and figure out what is best when or would it be easier for me to just give you a couple options you randomly pick one and go on your way....?

Not everyone overplans or even thinks about Disney outside of getting park tickets and a place to stay. They see they can do FP+ because Disney sends them something so they log in and throw a couple rides down and they don't think about it again.

 

[ldymcbth]

I was able to get all the times that I wanted but I will admit that the system is horribly clunky. Trying to split your party of 4 to send them to different attractions is not easy or intuitive.

I agree with this - we are a party of 6, but were only able to get Anna/Elsa FP's for 2 of us - which is fine. BUT, I needed to send the other 4 of us to Space Mtn during that time and it was quite an effort to work that out. Not intuitive at all, and I was afraid I would somehow screw up the existing A/E fastpasses, so I didn't want to play around and try to get it to work like I normally would.

I also REALLY don't like the tier system at DHS/Epcot. My son is going to be bummed that there's no way for us to FP Rockin' Roller Coaster, and so I guess we'll head over there first thing for him to do it. Our focus that day is to do the Frozen stuff at DHS so I hope this does't screw that up.

 

[hardhead]

Literally sitting here crying because I spent months planning every step of our trip around getting FP+ for the times we wanted. I'm sitting here heartbroken. Instead FP decides when and where I must use them.

Sorry but I justed pissed myself laughing

 

[Suvadoo]

I go back to my original point that the current system is easier for the technology stupid masses than having you pick every single time for each FP+ you want giving you too many options.

Its all about the KISS method:
Keep It Simple Stupid

Disney has had to increase their IT department and their in park cast members to help their customers with FP+, because this system is so simple. I can see your point.... not

 

[chmurf]

If they're going to implement a system like this, it needs to be intuitive and easy to use. For ALL levels of comfort with technology.

It's as easy and intuitive as it gets.

Guests pick 3 "experiences" and have 4 automatic choices, and a vast majority of guests will be pleased with one of the 4 automatic selections and won't feel the need to tweak them (even though they can)

Q : Which kind of guests need to tweak the FP+ selections ?
A : Planners.

The irony is that planners need a higher level of complexity from the application.

A "regular" guest will just take whatever the application/MDX give them.
These regular guests will find it way too complex to choose one attraction at a time, with its own time window. Just by the mere fact that it would require a lot of clicking on "next" buttons. With too many opportunities for "oops, there was a problem" nag screens

there would be so many more steps for a one by one selection that it might be more intuitive (more straightforward) but so time consuming that many guests would find it impracticlal.

Those of us who plan need a level of complexity (tweaking) that is not required (desirable) by the vast majority of users.

In a sense, we, the planners, are "power users". We need more functions from the app/MDX than the average user.
But from the "average user" standpoint, the app would become less intuitive and harder to use if it was designed for us, power users.


Think of FP+/MDX as your TV's remote control.

The system as it is now will only offer 5 buttons
- power on/off
- channel up/down
- volume up/down

That will be enough for the vast majority of users for the everyday life.

There will be a small quantity of users who will need to go through the menus and tweak many things and who will cry when they need to push a button on the side of the TV set to access the menu and who will say it would be so much easier if all the functions were accessible from the remote.
And it's true, it would be so much easier and intuitive
But think of the bewildered look on grandpa's face when you give him a 100+ buttons remote ...

A good system is a system that is designed for it's target audience.
Power users will need to learn the litteracy required to tweak the system.


For the vast majority of MDX users (we're not among them, we're planners) FP+ selection is as easy as it gets.
To make it any easier would imply asking someone to do it for you (like a CM at check in for example)

 

[chmurf]

Disney has had to increase their IT department and their in park cast members to help their customers with FP+, because this system is so simple. I can see your point.... not

as said above in my post (sorry for the double post), see how hard it is for guests to choose 3 experiences and hit enter.

Choose ONCE, hit enter ONCE

now imagine the mess if those same guests had to choose 1 experience, hit enter, choose another one, hit enter, choose a third one, hit enter, then review the selection and validate ...

They already struggle to do it ONCE, now imagine if they had to repeat the operation 3 times for a single day.

 

[larryz]

If they're going to implement a system like this, it needs to be intuitive and easy to use. For ALL levels of comfort with technology.

That would be inconsistent with "Magic Our Way."

 

[mom2rtk]

That would be inconsistent with "Magic Our Way."

 

[Luckybee]

Sorry but I justed pissed myself laughing

Thoughtful = NOT !

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Been doing some FP+ times and got to say while there is "non-optimal" times there is also plenty that fit the preferred 10-3 timeframe a lot of people look to follow. Some are off a little bit but it will never be perfect.

I go back to my original point that the current system is easier for the technology stupid masses than having you pick every single time for each FP+ you want giving you too many options.

Its all about the KISS method:
Keep It Simple Stupid
What is the absolutely easiest way to get people to pre-book FP+ times?

What if I asked you right now your going to New York City next week, I have 3 things planned for you to do (Art Museum, History Museum, Yankee Stadium Tour) what time would you like to go?

Would it be easier for you to pick exact times to go? Or for me to give you 3-4 options that you could choose from?

What if I asked you about going to Six Flags? You have 10 rides to choose from (Demon, XFlight, American Eagle, ect...) and after you choose your 3 rides now you need to put them in an order and put them at a specific time. Is that more of a headache to have to research and figure out what is best when or would it be easier for me to just give you a couple options you randomly pick one and go on your way....?

Not everyone overplans or even thinks about Disney outside of getting park tickets and a place to stay. They see they can do FP+ because Disney sends them something so they log in and throw a couple rides down and they don't think about it again.

I agree with all of this. The people on the DIS are not exactly the target audience, we already go to Disney and spend lots of time and money there. It's about marketing, they are still trying to figure out how to sell new families their vacation destination and this is something they can say: "Hey pick some of your favorite rides, we'll show you how to arrange them and then you don't have to wait in line!"

It is sort of genius in terms of marketing and PR. Not so great for the super-user, super-planner, super-obsessed fan of the DIS (and others like us).

It will be okay though, everyone will get used to it and the super users are already hard at work trying to figure out how to maximize the system.

It's as easy and intuitive as it gets.

Guests pick 3 "experiences" and have 4 automatic choices, and a vast majority of guests will be pleased with one of the 4 automatic selections and won't feel the need to tweak them (even though they can)

Q : Which kind of guests need to tweak the FP+ selections ?
A : Planners.

The irony is that planners need a higher level of complexity from the application.

A "regular" guest will just take whatever the application/MDX give them.
These regular guests will find it way too complex to choose one attraction at a time, with its own time window. Just by the mere fact that it would require a lot of clicking on "next" buttons. With too many opportunities for "oops, there was a problem" nag screens

there would be so many more steps for a one by one selection that it might be more intuitive (more straightforward) but so time consuming that many guests would find it impracticlal.

Those of us who plan need a level of complexity (tweaking) that is not required (desirable) by the vast majority of users.

In a sense, we, the planners, are "power users". We need more functions from the app/MDX than the average user.
But from the "average user" standpoint, the app would become less intuitive and harder to use if it was designed for us, power users.


Think of FP+/MDX as your TV's remote control.

The system as it is now will only offer 5 buttons
- power on/off
- channel up/down
- volume up/down

That will be enough for the vast majority of users for the everyday life.

There will be a small quantity of users who will need to go through the menus and tweak many things and who will cry when they need to push a button on the side of the TV set to access the menu and who will say it would be so much easier if all the functions were accessible from the remote.
And it's true, it would be so much easier and intuitive
But think of the bewildered look on grandpa's face when you give him a 100+ buttons remote ...

A good system is a system that is designed for it's target audience.
Power users will need to learn the litteracy required to tweak the system.


For the vast majority of MDX users (we're not among them, we're planners) FP+ selection is as easy as it gets.
To make it any easier would imply asking someone to do it for you (like a CM at check in for example)

Exactly!!!!!!

 

[mommycrawford]

Without a Disney to influence imagination and wonder, the whole experience has become about manipulating guests into thinking they want the things that the stockholders want:

" We are closing down Pleasure Island entertainment venues because guests want more shopping"...

and now, "we did away with the old fastpass system (that worked & did not cause outages) so we can offer you quick access to the leftover rides that are unpopular, (lets call them classics,) so we can increase the body count while giving you less and charging you more."

(...And lets not forget about spending a fortune tearing down working rides to rebuild them again 40 feet from their previous locations.)

And allowing you to book fp+ times in advance, only to have park hours change after doing so.

The madness needs to stop....I have never watched Harry Potter, but UA is really looking good about now!

 

[disneyfreak4]

Heading off for 14 days in a few hours. Keep calm and enjoy jiggling the times to suit your schedule. I have 3 fast passes for every day at the times I want as I sat and enjoyed tweaking. Even a few days ago I was able to make a considerable change due to purchasing the discounted La Nouba tickets. Accept the set which most suits your needs and then edit until your heart is content. Good luck

 

[Suvadoo]

Heading off for 14 days in a few hours. Keep calm and enjoy jiggling the times to suit your schedule. I have 3 fast passes for every day at the times I want as I sat and enjoyed tweaking. Even a few days ago I was able to make a considerable change due to purchasing the discounted La Nouba tickets. Accept the set which most suits your needs and then edit until your heart is content. Good luck

I'm glad you're all set and I know you'll have a fabulous time. Please let us know how FP+ and the app worked while you were there.

 

[tripinbrums]

What good is breaking your neck to get to The MK if you can't get in??? Yesterday, I saw hundreds if not thousands of people get sent to guest relations because their magic bands didn't work! The turnstiles in front of GS don't even hold a thousand, so it looked like they masking tape and made rows on the ground... Very nice! Complete chaos! They had 3 cast members handling the crowd control, and they had no idea how to handle it! We waited for 2 hours to get it fixed! What do we get for our troubles??? A fastpass! We are supposed to go to HS today and are scared to death it will happen again. What is scary is that my husband just went to get breakfast and his mb wont open the door to our room!!! BACK TO THE FRONT DESK!!!!!

 

[Tbella]

This coming September will be my 6th trip to Disney with the kids. We take them every 2 years for 7-9 days. We took my older 2 to Universal a few years back for one night on property and 2 days in the park. I haven't been back on the boards for over a year. I have spent the last few weeks catching up. Wow! I can't believe how much I missed. I am, for sure, troubled about the new Fastpass+ system. I am still excited about going to Disney but we are only going to give Disney 5 days of our vacation time. We are giving Universal the other 4 days. I will reserve judgment about Fastpass+ until I experience it, but, to be honest, I don't really have high hopes of loving it. This is also going to be our first offsite trip, and I am concerned about having a 30 day window for fastpass. I just don't see how I will be able to get any of the headliners at a decent time when so many have already booked before me. On the bright side, I am so grateful that I have these boards to keep me informed and up to date with all the changes.