FP+ Strategy Worked Perfectly

[BuckeyeBama]

Just to update - I was able to use my wife's AP for 3 extra FP+/day while in WDW. Needed help at a kiosk one day and a CM noted that the extra AP had not been used to enter the park that day. I asked if I was breaking any rules and she assured me that I wasn't as she helped me fix my problem. My problem was not caused by not having used the AP to enter the park that day. She was concerned about something else when she brought it up.

So this strategy works and Disney is aware of its use and seems fine with it.

 

[morethananyonex]

Just to update - I was able to use my wife's AP for 3 extra FP+/day while in WDW. Needed help at a kiosk one day and a CM noted that the extra AP had not been used to enter the park that day. I asked if I was breaking any rules and she assured me that I wasn't as she helped me fix my problem. My problem was not caused by not having used the AP to enter the park that day. She was concerned about something else when she brought it up.

So this strategy works and Disney is aware of its use and seems fine with it.

Glad it worked for you.

I don't know that I would interpret what a single CM said as Disney being okay with it, as I don't think they would be happy with people passing around other people's APs to use for extra FP. Although, that could be a nice little business for local AP holders .

 

[dsdeleon]

That's similar to the strategy that we employed last week which was to hit RD with all 4 of us, hit the favorites and then let the hardcores go back (YDS and me) with 6 FP+ each. Also meant to add that we used this for hopping, so were allowed to use it for a park they did not enter that day.

 

[JayLeeJay]

Just to update - I was able to use my wife's AP for 3 extra FP+/day while in WDW. Needed help at a kiosk one day and a CM noted that the extra AP had not been used to enter the park that day. I asked if I was breaking any rules and she assured me that I wasn't as she helped me fix my problem. My problem was not caused by not having used the AP to enter the park that day. She was concerned about something else when she brought it up.

So this strategy works and Disney is aware of its use and seems fine with it.

Just to make sure I am clear, you can pre-book FP+ options to use with someone else's band, even if the ticket (and therefore RP+ options) associated with that band was not used to enter the park? That very interesting.

 

[FPminusCommando]

Even if Disney required all MB's to have entered the park, what prevents you from borrowing a local AP's MB, entering the park with your own MB and walking right out and back in with the AP MB?

Actually you might even be able to scan both MB's at the turnstiles.

 

[mom2rtk]

Even if Disney required all MB's to have entered the park, what prevents you from borrowing a local AP's MB, entering the park with your own MB and walking right out and back in with the AP MB?
Actually you might even be able to scan both MB's at the turnstiles.

The finger scanner and the policy that says Disney could revoke the AP if used improperly?

Not saying the OP did something improper, just saying entering the park with it would be.

 

[wisblue]

This sounds to me like it could be asking for problems. You might be able to get away with it and you might not. But, if it is detected that you are trying to use FPs based on a ticket that hasn't been used to enter the park, you could be running the risk of forfeiting the AP.

Not worth the risk to me.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The finger scanner and the policy that says Disney could revoke the AP if used improperly?

Not saying the OP did something improper, just saying entering the park with it would be.

Agreed - If entering the parks using my wife's AP had been a requirement, I would not have done so. When they correct this the way that they did with FP-, I will have to decide if it is worth it to me to buy and use extra park tickets every day for the extra FP+. If I ever travel again during Spring Break, I might just do so. For my trip in September, I probably would not.

ETA - with an AP, my wife has the rights to park entrance for 366 days, and 3 FP+ for each of those days. That is what you are buying now when you buy the AP. She can give those FP+ to anyone that she wishes as long as she trusts them with her AP or Magic Band. So this is not breaking any rules.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Agreed - If entering the parks using my wife's AP had been a requirement, I would not have done so. When they correct this the way that they did with FP-, I will have to decide if it is worth it to me to buy and use extra park tickets every day for the extra FP+. If I ever travel again during Spring Break, I might just do so. For my trip in September, I probably would not.

ETA - with an AP, my wife has the rights to park entrance for 366 days, and 3 FP+ for each of those days. That is what you are buying now when you buy the AP. She can give those FP+ to anyone that she wishes as long as she trusts them with her AP or Magic Band. So this is not breaking any rules.

For some reason, it seems ok to me with the AP. I'm not sure why exactly.

It seems less ok to me if people do this just by buying an extra ticket and continually using it for FPs without ever having to redeem the tickets at the gate first. But why is that different in my head than an AP? Hmm...

I'm sure they will fix this at some point, but glad it worked out for you!

 

[wisblue]

Agreed - If entering the parks using my wife's AP had been a requirement, I would not have done so. When they correct this the way that they did with FP-, I will have to decide if it is worth it to me to buy and use extra park tickets every day for the extra FP+. If I ever travel again during Spring Break, I might just do so. For my trip in September, I probably would not.

ETA - with an AP, my wife has the rights to park entrance for 366 days, and 3 FP+ for each of those days. That is what you are buying now when you buy the AP. She can give those FP+ to anyone that she wishes as long as she trusts them with her AP or Magic Band. So this is not breaking any rules.

I think there is a significant leap of logic here.

One could argue (and I would) that what someone is buying with an AP is one year of admission and 3 FP+ per day FOR YOURSELF. If you can give your right to FP+ to anyone that you trust with your AP and Magic Band, doesn't it also follow that you should be able to give your right to admission to the same person?

Personally, I don't think that giving away FP+ reservations to other people when you haven't even gone to any park that day is what Disney contemplates. The fact that you seem to be able to get away with it may mean that it's one of those loopholes that Disney hasn't bothered to close yet.

 

[TimothyG]

I think there is a significant leap of logic here.

One could argue (and I would) that what someone is buying with an AP is one year of admission and 3 FP+ per day FOR YOURSELF. If you can give your right to FP+ to anyone that you trust with your AP and Magic Band, doesn't it also follow that you should be able to give your right to admission to the same person?

Personally, I don't think that giving away FP+ reservations to other people when you haven't even gone to any park that day is what Disney contemplates. The fact that you seem to be able to get away with it may mean that it's one of those loopholes that Disney hasn't bothered to close yet.

I don't think they really care about FP+ because there's no money associated with it. They care about admission because Disney would lose a lot of money if you handed your AP to people without tickets. That's a very large sum of money that Disney isn't being paid and so they have a big problem with it.

FP+ is just a free guest benefit. I don't think they really care if you used someone else's AP to get extra FP+ entitlements because you can make those FP+ selections without being in the park anyway. Just fire up MDE.

 

[Planogirl]

I remember how angry some people got because people gave away legacy fastpasses. Is this really different?

Personally I don't care but I'm not convinced that Disney doesn't.

 

[morethananyonex]

I don't think they really care about FP+ because there's no money associated with it. They care about admission because Disney would lose a lot of money if you handed your AP to people without tickets. That's a very large sum of money that Disney isn't being paid and so they have a big problem with it. FP+ is just a free guest benefit. I don't think they really care if you used someone else's AP to get extra FP+ entitlements because you can make those FP+ selections without being in the park anyway. Just fire up MDE.

There's tons of money associated with FP+. That's why it exists. It's just not direct money.

I think if this happened on a larger scale than one person here or there they would absolutely take action. 3 initial FP+ booked for a person who is already in the park and holds 3 others is 3 less desirable ones for another person to book in order to lock them into a Disney park that day.

In a park like Epcot or DHS, that one extra FP+ taken up could be the difference between a family deciding to go that day or spend their time elsewhere. They already have capacity issues.

I don't think OP is wrong for doing it, I just think Disney absolutely would care if this became a regular occurrence.

 

[TimothyG]

There's tons of money associated with FP+. That's why it exists. It's just not direct money.

I think if this happened on a larger scale than one person here or there they would absolutely take action. 3 initial FP+ booked for a person who is already in the park and holds 3 others is 3 less desirable ones for another person to book in order to lock them into a Disney park that day.

In a park like Epcot or DHS, that one extra FP+ taken up could be the difference between a family deciding to go that day or spend their time elsewhere. They already have capacity issues.

I don't think OP is wrong for doing it, I just think Disney absolutely would care if this became a regular occurrence.

One of the big features of MDE is the ability to make FP+ selections 30 days in advance. That slot is gone whether or not you show up. So the Epcot scenario would happen by any AP who makes a selection and doesn't show up at the appointed time. It also happened in the old system when someone would pull a FP and not show up.

There is some indirect money coming from FP+, sure, but FP+ is mostly just marketing to get people to use MyMagic+. Sure, there's some money by pulling you out of line into the gift shops and restaurants, but the real money from MyMagic+ comes from getting you to spend more, tracking your spending and touring habits in the park, getting more photos for Photopass, etc.

 

[morethananyonex]

One of the big features of MDE is the ability to make FP+ selections 30 days in advance. That slot is gone whether or not you show up. So the Epcot scenario would happen by any AP who makes a selection and doesn't show up at the appointed time. It also happened in the old system when someone would pull a FP and not show up. There is some indirect money coming from FP+, sure, but FP+ is mostly just marketing to get people to use MyMagic+. The real money from MyMagic+ comes from getting you to spend more and tracking your spending and touring habits in the park.

Disney themselves have said the purpose of FP+ is to get people planning 60 says out so they are not swayed by non Disney attractions once in Orlando. FP+ gives them a huge incentive to buy tickets from home, allowing them to see the decreasing cost per day, perhaps causing them to add more Disney days. Arriving with tickets in hand and FP+ selections made may help Disney lock in offsite families and minimize the effects of offsite attractions just like they've done with onsite guests. This obviously has the potential to work with onsite guests too, but they are already more "trapped". FP+ is not simply a tool to encourage people to give Disney data. It is a potential moneymaker in itself.

FP+ booked in advance and not used is one thing. They can figure out the usage numbers and overbook FP+ accordingly. I have no doubt they already do this as you're right, anyone with a ticket can now book 30 days from the date. The difference with what's happening in the OP is OP is actually using more than the FP allotted to one person, while still only being one person in the park. At parks with capacity issues this could take the final space that may discourage a last minute family from coming to Epcot that day, for example.

It wouldn't be surprising to me if Disney attempted to stop this if it became a big enough issue.

 

[wisblue]

Given how much some people have said that they would be willing to pay for 3 extra FPs per day, there would definitely be potential for some big profits for someone who wants to go into the FP+ peddling business.

All you'd have to do is buy an AP and sell the right to your 3FP+ reservations for something like $50 a day. The person buying the FPs would contact you 7 days in advance telling you what FPs to get. On the day in question you would meet up with the purchaser and hand over the MB in exchange for payment and some type of security that the band will be returned. If you could do this just a few times a month you could recover the cost of the AP several times over in a relatively short period of time. Once you really got rolling, you could have several APs and MBs in play at the same time.

I have very little doubt that if you asked someone at Disney who is in a position of authority if this is OK, they would say no. The fact that you might be able to get away with it is something else again.

Or, how about this. A large group of neighboring families lives near WDW, and all of them buy APs and decide to share their FPs with each other, alternating weekends among themselves. If you have 4 families of 4, each family could go to WDW a few days a month and each person could have 12 FP+ reservations every day they go to the parks. Do you think Disney would care if this became a widespread practice?

 

[morethananyonex]

Given how much some people have said that they would be willing to pay for 3 extra FPs per day, there would definitely be potential for some big profits for someone who wants to go into the FP+ peddling business.

All you'd have to do is buy an AP and sell the right to your 3FP+ reservations for something like $50 a day. The person buying the FPs would contact you 7 days in advance telling you what FPs to get. On the day in question you would meet up with the purchaser and hand over the MB in exchange for payment and some type of security that the band will be returned. If you could do this just a few times a month you could recover the cost of the AP several times over in a relatively short period of time. Once you really got rolling, you could have several APs and MBs in play at the same time.

I have very little doubt that if you asked someone at Disney who is in a position of authority if this is OK, they would say no. The fact that you might be able to get away with it is something else again.

Or, how about this. A large group of neighboring families lives near WDW, and all of them buy APs and decide to share their FPs with each other, alternating weekends among themselves. If you have 4 families of 4, each family could go to WDW a few days a month and each person could have 12 FP+ reservations every day they go to the parks. Do you think Disney would care if this became a widespread practice?

Exactly my thoughts. No doubt in my mind Disney would not approve of both examples in your post, regardless of whether they technically do work or not. If this happens often enough, they will find a way to shut it down. Who knows, maybe they already are.

Do I think anyone is wrong for taking advantage of this while it exists? Nope, not at all. There's just no way Disney gives the thumbs up to this kind of practice. It's kind of like the earlier FP+ loophole from Kenny the Pirate. It existed, it didn't directly lose money for Disney, but no way was it approved by them.

 

[wisblue]

I remember how angry some people got because people gave away legacy fastpasses. Is this really different?

Personally I don't care but I'm not convinced that Disney doesn't.

I think it is significantly different. With paper FP, using your ticket to get into a park gave you the right to get FPs in that park. Once you got that paper FP, I see no problem with giving it to someone else because it has no impact on the total number of FPs available to guests who are in the park.

FP+ may give you the right to make FP reservations in advance based on your park ticket, but I think the right to USE those FPs should be dependent on the ticket being used to enter the park. Frankly, I am surprised that the system doesn't prevent that now, and would expect that that loophole will be closed sooner instead of later.