FP System

[Money82]

Curious about your thoughts. Do you think Disneyland will ever adopt the FP chaos that is currently in place in Disney World? I'm considering moving to LA and would be devastated if that was ever adopted.

 

[cmwade77]

Unfortunately, it will eventually come; however, I wouldn't expect it to look much like it does now. There are too many locals that go on a regular basis and the system as it stands now would never work.

I think in the end, it will work like this:

• FP+ may only be obtained day of
• You may get three upon entering the park
• You may get a fourth after your third has been used or has expired
• You may get additional after the latest one has expired, one at a time, based on avilability
• You can get FP+ from the kiosks or your phone, but again only the same day.

 

[Money82]

Unfortunately, it will eventually come; however, I wouldn't expect it to look much like it does now. There are too many locals that go on a regular basis and the system as it stands now would never work.

I think in the end, it will work like this:

• FP+ may only be obtained day of
• You may get three upon entering the park
• You may get a fourth after your third has been used or has expired
• You may get additional after the latest one has expired, one at a time, based on avilability
• You can get FP+ from the kiosks or your phone, but again only the same day.

Could live with that but would still much prefer the system in place.

 

[tarheelalum]

No I don't think any of it will ever come to DL.

 

[bryanb]

A key difference is that Disneyland is located in a much larger local population. People are more likely to visit on impulse, which makes it more challenging for both guests and the parks to plan ahead. I think the WDW system was created knowing that the majority of guests can plan ahead. It is also intended to encourage on-site hotel stays and to discourage people from leaving the property on impulse. I think it was also created in response to the fact that each WDW park has fewer headliner attractions serving a larger number of guests, so this system helps more guests ensure they can see a certain minimum of attractions.

It seems that such a system is not needed at DL, as the issues it tries to solve don't exist to the same degree. But I could be wrong!

 

[MouseEXP]

I hope it never comes for one simple reason.
Disneyland would need to make nearly every attraction a Fastpass attraction like it is at WDW.

Which in my opinion is a horrible and makes the Standby Waits unbearable.

 

[figment_jii]

I agree with cmwade77 that at some point, some version of the FP+ system will eventually show up at DLR. That being said, I don't think it's going to happen in the very near future.

I do think that one of the mistakes WDW has made is making every attraction a FP+ attraction. I hope that when the system does make it ways out west, they won't try to shoehorn in FP+ lines to every attraction. Hopefully, it'll just be the attractions that currently use FPs.

 

[mom2rtk]

I used to think it wouldn't come to DL because they don't have the infrastructure to support FP and standby lines on so many of its attractions.

Now..... after watching the various standby only tests happening at WDW, I'm not so sure. Presumably, the lack of room for both lines would no longer be an issue if they went that direction with it.

I'll just leave it at "I hope not".

 

[Patrick in Oregon]

A key difference is that Disneyland is located in a much larger local population. People are more likely to visit on impulse, which makes it more challenging for both guests and the parks to plan ahead. I think the WDW system was created knowing that the majority of guests can plan ahead. It is also intended to encourage on-site hotel stays and to discourage people from leaving the property on impulse. I think it was also created in response to the fact that each WDW park has fewer headliner attractions serving a larger number of guests, so this system helps more guests ensure they can see a certain minimum of attractions.

It seems that such a system is not needed at DL, as the issues it tries to solve don't exist to the same degree. But I could be wrong!

This. And is it really a mess? I'm going to WDW for the first time in 20 years (Splash Mountain was being tested last time I was there), and I think the FP+ system is going to take a huge load off of my planning.

 

[figment_jii]

This. And is it really a mess? I'm going to WDW for the first time in 20 years (Splash Mountain was being tested last time I was there), and I think the FP+ system is going to take a huge load off of my planning.

Do you mean is FP+ a mess? The FP+ system has it's advantages, but reduced planning does not seem to be one of them. You might hop up to the Theme Parks board and check out a few of the FP+ threads there. When it works, it sounds like it has some good features, but getting it set-up isn't that easy. I'm heading to WDW soon and am curious to see how FP+ works for my family. It'll be interesting...

 

[GatorChris]

DL can't even hook up their tickets with the Disney hotel keycards. How would they ever manage to implement FP+?

And if anyone from Disney is reading, the whole reason we came to DL last year and bought APs for the upcoming year is that they DON"T have FP+. I miss my WDW resorts with their great design and low prices, but I'll skip them for a Harbor Blvd hotel if it means that FP is the way it's supposed to be....get as many as you want whenever you want.

 

[DahliaRW]

We actually liked FP+ when we went to WDW. We could plan our whole day in advance. Now that they enforce the FP return times at DL, I'm not sure how it's going to work for us...

 

[Diszona]

I hope not. One of the things I love about Disneyland is we can take a much more laid back attitude toward planning than at WDW.

 

[Money82]

I hope not. One of the things I love about Disneyland is we can take a much more laid back attitude toward planning than at WDW.

Well I agree with the logic of some posters here that Disneyland is mainly comprised of locals rather than people who view DL as a vacation destination. Even the folks who go as a destination tend to incorporate some other sights around LA during their trip so I'm not entirely sure that asking those folks to book their FP 60 days out is going to work out well.

 

[HydroGuy]

This. And is it really a mess? I'm going to WDW for the first time in 20 years (Splash Mountain was being tested last time I was there), and I think the FP+ system is going to take a huge load off of my planning.

To the folks who have their pre-reserved FPs disappear and to folks who have to take hours out of their vacation time to stand in line to talk to guest services to resolve problems, and to the many folks whose experience with the Disney smart phone app which crashes and locks up repeatedly to the point it is unusable, and to the many WDW CMs have had to patiently handle the anger from guests over all these things, the answer is definitely yes.

There are a number of observers who will say that Disney rushed an IT system out before it was ready.

There are guests who have had a completely satisfactory experience. But that is small consolation to those who have had the opposite experience.

 

[DahliaRW]

This. And is it really a mess? I'm going to WDW for the first time in 20 years (Splash Mountain was being tested last time I was there), and I think the FP+ system is going to take a huge load off of my planning.

We were there this past January, 5 days in the parks, and absolutely no glitches with our FP+, the app, or anything. The only "issue" we had was TT kept breaking down, but they would honor our FP+ there later or allow us to use it at another attraction so it was not a huge deal. After it opened up we bypassed the 3 hour line to use our FP, which was fantastic!