FP+ trip report and my letter to Disney

[tlady]

The FastPass system is complimentary and free. Your park ticket only guarantees admission to the park(s).

This is the funniest comment yet. So, I guess we are to be thankful to spend close to $100 per day just for the unbelievable privilege of walking into one of the parks? Even if, under the new FP system, you hardly get to enjoy anything in the parks?

LOL. I honestly can't believe some of the things I am reading.

 

[*disgal*]

Oh, don't get the idea that we fall into that camp. We are like you. We have never done what I suggested nor will we. I was simply giving a hypothetical, real world example of how FP+ helps certain people. The supporters usually chime in by saying: "now we can sleep in, or do other things and stroll into DHS at 1:00 and have a chance to ride TSM." That will never be us!

Oh, gotcha.

I don't know the intent of the OP but will give them the benefit of the doubt.
I do know what we have decided for the time being. We have used the FP+ test system and while the test worked fairly well for us it does not fit our style of touring and we do feel more and more people are being admitted to the parks to the point of being uncomfortable.
We have not renewed our annual passes, dropped our membership in D23 and will be selling our DVC membership next year.
This is not stated in anger nor are we saying we will never be back. However we view Disney management as dictating what they want us to do vs. how we wish to spend our time. Having visited 50+ times we are reasonably certain we know what we like to do.
We, too, contacted Guest Services only to receive an email inviting us to call them. We will probably do so but don't feel we can make much of a difference. And, yes, I respect those opinions favoring the changes...I just respectfully disagree.
It appears to us that Disney has lost their focus.

Wow. Just, wow. Ya know someone is serious when they plan on selling their DVC.

I think I am starting to understand a little more about the people who aren't really bothered with how the new system is. On more than a few posts I read how they usually only used 3 fp's anyway, or wanted to sleep in or they don't mind waiting a while in a sb line for one of the big attractions.

The way my family has always toured Disney couldn't be more different from this. If I told my kids they would be waiting more than 15-20 min. in a sb line (or maybe a fp line now) or that they could only get 3 fp's, they would look at me like I had 2 heads! I still haven't told them about it and our trip is in 6 weeks! lol But I have my mantra down, I think, when I finally break the news...."just enjoy your day cause I don't know when we will be back. And remember, these are 1st world problems. "....

 

[*disgal*]

Wow. I don't think Disney did this to frustrate everyone or take a I don't care attitude. I think they are just keeping up with the times and technology. It'll take some time to work out the bugs but I feel confident that they will. Even with the old fast pass system we never used more than one a day let a lone three. And you were only issued one at a time....you had to use that one before you could be issued a new one. Maybe it's the times of year you are visiting the park----it's going to be chaos when you go the parks on high attendance dates regardless of what systems are or are not working because of the crowds.

And I think Disney does care. Recently I emailed them over my disappointment over them replacing Main Street Bakery with a Starbucks. I got a call back two weeks later from a Disney executive. I felt they put the Starbucks in the wrong place--it simply did not fit with the original vision of what Main Street is supposed to be. It should have been placed in Tomorrowland where there are empty places it could have easily gone and where it would have gotten just as much foot traffic given it's where some of the most popular places are. And the Disney Executive agreed with me and.....hinted that at sometime in the future that might happen.

So regardless, your words are powerful and I would absolutely submit your comments to Disney because you never know what could happen.

Actually, that's not true. You didn't have to use it. We would save ours for later all the time. You did have to wait a certain amount of time though. I think the time was in small print on the bottom or something that let you know when you could get the next one. My DH has always been the FP runner so he knows more about that than I do. But as soon as that time came, he was going to another place to get the next one.

eta: But that is SO cool about the Starbucks thing! Very smart of you and good going.

 

[gdrj]

How is this an improvement for me again?

Here is how it is an improvement.

DD: "Dad: Can we have a character breakfast at the Poly on the day we go to DHS? That park doesn't seem like a full day park for us, so maybe that would be a good day to have a nice breakfast."

Dad: "I don't think so. If you kids want to ride Toy Story Mania, we have to get there real early. The Fast Passes will be gone by 10:30 and the standby line will be 90 minutes or more if we arrive at 10:00.

DS: "But Dad, we like doing both. Can't we have both a fun breakfast and do the Toy Story ride?"

Dad: "Sorry kids. It's one or the other."

Under the new system, (assuming you are staying on site), you book your 'Ohana breakfast 180 days out (or 180+10) and you book your TSM FP return 60 days out and you get to do both. Disney wants you to start enjoying more of what it offers and not just ride the same things over and over again.

To me I see this example as a plus. It doesn't need to be breakfast reservations, it could be staying up late the night before for EMH's and wanting to sleep in or go to the pool

NOt to be, well, you know...lol...I think we have now been offsite more than onsite but even when we were onsite I would make my Ohana breakfast on an MK day with a ressie about 10:30, hitting the parks first. Yeah, DHS has never been a full day park for us either so that's when I would have made a dinner ressie somewhere.

Your example is a plus for people who would do that, I guess. But honestly, in the almost 15 trips we've made, I would have never thought to do those 2 things on the same day. But I know that's just us probably.

We consistently are doing more than 1 thing or 1 park in a day. I'm happy not to have to go to MK to get my FP's first and than hit breakfast

I think the OP's letter was just fine. It was thoughtful, reasonable, and made it's point firmly.

Showing how upset you are after spending a lot of vacation dollars is understandable by anyone.

Agree that you should voice your thoughts an opinion, to be more effective I think a bit more on facts and a little less "parks were crazy", and "everyone says they are done with Disney" might help. Absolutely show emotion, but do it effectively. (I do realize OP said more that)

Yup, I think they WILL fix it because they HAVE TO. But that doesn't help the families that are there NOW.

A very fair point

It is possible to like the idea of FP+ and the concept AND still be able to see flaws. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Personally, I believe FP+ will work well for the way I tour based off of what I know about it. I never used more then 3 FP per day and had no issues riding or seeing anything I wanted... even multiple times a day. I also really like knowing that I "will" get to rid specific attractions on some days. Then again, I am very much a planner due to my natural personality.

However, I can also see flaws in the system.

One would be the tiers. I can actually understand the WHY behind it, especially since it was implemented going into the busiest season for the parks. However, I don't think that it really works practically.

Another would be the lines that are forming before the first scan due to how long it takes for the scan to happen. This really needs to be looked into because it flat out makes the system LOOK bad. Which is not something Disney needs.

As for the OP, if you want to write them a letter, then go for it. I encourage everyone to do so if they wish, no matter HOW they feel about the system. That said, you need to proof read it and make it less about the "feelings" and more about the "facts". As it is now written... it won't be taken as seriously.

Agree with you. I am headed down in April. I am thrilled to have my FP's booked, and once booked you can tweak the times (which I'm sure not everyone realizes). To have 3 FP's in basically a 3 hour window I think is pretty cool. I don't have a gripe with the tiers at this point, if I want to get Test Track and Soaring on that one day, I can still go early and get on one and have the FP for the other. In the old system I would have probably needed to get there early anyway, plus I can always do single rider for Test Track, BUT I understand people vacation differently and I can appreciate that. We tend to Park Hop so it would be great if you could save one of the FP's for a second park, even if it meant having to be in that park to get it. As far as the long lines with FP, we saw that with AK in December, with people learning what to do, definitely is not attractive. In regards to never going again, I'm sure there will be plenty of people that swear off Disney, who knows I might as well. But what FP did for me was on my second day at MK I chose to attractions I probably haven't been on in years, just because I could pre-plan, I'm using it on Peter Pan and Pooh, both rides always have a line but in the past I wouldn't want to walk by it get a FP if I could and have to come back 2 or 3 hours later. Now I'm set and will plan my day around it.

 

[peaches00]

OP, if you are looking to improve your letter, I have a few suggestions:

- You compare your experience to Universal and now say Universal is better because you only get 3 fast passes. I've only been to Universal Stuios hollywood, so correct me if I'm wrong, but Universal doesn't have any free fast passes. Are the standby lines longer in Disney than Universal? If that is true, I'd make that argument.

- I got that you don't like being limited to 3 fast passes, but what else don't you like? Most of your letter was the horrors people off site have to deal with now, but you stayed onsite. Are most of your trips off site, so you are worried about your next vacation?

- Overall, I couldn't see how this significantly negatively impacted your vacation. I don't doubt that it did, but you need to explain it better. Did you only get to see half of what you normally see?

If you stay at an onsite universal hotel(not including new cabana cay) you get an express pass for all rides (except Harry potter rides) and you can ride them as many times as you want. You also board a boat to take you back to hotel and don't have to be crammed on busses. There is no comparison now with the fastpass+. My biggest problem is the rides like pirates and haunted mansion standby lines. We have never waited more than 10-15 minutes...so I will keep universal. If I want to disney, I will go to Disneyland and fastpass.

 

[spleuchan]

If you stay at an onsite universal hotel(not including new cabana cay) you get an express pass for all rides (except Harry potter rides) and you can ride them as many times as you want. You also board a boat to take you back to hotel and don't have to be crammed on busses. There is no comparison now with the fastpass+. My biggest problem is the rides like pirates and haunted mansion standby lines. We have never waited more than 10-15 minutes...so I will keep universal. If I want to disney, I will go to Disneyland and fastpass.

I didn't realize universal did this. Can you imagine the uproar on this board if Disney did something similar? Fastpass+ is now unlimited, but you either have to pay $XX per day per person or stay at one of their deluxe hotels for example? I think these boards would crash from all the negativity.

Disney has boat transportation, so that isn't a major difference.

 

[kbelle8995]

Send the letter. Disney needs to hear the good and bad.

 

[Mad Hattered]

I didn't realize universal did this. Can you imagine the uproar on this board if Disney did something similar? Fastpass+ is now unlimited, but you either have to pay $XX per day per person or stay at one of their deluxe hotels for example? I think these boards would crash from all the negativity.

Disney has boat transportation, so that isn't a major difference.

Try taking the boat from AKL to the MK.

 

[spleuchan]

Try taking the boat from AKL to the MK.

You are right. There isn't a boat from every disney hotel to every disney park. We all should be going only to universal instead until they get this fixed!

 

[ougrad86]

Thank you for writing that letter. For some people, FP works, for others it does not.

I am already putting together a letter to Disney. I will finish it after our trip, and tell them my opinion after I have used it. So far, it is too complicated for something that should be simple.

But my letter goes further than that, it addresses the changes we have seen in the park as a whole. The CM's are not as well trained, the park is not as clean, things aren't as "magical". We are doing a split stay, and will hit Universal after Disney on this trip. I purchased a lot of 10 day tickets, so will return to Disney, but not during busy times. Maybe then the parks will be nicer, more able to keep up.

I just wish they would have spent all that money on attraction in the last three years. Imagine what we would have had now! And more space to spread out more people, instead of more hotel rooms that the have been building.

 

[Mad Hattered]

You are right. There isn't a boat from every disney hotel to every disney park. We all should be going only to universal instead until they get this fixed!

Agree! And while Disney is busy fixing the boat problem they could go ahead and fix about 15 other things that make it not worth the money anymore.

 

[Laz]

I agree with you that people should let their voices be heard. It might not make a difference but it's certainly the right thing to do.

We should let our voices be heard, but money speaks louder than words. If WDW's bottom line is hurt, then things will change. Unfortunately, we may not know the bottom line effect for some time. WDW will not be getting my vacation dollars until I see a value in returning.