Help me find my lost Pixie Dust please!

[4EverFigment]

I was very lucky last year and had two trips "home." One for ten whole days! But that was pre-FP+...we could still get paper FP's and do rope drop and really maximized our experience. I'm a Disney veteran so I knew how to make it all work out.

Things have changed.

I didn't think I was going to get to make a trip this spring, but some magic happened and I will get to join my mother and my son for a few days the first week of April.

And now I see the MAJOR fubar that is the FP+ system.

I'm so sad!! How can Disney allow this kind of thing to take over?? Only three FP's per person, per day? Stand by lines for everything else? Increased wait times?

We have a split stay this trip, will be onsite for two of my days there and offsite the third, then my son and I will return home...and my mom gets to stay a while longer. She always manages to make it work great, but even she has doubts.

I really could use a pep rally around this trip being okay. I know the crowds will be high (it's spring break) and I know that the lines will be bad (because...duh, spring break). I just really wish someone could tell me it's all going to be okay!

 

[Karbase8]

I was there in August 2013 and was doing the test so at that time I still could use paper FP. That being said, you are a veteran, I would use RD still, I still think you can get a lot done in the first two hours in the parks without using FP. Then you can book FP later in the day if you want to repeat your favorites. Set what you want to do and make a good plan. I also find evenings and dinner time you see lower lines as well. You will have a great time! I also like evening EMH especially in MK, but you can make it work. Yes you may see crowds but also Easter Break is later in April so that's when it will be really crowded. Use easywdw for cheat sheats and crowd calendars. You go so many times, you may not to see everything this time around it's quality over quantity. Stay positive!

 

[amg35]

I was very lucky last year and had two trips "home." One for ten whole days! But that was pre-FP+...we could still get paper FP's and do rope drop and really maximized our experience. I'm a Disney veteran so I knew how to make it all work out.

Things have changed.

I didn't think I was going to get to make a trip this spring, but some magic happened and I will get to join my mother and my son for a few days the first week of April.

And now I see the MAJOR fubar that is the FP+ system.

I'm so sad!! How can Disney allow this kind of thing to take over?? Only three FP's per person, per day? Stand by lines for everything else? Increased wait times?

We have a split stay this trip, will be onsite for two of my days there and offsite the third, then my son and I will return home...and my mom gets to stay a while longer. She always manages to make it work great, but even she has doubts.

I really could use a pep rally around this trip being okay. I know the crowds will be high (it's spring break) and I know that the lines will be bad (because...duh, spring break). I just really wish someone could tell me it's all going to be okay!

Just think about your statement that you are so sad that you happened upon some magic and get to take an extra Disney vacation this year!

Things are different, but you just have to plan accordingly. You will still have fun. See if you are eligible to pre-book fast pass, use emh and rope drop if you can.

Even people who hate fast pass still have fun on their trips.

 

[skylynx]

It's going to be ok. But you have to adjust your expectations. Internalize that paper FP aren't coming back, so just as you learned to make the best of that system (with a family "runner," for instance) you'll learn how to make the best of this one.

Having just returned from WDW, unless/until things change, from now on if we park hop we will get FP in advance for must-do's at our "afternoon park" and get to rope drop in the morning for the other one. We will use our phones to make any adjustments to our FP choices and not frustrate ourselves by waiting on ridiculous lines to use in-park kiosks. It will take a while to sort the new FP thing out, but until then, at least in my opinion it is better to re-route your energies into finding some Disney pleasures that don't involve FP tickets or crushing standby lines. Enjoy some of the lounges/public areas at the resorts. Ride the boat to Wilderness Lodge and have a drink at the territory lounge or rent a water sprite. If you've never walked around Fort Wilderness, check that out. The Trail's End Buffet is reasonably priced and has great fried chicken! Ride the monorail to Epcot and back. Drive or take the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge and look at the animals. Learn to love the lesser-loved attractions. Watch the fountain shows at Epcot. Really take some time to walk around the aquarium exhibits in the Living Seas, run around Tom Sawyer Island or take the riverboat (we hadn't done this in YEARS!) Sing along with the tiki birds in Adventureland (yes, really sing). Climb the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse at night when no one else wants to. Watch the corny but comfortably-seated and air-conditioned Carousel of Progress. Some of this may sound crazy but the alternative is feeling really depressed about your vacation because you benchmarked it at x number of times on Space Mountain or Everest or TofT and it miserably failed.

I'd suggest visiting dowtown Disney, but at the moment it's like a war zone with construction walls everywhere making those crowds seem worse. Still, there are neat things to do there. And just wait until Trader Sam's opens!

We've been lucky to be able to make lots of trips to WDW, so not going on every ride that we enjoy every single time is arguably not worth fretting over. I do grieve a little for the way things were in the "old days" before Food & Wine and Flower & Garden (though I enjoy both) when there was a pretty reliable slow season where the crowds in the afternoons were tolerable. But those days are gone with the wind. So we need to learn to experience Disney differently if we want to keep coming (and we do.)

The tiered FP+ thing at Epcot would be more annoying to us (you can't FP both Soarin' and Test Track) if Test Track was the way it used to be. Even though we still love the ride (once it starts) we find the pre-show mock car design thing an excrutiatingly maddening waste of park time. We really just want to go on the ride and skip the way-too-dragged-out "pretend what you are doing has any impact whatsoever on your ride" exercise.

So after this seriously long-winded response, the answer from someone just as worried as you that changes to Disney practices like FP+ and ever-swelling crowds could potentially suck all the pixie dust up into a Shop Vac of disappointment is that your attitude going into your vacation will determine much of how good a time you have. It is way too easy to build anger over people running you over with speeding ECVs, pushing in front of you to watch the parade, sitting their kids on their shoulders right in front of you before fireworks even though you've been holding that viewing spot for an hour, finding no place to sit down and eat, anywhere, etc., just missing the bus, etc. If you miss a premier ride, so what? Unless you are only going once in your life, try out a lesser attraction. You can still enjoy the music, looking at the castle, gloat that you don't have to shove kids around in strollers the size of Toyotas, watch the baby ducks, whatever makes you feel happy.

IT'S GOING TO BE OK!!!

 

[ShannonMB]

It's going to be ok. But you have to adjust your expectations. Internalize that paper FP aren't coming back, so just as you learned to make the best of that system (with a family "runner," for instance) you'll learn how to make the best of this one.

I will save time and not quote the whole post, but I've got to hand it to you, skylynx - this is the best post I've seen regarding licking our wounds and getting past the whole FP+ debaucle. I seriously love this entire post!!!

OP, sounds like you are a true blue Disney lover to the core with a lot of experience. That being the case, you know that how many times you ride x is not going to make or break your homecoming! Last time DD and I found ourselves in MK on the Monday of Easter week (just had to say goodbye one last time after several MK days the previous week), it was utterly insane! The only things we got on that day were the Tiki Birds and Country Bear Jamboree - even Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse was a huge line all the way through the tree! We laughed at the sheer madness of it all - because we know there are many, many, many more MK days in our future. Now I definitely did feel bad for any first-timers there that day - no way they will EVER be back!

 

[mom2rtk]

It's going to be ok. But you have to adjust your expectations.

i.e. lower

OP, give it a try. If you don't find the magic, do remember that airplanes can travel to Anaheim. Think of those airplanes as time machines.... transporting you back to the days of legacy fastpass.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think you're halfway there. Adjusting your expectations is a big part of it. You can still have a good time but it will be different than what you are used to and you already know that.

Just try to go and enjoy what you can. This trip is planned, you will be with your mom and son, you will have a good time.

Then when you come back, you will have plenty of time to think about if you want to go back again, or not.

Hang in there! It will all be ok. For this trip, just go with the flow as Crush would say

 

[pixarmom]

I'll help! We just returned a couple weeks ago from Princess Half Marathon weekend and LOVED it. I've been going to Disney (DL and WDW) since I was two years old, and we've been bringing our kids (currently ages 14, 13 and 7) since they were tiny. We've had APs a few years in a row. So we've experienced many changes over time. We were skeptical about FP+ and magic bands before our trip, but we all agreed we love them both. The magic bands made everything easy - magical express, getting into the room, buying stuff, getting into the park, FP, etc. We were fortunate that we didn't experience any glitches with any of the magic band functions at any time.

We were also fortunate that we stayed onsite and had everything booked all our FP+ in advance. We don't change plans when we're there, so we never went near a FP+ kiosk and we didn't try to change FP+ along the way. (I did make some changes to our March plans back in the room, but not day-of changes.) We were able to do the runDisney events in the morning and not worry too much if we missed rope drop. We were able to ride Soarin on arrival day at night before our Garden Grill ADR - that was a first - yay! We loved not having to run around for paper FPs and we loved knowing in advance that we could secure our favorites . . . and exactly when. Many may not like that type of planning, which I can understand. But our youngest has ADHD and an anxiety disorder, so predictability helps our trip go more smoothly.

Later this month (not a runDisney trip) we'll be at rope drop to ride a few more popular rides first, and then start relying on a mix of FP+ with the shorter wait time rides in between. We need to take breaks at the resort in the afternoon now anyway, so FP+ fits with our touring style of morning at the park, ADR for lunch, late afternoon at the resort and dinner at or around Epcot. So FP+ might not have worked when we had just two kids and were park commandos, but it does now.

Yes, it would be nice for Epcot tiering to go away. And I would like the ability to split our FP+ allotment between parks. But all in all, we think the new system is great. And an added bonus I really didn't expect . . . our youngest LOVED making the Mickey light up with his band. Reminded me of when our oldest was little and he said the bus to the park was his favorite ride. Sometimes, the little things bring a lot of joy. And watching our son's face light up when he makes the Mickey light up . . . lots of value in that for us!

 

[STILLWISHING]

I too loved the FP+ - used it for Princess HM weekend and it enabled me to get on my favorite rides during a compressed schedule. A cast member suggested that the way to enjoy it most is to go to rope drop at one park and save your FP for the afternoon at another. Hit great MK rides and EPCot rides in PM. Also loved EMH to get on rides I couldn't catch during the day.

 

[pixarmom]

I too loved the FP+ - used it for Princess HM weekend and it enabled me to get on my favorite rides during a compressed schedule. A cast member suggested that the way to enjoy it most is to go to rope drop at one park and save your FP for the afternoon at another. Hit great MK rides and EPCot rides in PM. Also loved EMH to get on rides I couldn't catch during the day.

Hello fellow runner!

 

[Planogirl]

Maybe try to downplay rides as much as possible? There are other things to enjoy and maybe keying on those will help.

 

[ZoZo]

It's going to be ok. But you have to adjust your expectations. Internalize that paper FP aren't coming back, so just as you learned to make the best of that system (with a family "runner," for instance) you'll learn how to make the best of this one.

Having just returned from WDW, unless/until things change, from now on if we park hop we will get FP in advance for must-do's at our "afternoon park" and get to rope drop in the morning for the other one. We will use our phones to make any adjustments to our FP choices and not frustrate ourselves by waiting on ridiculous lines to use in-park kiosks. It will take a while to sort the new FP thing out, but until then, at least in my opinion it is better to re-route your energies into finding some Disney pleasures that don't involve FP tickets or crushing standby lines. Enjoy some of the lounges/public areas at the resorts. Ride the boat to Wilderness Lodge and have a drink at the territory lounge or rent a water sprite. If you've never walked around Fort Wilderness, check that out. The Trail's End Buffet is reasonably priced and has great fried chicken! Ride the monorail to Epcot and back. Drive or take the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge and look at the animals. Learn to love the lesser-loved attractions. Watch the fountain shows at Epcot. Really take some time to walk around the aquarium exhibits in the Living Seas, run around Tom Sawyer Island or take the riverboat (we hadn't done this in YEARS!) Sing along with the tiki birds in Adventureland (yes, really sing). Climb the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse at night when no one else wants to. Watch the corny but comfortably-seated and air-conditioned Carousel of Progress. Some of this may sound crazy but the alternative is feeling really depressed about your vacation because you benchmarked it at x number of times on Space Mountain or Everest or TofT and it miserably failed. So we need to learn to experience Disney differently if we want to keep coming (and we do.)

So after this seriously long-winded response, the answer from someone just as worried as you that changes to Disney practices like FP+ and ever-swelling crowds could potentially suck all the pixie dust up into a Shop Vac of disappointment is that your attitude going into your vacation will determine much of how good a time you have. It is way too easy to build anger over people running you over with speeding ECVs, pushing in front of you to watch the parade, sitting their kids on their shoulders right in front of you before fireworks even though you've been holding that viewing spot for an hour, finding no place to sit down and eat, anywhere, etc., just missing the bus, etc. If you miss a premier ride, so what? Unless you are only going once in your life, try out a lesser attraction. You can still enjoy the music, looking at the castle, gloat that you don't have to shove kids around in strollers the size of Toyotas, watch the baby ducks, whatever makes you feel happy.

IT'S GOING TO BE OK!!!

What a great post! I just got back from a one-week trip to WDW, too, and was a little worried about how the changes to FP were going to affect my trip. I used to be what I call a "power user"" of the old FP- system, often getting five or six (or more) FPs a day. I'm also a "ride repeater" for my favorite rides, Soarin', BTMRR, and TSMM.

I'm happy to report that FP+ worked just fine for me. Do I still wish the old FP- system was still in place? Definitely. But I got to ride my favorites more than once by strategically using rope drop and park hopping. I would hit the park at rope drop, ride my favorites, then repeat my favorites again later in the day using FP, so that I could ride twice. And sometimes I scheduled my FP+ for my second park of the day, allowing me to "save" my FP+ for the rides I wanted to repeat.

And as Skylynx suggests above, I hit many of the minor attractions that I might otherwise have skipped, including one of my new favorites, One Man's Dream. It gave me a chance to appreciate things I'd been missing with my rush from headliner to headliner. It's okay if I only ride Star Tours or Haunted Mansion once!

And believe it or not, it was kind of cool to be able to change our FP+ on the fly when our plans changed. We were lucky because we had a smart phone, so we didn't have to wait in line to use a kiosk. So if you have a smartphone, definitely plan on using it because it gives you more flexibility.

Have a wonderful time on your trip!!!!!

 

[pktbMouse]

i.e. lower

much lower...

 

[eeyoresmom]

Longtime WDW vet here. I have been greater than 50 times.I have used FP+ and for the most part like it. For me. I think FP+ can work really well for those of us that go regularly by hitting RP and scheduling FP+ for later and possibly in another park. However, I would have HATED the system the first few years of my familiy's WDW obsession when we had already been once, came home and realized all that we had missd. It took us years of commando touring to experience the kind of trip that we wanted where we did the super headliners a few times and many of the lesser attractions. I think a lot of WDW visitors still fit into that catagory, maybe even most, and FP+ makes it almost impossible to have that kind of trip. I think at that time of our lives I would have been upset if I was spending $4,000-$7,000 to take my family to Disney and was told to "enjoy the park" I don't think the average guest fantasizes about touring other resorts or sitting on a park bench people watching and I don't blame them. Don't get me wrong. I do those things all the time NOW, but I do see both sides of the issue. It works great for some, and not great for others.

 

[cleophus12]

I'm in agreement with skylynx and Pixarmom. We used the FP+ also during Princess Marathon weekend and it worked great for us. As skylynx said, we actually did some things we haven't done in a long time because our FPs were scheduled and I wasnt' running all over the park getting new ones. And while we did do rope drop one day (and accomplished ALOT in the first two hours), it was nice to be able to miss rope drop on race days and still get in our favorite rides with FPs scheduled. While the system needs some tweeking, it is not a total disaster as many would have you believe--and certainly need not ruin your trip.

 

[CNYDisneyFan]

Awesome post skylynx.

 

[4EverFigment]

It's going to be ok. ...

IT'S GOING TO BE OK!!!

I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my vacation, I love you maybe!!

YOU ARE MY NEW HERO.

I'd propose if I were the marryin' kind.

THANK YOU. That gave me all the perspective I could have wished for!

Pixie dust...restored!!