Here and Dissapointed

[bshawcrew]

Maybe I just don't know how to make it work. Or maybe it's the way we usually do Disney. I came with a positive attitude after weeks of planning our fast passes. We are not rope drop people, but find now we need to be. But I think the most frustrating for us are the standby lines. We have stood in lines for up to an hour in the past to ride headliners, but always had our fillers, the things we could always walk on to fill time. HM, POTC, IASW, etc. But now they all have outrageous lines. I don't know. Feeling a little bummed and now wishing we had chose to cruise or something. And we are 1-2 x a year visitors. I see alot of people now saying they love FP + so maybe we just haven't learned how to make it work yet. It just feels strangely like my job. Lots of planning and time management to fit all the desired tasks in. Sigh, gonna try a different strategy tomorrow.

 

[jenninaustin]

What are the times you are at the park? I saw that you said you aren't rope drop people but that could mean 10 am or lunchtime. Just curious. I've been trying to keep an eye on wait times and I do see the lines build a lot by 11 it seems.

 

[Ali]

Did you use FPP for today? If you have used all of them then go to a kiosk and see what is available. The best strategy right now if to make the FPP in close timing order, like 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 then go to a kiosk and make another FPP. The standby lines are longer right now because people don't understand how the new FPP thing works.

 

[agame2323]

Sorry you feel that way. We haven't been to WDW since the introduction of FastPass+ but you have confirmed one of my biggest fears. Which is it seems like you need to do more planning than you had to do previously.

 

[PSUGuy]

We are not rope drop people, but find now we need to be.

This is the problem in a nutshell. RD people either have little issue with FP+ or, in my case, benefit from it. For years our plan has been to hit a park at RD grabbing a FP- occasionally, tour until standby lines exceed 25 mins or so, then hop to WS. By hopping time FP- times at Epcot/WS would be too late for us or they'd be gone altogether. Now, we'll get our stuff in at the early park then have a few FP+s waiting for us. It works! I sympathize with the OP but anytime a system change there will be winners and losers.

Bill From PA

 

[TheGreatGafsby]

Yeah, I'm not looking forward to it, as we are not big on planning out our days... make reservations for dinner - that's about it. It sounds like there has been an at least noticeable effect on SB lines which is really unfortunate. Maybe they should limit the number of Fastpasses released/available to get things close to where they were before (ratio-wise). Oh well....

 

[bshawcrew]

We usually arrive around 930 or 10. We have been using our 3fp in the mornings, but then find we are done. It's around 1130 or so when we finish, and have been successful in getting 4ths, usually around 4 or so. Again, I think it comes back to how we used to do Disney. We only used legacy FP for headliners because we got a kick out of the old school walk on stuff just as much. We could spend a day at MK just riding IASW and those types of rides over and over. But the lowest wait I've seen is 30 minutes on the things we used to walk on. And again, all the planning and opening apps and changing times. I work in home health as a nurse and it feels just like my workdays. I'm sorry. Don't want to be negative. I know there's been plenty of that. Just frustrated. Thanks for listening

 

[2Tiggies]

We usually arrive around 930 or 10. We have been using our 3fp in the mornings, but then find we are done. It's around 1130 or so when we finish, and have been successful in getting 4ths, usually around 4 or so. Again, I think it comes back to how we used to do Disney. We only used legacy FP for headliners because we got a kick out of the old school walk on stuff just as much. We could spend a day at MK just riding IASW and those types of rides over and over. But the lowest wait I've seen is 30 minutes on the things we used to walk on. And again, all the planning and opening apps and changing times. I work in home health as a nurse and it feels just like my workdays. I'm sorry. Don't want to be negative. I know there's been plenty of that. Just frustrated. Thanks for listening

Your strategy doesn't look terrible to me. When you got your 4th FP, did you try changing the time to something earlier on your smart phone (if you have one)? There are reports of people getting their extra FP and then being able to scoot the time earlier to allow something to do sooner as well as a shorter wait to get the next one. I hope things look up for you.

 

[bshawcrew]

This is the problem in a nutshell. RD people either have little issue with FP+ or, in my case, benefit from it. For years our plan has been to hit a park at RD grabbing a FP- occasionally, tour until standby lines exceed 25 mins or so, then hop to WS. By hopping time FP- times at Epcot/WS would be too late for us or they'd be gone altogether. Now, we'll get our stuff in at the early park then have a few FP+s waiting for us. It works! I sympathize with the OP but anytime a system change there will be winners and losers.

Bill From PA

Yeah, I can see how if you enjoy RD, it would be great. You could definitely get a lot in before things pick up late morning. And then have your FP. Just like if I start my workday early and see a few patients before 8, I can go home earlier. Again, goes back to work. But what do you do. I really am glad this works great for some. At least it's not a total bust.

 

[Missymouse18]

I'm really sorry you are having a frustrating time. Maybe you are trying too hard to forget about your work and it's causing you to compare the feeling? We are all creatures of habit - so try to do Disney without thinking about the way you do work.
I hope tomorrow will bring a day full of pixie dust for you.
Oh, and rope drop really does work well for us - every single time.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We are 11 days away and I'm the only rope dropper in my group. The rest sleep in and arrive between 11am and noon.

I booked our FP+ for afternoons and figure I'll ride standby in the morning for my favorite rides and then we can do FP and then we'll have to stand in long lines.

I'm not thrilled with it either OP but it's the best I could come up with based on most of my family not getting out of bed.

I hope tomorrow works better for you OP!

 

[AquaDame]

Yeah, I can see how if you enjoy RD, it would be great. You could definitely get a lot in before things pick up late morning. And then have your FP. Just like if I start my workday early and see a few patients before 8, I can go home earlier. Again, goes back to work. But what do you do. I really am glad this works great for some. At least it's not a total bust.

Eh, we are rope droppers and still had issues of longer standby lines than normal - it felt like it started as soon as the rope dropped too. This was in JANUARY of all times. We even tried single rider line when we saw wait times at 45 minutes... both times OUR wait ended up over an hour so much for that too.

 

[Planogirl]

I just looked at the wait times for those lower tier rides and they are pretty long right now. I'm curious to see if that continues or if the crowds are big right now for some reason.

It sounds like you tour a lot like us. We do arrive at rope drop most days but we enjoy the older filler rides in between headliners. I'm starting to wonder if that will work any more.

 

[MYD714]

Last summer we tested FP+ and we found that the lines for rides like HM and POTC were longer than years past. We used to run to these to fill time, but we barely got on them all week because of the 40 minute lines. It was really disappointing.

I'm nervous about having the same issue this summer.

 

[Planogirl]

Last summer we tested FP+ and we found that the lines for rides like HM and POTC were longer than years past. We used to run to these to fill time, but we barely got on them all week because of the 40 minute lines. It was really disappointing.

I'm nervous about having the same issue this summer.

I just looked again and HM is at 45 and Pirates is at 35. Jungle Cruise is at 60?

I hope that someone who is in MK posts at some point and maybe can tell if the park just seems busy or if the rides seem more backed up.

 

[JennyDrake]

I have been 3x since FP+, the most recent this past week. OP is correct--if you are not a RD person you need to be OR you need to accept that you will stand in a 30-45 minute line for every attraction that used to be 5-15 min.

The first hour MK was open on Monday, all the mountains were 15 min or less. By noon, IASSW was 35 min. Space 70 min, BTMRR 60 min, SM 70 min PoTC 40 min, HM 40 min.

 

[DVCFan1994]

Last summer we tested FP+ and we found that the lines for rides like HM and POTC were longer than years past. We used to run to these to fill time, but we barely got on them all week because of the 40 minute lines. It was really disappointing.

I'm nervous about having the same issue this summer.

I am pretty sure two weeks ago when we were there was the first time in over 40 trips I haven't ridden POTC. I just couldn't bear to wait 45 minutes, which is what it was each time we checked. It used to often be the last ride we hit on the way out. No way was I waiting in that line for 45 minutes with kids who were nearing the end of their ropes. My DH and DS rode it with FP while DD and I were meeting A&E though, so the whole family didn't miss out. We did still manage to walk on to HM though.

 

[TimothyG]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I hope the rest of your trip works out better.

My experience, however, was different. I last visited during Spring Break and found that FP+ enabled me to sleep in longer. There was one day that I didn't show up until about 11:30 (a sleep in day) and got a FP+ to TSMM. That would have never happened under the old system.

I also think FP+ gets a lot of undeserved blame. The economy is getting better which is driving more people to visit the parks. Last quarter, Disney reported record attendance levels at WDW. They are scheduled to report earnings this afternoon so we'll see if that trend continues (which I think it will).

So even if the old FastPass was still in place, you would still have longer lines.

 

[DebbieB]

I read on one of the Facebook groups that there was a stage 2 closing either yesterday or Sunday. They said lots of cheerleading groups.

 

[SuperRob]

Maybe I just don't know how to make it work. Or maybe it's the way we usually do Disney. I came with a positive attitude after weeks of planning our fast passes. We are not rope drop people, but find now we need to be. But I think the most frustrating for us are the standby lines. We have stood in lines for up to an hour in the past to ride headliners, but always had our fillers, the things we could always walk on to fill time. HM, POTC, IASW, etc. But now they all have outrageous lines. I don't know. Feeling a little bummed and now wishing we had chose to cruise or something. And we are 1-2 x a year visitors. I see alot of people now saying they love FP + so maybe we just haven't learned how to make it work yet. It just feels strangely like my job. Lots of planning and time management to fit all the desired tasks in. Sigh, gonna try a different strategy tomorrow.

Sorry to hear it's not working out for you. Getting there early is always the best way to beat the lines, so I can see how non-Rope Drop folks are having a rough time. But you didn't mention if you bothered to use FastPass at all ...

You can still get FastPasses just walking into the park cold. Go to a Kiosk and they'll help you get them. You don't need to plan that much to not wait in a line, but you do need to be using FP+. Once you've done it the first time, you'll have the hang of it. There are reports of people getting 10 in a day, so there's plenty of line skipping you can do. In short, you really shouldn't be waiting in a standby line if it's avoidable.

I will say this. Disney has given you the ability to book FP in advance. Use it, even if it's just the night before. Those FP are part of a separate pool, so if you're not using them, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage. That gives you three guaranteed rides right there, and then getting more while in the parks (after those three are used) will increase your enjoyment immensely.

Hope your trip gets better!