Here now, and here is the problem

[scottishvixen]

Fast pass plus so far is so so with me now that I'm using it. Magic bands all hooked up and working for everything but FP+. Today was spent in MK and couldn't get on any 3 of our rides without having to prove we actually had the FP. Had it all checked out and no one can find an issue so have been told that basically for a fill 14 days we may need to prove all of our rides. Not a happy bunny! Other than that it's great to be back in Disney World send my DS2 is having a ball

 

[solstice621]

Fast pass plus so far is so so with me now that I'm using it. Magic bands all hooked up and working for everything but FP+. Today was spent in MK and couldn't get on any 3 of our rides without having to prove we actually had the FP. Had it all checked out and no one can find an issue so have been told that basically for a fill 14 days we may need to prove all of our rides. Not a happy bunny! Other than that it's great to be back in Disney World send my DS2 is having a ball

How do you prove it? ( sorry, haven't used the new system yet...)

 

[Brian Noble]

Well now.. That is fascinating.

But, to be fair, we went to Anaheim for a week this past February. Because we did not plan to be back within the year, we bought 5-day hoppers (the longest ticket offered), but we had six full days in the area. With five park days' admission, we had plenty of time in the two parks there and easily had our fill of the Disney attractions.

We did spend part of the sixth day at Knotts---we have Cedar Fair system-wide annual passes---but we could just as easily have caught a movie in a local theater or done the Hollywood Walk of Fame thing on that extra day. We still had a great time, and Disneyland got a little bit more out of us per day than they might otherwise have, and saved one day's capacity for some other family. Not a terrible deal for me, and a great deal for Mickey.

 

[lugnut33]

Disneyland *significantly* jacked up AP prices in advance of Cars Land's opening, much higher than a proportional increase compared to day tickets, IIRC. There aren't many interpretations of that other than they were trying to "thin the herd." They also stopped selling 6-day and longer park hoppers. Now, the longest hopper you can buy is 5 days. Again: hard to call that anything but culling the longer-stay guests in favor of shorter-stay ones.

The number of AP holders exceeded one million and there were days that had become uncontrollable due to the numbers showing up. So yes they did it to cull the heard, but also did it because they could.

So far on this trip I have used every FP- that I pulled, and missed quite a few FP+ appointments. First couple of days on this trip we had a sick kid and that really threw a wrench in the plans. Parks were very busy and most FPs were gone. Nice thing about the old system is you pulled as you needed them, the ultimate just in time system.

 

[Brian Noble]

Well, that's sort of the point. In order to reduce demand on the Anaheim theme parks in the wake of Cars Land, they didn't unduly raise the short-term ticket costs. They focused on longer-term guests (APers/long-stay guests) instead.

 

[lugnut33]

Other thing I have felt on this trip is a lack of freedom, that Disney wants to control my every move.

Also, you better hope you do not need to go to guest services, every time we walked by the line was huge. Line at city hall must have been 40 deep, it went out the door and down the sidewalk.

Another observation, I felt sorry for the people at the Christmas party tonight, the crowds were huge.

You might all be wondering if we had a good time, and the answer is yes. Everything I have said in this thread are observations while on vacation.

 

[lugnut33]

Well, that's sort of the point. In order to reduce demand on the Anaheim theme parks in the wake of Cars Land, they didn't unduly raise the short-term ticket costs. They focused on longer-term guests (APers/long-stay guests) instead.

I thought all ticket media saw significant increases?

 

[Brian Noble]

They all did, but APs rose farther on a percentage basis IIRC, and the longer park hoppers were discontinued (effectively reducing the discount on longer stays.)

that Disney wants to control my every move

TWDC is one of the most paternalistic companies I've ever dealt with. This is not exactly a new thing.

 

[sonofanarchy]

I picked up the 2014 Unofficial Guide last night. As usual, lots of mumbo-jumbo, but they had a pretty large section about FP+ and how it is anticipated that this will cause the biggest backlash with guests in the history of the resort (looks like they were right.) Said pretty much what everyone else who gets is said - Quite simply, Disney is taking something away and expecting guests to experience less while paying more. As for the reasoning, they're just as befuddled as we are.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I picked up the 2014 Unofficial Guide last night. As usual, lots of mumbo-jumbo, but they had a pretty large section about FP+ and how it is anticipated that this will cause the biggest backlash with guests in the history of the resort (looks like they were right.) Said pretty much what everyone else who gets is said - Quite simply, Disney is taking something away and expecting guests to experience less while paying more. As for the reasoning, they're just as befuddled as we are.

I also found it interesting that they had a section (and a chart!) about how FP would end up being tiered by onsite/offsite/resort-level.

 

[Mkrop]

I picked up the 2014 Unofficial Guide last night. As usual, lots of mumbo-jumbo, but they had a pretty large section about FP+ and how it is anticipated that this will cause the biggest backlash with guests in the history of the resort (looks like they were right.) Said pretty much what everyone else who gets is said - Quite simply, Disney is taking something away and expecting guests to experience less while paying more. As for the reasoning, they're just as befuddled as we are.

that's interesting...

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We just got back from Disney World and we used the fast pass + for over a week and I really liked it. I liked being able to change our times also. If Disney could work some kinks out it could be awesome. I didn't have to fight the crowds to get a fast pass for TSM, TT, Soarin and so on and most all of those fast passes were all gone in the first few minutes of park opening.

The problems that I did notice were that the fast pass lines were insane during peek hours of the day. I should have taken pictures but some were really bad, though once inside it seemed to move quickly. I noticed that the CMs were having a hard time watching both sides too, and they would send people on through that may or may not have scanned their band. This didn't happen much, but I did see it.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

I picked up the 2014 Unofficial Guide last night. As usual, lots of mumbo-jumbo, but they had a pretty large section about FP+ and how it is anticipated that this will cause the biggest backlash with guests in the history of the resort (looks like they were right.) Said pretty much what everyone else who gets is said - Quite simply, Disney is taking something away and expecting guests to experience less while paying more. As for the reasoning, they're just as befuddled as we are.

I am surprised they editorialized like that.

 

[Mkrop]

I am surprised they editorialized like that.

The whole book has editorial comments in all the sections.

 

[sonofanarchy]

I am surprised they editorialized like that.

That's the way the Unofficial Guide is. They tell it like it is.

 

[Robo]

That's the way the Unofficial Guide is. They tell it like it is.

Writers are also involved in this and other Disney fan sites.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I am surprised they editorialized like that.

I buy it for the commentary, whether I agree or not with every part.

I can read glossy, sugary descriptions for free on the WDW official site, which has its place too.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Writers are also involved in this and other Disney fan sites.

I believe I've seen Len here before. Not sure about Bob.

 

[momof2n2]

I buy it for the commentary, whether I agree or not with every part.

I can read glossy, sugary descriptions for free on the WDW official site, which has its place too.

Yes! The commentary (supported by the data they work hard to collect) is what has made this a must read for me.

 

[Shaden]

We just got back from Disney World and we used the fast pass + for over a week and I really liked it. I liked being able to change our times also. If Disney could work some kinks out it could be awesome. I didn't have to fight the crowds to get a fast pass for TSM, TT, Soarin and so on and most all of those fast passes were all gone in the first few minutes of park opening.

The problems that I did notice were that the fast pass lines were insane during peek hours of the day. I should have taken pictures but some were really bad, though once inside it seemed to move quickly. I noticed that the CMs were having a hard time watching both sides too, and they would send people on through that may or may not have scanned their band. This didn't happen much, but I did see it.

Very glad that you had a good time. I know that you really liked your experience with FP+, but I hope you do realize that for the same reason FPs were gone for TSM, TT, Soarin a few minutes after opening, when the system rolls out fully you wont be able to change your times. FP+s when extended to all onsite and offsite guests will not allow you to switch times for the headliner rides. Just not enough capacity.

I keep hearing that FP return lines are much longer than people are used to, I just don't understand HOW !?!?! This is one of the things that I would figure this system would be advantageous for. Instead of someone having to actually read your return time, just swipe and walk in ? Should be faster right ? Therefore should speed up the process ??? Or have they increased the number of FP riders on rides ???