Horrible Fast Pass+ Experience

[suziespice]

We just got back on Saturday from spending 6 days in the parks, I had booked all of my fast passes a month ahead of time, I used the first one fine.. then none of them worked after that. The first time they asked me to bring it up on the MDE app on my phone..which wasn't working at the time, so they ended up just letting us on, that also happened for my 3rd fast pass for that day.. that evening I took a screen shot of all my fast passes for the week.. we had a fight with every cast member everytime we tried to use a fast pass.. I went to the magic band centre and they 'fixed it' and it still didn't work.. I ended up spening quite a bit of time trying to get this fixed multiple times with multiple people. they finally admitted that they couldn't fix it and it was a known error.. on day 3 the cast members stopped letting us on rides even after I showed them my app, with the jungle cruise I even had the magic band cast member with us and they still wouldn't let us on...this was such a disappointing experience, it makes me never want to go back to disney again...

 

[Disneylover99]

I'm so sorry for your horrible experience and I can totally relate. We just returned from Disney yesterday and our MB's never worked for FP +......not even once.

Some cm's were great and really apologetic while others were rude and condescending and basically just said, "um no, if it turns blue it means you don't have reservations".

 

[dani7776]

Ohhh no that's horrible they better fix all the problems quickly so they don't lose people !! Sorry you had a bad time =(

 

[taterheads]

We just got back on Saturday from spending 6 days in the parks, I had booked all of my fast passes a month ahead of time, I used the first one fine.. then none of them worked after that. The first time they asked me to bring it up on the MDE app on my phone..which wasn't working at the time, so they ended up just letting us on, that also happened for my 3rd fast pass for that day.. that evening I took a screen shot of all my fast passes for the week.. we had a fight with every cast member everytime we tried to use a fast pass.. I went to the magic band centre and they 'fixed it' and it still didn't work.. I ended up spening quite a bit of time trying to get this fixed multiple times with multiple people. they finally admitted that they couldn't fix it and it was a known error.. on day 3 the cast members stopped letting us on rides even after I showed them my app, with the jungle cruise I even had the magic band cast member with us and they still wouldn't let us on...this was such a disappointing experience, it makes me never want to go back to disney again...

Oh no! This is like my Disney nightmare realized. I'm so sorry. I can't believe they wouldn't work with you. I am nervous for rude CMs because that's just a side of Disney I can't reconcile myself to. I would have started crying in frustration.

 

[keaster]

That just sucks, I'm so sorry you had a bad experience.

We have yet to experience FP+, but we will in March so we'll see how it goes. We have another quick trip just me and DH in June so we aren't too worried about FP+ for that one. But after that, we will take a break (we are planning on using our DVC points in Aulani for 2015) just to see how this whole FP+ thing shakes out!

 

[Susan2771]

You even had a magic band cast member with you there to speak to the cast member manning the fast pass line and they wouldn't even believe them? But they work for Disney and to resolve issues, why would they not believe a Disney employee?

 

[Viva Las Disney]

on day 3 the cast members stopped letting us on rides even after I showed them my app, with the jungle cruise I even had the magic band cast member with us and they still wouldn't let us on...

This is disappointing to hear, I had the same problem with my fastpasses not showing when I scanned my band a few weeks ago but every CM just manually added me as long as the FP showed on my phone. It was a bit annoying but after the first day I always had my plans pulled up as I walked up so it never took more than a few seconds to fix. If they stop accepting their own app as proof glitches like this will be much more of a pain. I spoke with one dedicated FP CM and she pulled up all my FP's on her ipad and said they weren't working because I scheduled them before the tiering, she said it makes the system kick them out because they don't conform to the new tiering rules. Her solution was to continue showing the CM's my phone as proof, fortunately all the CM's were nice and I didn't have any problems.

I also have the same question as Susan, if you have a MB CM vouching for you what was the reason given by the other CM that wouldn't let you go? That doesn't make any sense.

 

[fivebyfive]

That's a shame. We had a the same issue, but it's still only a test and therefore, I wasn't surprised.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

My experience has improved. No glitches in two days. So things are looking up. Have the front desk print out your plans for fast passes, they will honour them at a ride if something goes wrong.

 

[thr33boys]

We got back yesterday and our bands only worked for about 4 or 5 rides over the 5 park days. It was annoying being pulled aside nearly every time to have to prove to the CM. We only had one CM give us a bit of a hard time. She acted like it had never happened before and then proceeded to click through my DH's app, a screenshot wouldn't have been enough for her. However, the bands worked perfectly for room charges and opening the doors. Had a few problems with park admissions.

 

[pigletto]

Wow. That is disappointing to hear. I can only imagine your frustrations. We were there for 10 days (got home today) and did not have one single issue with the bands. One time dh's band wouldn't work to pay for his lunch, but that was because the machine at the restaurant was having problems. Every other instance we used the bands for anything at all over the 10 days worked just as it should.
In fact I left hating the whole idea, and became a convert, aside from one LARGE point and that is I think only being allowed 3 fast passes is ridiculous.

OP, when the work, they are incredibly convenient and work really well. However when they don't, it's enough to ruin your trip. I am so disappointed for you

 

[tgropp]

We are presently at WDW and for the last seven days we have only had to get our bands reset once, and that was due to a split reservation at our resort. Once, we also used our dining plan last night and the band did not require me to enter the four digit number. Other than that, they are working great

 

[Susie63]

My sister and her family are travelling to Orlando for a week in April. They have a rental house and will do a day here and there at the parks. How do the bands work for the day visitor or will they even get them?

 

[Sue M]

My sister and her family are travelling to Orlando for a week in April. They have a rental house and will do a day here and there at the parks. How do the bands work for the day visitor or will they even get them?

As of now, no off site guests get MBs. At some parks they will still be able to pull regular "legacy" FPs. Currently AK is. Going to a FP kiosk for off site guests. Who knows what April will look like. System is constantly changing.

 

[Sue M]

Just have to say, IMO, this new system isn't an improvement of guest experience. We used the MBs in August, and they worked ok with getting 3 FPs. But if some of your party is staying off site, it makes things very difficult.

And now for our Jan trip, we're stuck with this new tiered system. How is that an improvement in our wdw experience . Having the opportunity to only pick 1 headliner? TSMM or RnRc? TT or Sorin? No doubt it will extend to other parks too. Will we have to choose between EE & Safari? Or Space MTN & BTMM or Splash?
Whoever is in charge if this, sure is wrecking my Disney experience!!
Disney used to be about having the best service and best guest experience. Somewhere along the line they are loosing both.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just not looking forward to my Jan trip with the same enthusiasm.

 

[TheBig2na]

We went in November and had no problems. However I am still not totally convinced with the system. I was surprised how well it worked actually. we had two minor issues that were dealt with in no time and when something is testing there will be problems. I just don't see the benefits with fast pass though. Not for guests at least. When the parks aren't crowded it isnt a problem to change fastpasses around but when it gets busy you are going to get none of the good rides. I don't know what it is but something about it still bothers me even after having a positive experience and one of the best trips I have ever had there, and I have had many. To me it is still my happy place and I don't know how a disney addict breaks that habit, but this to me is not a plus even if it works 100% of the time. I loved the Magic Bands and all they did, open doors, park entrance, purchases...to me that portion of the new system was a positive but not necessarily one we wanted or needed.

So I guess I am torn on it really. I don't like having to pick rides months in advance but when i was there it wasn't an issue at all and only because the parks weren't crowded and we could change our FP's from one park to another with ease. Our last 3 days were a different story as we hit Thanksgiving week.

All we can do is hope that in the end it works out to be a plus for us as well as Mickey's fat wallet. And I know it's fat because mine is empty after visiting him. hahahah

 

[katt789]

Sorry your experience was so crappy! We've used the fast pass plus and magic bands twice on trips now and despite having a minor problem, they always worked for us.

I'd give it another shot though, it is all still in testing, and I'm sure a lot of the cmd are just as annoyed at the problems as we are. I've found most of the reviews on here have been negative but we didn't really have any problems at all and really enjoyed the service! I hope you give it another shot once all the testing is done and the kinks worn out.

 

[papertraveller]

We just got back on Saturday from spending 6 days in the parks, I had booked all of my fast passes a month ahead of time, I used the first one fine.. then none of them worked after that. The first time they asked me to bring it up on the MDE app on my phone..which wasn't working at the time, so they ended up just letting us on, that also happened for my 3rd fast pass for that day.. that evening I took a screen shot of all my fast passes for the week.. we had a fight with every cast member everytime we tried to use a fast pass.. I went to the magic band centre and they 'fixed it' and it still didn't work.. I ended up spening quite a bit of time trying to get this fixed multiple times with multiple people. they finally admitted that they couldn't fix it and it was a known error.. on day 3 the cast members stopped letting us on rides even after I showed them my app, with the jungle cruise I even had the magic band cast member with us and they still wouldn't let us on...this was such a disappointing experience, it makes me never want to go back to disney again...

I am so sorry to hear this. Did Disney not offer up anything in compensation? I can assure you that if I was in your shoes and had spent that much of my vacation time working on their computer system, I'd be looking for something. i can fight computers at work and at home -- I don't need to do it on vacation.

We are annual pass holders and are currently staying offsite. The FP+ experience hasn't been great for us, as we're caught in the wake of all those that are already booked. We get the leftovers. Yesterday, we arrived at MK just after 9 a.m. and got the old FastPasses three hours out. Today when we arrived at Epcot just before 10 a.m., the earliest FastPasses were available for 6:30 p.m. As a result, and probably not the result Disney wanted, we left early both days.

 

[msrlest8]

We went at the end of October for Halloween.
We are very regular WDW guests. We go to WDW 2-3 times a year.
I was not impressed by the Magic Bands at all. I found that they were bulky and stiff.
We had no problems with using the Fast Passes or any other issues with them, except keeping them on our wrists. We didn't find them comfortable at all (or very fashionable)
That's our opinion.

 

[photofreak]

We went at the end of October for Halloween. We are very regular WDW guests. We go to WDW 2-3 times a year. I was not impressed by the Magic Bands at all. I found that they were bulky and stiff. We had no problems with using the Fast Passes or any other issues with them, except keeping them on our wrists. We didn't find them comfortable at all (or very fashionable) That's our opinion.

We were there at the same time, I found them very sweaty too. Majority of the time I put it on my straps, purse, tank top, etc. lol. I enjoyed their ease of use tho!