How cute...my first (poorly timed) glitch!

[theSurlyMermaid]

We were considering adding Memory maker to our trip, but I'm freaking terrified to make any changes!

I realized after this mess that I feel like I don't even know Disney World anymore. It's unrecognizable now compared to the place we've been traveling to since 1977. A stranger. In one fell swoop, after last night's angst, the process has managed to completely deflate my balloon of enthusiasm for this trip. And we just dropped $11k on a new DVC membership.

I'm going to have to do some real digging to rekindle the fire. I;m sure it can be done, but I'm just so disappointed in the place and all the changes right now.

I am seriously considering selling my DVC. I have had 7 good years with it but I am not feeling it anymore. I HATE MDE. My Disney Experience? It's garbage and the vacation hasn't even happened yet. I can't believe I already hate my vacation!

It starts with me being unable to make the ADR we all really wanted (BOG) because I found out too late about the extra 10 days idiocy with MDE about 3 days too late. I was completely shut out. And you know what? I probably would have been shut out even if I had been frantically refreshing at midnight when I was supposed to. And I fully anticipate being shut out of A&E as well. Turns out people who don't do 10-14 day vacations at the end of September are being penalized, just the way they are with ADRs. I'm watching our dates already get booked and my window doesn't open for another 5 days.

The heck with this. I can't believe this. Like you said, I do not recognize this place at ALL anymore. It is sheer garbage and I wish more than anything I wasn't going. But I promised my sister and her family (who know NOTHING about Disney, so yay, more work for me!) they could stay at a DVC resort with us since I have already taken all other members of my family. But this may be it for me. I cannot handle this level of micromanaging a vacation. I think we will likely sell.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Based on what happened to the OP, this is exactly why I don't want anyone else in my party to create a MDE account, which sucks because I know my folks will want access to our Memory Maker pics, but I can't risk stuff getting wiped out.

Yep. Luckily, my husband avoids planning like the plague, so he has no interest in his own MDE account. If we were to go with another family, I'd be on the phone with them when making FP+s so we could coordinate and get them at the same times, but I'd never link my account to someone else's.

 

[momof2n2]

I am seriously considering selling my DVC. I have had 7 good years with it but I am not feeling it anymore. I HATE MDE. My Disney Experience? It's garbage and the vacation hasn't even happened yet. I can't believe I already hate my vacation! It starts with me being unable to make the ADR we all really wanted (BOG) because I found out too late about the extra 10 days idiocy with MDE about 3 days too late. I was completely shut out. And you know what? I probably would have been shut out even if I had been frantically refreshing at midnight when I was supposed to. And I fully anticipate being shut out of A&E as well. Turns out people who don't do 10-14 day vacations at the end of September are being penalized, just the way they are with ADRs. I'm watching our dates already get booked and my window doesn't open for another 5 days. The heck with this. I can't believe this. Like you said, I do not recognize this place at ALL anymore. It is sheer garbage and I wish more than anything I wasn't going. But I promised my sister and her family (who know NOTHING about Disney, so yay, more work for me!) they could stay at a DVC resort with us since I have already taken all other members of my family. But this may be it for me. I cannot handle this level of micromanaging a vacation. I think we will likely sell.

I'm sorry to hear this for your sake, surlymermaid. I do not have the financial investment (DVC), but I just hate that I am not going to be able to have all the awesome Disney memories with my younger kids the way I did with my older kids.
I hope you get some pixie dust and can get into BOG.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I'm sorry to hear this for your sake, surlymermaid. I do not have the financial investment (DVC), but I just hate that I am not going to be able to have all the awesome Disney memories with my younger kids the way I did with my older kids.
I hope you get some pixie dust and can get into BOG.

Thanks. I am so angry and disappointed. My husband and I had some GREAT vacations at Disney just a few years ago. They are turning the entire experience into one you have to navigate through your smartphone. Obviously the system is going to have glitches and crashes.

We will likely try to get a BOG fast pass for lunch. From what I can tell it means constantly checking for openings maybe 30 days out? Sometimes more, sometimes less? Part of my problem is having to manage everything for a party of 8, four of whom haven't the faintest clue about Disney. It's all on me.

The thing I'm really burned up about is I have a busy life. I don't need to be up constantly refreshing my computer at 12am 60 days out to get on a ride or meet a princess or risk a huge standby wait (with 4 children under 8 in our party). I am paying thousands and it should not be this difficult. I shouldn't need an online tutorial to tell me how to book rides. And yes, it feels like you are trapped in your choices! What if someone gets sick? What if you simply feel like doing something else that day?

 

[momof2n2]

Thanks. I am so angry and disappointed. My husband and I had some GREAT vacations at Disney just a few years ago. They are turning the entire experience into one you have to navigate through your smartphone. Obviously the system is going to have glitches and crashes. We will likely try to get a BOG fast pass for lunch. From what I can tell it means constantly checking for openings maybe 30 days out? Sometimes more, sometimes less? Part of my problem is having to manage everything for a party of 8, four of whom haven't the faintest clue about Disney. It's all on me. The thing I'm really burned up about is I have a busy life. I don't need to be up constantly refreshing my computer at 12am 60 days out to get on a ride or meet a princess or risk a huge standby wait (with 4 children under 8 in our party). I am paying thousands and it should not be this difficult. I shouldn't need an online tutorial to tell me how to book rides. And yes, it feels like you are trapped in your choices! What if someone gets sick? What if you simply feel like doing something else that day?

I completely get this.
I'm angry & disappointed too.
We ditched WDW wholly this past May & did SW/BG/Aquatica & DCL. We had so much fun.
I'm still ticked WDW is so unappealing.

 

[lugnut33]

My plan is to open a bottle of wine around 11:30 pm the night before I start making reservations at 1:00 am. I even took the next day off work!

I hope mine goes okay, 60 days out, no A&E, and we are at each park a few times each so I should be able to get everything I want. (knock wood)
I'm mostly nervous about getting night rides at MK on a non-party night. I want Thunder Mountain, Splash, and I guess 7Dwarves at night. I'm flexible on the third.

That is just wrong I tell you, WRONG. No trip should require you to stay up late to start making attraction reservations 60 days out. Crazy.

 

[lugnut33]

Thanks. I am so angry and disappointed. My husband and I had some GREAT vacations at Disney just a few years ago. They are turning the entire experience into one you have to navigate through your smartphone. Obviously the system is going to have glitches and crashes.

We will likely try to get a BOG fast pass for lunch. From what I can tell it means constantly checking for openings maybe 30 days out? Sometimes more, sometimes less? Part of my problem is having to manage everything for a party of 8, four of whom haven't the faintest clue about Disney. It's all on me.

The thing I'm really burned up about is I have a busy life. I don't need to be up constantly refreshing my computer at 12am 60 days out to get on a ride or meet a princess or risk a huge standby wait (with 4 children under 8 in our party). I am paying thousands and it should not be this difficult. I shouldn't need an online tutorial to tell me how to book rides. And yes, it feels like you are trapped in your choices! What if someone gets sick? What if you simply feel like doing something else that day?

I'm a DVC member and totally understand where you are coming from. I've taken 3 trips under the new system and the only real aspect I dislike is FP+. I'm what they call a hater. That said, I have never let FP+ impact me in a negative way. I can still enjoy my Disney vacations, but I have had to adjust the way I tour the parks. You have to be happy with riding something once (max twice if you prioritize the ride at rope drop and a FP+ selection). As a DVC owner get to know the resorts and spend more time there, they are fantastic. I had pretty much given up table service dining before MDE because the prices have gotten too high for the quality of food and service. There are some decent counter service places out there.

Lastly, if you have kids they will never know the problems FP+ has caused. They will still have that smile on their face as they buzz around the parks.

 

[momof2n2]

Lastly, if you have kids they will never know the problems FP+ has caused. They will still have that smile on their face as they buzz around the parks.

Unless they are used to riding their favorites multiple times.
( I'm what they call a SuperUser.)

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

I completely get this.
I'm angry & disappointed too.
We ditched WDW wholly this past May & did SW/BG/Aquatica & DCL. We had so much fun.
I'm still ticked WDW is so unappealing.

SW sounds GREAT! My kids would go for it too, but I promised my sister. This vacation would not be happening if not for that fact. I think I might be able to find a silver lining if it was just my family of four. But her clan (and her complete disinterest in learning about Disney or the rides or anything about this assuming I will do everything) is really killing it for me. There are too many moving pieces.

And yes, my son rode Big Thunder Mountain four times on our last trip. He went with someone different each time….we could just wing it that way.

I don't mean to hijack this thread with my woes. I am behind the OP 100%. I feel trapped in DVC now and I was so proud of our BW points when we got them. It's just disappointing big time.

eta: speaking of DVC, where are these perks that might actually mean something to me? Like maybe an extra five day booking window for stuff? I don't know, something. For all the perks they talk about, there really aren't any that a worth a darn.

 

[Jennasis]

What gets me was having to be up at midnight (then resetting the alarm for 1am when the window didn't open at midnight) in order to get the mine train (or A&E if that's your thing). ALL FP+ did (which I said waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the beginning) was shift the rope drop stampede from 9am on the day the park opens IN the park, to 12am 60 days before the park opens at your house on your computer.

Oh? Some people thought it wasn't fair to have to be there at park opening when they want to sleep in on their vacation? Well how about just wanting to SLEEP AT NIGHT like a normal human 60 days before your vacation instead of having to get up in the middle of the night!

The early bird still gets the worm...just has to be WAAAAAY earlier, tech savvy, and pray the system doesn't crash and screw you.

 

[momof2n2]

What gets me was having to be up at midnight (then resetting alarm for 1am when the window didn't open at midnight) in order to get the mine train. ALL FP+ did (which I said waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the beginning) was shift rope drop stampede from 9am on the day the park opens IN the park, to 12am 60 days before the park opens at your house on your computer. Oh? Some people thought it wasn't fair to have to be there at park opening when they want to sleep in on their vacation? Well how about just wanting to SLEEP AT NIGHT like a normal human 60 days before your vacation instead of having to get up in the middle of the night! The early bird still gets the worm...just has to be WAAAAAY earlier, tech savvy, and pray the system doesn't crash and screw you.

But you DID get to do it from a recliner, right?

No recliners at rope drop.

Some people are never happy.

 

[wilkeliza]

What gets me was having to be up at midnight (then resetting the alarm for 1am when the window didn't open at midnight) in order to get the mine train (or A&E if that's your thing). ALL FP+ did (which I said waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the beginning) was shift the rope drop stampede from 9am on the day the park opens IN the park, to 12am 60 days before the park opens at your house on your computer.

Oh? Some people thought it wasn't fair to have to be there at park opening when they want to sleep in on their vacation? Well how about just wanting to SLEEP AT NIGHT like a normal human 60 days before your vacation instead of having to get up in the middle of the night!

The early bird still gets the worm...just has to be WAAAAAY earlier, tech savvy, and pray the system doesn't crash and screw you.

I was thinking about it and thought well maybe they could make it 8am est. Problem is that is 5 am pacific. Then I thought 12 pm est like runDisney. However, some work then. Sadly there will be complaints any time.

 

[JanaDee]

We were considering adding Memory maker to our trip, but I'm freaking terrified to make any changes!

I realized after this mess that I feel like I don't even know Disney World anymore. It's unrecognizable now compared to the place we've been traveling to since 1977. A stranger. In one fell swoop, after last night's angst, the process has managed to completely deflate my balloon of enthusiasm for this trip. And we just dropped $11k on a new DVC membership.

I'm going to have to do some real digging to rekindle the fire. I;m sure it can be done, but I'm just so disappointed in the place and all the changes right now.

Once our plans were set, I was too scared to make even one change. No way was I taking the chance they were all going to disappear on me!

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

What gets me was having to be up at midnight (then resetting the alarm for 1am when the window didn't open at midnight) in order to get the mine train (or A&E if that's your thing). ALL FP+ did (which I said waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the beginning) was shift the rope drop stampede from 9am on the day the park opens IN the park, to 12am 60 days before the park opens at your house on your computer.

Oh? Some people thought it wasn't fair to have to be there at park opening when they want to sleep in on their vacation? Well how about just wanting to SLEEP AT NIGHT like a normal human 60 days before your vacation instead of having to get up in the middle of the night!

The early bird still gets the worm...just has to be WAAAAAY earlier, tech savvy, and pray the system doesn't crash and screw you.

The crazy thing is I have done about 12 Disney vacations where I never once in my entire life got up to be at rope drop and I still managed to do everything I wanted to even with a party of up to 13. We did everything we wanted to do because of the old FP system, which wasn't perfect but allowed us some flexibility and was at least easy enough to explain to Disney newbies. My sister's eyes glaze over when I try to discuss FP+ and MDE and she just says she doesn't get it. So great! They will have to be at my side every second of this vacation because I have the MDE account and I will be way too scared to let her fiddle around with it without me there!

You could not have put it better….the early bird gets the worm, but also the bird who books a 10-14 day vacation instead of a lowly 4-7 day one. So freakin' unfair. Rope drop is a fairer method than this BS.

 

[canyoncam]

Once our plans were set, I was too scared to make even one change. No way was I taking the chance they were all going to disappear on me!

Thing is they can disappear even without any changes. I logged into my account on my iPod and my main reservation with my tickets was gone! My room only and all my dining is there but not my tickets and FP. Only thing is I had updated the app. On the laptop it is all still there. And DISNEY IT helpfull as ever when trying to find out why

Disney "You must have two accounts"
Me "only one"
Disney "no you have two I can see it"
Me "I've only ever set up one"
Disney "I can see you set up one on Feb -- 20-- and another on March -- 20--. Some people do this as one with WDW one with Disney Cruise Line"
Me "I have used it for WDW and DCL but I have always used same user name and password so it would be SAME account correct?"
Disney "No ma'am , you have two accounts."
Me "but it still is linked in my account on my laptop so how can that be?"
Disney "apple devices don't really work well with our system so we recommend not using them"

So there you have it folks. Lets just hope the majority of smartphones and convenient mobile devices are not Apple!!!!!!

 

[leebee]

This whole planning thing is giving me hives, I swear! This was supposed to be the most amazing trip to Disney EVER, to celebrate my DD's 21st birthday. Instead, I dread the whole thing! I can't wrap my brain around the whole FP+ reservation strategy. How do I know what to book, in what order, and how to get what I want? SHould I book the most important attraction first or last, and move things around? I think I have at least two Disney accounts, because I had an account with ESPN back in 1996 or 97. When I use MDE to make ADRs I can see that DH and DD are each listed in several different ways: Ms., Miss, Mr., Dr., etc. Is that gonna mess me up? These are just rhetorical questions, but they whirl through my head every time I read one of these threads. To add to my anxiety, we will be away when my FP+ window opens, at a family wedding, staying at my SIL's house. How am I supposed to stay up all night making FP+ plans, working through the glitches, etc., when I am a guest in someone else's house? GAHHHHH!!!!

OK, deep breath. SOmeone, somewhere, must have outlined the best, most logical way to approach making the FP+ reservations. I guess it's time to read mesa boy's thread… again…

WHY DID DISNEY DO THIS?? I can tell you one thing; with all the chatter about no standby for A&E, and maybe extending this to Soarin', if pre-reserved ride times, all the time, is the way Disney is going, I'm going to Universal. JUST Universal. Sure, DIsney won't miss my $2000 a year (yes we take cheap vacations), but at least I know I won't be giving them my money for nothing but frustration from a Disney I no longer know.

 

[Jennasis]

But you DID get to do it from a recliner, right?

No recliners at rope drop.

Some people are never happy.

On the couch ...after unsuccessfully trying DH's ipad in bed , then my android phone ...i switched to my laptop.

All three platforms seemed to function very differently from each other too. And it makes me log back in anytime I leave the program for too long.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

This whole planning thing is giving me hives, I swear! This was supposed to be the most amazing trip to Disney EVER, to celebrate my DD's 21st birthday. Instead, I dread the whole thing! I can't wrap my brain around the whole FP+ reservation strategy. How do I know what to book, in what order, and how to get what I want? SHould I book the most important attraction first or last, and move things around? I think I have at least two Disney accounts, because I had an account with ESPN back in 1996 or 97. When I use MDE to make ADRs I can see that DH and DD are each listed in several different ways: Ms., Miss, Mr., Dr., etc. Is that gonna mess me up? These are just rhetorical questions, but they whirl through my head every time I read one of these threads. To add to my anxiety, we will be away when my FP+ window opens, at a family wedding, staying at my SIL's house. How am I supposed to stay up all night making FP+ plans, working through the glitches, etc., when I am a guest in someone else's house? GAHHHHH!!!!

OK, deep breath. SOmeone, somewhere, must have outlined the best, most logical way to approach making the FP+ reservations. I guess it's time to read mesa boy's thread… again…

WHY DID DISNEY DO THIS?? I can tell you one thing; with all the chatter about no standby for A&E, and maybe extending this to Soarin', if pre-reserved ride times, all the time, is the way Disney is going, I'm going to Universal. JUST Universal. Sure, DIsney won't miss my $2000 a year (yes we take cheap vacations), but at least I know I won't be giving them my money for nothing but frustration from a Disney I no longer know.

Seconded, except I'll have to unload DVC before I'm free.

 

[leebee]

Seconded, except I'll have to unload DVC before I'm free.

Can you rent out your points? I know it's a royal PITA but at least Disney wouldn't be getting your money.

I am just so frustrated and disappointed. I hate to say it, but more and more, I am learning to HATE what Disney World is becoming under this leadership.

 

[RookieLady]

The FP+ will disappear. I check about twice a week. I made my FP+s for my trip in August. I got an email a few days later telling me that the ride was down. I go into my account and my first day of FPs were there and the rest were not.

I spent 45 minutes on the phone with IT. They tell me I did not really make them for August, I made them for June. BS. Why is the first one still there?

Then, the IT guy tells me the system would not allow me to book except at 60 days out, not 60 days plus length of stay. BS, I did it by booking the first day and advancing to the next day.

As a favor, after 45 minutes and having been hung up on three times (yes, three times), they gave me the fps I stayed up late and obtained in the first place.

I have touched nothing since.