How do you think FP+ will work with a large group? (65+)

[leeserw]

One thing that will help is that I'm actually flying down a day ahead. I'll have all rooms checked in and ready when kids get there that night. If I need to do FP+ selections then I'll have time (although having a little time in the parks to myself sounds glorious knowing I won't have a single minute once they arrive).

 

[chartle]

1. Such good information! Thanks! I'm going to call today. I called before but told them who I was and that my TA wasn't getting me any information. They wouldn't talk to me. They said they had signed a contract with the TA and could only talk to him. It never entered my mind to call and just say I am planning a trip and not be specific. Duh! Great idea! Our TA is very nice but not very knowledgable. This is a side job for him and he isn't great at responding. And when he does respond he says "I'll send your questions to Disney and get back with you". Response time is always days. It drives this uber planner crazy.


2. Do you think FP+ will be taken up if we wait until we get there? Aren't there only so many like before?

1. School trips are always different because of the YES tickets, no dining plan and the way the meal vouchers work. If you would have asked before whether to use a TA I would have suggested not to use one. Even then you need one that is a school trip expert.

Well at least for a trip like ours. We didn't use one, I planned everything in a couple of hours with the help of the band booster pres and treasurer. We rented a bus to go down and for the week there, since we were off site and needed it to get around. Not sure about plane tickets. By not using a travel planner/TA we saved around $150 a kid and had an extra day. Yes every TA came back with a price higher than if you did it yourself and suggested a trip that was one day shorter.

2. Its just a gut feeling that not all FP+ are given out ad some are held back.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Yeah but it means someone is going to be spending their trip on the phone or a kiosk trying to manage FP+ in MDE for all those kids. Imagine trying to be one person managing FP+ for 65 people on your phone in the parks.

I don't see it that way at all, but okay.

If I was chaperoning, and they missed their FP+, I wouldn't fix it. I've managed plenty of teens, and plenty of groups at WDW. They need to learn about consequences, and problem solving. Missing a fp because you were having fun elsewhere is not a disaster. I have STACKS of unused fp. Where there's a will there's a way.

I am also pretty confident that the new system is going to allow guests to pick same day FP.

I also second the frustration of TA's and delays in getting answers. I've seen times where WDW has a room discount that sells out within hours (for the room/dates I want). I had to wait until the next day to see if the TA had booked it in time. Lesson learned.

I truly think the new system will make trip planning easier. It may have a few glitches initially, but in the long run will make touring easier.

 

[Laketravis]

I don't see it that way at all, but okay.

If I was chaperoning, and they missed their FP+, I wouldn't fix it. I've managed plenty of teens, and plenty of groups at WDW. They need to learn about consequences, and problem solving. Missing a fp because you were having fun elsewhere is not a disaster. I have STACKS of unused fp. Where there's a will there's a way.

I am also pretty confident that the new system is going to allow guests to pick same day FP.

I also second the frustration of TA's and delays in getting answers. I've seen times where WDW has a room discount that sells out within hours (for the room/dates I want). I had to wait until the next day to see if the TA had booked it in time. Lesson learned.

I truly think the new system will make trip planning easier. It may have a few glitches initially, but in the long run will make touring easier.

Sounds like there might be a big, possibly lucrative opportunity for you in all of this.

 

[RoosMama]

Such good information! Thanks! I'm going to call today. I called before but told them who I was and that my TA wasn't getting me any information. They wouldn't talk to me. They said they had signed a contract with the TA and could only talk to him. It never entered my mind to call and just say I am planning a trip and not be specific. Duh! Great idea! Our TA is very nice but not very knowledgable. This is a side job for him and he isn't great at responding. And when he does respond he says "I'll send your questions to Disney and get back with you". Response time is always days. It drives this uber planner crazy.
Do you think FP+ will be taken up if we wait until we get there? Aren't there only so many like before?

I know it could change by the time y'all get there, but we were just there over Christmas week and I made changes to our Fastpasses via kiosk on Christmas Day. There were plenty of choices left.

 

[summermac]

And this is exactly why FP+ will be a nightmare for some people!

 

[leeserw]

The decision to go through a TA was made above my head. I'm just a parent of a child who is in the band. I'm not one of the officers or anything. They contacted me b/c they knew I had been many times. I offered to help in any way I could. I have never used a TA but figured it would just be more help for me. NOPE. I had to make the airline reservations myself. That was fun. And I quickly realized I know way more than he does. It has been quite frustrating b/c although he is very nice he simply cannot answer my questions. I called his Disney Youth person and explained my frustration. She wouldn't even talk to me. The person who answered the phone apologized but said b/c of the contract everything had to go through him (and his time table). The worst part has been that I can't work on the trip when it's convenient for me. I have to wait for him. Grumble grumble.

 

[chartle]

The decision to go through a TA was made above my head. I'm just a parent of a child who is in the band. I'm not one of the officers or anything. They contacted me b/c they knew I had been many times. I offered to help in any way I could. I have never used a TA but figured it would just be more help for me. NOPE. I had to make the airline reservations myself. That was fun. And I quickly realized I know way more than he does. It has been quite frustrating b/c although he is very nice he simply cannot answer my questions. I called his Disney Youth person and explained my frustration. She wouldn't even talk to me. The person who answered the phone apologized but said b/c of the contract everything had to go through him (and his time table). The worst part has been that I can't work on the trip when it's convenient for me. I have to wait for him. Grumble grumble.

My sons' now old band did a trip last year at this time (without me, kids grew up ) and someone had it in their head that due to liability reasons they had to use a Touring company. Well like I posted above they all came back more expensive and one less hotel day, they wanted to leave directly from DHS the last night and start driving.

Well I dumped all the knowledge I had and they did it themselves for cheaper.

Its really just

• coordinating with Disney Youth Programs for the date and the classes and/or performances you want to do. A big form.
  
• Getting tickets from DYP
  
• Booking a hotel, contacted off site hotels suggested by Disney. (on or off site is another post)
  
• Deciding how you want to handle meals. I haven't checked lately but the QS meal vouchers are generally a bad deal. We did meal cards.
  
• Arranging for a bus (easy for me, I work at a transportation company which works with other companies with the big 55 pass. buses)
  
• Arranging for a dinner the first night (10 or so pizzas)
  
• Arranging for overnight security so the chaperones can sleep.

I did a lot of this one morning at work while I was on the phone with someone who was working on a computer issue for me.

And yes I would love to do this for a living. Even riding on the bus down. Maybe when I "retire".

 

[chartle]

As for back to your OP. I think you said that there will a chaperone with each group. If you get the account together before hand do you think they can work out the FP+ requests with in a group? Maybe even a student from that group can do it.

Of course at this point we don't know how or if they are going to be linked together. If its one big group. Well good luck with that.

 

[WDWLover75]

Hi there. I suggest contacting Disney group events and asking what they can suggest regarding FastPass+, maybe they can even help set things up for you. Last month, I toured the parks with a group of 15 and it was very, very frustrating. Some background- we were there for my wedding, some people had been to Disney before, others hadn't , some took time to read up on fast passes, others didn't, some bought their tickets ahead of time, others didn't, etc.

Here are some of the gotchas I experienced:
-two of our guests were confused about linking under MDE, even though they had accepted my "friend" request, they thought they needed to associate their park ticket with me. Luckily we noticed this at the last minute or they wouldn't have been able to get into the park (I wasn't with them when they were entering the park)
- one member didn't want to "test" anything so refused to get a magic band. This wasn't really a big deal, we just had to wait twice for each FastPass as they dug their Key out of their purse.
-several members either waited a really long time to accept my friend request, buy their ticket, or associate their ticket with their account so by that time, there were no more spots during some of the FastPass times I had already picked, I was able to "extend" my reservations to them but MDE showed a message that one or more of the times I had wasn't available so it had given my friend the next available time. So, some of us had a FP for Soarin at 11, hers was made for 3....
-one member decided she wanted to stop at DHS before we were all meeting at MK later in the day and decided to get a FP for toy story.....which then meant she couldn't get any FP at MK, so, she had to sit and wait for us while we rode.
-you have to copy all your selections, we had numerous times where we just wanted to ride one ride together and have different FP selections for our other two options. So, to get the one the same, we had to copy them all, then change the other two. This doesn't sound like a big deal but when you are needing to help a bunch of people do this several days in a row AND MDE kept crashing on my IPhone while I was in the parks
-somehow, when my mom set up my dads account, It was set so that I couldn't make FP selections for him. When I logged into MDE as her, the settings said I could....so, we still don't understand what was wrong. So, for each day, I had to copy my selections to my mom, then log in as her and copy her selections to my dad.

So......if Disney group events can't help you:
-make sure everyone understands how FP works
-make sure everyone has accounts
-link park tickets to the account
-break your big group into several smaller groups and have each group link their accounts
-then have each group leader arrange the FP for the entire group

Hopefully, someone else will reply saying there is an easier way.

The one other thing..By default, .I could see everyone's reservations - hotels, meals, FP....there was a little drop down box where I could say I only wanted to see my items but I had to do this every time I went into MDE. It got really confusing seeing everyone's FP times...so much so that I had to write down my times on a sheet of paper...otherwise, I had to fool around with MDE for a good 10 minutes (see note above about constant crashes) in order to see what time my next FP was.

Best of luck to you! Let us know how it all works out.

 

[leeserw]

Okay, I heard back from the TA and got some answers. Magic Bands will be issued to all 75 but only for room entry. They will also get a paper ticket. One attachment said the paper tickets will be mailed to me for all 75. Another attachment said I had to pick them up at TTC, Epcot, or DTD. So strange. I emailed the TA to clear that up. Hopefully will hear back soon. As far as making FP+ selections for a youth group - this has to be done the day you enter the park at a kiosk. If I understand correctly it'll be like it used to be except a person will assist us instead of us putting our ticket into a machine. The thing I don't understand is they told me to be sure and set up an account on MDE. What is the benefit in that if I can't use it to make any FP selections or dinner reservations? Am I missing something? And meal cards will be mailed to me ahead of time. One thing I will say is he sent me the cost list for tickets and they are so much cheaper that I ever expected! A 5 day base ticket from WDW is $307.79. UT is $291.95. The YES ticket is $180.45. I'm impressed.

 

[Robo]

The thing I don't understand is they told me to be sure and set up an account on MDE. What is the benefit in that if I can't use it to make any FP selections or dinner reservations?

Even day-of FP+ selections need an MDE account with which to be linked.
Otherwise, there would be no file of reference to hold the FP+ choices made
and to activate the "green" reading on the FP entrance when the guest arrived at the FP gates.

 

[mom2rtk]

Okay, I heard back from the TA and got some answers. Magic Bands will be issued to all 75 but only for room entry. They will also get a paper ticket. One attachment said the paper tickets will be mailed to me for all 75. Another attachment said I had to pick them up at TTC, Epcot, or DTD. So strange. I emailed the TA to clear that up. Hopefully will hear back soon. As far as making FP+ selections for a youth group - this has to be done the day you enter the park at a kiosk. If I understand correctly it'll be like it used to be except a person will assist us instead of us putting our ticket into a machine. The thing I don't understand is they told me to be sure and set up an account on MDE. What is the benefit in that if I can't use it to make any FP selections or dinner reservations? Am I missing something? And meal cards will be mailed to me ahead of time. One thing I will say is he sent me the cost list for tickets and they are so much cheaper that I ever expected! A 5 day base ticket from WDW is $307.79. UT is $291.95. The YES ticket is $180.45. I'm impressed.

That REALLY puts your group at a big disadvantage, especially if Disney converts other offsite visitors to advance reservations. Nobody knows yet how that piece of it will unfold. But if you won't have tickets or confirmation numbers of some sort ahead of time, there would be no way for your group to do advance reservations.

That would all possibly not be a problem if you were going during a low crowd time, but during spring break, their odds of getting FP+ for headliners would be greatly diminished, especially if you have any issues getting everyone there for rope drop. Yikes.

 

[tarak]

Okay, I heard back from the TA and got some answers. Magic Bands will be issued to all 75 but only for room entry. They will also get a paper ticket. One attachment said the paper tickets will be mailed to me for all 75. Another attachment said I had to pick them up at TTC, Epcot, or DTD. So strange. I emailed the TA to clear that up. Hopefully will hear back soon. As far as making FP+ selections for a youth group - this has to be done the day you enter the park at a kiosk. If I understand correctly it'll be like it used to be except a person will assist us instead of us putting our ticket into a machine. The thing I don't understand is they told me to be sure and set up an account on MDE. What is the benefit in that if I can't use it to make any FP selections or dinner reservations? Am I missing something? And meal cards will be mailed to me ahead of time. One thing I will say is he sent me the cost list for tickets and they are so much cheaper that I ever expected! A 5 day base ticket from WDW is $307.79. UT is $291.95. The YES ticket is $180.45. I'm impressed.

If you get the reservation code for the YES tickets, you can link them to an MDE account. I just did this for our trip later this month. I didn't have five individual ticket numbers, just the reservation code sent to me in an email by Disney. I entered that number to link the tickets and all five popped up for me to assign. Now I don't know if there are a max number of people that can be added to an MDE account. So there might be an issue with that many tickets. But you can definitely link YES tickets to MDE.

 

[leeserw]

That's good to know. What are your thoughts on how many MDE accounts I should set up? Should I do one big one and I manage it or should I break it up into medium groups, say of 20 people each or should I give each adult going a MDE account and let them enter choices for their 5-6 kids? I could set it up and link anything I can. Then the day of they could each enter the selections they would like. That sounds easiest but I'm afraid its going to be confusing for a person who has never been before. Bottom line is I'll know more once he emails me about tickets. I'm hoping I can get them in my hands before we leave.

 

[chartle]

1. Okay, I heard back from the TA and got some answers. Magic Bands will be issued to all 75 but only for room entry. They will also get a paper ticket. One attachment said the paper tickets will be mailed to me for all 75. Another attachment said I had to pick them up at TTC, Epcot, or DTD. So strange. I emailed the TA to clear that up. Hopefully will hear back soon.

2. As far as making FP+ selections for a youth group - this has to be done the day you enter the park at a kiosk. If I understand correctly it'll be like it used to be except a person will assist us instead of us putting our ticket into a machine. The thing I don't understand is they told me to be sure and set up an account on MDE. What is the benefit in that if I can't use it to make any FP selections or dinner reservations? Am I missing something?

3. And meal cards will be mailed to me ahead of time.

4. One thing I will say is he sent me the cost list for tickets and they are so much cheaper that I ever expected! A 5 day base ticket from WDW is $307.79. UT is $291.95. The YES ticket is $180.45. I'm impressed.

1. They won't be "paper" but an RFID card, Disney no longer uses paper/tyvek tickets.

But for YES tickets you can either have them sent to you or pick them up depending on how close to your trip you order them. I hope your TA is on the ball enough to order them with enough time for them to be mailed to you. This is not so much for the FP+ issue but for an organizational issue and to help with a lost ticket.

What we did with the tickets was to separate them by room in envelopes with the kids names on the outside. We then made 2 copies of the number off the back. One copy went in the envelope one says in a file either held by the leader or for really safe keeping stays home.

Once a kid picks his or her ticket from the envelope you have them mark the ticket with their name so if anyone loses a ticket it can be replaced quickly.

OK here is something I just remembered and is a question you have to ask either your director or your group leader. I have read here that some groups collect the tickets right after the kids use them to get in a park. If your group does this its going to throw a major monkey wrench into your planning.

Yes that means no FPs. Even when it was just FP- groups did this. Some just say sorry no FP for you and some come up with convoluted ways to get FPs for the kids.

Now I think you said that an adult will tour with the kids, if this is the case the adult can handle the tickets but are you sure this how it going to work?

On our two trips we let the kids go anywhere they wanted after we got into the park and this was a group 7 to 12 grade with a few 12 year olds. We just made sure certain younger and semi special needs kids were taken care of. No check in just before we got into the park we made sure the kids knew where and when they needed to be somewhere. Our first trip was even before most kids had cell phones. Both trips I had a at least 10 kids with me as a group because I was the Disney Dad. They didn't have to be with me but wanted to be with me.

Either way we then collected the tickets before they got on the bus and went back into the envelope. Never lost a ticket.

2. I'll let others comment on this

3. Are you getting vouchers or Meal Gift Cards, as I posted before the cards are a lot more flexible.

4. Yep our three day tickets were around $125 a few years. Of course for that great price there are restrictions, the biggest being that they can't be upgraded and they had a start and end date of about 3 weeks or so.

 

[FlipHipster]

I don't see it that way at all, but okay.

If I was chaperoning, and they missed their FP+, I wouldn't fix it. I've managed plenty of teens, and plenty of groups at WDW. They need to learn about consequences, and problem solving. Missing a fp because you were having fun elsewhere is not a disaster. I have STACKS of unused fp. Where there's a will there's a way.

I am also pretty confident that the new system is going to allow guests to pick same day FP.

I also second the frustration of TA's and delays in getting answers. I've seen times where WDW has a room discount that sells out within hours (for the room/dates I want). I had to wait until the next day to see if the TA had booked it in time. Lesson learned.

I truly think the new system will make trip planning easier. It may have a few glitches initially, but in the long run will make touring easier.

Eh, we are just approaching it from different perspectives. I imagine spending a lot of time on MDE setting up FP trying make sure each kid is getting a pass for something they would want. Especially for the once in a lifetime kids. The chance of getting this perfect 60 days out IMO is pretty slim which means lots of in park changes unless you tell them that's life just deal with it.

Anyway it sounds like the OP isn't going to have to deal with adv. booking.
Personally sounds like a lot less stress to me unless it's packed and you spend 1/2 the morning in the FP kiosk line. Give each kid a menu of attractions the night before and tell them to have their 3 picked out before you get to the park.

I agree about same day FP. At least I hope it works out that way.

 

[leeserw]

Such great info Chartle. Thanks! We have to turn in or room list this week. That's the last thing we have to give them. I'm hoping that means they'll go ahead and mail the tickets and meal cards. I'll feel so much better once its all in my hands. I love the envelope idea. I'm for sure going to do that. If I am unable to link tickets and set up FP+ selections ahead of time I'll have each adult handle them for their small group. We are getting meal cards instead of vouchers. I cannot think of any reason a group would go with vouchers instead of a meal card. Makes no sense to me. Did y'all do one meal card for the week or one each day? I can't decide. Benefit of just one card is obviously it makes it so much easier to keep up with. However, I can see a student using up all their meal money early and wanting more money toward the end of the trip. And it will be a hassle if there is still money left on Monday's card b/c you can't transfer any balance so worst case scenario a kid could have to keep up with 5 cards.
Another question - did y'all do breakfast in your rooms or in the park? I'm leaning toward having muffins and such in each room (or in their adult's room). Kids can eat ahead of time or bring it with them for the bus ride. That way when we get into the park we can tour immediately. That first hour is golden and my group will not be stopping to grab a bagel. But I know other people might prefer to go slow. Thankfully I know who will be in my group. It's my son's best friends and they have wanted to go to WDW with us for years and do my "Commando Nazi Touring" as my family lovingly calls it. Lol. They are prepared to get up early and tour hard til about 11:00 then I told them we'd slow down.

 

[chartle]

Such great info Chartle.

1. Thanks! We have to turn in or room list this week. That's the last thing we have to give them. I'm hoping that means they'll go ahead and mail the tickets and meal cards. I'll feel so much better once its all in my hands. I love the envelope idea. I'm for sure going to do that.

2. If I am unable to link tickets and set up FP+ selections ahead of time I'll have each adult handle them for their small group.

3. We are getting meal cards instead of vouchers. I cannot think of any reason a group would go with vouchers instead of a meal card. Makes no sense to me.

4. Did y'all do one meal card for the week or one each day? I can't decide. Benefit of just one card is obviously it makes it so much easier to keep up with. However, I can see a student using up all their meal money early and wanting more money toward the end of the trip. And it will be a hassle if there is still money left on Monday's card b/c you can't transfer any balance so worst case scenario a kid could have to keep up with 5 cards.

5. Another question - did y'all do breakfast in your rooms or in the park? I'm leaning toward having muffins and such in each room (or in their adult's room). Kids can eat ahead of time or bring it with them for the bus ride. That way when we get into the park we can tour immediately. That first hour is golden and my group will not be stopping to grab a bagel. But I know other people might prefer to go slow. Thankfully I know who will be in my group. It's my son's best friends and they have wanted to go to WDW with us for years and do my "Commando Nazi Touring" as my family lovingly calls it. Lol. They are prepared to get up early and tour hard til about 11:00 then I told them we'd slow down.

1. Getting the room list in shouldn't affect getting the tickets and meal cards.

Now I have only done off site so it may be different for on site but this is not like a regular package. Your tickets, meal cards and arranging for the class are through Disney Youth Programs and your resort stay is most likely handled by the resort itself. So tickets and meal cards should come when you order them and give Disney Youth a check. Last trip we thought we waited too long but and would have to pick them up but it was a slow time for them so they got them to us quickly.

2. Please report back since you may be the first school group here to use magic bands and only FP+.

3. The first trip we had meal vouchers, two per day per park day. At that time you could only go to the main big QS places like Pecos Bill not the smaller ones like Columbia Harbor House and only Liberty Inn and Electric Umbrella in Epcot no Sunshine Seasonings. Thats when I noticed that there was really no savings and if the kid didn't get the salad with their pizza or the dessert it was losing money. Also you couldn't save the desert part for later.

4. We gave the kids one meal card per day. It was for I think $20 or $25 dollars and would have covered 1 and half regular QS combo meals with a drink. For some it covered two meals since they would get kids meals (We had some small 12 year olds).

I think for the trip they did last year they did $25, much better than the 30 to 32 dollars for the voucher.

One issue with one card is that if lost it can't be replaced.

5. One of the benefits of off site is we got a free continental breakfast that I think had a protein like sausage or hard boiled eggs. Not sure how you are going to arrange muffins for 75 for 5 days, that a lot of muffins.

Have you discussed if maybe you will all be eating at the food court. You may need to have a talk with your director on how they think the day is going to work as for meet ups and travel. You kind of sound like you are going to get your group up and out to hit the park running and just do your own thing which is not how she may think its going to work. As I posted before these trips have a lot of hurry up and wait.

We expected our kids to get up, cleaned up, had breakfast and be in the lobby by a certain time.

You sound like you are using Disney Transportation. Are you going to travel as one big group or as small groups? I think Its going to take you a lot more time than you expect to get to a park with a group that size. We had our own bus and wouldn't do it any other way.

 

[leeserw]

I do need to clarify with our director what her thoughts are on meals so we are on the same page. Here's how I'm hoping it will work:

Kids get up and meet their assigned adult. Each small group will then check in with our director and head to the bus stop. Once a bus gets there each small group is free to go. We'll all be in the same park but touring on our own. Each small group will decide when and where to eat.

I honestly haven't sat down and figured out a plan for bfast. It will take so long for everyone to eat bfast in the food court (although that's better than in the park). But trying to come up with a plan for bfast foods and drinks for a week does not sound fun. And starting their day with a protein is smart. The director wants us all to do the same thing for bfast so I need to put my thinking cap on and work it out.

We considered chartering a bus but it cost the same as the airline tickets and we would get 2 less days in the park. Using Disney transportation isn't ideal but we'll have to manage.