How I Hate FastPass+

[Alfalfa]

Going Easter week and expecting to accomplish as much as non peak time visits, and not anticipating "longer lines" is having unreasonable expectations..

I'll agree with that. I wouldn't think it's reasonable at all to go during any holiday and expect the wait times to be as low as they would be during a non-holiday period.

But what about expecting to accomplish the same this Easter week as one would have accomplished during the same week last year? Wouldn't that be reasonable? Especially if you paid as much if not more this time? And if not, and the reason offered is because there are more people going, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect WDW to increase it's offerings in step with increased customers so that those expectations are delivered upon?

If a particular buffet is popular, and more people go to that buffet, wouldn't you expect them to increase the quantity of food available? Or would it be unreasonable, when they run out of food halfway thru operating hours, to expect them to have had more? Why aren't those same expectations reasonable for a theme park?

 

[ryanhuey]

More A's please

 

[WillAustin]

It's here to stay, so regardless of how anyone views it, we either have to make it work as best as we can or choose not to go/use the system.

I choose to make it work as much as possible but continue to complain both to Disney and anyone else.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I'm standing in Epcot right now waiting for Illuminations to begin. I agree with the OP 100%. We hate FP+.

This is not our first Easter Trip rodeo. I'm a teacher, so we only travel when school is out. The vast major of our trips have occurred during Easter/spring break.

During those trips, we never waited more than 20 minutes for any ride. We were always in the parks for EMH and rope drop. We pulled and stacked FPs all morning. Between opening and lunch we would hit the headliners several times. At 11:00 we would have lunch, then use the FPS we collected. If the crowds got unbearable, we would hop to new park and collect more FPs.

It was impossible for us to do that this trip.

The show is about to start and people are trying to squeeze in. Will post more later.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm dreading that part of our still-up-in-the-air June trip. I have NO sense of time on a good day with all my routines running. On vacation, I'm even worse. I haven't even booked the trip yet and I'm already having dreams about missing all our FP+ reservations! But I agree with previous posters - us frequent visitors aren't as profitable as first timers or once-in-a-long-while guests, so Disney isn't especially concerned with the fact that we find the system a hassle compared to the old, more flexible WDW experience.

You know what really did it for me? Waiting in line for Figment. We've taken maybe a dozen trips to WDW, including one that ran into the first few days of the peak Christmas season and one over Memorial Day weekend, but our one and only trip since FP+ (during the low-moderate crowd time between Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks) was the only time we've ever run into lines that wouldn't allow for riding Figment over and over. Repeat riding the less popular attractions - Figment and El Rio del Tiempo mainly - were a favorite part of our trips and not being able to do that any more was very disappointing, even moreso than having to choose between Soarin' and Test Track.

DH & I cancelled our adults-only trip (the one in my sig - I haven't deleted the ticker because I'm just plain lazy about updating it) because we didn't want to be bothered. What we wanted in a trip without the kids was rolling out of bed and deciding together what to do that day, not a schedule of appointments to make it to, and we don't feel like it is possible to do that now and still have a good park experience. And that's fine; there are other places we can enjoy at our pace, and I'm sure Disney would rather the room we'd have booked be filled by a free spending family of first timers. I'm sure I'll be popping down with my daughters every couple-few years but I don't see us going as often as we used to with the way things are now.

 

[g8torphan]

But going during a holiday week and expecting to accomplish as much as a previous trip during the same holiday is a reasonable expectation that wouldn't be met anymore. This is based on our actual experience.

So...the busiest times are even busier.

We already know resort stays leading up to Easter were at near capacity.
Add in one of the worst weeks to plan a trip due to an international holiday and the parks are packed.

Again the evidence points to increased crowds as the biggest reason for these issues, not the implimentation of FP+.

[

 

[dmband]

Lets address each point:

Less rides: Most ikely due to extremely high crowd levels. One if the 10 busiest weeks of the year. Would still have been very busy withbold FP+ also.

waited in longer lines - see above.

had no ability to change the park we were scheduled for that day. - not true at all. Many people still park hop and make decisions on which park to goto well after the 30/60 mark

They have taken any spontaneity out of the equation. - using FP+ allowed for 3 preplanned events per day
Most parks are openat least 10 hours (likely more) leaving you 7 hours minimum to be as spontanious as you saw fit.

It is virtually impossible to reschedule a FastPass. So, no different than old FP. Also, if that is true it supports the idea that the park was extremly busy.

Doesnt sound like FP+ is to blame to me. Nearly all issues can be attributed to very high crowds and the OP choices.

disagree
We travel at hi crowd level most of the Time and fp+ has 100% made less rides and longer lines IMO
This is comparing the same exact week to the same exact week.
We have found what we could do in 6/7 days now takes 10

You basically can't park hop and do fp+ because all the good attractions are gone during high crowd weeks anyway
Again comparing same week each yr fp vs fp+
Under fp you could hop and still get peak attractions, we have not got same day fp+ to soarin for example ever

The spontaneity is killed in many ways from simply getting on a bus that pulls up vs having to wait for the one you already scheduled fp+ at, in turn waste more time and less rides
With young kids fp+ is not very effective either because you can't plan out 60 days what time a ride will fit your schedule, you can't plan what they will want to eat, you can't plan around weather, you can't plan if they will grow the 1/2 inch to make heigh requirements
There are lots of things that fp+ impacts in a negative way ultimately

 

[WillAustin]

So...the busiest times are even busier.

We already know resort stays leading up to Easter were at near capacity.
Add in one of the worst weeks to plan a trip due to an international holiday and the parks are packed.

Again the evidence points to increased crowds as the biggest reason for these issues, not the implimentation of FP+.

[

On days near capacity with legacy FP we could still use more than 6 FPs and always avoid any long lines. We did it several years in a row. The reason we can't do as much as before isn't crowd related, it's because we are limited to 3 FPs and most of them are in tiers. You can't explain that away by saying it's just more crowded.

 

[Jing]

My parents always took us out of school at off-peak times (January in Orlando is splendid when you live in upstate NY) so I grew up spoiled with so many things being walk on. The exception was TGMR the year MGM opened and it was well over an hour.

When I went as an adult before FP, I went when I felt like it, read no guides, and had no touring plan. I expected to wait in lines and I did because, frankly, I was out too late living the single life to get up early on vacation. Basically, I treated it like any other amusement park. Crowds were lower then though.

First time I went and saw FP - in the park, knew nothing about it beforehand - I thought it was lame because I did not want to be tied down to a time and place. The trade off for spontaneity was worth it if it meant waiting in line a little longer and sleeping in. Plus, I always had hoppers and did EMH. The second and third times, I used FP like a master thanks to touring plans/unofficial guide. Ditto for DLR. I loved the challenge of executing perfect strategy. I made it look easy to hubs, so the lack of waiting and amount of attractions we enjoyed impressed him enough to become a Disney lover.

No one likes to wait in lines anymore, especially when you had a stratagy that minimized them. Since an equally successful strategy has not been realized for the new technology, lines are even more intolerable because those that worked the system well have not had to contend with them for many years. I totally get where regular visitors who mastered the old system are turned off by the new one enough to take an uncharacteristic break from the mouse.

We have our first FP+ coming in October and our toddler will be there for his first visit. I am stoked because FP+ makes the rope drop strategy unnessaray for the rides we plan to go on - we never did any of the "little kid" stuff together or before we met. Other than our AK day, I predict a max of 5 hours in the park at a stretch, so having 3 experiences locked in works well for us at THIS stage.

I am going with an open mind, but if it were just me and hubs we would certainly have added on universal/ioa at the expense of WDW time. I have DLR on the horizon for a surprise 2016 trip for my niece and possible DLP for 2019 for her 17th birthday. We will likely not return to WDW until 2020 for a NYE trip, when I imagine there will be a whole different tech. To love or hate.

 

[ghoulardi]

So far, our family loves FP+...

 

[larryz]

I wonder whether valuing frequent guests (above single-visit or infrequent guests) is even a priority at all for Disney. There must be a wider profit base in the long term by drawing in more people for less frequent visits, rather than targeting perks at frequent guests. After all, the perks come off the bottom line profit. Unfortunately, I think that means we (frequent guests) can suck it up and enjoy things the way they are or do something else with our vacation dollars. I don't think it is that we are not valued as guests, just not valued any more than those first-timers Disney seems to be chasing.

Still, they really seem to want me to come back -- I've received 8 pins since the first of this year...

 

[Gena001]

I'm standing in Epcot right now waiting for Illuminations to begin.

ENJOY!!!! LUCKY DUCK!

 

[Gena001]

What are DLR & DLP? I'm sure I know them...brain is too tired to think...

 

[larryz]

What are DLR & DLP? I'm sure I know them...brain is too tired to think...

Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Paris.

 

[mom2rtk]

Still, they really seem to want me to come back -- I've received 8 pins since the first of this year...

Apparently they don't care about me.

On the upside, I can continue my many years long reign as president of the NO PIN club.

 

[Gena001]

...and I must say that FP+ is really stressing me out. I LOVE the thrill of the hunt for the perfect resort for each trip, the best times for table service ADRs, but this FP+ stuff is FOR THE BIRDS, IMHO.

 

[Gena001]

Disneyland Resort and Disneyland Paris.

Thanks!

 

[larryz]

Apparently they don't care about me.

On the upside, I can continue my many years long reign as president of the NO PIN club.

Not to rub salt in the wound, but two of them were for DLR...

 

[mom2rtk]

Not to rub salt in the wound, but two of them were for DLR...

Ouch. Yeah. That one hurts.

Just call me O-fer. Because I'm O for both coasts.

 

[Jing]

Ouch. Yeah. That one hurts.

Just call me O-fer. Because I'm O for both coasts.

I've been to both and received no pins from either. Hubs gets them from WDW all the time!