How I Hate FastPass+

[Disneylover99]

See, my experience was going from crowded times to uncrowded and it was obvious - on our FP+ trip the walkways were less crowded, ADRs were easier to come by, seating in counter service was plentiful, and the parks didn't FEEL crowded at all. But wait times for "B-list" attractions, specifically Figment, El Rio del Tiempo, Small World, Haunted Mansion were all as long as or longer than the waits during our Memorial Day trip (which did feel crowded) The line for Figment was the longest I'd ever seen it, longer than the day we spent at Epcot on a "9" crowd level over Christmas vacation. And that was on a "4" day in early Dec - not a day when you'd have seen wait times at any of those rides before FP+.

We go the last two weeks of August every year and this was our exact experience. Parks felt less crowded, but standby lines were much longer then previous years.

 

[disneyjunkie]

While we were there, I heard many people say they would be willing to purchase unlimited fast passes. I heard the same thing in the airport this morning. . Maybe this is something disney should really think about.

Offer FP+ to everyone. Then have an unlimited FP program for those staying on site. Tie them to number of nights you're there (like the dining plan) and the craziness of fantom rooms won't be an issues.
.

 

[jomass]

I also place a lot of the blame on FP+ itself. Ever since Disney introduced this system the threads about it have been relentless- and for good reason IMO. I think that Disney crossed over a line that they shouldn't have crossed over with the implementation of the FP+ system. The constant ******* on these boards, where there really wasn't before, speaks volumes. The frustration with FP+ is very real , as the many threads about it over the last year can attest to.

I hear ya!

 

[Nancyg56]

I also place a lot of the blame on FP+ itself. Ever since Disney introduced this system the threads about it have been relentless- and for good reason IMO. I think that Disney crossed over a line that they shouldn't have crossed over with the implementation of the FP+ system. The constant ******* on these boards, where there really wasn't before, speaks volumes. The frustration with FP+ is very real , as the many threads about it over the last year can attest to.

I think that no matter what Disney does in terms of crowd management, people will be upset or happy, depending on how their personal experience is. I live a few mile from Six Flags NE, formerly Riverside Park. I was never prepared to love Six Flags, but I wanted to at least like it. Oh my Goodness! Now remember, I am a Riverside fan, so I make my comparisons to my experiences there, and not matter what, RIverside always won.

The lines were horendous. Each time my family braved the park. Just getting in the park was a challenge...expensive and long. Lockers expensive! Customer service was non existant. and ti was expensive to boot! Way higher that Riverside ever was.

So what changed? Tehre are more attractions there, and bigger ones than Riverside ever had. A hiuge water park, and tons of games to take folks out of the lines, which were never ending. Well, more people for sure, and a lot more space to cover in one day, a lousy excuse for a parade that did nto pull anyone out of lines. But what really changed is that I am not following my old patterns that I followed ince I was a kid, and that my own family followed as tehy were growing up. It was just not the same, and I don't like change.

I am not sure how much of the FP debate is directly related to FP+, and how much is attributed to FP+ but that may not be the real cause, if that makes sense. I really think that there is a lot of changes happening in WDW and many of us are finding ourselves navigating them all, trying to adjust from tried and true touring styles. Pesonally, I did nto have a bad experience last October, but I am wondering how AUgust will be, with a larger group and a lot of different age groups all touring together. It wil be harder to simply change palns and split up, I am afraid.

 

[DebbieB]

While we were there, I heard many people say they would be willing to purchase unlimited fast passes. I heard the same thing in the airport this morning. . Maybe this is something disney should really think about.

Offer FP+ to everyone. Then have an unlimited FP program for those staying on site. Tie them to number of nights you're there (like the dining plan) and the craziness of fantom rooms won't be an issues.
.

There would not be capacity for that. That's why they limit to 3 in advance and have the tier system. If you paid for unlimited fastpasses and to wait in a 30 minute line each time to use them how would you feel?

 

[Colleen27]

While we were there, I heard many people say they would be willing to purchase unlimited fast passes. I heard the same thing in the airport this morning. . Maybe this is something disney should really think about.

Offer FP+ to everyone. Then have an unlimited FP program for those staying on site. Tie them to number of nights you're there (like the dining plan) and the craziness of fantom rooms won't be an issues.
.

I think they'd have a major PR problem doing that. Imagine standing for hours in a non-moving standby line for TSMM watching a family with the unlimited FP pass you by over and over and over again because they are trying to top their high scores. That's what you'd get if unlimited FP were available for purchase, and the capacity of some of the more repeatable rides is low enough that if even a few percent of onsite guests purchased the upgrade it could consume all/most of the ride's capacity. IIRC, the hourly capacity for TSMM is about 1000 riders; it wouldn't take a huge number of people wanting repeat rides to seriously impact availability of the ride to other guests. And Disney has hotel capacity for somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 guests, so it wouldn't take a high opt-in percentage to have enough people repeat-riding in the parks to reach that tipping point.

It works at Universal because they have a very, very low ratio of onsite guests to total attendance and because they don't have any addictively repeatable rides. And they still have to exclude certain new, extremely popular, and/or slow-loading rides from the Express Pass. At WDW the ratio just doesn't work - too many hotel guests relative to too little ride capacity.

 

[ArwenMarie]

While we were there, I heard many people say they would be willing to purchase unlimited fast passes. I heard the same thing in the airport this morning. . Maybe this is something disney should really think about.

Offer FP+ to everyone. Then have an unlimited FP program for those staying on site. Tie them to number of nights you're there (like the dining plan) and the craziness of fantom rooms won't be an issues.
.

They do sell FPs through the VIP tours.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think they'd have a major PR problem doing that. Imagine standing for hours in a non-moving standby line for TSMM watching a family with the unlimited FP pass you by over and over and over again because they are trying to top their high scores. That's what you'd get if unlimited FP were available for purchase, and the capacity of some of the more repeatable rides is low enough that if even a few percent of onsite guests purchased the upgrade it could consume all/most of the ride's capacity. IIRC, the hourly capacity for TSMM is about 1000 riders; it wouldn't take a huge number of people wanting repeat rides to seriously impact availability of the ride to other guests. And Disney has hotel capacity for somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 guests, so it wouldn't take a high opt-in percentage to have enough people repeat-riding in the parks to reach that tipping point.

It works at Universal because they have a very, very low ratio of onsite guests to total attendance and because they don't have any addictively repeatable rides. And they still have to exclude certain new, extremely popular, and/or slow-loading rides from the Express Pass. At WDW the ratio just doesn't work - too many hotel guests relative to too little ride capacity.

Agree and even Universal's system is becoming overwhelmed...as you said the HP rides are excluded and the new hotel won't have Express Pass.

 

[Planogirl]

The suggestion to email Disney to express your feelings and experiences if you're unsatisfied is a very good one. In the time it takes to bantor on a topic in here, we can just as easily email the mouse. While it may not change anything immediately, over time if attendance starts a downward trend, it will. Nobody is forcing me to vacation there, and if our upcoming trip turns out to be not worth the money, then we will simply vacation elsewhere. The world is a big place and there are plenty of other options.

I did send an email to Disney and their response convinced me that emailing them is pointless. I speak in my emails much as I do here and I don't believe that my comments deserved the dismissive, borderline rude tone of the response.

While we were there, I heard many people say they would be willing to purchase unlimited fast passes. I heard the same thing in the airport this morning. . Maybe this is something disney should really think about.

Offer FP+ to everyone. Then have an unlimited FP program for those staying on site. Tie them to number of nights you're there (like the dining plan) and the craziness of fantom rooms won't be an issues.
.

I agree with others that capacity is too low to ever allow this.

I think they'd have a major PR problem doing that. Imagine standing for hours in a non-moving standby line for TSMM watching a family with the unlimited FP pass you by over and over and over again because they are trying to top their high scores. That's what you'd get if unlimited FP were available for purchase, and the capacity of some of the more repeatable rides is low enough that if even a few percent of onsite guests purchased the upgrade it could consume all/most of the ride's capacity. IIRC, the hourly capacity for TSMM is about 1000 riders; it wouldn't take a huge number of people wanting repeat rides to seriously impact availability of the ride to other guests. And Disney has hotel capacity for somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 guests, so it wouldn't take a high opt-in percentage to have enough people repeat-riding in the parks to reach that tipping point.

It works at Universal because they have a very, very low ratio of onsite guests to total attendance and because they don't have any addictively repeatable rides. And they still have to exclude certain new, extremely popular, and/or slow-loading rides from the Express Pass. At WDW the ratio just doesn't work - too many hotel guests relative to too little ride capacity.

I don't agree with this. There are those who ride Men In Black and the Mummy and Spiderman over and over. Plus some like the water rides on a hot day. I think that the pricing keeps the number of unlimited Express in check.

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

I posted this on another thread, but decided to post it here too. I was a huge fan of the old FP system. This week, Easter week, was my first experience with FP+, and I was very skeptical, especially since predicted crowd levels were high. Surprisingly, it worked pretty well. I was with my DD's softball team for Disney's High School Spring Training. I primarily toured the parks with another mom. We stayed on site, but were not able to make FP+ reservations 60 days or even 30 days in advance because the softball season hadn't started yet.

The pros: Prescheduled FP+ worked great for days we had morning games and couldn't make rope drop; we got the rides we wanted at the times we wanted; we got a 4th FP+ in MK.

The cons: Tiers! (I hate the tiers. Unless you do rope drop, you have to skip one of the great rides in EP and HS. Soarin' had a 120 minute wait. We only got to ride Toy Story Mania due to a cast member error.) Availability for groups. (Availability for last minute bookings for parent groups of 4 or more was very sparse.)

Here is my original post:

I just got back last night and the trip went really well! Crowd levels on my three park days were 10 out of 10 (MK), 10 out of 10 (EP/HS) and 9/8 out of 10 (AK/HS)! I used the Touringplans.com Crowd Calendar (which underestimated the crowds at 7, 7, 5/5) and TP's touring plans. I had 3 day park hoppers. I made my FP+ reservations on Saturday for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I got everything I wanted (including 7DMT) at close to the times I wanted. When we arrived on Monday, my roommate decided she wanted to tour with me, so I spent about 30 minutes getting FP+ for her too. I was able to get her FP+ for everything I had. I got overlapping times for all the rides except for 7DMT (she had to ride it a couple hours later than I rode it) and Mission Space (again I got her one for a couple hours later than mine).

ETA: I do not have a smart phone or ipad. I made all my selections 3 days ahead of my visit and my roommate's selections 1 day before our first park on my computer. I did not attempt to change any FP+ in the parks. I did visit the FP+ kiosks to get a 4th FP+ in MK and to check 4th FP+ availability in Epcot.

Monday: After an overnight bus trip, we arrived, had a pool day, napped, and spent the evening at DTD. Had lunch at AS-S food court and dinner at the House of Blues inside bar.

Tuesday: We rope dropped MK at 6:55 AM. We walked on Space Mt, Buzz, Peter Pan, Little Mermaid, Small World, Haunted Mansion. Then I used my FP+ for 7DMT at 9:00, waited 30 minutes for Jungle Cruise at 9:15. Next we used FP+ for Splash, had a snack, then FP+ for Big Thunder. While my roommate used her FP+ for 7DMT, I went to Heritage House FP+ kiosk and got FP+ for 8:00 PM for Pirates of Caribbean. By this time it was 12:00 noon. We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House, left the park at 1:00 PM, went back to resort. It was so crowded by this time we could barely move!

We caught the bus from All Star Sports to ESPN complex for our daughters' 4:00 softball game. We had an hour long game delay due to rain. Once the game was over we booked it back to MK. The Hub was INSANE!!!! So many people! We rode Pirates, watched fireworks from the backside of the castle, had dinner at Pecos Bill's and staked out a planter box to sit on in Frontierland. We rested there and watched the Main Street Electrical Parade. Then we left. Didn't have to wait long for the bus and we got seats!

Wednesday: Daughters had an 8:00 AM softball game so rope drop was out. After the game and some shopping at the ESPN store, I ran over to Epcot for my 11:20 Mission Space FP+. My roommate was supposed to meet me over there but she fell asleep and missed all her FP times! Next, I used my FP+ for Test Track. **This was a critical strategy error on my part! In retrospect, I should have made my FP+ for Soarin' and done the Test Track single rider line. TT single rider line was a 20 minute wait. Soarin' was a 120 minute wait the entire time I was at Epcot. Needless to say, I did not ride Soarin' this trip.**

Then, I had a couple hours until my 2:00 FP+ for Spaceship Earth. I snacked and sipped my way around the World Showcase for lunch, enjoying all the special Flower & Garden topiaries, exhibits, food stands and entertainment. It was lovely! I saved all my Dining Plan snack credits just for the F&G food kiosks and it was worth it!!! Taco de Pastor & blueberry pomegranate margarita in Mexico, Kung Pao chicken bun in China, burnt ends brisket with hash in USA, seafood civiche in Morocco, La Vie en Rose Vodka slush in France, a Spa Water at Urban Farms...YUM!!! After I rode Spaceship Earth, I checked the FP+ kiosk for a random Soarin' opening. They didn't have Soarin', but they did have EO, Nemo, Turtle Talk and Imagination. I didn't feel like riding those. I went back to resort for a nap.

That evening I met the softball team at HS at 7:00 PM. While they waited for ToT, I went to One Man's Dream. I have never seen it and was glad I stopped in. Then we had dinner at Fairfax Faire (chicken & ribs) and watched the 10:00 Fantasmic. We had great seats in the middle section. The 8:30 show was standing room only at 7:45 and at capacity at 8:15. The 10:00 show still had one empty section when it started!

Thursday: We rope dropped AK; they opened the park at 7:45ish. We had no FP+ reservations at AK. We went straight to EE and rode twice, then we walked on Dinosaur. After that we walked on K. Safari. On our way there, we passed Kali River Rapids (a 10 minute wait), but we didn't want to get soaked so we skipped it. We took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch/Conservation Station (something I'd never done), then watched Festival of the Lion King at 11:00 AM. We had lunch at the Yak & Yeti counter service place (very good!), then saw Tough to Be a Bug after a 20 minute wait.

At 1:00 we headed over to HS to use our FP+ reservations. We rode Star Tours with FP+. My roommate was recently discharged from the hospital. She had no issue riding rides, but after the first day, the walking did her in so she used a scooter. I got to see all the ins and outs of the scooter loading procedures. At Star Tours they had a snafu, forgot about us and started loading other scooter folks. After about 30 minutes my roomie finally said something (nicely of course) and they gave us a guest recovery FP which we used to ride Toy Story Mania. Then we used our last two prescheduled FP+s to ride RnRC and ToT. We got seated for the 5:30 Beauty and the Beast Show at 5:00. We finished HS with a drink at the Tune In Lounge at 50s Prime Time Café. We thought about seeing a couple more shows or riding the Great Movie Ride, but she was ready to call it a day.

At 7:00 ish, I caught the bus to Epcot where I met some other team parents in the World Showcase for dinner, drinks and Illuminations. I had the barbacoa tacos and a Dos XX from Mexico. We staked out a spot in front of Italy and relaxed until the show started. Afterwards, they headed to MK, but I went back to the resort. I was pooped!

Friday: Our team bus left at 8:00 AM.

All in all, I got all the FP+ rides I wanted at the times I wanted. And I felt like I got to see and do everything I wanted to do (except Soarin') with very little wait during one of the most crowded weeks of the year. It was a very successful trip!

 

[mom2rtk]

I did an email to Disney and their response convinced me that emailing them is pointless. I speak in my emails much as I do here and I don't believe that my comments deserved the dismissive, borderline rude tone of the response.

That really sounds disappointing.

I believe companies that ignore their hard core base like this do so at their own peril.

 

[Planogirl]

That really sounds disappointing.

I believe companies that ignore their hard core base like this do so at their own peril.

It surprised me. I expected that Disney wouldn't really care about my opinion since I'm just one voice but the tone was different than any I had experienced before.

 

[Chitownpeeps91]

That honestly should make more people email not less. The more they see emails like that the more they might be worried about their future. Maybe not but it never hurts.

 

[itchin2go]

While we were there, I heard many people say they would be willing to purchase unlimited fast passes. I heard the same thing in the airport this morning. . Maybe this is something disney should really think about.

Offer FP+ to everyone. Then have an unlimited FP program for those staying on site. Tie them to number of nights you're there (like the dining plan) and the craziness of fantom rooms won't be an issues.
.

They do this already. It's called VIP, and for most, it's prohibitively expensive.

 

[Annchristine65]

I did send an email to Disney and their response convinced me that emailing them is pointless. I speak in my emails much as I do here and I don't believe that my comments deserved the dismissive, borderline rude tone of the response.

If you don't mind me asking what was their response?

 

[WillAustin]

I did send an email to Disney and their response convinced me that emailing them is pointless. I speak in my emails much as I do here and I don't believe that my comments deserved the dismissive, borderline rude tone of the response.

I'm sure they have been getting continuous complaints since before the roll-out. That might explain the attitude. I know that my experiences with CMs and FP+ are certainly interesting. Many times, I'd ask about how the changes were going, and every time I'd get an answer like, "I'm not saying anything and I'll just keep smiling."

 

[itchin2go]

I'm sure they have been getting continuous complaints since before the roll-out. That might explain the attitude.

They've sunk too much money into this, and it's too far down the line. The ship has sailed. They'll listen politely, but they're not going to change it back ... tweak it, maybe.

I don't want this to come off in a bad way, but I really think people's time is better spent figuring out how to make their vacation work WITH the new system, or just moving on to other vacation spots. People are certainly entitled to their opinions, and to make them known, but it's possible (probable in my estimation) that it's just a waste of time.

 

[WillAustin]

They've sunk too much money into this, and it's too far down the line. The ship has sailed. They'll listen politely, but they're not going to change it back ... tweak it, maybe.

I don't want this to come off in a bad way, but I really think people's time is better spent figuring out how to make their vacation work WITH the new system, or just moving on to other vacation spots. People are certainly entitled to their opinions, and to make them known, but it's possible (probable in my estimation) that it's just a waste of time.

It's interesting that a lot of people assume that hating FP+ means people don't want to figure things out and can't still have a wonderful time. Our trips are great, no matter where or when we go. We have figured out the best strategies to maximize our FP+ usage. Complaining certainly doesn't diminish our enjoyment of our trips in the least. Honestly, if people are tired of reading about the complaints, don't click on the threads. Complaints certainly have prompted some changes in the system, so they aren't pointless.

 

[itchin2go]

It's interesting that a lot of people assume that hating FP+ means people don't want to figure things out and can't still have a wonderful time. Our trips are great, no matter where or when we go. We have figured out the best strategies to maximize our FP+ usage. Complaining certainly doesn't diminish our enjoyment of our trips in the least. Honestly, if people are tired of reading about the complaints, don't click on the threads. Complaints certainly have changed the system some, so they aren't pointless.

I actually meant complaining to Disney, not complaining on these boards.

I don't care if or where people complain, but I've been seeing threads like this since 6 months or more before our last November 2014 trip. Over and over, people try to rally others to email Disney, and the sentiment is "they're sure to change it once they see we don't like it". I just watch the wheels spinning and people get so riled up and hopeful that things will change. I don't know anything for sure, but my money is on the fact that they're not going to roll this back. They've spent too much money on it. They're going to dig their heels in and stick to their guns. That's all.

Venting here? Go ahead. I'm in this thread voluntarily, so I'm not complaining about that.

The truth is, prior to our 2014 trip, I openly worried on these boards that FP+ was going to ruin our trip. I just feel compelled to point out to others who might be similarly worrying that the trip turned out great for us, and FP+ impacted our trip very little - for good or bad. It wasn't the death knell signalling the end of our wonderful Disney World trips.

 

[ryanhuey]

I believe everyone is correct, well most. I think some people are saying they do not like FP+, that is all, not that Disney is horrible. I think most of them would agree with me that FP+ is a good thing for the right kind of guest.

Lots of people have different touring plans, some may be that they would like to ride at least 3 main attractions per day and do all the other really cool stuff at Disney. Those type of guests would tend to LOVE FP+. Those of us who like to get 10 or more FPs per day probably WON'T like FP+.

We didn't go last year because of the change, I saw them testing it in 2013 and figured it would be like this. I have faith in Disney and was hoping they would have tweaked/fixed it by now. It sounds like they are trying new things. I have reservations for June and looking at spending around $6K. Maybe should cancel, do something else this year, and give it another year.