How I Hate FastPass+

[smitch425]

I don't want to spend thousands of dollars to travel from out of town and hope I get the "hit". I'm pretty sure it would be the "miss" that ticked me off.

Just sharing my personal experience with the system. At least I've actually used the system. There are some in this thread who can't say the same. We've adapted to the way things are now, and we've made it work better for us than FP- ever did. I also spend thousands of dollars to go there, but we go into each trip expecting crowds and knowing that we may not see and do everything (though we usually do, and many things more than once), and that's fine with us. We still have a great time as a family doing what we enjoy. If we ever get to the point where we no longer enjoy it, we simply won't go. It really isn't that hard of a concept to grasp. You (generally speaking) do what makes you happy. No one forces you (again, in the general sense) to vacation there. The world is a big place. Lots of great things to see.

 

[Mickey & Minnie Mom]

 

[Ambear]

Yep, no waiting in line for fast passes at disneyland...

 

[Mad Hattered]

Just sharing my personal experience with the system. At least I've actually used the system. There are some in this thread who can't say the same. We've adapted to the way things are now, and we've made it work better for us than FP- ever did. I also spend thousands of dollars to go there, but we go into each trip expecting crowds and knowing that we may not see and do everything (though we usually do, and many things more than once), and that's fine with us. We still have a great time as a family doing what we enjoy. If we ever get to the point where we no longer enjoy it, we simply won't go. It really isn't that hard of a concept to grasp. You (generally speaking) do what makes you happy. No one forces you (again, in the general sense) to vacation there. The world is a big place. Lots of great things to see.

I'm happy you like it.

Uhhhhhh....we have!












But yeah....we do miss WDW...

And for the record...I am "Jason" aka...the tall one.

 

[Ambear]

I'm happy you like it.

Uhhhhhh....we have!

Hot damn, that's beautiful!

 

[Mad Hattered]

With a Sony Point n Shoot no less.

 

[smitch425]

I'm happy you like it.

Uhhhhhh....we have!












But yeah....we do miss WDW...

Great pics! I had to click them to see them, and I hit the second one first but it was after I read the quote below...

Hot damn, that's beautiful!

I knew the other pics either had to be something totally different OR Ambear had an odd meaning to "beautiful"! Lol!!!

 

[mesaboy2]

I'm happy you like it.

Uhhhhhh....we have!


But yeah....we do miss WDW...

Is that Chip or Dale photobombing? I know they're everywhere, but sheesh.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Is that Chip or Dale photobombing? I know they're everywhere, but sheesh.

That is what we want to know as well! We actually had that discussion before I took the picture! LOL Damn, Disney!

 

[Planogirl]

I'm happy you like it.

Uhhhhhh....we have!












But yeah....we do miss WDW...

And for the record...I am "Jason" aka...the tall one.

What fabulous pictures! And I have to ask, why were you Jason?

 

[Bullseye]

Just sharing my personal experience with the system. At least I've actually used the system. There are some in this thread who can't say the same. We've adapted to the way things are now, and we've made it work better for us than FP- ever did. I also spend thousands of dollars to go there, but we go into each trip expecting crowds and knowing that we may not see and do everything (though we usually do, and many things more than once), and that's fine with us. We still have a great time as a family doing what we enjoy. If we ever get to the point where we no longer enjoy it, we simply won't go. It really isn't that hard of a concept to grasp. You (generally speaking) do what makes you happy. No one forces you (again, in the general sense) to vacation there. The world is a big place. Lots of great things to see.

Good post, great attitude smitch!

Like the Pics Hatter!

 

[Mad Hattered]

What fabulous pictures! And I have to ask, why were you Jason?

Long story short......remember when we used to have Drive-ins? In 1979 my dear parents took us to one with double screens and parked in the last row. They were there to watch All That Jazz. My brother and I couldn't take Chief Brody seriously while wearing tights so we flipped our chairs around to watch the other show....Friday the 13th. And that, my friend....is history...



Our 2014 Halloween camping trip...

 

[Mrs. Ciz]

That pretty much sums it up.

Actually I planned it that way on purpose. Lunch spent snacking and sipping around the World Showcase Flower & Garden kiosks was a big priority for me this trip. I didn't want to have to walk all the way up front to Spaceship Earth, then all the way back to WS, then all the way to the front again. I scheduled FP+ to ride Spaceship Earth on my way out to save my feet - also a big priority for me!

 

[whiporee]

As to the "Way more people in the parks" I thought Iger had said attendance was up 4% year over year ? The only other difference being FP+ ???

Just found an article about Q2 of 2014, Rasulo said attendance up 3%. Yet according to Josh @ easywdw's data we were already seeing major spikes in SB wait times ... but again we were told by the "pro FP+" or whatever folks that "its just that attendance is WAY up"

Except here's how the math works. Last year there were an estimated 18.5 million people through the MK gates, which is about 51,000 people a day (up 13,000 a day from 2004). A 4% increase on that is an additional 2100 people a day. You'd think 2100 extra people would be easy to absorb, but there are limitations on ride capacity; it takes the same amount of time to load and unload people during each ride -- if you figure those 2100 people are there for 10 hours, and they go on the Disney average of ten rides (actually it's nine, but that math is harder) then you're adding 21 people an hour to each ride. If you figure each rider takes about 90 seconds, you're adding 30 minutes to each ride.

It's not FP+ or the lack of FP-. It's the people in the park that's at the root of the problem. Because the lines are universally longer, people try to come up with different strategies -- EHM, rope drop, coming at times that used to be slower. There re 30,000 rooms at WDW -- that translates to 100,000 people guest on any give day. If they split the way they traditionally have -- 35 percent at MK, then that's 35,000 people just from the resorts. 35,000 people competing for the same fast passes and ADRs. Everything seems a lot more crowded because it's a lot more crowded, and that will probably remain the norm, no matter what crowd management system they use.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Except here's how the math works. Last year there were an estimated 18.5 million people through the MK gates, which is about 51,000 people a day (up 13,000 a day from 2004). A 4% increase on that is an additional 2100 people a day. You'd think 2100 extra people would be easy to absorb, but there are limitations on ride capacity; it takes the same amount of time to load and unload people during each ride -- if you figure those 2100 people are there for 10 hours, and they go on the Disney average of ten rides (actually it's nine, but that math is harder) then you're adding 21 people an hour to each ride. If you figure each rider takes about 90 seconds, you're adding 30 minutes to each ride.

To me, this kind of thought process explains why I tend to believe that increasing ride capacity should have been/should be a higher priority. Yes, they are doing it, but they are doing so at a glacial pace that doesn't seem to match/meet what they need.

 

[TheDisGuy]

Except here's how the math works. Last year there were an estimated 18.5 million people through the MK gates, which is about 51,000 people a day (up 13,000 a day from 2004). A 4% increase on that is an additional 2100 people a day. You'd think 2100 extra people would be easy to absorb, but there are limitations on ride capacity; it takes the same amount of time to load and unload people during each ride -- if you figure those 2100 people are there for 10 hours, and they go on the Disney average of ten rides (actually it's nine, but that math is harder) then you're adding 21 people an hour to each ride. If you figure each rider takes about 90 seconds, you're adding 30 minutes to each ride.

It's not FP+ or the lack of FP-. It's the people in the park that's at the root of the problem. Because the lines are universally longer, people try to come up with different strategies -- EHM, rope drop, coming at times that used to be slower. There re 30,000 rooms at WDW -- that translates to 100,000 people guest on any give day. If they split the way they traditionally have -- 35 percent at MK, then that's 35,000 people just from the resorts. 35,000 people competing for the same fast passes and ADRs. Everything seems a lot more crowded because it's a lot more crowded, and that will probably remain the norm, no matter what crowd management system they use.

Now we have done this exercise before, but I am glad you are into math. You are correct, the addition of 2100 people a day has a greater impact that it seems on the surface, though the math you have about the impact they have on a ride is quite off, I mean if rides only got through 40 people an hour, WDW would be in REAL trouble.

In fact I tried to resist, but I couldn't ... lets look at the impact of 2100 people a day, 21 people per hour per ride ... Take Splash Mountain, it runs about 1800 people per hour, 30 people per minute, which means your addition of 21 people would add about 45 seconds to the ride wait. Now even if you had that stead flow all day for like 10 hours, by the end of they day the wait would have increased 7.5 mins above what it was. But of course we know thats not how it works, but even worse case scenario ... that's what you would get.

Of course, thats just one ride, other rides would be affected more some less, but the increased attendance just make sense for the increased wait times we have seen on many of the attractions.

Now, do the math on what happens if you greatly expand the usage and availability of FPs.

What happens if you used to have ... 5000 people using 3 FPs a day (since we are just picking numbers) And you increased that to 17000 people using 3 FPs a day ? (think virtual people, virtual riders here)

What happens to SB lines on a ride, if you make FPs available for it, and devote 70% capacity to FP ?

The answers to these questions is why FP+ has increased SB wait times.

 

[finedice]

I'm glad you had an easier experience than we did.

I'm sorry you had a bad one too. I've never had any problem with ADRs at significantly less than 180 days, and I suppose they have worked on the FP system based on what we have been able to do with it.

 

[cruisingkat]

I also dislike fastpass+. We usually decide to go to Disney a week or two before we actually go. (and no we don't live in FL, we live over 1100 miles away). By then, there are no fast passes for the rides we want to do. Even if we did plan a trip more than two weeks before, we certainly wouldn't know what park we were going to do on a specific day - we usually decide that morning what park we want to visit. We are retired and at this stage in life love being spontaneous. We do have AP for both Disney and Universal.
Since the introduction of fastpass+, we have found that we are going to Universal and staying at a deluxe hotel there more and more. They really treat AP holders great - very good discounts on rooms (much, much better than Disney offers - for our upcoming trip we are staying at Royal Pacific under an APH rate for less than we would for a moderate at Disney), great renewal rate (a greater discount on renewal than Disney does), discounts on purchases and meals. We like that the express pass is included with the deluxe hotel room at Universal.
We still do Disney but have now planned split stays - some days at Disney and some at Universal.

 

[Nancyg56]

To me, this kind of thought process explains why I tend to believe that increasing ride capacity should have been/should be a higher priority. Yes, they are doing it, but they are doing so at a glacial pace that doesn't seem to match/meet what they need.

I agree with you. I know there are plans, I really do, and I know resorts need work, but honestly, there needs to be a priorty within the parks IMO. And the pace needs to be stepped up a bit. The week we wee there in October was considered an 8 I was told, and I know that Summer and Holiday are even busier, so the folks really need to plan in order to manage. Disney does a great job getting people into their parks and resorts, so I think they need to make sure the lines are reasonable

 

[gdrj]

They do sell FPs through the VIP tours.

and how much are thoseVIP tours .... definitely not something for most guests and there are a limited number of tours