How is MK with no Legacy FP?

[annacali]

We found we were very bored. We spent a lot of time sitting around on benches and walls just watching people, and then ended up leaving early. We bought a few games on the App Store and played them on our phones. At Disney. Inside the parks.

On our Thanksgiving trip we didn't have access to FP+ and legacy FP were gone too fast or the return times were too late to be helpful. We found ourselves leaving the parks at lunch. We did a few standby lines and that was enough to know that we weren't doing any more. The kids were happier at the resort playing video games. That was when I knew we wouldn't be back for a long time!

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

Disney better wake up .....to treat AP holders and offsite guest as 2nd class is so unacceptable .....

Walt Disney himself wanted the parks to be a place everyone could enjoy...not just hotel guest.

I'm a DVC member who lives in Fl but always stay onsite. I have 2 sets of magic bands and I am getting my 3 rd set soon..........I never signed up to get the first two.

In oct we went for 3 nights....stayed at BW...got a overnight letter inviting me to participate... The money thrown away. Overnight letter?? Really??

Arrived at the BW and they had the magic bands.....they came in a beautiful box custom with our names on the box.......what did that cost..?? I really didn't want them, but tried them and loved them..... But I didn't link my tixs to them so no FP+ .

Then in Dec for our 2 night stay got just a letter in mail..... No special delivery. We were going to Seaworld so again I didn't sign up.....but arrived at BLT and got new magic bands......really for two nights?? Same beautiful box....gave it back so they could use it again.....total waste of money IMHO.

In March we have a split stay.....rec,d 2 flash drives.....again the cost is ridiculous ....just for postage.... Why did I need 2..... Couldn't they see I was coming for a week? Then I had to chg my ressie and then I got 3 different booklets with a magnet ...... 3. So I ordered my new colored MB's .....and they are going to mail them....in a huge box custom made with our names on the boxes again.....

My point? If they are spending all this money on my MB's why can't they give them to AP holders. They have their addresses......or there should be a way to include them. I have 3 sets.......12 bands because I went 2 weekends and they can' t get one?

Plus the prices just keep going up and up because we are paying for all this waste.....they should have the bands at check-in but why do we need fancy boxes. They can' t even fit in the suitcases.....to bring home.


On another note.....I have always gone during school Bren (aka busy season). We'd get to MK at RD, take train to Frontierland ride BTMRR 3 times get FP for Splash, ride splash 2 times and get another FP for BTMRR. Since they never enforced times we went back whenever we wanted. We then went to JCP, Potc, HM,Iasw, ..got FP for PP, went to mickeys philharmagic. It would be 1 by then, have lunch and then go on PP..
12 rides with 3 FP's by 2. The parks by that time were insanely crowded so I would maybe get in a short standby line or leave the park.

So if I can get FP for the 2pm -5pm which is the busiest..the new system might just work out better for me. As at Rd you really didn't need FP for most rides early in the day. One thing I do like about new system is that you don't have to walk to each attraction to get the FP.........so if there is a 15 minute wait at the kiosk and you are getting 3 FP's it still is better than walking to 3 different rides 2 hours apart to get a FP. And of course on site guest have it even better since they can prebook them. So reports of lines at the kiosk really need to be compared to the time taken to walk to ride, get FP and the go back to that ride at the appropriate time.

Being able to get FP is a nice perk no one pays extra for at Disney, at least not yet.....I'm not in love with the tiered system, not being able to ride same ride and only 3 a day....but I can live with it. However if this system makes the Standby lines longer then it is an huge failure vs the legacy FP. I don't know why it would make standby lines worst, but the reports are basically stating this and that is during a slow season. Maybe the rides vehicles are not at capacity??
Maybe more people are getting FP's? They are handing out more?

US fotl works because they only have 3 hotels so the number of people getting it small.......but if every MK guest gets 3 what will that do to the system? Will it make the standby lines even longer... I would rather wait 20 minutes for every ride instead of 0-10 for 3 and over 1 hour for 8.

Everyone who has reported thank you!! Keep them coming......

 

[mjosburn]

We're annual passholders who went to MK today. After arriving around 9:30, we went to city hall (I think) & made lunch reservations. The FP+ line was short (both kiosks being used with only one other person waiting), so we decided to try it out. I guess I hadn't read enough about the process beforehand, so I was surprised that we didn't choose a ride & then see approx. times available before moving on to our next choice. We had 3 itineraries to choose from with one of the itineraries not even having one of our ride choices. Anyway, we booked it pretty quick because the castmember who made our lunch reservation was helping us. We used our first FP+ with no problem. When we went to Big Thunder Mountain, there was a HUGE fastpass line. We knew there was no way to get through that line before our lunch reservations 25 minutes later, so we just skipped the ride. I also noticed that the Space Mountain fastpass line was extremely long. I would love to know how long these fastpass lines are taking now. With the old fastpass system, we usually only used 1 or 2 on crowded days, but we were still able to ride a fair number of rides. Not today though. I hope things get cleared up because otherwise we won't renew our passes in September.

 

[bcrook]

Thanks, I just always felt like a Disney pro, and now I feel like a total nervous newbie Going with a preschooler for the first time might not be helping my nerves

I would be nervous too! I didn't take my kids until they were 8!

 

[lugnut33]

The guest relations person who was standing there answering questions knew less about FP+ than I do and didn't understand my questions. Though, the guy at the kiosk who actually scheduled my FP'es for me showed me some tricks to it because initially it showed Peter Pan wasn't available at all. But, booking another ride and then cancelling it made Peter Pan show up. So, he was pretty good at working with the system.
.

Wow, this is really interesting information that I had never seen before.

 

[lugnut33]

Have there been any reports from offsite guests who have actually used the FP+ system at MK? From people who can say first hand how long it took them to get their FPs and what kind of selection they had at what time of the day?

To just hear that there are long lines at the kiosks from someone who didn't actually wait in one doesn't tell us very much. I have already learned from a video posted on this board and from my own experience over Christmas that what looks like a long line at a FP entrance only takes about 2 minutes to get through.

If someone can get 3 FPs at MK for any attractions and for times of their choosing, that is worth a little time in line. In the glory days of paper FP I saw people wait in long lines (10 minutes and longer) to get FP for just one attraction, like TSMM, Soarin, Test Track, or Space Mountain right at park opening. People apparently thought those waits were worth it to get a FP for those attractions. I waited in one once to get a second ride on TSMM shortly after it opened. Waiting 20 minutes or so to get 3 FPs at times of your choosing sounds like a better deal.

Yes, we know you love lines. I don't know how else to explain your approval of new FP lines at the kiosks and the rides.

 

[3happydancers]

I'm a longtime lurker, but I wanted to come out of hiding to share my recent experience at MK. My husband and I are annual passholders and generally frequent the park once a week (typically on Saturday) and sometimes twice a week. We have gone on the 4th of July, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, so we are well familiar with crowds and wait times of pretty much every attraction. As passholders, we have been aware of the changes coming with fast pass +, and have been waiting anxiously to give it a whirl (though honestly we've been able to do the things in the parks we like to do using the legacy system just fine.) We have a 2 year old daughter and don't use baby swap so we never go for the big rides lately, but pretty much the princess experiences and smaller kid friendly rides.

We arrived at the park yesterday (Saturday) at around 9am. The park opened at 8, and we knew the fast pass+ system was officially a go in MK. We had seen the kiosks for some time in town square and around the park, so upon park entrance we went immediately to town square to get our 3 fast pass+ secured. I went up the the kiosks in front where there were approx 7 CM with no wait at all, but then was asked what resort we were staying at and when I replied I was a pass holder, I was told we needed to go to the back of the town square theater (back where the princesses used to meet) and where there were easily 50 people in line. I immediately felt like a second class citizen. I mean, already resort guest have been able to go online and book their fast passes, and now they have no wait at certain kiosks but the other AP holders and one day guest have to wait in monumental lines to secure theirs? My husband waited in the line while I took our two year old to see the characters near the flagpole. While waiting in line he texted to tell me our number one choice for a fast pass+ (Enchanted Tales with Belle) had a return time of 5:40-6:40 and this was a little after 9AM! The castmember said there was nothing earlier available. (This was extremely frustrating since on the legacy system a FP for Belle was never available and our very first time we could get one for Belle with the new system was 8 hours from then!) Since we live locally and have a small child, our park visits usually are only for a few hours before our child's naptime, so we had intended to leave after lunch. So we were unable to get a FP for Belle.)

Our 3 choices ended up being Buzz (for 10:30), The Rapunzel side of Fairytale Hall at 12, and the Little Mermaid Ride for 3:40! And all told my husband stood in line for 15 minutes to make the FP+ selections.

On a 'normal' Saturday (and even on abnormal days such as the 4th of July and Christmas eve) we have EASILY been able to see both sides of Fairytale Hall, Ariel in her Grotto or Tiana or Tink, Belle, and ride Mermaid or Pooh or Peter Pan, Small World, and Buzz, by making the most of the morning and implenting Fast Passes the moment we were able to obtain ones (not to mention talking Mickey who was not connected to the system.) We never felt obligated to stay later in the day because of Fast Pass times, nor the need to run first thing to a machine to stand in line and plan out our whole afternoon.

This Saturday, with our three less than optimal choices and times given, we set out to do the usual 'walk-on' rides our toddler likes, only to find we had to wait 4 rotations to get onto the carrousel, and had to wait 25 minutes for It's a Small World.

We were also quite let down that the MDE app failed in providing us accurate character times. Buzz Lightyear was supposed to be meeting at 10am, and he wasn't there at 10 and still wasn't at 10:30. No CM around to ask why. Also we headed to Tiana's garden to line up about 10 minutes before the App said she was due to arrive, only to arrive and see her waving and leaving as the meet and greet was over.

I will add a last bit that just added to our day, and I find a bit interesting on top of everything else that is going on with all the changes. We had an ADR for Liberty Tree for lunch at 12:40. We arrived a few mins early, checked in and waited to be called. And waited. And waited. (With a hungry and tired toddler). Well after 45 mins of waiting, I finally asked how much longer it would be, and after a few CM checked computers and talked to eachother, it was determined that the CM that checked us in actually didn't check us in. So yeah, we had to wait another 10 minutes to be seated. On top of that and all the INSANE lines allover the park at kiosks and even in FP return lines, I was frustrated beyond believe. The CM sought to right her wrong by providing me with a paper 'no strings attached' Fast pass which stated it was good for any attraction (I can upload a picture of it.) The only restriction is for height restrictions apply for certain attractions.

After our daughter's nap (which was much needed after a much delayed lunch and all) we decided to take our paper fast pass to Enchanted Tales with Belle. We were told by two CM that 'even though it doesn't say it, you can't use that here.' Well after telling our 2 year old she was gonna see Belle (and she knows the look of the outside of the cottage, she burst into tears when we were turned away, and we weren't about to wait 70 minutes in the line. Well, I headed to Town Hall because I was frustrated. I explained to the Castmember at Town Hall that we were told we could use the paper FB for ANY attraction we wanted and the CM's wouldn't let us in the fast pass queue for Enchanted Tales with Belle. The CM went inside to talk to others only to come back and tell us that was correct. We couldn't. He explained that Enchanted Tales is a 'character interaction' and not an attraction. I showed them on their very own MDE App how Enchanted Tales with Belle is listed under ATTRACTIONS, unlike other 'character interactions' such as Fairytale Hall and Tinkerbell's Nook which are located on the app under "Characters." He simply said he was sorry and said he would let a manager know that we think the classification of Belle on the app needs to be changed. He also informed us that the paper FP we were given needed to be used that day (so we couldn't leave then and come back and use the FP another time. ) Frustrated and beyond, we decided to go use our paper FP on Haunted Mansion which my husband loves and which had a very uncharacteristically long 45 minute wait earlier in the day. We got into the FP+ queue with our pass and STILL HAD TO WAIT 25 minutes. With a FP!!

Needless to say, our first experience with FP+ has been a monumentally bad one. I have a very sour taste in my mouth for the whole thing, and I'm honestly sickened that our days of being able to go to MK for 4-5 hours and have fun with our toddler may be a thing of the past. The standby lines are now unbelievable, even for small rides, and the FP+ return times are hardly accomodating. And I cannot imagine what it will be like during Spring Break and Summer.

I was lost for words after reading your experience, especially the part about how your toddler burst into tears. I am so sorry you and your family had a miserable day which in my opinion should never have been. I was more shocked when you reported how Town Hall could not/or to me, WOULD NOT make things right for your family.

I think the op is right. You should send an email or letter to Disney explaining exactly what happened. They need to hear this directly from those who have been affected.

So sorry this happened.

 

[mom2rtk]

I was lost for words after reading your experience, especially the part about how your toddler burst into tears. I am so sorry you and your family had a miserable day which in my opinion should never have been. I was more shocked when you reported how Town Hall could not/or to me, WOULD NOT make things right for your family.

I think the op is right. You should send an email or letter to Disney explaining exactly what happened. They need to hear this directly from those who have been affected.

So sorry this happened.

Ditto ALL of that.

 

[lugnut33]

Ferd's detailed (thanks Ferd!!) post two above - I won't quote it since she was very detailed and it was very long - but that begs the question for me...

Where are all these people coming from? The parks are flat out more crowded. As Ferd noted, and we experienced three weeks ago ourselves, even the Fast Pass lines are slow. They aren't instant-on anymore generally speaking, they are just faster than Standby. I suppose some of it could be chalked up to people holding up the line because they don't understand, but there just seem to be more people. What we experienced was backups INSIDE the queue, even after the bands/tickets have been scanned/collected, we were still backed up waiting.

So perhaps Disney has raised the number of fast passes they hand out (maybe they used to give out 4,000 per day for Ride X, and now they give out 8,000 per day, whatever), and that's why the Fast Pass lines back up. However, because they are limiting the fast passes to 3, all the Standby lines are reported to be longer than ever, even on "value season" days.

Where are these people coming from? Has WDW suddenly become the only worldwide vacation destination? It seems that way...

Spring break looks like it's going to be a bit insane.

I think you may be right.

I really dislike how the enjoyment of a Diseny trip is now dependent on how well your magic bands work and then hopefully running into a time when the crowds are extremely low.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I'm a longtime lurker, but I wanted to come out of hiding to share my recent experience at MK. My husband and I are annual passholders and generally frequent the park once a week (typically on Saturday) and sometimes twice a week. We have gone on the 4th of July, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, so we are well familiar with crowds and wait times of pretty much every attraction. As passholders, we have been aware of the changes coming with fast pass +, and have been waiting anxiously to give it a whirl (though honestly we've been able to do the things in the parks we like to do using the legacy system just fine.) We have a 2 year old daughter and don't use baby swap so we never go for the big rides lately, but pretty much the princess experiences and smaller kid friendly rides.

We arrived at the park yesterday (Saturday) at around 9am. The park opened at 8, and we knew the fast pass+ system was officially a go in MK. We had seen the kiosks for some time in town square and around the park, so upon park entrance we went immediately to town square to get our 3 fast pass+ secured. I went up the the kiosks in front where there were approx 7 CM with no wait at all, but then was asked what resort we were staying at and when I replied I was a pass holder, I was told we needed to go to the back of the town square theater (back where the princesses used to meet) and where there were easily 50 people in line. I immediately felt like a second class citizen. I mean, already resort guest have been able to go online and book their fast passes, and now they have no wait at certain kiosks but the other AP holders and one day guest have to wait in monumental lines to secure theirs? My husband waited in the line while I took our two year old to see the characters near the flagpole. While waiting in line he texted to tell me our number one choice for a fast pass+ (Enchanted Tales with Belle) had a return time of 5:40-6:40 and this was a little after 9AM! The castmember said there was nothing earlier available. (This was extremely frustrating since on the legacy system a FP for Belle was never available and our very first time we could get one for Belle with the new system was 8 hours from then!) Since we live locally and have a small child, our park visits usually are only for a few hours before our child's naptime, so we had intended to leave after lunch. So we were unable to get a FP for Belle.)

Our 3 choices ended up being Buzz (for 10:30), The Rapunzel side of Fairytale Hall at 12, and the Little Mermaid Ride for 3:40! And all told my husband stood in line for 15 minutes to make the FP+ selections.

On a 'normal' Saturday (and even on abnormal days such as the 4th of July and Christmas eve) we have EASILY been able to see both sides of Fairytale Hall, Ariel in her Grotto or Tiana or Tink, Belle, and ride Mermaid or Pooh or Peter Pan, Small World, and Buzz, by making the most of the morning and implenting Fast Passes the moment we were able to obtain ones (not to mention talking Mickey who was not connected to the system.) We never felt obligated to stay later in the day because of Fast Pass times, nor the need to run first thing to a machine to stand in line and plan out our whole afternoon.

This Saturday, with our three less than optimal choices and times given, we set out to do the usual 'walk-on' rides our toddler likes, only to find we had to wait 4 rotations to get onto the carrousel, and had to wait 25 minutes for It's a Small World.

We were also quite let down that the MDE app failed in providing us accurate character times. Buzz Lightyear was supposed to be meeting at 10am, and he wasn't there at 10 and still wasn't at 10:30. No CM around to ask why. Also we headed to Tiana's garden to line up about 10 minutes before the App said she was due to arrive, only to arrive and see her waving and leaving as the meet and greet was over.

I will add a last bit that just added to our day, and I find a bit interesting on top of everything else that is going on with all the changes. We had an ADR for Liberty Tree for lunch at 12:40. We arrived a few mins early, checked in and waited to be called. And waited. And waited. (With a hungry and tired toddler). Well after 45 mins of waiting, I finally asked how much longer it would be, and after a few CM checked computers and talked to eachother, it was determined that the CM that checked us in actually didn't check us in. So yeah, we had to wait another 10 minutes to be seated. On top of that and all the INSANE lines allover the park at kiosks and even in FP return lines, I was frustrated beyond believe. The CM sought to right her wrong by providing me with a paper 'no strings attached' Fast pass which stated it was good for any attraction (I can upload a picture of it.) The only restriction is for height restrictions apply for certain attractions.

After our daughter's nap (which was much needed after a much delayed lunch and all) we decided to take our paper fast pass to Enchanted Tales with Belle. We were told by two CM that 'even though it doesn't say it, you can't use that here.' Well after telling our 2 year old she was gonna see Belle (and she knows the look of the outside of the cottage, she burst into tears when we were turned away, and we weren't about to wait 70 minutes in the line. Well, I headed to Town Hall because I was frustrated. I explained to the Castmember at Town Hall that we were told we could use the paper FB for ANY attraction we wanted and the CM's wouldn't let us in the fast pass queue for Enchanted Tales with Belle. The CM went inside to talk to others only to come back and tell us that was correct. We couldn't. He explained that Enchanted Tales is a 'character interaction' and not an attraction. I showed them on their very own MDE App how Enchanted Tales with Belle is listed under ATTRACTIONS, unlike other 'character interactions' such as Fairytale Hall and Tinkerbell's Nook which are located on the app under "Characters." He simply said he was sorry and said he would let a manager know that we think the classification of Belle on the app needs to be changed. He also informed us that the paper FP we were given needed to be used that day (so we couldn't leave then and come back and use the FP another time. ) Frustrated and beyond, we decided to go use our paper FP on Haunted Mansion which my husband loves and which had a very uncharacteristically long 45 minute wait earlier in the day. We got into the FP+ queue with our pass and STILL HAD TO WAIT 25 minutes. With a FP!!

Needless to say, our first experience with FP+ has been a monumentally bad one. I have a very sour taste in my mouth for the whole thing, and I'm honestly sickened that our days of being able to go to MK for 4-5 hours and have fun with our toddler may be a thing of the past. The standby lines are now unbelievable, even for small rides, and the FP+ return times are hardly accomodating. And I cannot imagine what it will be like during Spring Break and Summer.

I am so sorry you had such a bad experience! I would definitely e-mail Disney about it! I also think it's absolutely ridiculous that you couldn't use the anytime FP for ETWB, and that really needs to be pointed out to Disney - including how your daughter reacted when you were turned away. To be told you can use it for anything, and then be turned away is bad show.

 

[Rosanne]

I'm a longtime lurker, but I wanted to come out of hiding to share my recent experience at MK. My husband and I are annual passholders and generally frequent the park once a week (typically on Saturday) and sometimes twice a week. We have gone on the 4th of July, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve, so we are well familiar with crowds and wait times of pretty much every attraction. As passholders, we have been aware of the changes coming with fast pass +, and have been waiting anxiously to give it a whirl (though honestly we've been able to do the things in the parks we like to do using the legacy system just fine.) We have a 2 year old daughter and don't use baby swap so we never go for the big rides lately, but pretty much the princess experiences and smaller kid friendly rides.

We arrived at the park yesterday (Saturday) at around 9am. The park opened at 8, and we knew the fast pass+ system was officially a go in MK. We had seen the kiosks for some time in town square and around the park, so upon park entrance we went immediately to town square to get our 3 fast pass+ secured. I went up the the kiosks in front where there were approx 7 CM with no wait at all, but then was asked what resort we were staying at and when I replied I was a pass holder, I was told we needed to go to the back of the town square theater (back where the princesses used to meet) and where there were easily 50 people in line. I immediately felt like a second class citizen. I mean, already resort guest have been able to go online and book their fast passes, and now they have no wait at certain kiosks but the other AP holders and one day guest have to wait in monumental lines to secure theirs? My husband waited in the line while I took our two year old to see the characters near the flagpole. While waiting in line he texted to tell me our number one choice for a fast pass+ (Enchanted Tales with Belle) had a return time of 5:40-6:40 and this was a little after 9AM! The castmember said there was nothing earlier available. (This was extremely frustrating since on the legacy system a FP for Belle was never available and our very first time we could get one for Belle with the new system was 8 hours from then!) Since we live locally and have a small child, our park visits usually are only for a few hours before our child's naptime, so we had intended to leave after lunch. So we were unable to get a FP for Belle.)

Our 3 choices ended up being Buzz (for 10:30), The Rapunzel side of Fairytale Hall at 12, and the Little Mermaid Ride for 3:40! And all told my husband stood in line for 15 minutes to make the FP+ selections.

On a 'normal' Saturday (and even on abnormal days such as the 4th of July and Christmas eve) we have EASILY been able to see both sides of Fairytale Hall, Ariel in her Grotto or Tiana or Tink, Belle, and ride Mermaid or Pooh or Peter Pan, Small World, and Buzz, by making the most of the morning and implenting Fast Passes the moment we were able to obtain ones (not to mention talking Mickey who was not connected to the system.) We never felt obligated to stay later in the day because of Fast Pass times, nor the need to run first thing to a machine to stand in line and plan out our whole afternoon.

This Saturday, with our three less than optimal choices and times given, we set out to do the usual 'walk-on' rides our toddler likes, only to find we had to wait 4 rotations to get onto the carrousel, and had to wait 25 minutes for It's a Small World.

We were also quite let down that the MDE app failed in providing us accurate character times. Buzz Lightyear was supposed to be meeting at 10am, and he wasn't there at 10 and still wasn't at 10:30. No CM around to ask why. Also we headed to Tiana's garden to line up about 10 minutes before the App said she was due to arrive, only to arrive and see her waving and leaving as the meet and greet was over.

I will add a last bit that just added to our day, and I find a bit interesting on top of everything else that is going on with all the changes. We had an ADR for Liberty Tree for lunch at 12:40. We arrived a few mins early, checked in and waited to be called. And waited. And waited. (With a hungry and tired toddler). Well after 45 mins of waiting, I finally asked how much longer it would be, and after a few CM checked computers and talked to eachother, it was determined that the CM that checked us in actually didn't check us in. So yeah, we had to wait another 10 minutes to be seated. On top of that and all the INSANE lines allover the park at kiosks and even in FP return lines, I was frustrated beyond believe. The CM sought to right her wrong by providing me with a paper 'no strings attached' Fast pass which stated it was good for any attraction (I can upload a picture of it.) The only restriction is for height restrictions apply for certain attractions.

After our daughter's nap (which was much needed after a much delayed lunch and all) we decided to take our paper fast pass to Enchanted Tales with Belle. We were told by two CM that 'even though it doesn't say it, you can't use that here.' Well after telling our 2 year old she was gonna see Belle (and she knows the look of the outside of the cottage, she burst into tears when we were turned away, and we weren't about to wait 70 minutes in the line. Well, I headed to Town Hall because I was frustrated. I explained to the Castmember at Town Hall that we were told we could use the paper FB for ANY attraction we wanted and the CM's wouldn't let us in the fast pass queue for Enchanted Tales with Belle. The CM went inside to talk to others only to come back and tell us that was correct. We couldn't. He explained that Enchanted Tales is a 'character interaction' and not an attraction. I showed them on their very own MDE App how Enchanted Tales with Belle is listed under ATTRACTIONS, unlike other 'character interactions' such as Fairytale Hall and Tinkerbell's Nook which are located on the app under "Characters." He simply said he was sorry and said he would let a manager know that we think the classification of Belle on the app needs to be changed. He also informed us that the paper FP we were given needed to be used that day (so we couldn't leave then and come back and use the FP another time. ) Frustrated and beyond, we decided to go use our paper FP on Haunted Mansion which my husband loves and which had a very uncharacteristically long 45 minute wait earlier in the day. We got into the FP+ queue with our pass and STILL HAD TO WAIT 25 minutes. With a FP!!

Needless to say, our first experience with FP+ has been a monumentally bad one. I have a very sour taste in my mouth for the whole thing, and I'm honestly sickened that our days of being able to go to MK for 4-5 hours and have fun with our toddler may be a thing of the past. The standby lines are now unbelievable, even for small rides, and the FP+ return times are hardly accomodating. And I cannot imagine what it will be like during Spring Break and Summer.

Wow. I am really sorry. The saddest part would be that "special FP". While we weren't big fans of ETWB (we felt it was pretty "meh") I can certainly understand that it would have been very important to a toddler. It sounds like such a disappointing day. I am truly sorry.

We have to WDW a little more often than an average of once a year and we always stay onsite. We went in August and had a great time (FP+ was still in full swing with just minor MB testing in some of the resorts) but we were going to go March 29-April 5 as a pre-birthday trip for my 7 year old (a semi-tradition). No WAY are we going to wade through that mess, though. Possibly we could consider an August trip but who knows if things will even be settled by then. We could make plans thinking things have settled and they could move the goalpost again.

We already have 5 day tickets (bought before the price increase) and I hope to use them one day but I'm kind of regretting buying them now.

 

[Angel Ariel]

We went to dhs today and had a conversation with offsite guests who were there today and at mk yesterday. The available times were so bad yesterday at mk when then went the kiosks at 10 am they didn't bother to do fp. By bad they said everything was 5 or after for the most popular and they tried lots of options.

Today at dhs, they hit the kiosk after rd at about 9:10 and got toy story for 1. We got paper fp for 10 at that time. Rnr were at 3:30 when they tried and just kept toy story at that point.

They said at mk, it was basically rope drop or standby for a longtime time.

To the bolded...I don't see how that can be anything but the result of prebooking. We have never had issues getting fps in mk. Even during spring break, you could easily pull a fp for space at 10am for a *much* earlier return time than 5pm or later...

If this is indicative of what same day headliner availability will be during busy seasons, it leads me to think that Disney will have to find a way to get offsite guests the ability to prebook. Otherwise they will have a lot of very unhappy guests.

 

[Spriesty]

To the bolded...I don't see how that can be anything but the result of prebooking. We have never had issues getting fps in mk. Even during spring break, you could easily pull a fp for space at 10am for a *much* earlier return time than 5pm or later...

If this is indicative of what same day headliner availability will be during busy seasons, it leads me to think that Disney will have to find a way to get offsite guests the ability to prebook. Otherwise they will have a lot of very unhappy guests.

I'm not sure they want to do that at all. It's quite possible they want to book more on-site resort rooms, and they just may do that with this new scheme. Or, they will find a way to let off-site guest pre-book...for a cost.

Think about it, why would Disney spend this insane amount of money switching the system around, unless they knew they would gain that money back in some way?

 

[CyForDisney]

I hate to be another debbie downer but I have another story to tell about the new fastpass+ system. We went to MK on January 2nd. This was when legacy fastpass was on its last leg meaning only offsite guests could used legacy fp. We stayed offsite so we didn't use fastpass +. We got in standby for Buzz Lightyear and it said the standby wait time was 45 minutes. I thought there was no way it was 45 minutes because the line started just outside the door to the building. I have been to WDW 10+ times so thats just my instinct telling me I have never waited 45 minutes for Buzz Lightyear, especially when the line starts just outside the door. It took us over an hour to get to the line when standby and fastpass+ meet! I couldn't believe it but here is the kicker. They were letting at least 50 fastpass+ people go on to every 6 (yes you read that right) people in standby line! This wasn't the only fastpass+ issue on the trip but it was probably the most annoying issue. Disney has a huge problem with fastpass plus that they need to figure out. Luckily since legacy was still intact, we got to ride space mountain and Peter Pan with fastpasses but with the new system even if you were staying on site, I don't think there is a way to get fastpasses to both of those headliners in one day. I will still be visiting WDW in the future but I am afraid I will have a sour taste going from now on even if I stay on site (which most of the time we do). I was a huge fan of fastpass + when it was first announced but I have a bad feeling that Disney is going to put $$$ before guest satisfaction.

 

[magicbob]

you made a very poor choice to go to MK on Saturday. Because of the holiday weekend Saturday was an "8" crowd day, and MK was a park to avoid. I can imagine your frustration.

 

[Disneylover99]

I hate to be another debbie downer but I have another story to tell about the new fastpass+ system. We went to MK on January 2nd. This was when legacy fastpass was on its last leg meaning only offsite guests could used legacy fp. We stayed offsite so we didn't use fastpass +. We got in standby for Buzz Lightyear and it said the standby wait time was 45 minutes. I thought there was no way it was 45 minutes because the line started just outside the door to the building. I have been to WDW 10+ times so thats just my instinct telling me I have never waited 45 minutes for Buzz Lightyear, especially when the line starts just outside the door. It took us over an hour to get to the line when standby and fastpass+ meet! I couldn't believe it but here is the kicker. They were letting at least 50 fastpass+ people go on to every 6 (yes you read that right) people in standby line! This wasn't the only fastpass+ issue on the trip but it was probably the most annoying issue. Disney has a huge problem with fastpass plus that they need to figure out. Luckily since legacy was still intact, we got to ride space mountain and Peter Pan with fastpasses but with the new system even if you were staying on site, I don't think there is a way to get fastpasses to both of those headliners in one day. I will still be visiting WDW in the future but I am afraid I will have a sour taste going from now on even if I stay on site (which most of the time we do). I was a huge fan of fastpass + when it was first announced but I have a bad feeling that Disney is going to put $$$ before guest satisfaction.

Unfortunately, this makes sense to me. They are going to have to substantially increase the ratios of fastpass people going through in order to keep up with the demands of this silly system. Standby wait times will only increase.

 

[magicbob]

Unfortunately, this makes sense to me. They are going to have to substantially increase the ratios of fastpass people going through in order to keep up with the demands of this silly system. Standby wait times will only increase.

Or put another way... FP+ is the new standby. The system is not a reservation to ride, but a reservation to report to the line. Then the standby line becomes a TRUE "standby" line (i.e., wait to see IF there's an opening so they can squeeze you in between guests with reservations.).

But you FP+ users better not get too smug about that because you share the same fate in every line with the exception of those precious few FP+s.

Seems like I recall someone predicting this. Oh yeah... ME!

 

[Mkrop]

Yes, that is my opinion, or theory, or whatever you want to call it, but it is nothing more than that. At this point, most everyone's opinion on something like this is based on speculation more than anything else.

But, here's the main reason I feel this way. Several people on these boards have cited Disney executives saying that one of their main objectives with the whole MyMagic + project is to encourage guests to spend as much of their trip as possible on Disney property. One way to do that is to get guests to buy multiple day Disney tickets in advance, and a way to encourage them to do that is to tell them that once they have tickets, they can establish an MDE account, link those tickets to their accounts, and make FP+ reservations. Disney can use their relationships with travel agents and area hotels to get this message to their customers.

I don't expect offsite guests to be able to make reservations as early as onsite guests, but it would still be before they arrive at the park. Maybe 30 days for offsite compared to 60 for onsite.

The other thing is that the system being used right now with legions of offsite guests trying to make FP+ reservations is unnecessarily labor intensive and also inconvenient and aggravating for guests. I see it as a temporary stopgap only. I think they want the kiosks in the park to be used for people to make changes, not for hundreds of guests to inundate as soon as the park opens.

Time will tell if I am right about this. But I will be surprised if today's model is the final one for offsite guests.

Stinks again for the guest who has to deal with this NOW!

 

[patty57]

Stinks again for the guest who has to deal with this NOW!

So, so, so true. I should probably post in the glad you don't have a trip booked thread. The post from Ferd about using her APs on Saturday at MK was hideous. I feel so bad for her family. What an insanely crappy experience.

 

[ArwenMarie]

To the bolded...I don't see how that can be anything but the result of prebooking. We have never had issues getting fps in mk. Even during spring break, you could easily pull a fp for space at 10am for a *much* earlier return time than 5pm or later...

If this is indicative of what same day headliner availability will be during busy seasons, it leads me to think that Disney will have to find a way to get offsite guests the ability to prebook. Otherwise they will have a lot of very unhappy guests.

They do have a way...get a room. Not being snarky, I really think that is what Disney intends with this