How is MK with no Legacy FP?

[wisblue]

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

I totally understand that any problems people are having today are a completely different discussion. But, I was responding to a PP who was saying, in essence, that this is the way it is now and it is never going to change or get any better. In fact, for many of these people, they think that anything that is a problem today is only going to get worse.

I am not so cynical that I think that Disney doesn't recognize and doesn't care about anything that doesn't go well. Therefore, I am confident that they will be taking steps to alleviate any problems that result in widespread customer dissatisfaction. And, "widespread" will involve evaluating the experiences of all of their guests, not just those who repeat their concerns multiple times per day on forums like this one. They each get one opinion, just like the tens of thousands of guests who have never seen a forum like this.

 

[wisblue]

I suspect that Josh from easywdw will be posting a report soon on his observations from going to MK without paper FP.

It will be interesting to see the observations and pictures from someone with a lot of WDW experience, but who is also generally objective, about how the lines at kiosks and attractions have been, and how the standby lines compare to what he would expect for a day with a similar crowd level.

 

[Mommy2Corinne]

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.

Hideous is the exact word I would use to describe ferd's experience. I seriously cannot believe that this is happening at Disney. The lines, the confusion, the mistakes, the misinformation...how is any of this ok?!??!? And for the love of Pete...how hard would it have been to let them use the "all access" FP on ETWB? I think my head would have exploded at the point the CM told me I could not use it but that they would let IT know that ETWB needs to be "reclassified" on the App.

Ferd...please email your experience to Disney. They need to hear stories like yours if we have any hope of making things better.

 

[Angel Ariel]

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

I'm still holding out hope as best I can, though it is getting more difficult. (Wait, am i allowed to have "hope" about fp+ if I'm one of those negative people? )

 

[3smithboys]

Hideous is the exact word I would use to describe ferd's experience. I seriously cannot believe that this is happening at Disney. The lines, the confusion, the mistakes, the misinformation...how is any of this ok?!??!? And for the love of Pete...how hard would it have been to let them use the "all access" FP on ETWB? I think my head would have exploded at the point the CM told me I could not use it but that they would let IT know that ETWB needs to be "reclassified" on the App.

Ferd...please email your experience to Disney. They need to hear stories like yours if we have any hope of making things better.

This makes me cringe.... We are supposed to be going in July...and have nothing booked YET.... I just don't know. This is not the Disney I love - they would never turn away a crying toddler with an "all access" FP... I just can't see spending thousands for this kind of "magic!"

 

[wisblue]

I'm still holding out hope as best I can, though it is getting more difficult. (Wait, am i allowed to have "hope" about fp+ if I'm one of those negative people? )

Abandon all hope ye who enter the DIS.

 

[Angel Ariel]

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

To follow up on this again...this whole system is supposed to allow changing fps on the fly in the parks. It is supposed to be one if the +s in FP+. With the lack if same day availability already being demonstrated, I have a hard time seeing how that goal will play out successfully..

I hope I'm wrong and Disney has something up their sleeve.

 

[disney1990]

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 think that part of the problem is now "everybody" must choose 3 FP+, even if you only want one or two. They are going to go a lot faster. With these reports I don't see how they will ever allow more than 3, but that is not acceptable.

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!

Yes, but I am not going to pay Disney prices to only stay in a park until lunch time.

 

[Lizard Valley]

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.

Something just occurred to me: Having an ADR can block FP+ availability times (I think it's 1 hr before, and 2 hours after). This may be why you weren't able to get an earlier FP+ for ECWB? Just a thought...

 

[Angel Ariel]

Just read that themeparkinsider article and noticed that AK and Epcot have more FP+ kiosks listed (6) than MK does (5). Am I the only one that thinks that it's totally backwards that the park with the most rides to potentially FP+ has the smaller number of FP+ kiosks?

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I think that part of the problem is now "everybody" must choose 3 FP+, even if you only want one or two. They are going to go a lot faster. With these reports I don't see how they will ever allow more than 3, but that is not acceptable.



Yes, but I am not going to pay Disney prices to only stay in a park until lunch time.

When my children were younger, WDW was all about the rides. We rode as many as we could all day long. We went when crowds were low, got to the parks early and leveraged the FP system very well. During those times, we would easily ride 30 or more attractions/day, repeating our favorites often. Sadly, I think that those days are gone. First, the crowds will never be that low again - even during the off-season. Second, the changes to the FP system do not allow for it. There just isn't enough time in the day given the queue times.

But now that we are older, we tour differently. The new FP system suits us well. We don't want to ride 30 attractions anymore. We have our favorites, but one ride on each is fine with us. And this is generally in line with what you can expect from most other parks. For instance, I love Cedar Point, but the lines are crazy and you just don't ride a single coaster more than once/day. If you get in 10 rides in a day, you had a very good day at Cedar Point. I think that most first time guests will draw this parallel and will not be disappointed. It is folks who have been many times and knew how to leverage the old system that will be disappointed.

But if amusement parks are your vacation of choice, there still aren't many better options. Universal Studios stands out for those who want to ride, ride, ride all day long, with few waits. But that isn't what we are looking for anymore. I am glad that WDW is still an option for us, but we will never go during the busy season.

 

[bcrook]

Something just occurred to me: Having an ADR can block FP+ availability times (I think it's 1 hr before, and 2 hours after). This may be why you weren't able to get an earlier FP+ for ECWB? Just a thought...

Which was also a frustrating aspect of planning FP+. The system isn't transparent enough. I always felt like the system was offering me things that it wanted me to have rather than simply giving me a system to choose what I need. The return window options were cumbersome.

 

[Drfate102]

We went yesterday and love FP+. We got to do both Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain along with Wishes. Yes there are a few tweaks and a learning curve, but after a bit, this will all be second nature. Can't wait till we get actual bands, it will be easier.

 

[morethananyonex]

Wait a second, this thread is changing everything I thought I knew. Aren't the only people who don't like the system people who haven't tried it? Aren't they the same group of people complaining over and over? Aren't FP+ super flexible and never run out, and if people said they do they're wrong? Aren't really long lines at kiosks deceiving and no matter how bad they look they're 5 minutes long? Wasn't the fact that the AK test went well proof that MK would too? Aren't people who said FP return lines are longer than normal exaggerating?

I am SO confused.

But seriously, all us "negative" people would have loved nothing more to be proven wrong. None of us like seeing the WDW we love making fairly large mistakes at this level. I feel awful for the people like the ones who have posted in here who had such crappy experiences. Hopefully it gets better and fast, this is just not cool Disney, not cool at all.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

But seriously, all us "negative" people would have loved nothing more to be proven wrong. None of us like seeing the WDW we love making fairly large mistakes at this level. I feel awful for the people like the ones who have posted in here who had such crappy experiences. Hopefully it gets better and fast, this is just not cool Disney, not cool at all.

There have also been quite a few positive posts from people who have used this new system and were okay with it. Disney still has a ways to go with this thing, but it is not a complete disaster.

 

[disney1990]

When my children were younger, WDW was all about the rides. We rode as many as we could all day long. We went when crowds were low, got to the parks early and leveraged the FP system very well. During those times, we would easily ride 30 or more attractions/day, repeating our favorites often. Sadly, I think that those days are gone. First, the crowds will never be that low again - even during the off-season. Second, the changes to the FP system do not allow for it. There just isn't enough time in the day given the queue times.

But now that we are older, we tour differently. The new FP system suits us well. We don't want to ride 30 attractions anymore. We have our favorites, but one ride on each is fine with us. And this is generally in line with what you can expect from most other parks. For instance, I love Cedar Point, but the lines are crazy and you just don't ride a single coaster more than once/day. If you get in 10 rides in a day, you had a very good day at Cedar Point. I think that most first time guests will draw this parallel and will not be disappointed. It is folks who have been many times and knew how to leverage the old system that will be disappointed.

But if amusement parks are your vacation of choice, there still aren't many better options. Universal Studios stands out for those who want to ride, ride, ride all day long, with few waits. But that isn't what we are looking for anymore. I am glad that WDW is still an option for us, but we will never go during the busy season.

We too have changed our priority over the years - our kids are grown. But, still 3 FP+ in a day is less than we usually use. As far as not going during busy season, that's not an option when your work ties you to the school schedule.

 

[morethananyonex]

There have also been quite a few positive posts from people who have used this new system and were okay with it. Disney still has a ways to go with this thing, but it is not a complete disaster.

Yes there have been, that doesn't negate the number of bad experiences people have had. Experiences that reflect exactly what people said wouldn't happen. Experiences that take away the positives of the FP+ system. If times you can select are limited, FP+ are not flexible, and offsite guests are wasting time at the kiosks, I would call that a failure in the MK FP+ only rollout.

I didn't call it a complete disaster, only a mistake. As far as this "test stage" has gone, I feel that is very much true.

 

[SharonS]

One of the things that bothers me the most is that if you go to guest relations and complain about the new system, they try to negate what you say. They also continue to use the 'testing' excuse and tell you that you can opt out of FP+. As many others have stated, standby by times have increased and it IS a direct result of FP+. Disney continues to try and tell you that it is simply a busy day in the park. I was there in Oct and early Dec and experienced the longer stand by lines than normal for that time of year.

I wouldn't have an issue with FP+ and only getting 3 FPs if it weren't having such a major negative impact on stand by. During the times of year I go, the worst stand by for HM was about 30 minutes. Now, when I went in December, those waits were 45-50 minutes at 7 PM. By then, HM was almost alway a walk on or 5-10 minute wait!

 

[MelissathePooh]

We are leaving today and do not like FP+ one bit. We are AP holders and stayed at ASMo over the weekend. They told us to link our AP's to our bands so we did and were able to book our passes ahead of time.

We tried to change our times via the app because we were running late and we only able to change all 3 at a time. Could not change fps individually. The app was incredibly slow and crashed our phone a couple of times.

Because our AP's were on the band - we were told we could not get our AP discount on some merchandise... We had no ticket and the CM would not believe our "story" that our AP's were on our bands. A not so helpful fp + kiosk told us we shouldn't have ever linked them. WTH??? It was the only way to reserve any fp+ ahead of time vs wait at AK or MK in the ridiculous kiosk lines - that were packed everywhere all day.

The return lines for fp+ were 20 - 30 minutes for all that we did. Standby lines were insane. Only being able to have 3 passes stunk. We had to tell the kids no to several things because we would have missed what we had scheduled and/or the standby was an hour long. Again the app would not let us change anything individually (the option was listed, but wouldn't work).

We have 2 DVC trips scheduled this year. They are supposed to be sending bands to AP holders and we can link our rooms to those bands, but overall I am very unhappy with the new system. We did not go to Studios or Epcot because it was a short weekend trip and the kids wanted to do Wilderness Explorers and Sorcerers so we got a full - in depth view of how its working in AK and MK and it stinks!

Oh - they haven't even changed the guide maps over in MK - they still show the old system with attractions and fp machines... We asked a CM about it and she laughed and said "oh yes, we're working to have them all changed over in a couple of weeks". Almost every CM we asked a question to about the whole thing was indifferent to smug telling us we just shouldn't have ever linked or AP's or the app should work...

I hate what this is going to do to day guests, off site, FL residents... I was so stressed out yesterday trying to keep up with our times it was miserable.

 

[mom2rtk]

Which was also a frustrating aspect of planning FP+. The system isn't transparent enough. I always felt like the system was offering me things that it wanted me to have rather than simply giving me a system to choose what I need. The return window options were cumbersome.

That was a concern of mine from the get go. And it saddens me to see it now play out.