I am beginning to lose hope...

[Planogirl]

To me Mission Space is awful. I disliked pushing a button and feeling so bleh after getting off the ride. I did adore its predecessor even though it needed to be refurbished so I see that change as a loss.

Test Track is about the same and Spaceship Earth is a bit worse. The downward spiral doesn't do it for me partially because they got rid of the Dutch newscaster. Yes, I am half Dutch and now I just wonder why Disney keeps getting rid of countries that I "come from". Norway is pretty much gone to me.

The smaller rides in Mexico, the Land and the Living Seas are fine for what they are but I wouldn't go out of the way to ride them.

Imagination is horrible even with a wonderful character such as Figment and even though I still like Universe of Energy it is outdated. That leaves Soarin'. As previously mentioned the rumor is that Soarin' will be redone in some way. If that happens good but it hasn't yet.

To me this is just pathetic. Epcot was truly incredible at one time and now it's just "eh". I hope that it will be built back into an incredible place.

 

[Laketravis]

To me Mission Space is awful. I disliked pushing a button and feeling so bleh after getting off the ride. I did adore its predecessor even though it needed to be refurbished so I see that change as a loss.

Test Track is about the same and Spaceship Earth is a bit worse. The downward spiral doesn't do it for me partially because they got rid of the Dutch newscaster. Yes, I am half Dutch and now I just wonder why Disney keeps getting rid of countries that I "come from". Norway is pretty much gone to me.

The smaller rides in Mexico, the Land and the Living Seas are fine for what they are but I wouldn't go out of the way to ride them.

Imagination is horrible even with a wonderful character such as Figment and even though I still like Universe of Energy it is outdated. That leave Soarin'. As previously mentioned the rumor is that Soarin' will be redone in some way. If that happens good but it hasn't yet.

To me this is just pathetic. Epcot was truly incredible at one time and now it's just "eh".

WHAT???? No love for Captain EO??????

 

[Planogirl]

WHAT???? No love for Captain EO??????

I try to forget that one. Thanks for reminding me.

In that vein there is also that silly movie in The Land. In fairness the country movies are good though.

 

[flicx]

WHAT???? No love for Captain EO??????

You know had they just put EO in for one year and had something new after that time it would have been alright. Instead it seems like a permanent attraction. Rumor is Disney has a "new" attraction ready to replace EO, something about shrinking the audience is all I heard.

 

[Cormoran]

Maybe Disney is racial profiling against the Dutch! Please don't take offense, I agree with you. The Norway pavilion should have been left alone.

 

[Planogirl]

I

Maybe Disney is racial profiling against the Dutch! Please don't take offense, I agree with you. The Norway pavilion should have been left alone.

I've whined way too much about that and I'm stopping. (Really!) But when someone talks about all of the updates and improvements at Epcot I just have to run through the attractions and try to find where that has happened. I don't see much of it personally.

 

[Csaks]

I continue to be amused that there are people who have convinced themselves that there are rides that always had 5-10 minute waits before FP+ that always have waits of 45-60 minutes now.


In other words, the wait times today for those attractions are pretty much the same as they were on the same corresponding day at the same time 2 years ago, before FP+ was in place. Now, maybe TP has overestimated the crowd level for today, and it will turn out that today is actually lower than a crowd level 6. But, the broader point remains. Wait times for some attractions are undeniably longer on average than they used to be. But, the differences are not as great or as constant as some people would have us believe.

I'm going on the times we have gone trip to trip, usually the same time of year and in moderate season I guess. Never have we experienced a wait for POTC more than 20 minutes, yes you'll get those blips if it shut down for a time but in general a wait time I can live with. I don't think I would have any problems with FP+ if they had stuck too the rides that historically had them. Adding FP+ to rides that have never had a reason for it, that then increases the Stand by time because rookies FP+ it thinking they need to. Just not sure why they have created line where there generally was none before, in our experiences.

Really and imho there are now 5 subsets of visitors, those who prefer the new system and like or love it , those who care not, those who don't like it, and those like us who will be going to Disney less because of it because we really really really don't like it(=hate). Only time will tell if D loses more or not as a result and that time will definitely be more than a year or 2.
For us we tried fp+ for the first time in Sept/Oct and for a myriad of reasons we didn't like it. As a result of that and info from posters on these boards we went back and tried Universal for the first time in over 10 years. We loved Universal. As a result of that our 12 day trip for this coming May has changed dramatically. We're now only doing 2 Disney days(and those days are only because we promised newbie friends we'd "show them around") and then off property including 4 nights at Loews Portofino. This is the first time in years that we didn't do at least 4+ park days(and usually 6 or 7) and for us that is directly related to fp+
Im simply not willing to spend three times as much time in the parks to do what we could do before in one third of the time. For us and our touring style that is what it would take. I don't want to have to "adjust" to fp+ because I simply don't like it and so we will choose other destinations in the future. Which is why we wont do Disney as often as we have in the past.
Perhaps Disney will be filled with those from the former group. Perhaps there will be tons of new visitors who love fp+so much that they will come more often and that will more than make up for those who will do what we are doing.
I've come to the conclusion that liking/disliking fp+ is a personal thing and it doesn't really matter what camp you fall into because D is going to do what suits D and what suits D will depend on their bottom line, none of which can be judged for a number of years until they see how much they lose, if anything from repeat guests who spend either less time in their parks or don't come back at all. Honestly I think Im probably in the minority in that I don't expect many who would choose not to go because of fp+ (which we would do because we really found it didn't work for us). I do think though that there will be significant numbers that will spend less time in the parks/resorts because of it. Perhaps we should put this thread into a canister and check back in 5-7 years when the answer may be more apparent

What I'm reading on various boards is that long time repeat visitors are now deciding not to return for various reasons, one of them FP+. Universal for us was like our first trips at WDW in the early 2000's. Carefree and on a whim.

 

[goofyernmost]

Ahhh. But actually there is. Both sides of this debate agree that riding headliners multiple times has been restricted under the new system. "Haters" shout this at every opportunity. "Lovers" espouse the virtues of spreading out the finite capacity among a wider audience. Either way, if you typically ride TSMM 4 times each vacation, Space Mountain 6 times, RNR 5 times, etc., you are going to need more days to do it. You cannot ride the same number of rides in the same number of days unless you attack the parks in exactly the opposite way that Disney wants you to. See Will Austin's post above. Disney wants you to use your pre-booked FPs by having more character breakfasts and entering the parks at 10:30. You are less stressed and you have spent more money. That is the "beauty" of the system, but it absolutely means that if your goal is to ride 80 rides, you will need more days in the parks to do so. Of course, if you would now be content with 65 rides and 3 leisurely mornings, you could keep your number of days the same.

Well if someone is willing to pay out that kind of cash just to ride a theme park ride, more then once... well, there is nothing that I can do to help them.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I just made my FP+ reservations for my upcoming trip. Epcot is my favorite park but not the rest of my family's so we have strained relations about going there for 3 days just so I could get my Soarin' and TT fix. How many times can the family handle SE? Once in a lifetime is fine for Captain EO.

We've always gone during Peak Season so we're used to waiting but if everything is an hour and you have a 9, 10, 11 FP+ you can't fit anything in between.

I know the FP+ lovers hate to hear it but the SB lines are longer as more capacity goes to FP over SB. We were used to walking straight on TSMM first thing in the morning, but with FP+ starting right at opening the is now a wait at RD.

 

[lauradis]

OP im sorry your annoyed I really feel your pain. I loved the freedom of old fp, except tm.

Disney spoiled us with old fast passes and handicap skip all the lines passes. (mother to a child that is completely disabled and truly cant walk/stand for long.)

Every amusement park I have ever been too, besides Disney has ride lines, unless you pay for an up charge to get one per ride front of the line passes.

Disney has been over generous for years and now that they are doing fp+ which IMHO is still nicer then paying for line jumping. We are all pissed off over it.

I wish Disney would have gone to a onsite/ dvc/annual pass only pay option and everyone else stands in line like every other amusement park.

But then I'm sure Walt would be roll in his grave over that too.

Dis board its time to get over it Disney will do what they darn well please and we have two options put up with it or don't go.

 

[WillAustin]

Dis board its time to get over it Disney will do what they darn well please and we have two options put up with it or don't go.

Or we can still dislike it while figuring out how to best take advantage of the new system.

 

[cakebaker]

Or we can still dislike it while figuring out how to best take advantage of the new system.

You definitely do not have to like it to learn how to use it best for your family. I learned this with paper fp.

 

[lauradis]

Or we can still dislike it while figuring out how to best take advantage of the new system.

I didnt mean that the disboard wouldnt find all the advantage besides being snarky and rude to each other that is what we do.

 

[lauradis]

You definitely do not have to like it to learn how to use it best for your family. I learned this with paper fp.

Yep tm paper fast passes annoyed my husband to no end. what do you mean We have to get to the park by what time ugh whine whine. lol

 

[WillAustin]

I didnt mean that the disboard wouldnt find all the advantage besides being snarky and rude to each other that is what we do.

I think your post came across as saying the time for complaining has passed. I would disagree.

EDIT: Our family lost a lot of ability to do what we enjoyed in the transition to FP+.

 

[lauradis]

I think your post came across as saying the time for complaining has passed. I would disagree.

EDIT: Our family lost a lot of ability to do what we enjoyed in the transition to FP+.

that's what I meant Disney will do what Disney wants as long as they are still making money, do you really think the Disney corp cares about you, personally.

what we feel like we have lost over the new system, if you do your wrong. there will always be people going to feed the Disney corp machine money.

Its time to gather our info, work it to the best, it will never go back to old system. period and we must except it or stop going.

 

[WillAustin]

there will always be people going to feed the Disney corp machine money.

That's why I own Disney stock.

Its time to gather our info, work it to the best, it will never go back to old system. period and we must except it or stop going.

Or just do it in a different way than before that works for us. We will be spending less overall time in the parks than we did before.

 

[lauradis]

I think your post came across as saying the time for complaining has passed. I would disagree.

EDIT: Our family lost a lot of ability to do what we enjoyed in the transition to FP+.

oh and me too. I lost the time where I didn't have to plan ADR 180 in advance and the food wasn't chain style at most places, I miss a lot of things from Disney past. I can also remember pre paper fast passes and waiting in line, goofing off with my grandparents while waiting, singing Disney songs in line, etc etc.

Basically as a young adult I could just show up at Disney and not plan a thing and still have fun. I refuse to suck on lemons. I will make lemonade, every time.

 

[lauradis]

That's why I own Disney stock.


Or just do it in a different way than before that works for us. We will be spending less overall time in the parks than we did before.

worst kicker in the behind is I have a son that really cant do amusement parks without front of the line passes. Walking and standing kills him. He was born with missing bones and cartilage. We always did fund raisers for his group home to go to Disney every couple of years. Now Disney has made it almost impossible for his group to go and be well.

 

[Planogirl]

Yep tm paper fast passes annoyed my husband to no end. what do you mean We have to get to the park by what time ugh whine whine. lol

I can't figure out how to tour MK the right way without showing up at rope drop. That one is giving me trouble and considering that MK is supposed to open at 8 AM (7 AM our time), I'm not exactly thrilled.