I guess our easy going, no plans park days might be over

[Jeannie in NJ]

Our last trip was Jan. 2012 so before Fast Pass Plus. We went for 9 days, stayed club level so only made adrs for 3 nights (Citrico's , Coral Reef and 50's Prime time) and 2 breakfast days (GF Cafe and Kona Cafe) for the days we went to AK and Hollywood Studios (as we have never found any counter service meals we like at those parks so we needed a big breakfast that would keep us full till we left those parks and would then wander over to Epcot for a counter service later in the day. Nothing else was planned. We would eat breakfast at the club level and them wander over to the parks around 10. We would then go to the Fast Pass ticket machines and get a fast pass (usually 2 as dh and ds never used their's so dd and I would use their tickets along with ours to get 2 extra fast passes). We were able to always get fast passes for everything, even Soarin and Test Track. None of us cared to ride the Toy Story ride so no problems trying to get a fast pass for it. After we would use those fast passes, we would then get some more. It was so easy, hardly any planning at all. Now it looks like we might have to actually decide how and when to get our fast passes and actually which day to go to which park lol. Oh well, things change.

We did the free dining one year, NEVER AGAIN, I was so stressed trying to get us to each table service for our ADR. The club level was perfect for us and then mostly counter service in the parks.

 

[hiroMYhero]

You don't have to plan ahead if you don't want to.

On our recent visit, while having breakfast in Trattoria at 11:00a, we decided to see what was available in Epcot before CM friend needed to be backstage.

We were able to get Soarin' for 12 noon as well as Nemo and SE.

Later in the week, we were having dessert in the CL lounge at YC (our pixie-dust upgrade) when we decided we would spend some time in DHS the next day before going to Epcot. The Concierge changed out our FPs from Epcot to DHS and we had choices for all DHS rides/attractions.

I did pre-select FPs for our MK day 60-days in advance only because we wanted FoF and Mine Train and switched out our Wishes FP after we were in the park. For us, it was advantageous using FPs whether it was spur of the moment or booking in advance. I'm sure it will suit your park-style.

 

[capegirl]

We just returned from our first trip using FP+. We quickly realized that getting to the ADR's on time, and wrapping them around FP times was very stressful, and I would limit ADR's on future trips. We also did not like the fact that we had to cancel dinning reservations 24 hours prior, I understand why Disney has this policy, but there were days when we really did not feel like eating at a particular restaurant, or being in a certain location, but if we did not show up we would be charged; with a party of 9 it would have been costly. Yes, the easy going days of little planning are quickly fading. I was pretty much attached to my iPhone the whole time, and I was not a happy camper on this vacation, and our family thought our days were too structured. It was definitely a learning expierience for us, and if we ever return, I would not concern myself with FP+, and only use it for major must do attractions. I have to say our favorite FP was for Wishes, I highly recommend it.

 

[anniemae]

We just returned from our first trip using FP+. We quickly realized that getting to the ADR's on time, and wrapping them around FP times was very stressful, and I would limit ADR's on future trips. We also did not like the fact that we had to cancel dinning reservations 24 hours prior, I understand why Disney has this policy, but there were days when we really did not feel like eating at a particular restaurant, or being in a certain location, but if we did not show up we would be charged; with a party of 9 it would have been costly. Yes, the easy going days of little planning are quickly fading. I was pretty much attached to my iPhone the whole time, and I was not a happy camper on this vacation, and our family thought our days were too structured. It was definitely a learning expierience for us, and if we ever return, I would not concern myself with FP+, and only use it for major must do attractions. I have to say our favorite FP was for Wishes, I highly recommend it.

I agree with the bolded soooooooooooo much. We were constantly watching the time, "gotta finish this up to get across the park for our lunch ADR, eat quickly and dash over to XYZ ride for our fp window" kind of thing. There was a day when we had a dinner planned at Coral Reef, well that day we were all kind of tired and cranky and not really hungry but we could not cancel without the penalty since we were within the 24 hr time frame so we went. We all kind of picked at our meals practically falling asleep at the table. Would have been better to head back to the hotel, order a pizza and go swimming, but the cost was too much for our large party to skip it. It is different when you are actually at Disney then when you are planning it from your living room months in advance, all the dinners sound great, but when you are so tired and hot and cranky and trekking through the parks it's different.

I also felt attached to the phone, one time I was on the MDE app the entire spaceship earth ride changing around fp's. I literally missed the whole ride, when I looked up, it was time to get off!

 

[grecorj]

So @Jeannie in NJ you haven't actually visited WDW with the new system but have already judged it to be worse than what you experienced in 2012? Based on what? Other people's opinions? I would suggest some people enjoy the new FP+ system and that maybe it will work out for you once you experience it for yourself. I would also comment that planning park days around ADRs is nothing new.

 

[anniemae]

But in the past, you just did not need to do the level of planning you do now. We used to go in Feb every year and it was totally dead, I have pictures of us on Main St and there are about 20 people. There was literally no body there. Every ride was a walk on. No need for paper fp's, we never used them, not even once. Also no need for dinner reservations. You could either walk into a restaurant and get seated right away, or call that morning to make a priority seating reservation. Even the most popular restaurants had openings if you called that morning, and if you did need to cancel, there was no penalty.

I just think the level of planning is hard for some people to grasp, as it is not very enjoyable for many people. True, many love it, but many do not like to plan out where they will eat 6 months in advance and what rides they will be riding 3 months in advance. You don't have to, but you will miss out on the good rides and restaurants. Some people like to wake up on vacation and "go where the day takes them." That is not really possible anymore at Disney as you will encounter large crowds, huge waits for headline rides and full restaurants. Last summer we were at Brown Derby and it was only 4:00 and people were walking up looking for a table only to be told they were booked solid and they could not wait for a table. You simply have to do a lot of planning ahead of time, and keep on schedule. Last summer when we were there, everyone had their nose in their phone on the app planning, planning, and planning. It's simply the way it is. Some like it, some don't.

 

[Donald - my hero]

this.... or perhaps this ..


Hubby owns a Blackberry which doesn't support the MDE app so we went old school, paper in pocket ... for the few ADR's we had ... we had the BEST time!

 

[agavegirl1]

I am a Disney Commando and I found the timing for FP+ and ADRs as well as the 24 hour cancellation policy to be stressful. We won't be going for a while, but I do intend to make far fewer ADRs as well as space out FP+ more so as to allow for longer standby waits between them.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We went last summer when all this was in place. It was hectic but one of our best trips. Just enjoy yourself. If you miss a FP then oh well. Don't miss the meal though. Don't sweat it. Do it your way and change plans if you have to.

 

[caracarn]

I was worried about the new FP+ system when it was announced and dreading the "structure" it would create. We took our trip over Spring Break in 2014 relatively early in the FP+ process. When we were planning the web site still had bugs and so on top of trying to get comfortable with the new system I was not even sure if we had done it right. We had 8 people in our family and somehow some of our tickets were on one of my accounts and some on another (I had a DVC and a general Disney login. They are now combined per this trip as it got resolved after about 10 hours over two weeks on the phone with many, many Disney tech people) so for me I had a ton of stress even BEFORE we got to the parks. I would be looking at reservations for a ride and see we have 6 even though we had 8 people but when I tried to add the reservation for the other two it said it was already there even though I could not see it. This got resolved just a month before our trip.

Once there however we had the normal daily flow when you suddenly felt like you just wanted to do something else than what we had scheduled for the afternoon. We used the FP app on the phone or at times in our room for the next day and moved things around. It was painless and seamless. I think it was actually more flexible than the old system because once you had the paper ticket you could not go put them back in the machine and say you changed your mind. It tied up your access for at least a few hours. Yes you could go and get something else and just lose those passes but it had its own problems and we lived with them. I found with FP+ this is the same thing. Is it perfect? Of course not. Nothing so immensely complicated and vast could be, but it is not as bad as I think you are worrying it will be.

On the meal ressies, I'm not sure what to tell you because those are definitely a lot less flexible, making it very hard to change the day of. We just made sure we had a lot of conversations with everyone as we planned and checked and triple checked as the months went by that we did not want to make any changes. The only thing you are scheduling is one table service every day and if you are going to packs based on the magic hours, as we normally do (either because they have them or AVOIDING a park because they HAVE them) it means you are pretty comfortable with the park you selected for a given day, even though it is six months out. I do recall 20 years ago being able to walk to any restaurant and get in, but with the dining plan, which removed SOOOOO much stress for me, you just have more people eating. I think when people had not prepaid for meals they'd be tempted to leave the park early and get McDonald's to save money. In our case, especially when the kids were little, I found the Dining Plan the best thing ever. I used to get so upset when my 5 year old would order something, take two bites, and then say they did not like it or were not hungry. I'd lecture about how much it cost me and how we were wasting money, how they should have ordered something smaller etc. Now that I have already paid for it and if they eat, what they eat, and how they eat does not cost me anything else I am so calm about it it sometimes even scares me! The added "inflexibility" has created so my "flexibility" that I had not even thought about that I was amazed. The kids have tried foods they would have never ordered before because the meal would have been too expensive to experiment or they were just nervous. Now some of our favorite memories are when our son tried popcorn shrimp for the first time and found it was his favorite food "EVER!!!" and then wanted the to bring him more like it was a buffet. We had an extra meal and it was the end of our trip so we just ordered him another dinner. Or when our daughter tried prime rib at Cinderella's castle and had the time of her life.

I think it will only feel structured if you go in making it that way in your head. The new system allows a lot of flexibility that the old one did not, like using the app. Sure you can have issues like annie had wasting a ride on redoing the FPs but I think that's pretty rare and really just is dependent on what you allow yourself to do. Would 10 minutes matter on a FP change? Maybe, maybe not. If it's that tight I would pass on the change and enjoy the ride, but that's my way of dealing with it and not what annie chose, so to each his own. Bottom line: psychologist's have said we all hate change. This is what is making you fearful. Flying and airports changed forever after 9/11 and doomsday predections abounded of how it would take forever to travel yet it works just fine. The new FP+ system is the same. Go in with an open mind and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[anniemae]

I was worried about the new FP+ system when it was announced and dreading the "structure" it would create. We took our trip over Spring Break in 2014 relatively early in the FP+ process. When we were planning the web site still had bugs and so on top of trying to get comfortable with the new system I was not even sure if we had done it right. We had 8 people in our family and somehow some of our tickets were on one of my accounts and some on another (I had a DVC and a general Disney login. They are now combined per this trip as it got resolved after about 10 hours over two weeks on the phone with many, many Disney tech people) so for me I had a ton of stress even BEFORE we got to the parks. I would be looking at reservations for a ride and see we have 6 even though we had 8 people but when I tried to add the reservation for the other two it said it was already there even though I could not see it. This got resolved just a month before our trip.

Once there however we had the normal daily flow when you suddenly felt like you just wanted to do something else than what we had scheduled for the afternoon. We used the FP app on the phone or at times in our room for the next day and moved things around. It was painless and seamless. I think it was actually more flexible than the old system because once you had the paper ticket you could not go put them back in the machine and say you changed your mind. It tied up your access for at least a few hours. Yes you could go and get something else and just lose those passes but it had its own problems and we lived with them. I found with FP+ this is the same thing. Is it perfect? Of course not. Nothing so immensely complicated and vast could be, but it is not as bad as I think you are worrying it will be.

On the meal ressies, I'm not sure what to tell you because those are definitely a lot less flexible, making it very hard to change the day of. We just made sure we had a lot of conversations with everyone as we planned and checked and triple checked as the months went by that we did not want to make any changes. The only thing you are scheduling is one table service every day and if you are going to packs based on the magic hours, as we normally do (either because they have them or AVOIDING a park because they HAVE them) it means you are pretty comfortable with the park you selected for a given day, even though it is six months out. I do recall 20 years ago being able to walk to any restaurant and get in, but with the dining plan, which removed SOOOOO much stress for me, you just have more people eating. I think when people had not prepaid for meals they'd be tempted to leave the park early and get McDonald's to save money. In our case, especially when the kids were little, I found the Dining Plan the best thing ever. I used to get so upset when my 5 year old would order something, take two bites, and then say they did not like it or were not hungry. I'd lecture about how much it cost me and how we were wasting money, how they should have ordered something smaller etc. Now that I have already paid for it and if they eat, what they eat, and how they eat does not cost me anything else I am so calm about it it sometimes even scares me! The added "inflexibility" has created so my "flexibility" that I had not even thought about that I was amazed. The kids have tried foods they would have never ordered before because the meal would have been too expensive to experiment or they were just nervous. Now some of our favorite memories are when our son tried popcorn shrimp for the first time and found it was his favorite food "EVER!!!" and then wanted the to bring him more like it was a buffet. We had an extra meal and it was the end of our trip so we just ordered him another dinner. Or when our daughter tried prime rib at Cinderella's castle and had the time of her life.

I think it will only feel structured if you go in making it that way in your head. The new system allows a lot of flexibility that the old one did not, like using the app. Sure you can have issues like annie had wasting a ride on redoing the FPs but I think that's pretty rare and really just is dependent on what you allow yourself to do. Would 10 minutes matter on a FP change? Maybe, maybe not. If it's that tight I would pass on the change and enjoy the ride, but that's my way of dealing with it and not what annie chose, so to each his own. Bottom line: psychologist's have said we all hate change. This is what is making you fearful. Flying and airports changed forever after 9/11 and doomsday predections abounded of how it would take forever to travel yet it works just fine. The new FP+ system is the same. Go in with an open mind and I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

It was actually funny and became a joke with my family, I literally spent the entire ride with my nose in the phone. I pushed the wrong button and had to start again etc. We had to shuffle things around for some reason, I can't remember why, but it had to be done. We still enjoy Disney, but have just learned to roll with it and maybe not do so many ADR's next time.

 

[momof2n2]

It is a huge shift in planning, I think, for many of us. I'm glad so many folks report back here what does and does not work for them so I can compare their experiences to my family's goals for vacation. I'm hopeful we will develop new strategies! I'm sad to think that may include fewer ADRs. But I guess DH will be glad it costs less money??

 

[KEVD]

We stay off site in a condo. (We'd stay at an on site villa if we could afford it). Anyway staying at lodging that includes a full kitchen allows for so much flexibility with meals. On our last 7 day trip I think we only booked five ADRs in total. As much as we love the TS restaurants in WDW, limiting them to 5 or less in a week minimizes the stress and doesn't hurt as much in the wallet!

 

[Terapin]

I really wished the dining cancellation window was shorter, like 3-4 hours. It would give others the chance to book same day, and be more reasonable for those wanting to plan. Sometimes plans change, sometime illness happens.

 

[LuvGoofy6]

I'm a planner and wasn't so worried about our December trip because I had planned to not get park hopper~ that way we would be in the same park for our FP's and our ADR's. However, when free dining came out and park hopper was added I began to worry a little. What if we decide we want to go to another park because we can but then can't because we made ADR's for that park at 6:30. I think I will be making our dinner ADR's earlier because then we can eat and leave if we want to. And try to get our FP's for before our reservations.

 

[KEVD]

I really wished the dining cancellation window was shorter, like 3-4 hours. It would give others the chance to book same day, and be more reasonable for those wanting to plan. Sometimes plans change, sometime illness happens.

Totally agree! Especially at the high demand restaurants... cancelled ADRs would get scooped up in a heartbeat or filled in by walk-ins. One of the reasons we don't book many ADRs is because of the strict cancellation policy. So in our case WDW is actually losing business because if it.

 

[capegirl]

Totally agree! Especially at the high demand restaurants... cancelled ADRs would get scooped up in a heartbeat or filled in by walk-ins. One of the reasons we don't book many ADRs is because of the strict cancellation policy. So in our case WDW is actually losing business because if it.

Exactly what I was thinking. We could'nt be the only ones cutting back on ADR's because of this policy, so it will be interesting to see how this will play out in the future. Making ADR's months prior to your trip, and then adding FP+ reservations to the mix at 60/30 days out was a challenge, and then to know that we were locked in to ADR's unless we cancelled the day before or pay the penalty, was stress that I did not need on our vacation. I figure something's gotta give, and for us it will be ADR's. Don't think we'll ever do the TS dinning plan again either. I also was not a fan of FP+ with regards to planning water park days. It used to be easy to flip a water park day with a park day if the weather was bad... now you have to consider FP+. We loved the magic bands, but there are issues that Disney needs to address.

 

[kaybird]

Have been on multiple "easy" trips over the past 2 years! Love FP+ and the ability to change it. Went over NYE and had a great time with a completely spontaneous trip. Haven't had any trouble with ADR overlap, but I tend to book where I think we will likely be anyway. Hope you have a wonderful trip!!!

 

[lauradis]

We just returned from our first trip using FP+. We quickly realized that getting to the ADR's on time, and wrapping them around FP times was very stressful, and I would limit ADR's on future trips. We also did not like the fact that we had to cancel dinning reservations 24 hours prior, I understand why Disney has this policy, but there were days when we really did not feel like eating at a particular restaurant, or being in a certain location, but if we did not show up we would be charged; with a party of 9 it would have been costly. Yes, the easy going days of little planning are quickly fading. I was pretty much attached to my iPhone the whole time, and I was not a happy camper on this vacation, and our family thought our days were too structured. It was definitely a learning expierience for us, and if we ever return, I would not concern myself with FP+, and only use it for major must do attractions. I have to say our favorite FP was for Wishes, I highly recommend it.

Last full trip was October 2013 and we never felt attached to our Iphones we did play with them in line and did the usual FB status post.

I do see where ADR and fp+ timing can be a pain.

Im ex commando and learning how to take things slow so fp+ is helping me to plan, but at a slower pace.