I know I'm late to the game...

[Sargeant Tibbs]

Plan a trip to Disneyland instead! They still use the traditional Fastpass system! The expansions at California Adventure are finally done and such a joy! Staying off property there can be far closer to the parks than almost all the on-property locations at Disney World. No DDP, and food quality, but not variety, is much better. It is "Walt's Park" and during much of the year has far more tolerable weather than is found in Florida.

Grab a room at the Candy Cane Inn for a nice continental breakfast each morning and a dedicated shuttle or quick 10 minute walk to the park. You can also stay at the Howard Johnson's which was designed by the same architect as the Disneyland Hotel, and has a lot of the same feel. The HoJo water park includes water slides enjoyable by all, even the non-swimmer thanks to their innovative design, and an amazing view into Tomorrowland along with a wonderful tot splash spot. At HoJo you can watch the fireworks from the hot tub or from a theme park view room. They also have family suites in a pirate theme with two bathrooms, King Sized bed and bunks!

Your post really sold me on DL and got me thinking about actually doing it. I just sat here with my fiancee hashing out the rough details of a road trip out west. I've only been to Disneyland once. Thanks!

 

[Mickey&Mouse]

That's your advice? To "help me accept the change"? Just lower your expectations? That's sad. For you I mean.

The flip side of lowering expectations is having high expectations. For people that don’t like the extent of pre-planning necessary these days, and prefer the spontaneity of previous pre-FP+ trips, having higher expectations going forward seems unwise, unrealistic, and setting yourself up for disappointment. With that said, I’m personally lowering my expectations for our upcoming trip due to the loss of the clean slate. With so many variables to consider like: weather, family issues, ride breakdowns, unpredictable crowds, unexpected in-the-moment events, etc, the importance of an open day from start to finish cannot be overstated. Now, with the loss of a truly open and unscheduled day, we need to temper our expectations. It does not mean we will have a miserable time. It just means we are being realistic going forward.

As far as helping someone accept the change….well, I’m in the same boat of needing to accept the change. We love WDW and are planning a May trip. I’m not a fan of the new system for all the pre-planning involved, but perhaps the in-park experience will be better. I won’t know until we’re there. Perhaps experiencing it firsthand will make it easier to accept the change.

 

[tcherjen]

I am the minority of course. We go during a busy time-Spring break. The FP+ system has enabled me to be able to plan and be able to ride the rides.
Back in the day before FP or FP+ days were spent standing in line and riding a few rides. I did not like running to get fast passes. I do like scheduling it from home. Usually I make our FP+ reservations for later in the evening. This way we can enjoy a park in the morning and do a different park at night.

 

[Cormoran]

I think it is sad that the best advice that can be given is to lower your expectations. True, but sad.

On trips prior to FP+, my family was able to go on 25- 30 attractions in MK. I think on our trip last April, we were down to 15 rides. This is a lot less for us and it was disappointing. I advise people to lower their expectations because it realistic. If your family goes to WDW to ride attractions, expect to ride a lot less with FP+.

 

[DizDaD7]

I'm probably in the minority here, but I kinda like doing extensive work & pre planning and stuff....Now don't get me wrong, I do like the old FP system, and until this upcoming trip, the jury is still out to see which is better.

Before FP+ I'd be on the boards daily up until Day1, I'd be setting up ADR's 6 months in advance, securing any other excursions or such..So in essence, we basically knew what parks we were going to, based upon those things. Even though Ohana's wasn't in a park, we'd generally choose MK for that day, etc. etc.

FP+ just alters this a little....The way we did it last Nov. was kinda crazy, and it seemed like we were walking around the park back n forth, (which didn't seem like we were getting a lot accomplished) So Now I'll choose wisely with times &/or rides so things flow a little more easily.
I really don't think lowering expecatations is realistic for us, because no matter what , We're always going to have a great time..

The one thing I don't enjoy about actually having a FP+ for some rides is, the fact that you miss some of the queue line entertainment, ( which to me is also part of the ride experience)

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

Your post really sold me on DL and got me thinking about actually doing it. I just sat here with my fiancee hashing out the rough details of a road trip out west. I've only been to Disneyland once. Thanks!

We love Disneyland and if you enjoy the legacy fastpass system you will be a very happy camper!

 

[mom2rtk]

We love Disneyland and if you enjoy the legacy fastpass system you will be a very happy camper!

....... for now.

Don't wait too long to plan that trip.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

The only help that I can offer is this - if possible, limit your trips to WDW to times of the year with low crowds. That makes it possible to ride any ride that you wish without booking your FP+ days or weeks in advance. The only thing that you will be locked out of is the Ana & Elsa M&G.

 

[Cormoran]

The only help that I can offer is this - if possible, limit your trips to WDW to times of the year with low crowds. That makes it possible to ride any ride that you wish without booking your FP+ days or weeks in advance. The only thing that you will be locked out of is the Ana & Elsa M&G.

I agree with your advice, but people who went this parst year during historically low crowd times, experienced large crowds. I think the only low crowd time is at the end of August and September wwhen WDW seems hotter than the face of the sun.

 

[Mikie]

Totally with you on this. I'm a planner, but the level of planning for the new system is....well, not enjoyable. Oh well. I'll reserve final judgement for May when we actually get to use it, but the planning- Holy Cow!!

Even though I like to plan, I got a bit anxious about the minutia during the planning phase. No one has to plan that much, but because it's available, and I know there are sites lke this where WDW experts have it down to a science (for the best day, leave your room at 7:21 am, take this type of transportation, wait at the far right tapstile, walk briskly directly to this ride. . . ) and Disney now makes it possible with ADRs, FP+, hard ticket events I felt compelled to over-plan and got caught up.

My opinion of FP+ started optimistic, dipped during my over-planning phase, and went up again in the parks. My plans worked out great and strategically placed FPs were definitely a big part of it.

Re:Low crowds - one acquaintance us there now now and swears she's waited less than 15 minutes for everything. . .

 

[MrInfinity]

I advise people to lower their expectations because it realistic. If your family goes to WDW to ride attractions, expect to ride a lot less with FP+.

You know, blanket statements like this can cause these discussions to go downhill. You advise people to lower their expectations because it is realistic. This goes beyond sharing your opinion, to saying that what you are suggesting is the realistic thing anyone should expect. Why should they expect what you saw and not what I saw? I rode just as much as always, and I go to ride attractions too. Not doubting what you experienced, but one should maybe not conclude that is realistic in general when several people have expressed opinions in to the contrary.

My opinion of FP+ started optimistic, dipped during my over-planning phase, and went up again in the parks. My plans worked out great and strategically placed FPs were definitely a big part of it.

Ditto! I was so put off reading the boards in advance I thought it would be awful. Then I went, and it was really a pretty cool system. I had no complaints. Things worked as expected, and we rode everything we wanted. (knock on wood!) It's just a ride queue system and didn't change much in the big picture, tho it did make touring WDW in general a little more relaxed for us.

 

[minnie mum]

I agree with those posters who say lower your expectations. Especially if you were a fan of legacy FP and had a commando touring style like we did. And its not that I hate a lot of advance planning. I'm a planner by nature. I select my park days as soon as the calendars come out. Make my ADRs right at 180 days. Make touring plans for every day. I've always done this. But FP+ resulted in a very different park experience for us when we were there last week. We weren't able to get nearly as much accomplished on any given day as we had before. Some people are OK with this. I am not.

Fortunately we have a DD who is moving to the left coast this summer. So we will be flying cross country and visiting DLR for the next few years instead. I'll miss WDW though. The old WDW. It saddens me that we can't enjoy it as much as we did for all those years.

 

[cakebaker]

Ditto! I was so put off reading the boards in advance I thought it would be awful. Then I went, and it was really a pretty cool system.

Same here- once we actually tried it, we found it worked quite well. I was sure I would hate it.

Some of it may have to do with when one actually went and tried it. I suspect those many who visited a year ago or more, have a very different perspective than many people who visited later in the year.

That said, I would never assume that my experience was anyone else's reality. I know there are ways to work around FP+ to make it more effective. I don't think it's a given you're going to have a terrible time if you don't lower expectations. There is one sure bet- and that is, if your intent is to ride headliners many times over again, you are going to have to use rope drop, late nights, FP+ and standby lines to accomplish that. You are definitely limited in your ability to ride over and over and over again. So if that is your expectation, you are probably going to be disappointed. I don't think however, that is what a lot of people are looking for.

Which is exactly why one should not tell people to lower their expectations. When you don't know what their expectations are to start with, you have no idea if they should be lowered or raised. Had the OP come in saying " I want to ride SDMT 10 times on my 1 day in the parks", I'd tell them to lower that expectation. But they didn't.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If you liked riding a lot of rides, then it's wise to lower your expectations, I agree. I don't think that is being negative, it is just the way it is, and actually, lowering your expectations can help you be pleasantly surprised when things go better than you thought. It is a ride rationing system.

The other thing in terms of expectations is to be ok with not riding a favorite if a day gets wiped out for whatever reason. Because of the loss of the clean slate, it's not that easy to reschedule things.

As long as you are ok with doing more preplanning and then you are flexible once you are there if things go sideways on a particular day (illness, weather, etc), then you should be good!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Put me in the camp that will be doing less visits to WDW as long as this system is in place. But here are a few things we tried:
1. Avoid extended family trips, unless you KNOW everyone likes following a schedule, and are willing to pay if they last-minute opt out of an ADR.
2. Oddly enough, consider an AP combined with: multiple short stays (vs. 1 long stay), at least one less $ off site night (see below), max your FP's by booking arrival/departure day FP's.
3. Now is a great time to widen your Florida visits:
a.) Great time to visit US. the new Harry Potter area will remind you how creative WDW inagineers used to be. Also Us FotLA works how FP+ should have worked. It doesn't require any thought or planning.
b.) Great time to go visit all of FL. the state has tons of amazing opportunities! St.Augustine, Everglades, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale to name just a few options.(see below)
4. Maximize the value of your shorter onsite stays by staying at least one night offsite. Almost everything costs less offsite: food, hotel. Florida has some amazing hotels! Stay on a beach! Get breakfast included!
5. Broadening our options meant saving quite a bit on airfare!
6. It still pays to always zig when the crowd zags. Most folks arrive at RD/morning, and leave once their FP are done, or at the latest after the fireworks. Think about it! But Shhh! or the Rope Drop crowd will start taking naps. The common wisdom shared on the DIS is to keep everyone (especially kids) on their 'regular' schedule. We have always found the opposite to be true- get out of the normal routine as much as your tolerance allows. In our family, the kids are usually the most flexible. It is the adults that limit flexibility.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

On trips prior to FP+, my family was able to go on 25- 30 attractions in MK. I think on our trip last April, we were down to 15 rides. This is a lot less for us and it was disappointing. I advise people to lower their expectations because it realistic. If your family goes to WDW to ride attractions, expect to ride a lot less with FP+.

I am genuinely curious.

The park has about 23 rides and 12 or so non-ride attractions.

What rides were you riding? Were you skipping by choice? With 3 FP, that would be 12 on SB. Just trying to envision what impacted your ability to ride more such as a midday break, arriving late of leaving early, meals, sorcerer's etc...

I think back to when we went on ~Feb 7 last year and we did about 14 rides (could have been more, but brain is foggy and I just counted what I distinctly remembered)...
But it was also cold and rainy, we spent an hour at BOG for dinner, played Sorceror's for about an hour, and had a larger group with many small kids that tends to slow things down when getting from Point A to Point B.


So I am curious what rides you did and what else you did that day relative to the park hours.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I am genuinely curious.

The park has about 23 rides and 12 or so non-ride attractions.

What rides were you riding? Were you skipping by choice? With 3 FP, that would be 12 on SB. Just trying to envision what impacted your ability to ride more such as a midday break, arriving late of leaving early, meals, sorcerer's etc...

I think back to when we went on ~Feb 7 last year and we did about 14 rides (could have been more, but brain is foggy and I just counted what I distinctly remembered)...
But it was also cold and rainy, we spent an hour at BOG for dinner, played Sorceror's for about an hour, and had a larger group with many small kids that tends to slow things down when getting from Point A to Point B.

So I am curious what rides you did and what else you did that day relative to the park hours.

I'm not that poster but in MK, we probably could do about that before FP+. One famous trip, I rode BTMRR 14 times in a row late one night, then stopped counting as a re-rode it even more. (but that trip was special.)

For us, upping our count of e-rides usually equates to riding them back to back whenever crowds are low.

When crowds are higher, we focus more on short-line attractions like the carrousel, Philarmagic, and the TTA. If we see long lines for those we may opt to go swimming.

New FP+ has meant no e-ride re-rides, limited tier two (Buzz), and even having to wait to ride attractions that previously were near walk-ons. Last April we were flabbergasted to see a 20minute wait for Figment! And the lines for Space Ship Earth were mind-blowing. I just won't wait 45minutes for SE!

April last year was about the worst. The situation has improved since then. Last April, everyone was limited to 3FP, offsite guests could only use kiosks, and even onsite guest modifications were limited to kiosks. I was going to change one of ours, but saw the kiosk line was at least 40min! Add to that, no e-ride options. OH, and sky high hotel room rates!

 

[Cormoran]

You know, blanket statements like this can cause these discussions to go downhill. You advise people to lower their expectations because it is realistic. This goes beyond sharing your opinion, to saying that what you are suggesting is the realistic thing anyone should expect. Why should they expect what you saw and not what I saw? I rode just as much as always, and I go to ride attractions too. Not doubting what you experienced, but one should maybe not conclude that is realistic in general when several people have expressed opinions in to the contrary.



Ditto! I was so put off reading the boards in advance I thought it would be awful. Then I went, and it was really a pretty cool system. I had no complaints. Things worked as expected, and we rode everything we wanted. (knock on wood!) It's just a ride queue system and didn't change much in the big picture, tho it did make touring WDW in general a little more relaxed for us.

OK I get it, you're allowed to make starements like it'sa a really cool system, but I'm not allowed to make statements like lower your expectations? I'm sorry but this board is about sharing opinions and although you may not agree with me, you do not have the right to tell me what I should and shouldn't post.

 

[Cormoran]

I am genuinely curious.

The park has about 23 rides and 12 or so non-ride attractions.

What rides were you riding? Were you skipping by choice? With 3 FP, that would be 12 on SB. Just trying to envision what impacted your ability to ride more such as a midday break, arriving late of leaving early, meals, sorcerer's etc...

I think back to when we went on ~Feb 7 last year and we did about 14 rides (could have been more, but brain is foggy and I just counted what I distinctly remembered)...
But it was also cold and rainy, we spent an hour at BOG for dinner, played Sorceror's for about an hour, and had a larger group with many small kids that tends to slow things down when getting from Point A to Point B.


So I am curious what rides you did and what else you did that day relative to the park hours.

I don't know which trip you're asking about, but last April the SB lines were longer than on previous trips, and my family will only wait for 20-30 minutes at most, so a lot of rides were skipped because of this: IASW, HM, POTC. On previous trips we rode these multiple times per day. In April 2014 not.

 

[Luckybee]

Ditto! I was so put off reading the boards in advance I thought it would be awful. Then I went, and it was really a pretty cool system. I had no complaints. Things worked as expected, and we rode everything we wanted. (knock on wood!) It's just a ride queue system and didn't change much in the big picture, tho it did make touring WDW in general a little more relaxed for us.

You know, blanket statements like this can cause these discussions to go downhill. You advise people that it is a "pretty cool system"because it is realistic. This goes beyond sharing your opinion, to saying that what you are suggesting is the realistic thing anyone should expect. Why should they expect what you saw and not what I saw? I couldn't ride as much as always, and found the lines to be way too long. Not doubting what you experienced, but one should maybe not conclude that is realistic in general when several people have expressed opinions in to the contrary.

See I fixed it