I'm Done!!! Too Many Changes We Don't Like

[lugnut33]

We are going over Thanksgiving and that will be our family's time to test out the new system. I already know going into it that the only real thing that has been a problem for people who have actually gone is the FP+ system, and even that hasn't been horrible for most people. I know the parks will be busy, so we are relying on FP+ to ride the headliners in each park during our trip. As long as that doesn't screw up we'll be OK. Of course, now we will only have one time to be able to ride Test Track, RnR, SM, BTMRR, Splash, and we better not miss our times or we will have zero rides on those attractions.

The one other thing that will be touchy is converting our AP vouchers that I have already linked. I'm expecting a dirty look from the CM who has to convert those.

Otherwise I have heard the bands work great for everything.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I will admit concern and frustration over the new FastPass+ rollout and what that means to regular FP. I have not been to Disney since testing started, and I'm not sure if I"m ready to give up on Disney, though.

As for the GAC/DAS, we never had to use those, and we've never canceled an ADR (or if we did, we didn't have a problem with the 24 hour notice). . I don't know enough about the GAC/DAS change, but I see no real issue with the reservation cancellation fee.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Seriously, guys, no matter how bad the new FP system is arranged (once it is finally all arranged) it's still better than any average day at a regular amusement park. On a recent trip to Cedar Point my friends stood in line over 2 hours for a coaster that's 10+ years old, and they were happy for the privilege to do so. As for the ADRs, eh so what? I know this may come as a shock to many, but if you want to ensure yourself a table at a good restaurant anywhere outside of Disney, you have to make reservations ahead of time. And its generally looked down upon to fail to show for those reservations. As to the crowds, I can't comment on anything that may have happened recently, but DH and I were there in late June (traditionally high season). We were worried that the crowds would be more than we would like as we normally travel during low season. The crowds were fine; more than we were used to, but didn't interfere with our touring at all.

So if you want to be all "Disney's blue sky is falling", that's fine with me. As others have said, one less person in line in front of me.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

See ya. One less person in the crowd I'll have to deal with.

If THESE are the reasons that you won't visit Disney World, then I think your have your vacationing priorities wrong to being with.

Pointless thread.

Ethan

If it's pointless why did you respond?

Oh wait, YOUR priorities are the only correct ones?

I am not done, but I am going a lot less. Disney seems to think that travelers who can't plan months in advance aren't valuable. The Tragic Band really was not fun last week, my FP+ selections disappeared twice so I don't see the advantage of booking them if they aren't going to hang around long enough to use them. Lines to get in Epcot with the "new fancy" technology took 20 to 30 minutes at 10:30 AM

I will be back, but I won't be back near as often!

I don't agree with the "its better then a local amusement" park excuse. It's Disney you are paying $100 a day, it better be better. It's like "well as long as it doesn't sink to the lowest possible option we can make excuses. "

Overall over the last few years the trend is Prices go up. They add rooms and we get.. copies of rides from other parks. Or more chances to stand in line to see characters. Nothing that really increased the capacity, nothing really new etc....

Maybe if they do actually get Avatarland open that will be something new and exciting, but spending millions on FP+ didn't do much to enhance my experience.

 

[Planogirl]

Another thing to factor in is, of those 26 people who never say anything, how many of them are basing their unhappiness on something they've actually experienced vs. something that they think they probably might not like because a few other people told them that they didn't like it. And how does a company fix something if the bulk of the complaints are coming from people who haven't tried it yet?

That's kind of my conundrum here. Of the people who are vehemently protesting against all things FP+, the majority of them have yet to try it. Of the people who have actually tried it, there seem to be a lot of positive reports. There are negative experiences too, of course, but no more or less than anything else on the DIS -- restaurants, merchandise, ride closures, crowds, etc.

Dozens of people are complaining about something they've yet to experience and basing those complaints on the complaints of other people who they have never met, whose touring / vacationing styles may or may not be similar and have also not experienced it. How does a company "fix" that? How do you fix something that "might" happen?

Not to mention that, for some, no matter what Disney says or does, it won't be enough. They've made their minds up, and Disney will never make it right. Only if Disney goes back to the person's comfort zone will it (maybe) calm them down. And even then, they'll have a bit of a chip on their shoulder about what Disney "almost" did to them back in 2013. And then in a year or two when Universal or SeaWorld or Six Flags goes to some sort of FP+ clone program, that person will come back and sneer at Disney for being "behind the curve" technologically because they didn't think of it first.

They already have programs. No going back for them either.

I haven't tried FP+ but I know that my ME isn't offering me anything. I do at times feel left out for good or bad and being left out is a FACT. The wait times I see lately at certain attractions are more facts. Plus I trust the viewpoint of many who haven't tried it if only in a precautionary way.

I don't always have to try something first to be concerned about it.

 

[WDSearcher]

I think you left off this one:

• Announcing they refuse to toe the company line like others do

You make that sound like such a sinister thing. But then again, you ARE Mad ...

I can sympathize with the OP and feel they have every right to voice their displeasure. They aren't alone in those thoughts, as is becoming quite evident as this experiment/test phase staggers on.

Do you suggest we have a separate sub forum for complainers and pixie dust sniffers? Hell, we can't even get an individual FP+ forum. I think you need to just deal with the fact that if I have to suffer through pink-colored posts about butterfly and rainbow rants praising Disney's fabulousness then you are going to have to read an increasingly frequent post about someone being fed up with it all.

Nope. I haven't suggested that at all. In fact ... I haven't suggested anything. I asked a question. Which is different than a suggestion. Even though they rhyme.

 

[WDSearcher]

Also known as "stinking the kool-aid."

Ew.

 

[franluvsbubba]

See ya. One less person in the crowd I'll have to deal with. If THESE are the reasons that you won't visit Disney World, then I think your have your vacationing priorities wrong to being with. Pointless thread. Ethan

ROFL! I agree. I understand change is hard and not everyone is able to go to Dis every year, or even many times a year, like many of us Disers. But WDW is do much more than rides to our family. And there are many ways to circumvent a lot of the things that people are bummed about. Lit may take a little more planning and A LOT more patience, but WDW will always be some place that my girls and I will visit for years to come.

 

[Kristibo42]

Between FP+, not being able to get FP- for at decent times unless there before RD, the changes to GAC/DAS, and the new upcoming ADR CC policy, I really think no more visits to WDW. No longer a vacation. Anybody else feel the same?

Not at all. I love DISNEY no matter what. I always go during slow time so no long lines. I put a free app on my IPad it Disney's wait times. I have been checking the last couple of days. so far only long lines are for Soaring and TSM others are all manageable. So I say to you stay home or go someplace else. That gives us Disney lovers less people to deal with. We don't need grumpy and mad people around while we are trying to enjoy the parks.

 

[Farps]

Seriously, guys, no matter how bad the new FP system is arranged (once it is finally all arranged) it's still better than any average day at a regular amusement park. On a recent trip to Cedar Point my friends stood in line over 2 hours for a coaster that's 10+ years old, and they were happy for the privilege to do so. As for the ADRs, eh so what? I know this may come as a shock to many, but if you want to ensure yourself a table at a good restaurant anywhere outside of Disney, you have to make reservations ahead of time. And its generally looked down upon to fail to show for those reservations. As to the crowds, I can't comment on anything that may have happened recently, but DH and I were there in late June (traditionally high season). We were worried that the crowds would be more than we would like as we normally travel during low season. The crowds were fine; more than we were used to, but didn't interfere with our touring at all.

So if you want to be all "Disney's blue sky is falling", that's fine with me. As others have said, one less person in line in front of me.

Totally agree, I remember a time when I didn't know how to tour the parks, I didn't have ADR's, and I didn't know how to use FP to my advantage . You know what, I still had a great time. And I will continue to have a great time.

 

[WDSearcher]

We are going over Thanksgiving and that will be our family's time to test out the new system. I already know going into it that the only real thing that has been a problem for people who have actually gone is the FP+ system, and even that hasn't been horrible for most people. I know the parks will be busy, so we are relying on FP+ to ride the headliners in each park during our trip. As long as that doesn't screw up we'll be OK. Of course, now we will only have one time to be able to ride Test Track, RnR, SM, BTMRR, Splash, and we better not miss our times or we will have zero rides on those attractions.

You'll only have one reserved time to ride those rides. I don't get the whole thing about only being able to ride a ride once. In the "old days", people would pull a FP and then immediately get in the standby line. They'd ride once on standby and then wait for their FP time. If they absolutely positively had to ride a third time, they could pull another FP if FPs were still available, which wasn't always the case. During Thanksgiving week in particular, it wasn't unusual to have FPs gone for popular rides early in the day, meaning that once you had one standby ride and one FP ride finished, you couldn't pull another FP for later. It's not like the "old" system (once they started requiring you return during the window) allowed people to ride a gazillion times with no waiting.

If you want to ride something multiple times, you get to the park early and ride standby, just like before FP+ reared its ugly head. Then you also ride your FP+ time, which means you've got two rides. And if you notice that the standby line is relatively short later in the day, then you can ride it again, just like you would have in "old FP" days if all the FPs were gone. You make it sound like once you've reserved your FP+ Disney will physically bar you from riding at any other time.

And even with "old" FP, you needed to make sure you didn't miss your times. Otherwise, you'd be stuck in the standby lines (or have zero rides on those attractions).

 

[WDSearcher]

They already have programs. No going back for them either.

I haven't tried FP+ but I know that my ME isn't offering me anything. I do at times feel left out for good or bad and being left out is a FACT. The wait times I see lately at certain attractions are more facts. Plus I trust the viewpoint of many who haven't tried it if only in a precautionary way.

I don't always have to try something first to be concerned about it.

Concerned is reasonable. Choosing to never visit someplace again because a bunch of people you've never met don't like something seems a bit of an over-reaction.

You may flat out hate FP+ and you may come back and say that nope ... can't abide it ... won't do it ... not going back. You gave it a shot and it didn't work out.

But it's also possible that you'll come back thinking, "Geez ... what was I so worried about?"

 

[Allison]

ROFL! I agree. I understand change is hard and not everyone is able to go to Dis every year, or even many times a year, like many of us Disers. But WDW is do much more than rides to our family. And there are many ways to circumvent a lot of the things that people are bummed about. Lit may take a little more planning and A LOT more patience, but WDW will always be some place that my girls and I will visit for years to come.

That is great for you but if someone else thinks differently it doesn't mean something is wrong with their priorities. It means they have different priorities than you when it comes to what they want from vacation.

 

[Lorelei528]

I don't think we'll ever stop going to WDW....it will always be the place that my daddy thought was amazing and that he had to take me to see, back in 1977.

I'm ok with any changes, it is what it is.

FP+, changes to ADR policy, magicbands...all of it do not change the inherit qualities that comes with just being WDW...

Change comes, it's a fact of life. You can either make the best of it, ignore it or walk away.

 

[BayouMickey]

In the "old days", people would pull a FP and then immediately get in the standby line.

I'm sorry, no disrespect lol but I have to giggle about this.. In my "old days" there was no FP...

 

[W.E.D.]

Between FP+, not being able to get FP- for at decent times unless there before RD, the changes to GAC/DAS, and the new upcoming ADR CC policy, I really think no more visits to WDW. No longer a vacation. Anybody else feel the same?

I'm not giving up on WDW, but I understand what you're saying. We were planning on a trip in April of 2014, but it really felt like a chore with all the unknown variables and such. So we are going somewhere else this time around. We'll be back once FP+ has sorted itself out.

 

[MrInfinity]

Our reasons for a vacation are to get away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and all the planning involved on a daily basis. Now we have to plan our attractions and ADR's even more-and make sure we don't forget to cancel ADRs far enough in advance to avoid a CC charge. Our vacation priorites are not wrong.

Requiring you to cancel a reservation is common sense. If you didn't already do that anyways, you should have! Otherwise they end up overbooked because ppl book more than they will use, then ppl who actually want to go can't go...

FP+ will get the kinks worked out.

Sorry I can't agree w you I see these changes as nothing but good for the parks and its visitors.

 

[disfanforlife]

We rarely use FP. We found it more trouble than it was worth most times to have to go run for a FP. The only times we got one were for Toy Story or if we wanted to go on a ride and the line was too long - we got one to come back later - like Soarin. But that usually only happened once or twice in a week long trip. We do go early in the morning and have found that is the best time to get on all of the rides with little waiting. Hopefully, that won't have changed too much. We shall see - in 10 days!

 

[Minnesota!]

I am right there with you. Except the GAC stuff - I agree with the changes made there. But the FP/MB stuff just sucked the life out of our last trip. We will go back - when everything is NOT NEW and NOT FRESH and NOT GLITCHY. We had a really bad experience with the FP/MB stuff...and it really killed "the magic" for us.

 

[Kathy C]

We too will continue to go. My granddaughter is five and we will be leaving on our tenth trip with her, mommy and daddy next month. We've booked all of our FPs, made our ADRs and will be trying the dining plan for the first time this trip. I don't necessarily like planning my day (ride wise) a couple months in advance, but we made the FPs with the thought if we get there, we get there and if our plans change so be it. We will make most of the FPs reservations we made but may not make every one.

We have always enjoyed our vacations at Disney and will just go with the flow and the changes!