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

[AmberHeartsDisney]

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 you have your vacationing priorities wrong to being with.

Pointless thread.

Ethan

I 100% agree with you.

 

[lugnut33]

Maybe there are CMs looking at this thread that can back me up, but my relative CM (working FP+ at the MK) says people are completely lost. So many people have no clue at all about FP+.

Contrary to what people might say, it's a whole heck of a lot easier to walk into a park and get on a ride then it is to get online 2 months out (after having reserved your package a minimum 6 months out and having made your ADRs right at the 6 month mark), create an account, link your tickets, figure out which park you want to visit on which day, and then select the rides your want. And then once you get to the parks you have to make sure your phone is charged up (I had to buy a battery charging backup) and then hope you can access Disney Wifi. Hopefully the app works so you can remember what time and what rides, and then head to those rides at the right time and get the Mickey head to glow green. Then you can ride the attraction.

 

[redsbe]

All you have to do is listen to the "first timers" in the parks. Really. I am amazed with the internet how many do not do research. Period. They assume what they see on TV ads is the truth. The characters run up to the children. They play on the grass in front of the Castle. Ah, no they don't.

The first timers complain about how the sit down restaurants are all booked, "what do we do now? Where are we suppose to eat?"

Classic comments while we walk down the Fastpass lane, "So how much did those people pay to be able to do that?" Ah, nothing did they not watch the in room TV if they are staying on property. It was not a secret.

How many first timers think MK is Disney World? You mean there are 3 other parks?

Yes, there are a lot of people out there who have no clue what Walt Disney World really is. There are people who ask us why we keep going back to that kiddy place.

First Timers will be lost. Why? They watch the TV. They book a last minute room. They think, lets go visit that place and let the kids ride some rides only they pay the bucks, they walk around and they get little for the cash they spent. They complain, this place is too expensive for what they got for the dollar.

Yes, FP+ only helps the people who return often and know the place. First Timer's do not know Walt Disney World. I have had a woman I know ask about where to stay because she thought they would bring their grandson down in March 2014.. I explained the new system. She thought I was joking about prebooking the rides and the thought of booking a sit down restaurant 180 days out? Her comment, I think we will skip Disney. That is way over the top. She just thought her 7 yr. grandson would enjoy the rides.

Disney really is risking the first timer's. When I got my hair cut this week I was asked where do we like to stay when we go to WDW. This is the owner of the salon plus she owns 2 other salons. I told her but I added that the new system is being tested but should be up and running by the time she indicated they wanted to go. The thought of prebooking rides was down right crazy! Are they serious, yeah, they are serious. Again, that is crazy. Another first timer who decided never mind.

If the Disney minds that thought this concept up thought FP+ would help first timers I am not seeing it or hearing it from the mouths of first timers to be who ask me questions. Skipping Disney is what I hear. The other comment, "That is way more work than what I want to do for a vacation. Maybe we will just go to the beach." No I did not make that up, that is what I heard.

My gut tells me no company is to big to fail and wasn't it Walt Disney himself who stated, a good failure helps people grow? Well, this little experiment may help WDW grow. To get the first timers Disney needs a department for only first time visitors and to help them plan but then that only will work if the first timers decide to let Disney know they are coming.

Time will tell but I stand my ground, experienced Disney people benefit from FP+ if they are willing to spend the time it takes to get everything lined up before the trip. First Timers who know nothing may only go once.

Kathy

These issues you associate with first time visitors have existed for many years, even way before meal plans, FPs, ADRS, and certainly will continue even with FP+ as many first time visitors will simply go and have the experience of their making as they visit working around or even not aware of the other opportunities and benefits available to them if they had instead planned ahead. People who simply like to go on a vacation and relax without little if any pre-planning have always had the option to go somewhere besides WDW and have done so, yet all the data and observations clearly indicate that the growth in visitors to WDW continues.

Any many of the alternatives to vacations away from WDW also require plenty of pre-booking, tickets, reservations, schedules etc... just trying taking a cruise, trip to Europe or even visit the Grand Canyon without major planning including considering peak crowds and costs.

 

[JanaDee]

Maybe there are CMs looking at this thread that can back me up, but my relative CM (working FP+ at the MK) says people are completely lost. So many people have no clue at all about FP+.

Contrary to what people might say, it's a whole heck of a lot easier to walk into a park and get on a ride then it is to get online 2 months out (after having reserved your package a minimum 6 months out and having made your ADRs right at the 6 month mark), create an account, link your tickets, figure out which park you want to visit on which day, and then select the rides your want. And then once you get to the parks you have to make sure your phone is charged up (I had to buy a battery charging backup) and then hope you can access Disney Wifi. Hopefully the app works so you can remember what time and what rides, and then head to those rides at the right time and get the Mickey head to glow green. Then you can ride the attraction.

After being there this last week, I concur with your CM relative.

People were clueless about both MB and FP+. I feel bad for all the CM's that have to deal with clueless people.

 

[wisblue]

Time will tell but I stand my ground, experienced Disney people benefit from FP+ if they are willing to spend the time it takes to get everything lined up before the trip. First Timers who know nothing may only go once.

Kathy

But, in that regard, it's no different than the paper FP system, or the system when there were no FPs.

Before FP's, we would be on our way out of the park early in the afternoon during the Easter season after touring all morning, and I'd see people walk in and stand on Main Street looking at a park map saying "where is Splash Mountain, we want to do that first?". I'm sure they were stunned to see a 2 hour wait for that and long lines for other major attractions, and left the park thinking "Disney World stinks. you spend all day waiting in lines."

With paper FP, we would be on a bus in the late afternoon heading to our second park of the day after a break, and we'd hear families saying "Let's get a fast pass for Soarin'" when any park veteran would know that they were long gone for the day. Those people had heard that FPs existed, but didn't realize that they run out early in the day for popular attractions at busy times.

FP+ is just the next step in the inevitable evolution. For people who learn and take advantage of how it works, it will be great. In fact, it will be better than previous systems for people who have no interest in getting to a park early. They can at least be sure of getting to experience their first choices. People who don't prepare or learn in advance are going to be at a disadvantage, just like they always have been.

 

[wisblue]

These issues you associate with first time visitors have existed for many years, even way before meal plans, FPs, ADRS, and certainly will continue even with FP+ as many first time visitors will simply go and have the experience of their making as they visit working around or even not aware of the other opportunities and benefits available to them if they had instead planned ahead. People who simply like to go on a vacation and relax without little if any pre-planning have always had the option to go somewhere besides WDW and have done so, yet all the data and observations clearly indicate that the growth in visitors to WDW continues.

Any many of the alternatives to vacations away from WDW also require plenty of pre-booking, tickets, reservations, schedules etc... just trying taking a cruise, trip to Europe or even visit the Grand Canyon without major planning including considering peak crowds and costs.

You beat me to it by seconds. See my post above.

I wonder how people who don't want to plan anything about their vacations make airline and hotel reservations to visit popular places at peak times?

 

[wisblue]

After being there this last week, I concur with your CM relative.

People were clueless about both MB and FP+. I feel bad for all the CM's that have to deal with clueless people.

I don't feel sorry for them at all. My daughter, who is currently doing a professional internship at Disney, would kill to get a full time job in guest relations or concierge services because she finds it very rewarding to deal directly with guests and use her knowledge to help them enjoy their vacations. If there weren't clueless guests, WDW would need a lot fewer CMs.

 

[Planogirl]

You beat me to it by seconds. See my post above.

I wonder how people who don't want to plan anything about their vacations make airline and hotel reservations to visit popular places at peak times?

I'd say that getting to your destination and having a place to sleep are a little different than planning out each day in detail. The micro-planning reminds me of the European tour groups that plan every minute. It's fine for some people but others prefer a little more flexibility.

Personally, I like a combination and would use FP+ if it were available. Just planning for three attractions doesn't seem so bad to me.

 

[lugnut33]

I don't feel sorry for them at all. My daughter, who is currently doing a professional internship at Disney, would kill to get a full time job in guest relations or concierge services because she finds it very rewarding to deal directly with guests and use her knowledge to help them enjoy their vacations. If there weren't clueless guests, WDW would need a lot fewer CMs.

If she was going to get a full time spot in guest relations right now is that time. WDW is hiring in people like crazy to fill the FP+ posts that are needed. My relative just got hired full time assisting guests with FP+ at MK.

 

[wisblue]

If she was going to get a full time spot in guest relations right now is that time. WDW is hiring in people like crazy to fill the FP+ posts that are needed. My relative just got hired full time assisting guests with FP+ at MK.

She is interviewing now, but they won't hire her for anything until a month or so before her PI ends in January. Hopefully her timing will be good.

 

[wisblue]

I'd say that getting to your destination and having a place to sleep are a little different than planning out each day in detail. The micro-planning reminds me of the European tour groups that plan every minute. It's fine for some people but others prefer a little more flexibility.

Personally, I like a combination and would use FP+ if it were available. Just planning for three attractions doesn't seem so bad to me.

I agree, and I don't think deciding what day you want to visit a particular park and what major attractions are your first priorities is that difficult. It's a far cry from planning every day in detail. You just have a couple of things set and can relax knowing that you will get to do them. At other than the most busy times, there is a good chance that there will plenty of opportunities to wing it and make changes on the go. At the busiest times, this has NEVER worked for someone who wants to do all of the major rides.

I would compare FP+ to someone taking a trip to NYC and deciding a few months ahead of time what Broadway show he wanted to attend and getting tickets for that in advance. If you don't care what show you see, you can go to the Tickts locations and get discounted seats for what happens to be available, though you will have to wait in line for that flexibility (kind of like waiting in a standby line at WDW). Planning in advance has its restrictions and its benefits.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Any many of the alternatives to vacations away from WDW also require plenty of pre-booking, tickets, reservations, schedules etc... just trying taking a cruise, trip to Europe or even visit the Grand Canyon without major planning including considering peak crowds and costs.

I don't think you can compare WDW to visiting new cities or countries etc. Unless you are with a tour group, I think most people would expect to have to do a lot of research for new places like that. WDW is an enclosed theme park..totally different situation. Besides getting a hotel room, I think it's totally reasonable that a first-time visitor would expect to be able to just go to the parks, see attractions, ride rides and eat.

 

[JRawkSteady]

I feel bad for all the CM's that have to deal with clueless people.

I don't...because most of the CMs, themselves, are clueless about the whole thing. I get different answers from different CMs. How about a mandatory meeting??

 

[redsbe]

I don't think you can compare WDW to visiting new cities or countries etc. Unless you are with a tour group, I think most people would expect to have to do a lot of research for new places like that. WDW is an enclosed theme park..totally different situation. Besides getting a hotel room, I think it's totally reasonable that a first-time visitor would expect to be able to just go to the parks, see attractions, ride rides and eat.

Which you have always been able to do and will continue to in the future, if you visit when crowds are low. It has never been possible to simply book a trip to WDW during peak crowd days and simply show up and expect or be able to simply walk into any attraction or restaurant all day or at anytime without a wait (but plenty of visitors manage such trips to experience WDW including 2 hour waits for TSMM). Reservations, RP and FPs have always been a planning strategy to use during peak crowds. Yet even with the busiest days using RP will still allow a visitor to walk onto the most popular ride - not multiple times without major waits, but yes to be able to ride at least once even without FP- or now with FP+. And try planning a trip to NYC, Paris, Hawaii or the Grand Canyon during peak crowds without reserving shows, attractions, rides, special events well in advance.

 

[Jeslynb]

Having read a bit here and spoken to our friends in the park now who are "testers," I'm glad that we aren't using the new system for this trip (going in early December).

I had booked the Poly, but since we're taking two other large trips this year, I switched it out for Offiste. If we were onsite, I would probably opt out of FP and MB for THIS trip because our friends did not have a good experience. Too much confusion and too many bugs.

If we were going NEXT year, I think the new technology might be great and might be an incentive to stay onsite. I like the MB. I don't think we would ever use FP+ to pre-plan. We are just not that organized with our park visits and it would stress me out. I don't even like making ADRs. A few, sure, but not many.

Basically, I try to avoid be a beta-tester for anything if I can help it. Call me when it's up and running and I'll be all-in!

 

[MarieA]

I just returned from a trip to Italy and a cruise to the Greek Islands. The only thing that we planned were a few excursions on the ship and the hotels we stayed at in Italy. We traveled by train throughout Italy and didn't even have to make a reservation for that. We just walked up to the ticket window and got our tickets. As far as restaurants go we just walked up and were seated - no reservations necessary (both in Italy and Greece).

With FP+ there is a lot more planning for my trip in May than my trip to Europe. I do not want to plan every minute of every day of my vacation. Normally my DH and I just make a few ADRs for our trip and decide where we will eat or what park we will visit during breakfast. We very rarely use FP- (we used 2 on our last 11 day visit). Most times we will just hop on a line if it is not long. From what I have been reading SB lines have been extremely long during FP+ testing. I am hoping that this issue will be resolved before my trip in May.

 

[wisblue]

From what I have been reading SB lines have been extremely long during FP+ testing.

You must only be reading the posts from the biggest naysayers. There have been many accounts from people saying that crowds and lines have been pretty normal for the time of year. The biggest problem has been FPs running out early for three attractions and, if you never use FPs anyway, that wouldn't affect you. The biggest factor for standby lines seems to be (as it always has been) the overall size of the crowds in the park. Lines this week have been a lot lower than last week and the testing is still going on. Presumably the overall crowds are just lower.

I would say that if you are planning more for a trip to WDW than for a trip to Europe, you are doing that by choice, not necessity.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Which you have always been able to do and will continue to in the future, if you visit when crowds are low. It has never been possible to simply book a trip to WDW during peak crowd days and simply show up and expect or be able to simply walk into any attraction or restaurant all day or at anytime without a wait (but plenty of visitors manage such trips to experience WDW including 2 hour waits for TSMM). Reservations, RP and FPs have always been a planning strategy to use during peak crowds. Yet even with the busiest days using RP will still allow a visitor to walk onto the most popular ride - not multiple times without major waits, but yes to be able to ride at least once even without FP- or now with FP+. And try planning a trip to NYC, Paris, Hawaii or the Grand Canyon during peak crowds without reserving shows, attractions, rides, special events well in advance.

Yes, but I'm looking at it from a first-timer's perspective. They don't know or perhaps care about crowds and crowd calendars or rope drop etc.

It seems to me that it is not unreasonable to expect to be able to travel to an enclosed theme park and not have to microplan every minute or get up at 6 am. Totally different expectation versus visiting a new city or country.

And this is probably one of the reasons why Disney built FP+.

 

[redsbe]

I just returned from a trip to Italy and a cruise to the Greek Islands. The only thing that we planned were a few excursions on the ship and the hotels we stayed at in Italy. We traveled by train throughout Italy and didn't even have to make a reservation for that. We just walked up to the ticket window and got our tickets. As far as restaurants go we just walked up and were seated - no reservations necessary (both in Italy and Greece).

With FP+ there is a lot more planning for my trip in May than my trip to Europe. I do not want to plan every minute of every day of my vacation. Normally my DH and I just make a few ADRs for our trip and decide where we will eat or what park we will visit during breakfast. We very rarely use FP- (we used 2 on our last 11 day visit). Most times we will just hop on a line it is not long. From what I have been reading SB lines have been extremely long during FP+ testing. I am hoping that this issue will be resolved before my trip in May.

And there is no requirement to use FP+, since you mention that use rarely use FP-, then your next trip to WDW should be fine and planned just like before. SB lines are not long in WDW this week nor are FP running out early, it was an issue with unexpected busy period in mid October and most certainly will be for holiday crowds, but then again WDW visit has always been a challenge when there are peak crowds.

Was your recent trip to Europe in the fall and not summer? If so you were not traveling during peak tourist season, hence ease of travel and no need for much in the way of advanced planning or reservations. Same can be said for visiting WDW when peak crowds are not there, like you indicated planning for those dates is not as critical including less need for RD or FP.

 

[redsbe]

Yes, but I'm looking at it from a first-timer's perspective. They don't know or perhaps care about crowds and crowd calendars or rope drop etc.

It seems to me that it is not unreasonable to expect to be able to travel to an enclosed theme park and not have to microplan every minute or get up at 6 am. Totally different expectation versus visiting a new city or country.

And this is probably one of the reasons why Disney built FP+.

Again the situation you describe regarding first time visitors coming to WDW unaware of the need to plan has occurred for the last few decades, recent changes with MB and FP+ do not change that situation. Try visiting any major attraction, museum, amusement park, national park during peak crowds without any pre-planning, the experience will not be the same as those who take some time to plan when and what they would like to see. It has been decades since anyone can simply visit WDW during peak crowds and expect to simply walk in and not have issues with crowds, long waits without taking some time to plan for it.