I've read the writing on the wall, and its not a great big beautiful tomorrow

[Dis703]

But I don't understand the backlash simply because you may not be able to ride what is currently the most popular attraction with a less than 30 minute wait.

Have you been to other theme parks? Honestly it amazes me how little I ever have to wait when I am at Disney. I get used to that and then go to Six Flags thinking I can just implement the same strategy as Disney. After all, MK is the most visited theme park in the world. But no. After maybe one or two rides at Six Flags, virtually everything in the park is an hour wait. I don't think I waited more than 20 minutes for ANYTHING last trip except Soarin and Test Track during evening EMH.

Good point. We took the kids to Sesame Place a couple times this past year and the waits for rides were horrendous. And very deceiving in that they didn't look that bad. And these weren't even exciting rides by any means. Little kiddie rides for the most part.

 

[SmithSmith]

LOL. this is how I know I've out lived my love for Disney. Just the sheer fact that I now need "stratergies" while on vacation is enough for me to throw in a towel.

I want a vacation, not the d-day invasion of Normandy.

Are you aware you posted your above comment on an Internet forum that's named "Theme Park Attractions & STRATEGIES"?

 

[Networth]

I don't see the problem. So many things come in to play. Since you have been going as long as I OP you undoubtedly know the crowds have grown considerably. I imagine you would remember the 2, 3, 4 hour long waits when new rides opened at (SM,BTMRR,TT...)WDW. 7DMT is not even a year old yet. I would say it's still new. As for the whole 30 vs 60 days. Orlando is saturated with hotels, motels, and time shares. Disney charges significantly more for accommodations than the market realistically shows. Orlando's hotels average is around $96-$100 a night.

Now in order to get Sue and Joe and their two kids to pay $450 a night to stay at the CR when for 1/3 that price they could stay at the Hyatt (formally Peabody) on I-drive South Disney has to implement some strong incentives. So that's exactly what they do. They give the benefits of location to parks, never leaving "the bubble" theming, DME (this arguably helps Disney to be fair, by keeping guest on property), EMH, ADR +10, and FP+ 60 days.

Having such benefits makes sense when you ask a indidvual to pay such a significant amount more than the market average. This goes for any product wether you purchase food from Walmart or Whole Foods. They both sell food. Yet Whole Foods charges more because they have added benefits to their products. If you go see a movie you can pay extra and see it in IMAX format with better sound. It's the same film as shown in the lower priced regular theaters. Yet again if movie theaters wish to charge extra for the same core product they must provide benefits such as IMAX screens, enhanced sound, and upgraded seating. If you charge above typical market price for anything you must add some sort of extra in order to make the consumer feel the extra is worth the cost.

To complain about this is essentially complaining the world is unfair and everyone should have organic food, fly first class, have 60 day booking, etc. If anything one might argue Disney does not do enough to entice onsite guests which is why they run the promo's they do for onsite accommodations.

This said I can understand your frustration OP. I've ridden 7DMT without a FP using many of the strategies listed above. Or by simply waiting in line. Enjoy your trip.

 

[SparkleMommy]

Try The Dibb website. It's fairly accurate from what I've heard and I've heard of a lot of people getting Mine train and A&E through it.

I for one LOVE the FP+ system... I live near Cedar Point amusement park and let me tell you- it is CRAZY stressful trying to ride many of the rides there. We don't go there anymore even though it was my family's favorite summer adventure when I was a kid. There is no such thing as virtual ques, passes or anything else at Cedar Point to help manage crowds and lines. At least with WDW there are ways to avoid some of the lines.

I would try for those fp everyday, but not necessarily at 1am because you never know when someone will change or cancel theirs. But the Dibb will alert you when there are some available.

Also, get an early (the earliest) ADR on a non- EMH morning to get in the park before RD. Then head straight to the ride right a opening to beat the RD crowd.

Good luck! Perserverance is key!

 

[Sanchez]

Are you aware you posted your above comment on an Internet forum that's named "Theme Park Attractions & STRATEGIES"?

The difference is that it used to be that no strategy or limited strategy was necessary. It was optional. The system now dictates a fairly complex strategy - especially if you want to sit and eat.

The bottom line is that everyone will have decide whether the crowds are too much. We are at that point. I don't want to have to develop a plan that rivals a military exercise.

 

[momof2n2]

OP - I'm not reading all the inbetween posts - I can imagine what many of them say.

I'M hear to say that although I don't have as rich a history of visits (although I do have a good number of them) I am as sorry as you are to see this new phase. I almost wish we'd never have had the experience of FP, because now we have a reference for how great a visit could be. This new-and-(?)improved(?) experience leaves a bad taste in my mouth, as well. So much so we cancelled a much longed for trip last year. We are penciling in a trip for next May, but will only bother with it if the whole throwaway room strategy is still an option.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Good point. We took the kids to Sesame Place a couple times this past year and the waits for rides were horrendous. And very deceiving in that they didn't look that bad. And these weren't even exciting rides by any means. Little kiddie rides for the most part.

What is funny is they our family went to Hershey last summer and lines were almost non-existent. One might chalk that up to lots of rides. But the parking lot wasn't even half full. Lines at World of Chocolate seemed longer. I am sure they make some money in order to stay in business. While we were grateful for lack of lines, it did leave me wonder. We were there on a weekday though and left July 3 after spending most of the day in the park. That was our 3rd day.
Perhaps the park is a lot busier on weekends.

 

[momof2n2]

It was different regarding how the skip the line opportunities were distributed and who was able to get them. Disney in effect eliminated: having FPs for the full set of attractions in the park available in their entirety for the day first thing in the morning; the ability to get FPs for the same attraction more than once per day (unless you could get a repeat one once your original 3 were used or expired); and the ability to guarantee yourself a skip the line on very popular attractions merely by arriving early (now it may even depend solely on where you decided to arrange for lodging). If you hate these changes, you will have a bad time.

I hate the changes.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

LOL. this is how I know I've out lived my love for Disney. Just the sheer fact that I now need "stratergies" while on vacation is enough for me to throw in a towel.

I want a vacation, not the d-day invasion of Normandy.

Ya know what was interesting for me? On this next trip, we're doing a Disney-Universal split stay. For Disney, I had to make ADRs the day they were announced (the Star Wars meals), which also meant monitoring for an announcement, and then when our plans changed due to the airlines changing the flight schedule, I had to pay a for a service to stalk Disney for me so I didn't have to waste time finding a new ADR that fit our plans. I then had to stay up late to book FP+s to make sure that they'd fit into our plans, because unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of waiting around until evening to ride 7DMT on our one MK day. Then we decided that since we have the audacity to want to ride 7DMT twice on our one MK day, we now are getting up early for breakfast that day. A breakfast I once again snatched up shortly after it was announced (and which now has no availability in the timeframe that we'd need).

For Universal...I booked our hotel room and bought tickets. Actually, I haven't purchased the tickets yet because there's no need to. We're staying at a Deluxe, so Express Pass is included and I don't have to book anything ahead of time. We also get priority seating at a bunch of restaurants, though I do plan on making at least one reservation a couple of weeks in advance via Open Table.

I used to think that "planning was part of the fun" of a Disney trip. But it just feels like to me a straw has broken the camel's back, and to do the things we like to do at the times we want to do them, it's just too much work. I'm glad that my kids have gotten a chance to know Disney while they're young and still fully embrace the magic, but I'm also relieved that they're both now to the age where we feel like taking them other places on vacation will be worth it and not a huge hassle. I don't think we're saying good-bye to Disney forever, but I do think our huge collection of MBs will be in danger of having expired batteries before we go back after our final trip of this year.

 

[momof2n2]

I think you live closer. That is cross country for us. We had a trip all planned a few years back but then my husband lost his job.

Hoping to make it out that way in a few years and do a whole California trip out of it.

Me too - we should car pool.

 

[Doug M]

FP+ is more equitable than FP- because under the old system in 2010 (lower crowds than last year) we arrived 30 min post RD at HS, ran to TSMM, FP return time 830 PM. Now to ride that we are forced to either SB, or spend all day in park. Now i can get online and grab a FP not having to force my wife and kids to get up before dawn to catch a bus then still run around the park grabbing paper tickets to return when the machine forces me to (dont like 745pm, too bad).
Also as PP mentioned, Disney charges a premium on hotel rooms, it isnt too much to ask for extra park benefits. At US you skip lines, which is far superior to FP+ at 60 days vs 30. This system allows a wider set of people to do the attractions, sure you cant get 5 FP for EE anymore, but it doesnt punish families who were unable to get to the park at RD then run to a kiosk. I dont see how FP- was any more spontaneous than FP+, you were dictated a return time, you couldn't move if you wanted to watch a parade or something.
Bottom line, Disney needs to add multiple new attractions which will help with the large increase in guests.

 

[momof2n2]

Good point. We took the kids to Sesame Place a couple times this past year and the waits for rides were horrendous. And very deceiving in that they didn't look that bad. And these weren't even exciting rides by any means. Little kiddie rides for the most part.

Ouch. I've been to Sesame Place 8 times in the last 12 years. We've never had horrendous waits. May I please ask what time of year you went?

 

[DisneyFive]

Holy hot topic!! 7 pages in one morning!

Anyway, probably already been said, but you could also hit MK on a EMH morning and get there at rope drop. Probably the smallest crowd you'll run into on the rush to Seven Dwarf's.

Dan

 

[momof2n2]

FP+ is more equitable than FP- because under the old system in 2010 (lower crowds than last year) we arrived 30 min post RD at HS, ran to TSMM, FP return time 830 PM. Now to ride that we are forced to either SB, or spend all day in park. Now i can get online and grab a FP not having to force my wife and kids to get up before dawn to catch a bus then still run around the park grabbing paper tickets to return when the machine forces me to (dont like 745pm, too bad).
Also as PP mentioned, Disney charges a premium on hotel rooms, it isnt too much to ask for extra park benefits. At US you skip lines, which is far superior to FP+ at 60 days vs 30. This system allows a wider set of people to do the attractions, sure you cant get 5 FP for EE anymore, but it doesnt punish families who were unable to get to the park at RD then run to a kiosk. I dont see how FP- was any more spontaneous than FP+, you were dictated a return time, you couldn't move if you wanted to watch a parade or something.
Bottom line, Disney needs to add multiple new attractions which will help with the large increase in guests.

I've never stayed on site and we always managed to get to the parks WELL before RD. I'd never have expected TSMM FP without. BUT - we got to ride twice at RD, and again 75 minutes later. Waking early was a small price to pay.

The premium for those rooms is exponentially more expensive when you start increasing the size of the family. Have you ever assessed what they charge for lodging for a hotel room/suite for a family of 8. We're talking, "Do we go to Disney or get the kids the orthodontia they need?"

 

[amg35]

It's funny. We are going on a cruise this year (non- disney). No planning involved. Booked it, chose dining times, may look at some excursions. I miss the planning!

I'm sure it's different for me, as we don't go to Disney every year. Only every few (if that), but I'm looking forward to the next time we decide to go to WDW, I had fun last year planning the trip. Didn't seem like a job to me (picking rides and restaurants would be fun job though), just was some fun stuff to do leading up to a vacation we were excited to go on.

 

[cakebaker]

We are penciling in a trip for next May, but will only bother with it if the whole throwaway room strategy is still an option.

There are some interesting threads over on the resort boards about some significant rule changes on booking and changes to reservations. One can draw their own conclusions as to what Disney is doing, but looks like they may be clamping down on at least some versions of the throwaway room.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Holy hot topic!! 7 pages in one morning!

Anyway, probably already been said, but you could also hit MK on a EMH morning and get there at rope drop. Probably the smallest crowd you'll run into on the rush to Seven Dwarf's.

Dan

OP is an offsite visitor and can't benefit from EMH. I think that's the whole point of the post.

 

[DisneyFive]

OP is an offsite visitor and can't benefit from EMH. I think that's the whole point of the post.

Dang, how did I miss that!!! I read it, and still forgot. Sorry OP. My bad. Yep, I agree that there are some very, very sucky things about the new FP+ system, worse yet for offsite guests.

Dan

 

[dkrauss]

Ok, I hear the issue/problem being explained. But realistically what's the resolution?

1. You can pretty much guarantee Disney isn't going back.........FP+ has been in force for at least a year now........so I don't believe anybody sees that happening.

2. You could NOT GO to WDW...........I get all kinds of flack on this one from many here on the boards but it is a valid solution. If you don't like how things are and they make you so unhappy.......why come back?

3. You could WAIT IN LINE............again most here on the boards have a strong aversion to that solution (I don't like lines either).........but if "I have to do it" I'll consider it.

4. You can do as others have suggested and KEEP TRYING............Its an option. We hear all kinds of stories of folks who pull and A&E FP+ just a few days before they show..........so it can happen.

On our last visit we were unable to get a dinner ADR for BOG.........which was #1 on the things we wanted to do. I did all I could at 180 days out but even with checking back periodically.......it just didn't happen. We were bummed for a couple of days.............but we got over it..............made the best of it...........and had a great vacation.

I'm sorry that the OP had such a bad experience. It does kinda suck. But if you let it ruin your trip............that's on you..........not Disney.

Doug

 

[scrapquitler]

I just got home on Wednesday from our trip. I was able to change our fast passes during the day a couple of the days (but I will say I did not attempt to add a FP+ for 7 dwarves). We did 7 Dwarves on our FP+, but we also waited in line for it twice. Neither time we waited was more than 15-20 minutes. Once was early in the morning on Monday (but not right at rope drop, maybe around 9:30AM), and we rode it twice as walk ons during the EMH.

We spent 6 days in the parks, and the longest wait we had for anything was 25 minutes on Space Mountain.

We had no issues with the FP+ app (well, except Saturday, when it didn't work for most of the day, and it wasn't only us having a problem getting logged in). We changed FP+ reservations several times and were able to get pretty much exactly what we wanted on the day of (granted, we weren't lookin for 7D, Anna & Elsa, Fireworks or parades).

We enjoyed our trip so much that we upgraded to Annual Passes while were there, and are planning two more trips before our APs expire.