Josh is the voice of reason on FP+

[wdwfreak]

I'm not speaking of the people who have a difference of opinion, like yourself. You keep taking it personally when I am directly talking to other people who are saying things that you are not. Unfortunately for you, when you start a thread you cannot control what other people in it post, and you cannot dismiss them from the thread when you do not like the direction it is going.

It is absolutely talking down someone to suggest that they should visit another park if they have the nerve to want to ride rides, or that there is something wrong with being disappointed if you miss a ride. There are tons of people who are only looking at this from their own frequent visitor perspective.

I don't wish to control the posts and I am definitely not dismissing anyone. I don't have that power, nor would I want it. In fact, I'm quite enjoying the discussion here. I simply meant that my original post wasn't necessarily speaking to you.

 

[rteetz]

I'll be honest. I prefer the old way. We like being able to re-ride without waiting in long lines so the old way worked very well for us. With that said, I'll get on board with the new way as soon as they cave on the only one park per day. It should be 3 FP+ per park each day. That way those folks who pay for park hopper are getting full benefit. Or they could end up adding a 2nd tier of Park Hopper. Park Hopper Standard (current hopper) and Park Hopper + (FP+ at multiple parks). I would very likely pay for that.

I don't get the re-ride part. I don't think Disney will allow three at each park per day they may allow park hopping with this and that was the original plan for Disney but I don't know if plans have changed or not. If they do park hopping I would expect three per day that can be used at any park, along with an option to purchase more, or others rumors have indicated you may get more depending on where you stay like value, moderate, and deluxe.

 

[DebbieB]

I'll be honest. I prefer the old way. We like being able to re-ride without waiting in long lines so the old way worked very well for us.

With that said, I'll get on board with the new way as soon as they cave on the only one park per day. It should be 3 FP+ per park each day. That way those folks who pay for park hopper are getting full benefit.

Or they could end up adding a 2nd tier of Park Hopper. Park Hopper Standard (current hopper) and Park Hopper + (FP+ at multiple parks). I would very likely pay for that.

I think the issue with that will be the same as it was with ADR's. People will book multiple parks and then decide which one they want to use, leaving the others unused. I think a fair way to do it would be the additional park(s) is same day FP+.

 

[JanaDee]

Sorry I thought you were answering Not Me.

Curious, have you tried the new system yet?

Yes, the last week of October.

 

[morethananyonex]

I don't wish to control the posts and I am definitely not dismissing anyone. I don't have that power, nor would I want it. In fact, I'm quite enjoying the discussion here. I simply meant that my original post wasn't necessarily speaking to you.

I don't believe I ever commented towards your original post, rather the discussion going on in the thread at the time.

 

[declansdad]

Does anyone know how long the queue has been up at Spaceship Earth? I think I remember that snaking line to the left of the entrance for at least a decade if not longer. Please correct me if the line is new.

But since I don't think it is, one can assume that those likes ARE existent. Maybe just not in early December or at Rope Drop or during Illuminations. But obviously they have the corral for a reason...

I know that there can be lines there. But my normal wait has been 5 minutes or less. My experience in October was that SE and several other attractions had much longer lines than I am used to seeing. It is possible that this will get better when the dust clears. I'm going back in Feb. It will be interesting to see how this ends up.

There has been a queue on both sides of Spaceship Earth for a long time and I have seen it lines up on both sides during peak times. This was before the new FP system.

 

[wdwfreak]

I don't believe I ever commented towards your original post, rather the discussion going on in the thread at the time.

I meant "you" as in generally speaking you. Not you specifically. It seems we all take things personally at times. Carry on...

 

[declansdad]

Yes, the last week of October.

Thanks. Enjoy wherever your vacation takes you from now one. Maybe a traditional amusement park would be more to your liking, the kind with nothing but rides.

 

[sharonped]

Fair enough. Well put, sharonped. As are we all. To me, there is. Disney will have to do a lot worse that FP+ to lose me and my family.

Thank-you wdwfreak. I'm actually impressed at how little snarkiness there has been on this thread. I've seen others where folks could not see anyone elses' point of view no matter what and have devolved into nastiness. So far it seems on this thread we've been able to discuss and disagree pretty respectfully. I'd rather be doing this for my (admittedly too long at this point) break than burying my face in the cherry pie.

 

[glamdring269]

IMO it's the opposite.

There are just so many attractions at MK it's hard to get everything done even with RD and FP+. The other parks are easy with RD, even with tiering, assuming you can make it there early enough. At DHS you can reserve 2 out of the 3 rides that draw bigger lines, leaving one for RD. At Epcot you can reserve 1 out of the 2 rides that draw big lines, leaving the other for RD. It gets complicated when you want to re-ride or can't make RD, but that is true for every park now thanks to FP+.

I think it depends on if you have kids, how old they are, etc. when it comes to MK. We don't have kids so many of the rides in MK don't really matter to us. We focus more on Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Splash, etc. Definitely makes it a lot easier for us but I know we're the exception though I think folks with older kids may fit in that same mold as well.

As for DHS, Epcot, AK, it's mainly the rerides I'm concerned with. Rope drop and FP+ doesn't really do much for you anymore other than avoiding the walking around crowds. You definitely aren't getting any afternoon advantage anymore. This is why I'm a proponent of adding FP+ for use at a 2nd park via park hopper though. Add that benefit and I'm likely on board.

 

[declansdad]

We held 3 w/i 5 mins of entering the park last March (probably aroudn 930 or so) 1 for Mickey (disconnected), 1 for Dumbo (was a bonus given when we got Mickey), and 1 for the Princesses with an 11am return time. At 11, we were able to get Buzz or Space (can't remember which), which was only 30mins or so out, at which point we could get another...so that's already 5 by noon...

The manner in which you accumulated that many FPs is not the norm.

 

[JanaDee]

Thanks. Enjoy wherever your vacation takes you from now one. Maybe a traditional amusement park would be more to your liking, the kind with nothing but rides.

Nah, we're either heading West to the National Parks or to the Great White North of Canada.

 

[declansdad]

Nah, we're either heading West to the National Parks or to the Great White North of Canada.

You may want to wait a bit before coming up here; it's freezing cold right now.

 

[glamdring269]

The only thing I wasn’t able to do was run around Magic Kingdom collecting paper FASTPASSes to re-ride a couple attractions later in the afternoon. Is one less re-ride going to keep you away from Walt Disney World? Is it worth stressing over? Is the world ending because you find yourself on a relaxing Liberty Square Riverboat ride instead of huffing and puffing back to Big Thunder Mountain to ride for the third time that day? This is your own business.

I do have to point out this part at the end of the article. I think it is going to be worse than one less re-ride for those of us who used to show up at RD and manage our time throughout the parks efficiently to maximize rides and FP- pulls. It's definitely not worth stressing over as he points out but I don't remember ever 'huffing and puffing' to get back across the park either. Some enjoy walking across the park and waiting in line for 5 or 10 minutes vs. standing in place and slowly moving through a long standby queue. I'd much rather get my exercise in personally.

 

[skilesare]

accomplish:

Jungle Cruise, ETwB, Little Mermaid (FP), Dumbo (Bonus FP given to us), Haunted Mansion, it's a small world, meeting Rapunzel/Aurora/Cinderella (FP, but before fairytale hall opened), meeting Mickey (FP), Buzz Lightyear (3 times at least, FP'd twice), Monster's Inc, POTC, Swiss Family Robinson, Space Mountain (2x, 1 w/FP, 1 w/RS), Thunder Mountain (FP), Wishes (w/tomorrowland dessert party)

This was in 1 day at MK, during spring break season, and we were there appx 30mins after RD or so (and I'm pretty sure I'm missing a ride or two in here too).

Maybe you just need some Visualization. This can easily be done with a 4 hour break in the middle of the day on Wednesday around spring break(March 19th to be exact). This is even with being 30 late to rope drop....if you make rope drop this is a breeze:

Time Ride Wait
9:30 AM Buzz Lightyear 5
9:40 AM Buzz Lightyear 8
9:56 AM Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure 19
10:26 AM Buzz Lightyear 21
10:53 AM Space Mountain 35
11:35 AM Space Mountain (use FASTPASS+) 10
11:54 AM Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor 14
12:34 PM Dumbo, the Flying Elephant 51
1:34 PM Enchanted Tales with Belle (use FASTPASS+) 6
2:07 PM Break
6:11 PM it's a small world 24
6:50 PM Haunted Mansion (use FASTPASS+) 5
7:14 PM Big Thunder Mountain Railroad 41
8:04 PM Pirates of the Caribbean 21
8:41 PM Swiss Family Treehouse 1
8:53 PM Jungle Cruise 35
9:45 PM Wishes Fireworks (10:00pm performance) 15

You can do the meet and greats during the break or swap out your FPs for Characters and wait in line for the rides.

 

[Bete]

Nah, we're either heading West to the National Parks or to the Great White North of Canada.

Good for you!

We have found life beyond Disney World; you will do the same.

This is not to say I won't go to Disney World ever again, either. I will wait and see how this all pans out. For now, my monies will be spent elsewhere.

Everyone who still goes to Disney World will be happy that there will be less of us there. Maybe, it will get to a point where no rides will need fastpass plus; because, the parks will be empty.

 

[JanaDee]

You may want to wait a bit before coming up here; it's freezing cold right now.

LOL It's freezing cold here in WI, too. I meant in the summer.

 

[scrapbooksellman]

thanks for sharing all that information. It helps to see the pictures.

Is Friar's nook a CS on the DDP? My son would freak out over cheeseburger bacon mac and cheese! Easywdw doesn't show that on the menu and say it is only open seasonally.

 

[sunkissed4]

I'm so confused why is anyone's way of touring better or worse than another? We have different touring strategies on each trip. We're local, we can skip long lines and go next time, but there's many who don't have that luxury. We have small kids and like PPs have said, that is a whole other way of touring. I don't think those wanting to ride over and over should have to suck it up and change to my way of touring.

We've been multiple times with FP+ and sometimes it has worked out fine, sometimes it was total chaos.

There are plenty of kinks disney needs to work out and if people don't want to spend thousands of dollars on a trip in the middle of all these changes, more power to them. If people want to keep their vacations, great! We're renewing our APs and going forward. No one is right or wrong, I'll never understand the need to put others down on here.

 

[Angel Ariel]

The manner in which you accumulated that many FPs is not the norm.

All I did was follow the listed time on the fp that said when I could get another fp.