Josh is the voice of reason on FP+

[wisblue]

I just got back from my second trip using FP+ and I still dont like it. we missed 2 of our FP and we were not allowed to get new ones to replace the ones we missed. we were there this past weekend and there was over 105 min wait for thunder mnt, and this is the slow time of the year. Every ride we went on had longer wait times than usual for this time of year. it felt like I was there in the summer again for how long of a wait time it was. They could make this a lot better if they made it so whenever you use the FP+ you get 3 that you can reserve ahead of time AND have kiosks where you just scan your MB and get FP for other rides later in the day! Like you can only scan the MB for extra FP's after 1pm and can only get 1 FP per day per ride! I just think they could make this much better then how they have it now.

As Josh explained earlier in this thread, the weekend before the MLK holiday is NOT a slow time of year. In fact, it is one of the busier times. So, if you usually went at other times in January other than right after NY or over MLK weekend, the crowds almost certainly would have been lower then. You would be comparing apples to oranges.

 

[skater]

I just got back from my second trip using FP+ and I still dont like it. we missed 2 of our FP and we were not allowed to get new ones to replace the ones we missed. we were there this past weekend and there was over 105 min wait for thunder mnt, and this is the slow time of the year. Every ride we went on had longer wait times than usual for this time of year. it felt like I was there in the summer again for how long of a wait time it was. They could make this a lot better if they made it so whenever you use the FP+ you get 3 that you can reserve ahead of time AND have kiosks where you just scan your MB and get FP for other rides later in the day! Like you can only scan the MB for extra FP's after 1pm and can only get 1 FP per day per ride! I just think they could make this much better then how they have it now.

I think they will probably make some improvements. There are some cool things about the system. I loved the magic bands in October, and it was cool to be able to change a fp at the last minute without running to a machine at the other end of the park (not sure if it will be that easy in the future). Like you, I feel like there are longer lines for some rides, and I hate the limitations of the 3 fp's.

 

[donnajherren]

I'm not a fan of FP+ today. But the new system has ways to expand it that they never could have with the paper ones.

This is a very good point, and part of why I'm eager to see how this all plays out. It may work out fine for 99.9% of guests, but on the off chance that it doesn't, Disney has massive amounts of room to tailor this system.

 

[Magpie]

I know what the queue for dumbo is now. My daughter has developmental delays and is not mobile yet, so she wouldn't be able to run around like the other kids.

We are working with early intervention and ot and I hope it isn't something I have to think about by the time we go to Disney next, but I can only plan ahead for where she is now as I have no idea when she will reach those milestones.

Ah, I had no idea you had special circumstances when you talked about "waiting in a 50 minute line for Dumbo". My apologies. I assume you'll be making good use of the Disability Access Card in order to make the most of your day, then.

 

[skater]

Learning it is one thing; using it is another. The old FP system definitely favored the highly mobile. People who needed to minimize walking could not use it very effectively; people who couldn't walk fast lost out a bit at rope drop rush as well. With FP+, newbies also won't lose time trying to figure out where the FP machine is for each ride, or whether the ride even has FP. Once FP+ gets going good, it'll be a much gentler learning curve, and presumably the lines at the on-site stations will be shorter, since more people will already have bands and/or be able to schedule ahead of time.

I understand what you're saying about those who are not as mobile - I was usually the fp runner when my parents came with us. I hope you're right about newbies. I am not a newbie and I'm still struggling to understand the new system. I've been on the phone 3 times with the "help" people, and I still have issues.

 

[rteetz]

This is a very good point, and part of why I'm eager to see how this all plays out. It may work out fine for 99.9% of guests, but on the off chance that it doesn't, Disney has massive amounts of room to tailor this system.

certainly Disney will be able to make changes to this system forever in ways that no other previous system could. It will be able to adapt to different things.

 

[jbish]

I don't think there will be lower crowds at Disney World, unfortunately. But expressing disappointment in the new system or even complaining about it is not the same thing as bad mouthing the system. Or maybe I don't correctly understand that term .

You're right - maybe "bad mouthing" was the wrong phrase to use. I reacted to the negativity with more negativity. Perhaps they feel that complaining or expressing disappointment will help someone else as they plan their trip. This is an intimidating subject for newbies. I found FP+ worked well for us and hope that people who are looking for "strategies" on how to plan their trip don't get too discouraged.

(Damn - I got caught up in the FP+ drama. I shouldn't have gotten sucked in. lol)

 

[Angel Ariel]

Ah, I had no idea you had special circumstances when you talked about "waiting in a 50 minute line for Dumbo". My apologies. I assume you'll be making good use of the Disability Access Card in order to make the most of your day, then.

To ne honest, no,we have never used the das and it.never crossed my mind to. Dd can wait in regular lines just fine. well, as fine as any toddler...But being a toddler isn't a reason for the das .

She has no problems being around people or anything. Its just a queue like dumbo, right now, isn't the advantage to her as it is to other kids. When we are in.line with her, either dh carries her or I wear her in a beco. When she's able to hold her own in mobility, I know she will love the dumbo playground, I just don't know when that will be.

Eta: I don't think any family wants to have.to bring young children into any long line...and 50 mins is long for me, so of course it would be long for her too. Dumbo would be.more of a challenge than most other lines, though, because I know Dd would *want* to get down and play, but I would be concerned about her safety putting her down like that in a playground area when she can't crawl or walk. That is a situation I'd rather avoid that isn't as much of an issue in other lines where there aren't playground distractions

 

[shalom]

I am not a newbie and I'm still struggling to understand the new system. I've been on the phone 3 times with the "help" people, and I still have issues.

Right now, everyone's a newbie when it comes to FP+ -- including the people trying to help you through it! Hopefully things will improve when more CMs have worked with the system.

My main concern is whether or not the online system will work well long term. That is a huge load of data being fed in every day, and I suspect people are going to be fiddling with their FP+ reservations more than they do ADRs or room reservations. Disney computer stuff can be gonzo glitchy sometimes, seems like, which does not bode well, but OTOH maybe it's not as glitchy as I think and it's just that people are more likely to post when they've got a complaint. My Real Life Disney pals haven't had any problems. And the only problem I've ever had didn't involve any computers; the guy at the ticket office somehow miscoded our Give A Day ticket to some event that was over.

 

[skater]

You're right - maybe "bad mouthing" was the wrong phrase to use. I reacted to the negativity with more negativity. Perhaps they feel that complaining or expressing disappointment will help someone else as they plan their trip. This is an intimidating subject for newbies. I found FP+ worked well for us and hope that people who are looking for "strategies" on how to plan their trip don't get too discouraged.

(Damn - I got caught up in the FP+ drama. I shouldn't have gotten sucked in. lol):rolleyes:

Me too . I told myself I was done with these threads!

 

[FireDancer]

I don't think you did anything wrong or manipulated the system. But the system Disney had set up allowed for the extremes. My personal belief is that Disney no longer wants the extremes to be quite so far apart. As a result- they are changing the system to push everybody closer to the average. This understandably upsets people who were at the extreme (not saying you did anything wrong or considered yourself extreme, you just knew the system and this gave you the advantage). The question long term is whether knowing the new system will also give you an advantage- I believe it will, just not as much of an advantage as people had before.

This is exactly what I meant by pushing the extremes into the fat middle and I think it is exactly what Disney is doing. They don't want anyone to have access to many more attractions then the average, middle of the road, does very little to no research guest.

The old system also gives them much less control and allowed guests to use it in ways that Disney didn't intend. Making the system less prone to the whims of the front line CMs and more centrally controllable they can more effectively enforce the rules they want to enforce.

 

[rteetz]

This is exactly what I meant by pushing the extremes into the fat middle and I think it is exactly what Disney is doing. They don't want anyone to have access to many more attractions then the average, middle of the road, does very little to no research guest. The old system also have them much less control and allowed guests to use it in ways that Disney didn't intend. Making the system less prone to the whims of the front line CMs and more centrally controllable they can more effectively enforce the rules they want to enforce.

exactly

 

[MyTwoPrincesses]

My 2 cents:

- The Disboards population is not representative of the average WDW vacationer. Most WDW vacationers were not getting more than 3 FP-s or riding the same ride more than once very often, if at all. In fact, not all Disboarders vacation that way either. I am a savvy WDW traveler, but with 3 small kids, a stroller, one child who is NOT a morning person, I never could do RD and run across the park collecting FP-. I prioritized etc., but that's it. For me, even as a savvy traveler, the only hard part about FP+ is the Epcot and DHS tiering. Otherwise FP+ will be an improvement because I can plan ahead and not have to run around the parks to make sure I can do the rides that are important to me.
- Most WDW vacationers will not be booking their FP+s 60 days out. So as Disboarders, if you stay onsite, you have an advantage.
- Even if you stay offsite you will still have an advantage. Unlike the average vacationer, you will still get to the parks early, know how to work the FP+ kiosks, know how to change times (not stick with the ones WDW gives you), and know which attractions warrant FP+ and what times you should use them.
- Waiting in a few lines won't kill you. And, I suspect lines will go down because more people can ride the headliners with FP+ rather than standing in line. Under the old system, the same people hogged up a lot of FPs which made lines longer for everyone else.
- WDW absolutely should care about the experience of the average vacationer. They want people to remember what a great time they had at WDW and not about how all they did was wait in line. Better experiences = more repeat visitors overall.

 

[rteetz]

My 2 cents: - The Disboards population is not representative of the average WDW vacationer. Most WDW vacationers were not getting more than 3 FP-s or riding the same ride more than once very often, if at all. In fact, not all Disboarders vacation that way either. I am a savvy WDW traveler, but with 3 small kids, a stroller, one child who is NOT a morning person, I never could do RD and run across the park collecting FP-. I prioritized etc., but that's it. For me, even as a savvy traveler, the only hard part about FP+ is the Epcot and DHS tiering. Otherwise FP+ will be an improvement because I can plan ahead and not have to run around the parks to make sure I can do the rides that are important to me. - Most WDW vacationers will not be booking their FP+s 60 days out. So as Disboarders, if you stay onsite, you have an advantage. - Even if you stay offsite you will still have an advantage. Unlike the average vacationer, you will still get to the parks early, know how to work the FP+ kiosks, know how to change times (not stick with the ones WDW gives you), and know which attractions warrant FP+ and what times you should use them. - Waiting in a few lines won't kill you. And, I suspect lines will go down because more people can ride the headliners with FP+ rather than standing in line. Under the old system, the same people hogged up a lot of FPs which made lines longer for everyone else. - WDW absolutely should care about the experience of the average vacationer. They want people to remember what a great time they had at WDW and not about how all they did was wait in line. Better experiences = more repeat visitors overall.

I completely agree

 

[KimmiP]

We are going on our trip the end of August. When I told my husband (he is a programmer) about all this he was curious. I explained that the new system was being slowly rolled out. Then last week I told him that boom! everything was going FP+ by end of month. You know his reply? "Good!" I of course didn't understand but then he explained that it is so much easier to debug a program when the whole program is in operation instead of doing it piecemeal. I told him that they may add other things like off site guests. He said it didn't matter. That would be a formality. A true test would be the whole system online with no legacy fp's getting in the way. Since he writes code and programs for a living I took him at his word.

God I hope that man is right!

 

[KimmiP]

My 2 cents:

- The Disboards population is not representative of the average WDW vacationer. Most WDW vacationers were not getting more than 3 FP-s or riding the same ride more than once very often, if at all. In fact, not all Disboarders vacation that way either. I am a savvy WDW traveler, but with 3 small kids, a stroller, one child who is NOT a morning person, I never could do RD and run across the park collecting FP-. I prioritized etc., but that's it. For me, even as a savvy traveler, the only hard part about FP+ is the Epcot and DHS tiering. Otherwise FP+ will be an improvement because I can plan ahead and not have to run around the parks to make sure I can do the rides that are important to me.
- Most WDW vacationers will not be booking their FP+s 60 days out. So as Disboarders, if you stay onsite, you have an advantage.
- Even if you stay offsite you will still have an advantage. Unlike the average vacationer, you will still get to the parks early, know how to work the FP+ kiosks, know how to change times (not stick with the ones WDW gives you), and know which attractions warrant FP+ and what times you should use them.
- Waiting in a few lines won't kill you. And, I suspect lines will go down because more people can ride the headliners with FP+ rather than standing in line. Under the old system, the same people hogged up a lot of FPs which made lines longer for everyone else.
- WDW absolutely should care about the experience of the average vacationer. They want people to remember what a great time they had at WDW and not about how all they did was wait in line. Better experiences = more repeat visitors overall.

Right on.

 

[MikeSF]

Yeah that's my stumbling point too. I know some people didn't like FP-, but they lose me when they refer to people who simply used the system in that manor.

Gaming/cheating/abusing the system should refer to those who used fake FP, handed the CMs one real and the rest invalid, and things of that nature. Using the system to the fullest is not gaming the system anymore than booking 3 FP+ for the busiest time of day on the busiest rides is gaming the system.

I don't know, back in the day one might say using FPs outside of their return window (and not just by 10-15 minutes) would be cheating/abusing the system, but that was one of the most pushed strategies for using maximum FPs in any given day

 

[mafibisha]

We *MAY* be going to the world for 2 days in February, next month but still super excited woot woot!! Fingers and toes crossed! LOL

So I went to the WDW site to see what was new (its been 2.5 years) and read a lot about the new *tests* of the FastPass+ and MagicBands. And it sounded like since a *test, that not all people will be able to use them??

And so I came here, where y'all know everything. And I mean everything. I found this thread and even more confused. So my questions, if anyone could kindly reply:

* do all people get to use the FastPast+? And how do you do it?

* how do you snag the MagicBands? Sounds random for on site guests only? If we get to go, we will likely grab a room at a value, just to be on site, since we won't be in the room much at all.

Also, is there already a thread where its all explained? I didn't see a sticky for it.

If we're able to go, I want to be prepared as I usually spend almost a year planning other trips.

TIA!!

 

[Robo]

We *MAY* be going to the world for 2 days in February, next month but still super excited woot woot!! Fingers and toes crossed! LOL

So I went to the WDW site to see what was new (its been 2.5 years) and read a lot about the new *tests* of the FastPass+ and MagicBandsAnd it sounded like since a *test, that not all people will be able to use them??

And so I came here, where y'all know everything. And I mean everything. I found this thread and even more confused. So my questions, if anyone could kindly reply:

1a- do all people get to use the FastPast+?
1b- And how do you do it?

2a- how do you snag the MagicBands? Sounds random for on site guests only?

2b-If we get to go, we will likely grab a room at a value, just to be on site, since we won't be in the room much at all.

3- is there already a thread where its all explained? I didn't see a sticky for it.

1a- Yes. If you are staying at a WDW resort, you can make FP+ selections (3 per day, one park only)
as early as 60 days before your check-in date.
If you are NOT staying at a WDW resort, you can make FP+ selections (3 per day, one park only)
after you enter the park on the day-of.

1b- Sign up on MyDisneyExperince on the www.disneyworld.com website.

2a- If you are staying at a WDW resort, you will get a MB for every guest registered.
2b- That will work.

3- HERE and HERE ya go.

 

[magicbob]

I don't know, back in the day one might say using FPs outside of their return window (and not just by 10-15 minutes) would be cheating/abusing the system, but that was one of the most pushed strategies for using maximum FPs in any given day

One might say that, but one would be incorrect.