Just back - a challenging trip...

[Lady Hiss]

We're DVC owners and have been to WDW 20+ times in the last 16 years. We sometimes go for 7 days, sometimes just 3. This was a short trip to escape the Wisconsin winter. Unfortunatley, it was our most disappointing trip ever. Here are the issues we had:

We are big time park hoppers and love to experience several parks each day. Due to our friends being off-site, we tried to do rope drop at one park (Studios, for example), then go to another park (EPCOT) in order for our friends to link their FP with ours. It didn't work - FP for the top tiered rides were gone by 11 AM (and IMHO, tiering sucks).

We found it cumbersome to try to plan everything in advance. It became stressful to try to figure out what MIGHT work in order for all of us to experience our favorite rides. I ended up giving my FP to one of our friends so he and my DH could do some of their favs together.

The stand-by lines were longer than usual, even for the less popular rides. The only saving grace - it rained one day, which kept the crowds down at MK so we were able to do HM, Buzz, BTMR, and a few other rides without waits that were crazy.

FP Kiosk lines got very long, very fast AND one day the whole system went down. We were told to 'enjoy the park' for the next hour and come back later. We also got conflictin info from kiosk CMs about how to get FP at another park.

DH's MDE app on his phone didn't work in any of the parks. Very frustrating.

Not being able to get FP for multiple parks made park hopping less enjoyable, IMHO.

The new Fantasyland is, for us, 'meh'. Perhaps the Mine Train will make it more fun. We found the BOG area beautiful, but didn't see much innovation or creativity with the Ariel ride (another ride to sit and look at stuff as you slowly go by), though the theming of the entrance is fun. We compared the Ariel ride with HM and found it lacking (so much more intricate detail on HM). The circus area is OK, but didn't seem to have a lot for kiddies to do (and yet, another store - was that really needed?).

At this point, we're thinking we'll take a break from WDW in the hopes that they'll make changes (to FP, to tired/worn rides like the speedway, and introduce some more interactive-type rides like TSM). We've never tried Universal so that may be in our future.

Again, these are OUR opinions and impressions. Thanks for 'listening'.

 

[Rosanne]

We're DVC owners and have been to WDW 20+ times in the last 16 years. We sometimes go for 7 days, sometimes just 3. This was a short trip to escape the Wisconsin winter. Unfortunatley, it was our most disappointing trip ever. Here are the issues we had:

We are big time park hoppers and love to experience several parks each day. Due to our friends being off-site, we tried to do rope drop at one park (Studios, for example), then go to another park (EPCOT) in order for our friends to link their FP with ours. It didn't work - FP for the top tiered rides were gone by 11 AM (and IMHO, tiering sucks).

We found it cumbersome to try to plan everything in advance. It became stressful to try to figure out what MIGHT work in order for all of us to experience our favorite rides. I ended up giving my FP to one of our friends so he and my DH could do some of their favs together.

The stand-by lines were longer than usual, even for the less popular rides. The only saving grace - it rained one day, which kept the crowds down at MK so we were able to do HM, Buzz, BTMR, and a few other rides without waits that were crazy.

FP Kiosk lines got very long, very fast AND one day the whole system went down. We were told to 'enjoy the park' for the next hour and come back later. We also got conflictin info from kiosk CMs about how to get FP at another park.

DH's MDE app on his phone didn't work in any of the parks. Very frustrating.

Not being able to get FP for multiple parks made park hopping less enjoyable, IMHO.

The new Fantasyland is, for us, 'meh'. Perhaps the Mine Train will make it more fun. We found the BOG area beautiful, but didn't see much innovation or creativity with the Ariel ride (another ride to sit and look at stuff as you slowly go by), though the theming of the entrance is fun. We compared the Ariel ride with HM and found it lacking (so much more intricate detail on HM). The circus area is OK, but didn't seem to have a lot for kiddies to do (and yet, another store - was that really needed?).

At this point, we're thinking we'll take a break from WDW in the hopes that they'll make changes (to FP, to tired/worn rides like the speedway, and introduce some more interactive-type rides like TSM). We've never tried Universal so that may be in our future.

Again, these are OUR opinions and impressions. Thanks for 'listening'.

I'm sorry your trip had chunks of disappointment. It's a sad state of affairs when you have to be happy for a rainy day to have a half decent park day.

I have concerns about many aspects of FP+. One of those is that my sister often joins us for part of our stays but we often don't know how long she can stay or when exactly she'll meet up with us until shortly before she does join us. Your experience doesn't sound too promising. Sigh.

Also, I totally agree about he FL expansion. It's pretty but tiny and the Ariel ride is really cheesy and bland. Looks more like a a carnival ride than a Disney showpiece.

I had some hopes for the 7 dwarves mine coaster but the video segment doesn't grab me either.

I love HM though. It is still the best after all these years!

 

[Sparkly]

To be fair, FP- could sell out quite early in the day for headliners too. And that system probably went down as much. Just saying.

Did you use a crowd calender?

 

[crostorfer]

To be fair, FP- could sell out quite early in the day for headliners too. And that system probably went down as much. Just saying.

Did you use a crowd calender?

The crowd calenders have not been reliable, and even Josh over at easyWDW seems to be conceding that fact. The people over at touring plans have been scrambling. FP+ is screwing with their data.

 

[Clubhouse5]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm curious about your comment about giving your FP to your friend - do you give the other person your MagicBand? I'm asking because I have FP scheduled for my family, but if one of my young DD's doesn't end up wanting to ride I wondered if my DH and son could use our FP and ride again while we wait.

From what you shared it definitely sounds like it is a good idea to avoid scheduling FP when you get to the park if at all possible.

Thanks!

 

[wdwfan22]

Thanks for sharing. I have to agree with pretty much everything you said. As for me, I still love DW, but FP+ has me heading back to DL for all my trip in the near (and maybe not so near) future.

 

[bcrook]

To be fair, FP- could sell out quite early in the day for headliners too. And that system probably went down as much. Just saying.

Did you use a crowd calender?

Rarely if ever did any ride in wdw sell out by 11:00 am except TSMM with legacy. I only travel in peak times, and pulling FP for headliners was not difficult much later in the day.

 

[Planogirl]

I agree with your comment about the Ariel ride. We were so disappointed in it. However we did think that overall the expansion was nice and hopefully the 7 dwarves ride will be pretty special.

I'm sorry that you had so much trouble. I've heard before that onsite people meeting up with offsite people can be really difficult.

 

[thumper*]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm curious about your comment about giving your FP to your friend - do you give the other person your MagicBand? I'm asking because I have FP scheduled for my family, but if one of my young DD's doesn't end up wanting to ride I wondered if my DH and son could use our FP and ride again while we wait.

From what you shared it definitely sounds like it is a good idea to avoid scheduling FP when you get to the park if at all possible.

Thanks!

I am also interested in the answer to this. Thanks

 

[Minniekins]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm curious about your comment about giving your FP to your friend - do you give the other person your MagicBand? I'm asking because I have FP scheduled for my family, but if one of my young DD's doesn't end up wanting to ride I wondered if my DH and son could use our FP and ride again while we wait.

From what you shared it definitely sounds like it is a good idea to avoid scheduling FP when you get to the park if at all possible.

Thanks!

I'm obviously not the person you quoted or asked about switching MB's to use a FP+. But, thought I'd share my experience from our Dec trip. I gave my daughter my MB so she could use my TT FP+s(we were lucky to book our FP's before tiering took effect), whenever we were in Epcot on our week long trip. It worked just fine with no problems or questions.

 

[disneyerin]

Wait.....you can still get paper FP's in the parks?

 

[CinqueTerre]

Different strokes I guess. My family and I actually enjoy the new Mermaid ride.

 

[aubriee]

Wait.....you can still get paper FP's in the parks?

No, those machines are gone. If you are staying offsite you can go to a FP+ kiosk and see if any fast passes are available.

We are annual passholders who are staying offsite March 21st-31st. As of now we still can't prebook fast passes, but the system did let me order magic bands this past weekend. Hopefully when they arrive, the lock will be taken off on their site and we might get to prebook fast passes, like onsite guests. This late though, I am not expecting much to be available. I am really dreading this trip and am only going because my husband wanted to get one more trip out of our AP's. For the first time in ten years, we will not be renewing our fast passes for next year though. We just have no desire to go back with the system like it is. We'll be getting alot fewer fast passes, be able to ride alot fewer rides, will be standing in longer lines, and with the recent price hikes it would cost us more to do so. No thanks! We'll be taking our money over to Universal and Sea World.

 

[dachsie]

No, those machines are gone. If you are staying offsite you can go to a FP+ kiosk and see if any fast passes are available. We are annual passholders who are staying offsite March 21st-31st. As of now we still can't prebook fast passes, but the system did let me order magic bands this past weekend. Hopefully when they arrive, the lock will be taken off on their site and we might get to prebook fast passes, like onsite guests. This late though, I am not expecting much to be available. I am really dreading this trip and am only going because my husband wanted to get one more trip out of our AP's. For the first time in ten years, we will not be renewing our fast passes for next year though. We just have no desire to go back with the system like it is. We'll be getting alot fewer fast passes, be able to ride alot fewer rides, will be standing in longer lines, and with the recent price hikes it would cost us more to do so. No thanks! We'll be taking our money over to Universal and Sea World.

I will be there the 22-29 too. But when I called about ticketing was told only guests staying on property could get magic bands? This is getting so confusing. I guess it's a good thing I only have a few must-dos, anything else will just be lagniappe.

 

[patty57]

To be fair, FP- could sell out quite early in the day for headliners too. And that system probably went down as much. Just saying.

Did you use a crowd calender?

I don't remember the FP- system going down much at all. Also agree with another poster that other than TSMM, you could usually get FP- for most attractions even into the afternoon, except maybe during the busiest times of the year.

 

[jo-jo]

We were there in Sept before FP+ was really rolled out and I was hoping it would have been all figured out before our trip in May. It doesn't look that way.

We are going with our DS and family. And since we get to go more than them, I was planning on giving them our MB a few times so they could get some extra rides. I hope that will still work ok.

My DH and I are going in Dec and then take a yr off. Hopefully, by 2016 it will be figured out.

 

[3happydancers]

We're DVC owners and have been to WDW 20+ times in the last 16 years. We sometimes go for 7 days, sometimes just 3. This was a short trip to escape the Wisconsin winter. Unfortunatley, it was our most disappointing trip ever. Here are the issues we had:

We are big time park hoppers and love to experience several parks each day. Due to our friends being off-site, we tried to do rope drop at one park (Studios, for example), then go to another park (EPCOT) in order for our friends to link their FP with ours. It didn't work - FP for the top tiered rides were gone by 11 AM (and IMHO, tiering sucks).

We found it cumbersome to try to plan everything in advance. It became stressful to try to figure out what MIGHT work in order for all of us to experience our favorite rides. I ended up giving my FP to one of our friends so he and my DH could do some of their favs together.

The stand-by lines were longer than usual, even for the less popular rides. The only saving grace - it rained one day, which kept the crowds down at MK so we were able to do HM, Buzz, BTMR, and a few other rides without waits that were crazy.

FP Kiosk lines got very long, very fast AND one day the whole system went down. We were told to 'enjoy the park' for the next hour and come back later. We also got conflictin info from kiosk CMs about how to get FP at another park.

DH's MDE app on his phone didn't work in any of the parks. Very frustrating.

Not being able to get FP for multiple parks made park hopping less enjoyable, IMHO.

The new Fantasyland is, for us, 'meh'. Perhaps the Mine Train will make it more fun. We found the BOG area beautiful, but didn't see much innovation or creativity with the Ariel ride (another ride to sit and look at stuff as you slowly go by), though the theming of the entrance is fun. We compared the Ariel ride with HM and found it lacking (so much more intricate detail on HM). The circus area is OK, but didn't seem to have a lot for kiddies to do (and yet, another store - was that really needed?).

At this point, we're thinking we'll take a break from WDW in the hopes that they'll make changes (to FP, to tired/worn rides like the speedway, and introduce some more interactive-type rides like TSM). We've never tried Universal so that may be in our future.

Again, these are OUR opinions and impressions. Thanks for 'listening'.

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like your stay was a bit frustrating. I've read many posts that stated experiencing long lines at the kiosks and on stand by. We go in August and not really looking forward to our trip this year. We were there last August and had a chance to stroll through Fantasyland. We did enjoy Bell and parts of the new Ariel ride. We weren't disappointed, but not totally blown away by it. For me, it was a little like It's A Small World. Hopefully we will have a chance to experience the Mine Train this year. We did not venture through the Circus (did not appeal to our group). The atmosphere was too much like a carnival (which I am sure it was supposed to) instead of Disney. It seemed a little out of place.

We actually cut our vacation short for this year. We had 10 days booked but are now only going for 5 due to so many reported issues. The 5 days will give us a chance to see how we feel about the changes. The other half of our vacation will be spent at US requested by DD. Our original plan was to celebrate her 16th birthday with her BFF at Disney for the full 10 days. We are hoping Disney makes some changes for the better. Time will tell.

 

[3happydancers]

I don't remember the FP- system going down much at all. Also agree with another poster that other than TSMM, you could usually get FP- for most attractions even into the afternoon, except maybe during the busiest times of the year.

Agreed We've been going since 2006 and NEVER experienced the FP- system going down. And like OP said, other than TSMM, we were able to pull fast passes throughout our day (even if we hopped to another park in the afternoon/evening).

 

[2Tiggies]

Wow, OP you have just reinforced concerns I've had about co-ordinating our plans with friends staying offsite. We have already shifted some of our social gatherings to offsite venues just to keep things simple and less frustrating and one family who booked onsite has changed plans and canceled.

I miss the days when we could meet anyone and hang out together at a park and just go together to the rides and decide together at the time if we are pulling a FP or riding standby.

 

[kmb584]

I will be there the 22-29 too. But when I called about ticketing was told only guests staying on property could get magic bands? This is getting so confusing. I guess it's a good thing I only have a few must-dos, anything else will just be lagniappe.

MBs are, as of right now, only available to on-site guests and AP holders but off-site guests can make day-of FP+ selections inside the park.