Just back - a challenging trip...

[surferdave]

Welcome to the 2%.

 

[2Tiggies]

Welcome to the 2%.

Actually with the newcomer in the club, it must have it 2.00000001% by now, surely?

 

[*disgal*]

Welcome to the 2%.

Thanks for sharing op. Fortunately for us, our family, plus some extended family will all be offsite so I guess we are all in the boat together. But to say that I am anxious about this next trip is an understatement.

 

[seashoreCM]

I think that, for the old paper fastpasses, each machine cluster (each participating ride) had its own issuance controller. This governed how many fastpasses were issued per hour (per 5 minute increment and them the come back time changed).

The significance of a link to a central controller was to enforce the 2 hour (or issued fastpass maturing) rule. If the link to the central controller was down then then you would succeed in getting a fastpass at a different ride immediately regardless of when your last fastpass said you could, but subject to the next fastpass time on your second to last fastpass if any.

I never recalled finding a machine cluster out of service due to data processing malfunction. Once I saw the machines covered in the middle of the day and that could have been for a variety of reasons including standby wait time too low to justify having a fastpass outside screening CM and an inside merge point CM.

 

[dsneprincess]

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!

Again, not the OP, but yes we just handed off our MBs to "move/share" out fast passes. You could also hand over your ticket admission since it would also link. No one cares, or even seems to look at, what name pops up.

Trying to link reservations in MDE is a nightmare. We travel with friends and met up with local friends that are AP holders: we used no FPs together and skipped/lost more than we rode. Basically, the only place this was an improvement for us was TSMM, which we rode more times than ever, which worked well because little DS really enjoyed it. We tried to link MDE with neighbors for Feb 2013 & again in 2014: they still aren't linked. DN has spent A LOT of time and effort with Disney IT trying to get linked, umm, better luck next year?!?

 

[csmith041177]

Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry it was not the best experience. However, hopefully you still had fun. Given how many times you have been fortuante enough to visit the last few years, it might just be a matter of Disney fatigute.

 

[JanaDee]

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.

I don't ever remember the legacy FP machines not working. If you had a valid ticket and there were fastpasses available, you got one. Relying on crowd calendars with FP+ is an exercise in futility.

 

[clsteve]

Welcome to the 2%.

There were not threats of physical violence or cursing in OP's post, and it had this: though the theming of the entrance is fun

so I'm pretty sure they will count this on the "happy and pleased" side....

 

[flutterby3744]

Thanks for sharing your experience. By your descriptions of the rides, it sounds to me like you might like the thrill rides better, maybe US would be a better fit for your ride style for a while.

Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry it was not the best experience. However, hopefully you still had fun. Given how many times you have been fortuante enough to visit the last few years, it might just be a matter of Disney fatigute.

I have been noticing that a lot of the disappointed guests are people that go every and sometime multiple times a year for many years. "Disney fatigue" is a theory of mine too. It wouldn't matter what I was doing, if I did it every year for 20 years it would lose some luster. I think it would do OP and others like them good to do other things for a while. Come back with fresh eyes, and you may see a different view. JMO

 

[surferdave]

The OP spoke directly to some very specific problems. I don't understand why anyone would want to dismiss those problems as "Disney fatigute" (although I do approve of the Bugs Bunny phonetic spelling).

"You must just like thrill rides" is also an unfair dismissal. She spoke favorably of TSMM and HM when she said that Journey of the Little Mermaid didn't impress.

 

[Marshay]

Thank you OP. When we went in Dec we met up with friends for one day who were FL residents with AP, too. And we couldn't link up anything either besides some non-popular rides we wouldn't FP (or even ride) anyway. This is very disappointing and I agree with PP, it might make more sense to meet up with friends off-site now.

However, for just my immediate family, it was nice to schedule the big rides for later in the afternoon or evening which we couldn't do previously without already being in the park.

For our summer trip we are going to explore SW, BG Tampa and Legoland for our first time. Yes, we'll go to Disney too but instead of 10 days we are only going for 5 days.

 

[morethananyonex]

Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry it was not the best experience. However, hopefully you still had fun. Given how many times you have been fortuante enough to visit the last few years, it might just be a matter of Disney fatigute.

How does Disney fatigue have anything to do with FP+ limitations, offsite FP+ issues, MDE app issues, increases in wait times at unexpected attractions and dislike of a new area? That makes no sense. Those are entirely new issues that OP likely did not face in the majority of his/her previous trips.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

How does Disney fatigue have anything to do with FP+ limitations, offsite FP+ issues, MDE app issues, increases in wait times at unexpected attractions and dislike of a new area? That makes no sense. Those are entirely new issues that OP likely did not face in the majority of his/her previous trips.

Because to some it could never been anything wrong with what Disney is doing so it must be something wrong with the guest and what they expect to get from their trip.

 

[flutterby3744]

The OP spoke directly to some very specific problems. I don't understand why anyone would want to dismiss those problems as "Disney fatigute" (although I do approve of the Bugs Bunny phonetic spelling).

"You must just like thrill rides" is also an unfair dismissal. She spoke favorably of TSMM and HM when she said that Journey of the Little Mermaid didn't impress.

I certainly wasn't trying to dismiss OP. It sounds like they like more facepaced rides as opposed to the "slowly look around" rides according to their description. It wasn't a knock on them, just my take on it.

Because to some it could never been anything wrong with what Disney is doing so it must be something wrong with the guest and what they expect to get from their trip.

I'm also not sticking up for Disney. For OP, the inability to link up FP with their offsite friends was a real fail. Besides the FP problems (which are legit complaints), to me, the tone was that WDW has lost some of it's shine. Perhaps going there 20 times has something to do with it. I merely suggested taking a break, visit other places, and come back with "new" eyes.

 

[2Tiggies]

Perhaps going there 20 times has something to do with it. I merely suggested taking a break, visit other places, and come back with "new" eyes.

The telling question would then be: If the system had remained as it always had, would the OP and family have felt the same way on their return from this trip?

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Sorry to hear about your troubles. That sounds like a pain. I do disagree with you about the new Little Mermaid ride, which I think is fantastic.

 

[Clubhouse5]

Thanks! It sounded like the OP gave her MB to a man so I was definitely curious if the CMs noticed the names when the bands were scanned.

Again, not the OP, but yes we just handed off our MBs to "move/share" out fast passes. You could also hand over your ticket admission since it would also link. No one cares, or even seems to look at, what name pops up.

Trying to link reservations in MDE is a nightmare. We travel with friends and met up with local friends that are AP holders: we used no FPs together and skipped/lost more than we rode. Basically, the only place this was an improvement for us was TSMM, which we rode more times than ever, which worked well because little DS really enjoyed it. We tried to link MDE with neighbors for Feb 2013 & again in 2014: they still aren't linked. DN has spent A LOT of time and effort with Disney IT trying to get linked, umm, better luck next year?!?

 

[Lizard Valley]

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.

Hi OP. Just had a thought...Knowing you are DVC, and assuming you were a party of 2, and your friends were a party of 2, and also assuming you booked a studio DVC room (capacity of 4 guests) - could you have added your friends' names to your reservation? This would have given them magic bands, as well as FP+ pre-booking abilities. They would not have needed to actually stay in your room, or even checked in with you.

 

[CinqueTerre]

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.

I would have been upset about that comment as well. Incredibly condescending.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Thanks! It sounded like the OP gave her MB to a man so I was definitely curious if the CMs noticed the names when the bands were scanned.

The names are on the inside of the band, so you can't see them.