Just back, hate fp+ system

[ariane37]

We have been going at least once a year and had our routine. This new system stinks. I made our selections before leaving and made them between 11 and 2 so that we could get more fp. You had to wait in very long lines to get the additional fp. We also found that we backtracked so much. We alśo found that the wait times were not so accurate. Mydisneyexperience was not so cooperative. Also you could not get fp to the main rides on the same day.

I agree with some of what you said. I've pretty much put off writing my feelings about FP+ on any thread b/c I know so many will disagree, and I also understand why it does and will work for some. And I think we all just have to realize we won't ever all agree one system was better than the other.

We used FP+ for the 2nd time in August. In Feb. it was ok; my main concern was getting on our favorite rides multiple times like we're used to, and for the most part we managed that (remember no 4th, 5th, etc. available then). In Aug. I thought it would be easier due to projected lower crowds and the ability to get more than 3.

Both trips we felt more rushed and locked in, locked in before we even started. Felt we were running around the parks more. Never felt that way with FP-. If we found a kiosk in Aug. with a long line, that sucked. If we had decided to find a kiosk with a shorter line-what's the difference between doing that, or "running around getting paper FP's"? Don't see an improvement there. I don't want to plan my entire day 60 days out based on FP's. We used to go wherever we wanted to first and get a FP. BTMRR? Ride once, grab FP, do other rides in the general area until FP time. If we felt like doing PP first we'd do that, grab FP, general rides in the area until FP time. I could decide while waiting to go in. No running around, no deciding 2 months before trip We also could (and did) ride TSMM at RD and grab a FP, then RnRc SB no wait; back to TSMM with FP, grab another FP for it and do RnRc again SB with barely a wait. No more of that...............

App rarely worked in Aug. so when we decided at dinner one night to change our park the next day, I couldn't change FP's in restaurant. Or walking around park afterwards. Or on bus. WiFi at resort wasn't good that night so couldn't change them until about midnight. Very annoying, when with old system we could have made our decision to switch parks and that was that. Yes, we could forego using our FP's and stand in line (and last week of Aug. wasn't that crowded but certain rides still had waits and it was HOT on line lol) but, we've always gone during relatively slow times and don't wait on long lines. If waiting on long lines had been our experience on our first few trips, I don't know that we've have kept returning as often.

Last week of Aug. had lowest predicted crowds I believe since sometime in May?? However, arriving at EPCOT twice that week, at RD, TT and Soarin' were already out of FP's for the day. Same deal 3 mornings at RD at HS for TSMM. We weren't looking for these, but I noticed on the signs they thankfully now put up (which weren't there in Feb) before you wait on the kiosk lines. We didn't try for any 4th's except BTMRR one day, tried at 1:00 and got a 5, fine. Tried at 4:00 one day for a TOT and all that was left was Fantasmic and Muppets LOL!! It was the day before Labor Day yes; but c'mon, really?? Finally, we got less repeat rides on the big ones in Aug. than in Feb. Not sure why. Well, because SB lines were longer even though crowds were lower. And as I said, we don't wait on long lines b/c we've never had to.

Again let me say my experience with FP+ is that of a family used to going during non-busy times. Although, Black Friday 2012 we got FP's for Soarin' at 9:30 for 10:45, and at about 11:15 for 2:00. So there were more available later in the day then, than on Aug. 28th, 2014 at 9:00 with FP+

 

[disnut8]

My family are not morning people so in the past when we got to the parks, headliners like TSMM would only have return times that were really far out. It was so nice to get there and have a FP during the day.

This! It's just my husband and me and before FastPass Plus, we rode Toy Story Mania only three times in about 4-5 annual trips each year it's been opened. Once, we were able to get a decent FastPass but it was a slow day in early January, once we stood in the standby line, and once we were given FastPasses by a couple who had to leave the park for dinner (total strangers to us). Now, we can get our FastPasses at least 30 days in advance and have a lot of fun competing with each other.

Same thing with Expedition Everest as we always did the single rider line. Now, we can get a FastPass Plus and ride together.

The tiering is a downfall but understandable. I'd love to ride Rock N Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania on the same day but it's fine to do single riders or standby on Rock N Roller Coaster.

My only want/need for FastPass Plus is to be able to book at different parks in the same day as we always park hop. I'd love for it to be three FastPasses per day but have the option of choosing three different parks if you wanted. Or, two parks. But, I can live with it.

 

[nagshead]

We just got back and loved FP. We only waits a few minutes at the kiosks to add more and dd and DH were able to ride the big ones 7dmt at least two times each day we did MK. We didn't feel rushed to get to the park first thing bc our fast passes were set. We arranged them around our meals and it worked perfect. Best trip we've had!

 

[ncdj2013]

I think that was us lol. That's the only thing I miss about the old system. Being able to give away the passes you couldn't use because you had no control over the time you were going to ride.

 

[Mamasmurf227]

We are on our way home right now after spending the past week at WDW. I have mixed feelings about FP+

We found that it worked very well for us at MK. We were able to change our FP times (when the app worked) and not once did we wait in a standby line. We did at least 15 attractions our first MK day, mostly with FP. Lines for the kiosks were never more than 1-2 people. I just wish you could make additional FP from the app.

However, it was a total failure for us at the other parks. The tier system, lack of attractions that our family is interested in, etc just made it useless. We don't do TT or Soarin' and we didn't need FP for Living because it was walk on. Would appreciate not being forced to select a tier 1 attraction in order to get a 4th FP.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I agree with some of what you said. I've pretty much put off writing my feelings about FP+ on any thread b/c I know so many will disagree, and I also understand why it does and will work for some. And I think we all just have to realize we won't ever all agree one system was better than the other.

We used FP+ for the 2nd time in August. In Feb. it was ok; my main concern was getting on our favorite rides multiple times like we're used to, and for the most part we managed that (remember no 4th, 5th, etc. available then). In Aug. I thought it would be easier due to projected lower crowds and the ability to get more than 3.

Both trips we felt more rushed and locked in, locked in before we even started. Felt we were running around the parks more. Never felt that way with FP-. If we found a kiosk in Aug. with a long line, that sucked. If we had decided to find a kiosk with a shorter line-what's the difference between doing that, or "running around getting paper FP's"? Don't see an improvement there. I don't want to plan my entire day 60 days out based on FP's. We used to go wherever we wanted to first and get a FP. BTMRR? Ride once, grab FP, do other rides in the general area until FP time. If we felt like doing PP first we'd do that, grab FP, general rides in the area until FP time. I could decide while waiting to go in. No running around, no deciding 2 months before trip We also could (and did) ride TSMM at RD and grab a FP, then RnRc SB no wait; back to TSMM with FP, grab another FP for it and do RnRc again SB with barely a wait. No more of that...............

App rarely worked in Aug. so when we decided at dinner one night to change our park the next day, I couldn't change FP's in restaurant. Or walking around park afterwards. Or on bus. WiFi at resort wasn't good that night so couldn't change them until about midnight. Very annoying, when with old system we could have made our decision to switch parks and that was that. Yes, we could forego using our FP's and stand in line (and last week of Aug. wasn't that crowded but certain rides still had waits and it was HOT on line lol) but, we've always gone during relatively slow times and don't wait on long lines. If waiting on long lines had been our experience on our first few trips, I don't know that we've have kept returning as often.

Last week of Aug. had lowest predicted crowds I believe since sometime in May?? However, arriving at EPCOT twice that week, at RD, TT and Soarin' were already out of FP's for the day. Same deal 3 mornings at RD at HS for TSMM. We weren't looking for these, but I noticed on the signs they thankfully now put up (which weren't there in Feb) before you wait on the kiosk lines. We didn't try for any 4th's except BTMRR one day, tried at 1:00 and got a 5, fine. Tried at 4:00 one day for a TOT and all that was left was Fantasmic and Muppets LOL!! It was the day before Labor Day yes; but c'mon, really?? Finally, we got less repeat rides on the big ones in Aug. than in Feb. Not sure why. Well, because SB lines were longer even though crowds were lower. And as I said, we don't wait on long lines b/c we've never had to.

Again let me say my experience with FP+ is that of a family used to going during non-busy times. Although, Black Friday 2012 we got FP's for Soarin' at 9:30 for 10:45, and at about 11:15 for 2:00. So there were more available later in the day then, than on Aug. 28th, 2014 at 9:00 with FP+

Many of the points you brought up are the same way our family feels about FP+. But we don't have the option of travelling during lower crowds. We always travel in the month of June.

 

[mouselike-harrier]

I've put off addressing my fast pass + feelings until now like a lot of you.
1st, I miss the old system because planning 60 days out doesn't count on circumstances or weather changing. I had fast passes I simply didn't use for MK because quite frankly, I was sick of being wet and wanted to go back to the hotel and dry off. Also, like a lot of other posters, I miss being able to give and get fast passes that weren't being used. Wish they could mix the old and new system.

 

[Dawn68PA]

One thing I noticed about the new FP system? It keeps me out of the park. Since you can FP pretty much anything, we went when our FP was due and I tried to line them up. Then we left the park not wanting to wait in lines ( we did do things that never have a long line). We usually do each park over 2 days so it was a quick in and out.

 

[cinnamon1908]

The tier system is what I dislike most about the FP system. I wish they would do away with that.

I was hoping I could just do new FP reservations on MDE on my phone and not worry with the FP kiosk lines.

 

[cakebaker]

We just got back from our 2nd trip each within 60 days of each other.

FP+ works well for us in that we park hop. We scheduled afternoon/evening fp's for one park, did rope drop at the other. This worked well both trips. I have no problem with the concept of fp+- the advance scheduling and all is fine with me.

I do have issues with the fact that even though it didn't happen to us, fp's for the big rides can be sold out at the 60 day mark, virtually locking you out of riding unless you go standby- that's not right and it needs fixed. Open up more allotment for those rides- even if it makes the fp line a little slower, it simply should not be that you book a room on site and still can't get the headliners.

Frankly, it's ok with me that 30 days out its even harder. Disney wants their guests to stay on site. It's their choice to run their business as they see fit. Those that stay on site should have an advantage, and a big one, over those who do not. But it's not ok when you do stay on site and still can't get the fp's.

I don't think we should under-estimate the impact the practice of using multiple bands to garner additional fastpasses is having on sdfp availability. It's a pretty popular idea here on the dis and I doubt that only those who frequent these boards have figured out the game. Disney should put a stop to that abuse.

At any rate, if they'd allow us to use our own devices, increase the number of fp's for the hot rides and tighten up the system against abuses, I think a lot of people would be a lot happier.

 

[wdw4rfam]

One thing I noticed about the new FP system? It keeps me out of the park. Since you can FP pretty much anything, we went when our FP was due and I tried to line them up. Then we left the park not wanting to wait in lines ( we did do things that never have a long line). We usually do each park over 2 days so it was a quick in and out.

Same here, we found ourselves having much more pool time this trip. We would do our FP, ADR s and leave unless we found a short line. We did not care for FP+ and all 7 of us voted for skipping next year and going someplace else. If we are going to spend more time swimming than being in the park, we can save a lot of money going elsewhere. We did do MK on a slow day and managed to do a lot, but other than that we all felt like we rode half the amount we used to.

 

[lilpooh108]

Same here, we found ourselves having much more pool time this trip. We would do our FP, ADR s and leave unless we found a short line. We did not care for FP+ and all 7 of us voted for skipping next year and going someplace else. If we are going to spend more time swimming than being in the park, we can save a lot of money going elsewhere. We did do MK on a slow day and managed to do a lot, but other than that we all felt like we rode half the amount we used to.

Wow, I thought this was just us. I guess this is more people than we thought.

We lined up our FP+s so they were back to back mid-day, then maybe added the 4th just one time on the way out the park. We would go back by afternoon for pool time/nap and ate at the resort. We have been over 10xs to WDW and have never had pool time b/c we always had too many paper FPs to use.

We also never bothered shopping with our "down time." I'm not sure if this is Disney's intended outcome, but we definitely spent average 4 hours in the park per day.

We are DVC members, but we've decided to use our future points on other things and probably won't be back to WDW for a few years at least. The new FP+ system is convenient but the 3 FP limit doesn't work well for our touring style. We do only 1 headliner per day and lots of small rides/character things. I have no interest in waiting over 20 minutes for anything. On the old system, we usually got in 10-12 attractions per day. Not so this time. Very disappointed.

 

[Dawn68PA]

Funny. We bought DVC because of this trip. We enjoyed the resort and all its amenities much more since we were only in the parks for 3-4 hours!

 

[rluey29]

We let our annual passes go this year because we hated waiting 35-55 minutes for POTC, Haunted Mansion, and other rides we just walked on in the past. We were always just sitting around waiting on our next FP+ ride. In and out of the park quickly instead of spending all weekend at the parks. I'm not saying we will not go back but it may be a little bit.

 

[mom2rtk]

Funny. We bought DVC because of this trip. We enjoyed the resort and all its amenities much more since we were only in the parks for 3-4 hours!

You are Disney's new target market.

 

[lilpooh108]

Funny. We bought DVC because of this trip. We enjoyed the resort and all its amenities much more since we were only in the parks for 3-4 hours!

Well I agree with your assessment about enjoying the resort more. On prior trips, we never had time to enjoy our DVC resort stays (pools, community halls). On this trip, we spent about 1-2 hours each night (before bed) at the community hall making bracelets, unwinding and basically giving our DDs something to do. On prior trips we'd close down the park so to speak but found it more relaxing this time.

We had a great trip and weren't having a bad time or anything, but the increase in wait times (for us at least) meant less rides and less park time. We're saving up our DVC points for Aulani and cruises instead of returning to WDW and have decided not to do an annual trip in the foreseeable future (used to do 1 to 2 trips per year).

 

[lilpooh108]

We let our annual passes go this year because we hated waiting 35-55 minutes for POTC, Haunted Mansion, and other rides we just walked on in the past.

Completely agree. It wasn't worth our time to stand that long in line for what used to be "walk ons" with well-planned EMH or paper FPs. Now that everyone is in the same boat for stand-bys, the lines are longer.

FWIW, we also ended up saving a ton of money on restaurant ADRs. In the past, I'd stalk the ADR page for in-park lunch and dinner options. During this trip, I ended up cancelling all my dinner ADRs because we just weren't in the park anymore at dinner time. We ate in the room alot and incidentally saved over $300 for the week. We used to average $700 total for about 4 park days for food. I don't think I spent half that this trip for 7 days, and this is including ordering whatever we wanted at kiosks for F&W.

 

[cakebaker]

Funny. We bought DVC because of this trip. We enjoyed the resort and all its amenities much more since we were only in the parks for 3-4 hours!

Don't get me wrong- I like the fp+ system, I like the resorts and the amenities there. But- WDW costs way to much for us to only spend 3-4 hrs in the parks a day and the rest of our day being spent at the resort.

We didn't find it shortened our park time at all. There's lots to do within the parks that don't include riding rides- shows, parades, fireworks, meals. We found ourselves closing a park almost every night. We do breaks in the afternoons and get our pool time in then, but we don't make the resorts a big part of our vacation.

If we find that we're only in the parks a few hours a day, there are far less expensive resort hotels to go to that offer just as good, if not better amenities than the Disney resorts that we can vacation at.

 

[Dawn68PA]

This is what I love about Disneyites. Disney is a place that can be for everyone. I believe this FP program will work for and against guests - like most programs. It depends what you want from your vacation and how change affects it. We don't have small kids anymore so parks are cool but we don't depend on the character aspect anymore. We love spas and golf and when we looked into other timeshares.....Disney is it. We are not beach people, we love DTD and FP now gives us more time for other options than the park. I do not believe that the new system works well for those with kids who love rides.

 

[texasroni75]

We didn't have a lot of issues getting additional FP from the kiosks after we used our first 3 during our most recent trip this September. And standbys were not noticeably any longer than our trip the previous September (when FP+ was still in testing phase). I realize September is slow season, so low crowds likely helped.

I will say we also noticed that they need additional kiosk locations and/or many additional kiosks at each location. Those FP+ kiosk lines were pretty long. It was very time-consuming mainly because (1) many people in line were unfamiliar with how it worked so the CM had to explain it to at least every other person ahead of us, (2) there were large groups who couldn't agree which FP to select, and/or (3) there were language barriers between the guest and the CM manning the kiosk. It took less than a minute once it was our turn on the machine to get our next FP.

There were also some "line control" issues - many of the lines were not clear, causing confusion and some angry "hey the line is over here" type of yelling here and there because there was nobody to help direct the groups lining up. Other than that, it was smooth sailing and we really liked the new system