Just Back-My Observations...(Not A Trip Report)

[JimmyV]

My sister also was at first having trouble, telling me at 9:30am that there were no Big Thunder FP left for the whole day.

It wasn't that she was having "trouble". It was that there simply weren't any FPs available for the attraction for the entire day. Obviously, that changes on the fly, and that is what makes the mobile app most useful. But one has to be persistent and spend a lot of time staring at their phone trying over and over again. As I reported, we did get a BTMRR FP later in the day. But that wasn't the result of us finally "learning" how to use the system. It is simply a function of there not being any FPs available earlier in the day, and then all of a sudden, some opening up.

 

[JimmyV]

All 5 examples of what some of us enjoy about FP+, and all 5 examples of getting FP+ after 11:00 AM.

Honestly, (and it's been a long week), I really don't see what you are driving at. FP- were available after 11:00. I never said that they weren't. Recall that my original post said: "for those who insist that FP+ is better because “all the good FPs were gone by 11:00 under the old system", ...". I never said that they were. I said that others say that this was the case. These are my personal observations from a firsthand account. During the week we were there, if you checked for premium FPs at 11:00, we consistently and unerringly got the message that there were no more FPs available for this experience for the remainder of the day. Seriously. I am not making this up. Did FPs pop up from time to time? Sure. I would say that on balance, if one wanted to compare getting a premium FP at noon under the old system, getting a premium FP under FP+ when only the kiosks were in use, and getting a premium FP today, I have to say that today gives you the lowest availability. And that only makes sense. Tens of thousands of more people are using the system, and now everyone can do so in the palm of their hand. It follows that more usage equals lower availability. Does lower equal "none"? No. So pointing out that one can get a FP at AK at 4:00 is sort of pointless.

 

[jade1]

Honestly, (and it's been a long week), I really don't see what you are driving at. FP- were available after 11:00. I never said that they weren't. Recall that my original post said: "for those who insist that FP+ is better because “all the good FPs were gone by 11:00 under the old system", ...". I never said that they were. I said that others say that this was the case. These are my personal observations from a firsthand account. During the week we were there, if you checked for premium FPs at 11:00, we consistently and unerringly got the message that there were no more FPs available for this experience for the remainder of the day. Seriously. I am not making this up. Did FPs pop up from time to time? Sure. I would say that on balance, if one wanted to compare getting a premium FP at noon under the old system, getting a premium FP under FP+ when only the kiosks were in use, and getting a premium FP today, I have to say that today gives you the lowest availability. And that only makes sense. Tens of thousands of more people are using the system, and now everyone can do so in the palm of their hand. It follows that more usage equals lower availability. Does lower equal "none"? No. So pointing out that one can get a FP at AK at 4:00 is sort of pointless.

Thanks Jimmyv, its no biggie-it does appear worded that way, but for us it was a fact (for sure by noon) but we mostly travel peak.

There is an OCT video (pre FP+) showing TSM drained well before noon as well from that super long line, just as an example.

And for arrival day, the day we are at US, the day we are AK they were for sure long gone in the past-this was not only peak weeks but almost any time.

But like you arriving after 1, our group arrives after 5 holding as many as 42 FP's, that's a lot many guests will not be seeing as available on the app, and 42 we would have never gotten in the past.

 

[ellie05]

We were there last week too and I didn't think the crowds were bad at all. Our longest wait was TT and that is because DMIL made us late for RD, that was a 30 min wait.

As for the random search you are right not random DH got picked almost every time it got to the point were he will just take the items out of his pockets at bag check so he can just get through it faster.

 

[JimmyV]

We were there last week too and I didn't think the crowds were bad at all.

I'd call the crowds manageable. They were definitely larger than we anticipated given that this is the tail end of Spring vacations. But I am sure that the crowds were much smaller than the prior 4 or 5 weeks. Our longest wait was 29 minutes. But a lot of that was experience and craftiness.

 

[Love Tink]

It wasn't that she was having "trouble". It was that there simply weren't any FPs available for the attraction for the entire day. Obviously, that changes on the fly, and that is what makes the mobile app most useful. But one has to be persistent and spend a lot of time staring at their phone trying over and over again. As I reported, we did get a BTMRR FP later in the day. But that wasn't the result of us finally "learning" how to use the system. It is simply a function of there not being any FPs available earlier in the day, and then all of a sudden, some opening up.

Yes, in fact it was that she was "having trouble." After she expressed frustration, I logged into the app from home (using her log in information) and found available times for Big Thunder throughout the rest of the day.

Her problem was that when she went in, the app was directing itself to look for times in the morning. That is the default search - to look for immediate times. There were no times left in the morning. When I hit the tab for afternoon, times opened up all afternoon. Not just one or two - almost any time I wanted.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about whether you were maximizing the app. The fact that I know is that on the same day you were there, I was able to get any FP I wanted (with the exception of the Mine Train), for any time I wanted, all afternoon and evening, for a party of four. It took learning the right way to finagle the app, but it wasn't too hard after that. I suppose it is within the realm of possibility that I just happened to get really lucky 16 times...

While they rode Splash at 8:50, I went in and was able to get Big Thunder for 9:00. There were also times available for 9:10, 9:40, 10:00, 10:20, etc. Some may have been cancellations that opened up. But I'm pretty sure some had been there all day, while the app was telling people "There are no FP available."

The app only changed a couple weeks ago and the new interface makes it necessary to go through a couple steps to get the true selection of options.

 

[Love Tink]

These are my personal observations from a firsthand account. During the week we were there, if you checked for premium FPs at 11:00, we consistently and unerringly got the message that there were no more FPs available for this experience for the remainder of the day. Seriously. I am not making this up.

I want to make sure you know that I am not doubting or questioning your experience. Your posts are always thoughtful and informative. You obviously know what you are doing.

But - and I hate to be having this conversation when it is too late to maybe help you - I know exactly what you mean. Many times initially the app would give that "no FP left today" message and I had to change tabs and widen the search. The initial search it does is for a short period of time - and the message it gives, when it says "today," is misleading. It should say "in this time period." I think the changes to the app have made it harder to use both on MDE and on the MDE app.

 

[JimmyV]

Yes, in fact it was that she was "having trouble." After she expressed frustration, I logged into the app from home (using her log in information) and found available times for Big Thunder throughout the rest of the day.

Her problem was that when she went in, the app was directing itself to look for times in the morning. That is the default search - to look for immediate times. There were no times left in the morning. When I hit the tab for afternoon, times opened up all afternoon. Not just one or two - almost any time I wanted.

We'll just have to agree to disagree about whether you were maximizing the app. The fact that I know is that on the same day you were there, I was able to get any FP I wanted (with the exception of the Mine Train), for any time I wanted, all afternoon and evening, for a party of four. It took learning the right way to finagle the app, but it wasn't too hard after that. I suppose it is within the realm of possibility that I just happened to get really lucky 16 times...

While they rode Splash at 8:50, I went in and was able to get Big Thunder for 9:00. There were also times available for 9:10, 9:40, 10:00, 10:20, etc. Some may have been cancellations that opened up. But I'm pretty sure some had been there all day, while the app was telling people "There are no FP available."

The app only changed a couple weeks ago and the new interface makes it necessary to go through a couple steps to get the true selection of options.

Based on the bolded, I am not following you at all. The app does indeed have a "Morning", "Afternoon" and "Evening" search option, and it does indeed default to your current time. But it also has specific times by the half hour. All you have to do is swipe left or right to get to the exact time you want to search for. So at noon, you can search for 7:00 p.m.. And that is what we did. The fact that your sister and I were in the park and you were at home is telling. It may be that those of us in the park were simply getting different data sent to us. Please recall that the message that kept coming up was that there was "no more availability for this attraction for the remainder of the day". (Along with an orange triangle, or some other "error" type symbol). That is pretty unambiguous and not the result of some user error where the user is simply looking for a small slice of time or the current time only. Remainder of the day means all day. And if that message is incorrect, then the problem lies with the app and not the user.

 

[WillAustin]

It may be that those of us in the park were simply getting different data sent to us.

Strangely, that might make sense from a business perspective. Give priority for same day FPs to people who aren't in the park yet.