danceteachermom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2010
- Messages
- 343
I was completely worried about this trip with all the hysteria over FP+ on the boards. I can see how it will not create a better experience for everyone but we just got back and we loved the magic bands and FP+. For us...it was better than the old system. However we are not morning to night park people and there were some features we did not like.
I did pre schedule our fast passes before our trip. We did change things around while we were there a bit. The was a rainy day that altered our plans and we decided we liked the opportunity to sleep in a bit so we moved a few fast passes to accommodate.
What we liked:
- We arrived on a Friday afternoon and sat leisurely by the pool knowing we had fast passes for Epcot in the evening. Did Test Track with a fast pass plus Nemo and Figment where we really would have been ok without them.
-We liked not having to dash for fast passes in the morning. Got to park opening a few days and rode things with low waits then rode some again with fast passes later. Just like the old system but not having to dash to get the paper fast passes.
-I liked that we could schedule for when we knew we would be in the park. Often with the old system by the time we could get a paper fast pass it was for late afternoon or evening when we would not be in the park. The new system let us tour our way and we like to leave the parks between 12 and 2 and relax at the pool.
- Something new at Disney for us...sleeping in. While MK is still a rope drop must and Epcot is if you want to ride all headliners we found that Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios no longer required the rope drop ritual. We had the three rides for each we anticipated would have the longest waits and even during a busy week the st was manageable.
What we would like to see changed:
- At MK I would like to see 4-5 and maybe the option to fast pass something once before noon and once after.
- I'd like to see the fast passes work with park hopping. We did hop but more for eating. Hoping for rides just does not work well. We especially felt this on our Animal Kingdom day where we had fast passes but did not need them but for one ride. It would have been nice to change the other two and hop.
My biggest complaint is the difficulty of coordinating fast passes with friends. We had friends there and often when we went back to the hotel, my daughter would have been game to stay in the park with family friends. But since we did not advance plan our fast passes together, this did not work. Changing on the fly was possible but coordinating exact times not so easy during a busy week.
Hopefully Disney will tweak the system a bit but overall I liked it.
On the magic bands....
We liked the convenience. It was however easy to not realize how much we were spending. You can get a print out from the front desk of your bill any time you ask so we did this. We did not have any problems with the bands at all but probably spent more than if we had been using cash. I am sure that is what Disney wants.
One interesting observation is that during AM extra magic hours they seemed to be letting everyone it...not just Disney resort guests. Our friends were staying off property and they arrived and got in at 8:30 on an 8-9 extra magic morning.
I did pre schedule our fast passes before our trip. We did change things around while we were there a bit. The was a rainy day that altered our plans and we decided we liked the opportunity to sleep in a bit so we moved a few fast passes to accommodate.
What we liked:
- We arrived on a Friday afternoon and sat leisurely by the pool knowing we had fast passes for Epcot in the evening. Did Test Track with a fast pass plus Nemo and Figment where we really would have been ok without them.
-We liked not having to dash for fast passes in the morning. Got to park opening a few days and rode things with low waits then rode some again with fast passes later. Just like the old system but not having to dash to get the paper fast passes.
-I liked that we could schedule for when we knew we would be in the park. Often with the old system by the time we could get a paper fast pass it was for late afternoon or evening when we would not be in the park. The new system let us tour our way and we like to leave the parks between 12 and 2 and relax at the pool.
- Something new at Disney for us...sleeping in. While MK is still a rope drop must and Epcot is if you want to ride all headliners we found that Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios no longer required the rope drop ritual. We had the three rides for each we anticipated would have the longest waits and even during a busy week the st was manageable.
What we would like to see changed:
- At MK I would like to see 4-5 and maybe the option to fast pass something once before noon and once after.
- I'd like to see the fast passes work with park hopping. We did hop but more for eating. Hoping for rides just does not work well. We especially felt this on our Animal Kingdom day where we had fast passes but did not need them but for one ride. It would have been nice to change the other two and hop.
My biggest complaint is the difficulty of coordinating fast passes with friends. We had friends there and often when we went back to the hotel, my daughter would have been game to stay in the park with family friends. But since we did not advance plan our fast passes together, this did not work. Changing on the fly was possible but coordinating exact times not so easy during a busy week.
Hopefully Disney will tweak the system a bit but overall I liked it.
On the magic bands....
We liked the convenience. It was however easy to not realize how much we were spending. You can get a print out from the front desk of your bill any time you ask so we did this. We did not have any problems with the bands at all but probably spent more than if we had been using cash. I am sure that is what Disney wants.
One interesting observation is that during AM extra magic hours they seemed to be letting everyone it...not just Disney resort guests. Our friends were staying off property and they arrived and got in at 8:30 on an 8-9 extra magic morning.
