Just got back. FP+ good and mostly BAD

[happymommy]

I just got back from 6 nights at BWV (one night prior at the Swan as we got in late).

I understand, to start, that Disney needs more crowd control. More people are at the parks, and they want to control where they go. I get that.

I felt like 3 fast pass + per day, and at only one park, was way too restrictive! We really DID NOT like it. It totally discourages park hopping. We always love to hop park to park, but did so much less this trip. Our friends all agreed, and one family owns DVC; the other family always stays concierge level at a deluxe resort. (Me - I have a limited budget as I'd rather go more often if I can so would rather spend less per trip. This one I rented from an owner who couldn't use his villa last minute. Still, if they worked out these kinks, I'd go back to buying an AP and staying on site alwasy - LOVED the magic bands!!!!).

I met up with one family yesterday about 1:00 pm, and they were looking up on their MDE app at Epcot, and they could not get TT, Soarin, or Maelstrom (yes that is a "headliner" lol) at ALL that day. They were staying on site. Seriously.

Our friends were staying at the BWI concierge level, and if you ask me, for what they were paying, I feel like they should get more FP+. I would not complain.

My family is usually up early and retires early, but did learn something this trip. Our friends (at the BWI, as we had friends at the BC this trip too) always go back to MK late. My DD went with them till midnight twice, and they found no lines. So that is always an option.

I just think that if you're staying on property, 3 FP+ is ridiculous. In the past we could get there early and get a couple, then go to another park and maybe get a couple more. Some days we only used one FP+ or even none for my DH.

So, if anyone has any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer. I loved the magic bands. I think that it cuts down on germs (no touching anything but the keypad for your PIN code) and it's just darn cute. Makes things easier. I would stay on site from now on just for that convenience! Okay, maybe. But this trip was awesome with that.... Just....
HATE the FP+
Hate Hate Hate.
Also, since you need to be more confident of any dining ressies at a sit down place, we only did one at lunch. I understand the point of Disney, but we won't do any more sit down meals planned ahead of time.

 

[Kate and Family]

Thanks for the update, glad your trip was a success.

Did you and your friends link MDE's?

With the dining was it just your preference not to be tied to a time table with ressies?

Never thought about the germ thing with MBs, but that is a good thought. Was the MB comfortable and did you decorate yours?

General consensus seems to be needs to be more FP+, FP+ with park hopping.

 

[Disneyhabs]

I just got back from 6 nights at BWV (one night prior at the Swan as we got in late).

I understand, to start, that Disney needs more crowd control. More people are at the parks, and they want to control where they go. I get that.

I felt like 3 fast pass + per day, and at only one park, was way too restrictive! We really DID NOT like it. It totally discourages park hopping. We always love to hop park to park, but did so much less this trip. Our friends all agreed, and one family owns DVC; the other family always stays concierge level at a deluxe resort. (Me - I have a limited budget as I'd rather go more often if I can so would rather spend less per trip. This one I rented from an owner who couldn't use his villa last minute. Still, if they worked out these kinks, I'd go back to buying an AP and staying on site alwasy - LOVED the magic bands!!!!).

I met up with one family yesterday about 1:00 pm, and they were looking up on their MDE app at Epcot, and they could not get TT, Soarin, or Maelstrom (yes that is a "headliner" lol) at ALL that day. They were staying on site. Seriously.

Our friends were staying at the BWI concierge level, and if you ask me, for what they were paying, I feel like they should get more FP+. I would not complain.

My family is usually up early and retires early, but did learn something this trip. Our friends (at the BWI, as we had friends at the BC this trip too) always go back to MK late. My DD went with them till midnight twice, and they found no lines. So that is always an option.

I just think that if you're staying on property, 3 FP+ is ridiculous. In the past we could get there early and get a couple, then go to another park and maybe get a couple more. Some days we only used one FP+ or even none for my DH.

So, if anyone has any specific questions, I'd be happy to answer. I loved the magic bands. I think that it cuts down on germs (no touching anything but the keypad for your PIN code) and it's just darn cute. Makes things easier. I would stay on site from now on just for that convenience! Okay, maybe. But this trip was awesome with that.... Just....
HATE the FP+
Hate Hate Hate.
Also, since you need to be more confident of any dining ressies at a sit down place, we only did one at lunch. I understand the point of Disney, but we won't do any more sit down meals planned ahead of time.

We do only 1 maybe 2 meals at Disney restaraunts a trip we see no point in the dining plan for exactly the reson you stated. We do not like to plan meals ahead of time. I mean what if you are in the middle of an amazing commando run in the park. I don't want to have to stop because we have a dining ressie. We do not eat a lot at Disney anyhow we have breakfast in our DVC room pack some bagels and water grab those for lunch when and if we get hungry then usually eat after we get back after park close.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

I tried yo get FP 10 days out and the earliest for Soarin and TSM was late afternoon.

Epcot choices are a joke......Soarin or TT.....or maelstrom ?

HS is also a joke, TSM or RnRc ?

I did like Ak and MK..........I plan to be at rope drop everyday and ride as many rides as I can between 9-12, then have a relaxing lunch, go back to room and go back at night.

Disney lost my dining business too....$50 at risk for every ressie....no thanks.....I will cook in my room and just do counter service. DDP has ruined dining IMHO....."mediocre for high prices.....I save my dining $$$ for when I go home....can go out 3 times for 1 Disney meal.....if I did the DDP it would cost 1600 for 5 for 6 nights......that's 6 table service and 6 CS.......... I could eat out15 times for that amount.

 

[Cookie Princess]

I felt like 3 fast pass + per day, and at only one park, was way too restrictive!


I just think that if you're staying on property, 3 FP+ is ridiculous. In the past we could get there early and get a couple, then go to another park and maybe get a couple more.

This change just makes me so sad. I feel that WDW is alienating some of their most dedicated customers.

 

[happymommy]

We did not link our MDE's but found it worked out okay to coordinate a few FP+ on our own.

If you can only get one for late in the day, I'd choose it then go back and try to see if you can get another time. That may work (or may not).

We ate in the villa a bit too! I ordered $200 of stuff from Garden Grocer, and we went through the bulk of it. My DD's friend even had a sleepover one night, so I was able to make the girls eggs and biscuits (we mostly had breakfast foods, plus a few quick things for dinners and lunch sandwich stuff). I totally agree that we didn't want to have to be somewhere at a specific time for a meal reservation. We enjoyed some counter service options, plus tried a few things at the Flower & Garden booths (shrimp & grits was amazing, duck confit was just "meh", pickled beet salad was good). I will probably not use table service again at Disney for a long time now. I also agree that dining plan, while it must be profitable for Disney, seems to have made some dining less appealing. I find portions huge, but had no issues ordering a child's meal at the Japan counter service for both myself and my DD - it was enough for lunch for us.

I found the magic band pretty comfy. Did not decorate it, but saw some folks do so. Funny watching folks accidentally try to scan their watch sometimes!

I liked how I didn't have to pull out a room key or park ticket ever. And I did feel like I was touching less things that others touched (like money). I used to have to keep track of park tickets for my kids (esp. since my son has ADHD and could lose things when he was younger). They are convenient!

 

[RunnerMomO]

I am an AP holder and we are NOT going to renew this when our passes expire this week. I find the 3 FP so extremely limiting and inability to park hop bad. Availability of good rides has also been frustrating when we couldn't "pre-plan" before a spontaneous day visit to the park. Another thing that makes me so frustrated - I get asked if I qualify for a 10% discount as AP or DVC but they can't look it up from my magic band? What's the point if I still have to carry around my card?!

 

[lynn46356]

OP, please contact Disney with your thoughts and experiences with the magicband and fp+. Having just returned from a Disney trip two weeks ago I felt the same way. I received a call back this weekend and discussed the limit of three etc. The more they hear from us the better the chances something might change. MAYBE!!!!!!! Maybe not also but at least I've voiced my dissatisfaction.

 

[crostorfer]

We just got back too.

I, too, liked my Magic Band, once I got the hang of actually touching the Mickey-Mickey. Never had an issue with them.

I, too, hated the restrictions of FP+. If I'm being fair though, I think it felt more restrictive because of the Spring Break crowds. If it were, say, mid-September or mid-May before the summer crowds arrive I might not have disliked it so much. I just felt like, with the exception of our last day, we got nothing done. I was going to write a trip report, but honestly, our trip was kind of boring. We spent a lot of time just sitting around because the standby lines were too long to tackle. We drank a lot, that is about it. It was just kind of blah.

 

[starsweeper]

We visited last October as FP+ testers, so we could use FP+ and the old FP system. We actually got more use out of the old FP system because the MDE site was often not working when we needed to modify FP+ on the fly. My DH would retire back to the room after dinner with our toddlers, and my two 7yos and I would stay late. We also got to ride tons of things at MK with little to no wait in the evenings. Based on our experience, 3 FP+ is definitely too few and I think on-site guests should get more since we are obviously paying more for a similar off-site room.

I agree about the dining plan and ADRs. After a couple trips where ADRs didn't work out with what we were doing at the moment, we limit ourselves to 1 ADR a day, usually a pre-park open breakfast since we wake early with 4 young kids. Also, we can never make it work financially for us since we can purchase 3-4 adult meals to split among 6 people and we eat lighter when at the parks. Personally, I don't like being so scheduled with FP+ and ADRs all day, so we cut the ADRs.

We also loved the Magic Bands because they were easier to keep up with than tickets. Whenever we split up, we didn't have to stop and make sure each parent had the correct tickets for who they were taking, and paying at gift shops, etc. was super easy and quick.

 

[happymommy]

OP, please contact Disney with your thoughts and experiences with the magicband and fp+. Having just returned from a Disney trip two weeks ago I felt the same way. I received a call back this weekend and discussed the limit of three etc. The more they hear from us the better the chances something might change. MAYBE!!!!!!! Maybe not also but at least I've voiced my dissatisfaction.

Whom did you contact? As you can see, I've been many, many times, but don't know when I'll be back now (of course with kids readying for college, we'll be busy but you're never too busy for a vacation!). If we hadn't gotten such a great deal on this trip, I would have been more upset. I really had a great time, but the FP+ sucks to us. My son wasn't along this trip, but he has a disability so we used to get him a GAC which helped immensely. Now that has changed too - like Disney wants control over every minute you're there. If it weren't for that he wouldn't have been able to enjoy a lot at Disney - so we'll just see if I bring my kids back or just go solo later or what. I can say I won't be back until they change FP+.

 

[iheartpeterpan]

I am an AP holder and we are NOT going to renew this when our passes expire this week. I find the 3 FP so extremely limiting and inability to park hop bad. Availability of good rides has also been frustrating when we couldn't "pre-plan" before a spontaneous day visit to the park. Another thing that makes me so frustrated - I get asked if I qualify for a 10% discount as AP or DVC but they can't look it up from my magic band? What's the point if I still have to carry around my card?!

The passholder page where you order your passholder magicband says they will eventually be putting the discount on the band. Until then they are sending out a discount card.

I am also just back, loved the bands, hated the FP+. I am just going to be optimistic that Disney will listen to its guests and adjust for all these things (no tiering, more FP+, accomodate park hopping, etc.). If their goal was to shift folks to rides that never had lines before, then it worked. There was a wait for figment, nemo, etc. this weekend. We were able to do everything we wanted by hitting rope drop and riding in the morning, then using our FP+ in the afternoon. At Epcot we were able to FP+ Soarin' then do single rider for TT (20 min wait). The tiering is crazy, you should be able to ride all the headliner rides on a single trip. Most people don't get to go as much as we do, so I'd be pretty upset if I spent thousands for a vacation and couldn't do the advertised rides.

The FP+ lines in the park were crazy. I'd be pretty upset if that's the only way I could access the system, so hope when they open up for offsite it will help that.

I hope Disney sorts this out, it has potential to work well.

 

[WillAustin]

I felt like 3 fast pass + per day, and at only one park, was way too restrictive! We really DID NOT like it.

Agreed.

Whom did you contact?

You can email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[davedmaine]

I tried yo get FP 10 days out and the earliest for Soarin and TSM was late afternoon.

Epcot choices are a joke......Soarin or TT.....or maelstrom ?

HS is also a joke, TSM or RnRc ?

I did like Ak and MK..........I plan to be at rope drop everyday and ride as many rides as I can between 9-12, then have a relaxing lunch, go back to room and go back at night.

Disney lost my dining business too....$50 at risk for every ressie....no thanks.....I will cook in my room and just do counter service. DDP has ruined dining IMHO....."mediocre for high prices.....I save my dining $$$ for when I go home....can go out 3 times for 1 Disney meal.....if I did the DDP it would cost 1600 for 5 for 6 nights......that's 6 table service and 6 CS.......... I could eat out15 times for that amount.

I couldn't agree more. DDP killed the dining experience/quality at Disney and now FP+ is killing the attraction experience. Together they've killed any spontaneity you could experience at the parks.

 

[dfb]

Agreed.



You can email wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

In the email, you can ask them to call you about your concerns. It will take about 12 days but they will return calls. The person calling obviously will not have all answers and has no authority to change anything but they sometimes can shed some light on issues, questions, etc.

In other words they don't just send your email to the trash. They will address your concerns then send to the trash.

 

[DSLRuser]

I felt like 3 fast pass + per day, and at only one park, was way too restrictive! We really DID NOT like it. It totally discourages park hopping. We always love to hop park to park, but did so much less this trip. .

To each his own. We park hopped for the 1st time in years because of FP+.

We would do a park in the morning and ride all on stand by, then hit another park in the evening to use the FP+ we scheduled.

 

[kkgunn]

To each his own. We park hopped for the 1st time in years because of FP+.

We would do a park in the morning and ride all on stand by, then hit another park in the evening to use the FP+ we scheduled.

Of course! Or, you can do the same sort of touring in just one park.

Fastpass + (or the old system) was not meant for you to NEVER have to wait in line. It was meant for you to wait in line for some of the attractions and then get quick access for the others, so you could see all you wanted. Not so you would never have to wait for anything all day.

 

[n2mm]

Op I absolutely agree! We were there late January and felt the same way. The limit on FP+ was such a negative. We too felt it changed the way we tour. We head back next month and was hopping things would change by either letting us have a choice at more than one park and increasing the number of FP we can get but looks like no change except the crowds will be bigger on this next trip then our late January trip and we experienced the longest standby lines we've ever encountered this past January. I'm dreading the standby lines in early May

 

[papertraveller]

The passholder page where you order your passholder magicband says they will eventually be putting the discount on the band. Until then they are sending out a discount card.

I am also just back, loved the bands, hated the FP+. I am just going to be optimistic that Disney will listen to its guests and adjust for all these things (no tiering, more FP+, accomodate park hopping, etc.). If their goal was to shift folks to rides that never had lines before, then it worked. There was a wait for figment, nemo, etc. this weekend. We were able to do everything we wanted by hitting rope drop and riding in the morning, then using our FP+ in the afternoon. At Epcot we were able to FP+ Soarin' then do single rider for TT (20 min wait). The tiering is crazy, you should be able to ride all the headliner rides on a single trip. Most people don't get to go as much as we do, so I'd be pretty upset if I spent thousands for a vacation and couldn't do the advertised rides.

The FP+ lines in the park were crazy. I'd be pretty upset if that's the only way I could access the system, so hope when they open up for offsite it will help that.

I hope Disney sorts this out, it has potential to work well.

We found that we did the same.

And as I read this thread, i am reflecting on how our dining patterns have changed over seven years of visits. We started with the dining plan ("free" dining), then tried the deluxe dining plan, then Tables in Wonderland, and have been consistently cutting back on our table service visits. Last summer it was one every other day. Next trip it's down to two total.

 

[barbarabini]

.I agree. This visit coming up I made 1 dining reservation for the 9 day trip. Ohana. I've never been there but always wanted to try it. There are 9 of us in the party. Risking $90.00 every time I make a reservation was just not for me. The quality of the food is mediocre at best and the prices high. Instead, last night I made ressies at Bluezoo, Shula's Ruth Chris and texas de brasil. The price points are on par with Disney's nicer restaurants. The service, exponentially better and the food quality blows them away.
No reservation fee, no credit card guarantee and bluezoo and Shulas provided two hours free babysitting.