Just got back...FP+ observations

[DVCBELLE]

I asked everyone I could if they liked their magicbands...
Everyone loved them, they loved the ease of using them and keeping track of them. They all also loved scheduling their FP+ ahead of time...almost all of them had reserved late day FP+ and went to the parks in the morning to ride saving the FP+ for an afternoon park...and everyone also told me how awesome it was because they could get FP+ and use the regular FP system as well so they were getting double fastpasses!

I always expressed the same concerns:
1. I don't like having to book 3 months out...they all agreed that would be a pain but they only had to do it two weeks out so that was good...
2. I didn't want to be limited to 3 FP+ - and they all agreed that would stink. One lady told me that they told her in the future they would get more than 3 a day in the parks and another told me she was assured the regular FP system wasn't going away.

It seems to me Disney is setting the control groups up to succeed in a bubble they won't be able to recreate when it is across property and that is using the current FP system as well.

I also expressed concerns to CMs - always about booking 60 days out. They all said that so far people could still change their FP+ with no problems on the day of...and one girl told me that they were going to have two FP buckets...a pre-book bucket and a day of bucket...

This trip was awesome because we had park tickets and room keys...so we were double dipping and our infant got FP as well. We were able to get every FP we wanted - pretty much whenever we wanted and never waited in any lines...so this period of testing worked out well for us...

But I see how FP+ would have been a disaster for us this trip...
Our baby got sick. The heat was too much for him so we were in the parks for a couple of hours at a time in the morning and again at night...we spent the rest of the time at Epcot and HS so we were close to the hotel so we could switch off being in the room...my mom did most of it but I was worried about him and wanted to be close. As a result - I spent Sunday night re-booking all of our dining based on adjustments were making for the baby...it took over an hour to re-book 4 table reservations...and the times were less than desirable but it worked out and all I could think was that it would have been a nightmare if we would have had to rearrange our FP+ as well.

In addition...the MDE app was an EPIC FAIL...every time I logged in it took at least 2-3 minutes to load...every time I tried to see here and now I got a message that the app was designed for people in the parks and would I like to see a times guide instead...this happened standing in the hub at MK, AK, Epcot and HS...

When the app did recognize where I was - and I would ask for info on that area - it almost always said nothing was available at the time OR it would place me somewhere else. Standing outside the Animation Studio in HS it placed me at the Art of Animation. Inside Epcot it placed me at Caribbean Beach.

Seeing the testing phase in action...I was not impressed.

I was really impressed with the entire RFID process...and would have loved it with bands...would just prefer the FP+ system to go away!!!

Disney could have spent that money on so many other things...like that monorail that seemed down a lot...

 

[agavegirl1]

Thanks for this report. I am waiting patiently to see the reactions of testers when they have no legacy FP available to them and they are indeed limited to 3 per day, one park, booking in advance.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Thank you for reporting back.

I agree with your statements. At this time testers are loving the access, who wouldn't? As a tester you are able to be sure to have the hard to get FPs before stepping into a park and then be able to use traditional FP, having the cake and eating it too.

We are testing in Sept and I'm very excited about it. I was talking to DH about how nice it is that I have a TSM FP secured at a month before our trip. Then I caught myself thinking about how it wouldn't be so nice after it goes live-the mad rush at 6AM 60 days out to get that FP won't be fun! And if there aren't same day FPs available, there are going to be so many disappointed vacationers.

I also hate to hear that the app wasn't working, just seems like they would get all the ducks in a row before rolling things out.

 

[mistysue]

I am curious who is rescheduling the day of... so far in the past week we have gotten options like switching toy story to beauty and the beast. This morning I wanted to switch a time and the app was "loading" on my phone and my husband's phone for about 5 hours. That didn't do a whole lot of good. The ones we have kept have been great because I could pick right when we wanted to be there.
If anybody thinking about it is reading this- the fp+'s for shows- they do not reserve seating. So for all those HS shows like disney jr, belle, ariel, etc. you still have to get there before they start seating or you are sent in along side all the people not using a fp. This time of year those shows dont fill all the way and the people who show up completely last get cm's who walk down and have them fill in up front.

OP, I dont know how much youve gone with kids before but they mess up your ticket fp's too if windows are enforced. With old fastpasses we always gave away more than we used just because the timing and our kids weren't compatible either for sleeping kids or older ones who cant walk enough.

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

Ditto what Mom2Stitch said!

Thanks so much, DVCBelle.

 

[scjo68]

OP, I agree that testers right now are "having their cake and eating it, too", so to speak. So it is not a true test in regard to determining if the 3 FPP per day are enough. I think they are letting testers use both right now so that when their are problems with the magic bands or FPP's there is a "back-up" in place for testers.

I was a tester this week, and for the most part, I thought it worked well. There were many glitches with getting everything linked.

The Disney app was very slow when trying to get info, dining wait times, etc. But I have to say changing my FPP times right in the parks was very easy.

 

[DisneyFive]

...and everyone also told me how awesome it was because they could get FP+ and use the regular FP system as well so they were getting double fastpasses!

It seems to me Disney is setting the control groups up to succeed in a bubble they won't be able to recreate when it is across property and that is using the current FP system as well.

Bingo. Right now, things are NOT the same as when it's fully rolled out. We're getting the best of both worlds, so it is almost too good to be true.

I can tell you this. We received our Magicbands on Friday. There are seven in our party this year, so everyone got their own color (we used all seven of the seven colors available). The Magicbands really do look great, but they are NOT very comfortable. Without asking, the majority of our party spoke up saying they couldn't get them adjusted very well to be comfortable. This includes four adults and three kids. Add to that the hot, humid Florida weather and I'll be shocked if any of us actually wear them. They'll be relegated to my wife's purse most likely, and taken out when needed.

Regarding the MDE app. Were you using the park wifi, or the data on your cell phone plan coverage?

Dan

 

[Planogirl]

I would love how the current FP+ is too.

I suspect that Disney is mostly concerned with working out bugs in the system right now. I hope that they test with the parameters set up the way they will be later on at some point too. I'd love to see how that goes.

Thanks for the report!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

Per the Looking for the Live Report and Just Back Threads? sticky thread, I have moved this to the Disney Trip Reports forum.

 

[disneymd33]

Thanks for the update. I was not part of one of the focus groups on our recent trip, but I did see some of the accessories now available for sale in the Contemporary. I'm cautiously excited about this new program, but I do agree the app was VERY slow. Disney's WiFi is very poor and I hope it is something they really upgrade if they will be requiring everyone to use their cellphones while inside the park/resort. Right now it's so slow, no one in our group of 6 people even used it. But I will give Disney the benefit of the doubt that they have already addressed this and will invest heavily in a WiFi upgrade!

 

[DVCBELLE]

Disneyfive....I tried both...I had better luck with my cell service. With their wi-fi I had to reconnect every time a new page loaded.

 

[wiigirl]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[scjo68]

Disney just sent me a survey today specifically asking about how I liked the MDE app. Lots of questions about where I was using it, and how fast it worked for me in specific locations. Also asking about how the speed compared to other apps and if I used their wifi or my cell service more- and who my cell provider was.

It was a Long, fairly detailed survey So they seem to want feedback. I answered with as much detail as I could. There were spots for comments about specifics that did/ did it work for me and how it could improve.

 

[Sheilby]

Thanks for this report. I am waiting patiently to see the reactions of testers when they have no legacy FP available to them and they are indeed limited to 3 per day, one park, booking in advance.

It's never going to happen that way.

 

[Eureka]

We tested them last week and had sme FP+ reservations but they were not made 3 months out; we only got word of having the bands about 2 weeks before arrival. It was definitely nice knowing that we had some of our rides "covered." for instance, as soon as Epcot opened, Test Track had a 45 min wait. But we k we had a FP for 11:15-12:15, so we moved on. We also had the old key cards so were able to get some regular FP, but increasingly, there were attractions that only did FP+ and not the old FP. Pirates was one, and there were a couple of others that I can't think of right now. We had some FP+ that we knew we were not going to make, or that not all four of us were going to use. We cancelled them but when you're looking at what is available for mere hours later, the pickings are slim. That is what I am afraid of happening when it is all rolled out. There won't be the old FP and if everyone has scheduled their FP+, it means long lines for those who don't have the bands. Maybe that is Disney's way of giving an extra perk to resort guests like at Universal? We went there too last week and I have to say it was great going to the front of the line without having to come back at a particular window of time.

Edited to add that my husbands's iPad had no problem loading the app, making changes, etc.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I agree the ipad was much better...but we don't take the ipads in the park. They worked well in the rooms...

And let's face it - more people will have phones than ipads