Just got back - positive experience with MyMagic+/FP+

[SugarSweetLee]

It's been several years since I've toured in the parks, but we were really pleased with how the FP+ worked for us. I will say that on previous trips, usually with my older parents when I was child/teen, we *did not* utilize legacy Fastpass. My mom never liked the idea of having to come back to a certain place at a particular random time issued by the pass machine, so we'd only use standby.

Husband and I really liked the ease of selecting our Fastpass times in advance. To clarify: we do not have kids, so were not vying for some of the more difficult attractions like meeting Anna & Elsa, and we didn't do any character meets. We WERE able to ride everything we wanted to over the 5 days we were there, excepting Splash Mtn which we knew would be closed.

Some points of consideration:
-We never tried to make selections/changes at a kiosk.
-We only used our 3 advance selections, and did not try to get additional passes after those were used.
-We were there for some fairly low attendance days, though earlier in the week the crowds were a bit higher due to the MLK holiday weekend.

MM+/FP+ works pretty well IF you're using the app on your smartphone. If you don't have the app, I think that would more negatively impact your impressions for the system's overall ease of use. I only experienced technical issues with the app a couple of times, but usually it was fixed by backing out and reopening the app.

We had to rearrange some FP+ on the go, including on our first day when we arrived to the park much later than planned - it was close to the end of our window for the first FP when we were still driving to the park, so I used the app on my phone to make a quick adjustment so we could visit the attraction later in the day.

Similarly, on a different day we were able to experience one of our FP selections via a very short standby line earlier than planned, so I used the app to change our selection to a different attraction.

Before we arrived, I had read some negative reviews of 7DMT that made me cancel our 2nd FP+ for it. After we rode it the first time on Tuesday and enjoyed it a lot, I really regretted that decision! I checked back on the app a couple of times on Tuesday with no luck, but Wednesday night I was able to change one of our other FP for Friday to 7DMT. Again, the app made it VERY easy to adjust our tour plans in a pinch. If you had to check in with the kiosks/guest services each time you wanted to make a change, I know that would be much more cumbersome and a source of irritation.

One item of note: on our last day, Friday, every time I scanned my MB at at FP entrance, I got a blue circle and the cast member told me I didn't have any selections on my band. All three times that happened. My husband's worked just fine each time, and the CM let me through based on the fact that his worked. I don't know what they would have done if I were alone; I had the FP selections pulled up on the app to show as evidence as needed, but they did not ask. The first time it happened, the CM told me to visit the nearest FP kiosk after the ride. When I spoke to the CMs at the kiosk, they scanned my band with an ipad, which showed all of my selections correctly, so they said did not know why I was having that problem. They said I could take a picture of their ipad to show if I had problems again, or I could show my selections on my phone app.

Regarding the app, we also really appreciated being able to view menus in advance to decide where to eat (for cost-savings reasons, we were not on the dining plan, and only had 2 ADRs for the trip, so most choices were made on-the-go for QS options).

Overall, I have a very positive opinion on how the app/FP+ impacted our touring. I was anxious before we arrived due to so many mixed reviews and people who were made unhappy by all the new system implementations, but for us it worked out pretty well. I hope anyone who hasn't tried it out yet and is worried about it has a similarly happy experience!

 

[ToddyLu]

We enjoyed it for the same reasons...no kids either which affected our choices...we are DVC and really enjoy relaxing at the resort. For DH and I we could go to a park for three or four hours, do what we wanted..rides and a meal maybe... and get back to the resort in the heat of the day. Taking my parents in their 70s for our trip in May. I think FP+ will help me use their time more efficiently and they will not be as tired. I wanted them to enjoy time by the pool if they wanted so I like the idea of a brief tour then back out again. Great report!!

 

[Cee]

So glad to hear another success story. I've only had two trips so far with MB and FP+, but both times it has worked great!

 

[SugarSweetLee]

 

[SmithSmith]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you had a great trip!

 

[lllGurulll]

I would really like to hear from a family of fives experience during a busy visit. Two parents and three kids all under 13.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you had a great trip!

Thanks! I know my experience is not like what many people's have been/will be, but just wanted to add to the array of opinions floating about

 

[rajak73]

How dare you post a POSITVE experience about FP+?I'll just sit here with some waiting for the FP+ haters to come on and tell you just how bad of time you really had. We had the same experience you did with FP+, loved it over paper FP. Our trip in December was one of the best we have ever had.

 

[mom2rtk]

OP, I'm glad you had a great trip. That's all any of us wants.

 

[Mikie]

I'm glad you had a great trip!

My experience was a little similar. Overall good results. limited waiting on selected rides that had a long standby when we used our FP. Didn't need A&E or fireworks/parades (staked out a spot for those just as we always had) but otherwise we did do all headliners at least once. I did not have a goal or plan of accumulating 4th+ FPs, but I would have tried for them a couple times if kiosks had been convenient to where I was with little to no line - they weren't, so I didn't end up with any extras, but don't consider this a huge negative because of my style. Didn't do a lot of changing attractions or times, but the times I did make changes it worked smoothly on my app and either reduced time spent doubling back around the park or moved us from a ride with a short SB wait anyway to a more "valuable" FP choice.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I would really like to hear from a family of fives experience during a busy visit. Two parents and three kids all under 13.

We are 2 parents and kids 16, 13 and 11. While there are some down sides to FP+ for us, the positives outweigh the negatives and we have really enjoyed our two trips fully on the FP+ system, once last July and then again after Christmas to Jan 2.

The downsides? Why not start with those! Compared to FP- it's harder to get in multiple rides per day on headliners in tiered parks. Not impossible, but harder. There are longer standby lines at times for rides that used to have shorter lines, like PotC and Spaceship Earth, but those lines vary throughout the day. The app can be glitchy at times. It's always good to acknowledge the negatives, because they are something everyone needs to be aware of.

As for us, we are planners. Some people don't like the planning aspect, but that's not a problem for us. We embrace rope drop most mornings. We get out of the parks midday when the crowds are at their worst. We head back to a park where we can use pre-selected FP+ between 5 and 8pm, and then when parades/fireworks/end of the night rolls around the SB lines can be used without having to wait in long lines for a lot of things. At least that has been our experience. FP+ fits that touring style very well. Yes, we get a few less attractions done per day, but overall our touring style is more relaxed, and walking into a park at 5 or 6:00 when crowds are at their worst knowing you have three great rides all set is very nice, and not something we typically found under FP-.

 

[Mikie]

I would really like to hear from a family of fives experience during a busy visit. Two parents and three kids all under 13.

We're a family of 5 with the kids age 13, 9, 7. We traveled last with extended family as well, making us a group of 12. FP+ worked well for me. We do 1 table service a day, which I found is what already tied us down, so FP reservations were just another layer. We were not in extremely busy travel time (Oct, crowd levels 6-7 most days, "recommeded" parks sometimes a 4, no 8-10 days)

We ddi not need A&E or fireworks or parade FPs, but we did do all other headliners at least once. We got our 7dwarfs FP at midnight of our 60 day mark and all other FPs I booked during the afternoon of our 60 day without any trouble. Within the next 2-3 weeks, when I looked to make minor adjustents, Toy Story at DHS had become scarce (still available but with few time choices) but all other attractions were plentiful. I didn't need to break down our group inot pairs just to get our FP times or anything like that.

In the parks, we looked a few times to adjust pre-booked FP. Sometimes I couldn't get the app to boot up. In Epcot, we were able to switch among b-level attractions when we saw that our FP was for a ride with a very short SB anyway. I'm not sure what other concerns may be specific to a family of 5 as opposed to just different touring styles. . .