Unfortunately, this isn't a doom and gloom thread. Instead of being an "I think I'm going to hate FP+" thread, it is an "I just returned and I hated FP+" thread. These are the ones that Disney needs to be wary of. Note the total absence of cheerleaders here promising that things won't be all that bad, and might even be better than before. When a person comes back and reports on their actual experience, we don't need exaggeration or hyperbole to carry the day. (And no offense to anyone, but we don't really need a debate about ADRs either.)
I think that the OP's experience is typical in many respects.
- Fact: People who knew how to maximize FP- aren't going to ride "headliner" attractions as often with FP+.
- Fact: When rides such as PoTC use one of the two queues for FP+ return and funnel all SB people into the other queue, the SB queue is going to be longer in length and spill out into areas that it never spilled into before.
What is unknown is: Will that make the wait any longer? If PoTC is not a ride that many people will use up a FP+ on, then the FP return line will have few people cutting off the SB line, so while the SB line is longer in length, your actual wait time might not change. Another one of this ilk is Maelstrom. By "tiering" that one with Soarin', Test Track and Illuminations, it is hard to imagine that too many people are going to use up a valuable FP+ for that ride. So everyone will ride SB. And the SB line will be bigger. But if you aren't gettig cut off by FP returners, you might actually have a shorter wait. Too soon to tell.
Fewer headliner attractions and lines of longer length are two things that are real, are here to stay (unless there are more changes) and are impacting the way certain people tour. These are also things that don't bother others in the least. One camp is not going to convince the other camp that they are right.
