LOVE or HATE FP+ Anyone's mind been changed ??

[MrInfinity]

Hahaha... Jimmy.
Ok...
B: Better than FP-

Man tho... you have to wait 46 letters to mention Tiering! That's gonna be rough.

In the past we have felt that around 7:00 the lines drop considerably. Is this the case anymore? Especially at MK. Maybe not so much at HS. And at AK, we've gone an hour before closing and hit Everest a couple of times and then dinosaur. Do the crowds still drop off later in the day? (Also we're not parade people so we use that as a line-avoiding strategy as well).

AK - definitely. After 3 or 4pm this park clears out. Those who have hoppers would hop out and go elsewhere.

Other 3 parks - Not as much. Epcot and HS are constrained by their key ride capacities. The B- rides in Epcot get short in the late afternoon as everyone moves to the world showcase, but no reprieve for TT or Soarin. MK I don't think clears out till well past 7, more like an hour before closing. Gradual reduction after the 1st parade. Probly a good strategy to come at 7ish and stay till close, but we have little kids so we aren't usually the late-night types and never really get to try this.

As a side note... it will be interesting to see what the new nighttime show does for this late-night AK phenomenon. Right now I look at it like there are 3-3/4 parks, cuz so few ppl stay late at the AK. Adding this nighttime show will turn this into a full-on open to close park, since there will be something you can see here at night that you can't elsewhere. Maybe this will help w the late crowds at the other 3 parks? Hoping Avatar is a big success in this way...

 

[JimmyV]

Man tho... you have to wait 46 letters to mention Tiering! That's gonna be rough.

Only 32. That will take us to "F" on the "HATE" side.

 

[JimmyV]

.

 

[Planogirl]

I would so dislike getting travel advice from some of you. I recently traveled to somewhere different and I sought out reviews and advice. I did NOT want the advice of the "everything is perfect" brigade but looked for those who saw the good and the bad and helped others to deal with all of it. I don't want to hear how amazing something is because I already think that it looks amazing. I want to know if there is something I should avoid or whatever to make my visit as nice as possible.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would so dislike getting travel advice from some of you. I recently traveled to somewhere different and I sought out reviews and advice. I did NOT want the advice of the "everything is perfect" brigade but looked for those who saw the good and the bad and helped others to deal with all of it. I don't want to hear how amazing something is because I already think that it looks amazing. I want to know if there is something I should avoid or whatever to make my visit as nice as possible.

On the flip side, would you prefer travel advice form someone who focuses on only the negative? Because that seems like the only thing folks would talk about. I don't want to hear how awful my trip to be. I would want to hear how I can make my experience as optimal as possible. Most of this thread is not doing that.

Snarking the destination does not help anyone in any scenario.

 

[larryz]

C: Catchy Name!!! "FastPass+"

 

[Laketravis]

On the flip side, would you prefer travel advice form someone who focuses on only the negative? Because that seems like the only thing folks would talk about. I don't want to hear how awful my trip to be. I would want to hear how I can make my experience as optimal as possible. Most of this thread is not doing that.

Snarking the destination does not help anyone in any scenario.

But this thread was not about an all-encompassing review of everything WDW. It was about one aspect of it. Just one. It's not that anyone is "focusing" on the negative or "snarking the destination", it's because the topic was about one particular aspect of WDW. Not dining or accommodations or transportation or fireworks or Magical Express, or other aspects that many if not all of us would have positive things to say about.

It's like suggesting someone is slamming a city vacation destination because they advised against parking on side streets.


.

 

[Cormoran]

I would so dislike getting travel advice from some of you. I recently traveled to somewhere different and I sought out reviews and advice. I did NOT want the advice of the "everything is perfect" brigade but looked for those who saw the good and the bad and helped others to deal with all of it. I don't want to hear how amazing something is because I already think that it looks amazing. I want to know if there is something I should avoid or whatever to make my visit as nice as possible.

I'm with you all the way. If I hear too many rainbow and unicorn stories about any destination, my radar kicks in and I become suspicious that the poster is a plant for the board of tourism. Nothing in life is perfect. Why should a vacation destination be any different? It's the reason I found the Unofficial Guide to WDW to be so helpful before my first WDW visit. Reading it helped me maximize my time and avoid some pitfalls.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm with you all the way. If I hear too many rainbow and unicorn stories about any destination, my radar kicks in and I become suspicious that the poster is a plant for the board of tourism. Nothing in life is perfect. Why should a vacation destination be any different? It's the reason I found the Unofficial Guide to WDW to be so helpful before my first WDW visit. Reading it helped me maximize my time and avoid some pitfalls.

Some have criticized the UOG too of course so I guess that it really depends on what people see as negative. I see it as truthful and VERY helpful. Birnbaum's guide on the other hand is just too fluffy and not all that useful.

I agree that one can be too negative too so it seems smart to find a good middle ground. Reality is always nice in fact.

 

[Cormoran]

Some have criticized the UOG too of course so I guess that it really depends on what people see as negative. I see it as truthful and VERY helpful. Birnbaum's guide on the other hand is just too fluffy and not all that useful.

I agree that one can be too negative too so it seems smart to find a good middle ground. Reality is always nice in fact.

It's the same for everything. I will read negative and positive product reviews, before I make a large purchase. I need to know if something is right for me. Same with Disney. Based on reviews and descriptions, I chose the hotel, attractions, shows and dining that I though would be the most
suitable for our family. Agreed on Birnbaum's, it was an advertisement, not a tour book.

 

[MrInfinity]

I would so dislike getting travel advice from some of you. I did NOT want the advice of the "everything is perfect" brigade but looked for those who saw the good and the bad and helped others to deal with all of it. I don't want to hear how amazing something is.

I think you mix up "everything is perfect" with a genuine love of Disney World. If someone is going to WDW, then there are a few things that are a given. 1) they are expecting crowds. 2) they are expecting lines. 3) they are very much expecting, despite 1) and 2), to have a great time.

You approach it as if you need to tell people about the lines, the waits, the sucky CMs, the dirty bathrooms, the food that's gone downhill, and the hold times for tech support, so that when they go, they do not go into it expecting clean bathrooms and happy CMs. But that is just not what most people take away from Disney World. Maybe you do. But for someone w 40,000 posts, I have a hard time believing you like it so little there.

Most people have magical interactions w CMs, find the bathrooms to be worlds better than any other theme park bathrooms, find the new Rapunzel tower to be inspiring, and find SDMT to be exciting for their kids. They wait in some lines like they expect, and they use FP+ to skip a few. When you ask why they like Disney World but not most other theme parks, they will almost always tell you how "it's just different".

You seem to mistake helping them get a better experience with "lowering their expectations because it's not as good as they're led to believe". I -- have gotten nothing but sunshine on my trips. And when it rains? Rainbows. I go to WDW because it's fun. I don't see why you have such a hard time with people actually liking it there. You pretty much say ppl are being disingenuous if they claim to have had a good time. Unless you found something to complain about, you're just sunshine and rainbows. Or you work for Disney. That's so bogus.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

It's like suggesting someone is slamming a city vacation destination because they advised against parking on side streets.


.

Precisely. Reread the thread.

 

[cakebaker]

I find that by the time people ask for my advice on going to WDW, they've already decided to go. It's not my job to tell them all the horrible things that might happen, it's my job to tell them how to avoid those things and how to work around what you can't avoid in order to get the most out of their trip.

So giving advice to them as though they were headed to the worst place on earth seems counterproductive to me and I'd feel terrible for doing that to someone who is looking forward to their trip and wants to get every drop of enjoyment out of it they can. First timers aren't jaded and dreading their trips like some who have been dozens of times- they are excited and want to experience WDW. They don't want woe is me, Disney is draining the parks and going to sell off the land soon attitudes.

I give them facts, I tell them how to use the system- not to do absolutely the most they can possibly do on a trip- but to absolutely enjoy what they do get to do. It's not how much you do, it's how much you enjoy what you do. I'm not sure that's a concept that a lot of people here get.

 

[Laketravis]

Precisely. Reread the thread.

You can reread the thread. I understood the point the first time around.


.

 

[Cormoran]

I have never told anyone all the negatives about a particular destination, but I'm not going to tell them only positive things. This is a discussion board and it is filled with a lot of differing opinions. I would never suggest that a first time traveler visit these boards first thing. I would suggest reading the UOG and then maybe visiting the boards. I do not give out unsolicited advice on anything, but I am not going to sugar coat my responses on these boards "In Case" there may be someone out there planning a first time vacation.

 

[cakebaker]

I have never told anyone all the negatives about a particular destination, but I'm not going to tell them only positive things. This is a discussion board and it is filled with a lot of differing opinions. I would never suggest that a first time traveler visit these boards first thing. I would suggest reading the UOG and then maybe visiting the boards. I do not give out unsolicited advice on anything, but I am not going to sugar coat my responses on these boards "In Case" there may be someone out there planning a first time vacation.

In order to tell someone how to avoid a problem, you have to tell them what the problem is, which is what I do.

I don't think anyone here suggests sugar coating or only telling the positive things, so looks like we all agree. The only problem comes in is when you tell them about a problem or something negative and then say- but there's no way to avoid that. They are going to the most popular place to vacation in the world, there are going to be issues. I don't see many problems at WDW that can't be either avoided entirely or worked around in some way.

Now if someone comes to me and says we want to go to WDW and ride attractions over and over again- I will tell them that is highly unlikely to happen, unless they are willing to use the standby lines in some way. If that's their definition of a successful WDW trip, I'd advise them to go somewhere else. Other than that, there are ways to mitigate almost any other "problem".

 

[Planogirl]

I think you mix up "everything is perfect" with a genuine love of Disney World. If someone is going to WDW, then there are a few things that are a given. 1) they are expecting crowds. 2) they are expecting lines. 3) they are very much expecting, despite 1) and 2), to have a great time.

You approach it as if you need to tell people about the lines, the waits, the sucky CMs, the dirty bathrooms, the food that's gone downhill, and the hold times for tech support, so that when they go, they do not go into it expecting clean bathrooms and happy CMs. But that is just not what most people take away from Disney World. Maybe you do. But for someone w 40,000 posts, I have a hard time believing you like it so little there.

Most people have magical interactions w CMs, find the bathrooms to be worlds better than any other theme park bathrooms, find the new Rapunzel tower to be inspiring, and find SDMT to be exciting for their kids. They wait in some lines like they expect, and they use FP+ to skip a few. When you ask why they like Disney World but not most other theme parks, they will almost always tell you how "it's just different".

You seem to mistake helping them get a better experience with "lowering their expectations because it's not as good as they're led to believe". I -- have gotten nothing but sunshine on my trips. And when it rains? Rainbows. I go to WDW because it's fun. I don't see why you have such a hard time with people actually liking it there. You pretty much say ppl are being disingenuous if they claim to have had a good time. Unless you found something to complain about, you're just sunshine and rainbows. Or you work for Disney. That's so bogus.

Did I say anywhere in my posts that I dislike WDW? Did I say that there was no way to have a good time? You are attributing quotes to me that I never made too. I don't ask that people complain or assume that anyone works for Disney. I won't bother to respond further because I didn't say anything that you're refuting.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I give them facts, I tell them how to use the system- not to do absolutely the most they can possibly do on a trip- but to absolutely enjoy what they do get to do. It's not how much you do, it's how much you enjoy what you do. I'm not sure that's a concept that a lot of people here get.

I think you might be surprised.

 

[MrInfinity]

Did I say anywhere in my posts that I dislike WDW?

* I worry about a downward spiral. It's gradual but that is what I see now.
* I wouldn't likely dislike the whole concept of FP+ so much if there wasn't so many other things about WDW that disappoint me nowadays.
* It just seems to be another hassle in my eyes.
* I would give WDW very high ratings but I see a lot wrong and I've cut back my trips drastically.
* I never see anything to do with Frozen again I'll be very happy. Yes, I've had enough.
* ll buy that once those improvements are actually made. I keep on hearing about them but promises mean nothing. Will they do them right? Only time will tell.
* To me the glory years were when Epcot was new and shiny and amazing. It's so different now.

Maybe it's just my read, but you come off as not having much love there. This is just in the 2 most recent pages of your posts. You've obviously got thousands of pages worth but this took about 3 min to quote.

 

[cakebaker]

I think you might be surprised.

I don't think so- just the number of guests I see in the rope drop mania every morning we're at the MK proves it to me. And that's nothing new- rope drop used to be a lot worse than it is today. At least they control it a bit now.

I'm quite sure there a lot of members of the Dis that do get it and the reason for quantifying my comment.