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

[Rebekkap]

You were able to get 3 FP's for Space Mountain ON THE SAME DAY??

Correct! Space mountain is my favourite (though the Disneyland version is better!)

On the same trip we also got two FP+ for TSMM on the same day, and both Soarin and TT on the same day (though after that we used single rider on TT so didn't bother again). There were only two of us, and it was busy but not insanely busy, which probably helps but I am definitely a convert to the new system. Without it I probably wouldn't be coming back so soon for a flying visit but was coming to Orlando anyway to check out the new Harry Potter stuff, and I thought I'd quite like to do 7DMT as it was in testing while we were there last so I didn't get to ride it!

 

[edk35]

Correct! Space mountain is my favourite (though the Disneyland version is better!)

On the same trip we also got two FP+ for TSMM on the same day, and both Soarin and TT on the same day (though after that we used single rider on TT so didn't bother again). There were only two of us, and it was busy but not insanely busy, which probably helps but I am definitely a convert to the new system. Without it I probably wouldn't be coming back so soon for a flying visit but was coming to Orlando anyway to check out the new Harry Potter stuff, and I thought I'd quite like to do 7DMT as it was in testing while we were there last so I didn't get to ride it!

So you must have scheduled the fast passes first thing in the morning.

 

[Lmans77]

We like it. Granted I only have 1 trip with the old FP and 1 with FP+.
I like planning, I mean just to reserve a trip to WDW requires planning about when to go, where to stay. Want to eat somewhere popular? Better plan that WAY before you even get to FP.

Plus, having to get to the park at RD, run around all over and pull a bunch of FPs doesn't sound stress free to me. That is not my idea of a clean slate because you gotta be up and at em, even if you do get to decide that morning which park it will be.

 

[Suvadoo]

We like it. Granted I only have 1 trip with the old FP and 1 with FP+.
I like planning, I mean just to reserve a trip to WDW requires planning about when to go, where to stay. Want to eat somewhere popular? Better plan that WAY before you even get to FP.

Plus, having to get to the park at RD, run around all over and pull a bunch of FPs doesn't sound stress free to me. That is not my idea of a clean slate because you gotta be up and at em, even if you do get to decide that morning which park it will be.

My family made several trips to WDW with legacy and we rarely made it to RD. But we never had problems getting FP's for the headliners and we never ran all over the parks. Legacy FP's for TSSM and Soarin' were still available in the late morning or early afternoon. The same can't be said with FP+.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Plus, having to get to the park at RD, run around all over and pull a bunch of FPs doesn't sound stress free to me. That is not my idea of a clean slate because you gotta be up and at em, even if you do get to decide that morning which park it will be.

We never ran all over We got to the park..usually around 30 mins or so after RD, and we toured the parks by land. For example, head to Tomorrowland, grab a FP for Space, ride Space standby w/little to no wait, use FP, grab another FP for Space, go ride Buzz (usually at least twice), see the Laugh Floor, maybe People Mover, head back to Space to use FP, then move on to the next land.

No running all over the park required. It honestly was not stressful in the least.

 

[Mickey&Mouse]

My family made several trips to WDW with legacy and we rarely made it to RD. But we never had problems getting FP's for the headliners and we never ran all over the parks. Legacy FP's for TSSM and Soarin' were still available in the late morning or early afternoon. The same can't be said with FP+.

We never ran all over We got to the park..usually around 30 mins or so after RD, and we toured the parks by land. For example, head to Tomorrowland, grab a FP for Space, ride Space standby w/little to no wait, use FP, grab another FP for Space, go ride Buzz (usually at least twice), see the Laugh Floor, maybe People Mover, head back to Space to use FP, then move on to the next land.

No running all over the park required. It honestly was not stressful in the least.

We had similar experiences. While we may have set a goal to make RD we rarely made RD. Typically we arrived within the first 30 minutes. We also toured by land and pulled Legacy FP’s as we went, then used them within the time window (we weren’t aware of the allowed later return with Legacy). No running and criss-crossing the parks. It was very simple and stress-free.

 

[phyllis1966]

We tried it out in October and weren't fans of it. It worked better at Epcot than the MK for us. At the MK, where we only had one day of a three-day weekend, there were no good FP+ left at about 3:30, when we had used our three scheduled ones. Having to wait 35 minutes for POTC was annoying and we had to skip the HM because of the ridiculously long wait. I'm sure, though, that had we had our typical 2 1/2 days in the MK of an eight day trip, we would've ridden all of our favorites at least once.

We just really missed walking onto Pirates or Small World in five minutes, HM in ten minutes at most, 30-second wait at the Peoplemover...we absolutely waited in line more than ever before, and for secondary (although we love them) attractions!

I'll make it work better next time, I'm sure, but we are definitely not fans.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

My family made several trips to WDW with legacy and we rarely made it to RD. But we never had problems getting FP's for the headliners and we never ran all over the parks. Legacy FP's for TSSM and Soarin' were still available in the late morning or early afternoon. The same can't be said with FP+.

We never ran all over We got to the park..usually around 30 mins or so after RD, and we toured the parks by land. For example, head to Tomorrowland, grab a FP for Space, ride Space standby w/little to no wait, use FP, grab another FP for Space, go ride Buzz (usually at least twice), see the Laugh Floor, maybe People Mover, head back to Space to use FP, then move on to the next land.

No running all over the park required. It honestly was not stressful in the least.

We had similar experiences. While we may have set a goal to make RD we rarely made RD. Typically we arrived within the first 30 minutes. We also toured by land and pulled Legacy FP’s as we went, then used them within the time window (we weren’t aware of the allowed later return with Legacy). No running and criss-crossing the parks. It was very simple and stress-free.

We never ran all over the park, either. We never had a "runner" who left our group to grab fast passes for everyone, we never crossed the park for the sold purpose of obtaining a fast pass, and we still managed to get fast passes for our favorite rides and got significantly more than 3 or 4 in a day. Oh well.


We haven't enjoyed it on our past 3 trips and don't see that changing with this upcoming trip.

My concern for our upcoming trip regarding FP+ is what rides to get them for. My daughter will finally be tall enough for Space Mountain and she has been excited to do it for a while. She also has really been excited for Splash Mountain but hasn't gotten the chance to ride it yet either due to it being down or her being too short. She is a huge fan of Snow White so we think 7 Dwarfs Mine Train will be one she loves. But, she also really loves Thunder Mountain and Peter Pan's Flight. So we have to decide which three to get for each day and hope that we choose right. Because, if we get one for Splash Mountain each MK day and she hates it the first day, it will be hard to trade it in for a different ride and still have it fit with the touring strategy we are going to have in place to fit the other 3 fast passes we have. Make sense? And, if she absolutely loves Space Mountain, but we decided to play it safe and only got FP+ for it for one day, I hope we are able to get it for a 4th fast pass and that it fits with our touring strategy that we now have to plan 60 days out.

We also know that she absolutely LOVES Soarin', but is also asking to do Test Track. I'm hoping that we are able to get one of those as our 4th since they are on the same tier. Otherwise, we have to make sure we get to the park at rope drop because standing in line for 45 minutes isn't something I really care to do (mostly since I didn't have to do that in the past).

I'm just not a fan of the lack of flexibility and the fact that I have to know what rides my family is going to love and want to do at specific times 60 days out.

 

[flicx]

The new system has stopped us from coming back. Just not interested in the extra planning. We loved legacy and we always changed our parks according to weather. If we had a sunny day maybe we would use a water park option or a rainy cold day a Disney quest option. Now it seems the headliners are tough to get if you just walk into the park. The hot rides are all spoken for. It has ruined last minute trips for my wife and I. The only way I see us coming back anytime soon is a fantastic deal on the poly or contemporary resorts rooms. Other than that no thanks, I can go to vegas 5 times and spend less than one Disneyworld trip!

 

[Laketravis]

I just ran across this online article from almost a year ago and was surprised that people are still commenting on it as recently as just five days ago. Most of the comments sound very familiar:

Orlando Weekly

 

[rluey29]

We still don't like it. It is the limitations and the longer standby lines for attractions that never used to have them. The technology is fine.

 

[prudence64]

I'd give the old system a B- and the new system a B+.

I'd raise it to an A- if they took away the tiering and to an A if I could schedule the 4 th from my phone especially for a park I'm jumping to.

 

[Suvadoo]

I just ran across this online article from almost a year ago and was surprised that people are still commenting on it as recently as just five days ago. Most of the comments sound very familiar:

Orlando Weekly

Most if not all of the comments following that article were negative reviews of FP+.

What I'm noticing on this thread is a lot of posts from people who have never posted on a FP+ thread, and there aren't many people who are satisfied with the current system. I believe Disney has a major problem.

 

[SmithSmith]

I really liked FP+ in theory, and I found I really liked it in practice. We visited the more popular rides at the beginning and end of the day, and left less popular attractions along with our FP+ selections for peak hours. Which resulted in 15 minute waits or less, even for popular attractions like TSMM and BTMR.

Also, Fuzzy touched on this in his post and I'll second it. I also absolutely loved the effiency FP+ provided! It can allow you to plan out your day in an efficient and logical manner which saves you time... and your feet.

 

[SmithSmith]

Most if not all of the comments following that article were negative reviews of FP+.

What I'm noticing on this thread is a lot of posts from people who have never posted on a FP+ thread, and there aren't many people who are satisfied with the current system. I believe Disney has a major problem.

Aren't perceptions interesting? I perceived 17 of these posts to be positive, 20 negative, and 6 neutral. Which seems to be the same result we've been seeing from different polls.

 

[wisblue]

[/B]


Aren't perceptions interesting? I perceived 17 of these posts to be positive, 20 negative, and 6 neutral. Which seems to be the same result we've been seeing from different polls.

I didn't count them up like you did, but I had the same general reaction as I just skimmed through this for the first time. By the time you strip out the posters who have weighed in numerous times on other threads, there arent all that many new ones and they seem to be pretty evenly divided.

Threads like this can be interesting to hear the different things people like and dislike, but you're never going to be able to draw any significant conclusions.

 

[Planogirl]

I think that half of your customers disliking something would normally be seen as significant. I'm not saying that this sampling is scientific but we really don't know what the regular experienced Disney visitor thinks do we? Stats have shown that repeat visitors make up a large portion of attendance at the parks. I know that the prevailing opinion is that repeat visitors don't matter but I personally believe that ALL visitors matter to Disney at least somewhat.

 

[soniam]

I have seen a lot of references in this thread and others to long waits for POTC. I think this is not a good example of how SB waits have increased. Yes, the SB waits seem to have increased for POTC. However, I think it's due to it being broken. That's why it's going down this year for a major refurb. It's not just the SB line that's long. I waited over 45 minutes in the FP+ line at POTC, because it kept breaking down. However, there may be other rides that now have longer SB waits. I didn't notice this phenomenon in late July though.

Also, I am curious if the people that like FP+ are avid planners. For instance, I love Touring Plans and wouldn't dream of doing a park without a personalized plan from their site. This sort of thing lends itself very well to a system like FP+. If you were already planning on being at a ride at a certain time, that time is now your FP+ window. I'm in the like FP+ camp, but it isn't very different from what I have always done.

 

[SmithSmith]

I think that half of your customers disliking something would normally be seen as significant. I'm not saying that this sampling is scientific but we really don't know what the regular experienced Disney visitor thinks do we? Stats have shown that repeat visitors make up a large portion of attendance at the parks. I know that the prevailing opinion is that repeat visitors don't matter but I personally believe that ALL visitors matter to Disney at least somewhat.

Suvadoo used the words "there aren't many", which seemed to imply that only a minority of the posters like FP+. However, reactions to FP+ seem to be evenly divided, at least, according to poll results and comments in this particular thread. That's all I was pointing out.

 

[SmithSmith]

I have seen a lot of references in this thread and others to long waits for POTC. I think this is not a good example of how SB waits have increased. Yes, the SB waits seem to have increased for POTC. However, I think it's due to it being broken. That's why it's going down this year for a major refurb. It's not just the SB line that's long. I waited over 45 minutes in the FP+ line at POTC, because it kept breaking down. However, there may be other rides that now have longer SB waits. I didn't notice this phenomenon in late July though.

Also, I am curious if the people that like FP+ are avid planners. For instance, I love Touring Plans and wouldn't dream of doing a park without a personalized plan from their site. This sort of thing lends itself very well to a system like FP+. If you were already planning on being at a ride at a certain time, that time is now your FP+ window. I'm in the like FP+ camp, but it isn't very different from what I have always done.

Good point, also the last row of the PotC boats have been blocked off, further reducing capacity.

Mark me down as a planner. I'd be lost without a plan, so FP+ is a natural fit for my style.