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

[Laketravis]

So, in other words, you can get more FPs and go on more rides with shorter waits when the crowd levels are lower. That's different.

Are you struggling to grasp the concept or are you being sarcastic?

 

[mom2rtk]

Are you struggling to grasp the concept or are you being sarcastic?

Couldn't be sarcasm. That's not allowed here.

My theory has always been that FP+ seems to work well on uncrowded days. And it seems to work well on peak days. It's the days in between that are problematic. Too bad there are so many of those.

 

[Suvadoo]

Also - I agree with the previous poster who said they didn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a vacation and "make the best of it". I work hard and save up for a long time and I want a great vacation experience. I don't want to "make the best of it."

This is the part I can't understand. Why should I have to make the best of it? I also don't understand this "Fairer for All" theory. I'm supposed to be happy that access to headliner attractions is more equitable? Why should I care what others experience on their vacations? Why should I spend 2 days in a park so that I can experience the same amount of attractions I used to experience in 1 day?

Make the best of it? This is what I do in my every day life. But when it comes to my vacation time, I want to make the most of it!

 

[Brian Noble]

The problem for us in the 7 dwarves ride. It appears that it's not worth a FP+ but it would be nice to check it out. What to do...

If you think of FP+ as "saves me time," it's hard to imagine many things more useful than 7DMT. Unless you are right up *at* the rope, it's hard to ride standby without a wait. Most anything else is doable with the right touring plan.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Couldn't be sarcasm. That's not allowed here. My theory has always been that FP+ seems to work well on uncrowded days. And it seems to work well on peak days. It's the days in between that are problematic. Too bad there are so many of those.

Just chiming in to reiterate that I have had very positive trips with FP+ in both July and from Dec 27 to Jan 2, which were probably all crowd level 8-10 days.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just chiming in to reiterate that I have had very positive trips with FP+ in both July and from Dec 27 to Jan 2, which were probably all crowd level 8-10 days.

Do you not consider those peak times?

 

[DisneyKidds]

Personally, we haven't had to 'make the best' of anything under FP+. Are some things different? Sure. Was FP- perfect? No. Under any system you take the good with the bad, because there is always good and bad, and you go with it. Some people may be better at doing that than others. While I've always acknowledged the 'bads' of FP+, we've had very positive experiences with it. In fact, our park visits are more efficient and less stressful under FP+. But everyone's experience is going to be different!

 

[wisblue]

Couldn't be sarcasm. That's not allowed here.

My theory has always been that FP+ seems to work well on uncrowded days. And it seems to work well on peak days. It's the days in between that are problematic. Too bad there are so many of those.

For people who have no choice but to visit at those peak times with the crowd level 8-10 days, that's what they care about.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Do you not consider those peak times?

Yes, I would, which is my point.......people are having positive experiences on trips that aren't crowd level 1-4, not that anyone said they weren't.

 

[Suvadoo]

My theory has always been that FP+ seems to work well on uncrowded days. And it seems to work well on peak days. It's the days in between that are problematic. Too bad there are so many of those.

For people who have no choice but to visit at those peak times with the crowd level 8-10 days, that's what they care about.

Yes, I would, which is my point.......people are having positive experiences on trips that aren't crowd level 1-4, not that anyone said they weren't.

So in other words, you agree with mom2rtk when she says FP+ benefits guests who visit at peak time and at low crowd times.

 

[Disneyhappy]

This is the part I can't understand. Why should I have to make the best of it? I also don't understand this "Fairer for All" theory. I'm supposed to be happy that access to headliner attractions is more equitable? Why should I care what others experience on their vacations? Why should I spend 2 days in a park so that I can experience the same amount of attractions I used to experience in 1 day?

Make the best of it? This is what I do in my every day life. But when it comes to my vacation time, I want to make the most of it!

You read my mind. I am truly happy for those folks who love FP+. With 5 trips under our belts with it, we have found much less value. Pay the same price to to experience approximately 50% less along with uber planning and itineraries to the minute. Having to cancel or change an ADR is one thing. Changing FP+ day of because of of issues that don't allow you to meet that 75 minute window resulted in our not being able to FP+ the attraction at all or obtain FP+ to any attraction that was in our top 5 for that day at a time that didn't conflict with our other plans. Not to mention the time spent to work on changes. I don't expect it to be a relaxing vacation but WDW vacations are becoming way too stressful. Maybe it is my age.

 

[wisblue]

So in other words, you agree with mom2rtk when she says FP+ benefits guests who visit at peak time and at low crowd times.

Yes. So, now we have established that FP+ works as well or better than paper FP with crowd levels 1-4 and crowd levels 8-10.

That leaves open for discussion the crowd level 5-7 days in between.

We experienced some level 5 days in November last year and FP+ worked just fine for us even though we couldn't make FP+ reservations in advance.

 

[Suvadoo]

Yes. So, now we have established that FP+ works as well or better than paper FP with crowd levels 1-4 and crowd levels 8-10.

That leaves open for discussion the crowd level 5-7 days in between.

We experienced some level 5 days in November last year and FP+ worked just fine for us even though we couldn't make FP+ reservations in advance.

No, now you are adding words to the original statement. FP+ works better for peak days and low crow days, than FP+ works for 5-7 level crowds. mom2rtk never said it worked better than legacy,that's your opinion.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Just chiming in to reiterate that I have had very positive trips with FP+ in both July and from Dec 27 to Jan 2, which were probably all crowd level 8-10 days.

I think mom2trk was more referring to crowd levels 5-7 as the middle...8-10 levels are generally considered peak, no? And she a knowledged it worked well during peak times.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Yes. So, now we have established that FP+ works as well or better than paper FP with crowd levels 1-4 and crowd levels 8-10.

That leaves open for discussion the crowd level 5-7 days in between.

We experienced some level 5 days in November last year and FP+ worked just fine for us even though we couldn't make FP+ reservations in advance.

And we experienced level 6 and 7 days in November and had a less successful experience with day of availability for 4th and beyond and changing. The shorter park hours, combined with mid level crowds had a significant impact, I think.

 

[wisblue]

No, now you are adding words to the original statement. FP+ works better for peak days and low crow days, than FP+ works for 5-7 level crowds. mom2rtk never said it worked better than legacy,that's your opinion.

I'm not reaching that conclusion just from mom2trk's comment.

Those comments about low crowd days and high crowd days pop up all the time, even from the most ardent opponents of FP+.

The broader observation is that one's ability to get useful FPs is heavily dependent on crowd size and how one tours the park.

The more things change....

 

[kbelle8995]

You read my mind. I am truly happy for those folks who love FP+. With 5 trips under our belts with it, we have found much less value. Pay the same price to to experience approximately 50% less along with uber planning and itineraries to the minute. Having to cancel or change an ADR is one thing. Changing FP+ day of because of of issues that don't allow you to meet that 75 minute window resulted in our not being able to FP+ the attraction at all or obtain FP+ to any attraction that was in our top 5 for that day at a time that didn't conflict with our other plans. Not to mention the time spent to work on changes. I don't expect it to be a relaxing vacation but WDW vacations are becoming way too stressful. Maybe it is my age.

Yup that's pretty much where I am too.

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

You read my mind. I am truly happy for those folks who love FP+. With 5 trips under our belts with it, we have found much less value. Pay the same price to to experience approximately 50% less along with uber planning and itineraries to the minute. Having to cancel or change an ADR is one thing. Changing FP+ day of because of of issues that don't allow you to meet that 75 minute window resulted in our not being able to FP+ the attraction at all or obtain FP+ to any attraction that was in our top 5 for that day at a time that didn't conflict with our other plans. Not to mention the time spent to work on changes. I don't expect it to be a relaxing vacation but WDW vacations are becoming way too stressful. Maybe it is my age.

This is what I'm worried about for our upcoming trip -- our first using FP+. We have an established touring style that has worked well for us on all of our trips and FP+ is throwing that completely out the window and we're having to figure out how to work with it. We typically go on our big family trips in July and were able to get at least three, often four, rides on headliners using FP and rode drop. I just don't see that happening anymore. It looks like, for peak times like July/August, we'll be lucky to get two rides on headliners that don't have single rider option (like TSMM and SDMT). And since it's all about the rides for my husband and oldest daughter....it will be interesting. I always considered myself to be an uber planner and we followed our touring plans nearly to the letter...but even I am getting stressed out by having to plan FP+ 60 days in advance, let alone having to be online at midnight on that 60th day to try to get the ones we want. I feel like even I, the uber planner, have hit the limit of what I'm willing to plan so far in advance for a vacation.

I think it may work well for my younger daughter who has decided she's not much of a thrill ride person and who wants to sleep in on our trip this summer...but I'm not sure how it's going to go for the rest of us. I'm stressing about this trip more than I ever stressed about our very first trip.

So I'm nervous, but we'll give it our best shot and see how it goes. But if it doesn't go well and the experience is too different from the Disney experiences we've come to know and love, I think it will quite some time before we go back.

 

[Suvadoo]

I'm not reaching that conclusion just from mom2trk's comment.

Those comments about low crowd days and high crowd days pop up all the time, even from the most ardent opponents of FP+.

The broader observation is that one's ability to get useful FPs is heavily dependent on crowd size and how one tours the park.

The more things change....

In your opinion FP+ is better overall than legacy. I understand what you're saying and why. But I am lucky and I don't visit in peak times. But in slower times crowd level 1-3 does FP really matter? I'm talking about either plus or minus. When I've traveled at these times with Legacy the SB wait for the headliners was usually about 15 minutes, so obtaining a FP was kind of pointless. I haven't been licky enough to visit at a crowd level of 1-3 with FP+, but judging from the posts I'm reading, FP+ is a bonus but not essential during slow times. The same held true with legacy.

 

[Brian Noble]

This is what I'm worried about for our upcoming trip -- our first using FP+. We have an established touring style that has worked well for us on all of our trips and FP+ is throwing that completely out the window and we're having to figure out how to work with it. We typically go on our big family trips in July and were able to get at least three, often four, rides on headliners using FP and rode drop. I just don't see that happening anymore.

No, it probably won't. This was my touring philosophy, as well, but I started to change my approach back when WDW started to enforce return times for fastpasses, and you could no longer collect a pocketful in the morning to use later that night. Instead, I (willingly) planned days that had fewer headliners, but more of the "lesser" attractions that we normally didn't have time for because we were always running from Mountain to Mountain.

I wasn't sure how that would go either, because like your husband and daughter, my family and I are *major* thrill-seekers, and not just at Disney. But, we were pleased to discover that we enjoyed this new style of touring. It was different to be sure, but in some ways we enjoyed it even more---doing a broader set of things in the day made each day feel a little more "full." I didn't expect that.

We've since done two trips during busy times---Spring Break and Christmas Week---with the new FP+ system. It is different, but both trips were great. We saw everything we wanted to see, though we did less re-riding and more of the "other" attractions. We didn't wait in any appreciable lines except once where I mis-judged a wait and it was posted incorrectly. Now that the kids are older, we're taking more advantage of the late park hours during these busy times, and those have been surprisingly easy times to tour.

It could be that it doesn't work for you, though, and if so, there are a LOT of theme parks out there with much better thrills than Disney---and that includes the Orlando-area competition.