Misled by fastpass plussers

[JimmyBean42]

Okay, how about another analogy. Black Friday is coming up and I want to buy a big screen TV. I research the best deals online weeks ahead of time and camp out at Best Buy hours before they open. There are a limited number of TVs available. Should the person who sleeps in and heads over to the store on Friday afternoon have a TV held for him?

(Actually, I've never done this, DH is in charge of all electronic purchases. I haven't done Black Friday since DD grew up and moved away. It's just something that came to mind.)

I get your analogy, but buying a TV and being on vacation are two way different ends of the spectrum. We are and always will be morning / rope drop people. And while the new system did limit what we used to be able to do, I do know a bunch of people who like to sleep in and do the parks whenever. And they got annoyed paper FP would be gone by the time they got there. So I can see both ends of it. This made it a fair playing field for all. Except those who like last minute trips and to change parks mid-vacation. They got a kick in the pants.

 

[mesaboy2]

To me, it only makes sense that Disney would eventually allow the extra FP to be booked through the app. That way they can reduce staffing at the kiosks/saving $$

I think Disney is using the kiosks as a chokepoint to discourage the masses from getting more than 3 per day. Not prohibiting it, but not making it too easy either.

 

[bookgirl]

Okay, how about another analogy. Black Friday is coming up and I want to buy a big screen TV. I research the best deals online weeks ahead of time and camp out at Best Buy hours before they open. There are a limited number of TVs available. Should the person who sleeps in and heads over to the store on Friday afternoon have a TV held for him?

(Actually, I've never done this, DH is in charge of all electronic purchases. I haven't done Black Friday since DD grew up and moved away. It's just something that came to mind.)

Did Best Buy offer him the option to purchase a ticket in advance and reserve that TV 60 days in advance? If they did then yes he deserves to sleep in and pick up his TV later if he bought the ticket and reserved his TV ahead of time.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Driving home from another great WDW vacation. Slept in every day and still rode everything in every park each day without standing in a line longer than 20 minutes, which would not have been possible without FP+. Still prefer FP-, but there are ways to leverage this system just as effectively.

 

[mesaboy2]

Driving home from another great WDW vacation. Slept in every day and still rode everything in every park each day without standing in a line longer than 20 minutes, which would not have been possible without FP+. Still prefer FP-, but there are ways to leverage this system just as effectively.

Such as going during one of the least busy weeks of the year.

 

[slickpoetry]

Such as going during one of the least busy weeks of the year.

Historically, least busy.

In reality, this week was pretty busy, from what I heard. Especially Monday & Tuesday. The jewish holidays (that float around the calendar a bit) led to large crowds this week.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think Disney is using the kiosks as a chokepoint to discourage the masses from getting more than 3 per day. Not prohibiting it, but not making it too easy either.

THIS. I don't think they will ever allow 4th fast passes to be made via the app.

If people could make their 4th fast pass via the app? They would ALL be gobbled up in the early afternoon and give a severe disadvantage to people who don't (or choose) not to bring their phone to the park.

While I made a 4th fast pass (when I was close to a kiosk) on my last trip .. I would have easily made more if I could have done it via my phone. The walk to the kiosk and the lines IS a deterrent (even at a small park like DHS).

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Such as going during one of the least busy weeks of the year.

Didn't the OP just returned from a trip during the same time frame?

 

[maxiesmom]

what a crock people who defend fast plus+. I had numerous fears about fp+ but was hopeful because of all the people who said "oh it's great". It's great if u want to sweat in long lines at rides like haunted mansion that should never need a fastpass. 60 minute wait right now at 3:30. Ariel ride at noon-I couldn't believe how many people were doing fp+ for it. It's fast loading, why on earth would you fp it???? People actually fp small world. It's madness. all the stories of how great it is are "misleading" at best.at worst well.........

I've used the new system multiple times, and really like it. The Ariel ride is new-ish, so I would expect the lines to be long. .

 

[DisneyOma]

don't want to get into fastpass arguments, i realize it works for some, just not for me... I acknowledge I have usually gone in Oct, or early Nov, a few in mid to late Jan... at MK I could always in a day, ride splash 3 or 4 times, BTMR 3 or 4 times, space a time or 2, wait no more than 5 to 7 mins for pirates or HM and often walk right back on.... At the studio's, Tsmm 2 to 3 times, TOT 3 to 4 times, RNR a time or 2, Star Tours never more then 5 to 10 mins... Epcot, Soarin 2 to 3 times, Test Track 1 or 2 times, Maelstorm walkon, Spaceship earth walkon... I never had a fast pass runner, or ran for a fastpass myself, never used a fastpass after it expired... I go to WDW to ride rides, don't want to hear how much more there is to do there... Don't really care for shows, parades bore me, don't want to meet Mickey or Minnie or Donald or Goofy... I'm there for rides... Don't tell me it wasn't fair with the old fastpasses, what could be more fair than you wake up in the morning, go to a park, and everyone has the same chance... But no you don't want to go to rope drop, that's your choice..... myself I don't want to stay up till 8:30 or 9:00 for fire works that's not fair, you should have them at 6:00 to be fair to me

I thought Splash was traditonally down in January for refurb?

 

[bluezy]

I agree mostly.

...

There are not enough kiosks. There weren't enough kiosks the first week in Sept when the parks were pretty empty. I can't imagine what it is like in high crowd times. On the other hand, there probably aren't any FP to get after 2pm, so I guess it doesn't matter.

...

We had no trouble get FP's after 2:00 in June -- especially in MK. We got a 4th FP @ 1:15 and there was plenty of availability. In fact, the only things I didn't see with availability were 7DMT and A&E. There was still availability for a party of 5 for MSEP and Wishes that night. We chose a FP for Space Mtn. (which we had already ridden once with FP earlier in the day) for somewhere around 6:40-7:40 because we were getting ready to head back to the resort for a break and knew we wouldn't be back to the parks until after dinner. We *could* have gotten a FP for Space Mtn. for 1:30 or just about any time the rest of the day. We returned around 7:30 to ride Space Mtn. and then got 6 more FP's that night for various rides -- including BTMRR, Speedway, and Buzz Lightyear. We got FP's after 2:00 at the other 3 parks as well.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Curious, I'm not tech savvy but once they make that upgrade, they wouldn't be able to limit you to the park you are in , correct?

they might still be able to.limit using GPS. Disney had an.older app with Verizon called Mobile Magic. It would only show numerical wait times and fp availability (this was under legacy) if your GPS was on and showed you were in the parks. That was older tech than they have now..I'd be surprised if they were *unable* to limit it to the park you were in. They may not choose to go that route if they ever allow 4th+ booking from the app, but I don't think it would be from a point of lacking the technology.

 

[linzbear]

Now that I have some experience, I could manage this better, but without experience, it isn't intuitive to do any of these things.

Yes, I knew I could have gone on another ride, but I really didn't have any interest in going on another ride. Plus none of the other first tier attractions are near RnRC.

Yes, I could have re-arranged the order, but that wasn't the plan that worked best for us.

Use the Muppet Ride instead? I'm not sure that makes sense. First, wouldn't I have to replace RnRC with another top tier ride? Is 3 from the 2nd group a choice I could have made? Muppets is in the other group. Second, the Muppet ride is on the other side of the park. Personally, I think it is a poor design to ask people to walk to the other side of the park to click off a FP you didn't want in the first place. It would make more sense for me to just walk through the RnRC line.


Yes, I could have have handed over my band if I had had any reason to believe that it was necessary. If I hand over my band, I can no longer go get a snack with my dining credits while they ride. I would need to remember to take care of this beforehand. I can no longer shop unless I bring some other way of payment. I can't go get the next set of FP.


My point is that although I can get around the situation, it isn't a good set up. All of your suggestions are helpful to deal with the situation as it exists. I just think there should be an easier way to deal with it. One that doesn't inconvenience the non-rider. Maybe something at the entrance to the ride that allows the cast member to mark off the FP as used.

As I am typing this, I now remember that the same thing happened at mission space. The cast member told me I had to take the orange card and walk through the line to the next point. It's just annoying. I wanted to go get a c)up of coffee.

I'm not certain of the times you have, but it is not required that all FP+ are used, just that they are expired. You can change times on FP+ on a per person basis, so change your personal RNRC FP+ to the earliest possible time you can get (change this during planning, not day of), and you will ensure that yours is expired by the time your party goes on, and can then book your "4th". It is not intuitive, but it is a solution that doesn't require extra nuances on the day of.

 

[famsen]

This is our first time using Fastpass Plus and I can't stand it. We never are sure where we will be at every moment of every day or may even want to change parks if one is too crowded. Fastpass Plus has been an epic fail in our experience and this is coming from someone who has been to Disney dozens of times throughout the years. We are here at WDW now and I just can't believe this system is even in place. Everyone I have talked to is confused by it or finds it to be a debacle.

 

[mom2rtk]

As long as we're predicting...
I predict no change in the method of booking of the 4th (etc.) FP+.

Exactly.

It's not just a logistics or system issue. The current system is designed to use kiosks as a regulator.

 

[bluezy]

A little off topic but I am curious about something... do many people keep logs of wait times by day of the week, month, etc. It just seems to me that anytime the subject of FP+ comes up there are people that can quote statistics that seem amazing to me. Back in 1992 on Tuesdays during October wait times between noon and 2:00 pm for Small World were only 7.3 minutes and now, thanks to FP+ they are all the way up to 12.6 minutes. And it seems to work both ways. Sometimes I struggle to remember what we had for dinner two nights ago so when my DW asks how long has this meatloaf been in the refrigerator I can't give a good answer and respond "throw it out, it's probably bad", which is a safe bet with meatloaf. Anyway, since I can't remember whether we had meatloaf on Tuesday or Wednesday, it simply amazes me that people can give me a to the minute wait time for a minor attraction at Disney parks 5 plus years ago off the top of their head. Simply amazing...

I have actually seen wait-time charts published on a Disney fan website for the purpose of comparing before and after FP+ wait times. I don't remember how far back they went, but it was a few years. I don't think it was for every single day, but rather a few specific days throughout the year for comparison from year to year. Personally, I do make a note of the wait times on rides we go on when we're there. I'll note the time we got in the FP or SB line; the posted stand-by wait at that time; and what time we exited the ride. So, I can compare between our trips over the years. What I can't compare is exact attendance at the parks on the days we've been there, but we tend to go the 3rd week in June, so I know we don't have fluctuations in attendance due to holidays, "slow time" of the year, etc. However, I don't write down what I had for dinner on Tuesday night, so that bit of information flees my memory quickly.

 

[bluezy]

Oh my...

Our family of 5 went in late June for 8 days. Each day was an 8 or 9 crowd level.

We followed the cheat sheets on Easy WDW. We were prepared with a plan to be ahead of the crowds and had good intel on when the waits start to back up on which rides. The only ride we got caught in a longer than usual line was The Land around lunch time one day. We had tons of availability for 4th+ FP on major attractions until late afternoon and for the "secondary attractions" pretty much all day until close.

I have to say we tried to use our time in the smartest way possible. Took breaks during the busiest parts of the day. Did most of our rides the first 3 hours and last 3 hours of the day. In the middle of the day we watched shows, used FP+, or took a break to eat inside in the AC and/or go back to our resort and rest.

I think you may be doing it wrong...

Have you read Mesa's FP+ thread or gone to Easy WDW to get advice from Josh?

We had the exact same experience -- I could have written this post myself: Party of 5; late June; cheat sheets; etc. A little planning/research goes a long way.

 

[Laz]

I get your analogy, but buying a TV and being on vacation are two way different ends of the spectrum. We are and always will be morning / rope drop people. And while the new system did limit what we used to be able to do, I do know a bunch of people who like to sleep in and do the parks whenever. And they got annoyed paper FP would be gone by the time they got there. So I can see both ends of it. This made it a fair playing field for all. Except those who like last minute trips and to change parks mid-vacation. They got a kick in the pants.

Now everyone is equally annoyed.

 

[flicx]

This is our first time using Fastpass Plus and I can't stand it. We never are sure where we will be at every moment of every day or may even want to change parks if one is too crowded. Fastpass Plus has been an epic fail in our experience and this is coming from someone who has been to Disney dozens of times throughout the years. We are here at WDW now and I just can't believe this system is even in place. Everyone I have talked to is confused by it or finds it to be a debacle.

Sorry to hear this! Your not alone in these thoughts though.

 

[ELSA711]

This is our first time using Fastpass Plus and I can't stand it. We never are sure where we will be at every moment of every day or may even want to change parks if one is too crowded. Fastpass Plus has been an epic fail in our experience and this is coming from someone who has been to Disney dozens of times throughout the years. We are here at WDW now and I just can't believe this system is even in place. Everyone I have talked to is confused by it or finds it to be a debacle.

But if you want to park hop, park hop. FP+ won't get in the way of that. Go to the park you want, visit the kiosk and get a FP for that park, wouldn't that be the same as legacy FP? Except you are going to kiosk instead of paper machine?
What am I missing?
We park hopped a lot both before and after, we knew the risk with legacy and new system, you go to 2nd park late you may not get a FP for headliners?