My husband didn't believe me about FP+

[BeachClub2014]

The standby line was very short, yet the the standby wait time was 60 minutes. I couldn't figure that out. But the FP+ line consistently remained out the door.

We experienced this same phenomena at Space Mountain a few weeks back. The FP+ line (which we were in) was about 30-minutes long and the posted SB wait was 235 minutes. Longest I have ever seen. But as we wound our way thru the FP+ que we never actually saw a line for the SB, until we got to the loading platform....and that clearly wouldn't take 235 minutes from there. Unless they just stopped loading SB. It was weird.

 

[itchin2go]

Exactly... the OP's post was perfectly legit. It's so many of the other comments that are not helpful but just want to rant about FP+. Can you rant? Sure. But it does not help the OP. Perhaps there should be an "FP+ rants here" thread so that any time they come up (like the tipping thing) they can be deleted or moved. They don't belong in a thread asking for legit strategy advice.

Commiserating with a poster can be helpful. They know they're not alone. Regardless, complaining about the complainers is not any more helpful.

There are ways to make it more relaxing. I think the boards should be directed toward how to make it work for her. Like, for example not considering the FP+ times as appointments but options. Then your day isn't so "booked". It's not at all, with some options you can use or not use.

I offered that exact advice on page 2:

OP - I know it's aggravating, but you're ahead of the game just knowing that you can book 60 days in advance. Take an educated guess at which parks you'll be at on which day and book something. Do not view these ride reservations as being carved in stone. If you change your mind during your vacation, change your fastpasses and make the best selections you can then.

You're not alone, but the system has been in place for awhile and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. With that being the case, your best course of action is to roll with it as best as possible.

 

[bcrook]

We experienced this same phenomena at Space Mountain a few weeks back. The FP+ line (which we were in) was about 30-minutes long and the posted SB wait was 235 minutes. Longest I have ever seen. But as we wound our way thru the FP+ que we never actually saw a line for the SB, until we got to the loading platform....and that clearly wouldn't take 235 minutes from there. Unless they just stopped loading SB. It was weird.

Truly appointment riding? Like some restaurants...no ADR, no table?

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

After over 28 trips to WDW, I knew I would hate FP+. I don't even make ADR's because I don't like to plan. I Never know what park I will be in on what day.

I was there in May for three days with no plan. Was to meet my mom and as I was boarding the plane in Michigan, she was at the airport in Arizona and didn't feel well so she didn't come. It was solo for me. The first day, I decided to go to MK and that morning bought my ticket at the hotel, AKL, and the reservation desk booked my FP+. NO 7DMT. After I rode my 3 FP+ riders, I went to the kiosk and got 7DMT for 8:00 p.m. Next day I did Epcot, same thing, bought the ticket and booked the FP+ at the hotel. Didn't get Soaring so I did have to wait in line for that. I din't book any ADRs but did check, and there were some available both days, late times, but still available. Third day I did pool, and DTD, it was actually the day I left.

As one who was convinced I would hate FP+, it wasn't that bad. Now going the beginning of May of course meant that it was not as crowded and would be easier than summer or holidays (no longer go summer or Christmas after many years, too crowded and no longer have kids in school restricting when I go). All in all, it was ok. Had I been going with more people, at a busier time and had to plan, perhaps I would feel differently as I have said, I never liked to plan. I do love disney but it not a relaxing vacation. To me, that would a beach in the Carribbean with waiters bringing me drinks. lol

I think party size can be one of the biggest disadvantages caused by FP+. Unless you were trying to pull the last legacy FPs of the day, your party size was never an issue. Now it is, and Disney isn't forthcoming with advise about splitting up your party. That's something I wouldn't know about if it wasn't for the DIS.

And this is one of the big reasons fp+ works so well for us. We park hop and so make multiple trips to each park during our vacation.

It's not a problem at all for us. One trip into Epcot we'll do one and then catch the other on another day. We could use rope drop for Epcot, but we much prefer it as an evening park. It's especially nice to be able to go to Epcot at 5-6 in the evening and know we have headliners to ride instead of knowing fp's are sold out. And not only do we not have to choose which to get fp+'s for, I expect we'll get to do each multiple times during our trip.

I can only imagine how long fp distribution would last on what is sure to be an incredibly popular attraction. I'm actually glad they're tiered. It loosens up availability.

Are you referring to headliners at Epcot once Frozen Ever after opens? If so, I'd really like to know how you are doing this. Are you hopping to Epcot every night and not using any FP in the morning? Riding Soarin' and TT multiple times is important to my kids. With legacy FP, we would be able to ride each at least 4 times over 2 days at Epcot without waiting longer than 20 minutes in line. No matter how hard I try to plan, I can't get more than two rides on each without adding extra days at Epcot and we have to be there at rope drop. Not sure what we'll do once the Frozen ride opens, although I'm pretty sure we'll only need to ride it once. According to my 9 year old daughter, "no one cares about Frozen anymore."

These boards are so funny. Someone comes out to post their thoughts on FP+, and the same old group jumps on the opportunity to go "HAH! Look another person that hates it".

OP, I have to ask why you're so aggravated. Based on the little info I know, it looks like you already booked your ADRs... so isn't the bulk of your planning done? If you've booked ADRs, that means you've picked park days. Once you know your park days, it's a piece of cake to pick 3 rides in the park that you think you'll want to ride. Picking a whole vacations-worth of Fast Passes takes about 15 min. And there is absolutely no reason not to pick them. You don't have to go to them if you're having fun doing something else, you can change them day-of if you like, and if any of them end up sold out, you've already got one for yourself. It's all pro and no con.

Don't think of it as not relaxing in that you have 3 appointments to keep, but relaxing in that you can walk on to 3 rides (probably busy rides) on those days, if you choose to. You are not penalized if you don't show, and you can change them if you're on the other side of the park and don't want to go to your FP+.

Standby lines are even not bad. We've gone in FP+ times (last year Star Wars Weekend, so it was busy!) and the lines were really about the same as they always were.
Have fun! It shouldn't be stressful. If you want help with anything specific to make it even easier, just ask out here and you'll get tons of replies.

But it's not the same old group. I've seen lots of names on this thread I've never seen before. FP+ and MDE have been around for two years now. Opinions are still mixed and people still have strong feelings about it. To me, this indicates that it's about more than just a small group of people who are afraid of change.

 

[Angel Ariel]

OK, OP here. I really don't feel that I bashed FP+. I haven't been to WDW in 5 years, therefore I know very little about the system. I also stated that I'm a regular Disneylander, which uses the Original FP system. I spend my time on the Community Board & the Disneyland Board & only check out the WDW specific boards when planning a trip. I suppose I could have done a search of "FP+", but I opted to start a new thread. I found it amusing that my husband was so surprised that you really do need to order these FP+ 2 months in advance.

I didn't realize that I was starting "yet another 'lets bash FP+' Thread". That wasn't my intention.

OP - you didn't do anything wrong. you posted a thread, some people commiserated, some offered advice, some did a combination of both - all of which are valid. Please don't feel bad for starting this thread! Fp+ seems like it is going to be a "hot topic" around here for quite some time. I think we are all learning how to.adjust as best we can.

 

[asheleycs]

The problem with overbooking is you're attempting to predict if and when someone won't use something you're trying to hype is the best way to travel. Doing so is acknowledging that you're pushing FP onto people for rides or attractions that shouldn't have FP so people see no use in using them.

Then if you guess wrong and everyone does use their FP+ then the people who couldn't get one because the others were gone or they opted for something else are punished because SB isn't going anywhere until the 45 min FP line runs through. That would explain though why SB times have gone up so significantly on secondary attractions since the advent of FP+.

But it's not "guessing". It's statistical probability, which can be estimated with surprising accuracy. I can't estimate whether a specific person will choose to a FP+ (though I can estimate a probability), but I can definitely estimate the number of people in a large group who will, very accurately. Sometimes it's wrong, of course, but not typically. Consider that probably every single flight I've been on or hotel I've stayed at has been overbooked. I've never been bumped (though I'm sure plenty of people will have a story about it), and I travel a great deal. So, it's pretty accurate, and doing it keeps flights full, prices low, and allows me to secure a seat that wouldn't be otherwise available.

An experience with a 45 minute FP+ line will become part of the algorithm. The amount of data available will continue to grow, allowing it to become more and more accurate. If they gave out too many FP+, it just means that with better accuracy they will distribute fewer, leaving many of those in that long line to either go standby or forgo the attraction. There was really nothing lost with that line, for an entire group, in terms of average wait and ride capacity. It certainly wasn't ideal for an individual who got standby lines when expecting FP-length lines, but it just means they learned and next time the FP+ won't be available.

 

[GaryDis]

This is what my "little longer wait" looked like at TSMM on July 6... A relatively low crowd day.

Is that the right date? I don't think of anything near July 4 as being a low crowd day, so I checked the easywdw crowd calendar for July 2015. It shows July 6 as an 8 overall, with HS as expressly not recommended. That seems like a relatively high crowd day to me.

 

[Elfeen]

Is that the right date? I don't think of anything near July 4 as being a low crowd day, so I checked the easywdw crowd calendar for July 2015. It shows July 6 as an 8 overall, with HS as expressly not recommended. That seems like a relatively high crowd day to me.

Still...it says FAST pass. That doesn't look to be fast no matter how you spin it.

 

[GaryDis]

Are you referring to headliners at Epcot once Frozen Ever after opens? If so, I'd really like to know how you are doing this. Are you hopping to Epcot every night and not using any FP in the morning? Riding Soarin' and TT multiple times is important to my kids. With legacy FP, we would be able to ride each at least 4 times over 2 days at Epcot without waiting longer than 20 minutes in line.

TIL people actually like to ride the same ride multiple times in a short time span. This helps me understand the anti-FP+ crowd a bit more.

There is one and only one ride in all of WDW that I would spend any effort on trying to ride more than once a day, and that's Space Mountain. I suspect Dinosaur (which I've never ridden) may be my second. This is not to say I wouldn't repeat a ride if I happened to pass it and saw a short SB wait time, and maybe pick one of two alternative walking routes of similar length in order to check, but that's it. With so much stuff to do, re-riding most rides seems like more of a waste than standing in line to ride something new. Maybe I'd feel differently if I were going with pre-schoolers.

But YMMV.

 

[Robo]

There is one and only one ride in all of WDW that I would spend any effort on trying to ride more than once a day, and that's Space Mountain...

But YMMV.

My mileage:
Splash, BTM, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, 7DMT, ToT, TSM, RnRC, Soarin', Test Track, Exp Everest, and (on a warm day) Kali River

 

[Angel Ariel]

Is that the right date? I don't think of anything near July 4 as being a low crowd day, so I checked the easywdw crowd calendar for July 2015. It shows July 6 as an 8 overall, with HS as expressly not recommended. That seems like a relatively high crowd day to me.

I thought I recalled a few "just back" threads from around the post July 4th time and how people found it to be much less crowded than they expected based on the crowd calendars. I could be wrong, I don't have links, but I thought I remembered reading this a few different times.

 

[bcrook]

Is that the right date? I don't think of anything near July 4 as being a low crowd day, so I checked the easywdw crowd calendar for July 2015. It shows July 6 as an 8 overall, with HS as expressly not recommended. That seems like a relatively high crowd day to me.

Lol. Ahh you are being very diplomatic. I'm not cooking the books. I was there on that day. I am used to Fourth of July crowds. I found that crowds swelled at night before fantasmic! and the frozen fireworks, but the park was not overly crowded.

Regardless, that was the Fastpass Return Line, it shouldn't matter what the crowd levels are, you book it months in advance to not deal with that. During crowded times, standby should be obscene, but Fastpass should stay...well fast or at least not chaotic.

I'm not saying people shouldn't have to deal with lines. They should. But they shouldn't have to deal with that nonsense.

 

[GaryDis]

I didn't mean to question the veracity or implication of the picture. As you say, FP should never be more than 5 minutes.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

But it's not "guessing". It's statistical probability, which can be estimated with surprising accuracy. I can't estimate whether a specific person will choose to a FP+ (though I can estimate a probability), but I can definitely estimate the number of people in a large group who will, very accurately. Sometimes it's wrong, of course, but not typically. Consider that probably every single flight I've been on or hotel I've stayed at has been overbooked. I've never been bumped (though I'm sure plenty of people will have a story about it), and I travel a great deal. So, it's pretty accurate, and doing it keeps flights full, prices low, and allows me to secure a seat that wouldn't be otherwise available.

An experience with a 45 minute FP+ line will become part of the algorithm. The amount of data available will continue to grow, allowing it to become more and more accurate. If they gave out too many FP+, it just means that with better accuracy they will distribute fewer, leaving many of those in that long line to either go standby or forgo the attraction. There was really nothing lost with that line, for an entire group, in terms of average wait and ride capacity. It certainly wasn't ideal for an individual who got standby lines when expecting FP-length lines, but it just means they learned and next time the FP+ won't be available.

It's still a guess. You can call it a statistical probability but in the end you're simply guessing what someone will do and when you guess wrong it can have significant impact.

Reducing the number of FP offered will simply increase the number of guest frustrated they can't get a FP under this new system effectively increasing the problem they claim they were combating.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Lol. Ahh you are being very diplomatic.

With so much stuff to do, re-riding most rides seems like more of a waste than standing in line to ride something new. Maybe I'd feel differently if I were going with pre-schoolers.

So much for diplomacy.

If riding Splash Mountain three times in lieu of doing Hall of Presidents and Stitch's Great Escape makes me a pre-schooler, then hand me some blocks and Play-doh.

 

[GaryDis]

So much for diplomacy.

If riding Splash Mountain three times in lieu of doing Hall of Presidents and Stitch's Great Escape makes me a pre-schooler, then hand me some blocks and Play-doh.

Sorry, didn't mean it to apply to others. That was just a statement of how my feelings might be influenced, but I can see how you read it differently.

 

[GaryDis]

It's still a guess. You can call it a statistical probability but in the end you're simply guessing what someone will do and when you guess wrong it can have significant impact.

Anything anybody does can always be wrong. Election predictions are usually right, but sometimes wrong. Weather forecasts are usually right, but sometimes wrong. That doesn't mean they're just making lucky guesses most of the time.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

TIL people actually like to ride the same ride multiple times in a short time span. This helps me understand the anti-FP+ crowd a bit more.

There is one and only one ride in all of WDW that I would spend any effort on trying to ride more than once a day, and that's Space Mountain. I suspect Dinosaur (which I've never ridden) may be my second. This is not to say I wouldn't repeat a ride if I happened to pass it and saw a short SB wait time, and maybe pick one of two alternative walking routes of similar length in order to check, but that's it. With so much stuff to do, re-riding most rides seems like more of a waste than standing in line to ride something new. Maybe I'd feel differently if I were going with pre-schoolers.

But YMMV.

My kids aren't preschoolers. We generally go for 9-10 days and do lots of other things, but my kids do like to re-ride their favorites. Epcot and DHS are hard because of the tiers. Not quite as hard at MK because we can FP Splash and BTMRR every time we go, but my son also loves IASW and we love POTC. We used to be able to walk on these rides anytime we wanted. Now they have longer lines.

I guess if we only want to ride our favorites once, we can cut out trips down to 4-5 days and spend the rest of our time at Universal or the beach. Not the outcome I think Disney was aiming for.

 

[GaryDis]

My kids aren't preschoolers. We generally go for 9-10 days and do lots of other things, but my kids do like to re-ride their favorites. Epcot and DHS are hard because of the tiers. Not quite as hard at MK because we can FP Splash and BTMRR every time we go, but my son also loves IASW and we love POTC.

I always rigged things so that they wouldn't want to. It helps that I was in the rent-a-kid business (nieces and nephews), so I wasn't spending a lot of time before the trip building anticipation of specific attractions, and I don't think we'd go more than every three years, so they outgrew their memories and knew it.

Again, I'm not trying to say that re-riding is bad or that only pre-schoolers would want to. I'm saying that it's not my thing, and that only someone of pre-school age (or septuagenarians and above) have enough influence on me for me to go any extra effort for that. Fortunately, DH is in my camp on this, so that's not an issue.

 

[bcrook]

I didn't mean to question the veracity or implication of the picture. As you say, FP should never be more than 5 minutes.

I understand. It is hard to believe, which is why I took the picture. I wasn't offended by your tactful question. I would question it too. Someone earlier questioned whether the ride was down or not. That could have been an a good explanation. To my knowledge it wasn't. I will see if the trend continues during Columbus Day week. It has been getting more crowded at that time of the year.