My Updated FP+ Impressions

[mesaboy2]

For the benefit of those who haven't read my posts in the past, I was a Legacy FP pro. The system, in my opinion, wasn't broke and therefore didn't need replacing. There are few if any systems more "fair" than first-come, first-serve (also my opinion only), so I preferred it over FP+ also when the basics of the new system became clear.

I returned last night from the first trip where I can honestly say I had full access to FP+ and what it offers. This one involved our third set of MagicBands, but past trips with them involved either using kiosks only on day-of at best because of our particular ticket situation.

My skip-to-the-bottom summary for those not interested in reading further. FP+ isn't as bad as I initially thought it would be, but I still think the old system was "better", at least for my family's touring style and what we could accomplish with it.

Things I Like
-----------------

• Having 3 FPs per day "in your pocket" is nice, no doubt about it.
• Once committed to a park, the flexibility of moving around those 3 is convenient also.
• Additional FPs were pretty easy to get, even late in the day, for second- and third-level attractions (my experience only).
• As a tech-savvy type, the "coolness" of MBs (when working). Very convenient to use them to enter rooms, parks, FP entrances, and pay for meals and merch. (I did not use PhotoPass this trip.)

Things I Don't Like
-------------------------

• Tiers, of course, at Epcot and DHS.
• Wondering if the Mickey-head will turn green or blue each time at FP entrances. It went green for us at all 9 of them over the course of 2 days, but knowing of the many glitches in the past by others I was concerned. Without a paper FP to prove my case, I knew it would come down to a he-said/MDX-said situation and I didn't like my chances there.
• Wondering if the Mickey-head will turn green or blue each time at park entrances. We entered three times over two days with two-day non-hoppers (twice at DHS on Thursday, once at MK on Friday), and while DW's and my MagicBand turned green each time, DD's turned blue at least once at each entry. Multiple attempts (or a CM override of some kind in one case) and it finally worked, but we never entered during a busy time and fortunately we weren't holding up anyone behind us.
• At check-in, 2 of my family's 3 MBs scanned for room entry with no issues. I waited about 10 minutes for the CM to get mine to work.
• The MDX user interface is just clunky. Most of the time I rearranged things without issue, and I had confidence that nothing changed until I was ready for it to. However, one time I was investigating trading out Pan for Big Thunder as a possible option when, without any confirmation that I remember, boom--I changed it. If instead of Pan that was the 7DMT that I had I would have been ticked. We kept Big Thunder anyway and didn't try to switch back.
• The Be Our Guest FP experience was a partial fail. We did the full monty with ordering ahead and everything, but the system lost our order. So while we quickly got past everyone else waiting, we still had to redo our order. No big deal, but not what was supposed to happen.
• I never had a chance at A&E FPs, simply because I didn't have a room and tickets two months ago. In the old days, all I had to do was show up early and I could get anything.

That's all I can think of for now, I might add a few later.

I'm off for my first trip to DLR in about a week for a return to the old ways when my Jedi skills meant something.

For those who are curious, what did the "FP-priority guy" use for his FPs? At DHS, our preselected 3 were TSM, Star Tours, and GMR. These were all scheduled for early afternoon. On our way out at about 3:00p for a return in the evening, we chose Fantasmic over RnRC for our 4th FP. (That's probably pretty ironic to some.) The reasoning was that all offered RnRC times were after our 8:00p dinner ADR, and DW thought riding after dinner might be a mistake for her stomach. We took our chances with SR and we both still got on, her before our meal and me after. Just goes to show you how a particular situation can make my priority list pointless--it's a guide only. The Fantasmic theater was barely half-full for the 10:30p show, and our seats wound up being high but dead-center. I didn't see much evidence of anything going on other than open-seating. For MK on day two, our initial 3 were 7DMT, Big Thunder, and HM, all spread throughout the afternoon around our 1:30p BOG and the 3:00p FoF parade. Our 4th FP at about 6:00p was the Speedway, and our 5th FP was IaSW. The IaSW was virtually pointless as I would have expected, but it's DD's favorite still and we were on our way out--basically a freebie.

 

[999DoomBuggies]

I consider the oper one of the few real experts in terms of all things fast pass. Maybe a handful of others understand the situation as well. Me not included.

I agree with pretty much everything on the OP but I do not have as upbeat of a perspective to the current setup of fast pass +. I will retread and post more later.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Thanks for the report, always good to hear your perspective on things!

 

[Drinehart811]

Glad to hear you are warming up to the new system I was never a mega user under the old system so I'm excited to try it in Sept.

FP tip at DLR, RSR is usually disconnected from the rest of the system so you can grab another FP immediately. Have fun!

 

[Miskey]

For the benefit of those who haven't read my posts in the past, I was a Legacy FP pro. The system, in my opinion, wasn't broke and therefore didn't need replacing. There are few if any systems more "fair" than first-come, first-serve (also my opinion only), so I preferred it over FP+ also when the basics of the new system became clear.

I returned last night from the first trip where I can honestly say I had full access to FP+ and what it offers. This one involved our third set of MagicBands, but past trips with them involved either using kiosks only on day-of at best because of our particular ticket situation.

My skip-to-the-bottom summary for those not interested in reading further. FP+ isn't as bad as I initially thought it would be, but I still think the old system was "better", at least for my family's touring style and what we could accomplish with it.

Things I Like
-----------------

• Having 3 FPs per day "in your pocket" is nice, no doubt about it.
• Once committed to a park, the flexibility of moving around those 3 is convenient also.
• Additional FPs were pretty easy to get, even late in the day, for second- and third-level attractions (my experience only).
• As a tech-savvy type, the "coolness" of MBs (when working). Very convenient to use them to enter rooms, parks, FP entrances, and pay for meals and merch. (I did not use PhotoPass this trip.)

Things I Don't Like
-------------------------

• Tiers, of course, at Epcot and DHS.
• Wondering if the Mickey-head will turn green or blue each time at FP entrances. It went green for us at all 9 of them over the course of 2 days, but knowing of the many glitches in the past by others I was concerned. Without a paper FP to prove my case, I knew it would come down to a he-said/MDX-said situation and I didn't like my chances there.
• Wondering if the Mickey-head will turn green or blue each time at park entrances. We entered three times over two days with two-day non-hoppers (twice at DHS on Thursday, once at MK on Friday), and while DW's and my MagicBand turned green each time, DD's turned blue at least once at each entry. Multiple attempts (or a CM override of some kind in one case) and it finally worked, but we never entered during a busy time and fortunately we weren't holding up anyone behind us.
• At check-in, 2 of my family's 3 MBs scanned for room entry with no issues. I waited about 10 minutes for the CM to get mine to work.
• The MDX user interface is just clunky. Most of the time I rearranged things without issue, and I had confidence that nothing changed until I was ready for it to. However, one time I was investigating trading out Pan for Big Thunder as a possible option when, without any confirmation that I remember, boom--I changed it. If instead of Pan that was the 7DMT that I had I would have been ticked. We kept Big Thunder anyway and didn't try to switch back.
• The Be Our Guest FP experience was a partial fail. We did the full monty with ordering ahead and everything, but the system lost our order. So while we quickly got past everyone else waiting, we still had to redo our order. No big deal, but not what was supposed to happen.
• I never had a chance at A&E FPs, simply because I didn't have a room and tickets two months ago. In the old days, all I had to do was show up early and I could get anything.

That's all I can think of for now, I might add a few later.

I'm off for my first trip to DLR in about a week for a return to the old ways when my Jedi skills meant something.

For those who are curious, what did the "FP-priority guy" use for his FPs? At DHS, our preselected 3 were TSM, Star Tours, and GMR. These were all scheduled for early afternoon. On our way out at about 3:00p for a return in the evening, we chose Fantasmic over RnRC for our 4th FP. (That's probably pretty ironic to some.) The reasoning was that all offered RnRC times were after our 8:00p dinner ADR, and DW thought riding after dinner might be a mistake for her stomach. We took our chances with SR and we both still got on, her before our meal and me after. Just goes to show you how a particular situation can make my priority list pointless--it's a guide only. The Fantasmic theater was barely half-full for the 10:30p show, and our seats wound up being high but dead-center. I didn't see much evidence of anything going on other than open-seating. For MK on day two, our initial 3 were 7DMT, Big Thunder, and HM, all spread throughout the afternoon around our 1:30p BOG and the 3:00p FoF parade. Our 4th FP at about 6:00p was the Speedway, and our 5th FP was IaSW. The IaSW was virtually pointless as I would have expected, but it's DD's favorite still and we were on our way out--basically a freebie.

Thank you so much for all your very helpful and insightful posts about the new system. I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but it is what it is, and we just have to learn how to deal!!

Can you please tell me if you can book some fastpasses as a group if you are in separate rooms under separate reservations?

 

[mesaboy2]

Glad to hear you are warming up to the new system I was never a mega user under the old system so I'm excited to try it in Sept.

FP tip at DLR, RSR is usually disconnected from the rest of the system so you can grab another FP immediately. Have fun!

And WoC, and Screamin' is my understanding. I plan to take full advantage and "abuse" the crap out of it!

Thank you so much for all your very helpful and insightful posts about the new system. I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but it is what it is, and we just have to learn how to deal!!

Can you please tell me if you can book some fastpasses as a group if you are in separate rooms under separate reservations?

Yep, gotta deal.

I don't have personal experience, but you should be able to link others' MDX accounts to yours and then book them together. Although for more popular rides, I can see how higher numbers in your group may limit your choices of FP times.

 

[Altoqueenkelly]

Thanks

 

[AppleSister1]

Thank you so much for all your very helpful and insightful posts about the new system. I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but it is what it is, and we just have to learn how to deal!!

Can you please tell me if you can book some fastpasses as a group if you are in separate rooms under separate reservations?

Thanks, Mesa! I have agreed with you throughout. Excited to try our first FP+ trip next weekend. I think the addition of being able to get more FP after the first three will be highly helpful for us, especially as we can use them in a second park (we're hoppers.)

Miskey: We did just that. My sister booked all the FP+ for herself, her kids, me (in a separate room with a separate ressie) and my mom (also separate room/ressie.) In fact, she had to work yesterday when the Mark Hamill FP+ went live for SWW, so she just gave me her login info and I got them for all of us.

 

[JennyMP03]

Glad to hear your report, mesaboy2!

 

[mesaboy2]

Thanks, Mesa! I have agreed with you throughout. Excited to try our first FP+ trip next weekend. I think the addition of being able to get more FP after the first three will be highly helpful for us, especially as we can use them in a second park (we're hoppers.)

Miskey: We did just that. My sister booked all the FP+ for herself, her kids, me (in a separate room with a separate ressie) and my mom (also separate room/ressie.) In fact, she had to work yesterday when the Mark Hamill FP+ went live for SWW, so she just gave me her login info and I got them for all of us.

You're welcome. If you aren't an old-school max-out-FP commando, I will (begrudgingly ) say this system is probably fine for most. Keep an open mind and stay flexible, but be careful when adjusting your FPs!!!

And congrats on the MH FP. That will probably be great fun. Too bad I already had other plans at DLR.

 

[patty57]

Interesting...thanks for posting.

 

[Miskey]

Miskey: We did just that. My sister booked all the FP+ for herself, her kids, me (in a separate room with a separate ressie) and my mom (also separate room/ressie.) In fact, she had to work yesterday when the Mark Hamill FP+ went live for SWW, so she just gave me her login info and I got them for all of us.

Thank you! And thanks again, Mesa for taking the time to break it all down so it's understandable!

 

[Steph5324]

I'm planning a trip in late October of this year - crowd levels are 1-4s on Touring Plans.

Is it too early to tell if FP+ will be available for the big rides in the afternoon?

For example, there is a day I want to start my day at MK where I will have 3 FP booked. I'd like to take a mid-day break and arrive at Epcot at 5 p.m. and get a FP to ride Soarin' at that time. Is that nuts to think that will be available?

 

[Itinkso]

And WoC, and Screamin' is my understanding. I plan to take full advantage and "abuse" the crap out of it!

And, I'm sure you know at DLR you can have Fastpasses in hand for both parks and Roger Rabbit is also disconnected. Have a great time!

 

[Kalea]

Thank you for posting!

 

[AppleSister1]

You're welcome, Miskey!

Mesa: We definitely had FP down....we go to WDW during the holidays a lot, and we had a system - Rope Drop and FP! I think we'll learn how to make this work, but I also think the chances of us doing EE (for example) 6 times in a day are now slim to none. We'll miss that, but we'll find the silver lining.

And yes, the Mark Hamill thing was an adrenaline rush! The nephews are pumped, so worth my mini-heart attack.

 

[mesaboy2]

I'm planning a trip in late October of this year - crowd levels are 1-4s on Touring Plans.

Is it too early to tell if FP+ will be available for the big rides in the afternoon?

For example, there is a day I want to start my day at MK where I will have 3 FP booked. I'd like to take a mid-day break and arrive at Epcot at 5 p.m. and get a FP to ride Soarin' at that time. Is that nuts to think that will be available?

Nuts, no. But it's probably unlikely. Get that Soarin' FP as soon as you've used that 3rd FP at MK (see an iPad CM and ask oh so politely or by then you may be able to do a different park from a kiosk).

 

[amg35]

Hi,

Are you doing rope drop and if so, are you still finding it to be helpful with getting on rides with low(er) lines? Or do you find that fast pass has now removed the benefits of rope drop?

thanks.

 

[mesaboy2]

Hi,

Are you doing rope drop and if so, are you still finding it to be helpful with getting on rides with low(er) lines? Or do you find that fast pass how now removed the benefits of rope drop?

thanks.

Nope, no rope drop. This new system almost encourages you to stay in bed--unless you want to max out your FPs.

Which touches on an important point I think. The last few trips to WDW for our family have been pretty laid back. There was a time not long ago where we would try to get as much done as possible (maybe not arriving at rope drop, but within 30-60 minutes after). Our style is mellowing, and that may have a lot to do with why I'm mellowing some on FP+.

 

[JJsmama]

Did I read that right? Did Mesa get 3 FP+ plus FoF FP seating before the "4th" FP ? Do the parades not count in the 3?