I love the paid FP option - after the 1st 3 free FPs. It takes so much stress off the trip!

We are staying club level for our past 2 trips just so we can purchase the extra FPs. It cost our family of 5 $250 per day but it’s so worth it for us. We can sleep in if we want and then go on 4 tier 1 rides in any parks - plus 2 other rides. Wish we could buy more! It’s cheaper than walking around with a tour guide all day!

I really don’t like the boarding group option since we have to get into the park before it opens in order to ride at some point during the day.
 
I posted this same thing a month ago and got attacked from every angle and now so many posting exactly what I predicted back at xmas 2019.
I predict Disney does a re-tier and puts all the new and upcoming attractions in a top PAY FP category with an option of VQ to ride for free and then from there they will have free fp but tiered by popularity.
 
I love the paid FP option - after the 1st 3 free FPs. It takes so much stress off the trip!

We are staying club level for our past 2 trips just so we can purchase the extra FPs. It cost our family of 5 $250 per day but it’s so worth it for us. We can sleep in if we want and then go on 4 tier 1 rides in any parks - plus 2 other rides. Wish we could buy more! It’s cheaper than walking around with a tour guide all day!

I really don’t like the boarding group option since we have to get into the park before it opens in order to ride at some point during the day.
I get just as many Tier One FP’s as you do and don’t pay a penny more than the cost of my ticket.
 
I get just as many Tier One FP’s as you do and don’t pay a penny more than the cost of my ticket.
We only go when it’s crowded (kids in school) and getting FPs for FoP and SDD are tough to get even at 60 days out! With a lot of refreshing, I can get more tier ones sometimes (depending on the park and my dedication to refreshing) but they’re not guaranteed.

With the paid FPs, I can get a Navi and FoP back to back in the morning, get a few more FPs at AK be on time to my lunch ADR and then have soarin and test track FPs waiting for me at Epcot in the late afternoon - and make it on time for my dinner ADR.

I still refresh and get more FPs once my 1st 3 regular FPs are used.

Since I have to go to HS very early to get a boarding pass, at least I can have 4 tier ones lined up in the morning (plus FPs star tours and something else) before going to Sci Fi for lunch. We will still refresh for more rides and have to wait in line for SR and the new Mickey train ride when it opens, but at least we won’t just be stuck with crowds and long lines.

The ones I pay for just guarantee that I’ll be able to ride what I want when I want and still make it to my dining reservations and not have to rope drop...

It costs more but ot seems that our Disney trips are always a small fortune.
 


I think the Star Wars Hotel experience needs to be taken into consideration when they talk about FPs for the Star Wars rides. If the only way you could be guaranteed a short wait is by being a part of the Star Wars experience they could charge more for that hotel.
 
lol okay I’m not complaining about the queue at all - I think it’s brilliant. It’s just some people do not have the opportunity to arrive at DHS at 7am. I was just suggesting that Disney does not disperse all BG at the same time in the morning, but rather have multiple times throughout the day that they release them.

Exactly. Not sure why this is so hard for some people to understand lol.

And as as aside, a 7:00 am opening (which doesn't sound so horrible when you don't put any thought into it), means being at DHS by 6:30), which means leaving your resort at 6:00, which means being up normally by 5:00. Which is pretty prohibitive to many people.
 
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Exactly. Not sure why this is so hard for some people to understand lol.

And as as aside, a 7:00 am opening (which doesn't sound so horrible when you don't put any thought into it), means being at DHS by 6:30), which means leaving your resort at 6:00, which means being up normally by 5:00. Which is pretty prohibitive to many people.
Is it though? I know tons of people who get up as early as 4AM to go to work. I know this isn’t work but I really don’t see the issue. If you want to ride get up early. It’s no different than getting up to rope drop.
 


I think the concept of the VQ and its current execution in WDW is way more "fair" than the FP system. People just don't complain much on here about it because so many DIS members are also onsite guests who can take full advantage of the 60 day window. People on here are also much more likely to know how to tour efficiently, know tricks like the refresh method, and can game the system to a certain extent. The VQ doesn't work like that. You're either there at opening (or shortly after) or you miss out. That is what makes it fair, you can't skip out on the work it takes to ride with money or with Disney knowledge. Everyone is in the same boat.

My two cents, people are just annoyed they can't use their Disney planning capabilities to avoid the work it takes for RotR like we can with every other attraction. And to be clear, I'm not mad Disney gives onsite guests the extra window. I take full advantage.
 
lol okay I’m not complaining about the queue at all - I think it’s brilliant. It’s just some people do not have the opportunity to arrive at DHS at 7am. I was just suggesting that Disney does not disperse all BG at the same time in the morning, but rather have multiple times throughout the day that they release them.
It’s already hard knowing that being early for rope drop means nothing in terms of BGs. Having even less of a chance at opening because they held back groups for late sleepers is about the worst thing I can think of right now.
 
Is it though? I know tons of people who get up as early as 4AM to go to work. I know this isn’t work but I really don’t see the issue. If you want to ride get up early. It’s no different than getting up to rope drop.

Spoken like someone who has no experience whatsoever with being a parent, or having special or medical needs. But whatever, you are what you are, so this is pointless.
 
Spoken like someone who has no experience whatsoever with being a parent, or having special or medical needs. But whatever, you are what you are, so this is pointless.
Disney can’t cater to every single special issue. There are plenty of parents making to work by getting to the parks by 7. I can 100% guarantee my parents would do it with us in tow. I don’t need experience for that.
 
Disney can’t cater to every single special issue. There are plenty of parents making to work by getting to the parks by 7. I can 100% guarantee my parents would do it with us in tow. I don’t need experience for that.

I'm a parent and would prefer not to get my kids to DHS for what I'm sure will change to a 7 AM opening, but we will be.

If they chose to go with FP instead of VQ (downtime issues aside), I'm pretty confident that within the current system Disney uses I would have been able to snag for my group. Probably more than one days worth with our very long trip. It would have been way easier for us. Still, I completely get why Disney has handled this opening like they have, and I think it's been the best choice.
 
I'm a parent and would prefer not to get my kids to DHS for what I'm sure will change to a 7 AM opening, but we will be.

If they chose to go with FP instead of VQ (downtime issues aside), I'm pretty confident that within the current system Disney uses I would have been able to snag for my group. Probably more than one days worth with our very long trip. It would have been way easier for us. Still, I completely get why Disney has handled this opening like they have, and I think it's been the best choice.
Exactly, I am sure people would not want to have to get there for 7AM but this is what disney has set up. It’s already better than what it was the first couple days when the earlier you arrived the better chance you had. Now everyone who is there at 7AM has the same chance.
 
Exactly. Not sure why this is so hard for some people to understand lol.

And as as aside, a 7:00 am opening (which doesn't sound so horrible when you don't put any thought into it), means being at DHS by 6:30), which means leaving your resort at 6:00, which means being up normally by 5:00. Which is pretty prohibitive to many people.
Until the ride is running consistently enough to offer FP, the only other option is standby. Would it be fair to limit the number of people who could enter a standby line at open, so that people who show up at noon can enter the line later in the day?
 
Spoken like someone who has no experience whatsoever with being a parent, or having special or medical needs. But whatever, you are what you are, so this is pointless.

I’m the parent of small children. I think the BG system is great. It actually gives us a chance to ride without impacting the kids’ time during the day too much.

Lots of families with young kids are up early anyways, so I don’t know what being a parent has to do with this. So many families are at regular rope drops, EMH and EMM, ready to roll.

I love the fairness of this system. Literally everyone has the same chance at the same time. Please don’t speak for parents or throw not being one out as an insult to others.

This parent of small children fully supports the new system. If they offered FP, people with longer stays would have a better chance of getting FP than others. Standby only, you’d be standing in line all day if you didn’t get there hours before park open. Randomly opening BGs throughout the day? You’d have to hang around all day just to find out if you could get in a boarding group? No thanks. I’d rather know in the morning and be able to move on with our day. No matter the system, someone will have something negative to say about it.

I think the current system is logical and fair and provides the best opportunity for anyone to ride. A level playing field.
 
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We only go when it’s crowded (kids in school) and getting FPs for FoP and SDD are tough to get even at 60 days out! With a lot of refreshing, I can get more tier ones sometimes (depending on the park and my dedication to refreshing) but they’re not guaranteed.

With the paid FPs, I can get a Navi and FoP back to back in the morning, get a few more FPs at AK be on time to my lunch ADR and then have soarin and test track FPs waiting for me at Epcot in the late afternoon - and make it on time for my dinner ADR.

I still refresh and get more FPs once my 1st 3 regular FPs are used.

Since I have to go to HS very early to get a boarding pass, at least I can have 4 tier ones lined up in the morning (plus FPs star tours and something else) before going to Sci Fi for lunch. We will still refresh for more rides and have to wait in line for SR and the new Mickey train ride when it opens, but at least we won’t just be stuck with crowds and long lines.

The ones I pay for just guarantee that I’ll be able to ride what I want when I want and still make it to my dining reservations and not have to rope drop...

It costs more but ot seems that our Disney trips are always a small fortune.
Completely agree. While the refresh method may work for a couple of fast passes - it’s not the same as having 5 or 6 guaranteed fast passes - so all family members can ride at the same time. Especially during Easter week which is the only time we can go.
 
Universal’s system is a bit different. The express line moves faster than the regular standby line, but when it’s busy, the wait is longer than the FP lines at Disney. I don’t know the algorithm for letting express line go vs standby, but it doesn’t seem to prioritize those guests to the extent that FP typically does.
We've waited 45 minutes for Gringotts and Despicable Me in the Universal Express line. Once when I asked a CM about this she told me that Express guarantees 50% of the standby wait, which is definitely not as good as Disney's typical 15-20 minutes for FP. Admittedly this was on Thanksgiving weekend.
 

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