not a fan of fast pass plus

[fairestoneofall]

I have now been twice since they've been "testing" FP+. I've had the benefit of both trips being during somewhat low crowds. I see the pros and cons to FP+. We were fortunate that we didn't have any of the problems that many others had and thus didn't need to visit Guest Services.

On our first trip, we didn't need to pull any legacy FP. They just weren't needed. I did pull a few on our recent trip (with our APs). I actually have a Pooh FP from that last day they were offered. I wish I'd checked and known that it would be the last day. I would've pulled several rides, just to have them as keepsakes.

I didn't really have any issues moving return times around if needed. And we rode everything we wanted to, some multiple times. But we were there when the crowds weren't terrible. I can only imagine how it will be during a crowded time.

Scheduling them so early is both a pain and nice. It was great to space them out so we could your the parks without a lot of cross-crossing. But the limit of three is just ridiculous. And I understand the reasoning behind the tiered rides, but I still find it ridiculous. We are losing benefits at the door of convenience.

I also feel a little sorry for the guests who make FP+ reservations for the rides with no waits because they don't know any better. I saw so many scan their bands for attractions with five- or ten-minute stand-by waits (and not just at Epcot where every tier 2 ride doesn't really need a FP).

So, while our experience was positive, I know it had more to do with low crowds versus FP+. I'm eager to hear reports of how this plays out once the crowds go up.

 

[Gator21]

We were there yesterday and it sucked. The only thing that saved us was arriving early so there was no line in our FP+ kiosk. (Used the one next to Stitch's Great Escape) We had a FP return time for BTM of 12:25 and we were in that ridiculous line as well.

It was beyond frustrating to see line after line and to be limited to 3 FP's for the entire day. We are local AP holders and I know this was a holiday weekend but nothing like the busy times when we stay away from the parks. We used to be able to have flexibility in our day and what rides we wanted to hit. There was a system that worked very well, with no complaints, everyone had equal access to more than enough FP's and now it's a disaster.

Really disappointed with the whole situation but unfortunately we are stuck with it.

 

[MelissathePooh]

We were there yesterday and it sucked. The only thing that saved us was arriving early so there was no line in our FP+ kiosk. (Used the one next to Stitch's Great Escape) We had a FP return time for BTM of 12:25 and we were in that ridiculous line as well.

It was beyond frustrating to see line after line and to be limited to 3 FP's for the entire day. We are local AP holders and I know this was a holiday weekend but nothing like the busy times when we stay away from the parks. We used to be able to have flexibility in our day and what rides we wanted to hit. There was a system that worked very well, with no complaints, everyone had equal access to more than enough FP's and now it's a disaster.

Really disappointed with the whole situation but unfortunately we are stuck with it.

I was in that BTMRR fp+ return line at 4:30 yesterday - standby was 120 min.

While I admit to not being a fan of many of the changes over the last 5 years - we are still loyal DVC AP holders. This weekend has me reconsidering everything.

The folks who have not been since the MK legacy demise cannot compare any prior experience. If you don't want to get up for rope drop and micromanage your trip - forget it. We can't just go during the "off peak" times so that won't help either. The whole weekend was exhausting for the wrong reasons - keeping up with fp+.

 

[ciera321]

Old fastpass system wasn't broken everyone had an even playing field

This exactly!!!

 

[belle1528]

Considering taking a trip to DL for cars land while they sort this disaster out.

 

[mom2rtk]

Considering taking a trip to DL for cars land while they sort this disaster out.

It was the perfect answer for us in December. So perfect that we're considering passing on the Mine Coaster and heading west again this year.

 

[MelissathePooh]

Considering taking a trip to DL for cars land while they sort this disaster out.

We were just there Dec 14-18. Loved Carsland and all the fun holiday stuff the do!

Make sure you decide if you want ro standby Racers ar FP - think Toy Story mornings. If you aren't staying on property and don't get the extra hour - go first thing or it will be a cray wait the rest of the day. And sadly, like Test Track, it does glitch...but very cool when it works!

 

[bedogged]

Where are the of FP+, who wanted a "fair"system.? Just wondering, how they like it now?

Remember all the people who screamed and yelled over the late use of fast passes? It made for a very flexible touring plan because of being able to use them when it was convenient to the holder. Now, we have one of the most IMHO inflexible programs I have ever seen and again people are screaming and yelling. I guess people here on the DIS have never heard that old adage, be careful for what you wish for because you just might get it.

 

[belle1528]

Remember all the people who screamed and yelled over the late use of fast passes? It made for a very flexible touring plan because of being able to use them when it was convenient to the holder. Now, we have one of the most IMHO inflexible programs I have ever seen and again people are screaming and yelling. I guess people here on the DIS have never heard that old adage, be care for what you wish for because you just might get it.

I'll admit the flexibility of being able to use the fp at any time after your return time was kind of nice. However, I never understood it... When they started enforcing the times last year I thought it was great! Seemed like it made everything run smoother. I'll say it again, there was nothing wrong with the original fp!

 

[staticgirl50]

well now I am terrified to go tomorrow. We have been so spoiled with no lines in January. Last year though it was PACKED! I am praying it is slower!

 

[diskev]

I know I may sound like a stuck record to some, but this is where I think Disney has made a major miscalculation. They are counting on people to ride less. What we are seeing is that people who go to WDW actually expect to ride the rides. Shocking I know!

I still hold the somewhat conspiratorial belief that "wait less in lines" doesn't mean what we think it does. It's code for "go on less rides" as opposed to "ride more rides with shorter waits."

For those determined to ride the rides, this is actually resulting in MORE time spent in line (I have informed you thusly). Disney was counting on people to see long lines and pass on the rides. They assumed this would translate into time spending money in gift shops, restaurants, etc. What they didn't count on was the perseverance of guests to go ahead and wait in the lines for the rides and then those people turning into dissatisfied guests deciding WDW isn't worth the cost if you can't go on as many rides.

And before someone chimes in with "you can still ride standby," I am talking about both FP and standby lines. You won't be able to ride as many rides if you have to wait longer in standby for each one. So we have people going home frustrated and unhappy because they only had time to ride a handful of rides. There have always been some people who experienced this. At the risk of sounding callous, those people were almost always to blame for their own misery because they didn't do a lick of research (I'm not talking about uber-planning... merely knowing that Harry Potter is not at WDW, etc.).

Now the playing field has been leveled. Even those "in the know" are experiencing the misery equally.

FP+ feels like an ultimatum... lower your expectations and ride less or don't go. I think they're too over-confident that their "base" will take whatever they dish out and say "thank you, may I have another."

Signing in to say this is without a doubt the best comment I've read regarding FP+ since I learned about the system. I was a FP+ apologist before my Thanksgiving trip. I had full faith and confidence that Disney had a greater plan that we couldn't see and in the end it would all work out. Having experienced FP+ and it's severe limitations I have come to understand just how bad it really is. The comments above make more sense than anything I've read in a while (and that includes my own comments). Excellent point and something everybody here should seriously think about.

 

[danielle782001]

Also I thought once you used your 3 FP per day you could use kiosk or ap to get another but you can not. Only 3 per day and cannot park hop.

You can't park hop? Schedule 2 at one park and 1 at another for the same day?!?

Too many limits

 

[DizneyLizzy]

This thread is giving me anxiety.

Ha. It's actually giving me hope. It seems like a lot of people are actually voicing their displeasure TO Disney (not just via the forums), and if Disney hears enough negative feedback, they might tweak the system. Unfortunately I think they have invested too much in this to pull a "New Coke" and go back to Legacy FP entirely, but with if enough of us let Disney know how we feel, and this new system starts to hurt their bottom line, then we could see adjustments after this "testing" period.

One can hope, right?

Remember the first Journey into Imagination refurb? It was TERRIBLE, and Disney heard about it. They eventually changed the attraction back to include Figment, and while it's still nowhere close to as good as its original Dreamfinder/Figgy awesomeness, it's an improvement on the terrible. Maybe that's what we'll see here - we'll never get our Legacy FP back in all its glory, but we won't be stuck with the awful current system.

So remember to keep those feedback e-mails, surveys, letters, headed Disney's way!

 

[magicbob]

You can't park hop? Schedule 2 at one park and 1 at another for the same day?!?

All three FP+ have to be in the same park. That said, you CAN still park hop. Many people are advising scheduling afternoon FP+ for the park you will hop to. One downside to this plan is that you have to take your chances that lines will not be long in the morning at your first park, because you will have no FPs there. If you are a RD family, chances are that you will be able to ride many things before the crowds really start to build.

 

[surferdave]

I know I may sound like a stuck record to some, but this is where I think Disney has made a major miscalculation. They are counting on people to ride less. What we are seeing is that people who go to WDW actually expect to ride the rides. Shocking I know!

On the money.

I'm sure WDW's Nirvana would be for the guests to all cut park attraction touring in half and spend more time (and money) outside the parks golfing, shopping, dining and using the other pay per use services they sell on property. But they also they hope MM+ will have the effect of turning guests from the popular attractions to the ones they can't fill (if only the film division could think of a similar trick to get people in theaters to see the likes of John Carter and The Lone Ranger). What I'm curious to hear is how compliant guests are to the system; when the second or third best FP+ they can get is Stich's Great Escape or Captain Eo, will they dutifully march over to redeem it because of a perceived lost value if they don't use it?

I haven't noticed, have the group 2 attractions at EP & HS (most of which wouldn't have been worth a traditional fastpass) been getting more throughput because people feel they have to use that FP+? I've heard some say the lines take longer to go though now because they didn't have fastpass before.

 

[flateacher]

We are AP holders and have been for YEARS! We hopped over to Disney this weekend for the day and HOLY COW! I can confirm everything said on this thread is true!

I was surprised and disappointed to find the paper fast passes gone. I KNEW they were leaving I just didn't know when. We have THREE sets of Magic Bands - that is how often we go and stay on site - and used them for the day. We preplanned our FP+ - Thank goodness!

The lines were obscenely long. As stated earlier... there is a wait to get to the first scanner... they have CM's with little flags signaling the "end of the FP+line" - which is usually out in the middle of the park sidewalk somewhere. They were so long ppl didn't know where the end of the line was!

The FP+ kiosks - FORGET ABOUT IT! The lines to just get a FP were worse than some of the ride lines.

I spoke to many CM's in the Kingdom about the new system. I expressed my disappointment in the lines ("so how fast is the fast pass line?"), the inability to obtain new FP+ once you used your 3 ("it's 2 oclock and my fp's are done - the park is open til 1 am...so we just wait in line for the next 6 hours?!? I used to be able to get 6 in a day".)

I got a lot of blank stares from CM's and alot of "Well that is they way we are doing it for now during the roll out period". I can say this... they trained the CM's well on that line...

It was so bad at the Kingdom we left and park hopped over to EPCOT. It was the best idea we had all day. EPCOT was less crowded at night. BUT at the 1st FP+ kisosk for grins we tried to see if we could add some FP's for the night. NOPE.

CM asked if we needed help and "did we know what we were doing? and how to use this machine?" Thanks - we do know and it is only showing our USED FP's from the park we just left. "That is because right now in the roll out phase you can only get 3 at one park per day." My response was "So Mickey isn't promoting/selling park hopper tickets anymore?!?"

I know Disney does not care that they will lose my family's business - someone else will come along... but our family is done. Our AP's expire in Nov. of this year and we are STRONGLY considering not renewing and getting UNIVERSAL passes instead. My husband even suggested LEGO Land.

We have one more trip planned (off site) for DD bday in May - that will be it for overnight stays for a while. I am not even sure what I am going to do with that trip since my parents will be joining us and they don't have tickets yet.... UGH!!

 

[EagleG17]

Disney is a business.

If they want to start charging for FP+'s I will gladly fork out the money to take advantage.

If they want to give greater benefits to higher class level resorts, I will gladly continue to pay for such resorts.

Convenience is worth a ton to me and my family and I will pay for it.

 

[Postal68]

I feel sorry for people staying off property and local. The juosk lines are long. The fat pass line is long. We just had I over 15 minutes at potc. Probably would have been better for everyone just no fast pass.

Also I thought once you used your 3 FP per day you could use kiosk or ap to get another but you can not. Only 3 per day and cannot park hop.

We had one prob. We put our ap on it but you can't use for ap discount in stores. Have to have a ap card. Cms in store explained to me the bracelet was a room key not a ticket. They gave me a new ap card though. Said that ap holders will get new bands so on that should work better. Then even more faspasses willbe taken before park on wens. Predict a mess for spring break and summer guests.
The MBA who convinced them to spend money on this should be fired. Fixed a problem that didn't exist by spending a fortune and making a Mess. Universal will benefit nicely.

FP+ is the ruin of an enjoyable trip to WDW. I'm a 30 year WDW veteran with 30+ visits under my belt I can say that I'm almost positive Disney has seen the last of my vacation money. I think the only thing that might get me to go back is if/when I have grandchildren(which is hopefully 10-20 years away)

I've been saying for since FP+ was announced that it would be horrible because all FP's will be gone, stand by lines will be longer and move slower than ever and you will be lucky to ride one Tier 1 ride in an entire day if you go without scheduled Fast Passes(day trippers, gate purchasers)

 

[MichiganDVC]

If you are a RD family, chances are that you will be able to ride many things before the crowds really start to build.

33 years ago when my family first started going to DisneyWorld, there was only the Magic Kingdom. There were roughly 25 attractions at that time. We went almost every summer through the 1980s. I distinctly remember my father forcing us to wake up at the absolute crack of dawn and we were at the park when it opened. Every day. Every year.

Now that there are 60+ attractions at MK and, I assume, thousands of more people a day, how can people NOT show up at rope drop if they're goal is to ride all the rides, or ride Space Mountain 7 times or whatever they want to do. Personally, I like to sleep in and let the chips fall where they may, but I go 3-4 times a year. For everyone else for whom rides are king, show up at rope drop. Ride what you want for the first hour with little-to-no wait!

 

[Laketravis]

Saw this in another forum, apparently this prominent travel guide isn't a fan of FP+ either:

Frommer's Travel Guides

"Disney is selling this as a wonderful advance because you can "enjoy the confidence of knowing that some of your must-do experiences are locked-in before your visit," but in practicality, the new plan sucks a lot of the spontaneity out of a day at Disney World.

No longer can you pass by an attraction, decide it looks promising or the line looks too long, and grab a Fastpass to see it later. Now, you have to pre-research everything before you set foot in the park so that you'll know what you want to do later.

And because not all rides have long waits, you're bound to waste your precious Fastpass allotment on a few attractions that you could have seen swiftly without one. How can you know what's worth Fastpassing until you see how long the line is?"


Hmmmm........