Not a fan of FP+..positive update #193 (sort of...)

[MichelleVW]

I'm not lambasting you. Overdramatize much? I'm just over the "expectations" excuse by now. It's been far too long for that excuse to still hold water. Things change, yes, but nobody should have less of an experience than they were having in the past, and many are. I don't want to accuse people of making stuff up to fit their story, but it amazes me how those that defend FP+ never seem to experience long waits, while everybody else does experience long waits. Either we have a small group of people not being 100% truthful, or a large group of people who don't know what they are doing.

We didn't wait in lines over 20 minutes and rode everything at all 4 parks at least once if not multiple times. We used our 3 fast passes a day with zero problems. I was surprised that we were able to do that over spring break when it was pretty dang crowded. But we did it...believe it or not I don't care.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't understand why so many people are upset at the lack of FP availability when trying to switch times/attractions.
We never had that option before MM+ so why can't everyone just accept the changes for the better and learn how to get the most out of the trip they have planned.
I personally like this new system, but I've learned how to acclimate it to our families needs.

But before you never would have scheduled your fastpass 2 months in advance.

You would have known the day's weather before you made your choices. You would have known it little Suzy vomited the night before. You knew if there was a long standby wait at the line you wanted to pull a fastpass for. You knew if Johnny got up that morning declaring that Test Track was the absolute best ride in the world and couldn't wait to ride it. You knew whether Mary finally had the courage to tackle Tower of Terror. And you started each day with 100% of a ride's capacity still available to get. If you wanted to do something, you knew with 100% certainty that if you showed up early, you could do that ride.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I Don't mean to sound snarky, but I find it hard to believe people are upgrading to smartphones JUST so they can use FP easier at WDW. That would be a ridiculously dumb life choice since most smart phones come with hefty price tags, pricey monthly charges, and lengthy contracts. Js.

It is one of the factors that is making our family looking at upgrading to a smart phone. I won't say it would be the only reason but it is a driving force into us looking into it. I will also say that it was one of the reasons we went ahead a purchased a Samsung tablet and put an a data plan on it last summer. We knew what was coming. It wasn't until after we bought it that we found out the app won't even work on it. Do we use and enjoy the tablet for other things, yes, but it was one of the big reason we went ahead and got the it.

 

[SharonS]

I am a long time Disney goer also. I go 4 times a year and travel from PA. My most recent trip was Feb 28-Mar 8 and the crowds were high. I had exactly the same experience and issues as the OP. Unless I went in the evening, stand by lines were very long. I had issues with that wifi at AKL and my iPad was virtually useless. I had to do everything from my phone. I tried to switch TSM the night before and got no times avail. Same for RNR.

At DAK, the safari is my favorite, and I detest that it is now very difficult to ride it more than once before 10:30 without a wait. During my stay, AK was open until 8. One evening at 6:30, stand by waits were 35 min at Expedition Everest and about 40 at Dinosaur .

I agree that I am tired of hearing people tell you that your expectations are too high. Why? I have been going to WDW since 1973 and never had to lower my expectations until now. I find myself having more fun at the competition parks because I can get through things with a smart touring plan and re-ride my favs a few times

 

[sonofanarchy]

I am a long time Disney goer also. I go 4 times a year and travel from PA. My most recent trip was Feb 28-Mar 8 and the crowds were high. I had exactly the same experience and issues as the OP. Unless I went in the evening, stand by lines were very long. I had issues with that wifi at AKL and my iPad was virtually useless. I had to do everything from my phone. I tried to switch TSM the night before and got no times avail. Same for RNR.

At DAK, the safari is my favorite, and I detest that it is now very difficult to ride it more than once before 10:30 without a wait. During my stay, AK was open until 8. One evening at 6:30, stand by waits were 35 min at Expedition Everest and about 40 at Dinosaur .

I agree that I am tired of hearing people tell you that your expectations are too high. Why? I have been going to WDW since 1973 and never had to lower my expectations until now. I find myself having more fun at the competition parks because I can get through things with a smart touring plan and re-ride my favs a few times

You're doing something wrong, since fans of FP+ are riding everything with no more than a 15-20 minute wait.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Yes. This. And yes, quite incredible when you think about it.

Oh and don't forget the people having to buy extras for the park if they want to make their lives easier (like a smart phone for those who don't have one and a back up battery or power bank for those who do ......)

I have a smart phone but it is a couple of years old. I am eligible for an upgrade but we like to have one "in the bank" in case someone breaks or has theirs stolen. My battery doesn't hold a charge like it used to, so count me in as someone who has to pack a battery or upgrades earlier than planned.

That's fine and good, but that obviously means you didn't ride every headliner, and certainly not more than once. Now that may work for you living just 2.5 hours by car, but for those of us that have to spend thousands of dollars to fly there, it's unacceptable.

Or are able to go during value season. It is costing alot to fly down and stay onsite over Easter. We'll see if we change our Memorial Day plans if it is 3 rides and out.

But before you never would have scheduled your fastpass 2 months in advance.

You would have known the day's weather before you made your choices. You would have known it little Suzy vomited the night before. You knew if there was a long standby wait at the line you wanted to pull a fastpass for. You knew if Johnny got up that morning declaring that Test Track was the absolute best ride in the world and couldn't wait to ride it. You knew whether Mary finally had the courage to tackle Tower of Terror. And you started each day with 100% of a ride's capacity still available to get. If you wanted to do something, you knew with 100% certainty that if you showed up early, you could do that ride.

Every morning each ticket had the same opportunity. Plus, we always decided on the fly to go to the water parks if the weather was good. Now we really have to choose what day we give up our FP's to go, meaning without a 10 day trip I can't guarantee I will see all our favorites.

 

[2Tiggies]

I Don't mean to sound snarky, but I find it hard to believe people are upgrading to smartphones JUST so they can use FP easier at WDW. That would be a ridiculously dumb life choice since most smart phones come with hefty price tags, pricey monthly charges, and lengthy contracts. Js.

That said, I'm really hoping they have more of these issues worked out before we get there on July. I really feel for the people that have had such negative experiences with it. I'm holding out hope that Disney is listening and will respond accordingly.

I agree, and yes it's scary, but it's true. I'm sure it's a tiny percentage doing this but there really are people out there without smart phones. I know some There have been posts to this effect too

My iPhone holds power for a full regular day without needing to be charged. I remember the previous one I had up until recently did too,but with constant dropping and searching for wiifi connection in the parks it was not uncommon for that battery to be completely dead before dinner time so although I'm not crazy enough to buy a smart phone because I have one, I will need to get some sort of back up power because sitting at a charging station in the parks so I can use the app to avoid waiting in lines or missing my FP return time is a bit counter productive.

 

[2Tiggies]

I have a smart phone but it is a couple of years old. I am eligible for an upgrade but we like to have one "in the bank" in case someone breaks or has theirs stolen. My battery doesn't hold a charge like it used to, so count me in as someone who has to pack a battery or upgrades earlier than planned.

Sorry must have not clicked on your post in my previous reply.

But that is what I am referring to. Ok you're not crazy and off to buy a brand new phone, but you have to plump for an early upgrade. I am having to buy a power bank. I have no use for it anywhere else as I work in an office and if I needed to I could charge mine at home, office, car and anywhere else so this is a one off purchase just so I can access the app while in the park.

They may be petty little expenses but if not budgeted for, all these things add up.

 

[mom2rtk]

My iPhone holds power for a full regular day without needing to be charged. I remember the previous one I had up until recently did too,but with constant dropping and searching for wiifi connection in the parks it was not uncommon for that battery to be completely dead before dinner time so although I'm not crazy enough to buy a smart phone because I have one, I will need to get some sort of back up power because sitting at a charging station in the parks so I can use the app to avoid waiting in lines or missing my FP return time is a bit counter productive.

I've never been so happy to have an android device. Pop off the back...... pop in a new battery.

 

[2Tiggies]

You're doing something wrong, since fans of FP+ are riding everything with no more than a 15-20 minute wait.

You get shorter wait times if you scan through as a FP+ fan

I've never been so happy to have an android device. Pop off the back...... pop in a new battery.

I may actually take DD's old Android handset as well and do the same. You've given me an idea. It's not that old but sitting around now that she has an iPhone so we may as well put it to use. Thanks

 

[mom2rtk]

You get shorter wait times if you scan through as a FP+ fan

 

[BrianL]

You're doing something wrong, since fans of FP+ are riding everything with no more than a 15-20 minute wait.

I think this very much depends on crowd levels. I seems to me that FP+ works great during less crowded times, when a combination of Rope Drop, well-timed FP+ and not-horrendous Stand-By lines can get you on everything anyone could want. When the crowds get crushingly high, definitely there is a disadvantage to the new system, as FPs become more precious.

It will be interesting to see how the high Spring Break times play out and if that precipitates any changes to the system. Obviously some people, myself included, have had great luck with it, but we have to see how it holds up.

 

[MichelleVW]

You're doing something wrong, since fans of FP+ are riding everything with no more than a 15-20 minute wait.

Just wondering...have you personally experienced the parks lately? Because I WAS there last week and did ride everything multiple times and longest wait was I believe 15 minutes for the Great Movie Ride. We did a couple of rope drops...used Fast Passes in the evening...did EMH hours....took breaks which we have always done.....and had a blast with no waits. But since it worked for me I'm guessing I'm just delusional or lying.

Honestly when we went the week before Christmas I wanted to hate Fast Pass Plus....but I found that it really worked for us AND let us sleep in sometimes which is always good.

 

[puffkin]

Every morning each ticket had the same opportunity. Plus, we always decided on the fly to go to the water parks if the weather was good. Now we really have to choose what day we give up our FP's to go, meaning without a 10 day trip I can't guarantee I will see all our favorites.

I have the opposite reaction, I think it will add more flexibility for us. For our trip in June we are scheduling all our FP+ times for the evenings. We have PAP's and we love the waterparks and hopping. We also tend to do a lot of Rope Drops and take a long afternoon break. At least for us, FP+ seems a good fit. We can decide with weather and how everyone is feeling if we want to hit a waterpark in the morning or hit a park at Rope Drop and do as much as we can standby before the crowds build in. We know we have 3 headliners booked for the evening so we can enjoy our afternoon break (I have a 20 month old that takes a long afternoon nap). In the past we didn't get to utilize the waterparks as much because we were too busy collecting FP's for the headliners and hoping the return times would work before we had to leave and we would not have a lot of expectations when we returned in the evenings of riding a lot. So for us, it seems to fit our touring style well, gives us more opportunities to do other things we enjoy and take some of the morning stress off. We are not they type that need to ride the headliners more than once or twice a trip though and we don't go to Disney just to ride rides....we enjoy the entire experience, so for us the system seems like a huge plus. I am sure there are plenty things we won't like or feel will need tweaking (Tiering, no hopping) but we are cautiously optimistic it will enhance our trip.

 

[Cals dad]

I think it is all about expectations. Some find 3 fast passes a day more than enough, and others, well, they were used to using 3 fast passes before lunch.

I grew up going to Disney every year with no fast pass at all.(anyone remember waiting for 20K leagues under the sea in the middle of summer) Even when fast passes came about, I still didn't use them, as I was used to just getting in line. Who wanted to walk all the way back to a ride if your fastpass was hours later? I slowly started using them, but never more than a few a day anyway. Now some rides you almost have to have a fastpass, but nowI don't have to feel like I have to rush to get to some rides, or the fast passes will run out.

I think the number of passes is going to be upped. My wife was sent a survey from Disney a couple of weeks ago. In it, they detailed 3 different ideas on fast pass + expansion.

 

[johde]

I'm not lambasting you. Overdramatize much? I'm just over the "expectations" excuse by now. It's been far too long for that excuse to still hold water. Things change, yes, but nobody should have less of an experience than they were having in the past, and many are.

I don't want to accuse people of making stuff up to fit their story, but it amazes me how those that defend FP+ never seem to experience long waits, while everybody else does experience long waits. Either we have a small group of people not being 100% truthful, or a large group of people who don't know what they are doing.

There are several legitimate reasons while people should have less of an experience now than they did in the past. The biggest of which is 3 of the 4 parks are having record attendance. There will probably be at least 4,000,000 people in the MK this year compared to 2002 or 2003. That a 28% increase in attendance. BTW between 1991 and 2002 the MK bounced around but lost 4,000,000 visitors a year. We we're back up to 1991 attendance levels at the MK.

With regards to FP+ if Disney can get the system to the point where the majority of users are having a better experience than before, the fact that many "but not most" are having a lesser experience would be considered perfectly acceptable.

On the other side of things, Universal's Express Pass that everyone here holds up as a great thing, used to have a free option that was taken away back in 2005.

With regards to the "long wait" comment the more likely answer is people have a different perception of what's considered a "long wait". A person who was a FP- master who never waited in any lines hits a day of 30 minute lines and it's the end of the world. Someone else who is on their first trip and their prior experience is going to Cedar Point on a Saturday in mid Summer where 2 hour+ waits are not uncommon for the headliners and almost everything had over a 30 minute wait. Their waiting less than they are used to and consider the same 30 minute waits "not bad"

 

[puffkin]

I have a smart phone but it is a couple of years old. I am eligible for an upgrade but we like to have one "in the bank" in case someone breaks or has theirs stolen. My battery doesn't hold a charge like it used to, so count me in as someone who has to pack a battery or upgrades earlier than planned.

Have you seen the "lipstick" chargers (search on Amazon). I bought myself and my 2 nieces these for Christmas and they are awesome and really reasonable price and small. I have an iphone 5s and my battery drains fast, especially in places like Disney when I and the kids are on it constantly. The lipstick charger gives me at least 1.5-2 charges a day and works fast. I think I got it for $20 and it is small. The one I have also will charge up our ipad which comes in handy on the plane when the kids watch movies. I love mine for travelling and it was a really affordable and easy solution to the battery life issue.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Just wondering...have you personally experienced the parks lately? Because I WAS there last week and did ride everything multiple times and longest wait was I believe 15 minutes for the Great Movie Ride. We did a couple of rope drops...used Fast Passes in the evening...did EMH hours....took breaks which we have always done.....and had a blast with no waits. But since it worked for me I'm guessing I'm just delusional or lying.

Honestly when we went the week before Christmas I wanted to hate Fast Pass Plus....but I found that it really worked for us AND let us sleep in sometimes which is always good.

Last time I was at Disney was in July of 2013. So, no. And I haven't been there since FP+ came into play. All I can go by is these boards. I'm not saying you're lying or delusional. I'm just saying, because it worked for you (which it certainly does for some people, based on their touring habits), your perception of time might be a bit off. Just as those that say they waited for more than an hour's might be off as well. If it's not working, you're bound to think you've been waiting longer than you actually have.

Obviously, times of year makes a huge difference. However, going by people's reports over the past month, it seems impossible to believe that the longest line one person experienced was 20 minutes and others couldn't get on anything without waiting at least an hour. So, what I'm saying is, it's a perception angle both ways.

Plus, one person's idea of seeing everything will differ greatly from anothers.

I am not a fan of FP+ based on what I know about it. I know the way my family tours, and I know my kids like to ride Thunder Mountain 10 times. That was possible in the past. I don't see that as being possible now. My hope is, I'll be greatly surprised and like it. As it turns out, my plan of attack sounds very similar to what yours was.

 

[minniemous]

You forgot to include the part where I said, "Not everyone has the same expectations, so I guess we are just lucky that it seems to work fine for us. I wish everyone could enjoy it as much." But, I guess if you had included it, you wouldn't have been able to take anything out of context and lambaste me for simply sharing my personal experience and acknowledgement that it may not be so good for everyone.

Just try to ignore these sort of posters. They are angry people looking for an argument. It is obvious you were giving your opinion and thy focus on what allows them to be rude and call you out.

Your opinion was thoughtful and informative and is directly in line with my experience. It does not mean of course everyone is having the same experience (as you said).

I have seen people posting while at the park at the same time periods have dramatically different experiences with fast pass wait times. So it is sometimes how you hit it.

I would be interested to know how many people abused the system before?? I never even understood quite how it was done. But I know when I was waiting on line with my one fast pass for Toy Story Midway last trip in October with my young child there were MANY families talking about the multiple scores they had THAT DAY on the ride. I thought how is this possible???

I learned.... and I could be wrong..that many found they could use old plastic ticket cards and get fast passes on each one at the kiosks. No wonder why the line to Toy Story is sooooo long. Again I do not know how they were doing it but they obviously no WAY waited on standbye line to go on the ride that many times in one day even if they came at rope drop. I have been on the ride Twice and we visited Disney for 12 days. I think Disney is trying to level the playing field for those not able or willing to out think the fellow park goers.

All my thoughts. I keep hearing "I never abused the system" Which means it can be abused. I am sure many, many are and have and are upset that this ability is altered. And that is what makes the need for a new system.

I too have to travel by plane and a long way and pay a lot of money and am happy with the new system at this point. It is I am sure a work in progress but I think the goal is to make the system work for everyone.

I am sure it is not intended to allow those people traveling from far away to go on the most desirable rides 10 times a day ( I exaggerate) . But I am really trying to figure out to what degree the system abused before the new system?? Any thought or info there would be great to hear! Long Post Sorry.

 

[MichelleVW]

Last time I was at Disney was in July of 2013. So, no. And I haven't been there since FP+ came into play. All I can go by is these boards. I'm not saying you're lying or delusional. I'm just saying, because it worked for you (which it certainly does for some people, based on their touring habits), your perception of time might be a bit off. Just as those that say they waited for more than an hour's might be off as well. If it's not working, you're bound to think you've been waiting longer than you actually have.

Obviously, times of year makes a huge difference. However, going by people's reports over the past month, it seems impossible to believe that the longest line one person experienced was 20 minutes and others couldn't get on anything without waiting at least an hour. So, what I'm saying is, it's a perception angle both ways.

Plus, one person's idea of seeing everything will differ greatly from anothers.

I am not a fan of FP+ based on what I know about it. I know the way my family tours, and I know my kids like to ride Thunder Mountain 10 times. That was possible in the past. I don't see that as being possible now. My hope is, I'll be greatly surprised and like it. As it turns out, my plan of attack sounds very similar to what yours was.

Maybe if people are in the parks in the middle of the day they would have longer waits...but we were out of most parks by noon which is what we have always done...and would go back around 4ish and use our Fast Passes and hit things with minimal waits. We rode Everest twice one morning by 8:10 (rope drop was 8) and could have ridden prob 4 more times by 8:30 but twice in a row at 8 am is all we can handle. Headed to Dinosaur and was then to the Safari and we were on that by 9:15 or so. Our safari was stopped for 20 minutes due to rhinos blocking the trail so when we got off the ride the line was pretty long...but that was the rhinos fault not Fast Pass Plus. We saw all the animals, did ITTBAB and were out of the park by 11. There was no need for Fast Passes early in the day.

That afternoon we went to DHS and rode Toy Story, ToT, Great Movie Ride and Star Tours 3 times. Line for GMR said 25 minutes...but honestly we were constantly moving and prob was 15 mins tops. I usually look at my watch when we get in line and when we get on the ride.

I was expecting crazy long Fast Pass lines and we didn't encounter any...I was expecting long stand by times and in the middle of the day, yes, they were there...but we've never stayed in the park during the peak daytime hours...so those lines don't effect us.

I think a lot of the problems are user error and bad timing. I remember bad timing with regular Fast Pass when you would walk up to Everest right after a huge tour group just got in the line. It's not a perfect system and I hope they switch it to at least 4 Fast Passes at the MK, but with two Fast Pass Plus trips under my belt we have made it work to us with very minimal change to the way we tour.