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

[lynn46356]

Having just returned two weeks ago from Disney, here's my opinion. Of course, it's not worth much.

On the up side, liked it for opening our room door, for making purchases but could they have not put those keys a little farther apart, using it photopasss and having them scan the magicband.

On the down side, three fp+ a day is not near enough for our family. While this trip was a Girls Trip and we didn't do the coasters our family of adult boys will be less than thrilled. We have a family trip for Thanksgiving and I'm definitely concerned. We have always used fastpass to the fullest and 3 a day is not it. Tiered fastpass is also something I'm not fond of. Actually it stinks. We will be standing in line alot more I'm sure and I realize it will be crazy busy. I wish we could go at a different time but we still have a son in high school. I'm a planner and I love planning our Disney trips but planning your fp before your trip just isn't something that trips my trigger. I realize things change. It has. And I don't like it. Sorry fp lovers.

I realize fp+ is still in testing stage but if something is going to change, can't they just do it now. I'm not a patient person.

These are just my opinions. We live in a world where we all have different ones for which I'm happy.

Happy Disney Planning Everyone!!!!!!

 

[2Tiggies]

I hate to be rude, but your candy photo is offensive

The good liquorice is black, not brown

 

[GeorgiaHoo]

So I can say FROM EXPERIENCE that I hate FP+ so far. Haven't actually used it at the park, but I hate that I have to plan what park I'll be at in 50+ days so I can determine what FP+ I need to schedule and at what exact hour. And I can say that I hate the concept of having 3 FP+ and ESPECIALLY tiering because I've been to Disney enough times to know that I'm going to need more than 3 fastpasses (especially for Magic Kingdom) and that having to choose a fastpass for either Soarin' or Test Track means I may not ride the other. And we've changed our touring style so that now we'll be at the park for morning EMH to make sure we get done what we want to get done, which means getting up at 6:30 in the morning while on vacation. So yeah, I can say that from experience that FP+ sucks so far. And I'm not sure how it gets better since I know which 3 (THREE!) rides I'll have FP for when I arrive, and I'm not feeling that great about being able to ride THREE rides without much of a wait.

So yes, I think FP+ is an awful idea. Is it bad enough to make me skip Disney altogether? I'll know that when I get back from the May trip. But next year's vacation might be to Europe or the Bahamas.

 

[wuzzy6]

So let me see if I have this straight? Positive experiences are coming from both FP+ defenders AND also by regular people who have not been so-labelled. But negative opinions are coming from people who don't know what they're talking about. Right.

The whole USE IT first argument just doesn't hold water when the product is an advance reservation system. It's designed to be used before your vacation.

I'm so sorry that you must have missed the part where I said "many," not "all." You also must have missed the part where I said that there are plenty of people who use the system and don't like it - and the part where I said I feel really bummed for them. Furthermore, when you make a shopping list but don't go to the store, do you still call it a shopping trip or just planning? A reservation is just a plan until you actually use it.

Would you have tried brussel sprouts if they cost $5,000? (or more?)

If brussels sprouts were worth $5,000.00, and the people telling me how awful they are hadn't ever eaten them, sure!

But seriously... I've never eaten at Victoria and Albert's. I can assume and speculate as to how good (or bad) it is based on reviews I've read, right? But, if the people writing the reviews haven't ever eaten there, either, how can I be sure? Furthermore, how can I possibly give you my opinion of the restaurant, good or bad, based solely on assumptions and speculation, and state it as fact?

Again, I don't care if you (generally speaking "you") try it or not... just don't try to tell me how awful it is without having tried it yourself, first. I am open to hearing all opinions, thoughts, experiences - good and bad - from people who've experienced something firsthand. But, then again, I don't tend to make decisions based on speculation and assumptions, as many people seem to do. It's ok - just not for me.

I tried that, but even when sprinkled with brown sugar and wrapped in bacon, FP+ still left a bad taste in our mouths.

I laughed out loud But, I am sincerely sorry that you had a bad trip to WDW because FP+ didn't work well for you.

Having just returned two weeks ago from Disney, here's my opinion. Of course, it's not worth much.

On the up side, liked it for opening our room door, for making purchases but could they have not put those keys a little farther apart, using it photopasss and having them scan the magicband.

On the down side, three fp+ a day is not near enough for our family. While this trip was a Girls Trip and we didn't do the coasters our family of adult boys will be less than thrilled. We have a family trip for Thanksgiving and I'm definitely concerned. We have always used fastpass to the fullest and 3 a day is not it. Tiered fastpass is also something I'm not fond of. Actually it stinks. We will be standing in line alot more I'm sure and I realize it will be crazy busy. I wish we could go at a different time but we still have a son in high school. I'm a planner and I love planning our Disney trips but planning your fp before your trip just isn't something that trips my trigger. I realize things change. It has. And I don't like it. Sorry fp lovers.

I realize fp+ is still in testing stage but if something is going to change, can't they just do it now. I'm not a patient person.

These are just my opinions. We live in a world where we all have different ones for which I'm happy.

Happy Disney Planning Everyone!!!!!!

I totally agree with you about the tiering and hope they do away with it very soon. I'd love to see them allow you to select FP+ for different parks on the same day, too! If they did away with tiering, I think 3-a-day would be ok with every park except MK - definitely need more than 3!

 

[mom2rtk]

But seriously... I've never eaten at Victoria and Albert's. I can assume and speculate as to how good (or bad) it is based on reviews I've read, right? But, if the people writing the reviews haven't ever eaten there, either, how can I be sure? Furthermore, how can I possibly give you my opinion of the restaurant, good or bad, based solely on assumptions and speculation, and state it as fact?

But someone who has never been to V & A could only be compared to someone who had never been to WDW before at all. And the people you are talking about HAVE been to WDW before. Many times. We have used FP. All that is different is that it is being limited.

It would be more like taking someone who had a favorite item on the menu being told that the price had gone up since their last visit. And the portions had been cut in half. And they could have the appetizer they love, but not the dessert. There is no reason that person could not make an informed decision about whether they would still like V & A.

 

[wuzzy6]

But someone who has never been to V & A could only be compared to someone who had never been to WDW before at all. And the people you are talking about HAVE been to WDW before. Many times. We have used FP. All that is different is that it is being limited.

It would be more like taking someone who had a favorite item on the menu being told that the price had gone up since their last visit. And the portions had been cut in half. And they could have the appetizer they love, but not the dessert. There is no reason that person could not make an informed decision about whether they would still like V & A.

You're right - it couldn't possibly still be a good meal, because it's been completely ruined. I'm sorry so many people's vacations are ruined because of the changes. I don't like all of the changes, but I feel pretty lucky that I've managed to still have a great time in spite of them.

 

[morethananyonex]

The thing with FP+ is you can't really compare it to a restaurant review. You can make an informed decision about how you feel about it by learning about the facts of the system. You either are okay with the limits or you're not. A restaurant review is very different, in that you're using someone else's opinion to make your decision. The facts about FP+ are not opinions.

Can someone determine if V&A is worth the money from a review where someone stated they liked or didn't like it? Probably not. Can someone determine if V&A is worth the money from researching the amount of food they get? Probably. If you know from experience the amount of food you get isn't worth it to you for the price, you don't need to visit V&A yourself to know it's not for you.

Either way, this debate that constantly goes on is ridiculous. There are always posts from people who like FP+ but haven't experienced it and nobody jumps on them. Get over it. People are entitled to their opinions, you don't get to police when they can or can't have one.

 

[EMode]

the thing with fp+ is you can't really compare it to a restaurant review. you can make an informed decision about how you feel about it by learning about the facts of the system. you either are okay with the limits or you're not. A restaurant review is very different, in that you're using someone else's opinion to make your decision. the facts about fp+ are not opinions.

bingo!

 

[glamdring269]

In my opinion tiering kills FP+. Especially if you park hop. Want to see your daily FP benefit go to waste? Schedule 3 at Epcot then hop somewhere else. It's ridiculous. You should be able to rope drop Epcot, ride one of the two major attractions and FP the other. Then ride the stuff that really doesn't require an fp and hop to a park later in the day to use the remaining 2 FP.

This of course assumes you believe 3 per day across all parks should be your max. I actually believe if you pay to hop you should get additional FP.

If they fix the park hop aspect then I may start warming up to this.

 

[morethananyonex]

In my opinion tiering kills FP+. Especially if you park hop. Want to see your daily FP benefit go to waste? Schedule 3 at Epcot then hop somewhere else. It's ridiculous. You should be able to rope drop Epcot, ride one of the two major attractions and FP the other. Then ride the stuff that really doesn't require an fp and hop to a park later in the day to use the remaining 2 FP. This of course assumes you believe 3 per day across all parks should be your max. I actually believe if you pay to hop you should get additional FP. If they fix the park hop aspect then I may start warming up to this.

Going by what the recent survey said, my money is on some form of this happening in the near future. All scenarios talked about involved the ability to park hop. Specifically, they mentioned splitting your 3 over multiple parks if I remember correctly.

 

[EMode]

Going by what the recent survey said, my money is on some form of this happening in the near future. All scenarios talked about involved the ability to park hop. Specifically, they mentioned splitting your 3 over multiple parks if I remember correctly.

That would still stink. 3 isn't enough for 1 park, there is no way it would be enough to split between 2. I'm hoping that if they do change things up but are going to keep the limit at 3 they at least make it 3 per park per day.
Not to say it wouldn't be some benefit like if you knew you would be at HS later you could grab a TS FP+ for sure.

 

[morethananyonex]

That would still stink. 3 isn't enough for 1 park, there is no way it would be enough to split between 2. I'm hoping that if they do change things up but are going to keep the limit at 3 they at least make it 3 per park per day.

I think it was in addition to whatever option they go with for the extra FP+.

Either way, I think having the option to split over multiple parks is better than nothing. It does work nicely in some scenarios. Book Soarin in the morning, wander world showcase, hop to DHS after a QS lunch (cause who likes the DHS ones anyways) and use your FP+ for TSMM and ToT. Would be nice if tiers don't apply between parks.

Because of the tiers, splitting 3 can work nicely if you don't spend significant time during a busy part of the day at MK.

 

[Planogirl]

In my opinion tiering kills FP+. Especially if you park hop. Want to see your daily FP benefit go to waste? Schedule 3 at Epcot then hop somewhere else. It's ridiculous. You should be able to rope drop Epcot, ride one of the two major attractions and FP the other. Then ride the stuff that really doesn't require an fp and hop to a park later in the day to use the remaining 2 FP.

This of course assumes you believe 3 per day across all parks should be your max. I actually believe if you pay to hop you should get additional FP.

If they fix the park hop aspect then I may start warming up to this.

Me too! I would love more flexibility when it comes to the 3 FP. I can understand the tiers even if I don't like them but why can't I get FP+ twice for a ride that doesn't sell out? That has been annoying too.

 

[norybell]

I used FP+ during testing in September. I hated it then, even with the ability to concurrently use legacy FP, so I have trouble imagining I'll hate it any less now. I hated feeling so scheduled; I hated having to plan rides in advance.

My best day that trip was the day I forgot my phone in the room. Even though we missed all our FP+, that day was truly magical, primarily because it was so lovely to not feel shackled to a 2" x 5" screen.

I was a multiple-times-a-year visitor, who stayed only Deluxe, ate nightly at signature restaurants, and was about to buy Poly DVC. Now, unless the FP+ situation improves dramatically, DVC is totally off the table, and we'll cut down to one annual trip at most, definitely split with US. (I guess that's the one bright side, I'll finally get to WWoHP!)

Just wanted to add one more voice (with that insisted-upon experience).

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[minniemous]

The thing with FP+ is you can't really compare it to a restaurant review. You can make an informed decision about how you feel about it by learning about the facts of the system. You either are okay with the limits or you're not. A restaurant review is very different, in that you're using someone else's opinion to make your decision. The facts about FP+ are not opinions.

Can someone determine if V&A is worth the money from a review where someone stated they liked or didn't like it? Probably not. Can someone determine if V&A is worth the money from researching the amount of food they get? Probably. If you know from experience the amount of food you get isn't worth it to you for the price, you don't need to visit V&A yourself to know it's not for you.

Either way, this debate that constantly goes on is ridiculous. There are always posts from people who like FP+ but haven't experienced it and nobody jumps on them. Get over it. People are entitled to their opinions, you don't get to police when they can or can't have one.

First off, she is not the one who brought up the ridiculous food analogy. It was someone making an argument based on your own opinion. So if you have problem with that you should direct your opinion to the person who started that conversation. She was merely trying to respond to that analogy thrown at her.

Secondly, just as you have the right to have your opinion so does she. Her original statements were not black and white and there was really no need for all this.

Her original statements boiled down to she had noticed many people who were dead set against the new fast pass have not been to Disney World to experience the new systems first hand. She recognized that it did not mean everyone and it was a generalized statement.

I know people get some kind of pleasure on jumping on someone but I think people can let that rest already. Or at the very least direct your comments appropriately because she was kind of led to making that restaurant correlation via the original comment from someone not liking the new system.

 

[minniemous]

Well at least the thread was started by someone based on their less than stellar experience with FP+

On the topic of labels, I have seen plenty of references to the "Debbie Downers".... Just saying.

What you need to keep in mind with FP+ is that the experience begins with it long before you actually get to the parks. Your days are scheduled to accommodate the FP's you hope to get, you have to try and book them on the painfully slow website (when it's working) and glitches and errors are becoming accepted as normal. So I am not convinced that those who have not yet tried it in the parks but are at or past the online selection stage have no experience with it at all. They just don't have in-park experience. But the dissatisfaction expressed by those who dislike it include being locked into a rigid schedule and various grievances with the website and app.

I agree. I do not invalidate peoples opinions who have not tried it out first hand. That being said I do agree that trying out the new system first hand may... just may, change a persons mind of the overall experience for the better.

I do not invalidate my opinion but I know that we personally never used the old fast pass system a great deal so i do not have as much to lose.. if that makes sense?

I did just go in October/November and I found I used more fast passes than I used to and I really enjoyed the experience. It was a good deal of planning on my smart phone while there but it was all Ok with us. I liked being able to make changes etc. That being said if you had a top tier ride fast pass there really was no changing it on the day of because you would not get a new one. Toy Story Midway for example if I did not have the fast pass booked the day before I was not going to be on that ride.

Hope it ends up being something everyone can be somewhat happy with.

 

[M<3'sMickey]

Ok, I'm just trying to get facts straight. I'm not taking sides AT ALL on this whole FP+ thing. I'm just trying to plan for my future trips and the last time I was in the parks was last summer and didn't have any of this FP+ stuff.

In August, I will be staying off property but I already have my park hopper passes. I have a smartphone with the Disney app and obvi a computer. Can I link those tickets on the app or on my MDE account on the computer so I can pick my 3 FP attractions or do I have to wait until I'm in the park to do it? Also, it's only 3 per day in one park? We're planning on going to three parks in one day, so I can't split my 3 across the three parks (ex. 1 in HS, 1 in MK, 1 in Epcot)?

Although I'm reserving judgement on the whole thing, I can say that I'm not so happy that I have to plan everything in advance in order to get certain times on certain days. I like to pick what day I'm going to the parks based on the weather, and if I'm reading correctly, I can't really do that anymore if I want acceptable FP+ times. And although I'm a 40+ time visitor and cherry pick what rides and attractions I want to see, it just seems 3 FP+ per day is a little stingy. We're DVC members; no added benefits for that?

 

[JanaDee]

Ok, I'm just trying to get facts straight. I'm not taking sides AT ALL on this whole FP+ thing. I'm just trying to plan for my future trips and the last time I was in the parks was last summer and didn't have any of this FP+ stuff.

In August, I will be staying off property but I already have my park hopper passes. I have a smartphone with the Disney app and obvi a computer. Can I link those tickets on the app or on my MDE account on the computer so I can pick my 3 FP attractions or do I have to wait until I'm in the park to do it? Also, it's only 3 per day in one park? We're planning on going to three parks in one day, so I can't split my 3 across the three parks (ex. 1 in HS, 1 in MK, 1 in Epcot)?

Although I'm reserving judgement on the whole thing, I can say that I'm not so happy that I have to plan everything in advance in order to get certain times on certain days. I like to pick what day I'm going to the parks based on the weather, and if I'm reading correctly, I can't really do that anymore if I want acceptable FP+ times. And although I'm a 40+ time visitor and cherry pick what rides and attractions I want to see, it just seems 3 FP+ per day is a little stingy. We're DVC members; no added benefits for that?

As of right now, off-site guests can't link their tickets to MDE or use the App other than to check wait times. You have to make FP+ reservations once you arrive at the park for that day at a kiosk and stand in line (though that may be changing soon).

You get 3 FP+ per day, all in one park and no repeats allowed. They have to be for 3 different attractions.

 

[Angel Ariel]

You're right - it couldn't possibly still be a good meal, because it's been completely ruined. I'm sorry so many people's vacations are ruined because of the changes. I don't like all of the changes, but I feel pretty lucky that I've managed to still have a great time in spite of them.

The whole meal wouldn't be ruined, but it would not be worth the same price as the previous meal was. Were the restaurant to continue to charge the same price (or increase it), it would lead most people to then question whether or not continuing to order that meal was worth the sasme/increased cost for a lesser product.

I have a feeling that's more along the lines of where mom2rtk was going with that, as opposed to "ZOMG, the meal is completely ruined"

 

[Angel Ariel]

My only point was that there are too many people making statements as facts, but their sources for said statements-as-facts are from other people's assumptions and speculations about something they haven't even tried yet.

The continued assertions that those who don't like FP+, but haven't yet been to the park, are coming to that conclusion because of the speculation of others is a bit...well, ridiculous, IMO.

You can only get 3 FPs/day - Fact
You can only use FP+ in one park/day - Fact
You cannot use FP+ more than once/attraction - Fact
You cannot use a FP+ for every headliner in every park - Fact

There are other facts as well, but really those are the main ones. These are all facts, not speculation. These are what I, and I'd be willing to bet many others, have based their current views on FP+ on. I don't need anyone else's in park experience or speculation to tell me that 3 FP+s a day is less helpful to me for a day in MK than the 5-7 we got on our last 2 trips.

Am I saying that WDW is "completely ruined"? No. As with many here, I will adjust our touring as we can to accommodate the new rules because I acknowledge that that has to be done. That doesn't mean I have to like making that adjustment But not liking the adjustment also ≠ WDW being completely ruined either.