Not sure I'm getting why FP+ is "limiting" peoples experience.

[Mkrop]

Everyone vacations in their own way. Personally, I don't understand the anti-FP+ argument saying that a person is forced to use the system or that it is limiting what can be done while at WDW. Guests do not need FastPasses to enjoy the parks even in peak season (the only time I visit due to work constraints). One can simply wait on line or take advantage of EMH. By saying a person absolutely needs FPs to enjoy the attractions brings two thoughts to mind: (1) Before FP+, did one only go on attractions that had FPs? and (2) What did guests do before FPs even existed?
In my opinion, the old FP system caused guests to go from one part of the park to another just to reserve a ride time. That no longer happens thanks to the new system. I like that. Similarly, you no longer have to wait to reserve additional FPs like you had to with the old system. These were things guests complained about for years and now they're being addressed.

I tried the new system three weeks ago and found it to be fantastic. I have also been monitoring availability of popular attractions like Toy Story Mania, Test Track, etc. to see if FP+s are available throughout the day and night; this helps gauge whether or not the system can handle the large crowds right now. I have found that FP+s have been available even as late as 7 at night which means no longer is it necessary to sprint to TSM or others at rope drop. Will it be that way next month when I visit or in April? There's a chance that hiccups will occur, but as time passes and things are adjusted I expect those hiccups to be less and less. That's why Disney is taking its time with testing the system instead of throwing it out there and hoping it works.

I have many friends in WDW right now. The parks are crowded and lines can be long. That is to be expect being that it is the busiest time of year. With that being said, several have told me that FP+ has only made their vacations easier being that they don't have to travel from one side of the park to another just to have to return again when their FP wait time opens up. Similarly, knowing that they have experiences reserved has allowed them to relax more or explore other things (I found this to be the case myself). I do know that there are other friends who are having great difficulty getting MDE or WiFi to work right now which is a shame, but that comes with the fact that the system is still in testing. I rather Disney work out the kinks before it is full blown across property.

My advice to anyone heading to WDW in the next several months is to book FP+s for your favorites when at home and take advantage of night time EMHs if the park is crowded. Remember that you're on vacation and enjoy every moment. If you have trouble with something or a bad experience, immediately report it to Guest Services at a park or the concierge desk of your resort hotel so that things can be fixed. It's the only way for Disney to get it right.

Before FP ever existed, we disliked out WDW trips very much and swore we would never go back, we gave FP a try and we were hooked. That is what we did BEFORE FP.

Before FP+, we rode rides that did not require FP, we utilized our FPs wisely so that we could ride our faves numerous times, so we did not have the experience we has above

 

[Angel Ariel]

As low as you can go and still have good time. When that line is crossed, then you should find a place to go where you and your family WILL have a wonderful time.

Accepting that it's limiting and lowering your expectations to not be disappointed is a much different thing than the program not being limiting, which is what this post started off saying.

 

[Robo]

I f you are disappointed with FP+,
complain loud and long (and be specific.)

If Disney thinks guests are happy with the current FP+ situation,
they will have no incentive to improve it.

Disney CM's read the fan sites, too.

And, put your complaints in polite (but firm) eMails to Disney, directly.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think the perception out there right now is that peak season is horrendous. Yes, it is - during the daytime. However, if one makes use of EMH at night, you won't find that to be the case.

That is frequently not on option for those that have young kids.... which many who go to Disney have. As much as I love evening EMH, I'm not bringing my 18 month old into the parks from midnight til 2 or 3 (which is frequently when evening EMH are during peak season because the parks don't close til 11 or 12). That's not so much a choice as it is a necessity. Young children need sleep.

 

[crostorfer]

I f you are disappointed with FP+,
complain loud and long (and be specific.)

If Disney thinks guests are happy with the current FP+ situation,
they will have no incentive to improve it.

Disney CM's read the fan sites, too.

And, put your complaints in polite (but firm) eMails to Disney, directly.

Can I drag my over-dramatic pre-teen drama queen to the corporate offices, so she can throw her fit about only being able to FP one headliner at one park per day there, in front of them?

I don't think anything that I can say in a letter or e-mail would get my point across as well as them witnessing that, first hand.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

That is frequently not on option for those that have young kids.... which many who go to Disney have. As much as I love evening EMH, I'm not bringing my 18 month old into the parks from midnight til 2 or 3 (which is frequently when evening EMH are during peak season because the parks don't close til 11 or 12). That's not so much a choice as it is a necessity. Young children need sleep.

Of course, which is why morning EMH can be helpful. I've also found that if you make an early reservation for Crystal Palace at MK, it will tremendously affect your experience that morning. You can have a great meal and then enjoy low crowds in the parks.

 

[rt2dz]

I can only go during peak season due to my career and have never experienced this before. In fact, I've gone on every attraction in MK during one evening when EMH was offered; I arrived an hour or two before park closed to regular guests after relaxing and shopping during the day and visited the attractions that were closed during EMH. I then covered the rest of the park during it. I think the perception out there right now is that peak season is horrendous. Yes, it is - during the daytime. However, if one makes use of EMH at night, you won't find that to be the case.

Tell me, do you have a 3 year old? Do you think the typical child under the age of 10 is going to stay up to 3 am? Or there parents? There is a *reason* it empties out at night. Sorry, but when you aren't appeasing only yourself and another adult(s), but are taking a FAMILY vacation that includes young preschoolers, as well as teenagers, logistics are different. Everyone needs to have a good time.

Of course, which is why morning EMH can be helpful. I've also found that if you make an early reservation for Crystal Palace at MK, it will tremendously affect your experience that morning. You can have a great meal and then enjoy low crowds in the parks.

Ha! Great meal? We've eaten there 3 times and all 3 times have received sub-par service and did not enjoy the food. The first time it was close to the lunch switch over and we had very little to choose from (no restocking, inedible, cold, didn't even know what it was). The second time we received the worst service I have ever received in my life. After 3 requests for the manager an d waiting 30 minutes, we gave up. Third time was years later and decided to give it one last try. The first time we figured was our timing (although we didn't have a PS--not ADRs yet-- for near lunch), second time figuring it was just the server/day. Nope. Crap again in both departments. Nor would my older kids enjoy it. Heck, even my 3yo is beyond Pooh.



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[*NikkiBell*]

Tell me, do you have a 3 year old? Do you think the typical child under the age of 10 is going to stay up to 3 am? Or there parents? There is a *reason* it empties out at night.

Sorry, but when you aren't appeasing only yourself and another adult(s), but are taking a FAMILY vacation that includes young preschoolers, as well as teenagers, logistics are different. Everyone needs to have a good time.

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Which is why my suggestions above might be helpful. To be honest, the parks really clear out right after they close to non-resort guests. Staying up until 3 am isn't something that I've done with EMH very often because it is so dead. In the beginning of December, I stayed until 12:30ish, which is late for a young child. However, I think morning EMH might be the way to go for those with young children along with using FP+.

 

[rt2dz]

Which is why my suggestions above might be helpful. To be honest, the parks really clear out right after they close to non-resort guests. Staying up until 3 am isn't something that I've done with EMH very often because it is so dead. In the beginning of December, I stayed until 12:30ish, which is late for a young child. However, I think morning EMH might be the way to go for those with young children along with using FP+.

Yes, because waking up a child before they are ready isn't a recipe for disaster. ???? Kids who aren't well rested are the kids who are exhausted and unable to handle a day in the parks. Most likely, the ones you are complaining about. Saying their parents should be doing something to prevent that. Um, like letting them sleep until they are ready to wake up so they can be well rested and pleasant.

Again, LIMITING.

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[Bullseye]

Everyone vacations in their own way. Personally, I don't understand the anti-FP+ argument saying that a person is forced to use the system or that it is limiting what can be done while at WDW. Guests do not need FastPasses to enjoy the parks even in peak season (the only time I visit due to work constraints). One can simply wait on line or take advantage of EMH. By saying a person absolutely needs FPs to enjoy the attractions brings two thoughts to mind: (1) Before FP+, did one only go on attractions that had FPs? and (2) What did guests do before FPs even existed?

In my opinion, the old FP system caused guests to go from one part of the park to another just to reserve a ride time. That no longer happens thanks to the new system. I like that. Similarly, you no longer have to wait to reserve additional FPs like you had to with the old system. These were things guests complained about for years and now they're being addressed.

I tried the new system three weeks ago and found it to be fantastic. I have also been monitoring availability of popular attractions like Toy Story Mania, Test Track, etc. to see if FP+s are available throughout the day and night; this helps gauge whether or not the system can handle the large crowds right now. I have found that FP+s have been available even as late as 7 at night which means no longer is it necessary to sprint to TSM or others at rope drop. Will it be that way next month when I visit or in April? There's a chance that hiccups will occur, but as time passes and things are adjusted I expect those hiccups to be less and less. That's why Disney is taking its time with testing the system instead of throwing it out there and hoping it works.

I have many friends in WDW right now. The parks are crowded and lines can be long. That is to be expect being that it is the busiest time of year. With that being said, several have told me that FP+ has only made their vacations easier being that they don't have to travel from one side of the park to another just to have to return again when their FP wait time opens up. Similarly, knowing that they have experiences reserved has allowed them to relax more or explore other things (I found this to be the case myself). I do know that there are other friends who are having great difficulty getting MDE or WiFi to work right now which is a shame, but that comes with the fact that the system is still in testing. I rather Disney work out the kinks before it is full blown across property.

Good post Nikki ! I must be who FP+ was designed for because we rarely ever pulled more than three FP in a day anyway and we don't hop. I'm not seeing a huge downside to FP+. We use EMH's to ride additional rides and that still works great. Like you mentioned, not having to run around to get FP's to me is great. I hate having to enter the gates running at Epcot and DHS to secure FP for Soaring and TSMM, respectively.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Yes, because waking up a child before they are ready isn't a recipe for disaster. ???? Kids who aren't well rested are the kids who are exhausted and unable to handle a day in the parks. Most likely, the ones you are complaining about. Saying their parents should be doing something to prevent that. Um, like letting them sleep until they are ready to wake up so they can be well rested and pleasant.

Again, LIMITING.

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I am a teacher. You won't find me complaining as mentioned above. My suggestion was just an idea for those who have young children (who usually get up early). An 8 or 9 am breakfast with characters that the kids will love to interact with sounded like good advice to me. I'm sorry to hear that it won't work for your family, but know it has for friends of mine in the past which is why I suggested it.

 

[disneyerin]

Now this I agree with. However, your original post said that the new FP+ isn't limiting, and it really is. If you don't mind that...that's okay. If you don't mind not going on Splash Mountain and other rides...that's okay too. It's not okay for us, so we need to decide (when FP+ is fully rolled out), if WDW works for us anymore. I just canceled a May trip (not for FP+, but a family conflict) and will evaluate if WDW is still worth it to us in the future.

I guess what I meant was that......the "limiting" feeling we feel comes from 1)a sense that there is only one way to ride the rides we want and 2) a belief that Disney is 100% in control of that, and they have decided to now "limit" how many and which rides we can ride on.But the rides are still there all day long and we can ride them whenever we want. We may have to tweak our priority list in the process, but that's a part of any vacation.

Disney came along and gave us a taste of what it was like to not have to wait as long, and to be able to go on more rides in a day, and we became hooked; who wouldn't? And shorter lines with Fps became the norm; we expected it to be that way forever. There was no reason not to. But it's that EXPECTATION that is creating the sense of being limited, not some power Disney has over which rides we can go on and how many times we can go on them.

I am NOT saying anyone should just accept the changes and feel OK about them......
Oh heck......I'm not sure WHAT I'm saying........

 

[Angel Ariel]

Of course, which is why morning EMH can be helpful. I've also found that if you make an early reservation for Crystal Palace at MK, it will tremendously affect your experience that morning. You can have a great meal and then enjoy low crowds in the parks.

And again, morning EMH starts at 7am during peak hours, which means leaving the hotel by (at the latest) 6:15-6:20. My 18 month old rarely gets up that early. She usually wakes around 8-8:30 on her own. So either way, EMH isn't overly helpful.

FP- *was* helpful. It helped DH and I navigate the parks and get what we wanted to get out of it - both for us and for our DD - and it allowed us to let our daughter get the sleep she needs. The limit of 3 FP+ and only one park/day are pretty significant limits on touring now.

I get that it works well for some people, and I'm happy for them truly. But it is limiting for others, and JMO it's a bit ridiculous to say it isn't just because someone else can tour differently.

 

[AmyB2006]

It's different for everyone. I have a 4 and 7 yo. They love evening EMH. They love staying up late in the parks. But it's not for everyone. We would never make morning EMH because nobody in my house is a morning person.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

It's different for everyone. I have a 4 and 7 yo. They love evening EMH. They love staying up late in the parks. But it's not for everyone. We would never make morning EMH because nobody in my house is a morning person.

I agree 100%. I actually hadn't gone on TSM or Soarin' in years because the lines were always 120+ minutes and the FPs were gone early in the day.

I guess I'm just not understanding the logic that one can't do anything in the parks without a FP. Many of the comments state this, but I'm not following it. Maybe I need coffee.

 

[vinotinto]

If you are disappointed with FP+,
complain loud and long (and be specific.)

If Disney thinks guests are happy with the current FP+ situation,
they will have no incentive to improve it.

Yes.

Can I drag my over-dramatic pre-teen drama queen to the corporate offices, so she can throw her fit about only being able to FP one headliner at one park per day there, in front of them?

I don't think anything that I can say in a letter or e-mail would get my point across as well as them witnessing that, first hand.

I can just picture this and I love it.

 

[patty57]

Which is why my suggestions above might be helpful. To be honest, the parks really clear out right after they close to non-resort guests. Staying up until 3 am isn't something that I've done with EMH very often because it is so dead. In the beginning of December, I stayed until 12:30ish, which is late for a young child. However, I think morning EMH might be the way to go for those with young children along with using FP+.

We were always big evening EMH fans as my kids are older...college-aged now. We would ride our favorite attraction Splash Mountain over and over. Guess which attraction is no longer included in EMHs? Not to mention evening EMH are now two hours instead of three. WDW has even impacted our ability to enjoy that.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I agree 100%. I actually hadn't gone on TSM or Soarin' in years because the lines were always 120+ minutes and the FPs were gone early in the day.

I guess I'm just not understanding the logic that one can't do anything in the parks without a FP. Many of the comments state this, but I'm not following it. Maybe I need coffee.

For those that are limited to peak season touring and daytime hours, FP is more necessary than those who are not. As you pointed out, even during peak season if EMH works for you you have an advantage there.

But, as Amy pointed out, not all families are the same. What works for one doesn't work for others. EMH would be very difficult for our family right now based on DD's sleep schedule. Could we wake her early if we were there during peak season? Yes. Would the cumulative effect of doing that every day be helpful at all to anyone? no.

Just because I may be there with a child doesn't mean I don't want to do adult things. DH and I love riding Space, BTMRR, Splash, Buzz, Jungle Cruise...plus we would want to take DD to Dumbo, ETWB, to meet Mickey, meet the Princesses...

Previously we could use FP for all of those as long as there is availability. Now we are limited to 3, regardless if there are 1000s of FP+ slots available for the ride. If we use them on the mountains, we spend more time together as a family but we deal with longer waits (as the kiddie rides usually load slower and have longer waits in general).

If we use them on the rides and M&G for DD, then we're looking at spending 50/60mins* with one adult in line and the other adult with DD for at least 2 separate attractions..so at least 2 hrs apart as a family, so that one adult can ride SB and then the other uses RS.

How this could not be seen as a downgrade from the FP- system where we did not have to spend that much time apart in order to ride all of those rides is something I don't understand.

 

[rt2dz]

I am a teacher. You won't find me complaining as mentioned above. My suggestion was just an idea for those who have young children (who usually get up early). An 8 or 9 am breakfast with characters that the kids will love to interact with sounded like good advice to me. I'm sorry to hear that it won't work for your family, but know it has for friends of mine in the past which is why I suggested it.

Again, you are assuming all kids live characters. Many don't. Not at all uncommon; go check out the family boards, or 500 blogs. I have 2 that won't even get near Santa. Again, not uncommon. When we do character meals, they have to be placed where characters can't sneak up on them and the servers warns the characters. You're also saying get there early, but waste 1-2 hours at a character meal so lines can be long. You are contradicting yourself. And most kids don't generally get up early, especially if we follow your advice on going to peak EMH that generally start 10 pm - 1am during peak season (which, by the way was not 3 weeks ago as you stated your last trip was. That was the week after Thanksgiving when crowds are at their lowest). Kids that get up early, go to bed early, and that won't be happening on vacation quite often, especially when there are older children too.

It's obvious you don't have kids, and that's fine, but you aren't looking beyond you. You had stated that everyone vacations their own way, but you are then turning around and saying, but you need to vacation my way. You have to look at it from other sides, which, to me, is what the OP was originally kind of looking for (or so I thought). A please explain.

It's not that you can't enjoy a vacation at WDW with FP+. No one has said that. What has been said is that it is a *lesser* vacation (at a higher price tag). Than before. That the new system is LIMITING *compared to* the Legacy FP system. Just because Disney did it, doesn't mean it is the smartest decision.

I have said it before, Magic bands and FP+ are two different things. The whole of MB is a lot more than the average guest will ever know. FP+ is simply the way disney is trying to get buy-in from guests to wear the stupid things. And, let's face it, without KTTW cards, you can't use FP as it is. Something had to be done. Although, I can think of half a dozen better ways to do FP+ than what they came up with, including tap to pull. As it stands, it is limiting.

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[rt2dz]

I agree 100%. I actually hadn't gone on TSM or Soarin' in years because the lines were always 120+ minutes and the FPs were gone early in the day. I guess I'm just not understanding the logic that one can't do anything in the parks without a FP. Many of the comments state this, but I'm not following it. Maybe I need coffee.

Nobody has said you can't do ANYTHING. What has been said is you do LESS. You are *limited* not *locked out.*

Again, we are not RD people. Obviously that 1 hour of am EMH aren't going to help us and pm EMH due to the littler ones are also not a viable option. We still did Soarin and TT (can't be done now) and grabbed a FP for TSMM. When we got to the parks, lines for TSMM might be 120 minutes +, but a FP was always available. Might not be an ideal time, but it was always doable. Not now.

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