Not to reopen that can of worms but...

[mom2rtk]

A group unable to compromise to make a decision is not unable to do so because of a kiosk.

Sure. But it was a complete non-issue with legacy because all you did was stick in a ticket and a FP popped out.

 

[WillAustin]

Totally not what I said.

In context, what I said and meant was--I don't bring the group to a kiosk, it takes 5 seconds for my group to decide AWAY from the kiosk of what top 3 choices we have and then *I* go by myself.

OK, now I understand what you meant. Quite a few groups decide at the kiosk because they want to see what's available before deciding.

A group unable to compromise to make a decision is not unable to do so because of a kiosk.

No, but it sure slows down everyone behind them. Same sort of thing happens to people at park entry that can't put a card in a slot or touch a wristband to a Mickey head and remember which finger they used yesterday without assistance.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Sure. But it was a complete non-issue with legacy because all you did was stick in a ticket and a FP popped out.

So the group didn't reach consensus first?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

OK, now I understand what you meant. Quite a few groups decide at the kiosk because they want to see what's available before deciding.



No, but it sure slows down everyone behind them. Same sort of thing happens to people at park entry that can't put a card in a slot or touch a wristband to a Mickey head and remember which finger they used yesterday without assistance.

I agree. My posts weren't to disagree with that but rather how we avoid taking the entire group to the kiosk. It is inefficient to do that especially since it can be difficult to squeeze everyone around he screen. (Like how in the old system, we sent one person with ALL the tickets versus all hanging around watching the tickets get placed in one by one.)

And people forgot which finger they used prior to Magic Bands.

I'm guilty of that. And recently with the magic band as I was holding the baby in the hand I had used and used the other hand by mistake. Just like I did with paper tickets.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

This post has done nothing other than affirm my desire never to go to Disney with a large group. Coordinating with a large group of people is no bueno no matter what system you're using.

I do wonder though...why not just select whatever at the kiosk and then let each member of the group use the MDE app to make changes if they don't like the initial selection?

 

[3DisneyFanz]

So the group didn't reach consensus first?

You made the decision first and went to that machine. You didn't huddle around something weighing your options.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You made the decision first and went to that machine. You didn't huddle around something weighing your options.

Hence my suggestion to come up with the top 3 options prior to going to the kiosk. To avoid the huddle.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I made the suggestion but I certainly did not suggest to ask every member of the party. Please read again.

What I was trying to say was that is how it seems that poster had interpreted that suggestion. I didn't remember who posted it.

 

[hawkeyesparks]

I'm not a fan. It has certainly taken the spontaneity out of parts of the trip. FP+ is not a disaster, but I really liked the old way better. It just fit better for my family.

 

[itchin2go]

All this "consensus" talk makes me realize how easy I have it. We're just a group of 3, and they pretty much just take whatever I give them.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

All this "consensus" talk makes me realize how easy I have it. We're just a group of 3, and they pretty much just take whatever I give them.

 

[Lucius Best]

Totally not what I said.

Totally NOT what I was implying. Please read again.

Thanks for clearing that up.

I made the suggestion but I certainly did not suggest to ask every member of the party. Please read again.

I tried reading this sentence again, but not sure what exactly is being suggested. So I am not going to imply anything.

You had to ask members of your party what they want to do with FP-, and still need to do that with FP+. But with old paper FP, our group would usually decide what to do next while in line for a ride, then I would take the tickets to the FP kiosk as designated runner.

With FP+, we'd pick a couple of possibilities, but then I always wanted to bring at least one other person of our large group with me to the FP+ kiosk, because you never know what you are going to get. What if first choice Ride A is 5pm but 2nd choice Ride B is 4pm and last choice Ride C is 3pm. You need to consider some people have ADR at 5:30pm, others have ADR at Epcot at 7pm. It's not rocket science, but it takes longer because it's not always as simple as sliding a card into a slot and taking a piece pf paper.

On last trip we got stuck behind a family at MK FP kiosk. It was 4pm and it might have been their first day at WDW. They were picking their 3 FP+ for the day. They had a map of the park and were trying to figure out what/where the rides were. A CM was trying to help them, but CM was having problems because the family didn't speak English very well. We hopped to a different kiosk.

 

[Angel Ariel]

What I said and in no way did I suggest or imply to poll every member of be party originally. We have 6 riding in our group. I don't get 18 choices.

Those who inferred were welcome to seek clarification.

As I clarified, I wasn't inferring anything, just trying to explain how the poster's post had come across to me. I wasn't claiming his interpretation was right.

As for deciding away from the kiosks what a top 3 would be for the whole group, the second part of my statement still stands. My immediate family could do that in 5 seconds. AN extended family 15 person trip, with age ranges of 3-65+...that's going to take a little longer than 5 seconds (not crazy long, but longer than 5 seconds). For some families, it's easier to make the decision when you know what is available.

 

[itchin2go]

You had to ask members of your party what they want to do with FP-, and still need to do that with FP+. But with old paper FP, our group would usually decide what to do next while in line for a ride, then I would take the tickets to the FP kiosk as designated runner.

Just had an a-ha moment, I think.

If you are like us, you just knew what rides FP- would be available for ... based on previous trips, etc (i.e. "After this, let's go grab a FP for TOT." Now, there's no way to *know* what will be available before going to the kiosk. So it's more like, "Let's go to the kiosk and see what's available."

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thanks for clearing that up.



I tried reading this sentence again, but not sure what exactly is being suggested. So I am not going to imply anything.

You had to ask members of your party what they want to do with FP-, and still need to do that with FP+. But with old paper FP, our group would usually decide what to do next while in line for a ride, then I would take the tickets to the FP kiosk as designated runner.

With FP+, we'd pick a couple of possibilities, but then I always wanted to bring at least one other person of our large group with me to the FP+ kiosk, because you never know what you are going to get. What if first choice Ride A is 5pm but 2nd choice Ride B is 4pm and last choice Ride C is 3pm. You need to consider some people have ADR at 5:30pm, others have ADR at Epcot at 7pm. It's not rocket science, but it takes longer because it's not always as simple as sliding a card into a slot and taking a piece pf paper.

On last trip we got stuck behind a family at MK FP kiosk. It was 4pm and it might have been their first day at WDW. They were picking their 3 FP+ for the day. They had a map of the park and were trying to figure out what/where the rides were. A CM was trying to help them, but CM was having problems because the family didn't speak English very well. We hopped to a different kiosk.

I was recently pregnant, so I Would get input prior to
The family going on a ride I could not go on and once their FP+ was used, I would go to the kiosk.

Now, if we want a 4th, I do it while they play Sorceror's.

Our family is a size of 7. If we have an ADR, it is together.

For larger groups, I guess it is something I keep in mind. In your scenario, ride B would be selected because it is the first choice of the three that works for everyone. Depending on what that ride was and where the ADR was.

Really depends on the goal and if the party needs to split. They split.

We could go over many scenarios. ADRs were not part of the original equation, though.

 

[Mickey&Mouse]

OK, now I understand what you meant. Quite a few groups decide at the kiosk because they want to see what's available before deciding.


No, but it sure slows down everyone behind them. Same sort of thing happens to people at park entry that can't put a card in a slot or touch a wristband to a Mickey head and remember which finger they used yesterday without assistance.

This is so true. When we were there a couple of weeks ago it seemed like more often than not there were whole groups of people standing around the kiosks trying to decide what to do next.....at the kiosk. Multiply that by the many other groups of people doing the same thing, and it makes for a long wait to get to a kiosk. It seemed to take forever. One time while we were waiting in the kiosk line between Frontierland and Adventureland, we had one of our group run over to the JC kiosks to see if they could make quicker progress. They were there and back while we stood in the exact same spot, not having moved at all. So FP running is still alive and well.

At least we knew to pick anything at the kiosk, then change it in the app if needed- so we didn't have to crowd around the kiosks deciding. I think the fact that Disney forces guests to use the kiosks rather than access the app for 4th and beyond FP's is essentially them confirming what a lot of us have been saying all along: too few rides/attractions to meet demand (particularly Epcot and DHS). Yet, they decided to focus on a ride rationing system instead of building the additional attractions to meet the current demand. The kiosks are too few and far between by design unfortunately.

So to answer the OP's question, from our perspective FP+ has been a downgrade. Loss of spontaneity, loss of the true clean slate, feeling too scheduled (cannot be overstated), and the blasted kiosk lines to name a few specifics.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

As I clarified, I wasn't inferring anything, just trying to explain how the poster's post had come across to me. I wasn't claiming his interpretation was right.

As for deciding away from the kiosks what a top 3 would be for the whole group, the second part of my statement still stands. My immediate family could do that in 5 seconds. AN extended family 15 person trip, with age ranges of 3-65+...that's going to take a little longer than 5 seconds (not crazy long, but longer than 5 seconds). For some families, it's easier to make the decision when you know what is available.

Then it may take 10 seconds. If it takes 10 minutes, that is not a FP+ issue, which is my point and something that should be done away from the kiosk.

 

[Lucius Best]

I do wonder though...why not just select whatever at the kiosk and then let each member of the group use the MDE app to make changes if they don't like the initial selection?

We ran into two separate issues with the MDE app. On our first day I made an additional FP for the whole group, but then plans changed and some were going to hop to a different park. When I tried to modify the FP on the app, some of the people disappeared from the FP reservation. When I went to kiosk, everyone was there, but MDE app wasn't displaying it correctly. Kiosks were empty, so had a nice long discussion with a bunch of FP CMs, answered a bunch of my questions, and I decided it was best to go to kiosks if we had to make changes.

Other problem was on slow MK day when we got 12 to 15 additional FP at kiosks. I say "12 to 15" because I don't know exactly how many we got, because not all of the additional FPs that we got at kiosks were displayed on the app, there were at least two missing.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Just had an a-ha moment, I think.

If you are like us, you just knew what rides FP- would be available for ... based on previous trips, etc (i.e. "After this, let's go grab a FP for TOT." Now, there's no way to *know* what will be available before going to the kiosk. So it's more like, "Let's go to the kiosk and see what's available."

Beyond just based on pervious trips, there were also apps that gave this information. I know we used TouringPlans in March 2013 to see what FP return times were being distributed for rides while in line to decide where we were going next. Even before that, when the old official Disney Mobile Magic app was used, IIRC the currently distributed FP time was posted in that app as well, if you were physically in the park, and that was official information. We used that app on our DLR visit in 2011 (can't remember if we had it on the 2010 trip or not).

 

[Angel Ariel]

Then it may take 10 seconds. If it takes 10 minutes, that is not a FP+ issue, which is my point and something that should be done away from the kiosk.

The only point I'm trying to make is that sometimes *knowing* the information can lessen the amount of time making that decision. Coordinating large groups isn't always a lightning quick endeavor, and there's nothing wrong with that.