Not to reopen that can of worms but...

[itchin2go]

Well...1 premium and 2 others in the parks where FP matters more.

Ah, yes, tiering! That may be the one subject we can all agree on.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I have not expressed myself very well, and for that I apologize. I think my comment has been taken out of context.

I was replying to 1 previous poster, a self-described local, who recounted popping into MK and riding 3 rides (train, Splash, BTMRR, I think), as an explanation to why he/she loves FP+. Just to that 1 poster.

I tried to explain better in a later post. My point was not that if you like FP+, you MUST be ok with only 3 rides. I don't think that's true - not even a little bit.

Conversely, though, if only riding 3 rides is a good day for you, then of course, you'll love FP+. You can book 3 premium rides ahead of time and ride them with little to no wait.

There are plenty of other kinds of people who will like FP+. I've read accounts of people who had tons of luck with 4th and 5th and 6th FPs. Those people are not ok with only 3 rides and they like FP+.

Edited to add: We ride most everything standby and we certainly do more than 3 things. I don't think the new system limits you to only 3 things. I hope I didn't say that, because that would make me sound really stupid.

I understand what you are saying. (With this clarification.)

At the same time, I think there is difference between the poster saying it allows and it be interpreted as it limits.

I do like that I can come later and know I have fast passes and not feel I wasted my drive over.

Interpreting that as a negative does not make it not a positive. I feel that poster's positive is being construed as a negative and that is not fair to them.

It doesn't mean loving only 3 rides.

The gist is that they can pop in later in the day, ride as many as FP+ allows and pop out. And go grocery shopping or have a beer at BJ's brew house or scrub a bathroom. It allows us--the locals to squeeze in park time. I myself was able to pop over to the grocery store.

I hope I made myself understood better. I do get what you are saying, but I still don't think that is what the poster meant and user their post as a means to illustrate that does not represent their post well.

Of course they may chime in and say that is exactly what they meant.

ETA: If I am still misinterpreting your post, please let me know!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My guess is that he's saying that if you don't want to wait in lines, you might only get 3. I don't think that's realistic, but I see how it applies to our family. We used to get multiple headliners and other FPs every day of the trip, never waiting in a line over 20 minutes. During busy times that is almost impossible now because more of the FP slots are being used already.

EDIT: I see Itchin2Go answered you.



Well...1 premium and 2 others in the parks where FP matters more.

I see never waited more than x minutes mentioned quite a bit. What time of year did you travel?

 

[itchin2go]

I understand what you are saying. (With this clarification.)

At the same time, I think there is difference between the poster saying it allows and it be interpreted as it limits.

I do like that I can come later and know I have fast passes and not feel I wasted my drive over.

Interpreting that as a negative does not make it not a positive. I feel that poster's positive is being construed as a negative and that is not fair to them.

It doesn't mean loving only 3 rides.

The gist is that they can pop in later in the day, ride as many as FP+ allows and pop out. And go grocery shopping or have a beer at BJ's brew house or scrub a bathroom. It allows us--the locals to squeeze in park time. I myself was able to pop over to the grocery store.

I hope I made myself understood better. I do get what you are saying, but I still don't think that is what the poster meant and user their post as a means to illustrate that does not represent their post well.

Of course they may chime in and say that is exactly what they meant.

ETA: If I am still misinterpreting your post, please let me know!

No, I didn't mean to say that anything was a negative. What I meant to say to PP is that I see why that works for you, but here's why that wouldn't work for me. Sometimes I think our differing opinions are the result of different circumstances. I have no doubt that if I were local, I would feel exactly like the PP. I'm not though. I'm coming from a completely different situation. THAT was my actual point. 3 rides was what he mentioned in the post, so I referenced it, and THAT is where I think the confusion is coming from. The day he described, while a great day for him (and maybe some others) would be a waste of a ticket for me. Locals are probably not even in that mindset, having APs. Again, another example of different circumstances.

So really, "3 rides" was only in there because he named 3 rides that he rode. If it had have been 4 rides (at MK), I still would have said, I see why you like this, why you had a great day, why FP+ has improved things for you. But for me - with my different circumstances - not so much.

I am happy for people who have found FP+ to be an enhancement to their vacation, for whatever reason. I don't begrudge you popping in to do a few rides. I envy the crap out of you but I don't begrudge you. I was just pointing out that, because of my differing circumstances (and I'm assuming I'm speaking for some others on this, but boy, I don't know that I'm doing a good job of it), the day that PP described would be pretty much no good to me. We travel a long way, we go for a limited period of time, and most days, we try to cram in as much as we can. Ordinarily, if we left MK having ridden, say 5 rides, that would be a fail for us.

To be (hopefully) clear as day, I don't believe that if you like FP+, you must be ok with only 3 rides. I know that's been said before, and it's a gross overgeneralization.

Maybe my tone came off as belittling the PP? That wasn't my intent or my point. I'm interested in hearing others' circumstances, and why things work for them. It's academic, I guess, but it's interesting to me.

If I came off as being negative or saying you can only ride 3 rides, that wasn't what I meant.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

No, I didn't mean to say that anything was a negative. What I meant to say to PP is that I see why that works for you, but here's why that wouldn't work for me. Sometimes I think our differing opinions are the result of different circumstances. I have no doubt that if I were local, I would feel exactly like the PP. I'm not though. I'm coming from a completely different situation. THAT was my actual point. 3 rides was what he mentioned in the post, so I referenced it, and THAT is where I think the confusion is coming from. The day he described, while a great day for him (and maybe some others) would be a waste of a ticket for me. Locals are probably not even in that mindset, having APs. Again, another example of different circumstances.

So really, "3 rides" was only in there because he named 3 rides that he rode. If it had have been 4 rides (at MK), I still would have said, I see why you like this, why you had a great day, why FP+ has improved things for you. But for me - with my different circumstances - not so much.

I am happy for people who have found FP+ to be an enhancement to their vacation, for whatever reason. I don't begrudge you popping in to do a few rides. I envy the crap out of you but I don't begrudge you. I was just pointing out that, because of my differing circumstances (and I'm assuming I'm speaking for some others on this, but boy, I don't know that I'm doing a good job of it), the day that PP described would be pretty much no good to me. We travel a long way, we go for a limited period of time, and most days, we try to cram in as much as we can. Ordinarily, if we left MK having ridden, say 5 rides, that would be a fail for us.

To be (hopefully) clear as day. I don't believe that if you like FP+, you must be ok with only 3 rides. I know that's been said before, and it's a gross overgeneralization.

Maybe my tone came off as belittling the PP? That wasn't my intent or my point. I'm interested in hearing others' circumstances, and why things work for them. It's academic, I guess, but it's interesting to me.

If I came off as being negative or saying you can only ride 3 rides, that wasn't what I meant.

That makes total sense now!

Thanks.

 

[itchin2go]

That makes total sense now!

Thanks.

Yay! I am sick as a dog, and clearly my head is not working properly.

 

[ChimCher-ee]

FP+ guarantees that I'm going to be able to ride 3 of my favorite rides at least once a day. It eases my mind to know that, if the wait time at Favorite Ride X is 90 minutes at the time we happen to pass by, I can just move on to the next ride that has a lower wait time. And return to X ride at my FP time (or 5 minutes before or 59 minutes after). I love it.

 

[momof2n2]

No, I didn't mean to say that anything was a negative. What I meant to say to PP is that I see why that works for you, but here's why that wouldn't work for me. Sometimes I think our differing opinions are the result of different circumstances. I have no doubt that if I were local, I would feel exactly like the PP. I'm not though. I'm coming from a completely different situation. THAT was my actual point. 3 rides was what he mentioned in the post, so I referenced it, and THAT is where I think the confusion is coming from. The day he described, while a great day for him (and maybe some others) would be a waste of a ticket for me. Locals are probably not even in that mindset, having APs. Again, another example of different circumstances.

So really, "3 rides" was only in there because he named 3 rides that he rode. If it had have been 4 rides (at MK), I still would have said, I see why you like this, why you had a great day, why FP+ has improved things for you. But for me - with my different circumstances - not so much.

I am happy for people who have found FP+ to be an enhancement to their vacation, for whatever reason. I don't begrudge you popping in to do a few rides. I envy the crap out of you but I don't begrudge you. I was just pointing out that, because of my differing circumstances (and I'm assuming I'm speaking for some others on this, but boy, I don't know that I'm doing a good job of it), the day that PP described would be pretty much no good to me. We travel a long way, we go for a limited period of time, and most days, we try to cram in as much as we can. Ordinarily, if we left MK having ridden, say 5 rides, that would be a fail for us.

To be (hopefully) clear as day, I don't believe that if you like FP+, you must be ok with only 3 rides. I know that's been said before, and it's a gross overgeneralization.

Maybe my tone came off as belittling the PP? That wasn't my intent or my point. I'm interested in hearing others' circumstances, and why things work for them. It's academic, I guess, but it's interesting to me.

If I came off as being negative or saying you can only ride 3 rides, that wasn't what I meant.

You're doing a fine job.

 

[Lucius Best]

I have not expressed myself very well, and for that I apologize. I think my comment has been taken out of context.

You know, you expressed yourself just fine, and you have no need to apologize if people take your comments out of context or misinterpret them.

 

[itchin2go]

You know, you expressed yourself just fine, and you have no need to apologize if people take your comments out of context or misinterpret them.

Thanks. As I said before, I'm under the weather, so it's hard to gauge! I knew I didn't mean to offend, but sometimes, you offend even without intending it. And I'm fine taking bullets for things I intended, but I really meant no harm or judgment with that comment.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You know, you expressed yourself just fine, and you have no need to apologize if people take your comments out of context or misinterpret them.

I will agree. There is no need to apologize when people misread. But the clarification was quite welcome!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thanks. As I said before, I'm under the weather, so it's hard to gauge! I knew I didn't mean to offend, but sometimes, you offend even without intending it. And I'm fine taking bullets for things I intended, but I really meant no harm or judgment with that comment.

Hope you feel better!

I don't think anyone is offended. But as Lucius said, no need to apologize!

 

[itchin2go]

Hope you feel better!

I don't think anyone is offended. But as Lucius said, no need to apologize!

Well, if antibiotics, steroids, nasal spray, antihistamine and tylenol have any effect whatsoever, I should be on the mend. Time will tell.

 

[WillAustin]

I have not expressed myself very well, and for that I apologize.

I was replying to 1 previous poster, a self-described local, who recounted popping into MK and riding 3 rides, as an explanation to why he/she loves FP+. Just to that 1 poster.

I tried to explain better in a later post. My point was not that if you like FP+, you MUST be ok with only 3 rides. I don't think that's true - not even a little bit.

Conversely, though, if only riding 3 rides is a good day for you, then of course, you'll love FP+. You can book 3 premium rides ahead of time and ride them with little to no wait.

There are plenty of other kinds of people who will like FP+. I've read accounts of people who had tons of luck with 4th and 5th and 6th FPs. Those people are not ok with only 3 rides and they like FP+.

I see never waited more than x minutes mentioned quite a bit. What time of year did you travel?

Usually June/July/August. We'd typically do rope drop every day and use 7+ FPs and never did we wait in any line over 20 minutes on several trips over 4-5 years before FP+. We'd ride multiple headliners at every park with no trouble and little wait. I think the fact that we figured out how to best accomplish this is what irks me about the changes. We've adjusted and still have fun, but we ride less and spend less time in the parks.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Usually June/July/August. We'd typically do rope drop every day and use 7+ FPs and never did we wait in any line over 20 minutes on several trips over 4-5 years before FP+. We'd ride multiple headliners at every park with no trouble and little wait. I think the fact that we figured out how to best accomplish this is what irks me about the changes. We've adjusted and still have fun, but we ride less and spend less time in the parks.

I think it is fair to say that didn't work for everyone.

I could never imagine summer
at anytime. We have been. But always with an adjusted game
plan due to crowds. And typically because of some reason. It is not our standard season.

 

[anorman]

I am happy for people who have found FP+ to be an enhancement to their vacation, for whatever reason. I don't begrudge you popping in to do a few rides. I envy the crap out of you but I don't begrudge you. I was just pointing out that, because of my differing circumstances (and I'm assuming I'm speaking for some others on this, but boy, I don't know that I'm doing a good job of it), the day that PP described would be pretty much no good to me. We travel a long way, we go for a limited period of time, and most days, we try to cram in as much as we can. Ordinarily, if we left MK having ridden, say 5 rides, that would be a fail for us.

You're definitely speaking for me.

 

[Golden Rose]

We've now used FP+ on two different trips about 9 months apart. What it actually did for us is force us to go ahead and get a DAS card. We'd have been able to justify one for years - we have a child who has special needs and gets substantial accommodations at school, but I always felt like we could get by under the old system at WDW. Honestly, our child can't stay in a park for too many hours anyway (sensory overload); we'd figured out how to make it work. We couldn't do thrill rides anyway. (DH would sometimes go off and do those on his own.)

On the first trip (pre DAS), we did not get to do everything we would have liked, but we spread our FP+s out over 5 days (2 MK, one at each of the others), and we managed pretty well. It was a fantastic trip. On the second trip, we had the DVC one park a day for 4 days passes, so we only had 1 MK day. That's when everything started falling apart for us. DD wanted princesses, DS wanted Jungle Cruise, everyone wanted Mine Train, everyone wanted Small World, everyone wanted Little Mermaid ride, etc. When booking our MK day, I realized that it was going to be a problem. So we got the DAS, and that in combination with FP+ worked really beautifully for us. I only needed it for 2 attractions, but that was enough. (It was sort of funny; I presented it a couple of days later, and the person taking signing it tried to explain to me that I could use it more than once a day.)

Honestly, we can make FP+ work for our family everywhere except MK. 3 is just not enough prebooked FPs if you just have one day in MK. 6 over 2 days was fine for us, but we won't want to do that every trip.

Overall, we like FP+. We'd like it better if you could book your additional FPs on your phone, and we'd like it better if you could prebook in two parks. We have quit buying park hoppers since they introduced it.

For whatever reason, one of our two trips using FP+ worked better than the other. The second really felt like we were rushing around constantly to appointments. The kids had a fantastic time both trips, but one of them really felt over-scheduled to me. I am not sure what made the difference. Maybe I scheduled them too close together? (I did push them close together - I knew we would only have about 5 hours max in the park because of the sensory issues, including the meal at CRT, and I knew we only had one MK day. That, I guess was the problem.) I guess what I'm saying is that in the end, we were able to do what we wanted in a short amount of time, but we really paid a price in overall enjoyment of the trip.

That said, on the whole, I'm moderately positive about FP+. I just think I need to work a little harder to figure out how to get it to work best for us. And working harder isn't necessarily what I want to associate with my vacations.

 

[itchin2go]

You're definitely speaking for me.

Bless you for saying that. We're all just coming from different places, different family members, different travel times, different budget, different access to the parks, different expectations. All those things and more affect our perspectives.

 

[agavegirl1]

I was originally not going to give my opinion because I am at my cabin and only have a phone but .., Okay, here goes...

I was very frustrated with FP+. I felt it was unnecessary and an intrusion on my time and general touring plan.

But, I am a Commando park guest so I attempted to use it to my advantage. It works some of the time, especially for longer trips.

To find out how the carefully crafted plan worked out..check out my trip report "A commando does Disney".

Summary:

You might get hungry when it is inconvenient

FP+ need to be scheduled to allow for the longer wait times for standby attactions. Not an hour apart.

 

[cakebaker]

We were at the MK this evening and outside of SDMT, found the wait times quite reasonable and much what we expected. We rode several secondary rides that were virtual walk ons. I thought the park was crowded, about what one would expect in June. All in all, we had a very successful evening and stayed for an hour or so of EMH's to ride SDMT with a wait time of just under 30 minutes.