Offsite, thought I was going to hate FP+ but it wasn't too bad

[pjynx]

We got back home Saturday after 4 days in the parks last week. DH & I were chaperoning a group of 188 high school band kids. We had 27 kids assigned to us, though all the kids were free to roam the parks without the chaperones. The difficulty was the chaperones were holding the park tickets after entry (so nobody would lose it or leave the park and return). So that really cramped the opportunity for kids using FP+.

I had already set up the MDE app on my iphone, so once the band director handed out tickets (the night before we arrived), I booked FP's for dh & I and also registered about 12 of the kids tickets to my account as well. It took me awhile to figure out how to modify the FP choices but once I did, it was so easy! Originally I was frustrated with only getting 4 choices of times for the selected attractions. But when you go in the modify times, it gives you a TON more return times for each one. So I was then able to book the 12 linked tickets with FP's as well. Ran out of time doing that, so when we got into the park, I found a CM with an ipad and he happily booked the remaining tickets with FP's. All with varying times but overlapping so the entire group of 27 could go at the same time. Since we (DH & I) had the tickets and needed to get them back after the ride, we met the group of kids at the FP return line. I went in first, DH went last. After the 2nd swipe of the tickets, I collected them all back from the kids while still in line.

I had really been worried about not being able to get FP's for anybody, especially since we were offsite and couldn't book in advance. But was pleasantly surprised at how many we were ultimately able to get. These were for major attractions (Soarin, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Rockin Roller Coaster). All the FP's were booked either the night before or the day of.

While I still can't say that I love the FP+, it was nowhere near as horrible as I was expecting.

 

[puffkin]

Just curious, since you were kind of in a unique situation with such a large group of kids, but how do you think it would have been different if the FP- were still in place?

 

[pjynx]

Just curious, since you were kind of in a unique situation with such a large group of kids, but how do you think it would have been different if the FP- were still in place?

We would have been able to head to the FP kiosks and print the return tickets, hand them out to kids and be on our merry way (not having to return to the ride WITH the kids). Kids could've gotten FP's for whichever rides they wanted, not what we were getting for the entire group. But since the chaperones were holding the park tickets and tickets are swiped at two places in the FP return line, it forced us chaperones to also ride the same ride as the kids. So we were limited to the same three rides for the group instead of some kids picking 3 and other kids picking a different 3.

Honestly, I didn't have a problem hanging with the kids for that short time we were in line together. It gave us a chance to get to know them a little. But I know there were some kids who wanted to use a FP for things that we just weren't interested in. Since it would've required us to use one of our FP choices to attend with them, we said no. We only chose major rides. With the old system, we could've used their park ticket to get their paper FP and they could've gone to that attraction without us. I hope that makes sense?

 

[HM]

So you were chaperoning 27 kids but only 12 of them were given FP+. What did the other kids do?

 

[amg35]

So you were chaperoning 27 kids but only 12 of them were given FP+. What did the other kids do?

Her original post says that the remaining kids were booked by a CM with an ipad so they all got to ride around the same time.

 

[pjynx]

So you were chaperoning 27 kids but only 12 of them were given FP+. What did the other kids do?

No, I originally added 12 of the tickets to my MDE account and reserved FP's that way. Then I had a CM reserve FP's for the remaining kids to save time (so I didn't have to add them all to my account). And we weren't limiting the FP's to just OUR group of 27 kids (there were 188 kids in total). We were letting the entire group know which ones we had reserved and for what times, and then allowed them to request spots with us so we could give the opportunity to as many kids as possible (not the same kids every time). Other chaperones were doing the same with the tickets that they were holding.

 

[HM]

Thanks for clearing that up. I misread that somehow.

 

[puffkin]

We would have been able to head to the FP kiosks and print the return tickets, hand them out to kids and be on our merry way (not having to return to the ride WITH the kids). Kids could've gotten FP's for whichever rides they wanted, not what we were getting for the entire group. But since the chaperones were holding the park tickets and tickets are swiped at two places in the FP return line, it forced us chaperones to also ride the same ride as the kids. So we were limited to the same three rides for the group instead of some kids picking 3 and other kids picking a different 3.

This is the part that confuses me, because then the kids would need their tickets all day to use the fast pass machines (which is what I am taking from the original post was the issue) or someone would have had to run all over the park getting the fastpasses at once for 10 different attractions and then meet up with the kids to distribute them which sounds like a logistical nightmare.

 

[pjynx]

This is the part that confuses me, because then the kids would need their tickets all day to use the fast pass machines (which is what I am taking from the original post was the issue) or someone would have had to run all over the park getting the fastpasses at once for 10 different attractions and then meet up with the kids to distribute them which sounds like a logistical nightmare.

You are right. Since we were keeping the park tickets, we would have had to meet them somewhere to give them the paper FP tickets. Not that we necessarily would have run all over the park first thing to GET all those FP paper tickets. But we could've gotten them when we were in that area, texted the kids who wanted them to meet us somewhere in the park to get them from us. But at least they could've gone to the attractions of their choice, not the attractions of our choice (or of the majority of the group's choice).

 

[mom4graceandlogan]

WOW! And I was worried about the 5 girls 7th graders I am supervising next week for a chorus field trip. I have been agonizing over fast passes but what you wrote gives me hope. A couple questions since I have not done fp+ before. We are staying onsite at Pop but are not getting are tickets until the night before either. So I can't prebook. If I understand correctly you put 12 of your tickets in as Friends I assume under your DME. You then booked day of FP+ for all 12 on your phone I assume(I am leaving out the ones done by ipad). How did you see other time choices besides the 4 options? Do you have to book something and then go into modify to see other time options? And when you say they were booked the night before and later opened up, did you just check each night and did you have to use your ticket first to be able to see times or just load the tickets?

All the girls have to stay with me and I do have to keep their tickets.

Any other tips for those going as a field trip?

 

[pjynx]

If I understand correctly you put 12 of your tickets in as Friends I assume under your DME. You then booked day of FP+ for all 12 on your phone I assume(I am leaving out the ones done by ipad). How did you see other time choices besides the 4 options? Do you have to book something and then go into modify to see other time options? And when you say they were booked the night before and later opened up, did you just check each night and did you have to use your ticket first to be able to see times or just load the tickets?

You understood correctly. I put in 12 of the tickets as family/friends and booked the FP's for them. Once you book your choices, you can click on each one and modify the time for that option. So you originally get 4 choices with the 3 attractions you picked. Then after it's booked, you edit the times for each one individually and it will list many times throughout the day. If you are having a hard time getting the times for all 12 at the exact same time, try splitting it up into smaller groups. Like 4 for 2:10, 4 for 2:15, 4 for 2:20. Since there's a one hour return window, once all are active (in my example, 2:20), everyone can go at the same time, as long as they are all redeemed by the cutoff time of the earliest one.

We had used our tickets at DisneyQuest the first night and when we got back to the hotel is when I booked. So yes, we used them first, but I really don't think it's a requirement, since people are now allowed to book in advance once they link their ticket to their MDE account. Hope that helps!