Our 4th FP+ of the day...

[Jennasis]

I have been There under FP-and seen fp available later in day for TSMM (like wayyyy nighttime later). It's not unheard of. And if Disney is either holding back slots throughout the day or slits are opening as people cancel or rearrange the reservations it doesn't matter...either way I win.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

If a FP goes unused, as soon as its window is gone, it can't be added back in without throwing the ratios off, and making SB even longer.

I have thought this too. If there are only so many FP+s issued an hour how can a missed one be "added" back in. To me it is like saying if you miss your ADR for 5:00 then they just add a new ADR back in at 7:00. But there is only so many spots/tables and where is the extra going to come from? It is going to come from the SB line.

 

[wisblue]

We have been to wdw the week after Labor Day for the last 3 years, one if THE slowest times of the year. I only go to HS on a recommended day and I have never seen TSMM available after 1pm. I know this because my husband was our TSMM FP stalker. He would not ride, just get us another FP absolutely as soon as it was available. We could usually get one FP as soon as the park opened and one more after that. I really want to know where the extra capacity has come from. It sounds like to me that FP+, might be the "new" stand-by. I love that you would be able to get at FP in the afternoon, but just skeptical about how it works.

As I'm typing, I guess it may be that you can no longer have a FP stalker. Therefore people like me are not taking them as soon as they are available? I know in the past, it seemed like very few people would be able to get a 2nd TSMM FP, you had to be willing to give up something else (for my husband, that was actually riding TSMM).

You might be answering your own question. Between tiering and limiting everyone to just one Tier 1 FP until you have used your first 3, it shouldn't be surprising that the supply of FPs might last longer than when some people were getting 3 of those FPs before noon.

 

[magicbob]

I can tell you that, during the week before Easter, two of my daughters were at WDW and had evening FPs for Epcot. Because of threatening weather in the area, they went from DAK (where they had done all of the major rides and other attractions before noon by attending a 7 AM EMH) to Epcot early in the afternoon and then got a bus to their resort (Pop) when heavy thunderstorms were imminent.

7am EMH at DAK is one of my favorite times! We did a 7am EMH at DAK during Christmas week a few years back. We walked on everything until about 11am. Then the HORDES arrived. We ate an early lunch before the restaurants got packed (because everyone was rushing to get in the now 2+ hour safari line), went to see the afternoon showing of FOTLK (which we had FPs for so we were guaranteed a seat), and then watched the parade (admittedly we had no choice but to watch because there was NO way to get around the parade watchers) before heading back to the resort to relax a bit.

The park closed due to capacity that day, but we didn't wait in any lines longer than maybe 5-10 minutes (except we had to show up a little early to make our FP "report time" for FOTLK, but that was basically just waiting for the theater to open and we didn't have to show up an hour early just for a chance to get in).

Sorry for the off-topic injection of positivity. Let the negative FP+ bashing continue!

 

[EPCOTatNight]

I must agree, one of the FIRST posts made by someone AT THE PARK, using the 4th FP+ was "I got TSMM". This seems awfully suspicious.

C'mon, everyone realizes this will NOT be the norm, right? How can someone honestly think the most sought after FP at WDW is something you should expect to get as your 4th "bonus" one?

And this just means someone else, earlier in the day, was denied that FP+. And don't start the ridiculous "it was unused" argument. If a FP goes unused, as soon as its window is gone, it can't be added back in without throwing the ratios off, and making SB even longer.

All this FP+ tomfoolery just proves how powerful propaganda is, and how many poeple really do bathe in the Magic Kool-Aid.

As a review:

FP+ is announced, everyone says "WONDERFUL, I can now sleep in, and still get 3 FP+, including TSMM!" There were 1.6 million posts saying how FP+ is perfect, and they will simply schedule all their FP+ in the evening, and RD to get all that short SB goodness.

Now, FP+ #4 is added, and everyone says "WONDERFUL, I can now get my FP+ early,so I can get even MORE FP+. Who knows, I may even get TSMM!"

Meanwhile, legacy FP was STILL clearly the better system for those who wanted lots of rides, and that fact will never change, since FP+ was invented to limit everyone's E-ticket rides.

To think otherwise is to simply deny facts. You can LIKE being limited by FP+, with the payoff of sleeping in and still being able to play a Wii game for 2 minutes. But to say "FP+ is better" is only true for the (likely small) group of people who are going to WDW and really aren't focused on E tickets. And of course those who were simply ignorant of FP-.

-Jason

Traditional FP did NOT give me the option of going to AK and riding EE, Dinosaur, and the Safari, then waltzing into DHS with a FP for TSMM and 2 other attractions. As evidenced below, I could do that TOMORROW! Traditional FP didn't let me do that. I have experienced this. Most of the FP+ detractors have not. *My thoughts come from that experience, not propaganda. I assume your opposition to it come from experience also, right?

 

[FLSarah]

There is a lot of truth to that. There will always be those who don't care to plan and don't pay attention to any details until they get there. However, I've never seen FP- advertised on TV DS's neighbor asked me to help plan her trip for next year - she stated, "We've never been, don't know anything, but we want the bracelet!" It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. The availability of extra FP+ may be the re-capture of the unused FP that happened frequently under the old system. It seems like it will make the SB lines longer in that case.

I never saw FP- advertised either. Now, the parking tram attendants even tell you that you can prebook 3 FP+ and I actually saw a commercial yesterday for FP+.

 

[JanaDee]

Well, it looks like the Debbies and Nancys have arrived to try and turn a great change in FP+ into something bad. Thanks for your predictable contributions.

Thanks for your predictable contribution.

Holding fastpasses back so some people can't ride once but others can ride twice? Yeah, not ok and major flaw in FP+.

 

[lugnut33]

You do realize that there is just as much tomfoolery coming from "Those Who Believe That FP+ Is A Less Than Optimal Ride Distribution System".

All it takes is for someone to post a picture or video of a line of 100 people taking two minutes to get past FP+ scanners, and the detractors are proclaiming these "insanely long lines" as the new norm that prove that FP+ is a massive failure.

There are a lot of people who have explained why they like FP+ even though they don't like to sleep in at WDW, knew exactly how paper FP worked, and enjoy riding the major attractions. There are also a lot of people who have said countless times why they preferred the paper FP system that is never coming back. We understand that you are in the latter group. Some of the members of that group are moving on and trying to determine how they can adapt their touring styles to make the best use of the system as it currently exists.

If you aren't able to move on, fine. But, don't insult people who like the FP+ system by suggesting that they are some combination of lazy, ignorant, or Kool Aid drinkers.

So why has Disney gone to building FP+ queues outside the FP+ entrances if there are no insanely long lines? Just for giggles I guess.

 

[wisblue]

7am EMH at DAK is one of my favorite times! We did a 7am EMH at DAK during Christmas week a few years back. We walked on everything until about 11am. Then the HORDES arrived. We ate an early lunch before the restaurants got packed (because everyone was rushing to get in the now 2+ hour safari line), went to see the afternoon showing of FOTLK (which we had FPs for so we were guaranteed a seat), and then watched the parade (admittedly we had no choice but to watch because there was NO way to get around the parade watchers) before heading back to the resort to relax a bit.

The park closed due to capacity that day, but we didn't wait in any lines longer than maybe 5-10 minutes (except we had to show up a little early to make our FP "report time" for FOTLK, but that was basically just waiting for the theater to open and we didn't have to show up an hour early just for a chance to get in).

Sorry for the off-topic injection of positivity. Let the negative FP+ bashing continue!

7 AM EMH at DAK, which we did on New Year's Eve Day, is topped only by 7 AM EMH at MK. When we did that over Christmas break, were able to do rides nonstop (including every E ticket attraction) until close to 11, have lunch at BOG, see the noon Christmas parade, and then go back to the resort for a couple of hours to rest up for a few hours at Epcot for dinner and using our FP+ reservations. A great day even with a crowd level 10.

 

[OtherScott]

I'm thinking this too. I'm hoping that once Disney slows down on their advertising and education campaigns for FP+ (already no more cool jump drives with package bookings), the usage will drop a little too. Also, we force people to book 3 if they don't want that many? Seems odd to me. Hopefully they'll fix that too.

Being forced to book 3 (if you book any at all) establishes a level of commitment.

 

[lugnut33]

7 AM EMH at DAK, which we did on New Year's Eve Day, is topped only by 7 AM EMH at MK. When we did that over Christmas break, were able to do rides nonstop (including every E ticket attraction) until close to 11, have lunch at BOG, see the noon Christmas parade, and then go back to the resort for a couple of hours to rest up for a few hours at Epcot for dinner and using our FP+ reservations. A great day even with a crowd level 10.

We have done that exact same thing several times and it works great!!

 

[wisblue]

So why has Disney gone to building FP+ queues outside the FP+ entrances if there are no insanely long lines? Just for giggles I guess.

There are a lot of points between lines NEVER being there and those lines ALWAYS being there. My daughters reported last week that they never waited in a line outside to use any of their 18 FPs, though once they had to navigate through a group of people congregated in front of the TSMM scanner while they waited for their return time to come up.

If there are going to be lines on occasion that take a couple of minutes to get past the scanners, I'm glad Disney has a plan to minimize the disruption they might cause. That's a far cry from the dire predictions that longer FP lines (15-20 minutes to get to the boarding area) are "the new normal".

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Holding fastpasses back so some people can't ride once but others can ride twice? Yeah, not ok and major flaw in FP+.

I would think that some of those that have loved FP+ from the start would be up in arms about even a hint of this happening. After all, wasn't one of the reasons there needed to be changes in the way they were given out was because of super users getting more than one paper FP for the same ride and keeping another guest from even getting one?

 

[lugnut33]

My complaint has always been that those long lines outside the FP+ are unsightly and give the park an even more congested feel because they flow back into walkways.

Now ask me if it's getting better? I will answer "Yes it is".

 

[MuddyTires]

 

[mom2rtk]

Thanks for your predictable contribution.

Holding fastpasses back so some people can't ride once but others can ride twice? Yeah, not ok and major flaw in FP+.

I hope if nothing else, this puts to rest the argument that FP+ was implemented to make things "fair".

 

[morethananyonex]

I hope if nothing else, this puts to rest the argument that FP+ was implemented to make things "fair".

It won't. Some people just refuse to realize this has always been about keeping people on property spending money. Disney doesn't really care if your family gets a turn on TSMM, they just want to make sure you're not spending the day at Universal if you don't.

 

[JanaDee]

I hope if nothing else, this puts to rest the argument that FP+ was implemented to make things "fair".

It won't. Some people just refuse to realize this has always been about keeping people on property spending money. Disney doesn't really care if your family gets a turn on TSMM, they just want to make sure you're not spending the day at Universal if you don't.

 

[OtherScott]

I would think that some of those that have loved FP+ from the start would be up in arms about even a hint of this happening. After all, wasn't one of the reasons there needed to be changes in the way they were given out was because of super users getting more than one paper FP for the same ride and keeping another guest from even getting one?

I saw where a PP wrote that the couldn't "change" their FP day of, while OP wrote that she could (based on party size of 3).

Did I miss one where a different PP couldn't book one at all?

IMO, there isn't even a hint that Disney is holding back FPs at this point. They don't need to. Everyone is limited to 1 per attraction until around 11-12:00ish.

Then the first wave of guests using all 3 FPs hits. It is a statistical probability that less than 100% will want to choose another. Of the those who do, less than 100% will choose an attraction they already rode.

Changes to prebooked FPs should balance closely between those switching to a given park and those switching away.

 

[OtherScott]

I hope if nothing else, this puts to rest the argument that FP+ was implemented to make things "fair".

How?