Just returned from a week at WDW. AP holders, stayed at BLT, prebooked FP+s at the 60-day mark, made a few tweaks along the way. Here's a rundown of our experience.
Crowds:
Overall pretty heavy due to Spring Breaks. Some lighter times, mostly when it was raining. Standby wait times for headliners (past RD time) were generally between one and two hours.
Magic Bands:
No major issues for us, though upon check-in at BLT the guy behind us was on his 3rd trip to the front desk because theirs wouldn't unlock their room or work in the parks. That made us a little nervous, but we didn't encounter any problems with ours during our whole week. We paid with our bands frequently, but still had to show our AP cards to get the discount.
FP+/MDE:
I had a few "ghost FPs" from changes I had made on MDE prior to arrival and while they didn't disappear, they did not impact anything. I had taken advantage of the "glitch" that allowed us to choose two tier 1 attractions at Epcot and DHS (don't flame!) and we had no problems using any FPs. DDs 11 and 9 enjoyed tapping the Mickey heads and watching them turn green.
I was able to make some FP+ time changes as our plans evolved, but really only the night prior or early in the morning before the parks opened. Once the FP+ kiosks were open for off-siters, nothing much was available. I imagine that now that off-siters can also prebook, that will also change everyone's ability to make changes, even a day or two beforehand.
Speaking of the kiosks, the lines for them looked insane, particularly at DHS. I really felt bad for those who had waited in line for bag check, then at the tapstiles, and then again to book FPs. Psychologically that would not put me in a great mood, even if "the old way" just spread the waiting out throughout the day.
Overall pros/cons of the new system:
Pros: We didn't HAVE to get to RD each day, or run around collecting FPs. We did park-hop twice, both times walking over to MK only to do SotMK for a couple hours, and then on to the park were we had later FPs booked. This was nice to be able to do since we were staying so close to MK.
As I mentioned before, we did have some flexibility when our plans (or the weather forecast) changed, but I fear that will be short-lived.
Cons: Only 3 FPs was limiting. We did hit MK RD one day and went straight to ETWB, but that ate up so much time and the crowds were so thick that day, that by the time we got out of that one attraction, wait times were all 30-40 minutes or more. (Even for IASW!)
Also, if it hadn't been for the glitch, we definitely would have needed to RD at DHS and Epcot.
One obstacle we had when trying to change FP times was the fact that even though I had cancelled a lunch reservation and it did disappear from my itinerary on MDE, that time was still "blocked off" in the system somehow and I wasn't able to select a FP for that time period. I probably could have gone to a kiosk to rectify that, but it wasn't worth the time that would consume.
Meals:
Had FPs for Be Our Guest lunches on two different days. Loved bypassing the 1 hour+ line and the restaurant itself was very well-themed. Food was good (especially for MK), but after those two meals, we ended up canceling our BoG dinner reservation, because in our opinion it wasn't GREAT. (I know there are some different options at dinner, but still a similar flavor profile.) I realize we may be in the minority here!
'Ohana was yummy as always. We ended up canceling dinner at Beaches and Cream because we picked up a late lunch at Marrakesh that same day, which we enjoyed. We tried the Matsuri Grill for the first time, and I don't know if it was the fact that it was pouring rain outside at the time, but their noodles were delicious! Also had quick meals at Pizza Planet at DHS and Contempo Cafe at the CR, both of which were fine.
We traveled to Kidani Village for a dinner at Sanaa one night. Had a 7:05 ADR, got seated at 7:50. Manager was very sweet and apologetic and told us she would send over a couple of complimentary appetizers. That never happened. Server also brought out incorrect entree item for DH, so we had to wait for that to be corrected. The food that we did order and receive was excellent, but service was very slow, we never even received requested drink refills. When the server left our bill, he did note that the bread service we ordered was comped (I guess that counted as our "couple of appetizers.") Upon leaving, manager asked how things were, and DH replied honestly that the food was delicious, but we were disappointed with the rest of the experience. Again she was very apologetic and offered to comp our entire meal so we could return again for a better experience. Very glad to see that type of Disney customer service still exists!
Crowds:
Overall pretty heavy due to Spring Breaks. Some lighter times, mostly when it was raining. Standby wait times for headliners (past RD time) were generally between one and two hours.
Magic Bands:
No major issues for us, though upon check-in at BLT the guy behind us was on his 3rd trip to the front desk because theirs wouldn't unlock their room or work in the parks. That made us a little nervous, but we didn't encounter any problems with ours during our whole week. We paid with our bands frequently, but still had to show our AP cards to get the discount.
FP+/MDE:
I had a few "ghost FPs" from changes I had made on MDE prior to arrival and while they didn't disappear, they did not impact anything. I had taken advantage of the "glitch" that allowed us to choose two tier 1 attractions at Epcot and DHS (don't flame!) and we had no problems using any FPs. DDs 11 and 9 enjoyed tapping the Mickey heads and watching them turn green.
I was able to make some FP+ time changes as our plans evolved, but really only the night prior or early in the morning before the parks opened. Once the FP+ kiosks were open for off-siters, nothing much was available. I imagine that now that off-siters can also prebook, that will also change everyone's ability to make changes, even a day or two beforehand.
Speaking of the kiosks, the lines for them looked insane, particularly at DHS. I really felt bad for those who had waited in line for bag check, then at the tapstiles, and then again to book FPs. Psychologically that would not put me in a great mood, even if "the old way" just spread the waiting out throughout the day.
Overall pros/cons of the new system:
Pros: We didn't HAVE to get to RD each day, or run around collecting FPs. We did park-hop twice, both times walking over to MK only to do SotMK for a couple hours, and then on to the park were we had later FPs booked. This was nice to be able to do since we were staying so close to MK.
As I mentioned before, we did have some flexibility when our plans (or the weather forecast) changed, but I fear that will be short-lived.
Cons: Only 3 FPs was limiting. We did hit MK RD one day and went straight to ETWB, but that ate up so much time and the crowds were so thick that day, that by the time we got out of that one attraction, wait times were all 30-40 minutes or more. (Even for IASW!)
Also, if it hadn't been for the glitch, we definitely would have needed to RD at DHS and Epcot.
One obstacle we had when trying to change FP times was the fact that even though I had cancelled a lunch reservation and it did disappear from my itinerary on MDE, that time was still "blocked off" in the system somehow and I wasn't able to select a FP for that time period. I probably could have gone to a kiosk to rectify that, but it wasn't worth the time that would consume.
Meals:
Had FPs for Be Our Guest lunches on two different days. Loved bypassing the 1 hour+ line and the restaurant itself was very well-themed. Food was good (especially for MK), but after those two meals, we ended up canceling our BoG dinner reservation, because in our opinion it wasn't GREAT. (I know there are some different options at dinner, but still a similar flavor profile.) I realize we may be in the minority here!
'Ohana was yummy as always. We ended up canceling dinner at Beaches and Cream because we picked up a late lunch at Marrakesh that same day, which we enjoyed. We tried the Matsuri Grill for the first time, and I don't know if it was the fact that it was pouring rain outside at the time, but their noodles were delicious! Also had quick meals at Pizza Planet at DHS and Contempo Cafe at the CR, both of which were fine.
We traveled to Kidani Village for a dinner at Sanaa one night. Had a 7:05 ADR, got seated at 7:50. Manager was very sweet and apologetic and told us she would send over a couple of complimentary appetizers. That never happened. Server also brought out incorrect entree item for DH, so we had to wait for that to be corrected. The food that we did order and receive was excellent, but service was very slow, we never even received requested drink refills. When the server left our bill, he did note that the bread service we ordered was comped (I guess that counted as our "couple of appetizers.") Upon leaving, manager asked how things were, and DH replied honestly that the food was delicious, but we were disappointed with the rest of the experience. Again she was very apologetic and offered to comp our entire meal so we could return again for a better experience. Very glad to see that type of Disney customer service still exists!
