Question about those of you who also visit WDW

[DOOM1001]

I like FP+,it's not perfect but I like being able to choose my rides before coming to the parks.The negatives are that in some parks the FP+ options are tiered so for example you can't pick both Test Track and Soarin in Epcot,you have to choose one or the other.Also some rides that have never needed any kind of FP now supposedly have slightly longer lines since people are forced to pick them,an example at Epcot which needs another major attraction to solve this issue is that you have to pick between Soarin and Test Track and the other two options are for rides that rarely had any wait like Living with the Land,it's like a pointless FP+ and the ride now has slightly longer wait times with more people riding it with FP+.The positives are that Disney addressed the issue of only being able to get 3 FP+ daily as well as get them at more than one park per day.So now after you use your 3 FP+ you reserved from home you can now get more as you use them and not just in that first park.Another positive was that I never started my day in DHS so riding Toy Story Mania was near impossible,with FP+ I rode it twice in one day.The best thing of course is that it's free as I don't spend extra ride reservation systems.One thing I don't like is Disney expecting me to use my phone throughout the day to make changes to the reservations.I like reserving them from home but it's kinda stressful to take out your phone,get a connection to hopefully get on the glitchy app or website to make changes and hopefully don't kill your battery doing so.For example I wanted to make a change to one of my times at DHS and instead of doing it with my phone I preferred to go find one of the kiosks where it was changed quickly.

 

[TravelMommy]

IMHO there is no comparing Express Pass at Universal and FP+ When we stayed at HRH Express passes were a dream! February this year, FP+ makes me not want to go back to WDW anytime soon. I would have been livid had this been my first trip. There were some days we literally only got onto the three rides we had FP+ for , as the waits were ridiculous. Also, one day it seemed everyone who arrived at Soarin had a FP+ for the same time we did and the FP+ line wait was longer than standby. Thank God StormAlong Bay is so good!

 

[chrystie4141]

We just got back from our 6th WDW trip and 4th US/IOA trip combined. We normal do 5 days at WDW and 4 and US/IOA. My son is almost 8 and its just him, DH and myself. I will say that we personally do not like FP+. We were early birds that liked to get to the park early and make the most out of the old paper fastpasses. Those days are long gone. Also, the hype of making 4th, 5th, and 6th FP+ once your others are gone is not so great if the park it at a medium or above level. For the headliners there were no FP+ left after 12pm for any of the parks on any day. We have never been the Hollywood Studios and at 9:45 there was a 1 hour wait for Rock N Roller Coaster. We do stay onsite and US/IOA also so this does somewhat make it a uneven field, however in the past we had been able to do 70% of Disney rides (many over and over) in a day compared to US with the express pass. This time around it was more like 20% of Disney rides in comparsion. The lines were awful at Disney and everyone was in a bad mood (I felt like). There were lines for rides that in 6 visits I had NEVER seen with a longer than a 10 min wait at 30 mins. We had already made our plans for Disney and US/IOA for October, however my 7 year looked at me last week and said "Mommy we can cancel the Disney part and extend the Hard Rock if thats okay, I just don't like this new Disney system." So that is just what I did and I am thrilled. We have now offically transferred over for the long haul and couldn't be happier!

 

[kkendle]

Thanks for everyone's replies. We are also get to the park early type people, ride the favorite ride and then grab fastpasses right afterwards. We always rode our favorites at least 3-4 times every day along with everything else. I don't care for the way things have changed.

 

[rcraw45425]

We have made two WDW visits since the FP+ was initiated, one in October the other in March of this year. October was not too bad as while we had the magic bands and Fast pass + the old fast pass machines were still there and there were no tiers to adhere to. March was a freakin' disaster. Three fast pass+ per day limited to one park only and no legacy machines. Rides that used to NEVER had waits were pushing 30 minute standby times. Other than our scheduled three fast passes we were pretty much screwed, by the time we hopped to our second park the standby lines were all at45+ minutes. (Yes, I waited 50 actual minutes to ride The Great Movie Ride!) Magic Bands are great, we had far fewer issues with them than we did with RFID room cards as far as opening doors, paying, etc. This will also be our second US/IOA visit since Disney started rolling out Magic Bands and FP+. I'm really hesitant to book another Motherland stay........

 

[Davey Jones II]

I loved the paper fast pass system, and I was one of the posters raking Disney over the coals for spending a fortune on the magic bands and FP+ ...instead of spending it on new attractions. But I can't imagine flying all the way to Orlando for just two theme parks. You just can't build a whole vacation around Universal.

I see Orlando as a theme park buffet. You can go to 6-7 different theme parks, 2-3 water parks, and have such tremendous variety in your vacation. That's what I love about Orlando. The only difference now is that we will probably spend two days at Universal instead of one. The recent expansion demands 2-3 days. But I'm looking forward to New Fantasyland almost as much as Diagon Alley. Just give us new stuff, and we're there!

On that note, our last trip was to California, because there was a lot more new stuff at Disneyland Resort. But I usually alternate between the two coasts.

 

[Magpie]

You just can't build a whole vacation around Universal.

I can, and have, and will do again.

The only difference is that Universal is a one week every couple of years place for us, while Disney - being more than twice as big and having more festivals - is a couple-times-a-year place for us.

We've got six full days in Uni coming up, and were just discussing that we wish it was a day or two longer, so we wouldn't feel rushed.

 

[RMulieri]

I loved the paper fast pass system, and I was one of the posters raking Disney over the coals for spending a fortune on the magic bands and FP+ ...instead of spending it on new attractions. But I can't imagine flying all the way to Orlando for just two theme parks. You just can't build a whole vacation around Universal.

I see Orlando as a theme park buffet. You can go to 6-7 different theme parks, 2-3 water parks, and have such tremendous variety in your vacation. That's what I love about Orlando. The only difference now is that we will probably spend two days at Universal instead of one. The recent expansion demands 2-3 days. But I'm looking forward to New Fantasyland almost as much as Diagon Alley. Just give us new stuff, and we're there!

On that note, our last trip was to California, because there was a lot more new stuff at Disneyland Resort. But I usually alternate between the two coasts.

We absolutely make a whole vacation out of Universal.We have now 2x and will a 3rd..I guess it depends on what you consider vacation..We consider vacation NOT cramming 5million things into one trip.We like downtime , resort time and relaxing.We like no rigid schedules.We like wandering into a restaurant and being able to get a table without booking it 180 days ago.We like experiencing an attraction, getting off and doing it again.So what that we have seen the Beetlejuice show 4x this trip ! My DD loves it and asks to do it again.It all comes down to WHAT one considers vacation ... It is NO different than in the 80's going down to FLorida and spending a week at Disney..ONLY disney in the early 80's was only Epcot and MK.Still spent a week there ,enjoyed our time and came home feeling like we had a vacation

 

[schumigirl]

But I can't imagine flying all the way to Orlando for just two theme parks. You just can't build a whole vacation around Universal.

Why not? We do

We are always being asked why we fly 9 hours to Orlando and not do Disney.

We stay exclusively at Royal Pacific and our day can be a relaxing or as busy as we want it to be. 18 nights this year and I guarantee we will never be bored.

Like RMulieri....we like to eat in a restaurant of our choosing without planning it months ahead of time......heck we plan nothing!!! And that is the joy of a Universal vacation.....you don`t need to plan anything and we don`t. I have no interest going anywhere I need to plan anything ahead of time.

We like to re ride things to death..........we lose count how many times we do some rides in a day.........we drive to Mall at Millenia, spend time relaxing around the pool and resort, off site restaurants and a day at the beach......but if I never left the Universal Orlando Resort as a whole.......I`d be ok with that too.

There is more in the Orlando area and beyond to see than Disney for us.

 

[cah1pgh]

I agree. We are flying there from Pittsburgh in September. Renting a car for the week. Staying at CB. Driving to Kennedy Space Center one day. Universal and pool other days. HHN one night and Citywalk at nights. There is just so much to do in Orlando other than Disney.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I was wondering if those of you who visit both Universal and WDW every year has had any opinions changed since the magic band/FP+ system. I know I have read in the past about people who visit both parks and wondered if you like/don't like the new system.

I have not been since FP+ and the magic band and reserving FP's had taken effect....our last visit was in March 2013.

The whole idea doesn't thrill me at all...especially since we like to stay offsite.

We will probably visit again in March 2015 and not sure if we will visit both parks or just US/IOA.

Just wondering what your thoughts are. I have read some stuff on the WDW forums but there are literally hundreds of pages and so much other stuff to muddle through.

Thanks...can't wait to visit US/IOA again and see the new things.

From what I have gathered about FP+ system, I am going to have to decide now (when I book them) which days I am going to each park. Issue is I am not going to be the only person that decides when we go to what park. I am staying with friends down there who likely won't know until the day I go if they are coming and I don't want to dictate the park we go to.

 

[Davey Jones II]

To each his/her own. I guess we just need more variety. We alternate between California one year, Orlando the next, and we could never spend 10 or more days doing the same rides at two parks over and over. And, to me, it would be unthinkable to go to Orlando and bypass Disney. That would be four years between visits to WDW!

In California, we usually spend 5 days at Disneyland Resort, but that's about the maximum for us. Besides, Disneyland alone is so packed with attractions that it takes days to take it all in.

It's a shame that WDW has alienated some people thanks to FP+. I'm not crazy about it either, but that's not enough to keep us away. Of course, we never visit during the peak season, so that helps.

 

[schumigirl]

To each his/her own. I guess we just need more variety. We alternate between California one year, Orlando the next, and we could never spend 10 or more days doing the same rides at two parks over and over. And, to me, it would be unthinkable to go to Orlando and bypass Disney. That would be four years between visits to WDW!

In California, we usually spend 5 days at Disneyland Resort, but that's about the maximum for us. Besides, Disneyland alone is so packed with attractions that it takes days to take it all in.

It's a shame that WDW has alienated some people thanks to FP+. I'm not crazy about it either, but that's not enough to keep us away. Of course, we never visit during the peak season, so that helps.

Oh we love variety.........just not what WDW is offering any more......not for us anyway. We do so much when we are in Orlando........couldn't just do parks all the time.

Lots of people who come from the UK, especially first or second visits spend all their time between Disney and now Universal more than ever. There really is so much more to see in Florida. It's very easy for us to bypass Disney as there's nothing new for us there......fantasyland and a mine train?? Not for us. Neither is Avatarland..........bored me to tears so not interested in anything themed around that..........as you say.......each to their own

But you're right, reading through the boards WDW do seem to be alienating lots of people, or at the very least making some people very unhappy.

We are not planners......will never plan ahead the way you seem to have to now to do lots of things at Disney. Some people's pre trip and trip reports are downright scary........planning every little thing

None of that is necessary at Universal, have never made a dining reservation there and don't plan to