So much walking for so few rides

[Shaden]

I don't think it's FP+ causing the longer lines, it sounds like the park is just more crowded. Assuming that the same number of FP+ are distributed per hour as FP- (as I would expect it to work this way and also as you found FP+ had "sold out" when you tried to make new selections) the FP+ line shouldn't slow the standby line down any more than FP- did.

We don't have any figures, but I wouldn't imagine the crowds are much larger, in fact someone was saying that crowds should have been lighter recently due to a later mardi gras which usually makes the time around Presidents day week very heavy ... that was not the case this year.

There have also been some reports that they are giving out MORE FPs under FP+ than they did under FP-, and that more people are using them. That stands to reason that SB lines would back up a little more and we have clearly seen FP lines backing up more ...

 

[d1gitman]

I guess i'm having a hard time understanding how, other than limit of 3 and tiering, FP+ is really all that much different than FP-.

With FP- one had to find 'things' to do in between return times, particularly once they started enforcing return times. I agree that 3 and tiered isn't optimal but even with FP- one had to find things to do as filler, whether it be stand by, shopping, eating or otherwise.

 

[Shaden]

I guess i'm having a hard time understanding how, other than limit of 3 and tiering, FP+ is really all that much different than FP-.

With FP- one had to find 'things' to do in between return times, particularly once they started enforcing return times. I agree that 3 and tiered isn't optimal but even with FP- one had to find things to do as filler, whether it be stand by, shopping, eating or otherwise.

There was more flexibility day of, especially during busy season, to decide when to pull and when to return. What several people are reporting is that you book these 2 months out, and then have to deal with park conditions once you are there, and can't make an informed decision ahead of time. You just don't know what SB lines are going to be like for rides while you are in the parks, 2 months out. So when you are planning your FPs, you do so blindly. It seems like its smart to book them in the hour spacing you are given, but when you then get in the parks, ride your FP, and then only have a particular window of time until your next (with the inability to change it due to FPs being gone for the day) ... you can't really do much in that window.

With FP- you adjusted to conditions as they existed because you pulled FPs in that environment, at that moment.

 

[Don Disney]

We're going to keep our money in our pockets until this mess has cleared,or spend it elsewhere...

 

[jon18uk]

We're going to keep our money in our pockets until this mess has cleared,or spend it elsewhere...

I wouldn't expect it to clear up hugely, although the bugs causing the slowness of scanning on the Mickey heads etc should be fixed I don't think lines will improve. Unless the availability of FP+ is limited further (so don't expect to get more than 3 in any park except MK) or attendance drops so crowds are smaller (maybe higher ticket prices will put people off) the parks are only going to be busier and the lines just as busy.

As someone else said, a visit to DisneyWorld used to be a once in a lifetime trip, now many people are going every year. The only way lines are going to get shorter is if less people visit or a huge amount of attractions are built. Trouble with building more is that although there is more to do which spreads the crowds out, everyone wants to visit again to see the new attraction which brings bigger crowds....

 

[matheke]

No offense taken, and I know it was partly my fault, but I guess my point is I arrived earlier than expected after my breakfast finished early and it is NOT easy to move things around at all!
I felt annoyed that I was locked into decisions I made 2 months ago and when I was there and the situation changed I couldn't do much about it.

Also, I was dealing with kids that are at different levels. My oldest is big enough for coasters and the little one isn't. So 2 people got SM fast passes and 2 people got goofy coaster FP but then my oldest couldn't understand why he couldn't do Goofy with his brother.

We went in December and there is going to be a learning curve wit this system and the people here will figure out what works and what doesn't. A couple things we learned:

1. I mistakenly accepted option "A" which had all of our FP+ times before noon. We got to the park and all our FP+ rides were walk-ons. TIP: Schedule them in the afternoon/evening if you are RD/early park goers.

2. Plan for two FP+ in the same area in consecutive hours. Example: Splash Mountain 2-3pm and BTM 3-4pm and then show up to the first near the end of the window and then ride the second at the beginning of the window. Saves a whole lot of walking.

(Since I do not know what tiering has been done at the MK, I really don't need to be told "That can't be done because of this or that", it is just an example!!!)

 

[Batgirl67]

Maybe it's me, but 30 minute wait doesn't sound too bad. Of course, we would all love the queue to be 10 minutes, but those wait times seem to belong on Yesteryears' website--never to be seen again!

I thought that wait time was pretty reasonable, too. If it was closer to an hour wait for everything than that would be unbearable for me and my family, but that is just us.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

We went in December and there is going to be a learning curve wit this system and the people here will figure out what works and what doesn't. A couple things we learned:

1. I mistakenly accepted option "A" which had all of our FP+ times before noon. We got to the park and all our FP+ rides were walk-ons. TIP: Schedule them in the afternoon/evening if you are RD/early park goers.

2. Plan for two FP+ in the same area in consecutive hours. Example: Splash Mountain 2-3pm and BTM 3-4pm and then show up to the first near the end of the window and then ride the second at the beginning of the window. Saves a whole lot of walking.

(Since I do not know what tiering has been done at the MK, I really don't need to be told "That can't be done because of this or that", it is just an example!!!)

I fully agree there will a learning curve and time to develop the best strategies. People got used to FP- but it took a lot of time to fully develop the right strategies with that as well - now people just need to figure out how to optimize the new system. Also, it is new and not everyone has smart phones or plans months in advance so there is that adjustment too

I do think some adjustments could be made on Disney's side too ... the tiering needs to be adjusted or dropped and enabling Park Hopping should happen too. Also, I am fine with them limiting it to 3 pre-arranged FP+ but then feel you should be able to make more day of if there is availability

 

[Ozzygirl]

An honest question, I'm sort of out of touch.. is waiting 25 minutes for a ride considered long now?

I would be pretty happy. I think 60 minutes, 90 minutes that's a long line but I am used to the pre FP days so it's hard for me to gage. I sound like the "Back in the old days we walked to school uphill in the snow barefoot"..

I would love to have only 25 minutes lines at the big rides when I'm there but I grew up in 80-90's Disney and was used to the reaalllllly long lines

 

[MarineVet]

An honest question, I'm sort of out of touch.. is waiting 25 minutes for a ride considered long now?

I would be pretty happy. I think 60 minutes, 90 minutes that's a long line but I am used to the pre FP days so it's hard for me to gage. I sound like the "Back in the old days we walked to school uphill in the snow barefoot"..

I would love to have only 25 minutes lines at the big rides when I'm there but I grew up in 80-90's Disney and was used to the reaalllllly long lines

For me, that depends on a number of things. 25 minutes standing in a line when its hot and muggy and sticky is less tolerable to me than when its ideal weather. 25 minutes in line for Peter Pan seems to take forever because of the way the line wraps and moves, people in the next row smacking me with their backpacks as we pass each other, etc. 25 minutes in line for Pirates which gives me something to look at and where I don't feel so closed in is not bad. And then I ask, is the 25 minutes just to get to the pre-show? At Haunted Mansion or Tower of Terror that will be a few additional minutes on top of the 25 with another line after the pre-show. Or is it 25 minutes to get my fanny into the clamshell at Nemo with no additional delay? Those are all factors I look at when deciding if 25 minutes is long. I guess each person has their own tolerance levels. And finally, if 25 minutes is the SHORTEST time for any ride at that moment and I am not ready to leave, yeah, I will probably not care so much.

 

[WendyZQ]

1. TIP: Schedule them in the afternoon/evening if you are RD/early park goers.

2. Plan for two FP+ in the same area in consecutive hours. Example: Splash Mountain 2-3pm and BTM 3-4pm and then show up to the first near the end of the window and then ride the second at the beginning of the window. Saves a whole lot of walking.

This is great advice! We just got back yesterday from a week at WDW (2/18-2/25). I have to say there was a learning curve involved in perfecting the FP+ schedule. We were offsite, so I had to do it fresh each morning. But we ended up utilizing the tips above, especially RD, and not waiting in any lines longer than 25 minutes. We did pass on a few rides the first MK day because of long waits of 60 min+ (Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Carribean), but I think that's mostly my first day confusion with FP+.

 

[mesaverdefan]

We don't have any figures, but I wouldn't imagine the crowds are much larger, in fact someone was saying that crowds should have been lighter recently due to a later mardi gras which usually makes the time around Presidents day week very heavy ... that was not the case this year.

There have also been some reports that they are giving out MORE FPs under FP+ than they did under FP-, and that more people are using them. That stands to reason that SB lines would back up a little more and we have clearly seen FP lines backing up more ...

I agree. Fastpass + is definitely effecting the SB wait times, particularly for those attractions that did not previously have a legacy Fastpass system.

 

[TDS533]

For what it is worth... Go into MDE and find the link to either leave feedback or contact link. Leave your feedback there. When we were there in Jan was having trouble on our last day getting in talked to cm in tech support, she totally agrees there are not enough fp+ picks per day and that they need to be able to be used in more than one park per day. She told me to leave my concerns on the MDE website. She said that they do read them. So, I would encourage everyone to express their concerns there if you want a shot at them changing. Sorry that I don't remember exactly where to leave the feedback I did it right after we got back. But, if in doubt contact MDE tech support and I'm sure they could tell you where to leave it. They more we tell Disney directly the better chance there is for a change.

 

[3happydancers]

For what it is worth... Go into MDE and find the link to either leave feedback or contact link. Leave your feedback there. When we were there in Jan was having trouble on our last day getting in talked to cm in tech support, she totally agrees there are not enough fp+ picks per day and that they need to be able to be used in more than one park per day. She told me to leave my concerns on the MDE website. She said that they do read them. So, I would encourage everyone to express their concerns there if you want a shot at them changing. Sorry that I don't remember exactly where to leave the feedback I did it right after we got back. But, if in doubt contact MDE tech support and I'm sure they could tell you where to leave it. They more we tell Disney directly the better chance there is for a change.

The website is: wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[ariane37]

I don't think it's FP+ causing the longer lines, it sounds like the park is just more crowded. Assuming that the same number of FP+ are distributed per hour as FP- (as I would expect it to work this way and also as you found FP+ had "sold out" when you tried to make new selections) the FP+ line shouldn't slow the standby line down any more than FP- did.

Just to clarify, FP's weren't sold out when we tried to change on the fly. Only 2 days of our 10 did we not get the "blip in the system" when we tried to make changes from inside a park...........also, as our 2nd holiday in the parks, crowds really weren't bad! No big crowds in restaurants, shows, busses, not even overly crowded in the walkways. Just the ride lines!

 

[Disgrammy]

I have to agree Alice Royal. I have been trying to decide how to say what you just did - Thank You.

I'll add my "I remember when". When spending time there in the mid-'80s to mid-'90s we consistently waited 45+ minutes for practically every ride, including the carousel. No such thing as Fastpass.

Everyone has their own perspectives and expectations, I know. Sometimes I want to say 'lighten up'. Our trips are usually for a week - 6 days in the parks. We have always come back saying that there was something we didn't get to do. To me that's a given. I am thankful that we have been able to make multiple trips.

I find Disney changing the same way the rest of corporate America is, but there is still MAGIC for me (and my family). I'm not thrilled with some of the changes, but the good old days weren't always as good as some people remember. We will be going in April. I will reserve by MB opinions until then.

 

[Disgrammy]

Duplicate, sorry.

 

[jon18uk]

Before FP+ we never waited in line for more than 25 mins. MK we usually rode everything once using legacy FP. Last two times we rode 5 rides each day. One of those was stitch, which we dislike, but it was all we could do without 40 min waits.

I always find it strange in the UK that people come away from a theme park saying they didn't ride anything as all the queues were 2 hours long and they didn't want to join them. But if you get in that 2 hour queue then you will come away having ridden something, rather than just looking at all the long lines. Long standby lines are often inevitable, UK parks (more line Six Flags style) charge £10+ ($16) to skip lines on 3-4 rollercoasters and I won't pay, yet have never had a bad day despite 90 minute waits.

Even if lines are 40 minutes, sometime you have to just go for it!

 

[OldSpiceGuy]

I have been at Disney all week and to be honest the standby lines are all pretty much 20 to 30 minutes in MK even for headliners. I got my FP+ times for SM and Haunted Mansion but I really didn't need them. I don't mind 30 minute standby lines at all. Its unrealistic to expect no lines at all.

Just FYI, I couldn't get a fastpass for TSMM they were all taken. I did get one for Soarin but it was for six hours later so I just waited in the standby line for 60 minutes. The headliners in EPCOT had 60 minute standby lines. IN DHS even TSMM was only at 45 minutes. ToT and the roller coaster were 30 minutes or less. I had FP+ passes but did not need them.

 

[crostorfer]

Anything less than 20 minutes IS a FP wait...essentially. Funny how everyone expects nonexistent lines at Disney when in reality, every ride has a constant amount of output that does not change. The amount of people waiting for that ride determines how long the lines are, obviously. So in a park that can hold 100,000 people at capacity and 43,000 people on average, why do we expect short waits on a ride like Space Mountain, that can only put out six people per car on thirteen cars, every five minutes? That's 78 people, 936 per hour.

If even half of that number (468) people are in line, which is a fraction of the total visitors and is pretty normal on an average day, the line WILL be at least 30 minutes.

Your average amusement park does NOT offer skip-the-line services. How does one plan to tour a local park without this? By waiting in line, like everyone else.

This isn't completely correct. Most amusement parks in the US do, indeed, offer skip the line service for those that are willing to pay. The line skipping package at 6 Flags is ridiculously expensive, but is worth it's weight in gold in the Texas summer.