So what makes FP+ so bad?

[agame2323]

For those that dislike the new system, exactly what is it that needs to be changed or done away with in your opinion?

 

[McDuck]

I usually just lurk on these but I do not know what park I want to go to 60 or even 30 days out. I have no issue with the digital FP. I don't like the excessive preplanning. If I were in charge they would all be day of or no more than 2 weeks out.

 

[Praying Colonel]

For those that dislike the new system, exactly what is it that needs to be changed or done away with in your opinion?

You mean, besides only 3/day, only in 1 park/day, only 1 FP/attraction, no pre-booking FPs for offsite guests, and tiering? Besides those things?

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

for us it is the one park limitation - give me parkhopping and 4 FP (or more) and we'll be happy

some parks - like DHS, AK and Epcot don't need 3 FP per day IMO - I'd rather use 1 or 2 in those parks and then hop to another park and use a couple more.

 

[jcemom]

For me:

1. no ride repeats
2. tiering
3. limit of 3 FP per day
4. limited to one park per day
5. advance scheduling

 

[Luscien]

You mean, besides only 3/day, only in 1 park/day, only 1 FP/attraction, no pre-booking FPs for offsite guests, and tiering? Besides those things?

I like the system overall but I agree with Praying Colonel as well, I'd like to see some changes:

More than three would be nice but I understand they're probably being careful about it for now.

Offer bonus/extra FPs based on attendance. They know gate and they know attendance patterns. They could offer push notifications through the mobile app or when you get your band scanned for another FP.

I'd like to be able to schedule the same ride twice in some cases. After I've used the first pass is fine.

I'd like to be able to opt for soaring and test track, even if I have to forfeit a third FP because I don't need a FP for other rides.

Multiple parks in one day would be nice, open up more opportunity for park hopping (have to imagine they'll implement this, given the money they make on selling park hoppers)

Sounds like off site prebooking is coming.

 

[lugnut33]

You mean, besides only 3/day, only in 1 park/day, only 1 FP/attraction, no pre-booking FPs for offsite guests, and tiering? Besides those things?

Well, there is also booking 60 days out,
increased lines to enter the FP+ queue,
FP+ lines that snake out into walkways,
new FP+ kiosk lines,
glitches,
increased pre-planning,
making rope drop is now an absolute must,
you can only hope that you luck into a slow time,
increased standby lines at HM and POTC,
people with their noses stuck in their phone,
people stopping in the middle of the walkway to check their phone,
purchase portable phone charger,

I'm sure there are more I can't think of off the top of my head.

 

[Praying Colonel]

^Thought I'd just grab the low-hanging fruit.

 

[stinkpickle]

I don't mind the 1 park, 3 max, tiering issues for advanced scheduling, but those limitations should be dropped on the day of.

 

[mesaboy2]

^Thought I'd just grab the low-hanging fruit.

 

[surferdave]

People assume that the new system better suits "planners", but as someone who likes to plan my trips I have to disagree. The previous system worked nicely for people who had to plan for contingencies, with little dependency on factors not under your control. The current system is highly dependent on being in the park you planned on way back when you planned, completing activities on time that you may not be able to control (especially Disney dining and transportation), and needing access to a buggy online database to make adjustments (hoping for availability of attractions). Access to that database has to be through WiFi or cellular networks, and both are a long way from being reliable for the demand they typically have in the parks.

I found using the system to be stressful in October, recognizing that I would be dependent on it for any future trips after FP- was gone. Disney loses a lot of value for me when I have to bring my zen with me to hold the vacation together.

 

[Stitch2007]

For me:

1. no ride repeats
2. tiering
3. limit of 3 FP per day
4. limited to one park per day
5. advance scheduling

All this ^

The worst is the scheduling 60 days ahead.

 

[mom2rtk]

Disney loses a lot of value for me when I have to bring my zen with me to hold the vacation together.

So is your zen something TSA will allow through in a carry-on? Or did you have to put that in your checked bag?

And if I forget mine, do they sell those in the resort gift shops?

 

[JanaDee]

You mean, besides only 3/day, only in 1 park/day, only 1 FP/attraction, no pre-booking FPs for offsite guests, and tiering? Besides those things?

You forgot having to know exactly where you'll be 60 days ahead of time.

 

[gatechfan99]

If they would just do ONE of these things, it would be so much better:

-Either increase to 4 or 5 the number that you can do, OR

-Allow Park Hopping, OR

-Get rid of the tiers at Epcot and HS.

However, with all those in place, your Fastpass is really limited. There simply are not 2 level 2 rides at Epcot and HS that you need Fastpass for. For our upcoming trip, I've got Disney Junior on Stage, Spaceship Earth, and Turtle Talk with Crush all booked! Those are not FP needed rides, but I couldn't find anything else needed. However, it's so necessary to have FP for TSM, Test Track, and Soarin, you've got to waste an entire day of FP's just for that ride. If I could get 4 or 5 a day on my MK days, or if I could go to MK that night for 2 rides, this wouldn't be so bad, but unfortunately I can't.

 

[flicx]

The tiering. It basically lets me have one or possibly two fast passes that I can use for the whole day. Bring back fastpass-

 

[Cori Perry]

We are annual passholders who agree with the complaints regarding FP+.
Tiering has to go.
limiting the FP to 3 in a day and one park is rediculously and will cost them business when it comes to park hopping.
I do like the availability to book FP+ online the day before I decide to go and the option to change them when I find the time I've chosen to be inconvenient. I really hope Disney modifies their policy to allow parkhopping and allow 3 FP+ per park if you visit more than 1 park in a day. Or maybe say that you can't exceed 6 FP+ in a day regardless of the parks you chose to visit.

 

[sazzlynn]

For those that dislike the new system, exactly what is it that needs to be changed or done away with in your opinion?

I agree with everything mentioned already but just wanted to emphasizes the ones the stuck out to us this weekend.

I dislike the new system #1 because the website/apps just don't work so you really can't use it as intended. They absolutely need a reliable system and in park WiFi before they start forcing this on guest. I used the system when it was being tested this fall and just used it again the past weekend at EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. We had SO MANY issues this time. I was able to prebook, but it would randomly split off one of my kids and put them on different rides. In the actual parks, the app wasn't working well either day so you had to find an in-park portal and once you got through the 15-30 minute line the system kept dropping people from my party on the FP reservation. Also, image having to find a portal and wait in line every time you need to make a change b/c the app wasn't working.
#2 I dislike the number of fastpasses that I'm limited to, three is bad enough but for the parks with tiers it's really only one fastpass.
#3 Day of flexibility doesn't really exist if you want to ride the main attractions. Ex: I booked a fastpass for Test Track and the ride went down(all the time at Test Track) before the park even opened and the system automatically changed us to one of the lower tier attractions. I tried to change it to Soarin day of and it wasn't available any time that day. Same thing in Magic Kingdom, Thunder Mountain was down and there was no availability for any of the main attractions (Space, Peter Pan, Jungle, Belle) left for the entire day, this was at 11:00 in the morning.
#4 The system has increased standby waits for rides. They also try and force you on attractions that don't/haven't previously needed fastpass. We waited an hour for Pirates this weekend.

 

[rluey29]

I agree with everyone so far. We actually like the technology of the system. It is the severe limitations that has us leaning towards finding other places to go for a little while. Only getting 1 FP+ for our favorite rides is the biggest letdown for us.

 

[Mkrop]

Tiering

Only 3

only allowed in one park

Booking too far out.

Makes it difficult to meet up with family that are local and ride rides together.

Makes it difficult to change things if someone gets sick or the weather is not good for that particular park ie AK on a rainy day

I dont mind the bands, I thought this would be arranged quite differently with regards to FP+