Spoiler Alert -- Tiered FP+ for MK!!

[PEC]

Dear God, if they tier DHS, what will be the point of having 3 FPs there?

TT, RRC, and TSM in one tier, and possibly Star Tours.

There are other rides at DHS?

There is another thread on this and DHS is next for the tier system. Surprisingly TOT is tier 2.

 

[matthewhavens]

Okay, I'm going to post my best thoughts here because I see Arwen, Rebby, Robo & Mesa (the best of the best) already on this thread...

MK is where I see Tiering having the most potential. I spent all of yesterday afternoon bashing the winners/losers threads, vehemently holding to the notion that there are no winners because all these poor souls who were getting no FP- in the past had full access to it in the past, they just didn't use it. Giving them FP+ does not make them winners because there is still no guarantee they will use it and it does not in any way increase capacity at already stressed rides.

So, how does Tiering help? Well, for all those who said 3 is not enough because I always grabbed 7-9, clearly most of those people (like myself) were talking about MK as MK had the most FP- rides, coupled with proximity and attactions "off the system".

Tiering in theory could allow for more, in fact many more, than 3 FP+ in a park like MK. I know this still goes against "ride-and-repeat" but if my goal is to cover the whole park in two days with some repeats of my favorites I think Tiering could get us there.

Not every headliner can be Tier 1, so let's say the tiering looks something like this and you get to pick 6 FP+ (1 from each tier):

Tier 1
MineTrain
SpaceMountain
SplashMountain
PeterPan
Enchanted Tales With Belle

Tier 2
Wishes
Main Street Electrical Parade
Meet Merida
Thunder Mountain
Tinkers Nook

Tier 3
Jungle Cruise
Pirates of the Caribbean
Dream Come True Parade
Meet Ariel
Meet Rapunzel

Tier 4
Haunted Mansion
Buzz Lightyear
Meet Cinderella
Winnie the Pooh
Tomorrowland Speedway


Tier 5
Little Mermaid
Dumbo
Small World
Mad Tea Party
Magic Carpets

Tier 6
Meet Mickey
Philharmagic
Monsters Inc
Pete's Silly Sideshow
Prince Charming Carousel

I want to maximize the rides and meet and greets, so I skip the parades and fireworks. On day 1 I FP+ MineTrain, Merida, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Small World and the Carousel. I was at RD, so I ran to Peter Pan then Splash Mountain. The rest of the day I did my FP+ along with some lines that looked shorter from my app.

Day 2 I FP+ ETWB, BTMR, Jungle Cruise, Speedway, Little Mermaid and Mickey. At RD I ran to Space Mountain and then to Buzz before the lines got long. Then over the Winnie the Pooh with a 15-20 minute wait before my FP+ start up. Sprinkle in Country Bears, Tikki Room, etc. and I've covered the park in two days.

When the dust settles I don't see why this wouldn't work at a park like MK. These are the rides I would have been riding anyway. Just get me out of the lines and doing something else (virtual queueing) when it's not my turn and into the shorter line when it is my turn. The caveat here is that this does not work during the absolute peak seasons when they are a bazzillion people in the park but crowd levels up to a 7 seem reasonable.

 

[Jeslynb]

Dear God, if they tier DHS, what will be the point of having 3 FPs there?

TT, RRC, and TSM in one tier, and possibly Star Tours.

There are other rides at DHS?

They have tiered it, and there's no point in having 3 FP there (for us).

 

[CalebsDisneyMomma]

Everyone who could would pick both for SDMT then.

To fix that you could just add a rule that says you cant pick the same ride twice... but then everyone would pick SDMT and ET. No other rides would get picked, and the tiering is designed to get the tickets more distributed among all the rides instead of all in one or two rides.

Not everyone would pick those two. I wouldn't pick ET. IF I had access to FP times day of, I might not even pick SDMT for both my prescheduled FP. My son loves BtMRR too, maybe I'd like to have a guarantee with another one of our favs, or I am planning to park hop that afternoon to Epcot and I want to use my other prescheduled FP for Soarin that afternoon. everyone wouldn't necessarily pick both rides for the prescheduled, especially if able to use it at two parks. And if you have access to the regular FP day of, not as much pressure to have to use both prescheduled on same ride. You could always use day of FP too, if available of course, but that has always been the case.

I see removing restrictions on prescheduling, decreasing amount of prescheduled FP+ and keeping same day as giving much greater flexibility. Some would still preschedule both of their advanced FP for the very same ride. But if you still have a chance to pull a same day for it, some might opt to use the second one for a parade or wishes spot, Fantasmic(if they have a reserved section for it or actually guarantee that you get in?)or for one headliner in one park and a second one in another park that they hop to for the evening. I don't know. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part. I like aspects of both FP+ and FP- and just wish it could coexist, without limiting us all to just 3 a day.

 

[PEC]

I do agree that MK is probably the one park that the tier system would most work but that is based on a minimum of 4 FP+ and you get at least 2 from the top tier. The other parks have few rides that even require a FP but the attractions that do require a FP are absolutes or you have along time in the standby line.

 

[BuzzBelleMom]

What?! No TTA, CoP or Swiss Tree House?


(No sarcasm icon.)

 

[PEC]

I do agree that MK is probably the one park that the tier system would most work but that is based on a minimum of 4 FP+ and you get at least 2 from the top tier. The other parks have few rides that even require a FP but the attractions that do require a FP are absolutes or you have along time in the standby line.

 

[RoyalMom]

Just please tell me I can get a FP for Stitch's Great Escape...

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Just please tell me I can get a FP for Stitch's Great Escape...

 

[Son of Gadsden]

Er, you do realize this announcement was made yesterday?

There is another thread on this and DHS is next for the tier system. Surprisingly TOT is tier 2.

They have tiered it, and there's no point in having 3 FP there (for us).

&%$#.

 

[wisblue]

Based on the greater number and wide variety of attractions at MK, I think it will end up being by far the least affected by FP+, whether there is tiering or not.

At MK, there are people and groups who would love to ride the mountains multiple times, but have no interest in the character greetings or rides that are meant more for children, and other people and groups who are just the opposite. The total ride capacity per person is a lot greater than at the other parks.

If FP+ are limited to 3 at MK, and are tiered, the total allotment of FPs for most attractions may not even be taken in advance, except at maybe the very busiest times.

If you have been at WDW the last two weeks, or are paying attention to wait times on MDE, the wait times and FP return times at MK have been low, even for popular attractions. There have been several reports of people riding Space Mountain several times in succession with posted wait times of 10 minutes and actual wait times even less. I witnessed that myself (although I had no desire to take advantage of it) last Wednesday.

For people who have said that they go to MK at less busy times and have been able to ride whatever they want without ever waiting more than 20 minutes, the fact is that you can pretty much do that without FPs at all. All you have to do is get to the park early and move purposefully around the park, making sure to hit the attractions that will eventually get the longest lines (like PPF) earliest.

Because of its greater overall ride capacity, the MK is a prime candidate for some type of same day FP service that will allow guests to supplement their advance FP+ reservations in a manner much like FP-.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Tier 1:
Seven Dwarves Mine Train (though let's wait for how good capacity is)
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain (wouldn't surprise me on tier 2)
Peter Pan's Flight
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Jungle Cruise
Wishes

Tier 2:
Everything else (too lazy to type)

 

[Angel Ariel]

You can predict some overlap too. There will be something that doesn't need fastpasses in tier one while a more popular ride or two will end up in tier two. I'm sticking with 2 tiers.

To go along with this, there will also be something that is high capacity in tier 1. I don't know how big the viewing areas are for the parades and fireworks, but I would not be surprised to see either of these in tier 1

 

[klmall]

Can (Virtual) lettered tickets be making a come back as well?

The "E" tickets are easy, the real question is if "Stitch" will even rate an "A" ticket....

~NM

Almost exactly what I was thinking as I read this thread!