The big G+ rides at HS gone by 1:07!

[gregskellington]

Give me a list of 'faults' for FP+ and I will explain to you why none of them are faults for me. For my family, FP+ was the perfect planning tool for our trip.

Okay. The change and my post isn't about your family, they are for the generic WDW guest.

 

[DisneyFive]

In spite of the changes we still loved our time at Disney 2 weeks ago.! I'm happy to pay for the vacation we had and did not regret spending the money.

Like you, I'm more choosy about extra cash grabs so I cancelled our PH's (they're a nice to have but honestly did not miss them even once) and used that money to purchase G+ 3 days. In the end I came out ahead money wise and we had an amazing trip!

This is encouraging and I pray we come away from our trip this summer feeling the same. Like you, this will be our first trip in a while that won't have PH's, but that still doesn't make up for the cost of G+ and lack of Magical Express.

After last summer, we said we wouldn't come back until things were no longer standby only. I honestly didn't expect Disney to go backwards and implement a digital version of paper FP. I hope we walk away feeling O.K. with G+. Knowing the parks as well as we do, and also knowing how this G+ system works, it's definitely a downgrade versus FP+ but still much better than standby only. I felt that we lost about 25% of the value of our vacation last summer due to lack of FP. When our stay was almost $10,000, that's not a small loss of value.

I hold out hope...

Dan

 

[Delirium]

Okay. The change and my post isn't about your family, they are for the generic WDW guest.

Okay. Quote me the disadvantages for the average WDW guest.

I read in one of your posts about having to get up 60 days in advance to schedule FP+. I would much rather get up early for 1 day when I'm NOT on vacation than get up early every day when I am on vacation. And, I think the average WDW guest would agree with me on that one.

 

[gregskellington]

Okay. Quote me the disadvantages for the average WDW guest.

I read in one of your posts about having to get up 60 days in advance to schedule FP+. I would much rather get up early for 1 day when I'm NOT on vacation than get up early every day when I am on vacation. And, I think the average WDW guest would agree with me on that one.

You have any evidence for that? There's not much point in discussing the faults in a system with you when you've already made up your mind and will use anecdotal evidence to support your views.

 

[Westerner]

Sorry, let me clarify I’m calling those who designed and approved genie + as a premium and flexible product as not too bright. Not the people who use it or who happen to find it valuable to their own personal experience.

Could these be the people who designed and approved G+?

 

[Meglen]

Are they gonna bring back the kiosks for genie+? At least fp+ had an option (not as good as a phone due to refreshing ) for folks who didn't have smart phone. With genie + it's either get on the bus and buy and learn to use a phone or get out. This simple thing alone makes genie + worse.

 

[DisneyFive]

Okay. The change and my post isn't about your family, they are for the generic WDW guest.

Let's be fair. No one has proof or evidence so please stop asking for it. You can ask for proof all you want and neither side (pro or con FP+, pro or con G+) can prove just how many loved it or hated it. Personally, I would bet many more "generic guests" loved the FP system than those that didn't but I can't prove it.

You seem focused on booking initial FP's 60 or 30 days out. Besides that "problem" (which many call a benefit), what was the problem with FP+? You are taking a subset of the guest population that didn't like prebooking, or suffered from it, and extrapolating that to the broader population. Were some guests negatively impacted by not prebooking? Absolutely. They had to ride more attractions standby. Guess what, now if you don't purchase G+, you are in even a worse position. Your ONLY option is standby.

Don't forget that FP+ was much more flexible day of. It wasn't all or nothing. You could:

• Modify and cancel without penalty.
• You could choose time windows.
• You could scoop up headliner FP's from others that dropped them.
• You could re-ride attractions...
• You could book the big headliners, even FOP, 7DMT, Frozen, etc...
• Sleep in

None of that is available with G+, even if you purchase it

Dan

 

[Delirium]

You have any evidence for that? There's not much point in discussing the faults in a system with you when you've already made up your mind and will use anecdotal evidence to support your views.

You keep asking me for evidence. I can give you a ton in support of FP+. All I ask in return is that you give me a list of advantages for G+. I'll settle for just one.

1) FP+ was free
2) FP+ allowed me to know well in advance how to plan my day
3) FP+ was great for park hopping. Morning in one park without FPs. Evening park with FPs
4) FP+ did not require me to be on my phone all day.
5) FP+ did not have me criss-crossing the park constantly
6) FP+ allowed me to experience 'anytime' transactions while I was in the area of the park without fear that it hurt the rest of my day (Note to Disney. I'm more likely to shop as I'm leisurely strolling the park instead of running around all over the place like a chicken with my head cut off)
7) FP+ did not require me to get up at 7 o'clock every morning on vacation
8) FP+ made it easier to plan timing of meals
9) With FP+, I could choose my times. Love scheduling things like Jungle Cruise, Mine Train, and Slinky Dog at night when the experience is better.
10) FP+ delivers a much less stressful overall experience. You can go to bed tonight having a good idea how tomorrow is going to go.

There's 10. I can go deeper if necessary.

 

[Delirium]

I know it won't work for everyone. But, one strategy to employ would be to get in the standby line for an attraction 2 minutes before the park closes. Disney wants me up at 7 a.m. to ride Slinky? I say nope. I'll just make Disney stay open a little later for me instead.

 

[gregskellington]

Let's be fair. No one has proof or evidence so please stop asking for it. You can ask for proof all you want and neither side (pro or con FP+, pro or con G+) can prove just how many loved it or hated it. Personally, I would bet many more "generic guests" loved the FP system than those that didn't but I can't prove it.

You seem focused on booking initial FP's 60 or 30 days out. Besides that "problem" (which many call a benefit), what was the problem with FP+? You are taking a subset of the guest population that didn't like prebooking, or suffered from it, and extrapolating that to the broader population. Were some guests negatively impacted by not prebooking? Absolutely. They had to ride more attractions standby. Guess what, now if you don't purchase G+, you are in even a worse position. Your ONLY option is standby.

Don't forget that FP+ was much more flexible day of. It wasn't all or nothing. You could:

• Modify and cancel without penalty.
• You could choose time windows.
• You could scoop up headliner FP's from others that dropped them.
• You could re-ride attractions...
• You could book the big headliners, even FOP, 7DMT, Frozen, etc...
• Sleep in

None of that is available with G+, even if you purchase it

Dan

Dan, I'm criticizing FP+ as a standalone system. You (and most posters here) are criticizing based on how it compares to Genie+ FOR YOU.

Other posters have literally posted their exact experience being at WDW during FP+ without knowing the system. It is not advantageous for that guest, and there is very little that can be done for them in that position when the entire system is based around advanced reservations.

My issue with FP+ is not personal. I knew the system inside and out and benefitted from it greatly. G+ does not get my party of six 7 Space Mountain FP in one day. G+ is an overall decline in experience for my party. But I'm not mad at Disney for that, because it's extremely clear to me (when I step outside my own perspective) that G+ is an attempt to improve the experience for the average guest. The average guest is not booking SDD 60+7 days out and doesn't know they have to.

 

[snikki]

If I remember correctly FP+ only worked for certain headliners if you had a 5+ day trip. Forget getting FOP or SDD before that. With Rise that probably would’ve easily gone to 7+ days. At least now people have a chance to shorten their wait times. And I’m a huge FP+ fan.

 

[gregskellington]

You keep asking me for evidence. I can give you a ton in support of FP+. All I ask in return is that you give me a list of advantages for G+. I'll settle for just one.

1) FP+ was free
2) FP+ allowed me to know well in advance how to plan my day
3) FP+ was great for park hopping. Morning in one park without FPs. Evening park with FPs
4) FP+ did not require me to be on my phone all day.
5) FP+ did not have me criss-crossing the park constantly
6) FP+ allowed me to experience 'anytime' transactions while I was in the area of the park without fear that it hurt the rest of my day (Note to Disney. I'm more likely to shop as I'm leisurely strolling the park instead of running around all over the place like a chicken with my head cut off)
7) FP+ did not require me to get up at 7 o'clock every morning on vacation
8) FP+ made it easier to plan timing of meals
9) With FP+, I could choose my times. Love scheduling things like Jungle Cruise, Mine Train, and Slinky Dog at night when the experience is better.
10) FP+ delivers a much less stressful overall experience. You can go to bed tonight having a good idea how tomorrow is going to go.

There's 10. I can go deeper if necessary.

If you had read this thread for more than 10 seconds, you would not need me to supply you with any benefits for G+. Here's the big one:

TOP TIER ATTRACTIONS FOR A DAY DID NOT SELL OUT 65 DAYS IN THE PAST. YOU DO NOT NEED A TIME MACHINE TO BE ON THE SAME PLAYING FIELD AS EVERYONE ELSE.

 

[PinkPixel]

Wake up at 7am book first. Than go back to bed or go have a nice breakfast book next at 11am than head to the pool for 2 hours and book next at 1pm. Shower, late lunch and head to the park for 4pm to use selections.. Looking at my phone 3 times in 5 hours is not horrible to me.


Now at 7am if you have to refresh a bunch till you get one for after 4pm it will set you back on the checks but ends up being the same thing in the end.

So you don't have to enter the park to make selections after making one at 7?

 

[DisneyFive]

I know it won't work for everyone. But, one strategy to employ would be to get in the standby line for an attraction 2 minutes before the park closes. Disney wants me up at 7 a.m. to ride Slinky? I say nope. I'll just make Disney stay open a little later for me instead.

I agree with this. We implemented this approach for the first time last summer due to standby only, specifically for FOP at AK. Waited 65 minutes I think. That was more than we ever waited in that line, by about 40 minutes. It got the job done though. Unfortunately that was the norm for the trip. Instead of waiting about 10 minutes on average (with FP), we were waiting 25-90 minutes. That's why G+ HAS to be better than nothing. If I can get 3 headliners out of it per day that will be a huge improvement versus last summer. Still not back to FP+ performance, but much better than standby only.

So you don't have to enter the park to make selections after making one at 7?

Nope You can make another reservation for that park two hours after its official opening

 

[WAstateDVCDaddy]

We are the 1-3 day people where G+ is very helpful, but it's like $200 a person per day or something!

And while we may be able to say we can afford it (though with price increases, it's getting ridiculous and that could change), but I'm not sure it is very palatable. Perfect timing after us all agreeing how much fun it would be.

Not sure I understand this? Do you mean $200 a day when you add up the ticket + G+, plus paid ILL?

it is definitely getting to be outrageously expensive. Studies have shown that the people who most want to go (70% of the families in the lower-mid income tier) can’t afford to, and the people who can afford it (high income - I think $250k+ annual), are the least likely to want to (15% or something). That doesn’t seem to be a very sustainable business model. But even then, it may still be enough to keep the parks crowded.

 

[Delirium]

If you had read this thread for more than 10 seconds, you would not need me to supply you with any benefits for G+. Here's the big one:

TOP TIER ATTRACTIONS FOR A DAY DID NOT SELL OUT 65 DAYS IN THE PAST. YOU DO NOT NEED A TIME MACHINE TO BE ON THE SAME PLAYING FIELD AS EVERYONE ELSE.

Everyone staying on-site had the same 60 day in advance opportunity. On-site guests are already paying a premium for the hotel room. Shouldn't they get an advantage from Disney over a guest staying offsite? By not giving them an advantage, using your playing field analogy, they are creating an UNFAIR playing field for those staying onsite.

 

[gregskellington]

Everyone staying on-site had the same 60 day in advance opportunity. On-site guests are already paying a premium for the hotel room. Shouldn't they get an advantage from Disney over a guest staying offsite? By not giving them an advantage, using your playing field analogy, they are creating an UNFAIR playing field for those staying onsite.

How does this apply? I'm talking about knowledge of the system. If an on-site guest didn't know about FP+ until they got to the park, they had no recourse. They're booking benefit was nothing, because they didn't know they had to book. When Disney talks about the G+ system being "more flexible", this is what they are referring to.

 

[pixiedust2u]

Dan, I'm criticizing FP+ as a standalone system. You (and most posters here) are criticizing based on how it compares to Genie+ FOR YOU.

Other posters have literally posted their exact experience being at WDW during FP+ without knowing the system. It is not advantageous for that guest, and there is very little that can be done for them in that position when the entire system is based around advanced reservations.

My issue with FP+ is not personal. I knew the system inside and out and benefitted from it greatly. G+ does not get my party of six 7 Space Mountain FP in one day. G+ is an overall decline in experience for my party. But I'm not mad at Disney for that, because it's extremely clear to me (when I step outside my own perspective) that G+ is an attempt to improve the experience for the average guest. The average guest is not booking SDD 60+7 days out and doesn't
know they have to.

For someone who keeps asking for proof…
Where is your “proof” that the average Disney guest wasn’t booking their FP 60+7days out?

Also where is your “proof” that the average guest is getting benefit from genie+?

I would argue that in order to genie + to benefit the “average” guest, then there has to be a perfect set of circumstances to make it an “average” park day. Meaning park crowds are average (low park crowds you don’t need genie+ and high crowds you get screwed); technology works, no rides are down, and your ride selections do not interfere with any ADRs or any other prebooked experiences. Otherwise genie+ is a gamble. It might work out, it might not. Your paying for a service that is marketed as a premium product to enhance your park experience and allow you flexibility….

genie + is not what it’s marketed as, it’s like false advertisement… and Disney is making a boat load from it.

 

[DisneyFive]

How does this apply? I'm talking about knowledge of the system. If an on-site guest didn't know about FP+ until they got to the park, they had no recourse. They're booking benefit was nothing, because they didn't know they had to book. When Disney talks about the G+ system being "more flexible", this is what they are referring to.

Fair. There was a double edged sword to being able to secure 3 ahead of time. It was great to secure your schedule just the way you want it, with your favorite attractions already booked, but it did make it painful to decide to change parks while on your vacation. If you did this, you needed to discard those hard to get FP's and start over for that new park day. I agree with that. When you did this, you were now left with the leftovers. Day of FP never really was an issue for us. Changing parks may have been at the expense of super headliner like SDD, FOP, etc., if you dropped that park in favor of another.

This brings up the current reservation system though, which is a separate issue to G+. Disney is talking out of both sides of their mouths. The reservation system is the OPPOSITE of flexibility. Now, unlike ever before, you have a chance of being completely locked out of changing parks during your stay.

Dan

 

[Delirium]

There is no proof that G+ is worth the money, works well, or works as advertised. At this point, the only people arguing it does are people that:

• Never bothered to take advantage of what FP+ offered..... or
• Work for Disney in some capacity