The Incredible message for my trip :)

[SmithSmith]

But there is a reason that Disney chose to promote it as spontaneous. To me, it suggests that there must be some pushback about all the planning involved. Even those of us who don't like FP+ admit that it has some advantages, but they didn't choose to focus on any of those. And let's not forget their previous "Lock it in" campaign.

The "lock that in" commercial, was just a commercial. It's quite a stretch to call one commercial a campaign. That commercial aired after the Incredibles flash drive was mailed out to guests. So Disney did not change its tune because of pushback, because the "more time for spontaneity" message predates the "lock that in" message, by at least 8 months. You've also ignored the fact that the "lock that in" commercial ends with: "or make changes on the go, to stay flexible". It seems to me Disney is just trying to appeal to both types of touring styles. After all, FP is just a tool, you can use it however you want.

 

[amg35]

When you are on your computer at 11:58 pm 61 days before your arrival date, waiting for the clock to tick over to 60 days before your arrival date, put your hands over your head, shout "Whooooppppiiiieeee.....I'm being spontaneous", and see how genuine that feels.

I agree it's not spontaneous , but I found that to actually be a fun day! I look forward to benchmark dates when planning a trip and fast pass day is one of them. For me, it wasn't stressful at all.

 

[amg35]

Exactly.
They took what used to be a fun amount of information gathering to an undergraduate research project.

And see? I love this amount of planning! Although I'm reading some people plan a lot more than I do. I pick the park, pick my rides, then pick where I want to eat.

I'm sure it has to do with the way we visit WDW, we only go every several years, so we stay 9 nights - plenty of time to get things done.

 

[Angel Ariel]

And see? I love this amount of planning! Although I'm reading some people plan a lot more than I do. I pick the park, pick my rides, then pick where I want to eat.

I'm sure it has to do with the way we visit WDW, we only go every several years, so we stay 9 nights - plenty of time to get things done.

I definitely think that plays a part. We only have 4 days in the parks when we visit WDW (Armed Forces Salute tickets), so we definitely feel the stress of not having a lot of time, and FP+ - for us - made us feel that even more.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I just listened to the video when I logged into disneyworld.com/incredible. I had to laugh when, after explaining things, she said this will allow you even more time to be spontaneous on your vacation. It made me chuckle! Do you think it's true? I was thinking just the opposite, but I haven't been into the theme parks since FP+ started.

Somewhat, yes.

We make spontaneous decisions on the fly often. I find it a hard thing to grasp until one is in the parks. That doesn't mean one won't find it worse, but hard to see how it can be better until one has actually used it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

No. I don't think it's true. Even day trips need to be carefully planned well in advance. It's taken the fun out of Disney for me. You all can have it. I'm headed to Universal or other fun places from now on.

I make lots of day trips. They have never required "careful planning."

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Really? I can't figure out if this was serious or not.

My last trip was great, but relaxing and free-flowing, it was not. I had places to be and things to do.

Are you discrediting her experience? Because it sounds as though you are by using your experience as proof that hers could not be.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

True ..

I think their point is .. if you have certain things SCHEDULED .. you are free to be more spontaneous the rest of the day?
I'm reaching .. but yes .. I think they are marketing a bit hard for the "spontaneity" perk of My Magic Plus.

I think the "stress" behind not missing your Fast Pass window causes some angst while in the park and probably missing some of the non-ride attractions that Disney has to offer.


How many trips to Tom Sawyer's Island are skipped because you have a fast pass appointment to keep? How many people miss the main street singers because they are rushing to their next fast pass. Who stops to watch the clown show in Storybook Circus if you only have 10 more minutes before your FP window at Dumbo closes?

Or How about the neat things IN the queue that are missed because you have a FP+

Not to toot my own horn, but we skipped any trips to the island under legacy.

And I didn't know here was a clown at Storybook circus. I imagine clown phobia keeps many away.

I do find irony in complaining that you miss things in line when you don't wait in line. I thought having to be in line was bad bad bad of FP+.

 

[secretpantssam]

Except I actually felt more stressed about missing my FP+ windows than I ever did about my legacy FP return windows. With legacy I almost always had the ability to get another FP if I missed my window. With FP+ I don't know if I will still have that option. I feel very locked in and constrained with FP+.

This.
My last trip was spent worrying about whether or not buses would get us to the parks in enough time to get to our previously made Fast Pass+ reservations and sometimes we had to rush in downpours or through big crowds to make our window. We missed our Soarin fastpass on arrival day because the Magical Express took twice as long as previous trips and then the bus to Epcot didn't show up at our hotel until we were standing there for 45 minutes. We didn't have smartphones so we could not change anything that day. Without Fatspass Plus, I would have been way more okay with all of these delays- I just arrived in Disney and I would have had no pressure to get to the parks immediately. But this whole scenario made me check my watch every minute and get super annoyed when the Magical Express bus driver took the extreme scenic route from Art of Animation to Pop and I was super annoyed by the time I arrived at Epcot 10 minutes after my Soarin window. Maybe, since this was my first experience with FatsPass+, this is why I dislike it so much. But I just hate having to check my watch this frequently in Disney, just so I can get to a minor ride with a fastpass. This trip was filled with way more anxiety than any Disney trip should....spontaneity is what made my trips magical and I feel like that was taken away from me.

 

[Baklava]

I agree it's not spontaneous , but I found that to actually be a fun day! I look forward to benchmark dates when planning a trip and fast pass day is one of them. For me, it wasn't stressful at all.

I was up at 2:40 this morning to book my ADRs. Sure, I could say that's not fun but really- it kinda is or we wouldn't do it. There's a giddy feeling (or maybe it's just the lack of sleep) when you get Be Our Guest at 11 and Hollywood & Vine at 8 and know you'll be able to give your family the things they want most on the trip.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

I make lots of day trips. They have never required "careful planning."

probably not since you make lots of them easy to come back and try again if you miss somthing right?

 

[mom2rtk]

Except I actually felt more stressed about missing my FP+ windows than I ever did about my legacy FP return windows. With legacy I almost always had the ability to get another FP if I missed my window. With FP+ I don't know if I will still have that option. I feel very locked in and constrained with FP+.

I think this is it for many. When you only get 3 (and odds of anything worthwhile after that are very small) each FP becomes more important, more high stakes. Previously if we missed, we could just pull another. If 4 people in our group valued something different, we could get all 4. If we wanted to throw caution to the wind and change the park that morning, it didn't cost us our long-planned, hard to replace fasptass to the headliners.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So simply substitute in "30" for "60" and the same questions apply. Did you make your original FP bookings closer to the 30 day mark than to the date you went (or are going) to the parks? The point is, can one really say: "I was spontaneous. I made 15 FP reservations 25 days in advance, and 9 more just days before arrival"? Is that anyone's definition of spontaneous?

Did the video claim the act of making an ADR or 3FP+ reservations was THE ACT of spontaneity?

No. The quote was "this will allow you even more time to be spontaneous".

So no--fast pass bookings in advance are not the definition of spontaneity. So glad Disney is aware of that and avoided making that claim.

 

[mom2rtk]

Did the video claim the act of making an ADR or 3FP+ reservations was THE ACT of spontaneity?

No. The quote was "this will allow you even more time to be spontaneous".

So no--fast pass bookings in advance are not the definition of spontaneity. So glad Disney is aware of that and avoided making that claim.

That's correct. But they are parsing.

They hope you'll come away from the ad associating the word "spontaneous" with FP+.

Good luck to them.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

probably not since you make lots of them easy to come back and try again if you miss somthing right?

The claim was that day trips require careful planning.

Sure being able to go frequently is nice. But the poster made no mention of frequency and that someone making a day trip would never ever go again.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That's correct. But they are parsing.

They hope you'll come away from the ad associating the word "spontaneous" with FP+.

Good luck to them.

There is parsing. Lots of it on this thread.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

The claim was that day trips require careful planning.

Sure being able to go frequently is nice. But the poster made no mention of frequency and that someone making a day trip would never ever go again.

Are you discrediting her experience? Because it sounds as though you are by using your experience as proof that hers could not be.

 

[Annadesu]

I couldn't pay attention to anything in the video, because as an animator myself, I couldn't help but gawk at the terrible compositing of movie clips from the Incredibles, and the new animation of a talking computer. Half of Edna's shots were from behind, so they wouldn't have to change the mouth animations. I'm sorry, but it was so distracting to me...

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Are you discrediting her experience? Because it sounds as though you are by using your experience as proof that hers could not be.

Nope! I discredited the general statement. I see you copied how I commented to another poster who was questioning a specific trip.

You telling me I can go back frequently was discrediting me, though.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

lol