Those who have experienced FP+

[rteetz]

In this weeks disunplugged podcast they had a FP+ segment with people opinions. Those opinions came from those who have used FP+. The majority of those people were happy or ok with FP+. On the boards it seems as though most of the negativity comes from those who have not used it yet. Also on the disunplugged board there is a thread asking do we know too much? I strongly believe we may know too much because the average Disney person does not know what we here on the boards know. I have another question for everyone that Pete raised in the last couple of podcasts. Do you remember what rides you rode or what FPs you got from all of your vacations or do you remember the experience you had and the people you were with?

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I remember just having the time of my life with my sister during our last trip in December 2013. FP+ worked just as it should, freeing us up to enjoy our vacation. Of course I remember what rides I rode and all that stuff, but the fun is what I chiefly remember. We laughed so much, I still can't believe it went so well.

 

[hedberg1661]

I experienced FP+ in December. I have to say that given the amount of planning that already goes into a Disney Vacation this change was bound to come sooner than later.

As far as my experience with FP+ in December:

I feel the website worked well allowing me to plan my attractions in advance. The app also worked well to VIEW these choices. If i wanted to change them via the app it did not always update appropriately. If this system is to work this must be addressed by Disney and I know it will be.

Other than limiting which attractions I can go to, not allowing multiple parks and limiting how many FP+ reservations I can make per day this system seemed to work well. While all of these issues are "major" changes we need to realize that things are changing and progress will happen good and bad. Having said that, I really like the idea of MDE. When/if the app works correctly it is a great tool to have at your disposal in the parks.

In summary I really like the idea of having my day planned...this is how I have always done WDW to being with. The ability to already know when your FP time was and book dining around that is wonderful. The issues with the system are the app reliability, amount of FP per day and tiering issues at EC.

 

[rteetz]

I experienced FP+ in December. I have to say that given the amount of planning that already goes into a Disney Vacation this change was bound to come sooner than later. As far as my experience with FP+ in December: I feel the website worked well allowing me to plan my attractions in advance. The app also worked well to VIEW these choices. If i wanted to change them via the app it did not always update appropriately. If this system is to work this must be addressed by Disney and I know it will be. Other than limiting which attractions I can go to, not allowing multiple parks and limiting how many FP+ reservations I can make per day this system seemed to work well. While all of these issues are "major" changes we need to realize that things are changing and progress will happen good and bad. Having said that, I really like the idea of MDE. When/if the app works correctly it is a great tool to have at your disposal in the parks. In summary I really like the idea of having my day planned...this is how I have always done WDW to being with. The ability to already know when your FP time was and book dining around that is wonderful. The issues with the system are the app reliability, amount of FP per day and tiering issues at EC.

I agree the app is probably the biggest issue right now because it doesn't work very well.

 

[rluey29]

For us it is the limits. 3 FP+ are not enough in MK, tiering is terrible in the other parks. In the state it is right now FP+ is not for us. I do like the technology that comes with it when it works correctly.

 

[ADP]

I've only used on a limited basis back in January. However, I'll be using it extensively next week.

So far, I can say the My Disney Experience system seems to have it's problems. The user interface is great, however, the system itself is complicated to use. there is a lot you can do in the system and finding the correct place to do it is rather tricky. And, when you do find the right place, getting it to work can be somewhat challenging.

You know a system is difficult to use and has some problems when Disney establishes a My Disney Experience help desk. I called them today and waited in the phone queue for 30 minutes before an MDE Analyst picked up. My problem had him stumped. He eventually figured it out, but it took going to a level 2 MDE Analyst before it was resolved.

I'll know more after our trip next week in regards to MDE and Fastpass Plus. Hopefull we'll have a great experience with it.

 

[glvsav37]

I have not used it yet, and I don't mean to be a Debbie downer, but I can't see how it addresses the way we tour as a family.

Most notably the 3fp limit and no park hopping are the items that stick out to me. Then add the issues with the app.

We are a young family, not rope droppers, roaming park hopers/mid day resort breakers and have our few favorite rides we do over and over again. We have to be nimble with our park time bc both me and my kids melt down easily in the summer heat.

None of this is within the sphere of the FP+ experience. I can't gauge my kids temperament per day from my desktop 2 months before we go. I can't see that a certain line is shorter then another when planing out our next attraction plan/FP pull.

 

[Sandi]

We used FP+ in December and then again earlier this month. I don't like the limit of 3 and hate that you can't get them at different parks in the same day. When we were there earlier this month, on a Thursday, the FP+ system just went down and deleted many FP+s for many guests. The CMs were not able to do anything because the system was down. It was ridiculous. I felt bad for the CMs because guests were yelling at them (not everyone and certainly not me!). If that was my only day at a park, I would have been very sad and frustrated. We lost a Toy Story FP+ that day. I also don't care for the tiering at Epcot in particular. There are definite kinks that need to be worked out.

 

[kathie859]

I said "ok" due to the tiering and ability to book in one park per day only.
Other than those issues which are personal preferences, FP+ worked fine for us in January and I'm all set with my FPs beginning this Thursday

I do like the MDE now that I've had some practice with it. At first I was a little "confused"

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I used FP+ last month on a solo trip in late February. It was February vacation week in New England, so I knew it would be crowded but I was there for Princess marathon weekend.

Anyway, I wasn't going to bother with FP+ since I was alone. Then I saw the lines....I started using the app and making reservations and I had no problems with making them. Changing them was sometimes challenging due to the website.

I am looking forward to using it on a trip this summer with my teenager. We can have FP without waking up early and going to the kiosks, which is going to make our vacation much less stressful.

I would like more than 3, but I did not skip anything I wanted to do. I really like TSMM, and Star Tours, so I knew I wanted to do them more than once. I came at opening and rode standby, then used FPs later in the day. I rode Star Tours 4 times in one day with no issues. We will have a different strategy this summer, but I think having a FP for the Seven Dwarves Mine Train is going to be very handy!

Maria

 

[3Gsandme]

I'm an information junkie, so I like using MDE and I liked FP+. I think if they did away with the tiering, I'd be able to say I LOVE FP+, but not being able to get a FP+ for ALL the rides I wanted dinged it a little bit.

 

[rteetz]

I think there is always room for improvement and pretty much everyone so far has said there is something they wish was different or better.

 

[DrMomof3]

We used FP+ on two separate trips.
1st time was in December. The participants were my husband, our 3 children (9, 7, 5 at the time of travel), and me. FP+ completely changed our usual touring strategy. Previously we were rope drop people who left the parks mid-afternoon and then returned briefly for dinner before heading to bed at our usual (relatively early) time. For this trip we arrived at the hotel after midnight (due to flight delays). The next day we had tickets to MVMCP. We ate a leisurely breakfast (one bedroom villa so we cooked breakfast) and spent a relaxing morning at the hotel. After lunch we headed to MK. Since we had FP+, we were still able to go on our favorite rides. We stayed for the party and got home very late. Every day we had a relaxing morning in the room/hotel and got to the parks whenever. We were able to adjust our FP+ times "on the go" and really enjoyed having a very different Disney experience (we go frequently).
2nd trip was for Marathon Weekend. It was just my husband and me. Because the focus of the weekend was running (we both ran the 10K and I did the marathon), we weren't getting to the parks for rope drop. Once again we loved the ability to go on E-ticket rides without worrying about FP running out.
I think for our more traditional rope drop trips, we will get fewer FPs with the new FP+ system but I like that we don't HAVE to get there for rope drop just to ride TSM.
We'll see what happens with the ability to change FP+ times once it is more widely available...

Amanda

 

[hydrotony]

I am an APer who just was allowed to use FP+. I usually make trips to WDW parks for only a few hours at a time and getting 3 rides set up several days ahead of time is good for me. Last Friday I arrived at MK around 1 pm and did Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mt, watch the Fantasy parade and do several windows of SOMK by 4 pm when I left. I think FP+ really helps me in my touring habits. The one big drawback is not getting FP+ at 2 parks a day because I usually do multiple parks each visit. I wanted to do only Toy Story and Soarin' on an upcoming visit and can't. Forced to schedule 3 rides at DHS when I only wanted Toy Story seems discourteous to other visitors but Disney makes me do it. Oh, well.

 

[Hooked On The Mouse]

I voted for "don't like". After our experience in November, I am uncertain about returning to WDW (and our family has been completely obsessed with Disney until now), but DH is pushing me to give it another try. Every morning we were in lengthy lines at Guest Services at least once, and sometimes twice. I understand that the kinks are being worked out of the system, so I expect that will be better when we return. I am still concerned about being limited to such a small number of fastpasses, no matter how many hours we put in at the park. (We used to always do 12 hour plus days). One thing we will do is stay offsite, instead of at our usual deluxe resort. I don't want to pay such high hotel amounts for 3 rides a day. I really hope it is better if we go back, we have always loved WDW so much, but our last trip was very depressing and not the usual happy experience. It was almost a pleasure to leave and go to Universal.

 

[PJGP]

In this weeks disunplugged podcast they had a FP+ segment with people opinions. Those opinions came from those who have used FP+. The majority of those people were happy or ok with FP+.On the boards it seems as though most of the negativity comes from those who have not used it yet. Also on the disunplugged board there is a thread asking do we know too much? I strongly believe we may know too much because the average Disney person does not know what we here on the boards know. I have another question for everyone that Pete raised in the last couple of podcasts. Do you remember what rides you rode or what FPs you got from all of your vacations or do you remember the experience you had and the people you were with?

1) I haven't use FP+ at the parks yet. I've tried updating FP+ reservations from the app with no problems. I really like MDE, don't know why people thinks it is difficult to use.

2) We for sure know too much. Although, before I moved to the US I already knew a lot and I didn't follow the disboards. However, the boards are specially useful for up-to-date info in FP+ (not so accurate sometimes though).


3) Funny, what I remember the most about my first visit was how amazed I was about my resort. I visit OKW, and loved it. I was 9 y-old by the way.
The first visit I paid and organized, was commando style with my in-laws, and I remember a lot of the schedule, but I also know I didn't hit all of it. No FP+, and I was the runner for FP-. Still tired of so much running around
What I really remember though is 6 adults (28 to 65 y-old) and 2 kids enjoying kali river rapids totally soaking wet under a big Florida storm! Best time ever in a bad weather!

So yeah, I think one has to make the most of every experience. And I think even for commando goers FP+ can work well, and perhaps even show a new aspect of the Happiest World on Earth

 

[grossmansr]

I was actually surprised by how much I liked FP+. I just got back today after a super busy spring break week and everything about FP+ worked well for us. Granted, I imagine it didn't work so work so well for those people staying offsite, but that is why we chose to stay on Disney property this trip. We usually rent a condo. But FP+ was flexible and met most of our needs. The only thing that I would like better is if we had more than three FPs. But this is a common complaint and I'm hoping that we'll get more in the future.

 

[grossmansr]

I was actually surprised by how much I liked FP+. I just got back today after a super busy spring break week and everything about FP+ worked well for us. Granted, I imagine it didn't work so work so well for those people staying offsite, but that is why we chose to stay on Disney property this trip. We usually rent a condo. But FP+ was flexible and met most of our needs. The only thing that I would like better is if we had more than three FPs. But this is a common complaint and I'm hoping that we'll get more in the future.

 

[DSNY4ever]

We went back in Sept/Oct and I did not like Fast Pass +. It was a lot of work before the trip and I found it very stressful and annoying. I also don't like having my phone out on vacation I prefer not to be staring at at gadget and being in the moment with my family instead. My husband handled all the "app" end of it and I hated having to constantly check and re-check our schedule, our times and if we ever wanted to change plans or park hop I found it annoying. We had some other family on part of the trip and it was hard to coordinate it with everyone...especially two first timers who couldn't believe how much work it all was to go to Disney World! It certainly did not make any part of our trip easier or better (except we did get one awesome parade spot! That was the only positive over the course of 2 weeks w/ FP+).

With all that being said we still had a GREAT trip because we know how to appreciate the good things and enjoy time as a family, and that is what it's all about anyway. FP+ certainly didn't make or break our trip...although we were there when you could still pull regular fast passes

 

[jimmiej]

I liked it. The best part was being able to schedule our FP's for the afternoon & evening. Yes, I scheduled all of them at exactly 60 days, but I changed them quite a bit before we went.