Saw this coming from a mile away. I remember when they first announced this whole mess it was being broadcast it was going to be a tiered system from the outset until they got a bunch of backlash for that. Looks like they were trying to ease into testing before they dropped the tier bomb back in.
The only 2 things we ever FP at EPCOT are Test Track and Soarin. Now, it is pick one. Want to ride your favorite 2 rides-- well then you are going to spend an hour in line for one of them.
The only 2 things we ever FP at DHS are TSM and RNRC- again now it is pick one. Want to ride Mom's favorite ride and the kid's favorite ride? Well again, you are goign to spend an hour in line for one of them. IF DD is going to ride RNRC can't do single rider because she is too scared of the ride not to have Mom or Dad sitting with her.
Very suprised that Beauty and the Beast is a Tier 1. We usually walk up to that show and grab a seat easily 15 minutes before it starts.
I'm so glad we cancelled our December trip and went in October instead. We were in large part not fans of FP+/
MDE in October other than for the first FP of the day, and the only reason we didn't spend the whole trip stressed out and running back and forth around the park for FP+, is that we just used FP- for part of the trip instead. Now, with it looking like that option is going to start being taken away this week, and the tiers being implemented on top of that, it is very disappointing. Of course, the tiers do pretty much solve the problem we had in the parks with FP+ of having to run back and forth across the park because basically you only get one FP+, and the other 2 are things you don't need to bother with your FP+ for. You can just do the other 2 attractions whenever you want and not mess with watching the clock, or being tied to your phone.
To me this is a huge step backwards. For years we have been able to plan our day to get FPs for all the major rides we wanted to ride. We are not superusers. At DHS and EPCOT we usually only do 2 FPs in an entire day. We'd do TSM more than once, but the FPs are always gone by the time that window opens. At EPCOT, we might pull a 2nd FP for Soarin as it is a favorite, but most of the time we don't even do that. I remember the pre-FP days when we had to stand in line for an hour or more for any of the big rides at WDW. What I remember most about those trips was spending a whole lot of time standing in line. I remember how exciting the first trip with FP was, and what a major improvement it is. Actually, once FP was implemented, my family started making trips to WDW more often. Now, it looks like we are back to the pre-FP days with the exception that you can get 1 FP per day. In my opinion there is nothing in the 2nd tier at either park that needs a FP on most days (except for maybe really high crowd times like Christmas and Spring Break).
It is looking less and less like we are going to be making our annual WDW trip next year. We are already starting to look at other vacation options. I'm sure we will return to WDW at some point or if this tiered system changes, but for now, I think we are done for a while. I don't want to go back to the way it used to be.