To be or not to be a Fastpass+ guinea pig...

[larryz]

OP, I'm also in Ohio, so it's not a trivial exercise to go to WDW, as we drive to avoid the goatrope that is air travel these days, and it generally costs us between $4500 and $7000 every time we go.

I am not going to pay that kind of money nor invest the considerable time involved just to be a test subject.

We've put off any consideration of a WDW visit until mid-to-late 2015, just to ensure that they either fully implement and work the bugs out of MB/MDE/FP+, or they've had time to deal with the issues involved in retrograding from that system after deciding it just won't work.

 

[Missyrose]

Agreed. We leave in 13 days and can't wait to us FP+. Embrace the change and leverage it to your advantage. I think the biggest complainers are the ones who abused the system. This levels the playing field.

We are coming from Maine and it is nice to know that we won't get "shut out" of things just because we are not the first ones there each day, or we don't run around the park to snatch up all the legacy FP like a fiend.

Um, hi. How can you label legcy FP users who used the system to its full advantage as "abusers" while telling people when it comes to the new system to "leverage it to your advantage?" Makes zero sense to me.

 

[WendyZQ]

Coming at this as a WDW newbie. We are making our first ever trip next month. Coming from PA and so feeling the OP's pain about cost. I guess what I don't understand is how waiting in a long line or possibly skipping one or two rides would ruin the family time? I mean no offense by this at all. I'm probably missing something because we haven't been yet.

 

[Missyrose]

Coming at this as a WDW newbie. We are making our first ever trip next month. Coming from PA and so feeling the OP's pain about cost. I guess what I don't understand is how waiting in a long line or possibly skipping one or two rides would ruin the family time? I mean no offense by this at all. I'm probably missing something because we haven't been yet.

As a Disney newbie, you're lucky. You never experienced the old system to know any different. Just go and enjoy your trip, it will be fine.

 

[btk2333]

Coming at this as a WDW newbie. We are making our first ever trip next month. Coming from PA and so feeling the OP's pain about cost. I guess what I don't understand is how waiting in a long line or possibly skipping one or two rides would ruin the family time? I mean no offense by this at all. I'm probably missing something because we haven't been yet.

It's all relative to what your expectations are for the vacation.

Certain visitors prefer to do as many rides as possible and as many times as possible (not judging - I've been there too!). The old system was better at allowing people who knew the system to maximize their legacy FPs to do many attractions in a day (depending on the park it may have been possible to grab 15 or so legacy FPs). Because this is the type of trip many people are used to, it is difficult to adjust to a system that only lets you use 3 FP per day and cannot be used on the same attractions at this time.

The new system has a lot of advantages- but it is a new system with new quirks to learn and for many people this threatens the way they are used to vacationing at WDW.

IMO- having used the new system three times, I have not had to decrease my number of attractions or wait in any long lines and I like the new system. That being said, I understand why certain types of vacationers would not like the new system. You will have a great trip!

 

[Planogirl]

Agreed. We leave in 13 days and can't wait to us FP+. Embrace the change and leverage it to your advantage. I think the biggest complainers are the ones who abused the system. This levels the playing field.

We are coming from Maine and it is nice to know that we won't get "shut out" of things just because we are not the first ones there each day, or we don't run around the park to snatch up all the legacy FP like a fiend.

"Abused the system"... You know I'm getting tired of seeing nasty comments such as these. No one abused anything but simply did what Disney allowed.

OP, I would say to follow your instincts. If you're like me, you aren't an uber-planner and you might not be comfortable scheduling rides so far in advance. However you never know until you try it. I'd say to be flexible and enjoy some of the other fun things to do both onsite and off if the parks get to be too annoying.

 

[Planogirl]

Coming at this as a WDW newbie. We are making our first ever trip next month. Coming from PA and so feeling the OP's pain about cost. I guess what I don't understand is how waiting in a long line or possibly skipping one or two rides would ruin the family time? I mean no offense by this at all. I'm probably missing something because we haven't been yet.

As a PP said, it's all about expectations. Some of us have been often and have a certain touring style that's pretty much been thrown out the window. We don't all necessarily even use many fastpasses but it can be daunting to preschedule when it's not something that had to be done before. Plus you used to be able to grab fastpasses on the fly if a favorite was for some reason backed up. Now you have to guess at what might be crowded and hope for the best otherwise.

You haven't been so don't have these expectations.

 

[mesaboy2]

Um, hi. How can you label legcy FP users who used the system to its full advantage as "abusers" while telling people when it comes to the new system to "leverage it to your advantage?" Makes zero sense to me.

Same poster gave a similar nonsensical rant about abusers in another thread this morning while encouraging everyone to "make the most of it".