Trial Club Level Fastpass+ Purchase Program Planning & Discussion

[wddub2015]

I am just completely too nervous about this still being offered for our trip. I am {perhaps foolishly} planned our whole trip with the thought that this will be available but the more and more I read, the more I'm sure it's going to disappear. AGH!

Me, too! I haven’t decided yet if I am going to upgrade to club level. Club level in itself isn’t really worth it to my family, but it would be worth it to us if it meant we could opt in to the the extra FPs. Trying to decide between taking the gamble to upgrade and the extra FPs going away or skipping club level and missing out on the program if it does hang on.

 

[JJ2017]

Me, too! I haven’t decided yet if I am going to upgrade to club level. Club level in itself isn’t really worth it to my family, but it would be worth it to us if it meant we could opt in to the the extra FPs. Trying to decide between taking the gamble to upgrade and the extra FPs going away or skipping club level and missing out on the program if it does hang on.

I’ll be very upset if it isn’t available for our trip in November. I have already started some convos with DSS and have such a good itinerary going!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I am just completely too nervous about this still being offered for our trip. I am {perhaps foolishly} planned our whole trip with the thought that this will be available but the more and more I read, the more I'm sure it's going to disappear. AGH!

Me too but then I think about how much money Disney makes with each person who attempts this program and I start feeling confident again

 

[kkbookmom]

Hello everyone!

Popping out of lurking for a moment to ask a question. Haven't seen this question asked yet, but my apologies ahead of time if it has been. My question is a little flipped from the usual.

My DH and I are staying CL at BWI in September. I'm debating the extra FP+ purchase (like many of all of you). Has anyone stayed CL since this pilot was started, decided NOT to purchase the extra FP+ option, AND has booked at 60 days out?

What I am wondering is whether this pilot program has made it more difficult to get the regular FP+ more difficult for anyone who is staying on property but did not choose to purchase the extra FP+s?

Our touring style is not "in the parks, all day, every day". There are specific attractions we want (the usual high interest ones - FOP, SDD, TSMM, FEA, etc...) but I am really having trouble deciding on others that total up to 6. There are only a small number spread out amongst all the parks that we want to do. It makes me feel like we are wasting precious FP+s on attractions we don't need to. And maybe I just need to get over that. ;-)

Thoughts?

TIA!

 

[AngiTN]

Hello everyone!

Popping out of lurking for a moment to ask a question. Haven't seen this question asked yet, but my apologies ahead of time if it has been. My question is a little flipped from the usual.

My DH and I are staying CL at BWI in September. I'm debating the extra FP+ purchase (like many of all of you). Has anyone stayed CL since this pilot was started, decided NOT to purchase the extra FP+ option, AND has booked at 60 days out?

What I am wondering is whether this pilot program has made it more difficult to get the regular FP+ more difficult for anyone who is staying on property but did not choose to purchase the extra FP+s?

Our touring style is not "in the parks, all day, every day". There are specific attractions we want (the usual high interest ones - FOP, SDD, TSMM, FEA, etc...) but I am really having trouble deciding on others that total up to 6. There are only a small number spread out amongst all the parks that we want to do. It makes me feel like we are wasting precious FP+s on attractions we don't need to. And maybe I just need to get over that. ;-)

Thoughts?

TIA!

No.
This program is not cheap.
There are not enough people willing to plop down another $150 per person for some FP to make any significant dent in available FP on a given day for a given ride.
Because you got to realize there are A LOT of FP on a given day for a given ride

 

[kkbookmom]

No.
This program is not cheap.
There are not enough people willing to plop down another $150 per person for some FP to make any significant dent in available FP on a given day for a given ride.
Because you got to realize there are A LOT of FP on a given day for a given ride

Thank you @AngiTN ! I guess that's part of what I am not considering - how many overall FP+ are offered.

Yes, you are right. It is expensive, with a minimum of $300 for us, that is what is making me wonder whether it is worth it. I think that is what it comes down to - do we spend the extra $$ to pretty much guarantee we get what we want (even if it means we make some unusual FP+ choices) or do we hope that the regular 60 day timeframe works for us.

 

[hiroMYhero]

What I am wondering is whether this pilot program has made it more difficult to get the regular FP+ more difficult for anyone who is staying on property but did not choose to purchase the extra FP+s?

The Extra FPs are from their own “pool” meaning they don’t affect the 60-day FP pool. Your question applies to everyone booking at 60 days and not specifically CL Guests - that’s why it hasn’t been addressed here - and no one is blaming their ability to book or not book FPs on CL guests. As @AngiTN stated, there are a lot of FPs available for regular guests.

 

[kkbookmom]

The Extra FPs are from their own “pool” meaning they don’t affect the 60-day FP pool. Your question applies to everyone booking at 60 days and not specifically CL Guests - that’s why it hasn’t been addressed here - and no one is blaming their ability to book or not book FPs on CL guests. As @AngiTN stated, there are a lot of FPs available for regular guests.

Thanks @hiroMYhero! I do get that the FPs are from their own pool. I'm just having trouble deciding what six (3 regular, 3 extra) each day I want. Probably my angst over making decisions talking.

 

[TriSeb°o°]

@GADisneyDad14 , ALCON -- Follow up.

I remained super sketched out regarding the CL FP$+ not being displayed. However, I did encounter the following encouraging "information" today as happenstance.

As a recap:
In MDE, the "My Reservations and Tickets" drop-down list all the categories for your vacation. However, recently, the Fast Pass section currently does not list the CL FP$+ details (Time Frame and Attraction); rather the application displays "Select Experiences at Disney's ...XXX" instead of the usual individual details. The response from Disney is that they are upgrading the MDE application.



Promising:
I modified an existing regular FPS+, and at the end of the process when the FPS+ is confirmed, there is a "View my Plans" link that is not the same view that is given from the MDE drop down.



I selected this link and the information displayed is reassuring, each CL FP$+ selection is displayed, so that means to me the data is not lost. The only information missing is the time window for each FP$+:



However, after I completed this change, I went back to the MDE main menu and selected "My Itinerary"; I picked the same date for Hollywood studios, and the different information is shown. Each FP$+ start and end time is displayed but not the actual selection (vice versa data).



Both of these data points combined makes me feel a bit easier than the data is not lost but I am waiting for the software updates to be completed, so all these views are aggregated into one view again (back to standard). I am fortunate that I have 60 days to wait for that, so I hope this helps those who have less time to wait.

 

[MrInfinity]

Your CLFP+'s are there, really. It's fine. This is just the query on the web side that is not showing them from time to time. I've tested it exhaustingly... sometimes it shows our whole party... other times just some of our people. Yesterday all was weird, then for a few hours it all went back to perfectly normal. Now they're back to just showing as Select Experiences again. I know they're there, when we go to change our reg FP+ it blocks out those times. Despite it being a week that they've been working on this, unless you're trying to book FP's *now* it should be nonimpacting later. If you are trying to book FPs now, may the force be with you.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Never ceases to amaze me how bad Disney is at stuff like this... and how it doesn’t hurt them at all. The latter explains why it persists, I guess. Not an excuse IMO.

As DH is fond of saying, it’s amazing how much a company can do wrong if they do a small set of key things exceptionally.

 

[TriSeb°o°]

our CLFP+'s are there, really. It's fine.

I appreciate your insight.

I am not trying to be paranoid about random Database Query issues, I am concerned about policy change about FPS+ that are duplicates of CL FP$+ as part of the "magical enhancements" causing a conflict which results in not displaying. Finger Crossed.

 

[JJ2017]

Based on having reserved viewing for Fantasmic, what is the optimal time for an ADR at Sci Fi in order, to eat, walk to, and watch very close to showtime? Never been to HS before and not familiar with the layout and how Fantasmic works/draws crowds. Thanks!

 

[ColoradoMom12]

I appreciate your insight.

I am not trying to be paranoid about random Database Query issues, I am concerned about policy change about FPS+ that are duplicates of CL FP$+ as part of the "magical enhancements" causing a conflict which results in not displaying. Finger Crossed.

FWIW, I have duplicates right now that I am still seeing.

 

[MrInfinity]

I appreciate your insight.
I am not trying to be paranoid about random Database Query issues, I am concerned about policy change about FPS+ that are duplicates of CL FP$+ as part of the "magical enhancements" causing a conflict which results in not displaying. Finger Crossed.

I don't think there's ~any policy change~. As one with dups, I have plenty at stake... But the policy is consistent: you are not allowed to duplicate. Worst case -- We have 9 CLFPs, TWO (a whopping two) of which are dups. One is for Slinky Dog Dash, a new ride. The other is for Test Track. Besides that, we have no dups. Should the abominable occur and they wipe out our dups, we'll STILL have all our extra Tier-1's for the days in question.

And even at that I don't think they will.
Really consider the absolute worst case that they wipe out your dups. Is it that bad? So you lose the 2nd riding of a new ride. And I don't even think when push comes to shove that we'll lose it. They seem to be totally separate systems.
Seriously -- enjoy! Don't sweat it! You've got DUPLICATE FP's for rides others are happy to have even one of and in the end -- I think all will be fine.
We don't leave for... 30 days from today! Can't wait!

 

[TriSeb°o°]

And even at that I don't think they will.
Really consider the absolute worst case that they wipe out your dups. Is it that bad? So you lose the 2nd riding of a new ride. And I don't even think when push comes to shove that we'll lose it. They seem to be totally separate systems.
Seriously -- enjoy! Don't sweat it! You've got DUPLICATE FP's for rides others are happy to have even one of and in the end -- I think all will be fine.

I hear you but this is part of the value I see in the extra $1K in FPs I am paying (not including the club $$). I appreciate your feedback but you are oversimplifying my approach to planning my trip; I am by no means "not enjoying it"; rather I am anxiously awaiting the changes to pan out. Around this time in previous years, we lost other FPS+ functionality so I am quite comfortable in being cautious about the pending changes.

We don't leave for... 30 days from today! Can't wait!

That is sooooo awesome!

 

[ninafeliz]

We haven't used our CL FPs yet, our stay is coming up quickly from June 10-22, so I can't yet comment on how they worked. However, I have followed this thread since it started and after reading all of the posts as they come I've developed a few thoughts on the program that I thought I would share here. Just for some info, I actually booked our CL FPs and the corresponding regular FPs for those days at just about 70-ish days out (we're only doing 3 days of the extra FPs, we love non park time). I wasn't ready to commit, didn't set aside the time for the call, tend to procrastinate, etc. However, I was able to get any time for any ride I wanted within 5-10 minutes (we are unfortunately just missing TSL, so that might have been a different story (pun intended )), including FOP and the 3 tier ones at Epcot with TOT, ST, and RNRC that same day at DHS as our regular FPs. The CM who booked me was helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable and the call took around 30 min. I did have what I wanted written down, but hadn't done anything like send it ahead of time. We are 2 adults and 2 kids (5 and 8), and all have APs.

Anyway, my main thought is in response to all of the posters who feel that the price for this program is too high. I actually feel differently, and that has evolved as I have followed along. I feel that the price of the RESORT ROOM that you are required to book is very high, but the price of the program is not. A CL room's worth is very debatable (as well as the bungalows, suites, etc that also qualify). I personally love to stay CL for a variety of reasons which are always covered on the CL thread - convenience, space, location, view (depending), breakfast, alcohol, desserts, apps, status, pre trip planning, no waiting on hold forever to call in- so I try to stay CL unless we are trying to do a less expensive trip. So we would have booked CL anyway, but after they announced this it kind of cemented our desire to book all of our 3 way split CL. So after the expense of the room, I feel the ADDITIONAL expense of the CL FPs and viewing area is reasonable. Here's why

1. To have a less crowded viewing area for nighttime entertainment that you can nearly walk up to at the last minute is almost priceless. We tend to not even watch the fireworks/shows from the parks anymore unless we have a dessert party or dinner package for it to get reserved seating, so now I'll get to actually see HEA in the park for once and not from the Poly or CR, and I can see fantasmic without having to book a dinner package. We've never even seen ROL, and now we can do it and eat at Satu'li Canteen if we want to, and not have to book a dinner package somewhere. We just won't sit and wait an hour or more for a show (or anything actually). It's not just the kids that don't want to, my DH and I don't want to either. it's a waste of time, and frankly can get tedious and boring even when not trying to keep kids happy.
2. It saves money from not having to do dessert parties and dining packages. I do enjoy the dessert parties, but they take time and our real main reason was the reserved viewing convenience. Now we can get that and and we can still utilize the CL benefits that we had to pay for anyway to get desserts and drinks in the lounge. Not the same level of desserts, but enough for us to not feel like we're missing out. And not at the same time as the show, but that's a trade off we're ok with. if we don't book as many dinner packages and dessert parties, we save money (the extra CL FPs are less than the dessert party) and have more time back to enjoy the resort and utilize the lounge for snacks and apps. Win/win. One dessert party runs us around $240 (Disney's web page won't let me check the exact price right now), so for less than the dessert party we get the viewing and 3 extra FPs without restrictions for that day. I feel the FPs are a good trade off for the actual desserts and drinks that I don't need anyway , plus we still get some in the lounge every night.
3. We had contemplated doing the Ultimate Nights of Adventure at the AK to get FOP, Navi, and ROL plus the other rides that are included without having to worry about how to do 3 tier one attractions and not rope drop, wait, etc. That alone would have cost us MORE than ALL THREE days of the extra FPs did, and really wouldn't have gotten us much more than the program did on just our AK day. So in a way I feel like everything else is added bonus given that.

We don't like full days in the parks as much at this point in our lives, particularly with small kids and staying CL in deluxe resorts (we feel the pull to go back and enjoy the resort and lounge offerings ), but for a long stay we are doing 3 longer days to utilize this. We still aren't starting until after noon on our AK day, and we still have a break in the day between Epcot and DHS and on our MK day. Possibly if we were staying our usual 8 nights we would have thought harder about it, but I think even then we would have done it. Probably not for a shorter stay, it would put us in the parks too much with not enough resort time in that case. We also are in an Epcot resort for our Epcot/DHS day and the AK day, and at the CR for our MK day, so getting to and from the parks is all walking (except AK), which will help a lot.

We're also still doing a dessert party for the Star Wars fireworks at DHS one night because we all have really enjoyed that in the past and it wasn't a choice for the CL FP nighttime show. My kids and DH really still wanted to do this and since we can just walk over we decided to do it. We are also still doing EMM at the MK. I had figured we would skip it this year since we could do the extra FPs in the MK, but we've loved it when we did it before so when space opened up we decided to do it again. I kind of look at it as another day of extra FPs, with the 3 extra being PP, Pooh, and SDMT so with those and the 3 regular FPs I booked we still essentially get 6 on that day. It also opened up FPs on the other day, since I had made PP and SDMT and changed them (well, I didn't change SDMT since I have a problem giving up something hard to get for something like dumbo or another ride we have left we didn't get a FP for, but we COULD have changed and gotten different FPs).

So between our extra FP day and our day with EMM, we essentially have 12 FPs in the MK which means up to 12 rides I don't have to worry about lines for. In our case we have splash mt, BTMRR, and SDMT on 2 days, but I opted to do that instead of making FPs for things like teacups and monsters inc, since usually we can do those with very little wait and the others are the big disney rides with long lines you can't just decide to ride impromptu without a long wait. We also did not double up on any of our CL and regular FPs on the same day, just because I wanted to get more rides in, not repeat rides. Since TSL isn't open the only one I would have thought about doing that for was FOP, and without doubling we were able to get FPs for everything we wanted at AK so i did it that way instead.

Even without the reasons I listed above that I feel make this program worth the money, we are big believers in time is money. $50 to not wait in line for 3 big attractions (which we wouldn't do, so it means we get to ride more also) and to not have to wait long times like sardines for fireworks and shows - yes please! I think they have to keep this for only CL rooms, because it's TOO worth it and it would be too popular and unmanageable if it was opened up to all rooms. If they happen to still do this when Galaxy's edge opens up, we would likely stay CL just to use this. (or do something like EMM for it, but it would end up being more than $50 each, I'm sure)

Ok, I wonder how many people hung in there and read this! I need to work on being more succinct, but I'm just going to leave it long for now and it is what it is.

 

[djc9699]

To have a less crowded viewing area for nighttime entertainment that you can nearly walk up to at the last minute is almost priceless.

Absolutely, this was a big selling point for me as well. We did wind up doing a dessert party for the fireworks on the 3rd of July, but we also get to see HEA, Fantasmic and ROL. Not a fan of Illuminations so not doing that one. I paid for 4 dessert parties during our Christmas trip so we could see HEA for the first time, Christmas Wishes, Star Wars and Illuminations for the first time. We spent more for that than this.

We are going the week of the 4th of July so being able to just get all three TSL rides on two different days and then use the regular FPs for RNR and TOT is awesome and to do both Pandora rides (my DIL has not been able to ride Navi yet). We won't do this on our next trip because we are staying over Christmas again with free dining and cannot get a discount on the CL room, but will probably do it again if offered next spring or summer. We are also doing DAH to ride all we can at MK one night that we are there.

I am really looking forward to my first CL stay. Being able to just pop in to the lounge for breakfast and having chocolate milk available for my granddaughter and sodas for the rest of us, helps off-set the cost. We are trying to relax more this trip so I was going to stay at WL regardless and adding CL was not that much more, in the whole bigger picture. We will be spending several afternoons back at the resort so we should be able to save on dining as well, by eating in the lounge for some meals.

 

[ellynsoh]

I agree that the plan seems to be worth it at this point, but I fear the price will increase.

 

[ninafeliz]

I agree that the plan seems to be worth it at this point, but I fear the price will increase.

Yes, I "worry" about that. However $50 a day is a lot but manages to be tolerable to a lot of people based on what I read here (maybe a very skewed sample, I know). I kind of feel like once you get up towards $100/day pp with a 3 day minimum you will knock a lot of people out - probably including us at that point. I could be wrong, though, given we were considering the AK tour that was something like $300 each for one evening, and would probably consider that for Galaxy's edge as well. They will more than likely try to push it to the tipping point - or just eliminate it with no reason given.