Unfair :(

[Planogirl]

No, fp- is available now. Its not EVERY single ride that is running out of all fp's by 9:30am. From what I've read, that's only been happening at TT, TSMM, and Soarin'. That's 3 rides out of everything in all of WDW. And if you get there early you can still ride them.

True, FP- is available right now. I shudder to think what that will be like during busy holiday periods but it is there.

 

[FireWife70]

There was a rumor to that effect, but

a)the date it was supposedly going to occur was Sunday and people checking in since then have been able to get KTTW cards

b) CM's have since posted that, while this was rumored, they have not been given actual information to that effect

Basically, for now, nothing has changed and nobody on the front lines has heard of there being imminent changes.

Which, of course, could change tomorrow.

At any time during any of this (testing & after full implementation), you can opt to get a card instead of a band.
"If you prefer, you may elect to use a card instead of a MagicBand." (from here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/my-disney-experience/frequency-technology/)

Since having the card still allows you access to FP+ (even without the band), the only real way that they can prevent double-dipping is if they can change the legacy FP machines so that they won't accept the RFID cards. As many have mentioned on other threads, it is doubtful that Disney will spend money on changing a system they are eventually eliminating, so IMO, it is likely double-dipping will continue to be an issue until they completely do away with the old FP system. Disney will try to mitigate it by not AUTOMATICALLY handing resort guests a card at check-in to go with their bands, but according to Disney's info, a guest can always request a card.

 

[pilferk]

Agreed. Unfortunately for our trip to Disney, the family wants to do a day in Universal. It's costing me nearly $1000 for 1 day for our family, if we decide to get the Express Pass. Compared to paying about $1200 for a 7 day park hopper at WDW for our family. But that's where these parks get you, when you are only going for 1 or 2 days...

We found, for our family of 5, it was cheaper or roughly equivalent to book a night at one of the hotels than it was to pay out of pocket for Express.

That changes based on the time of year you visit, obviously. Looking at your signature, and guessing you're traveling during April Vacation (so just before or just after Easter)...that's probably not going to be the case for (again, guessing based on your hopper prices) the 3-ish of you.

 

[pilferk]

From the same link I posted earlier:

https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/Universal-Express/Express-Passes.aspx

There is an option to buy your tickets + unlimited express as a bundle.

Copied and pasted from the link:

"Get admission to BOTH Universal Studios Florida®
AND Universals Islands of Adventure® each day you visit

PLUS, get Universal ExpressSM Unlimited access at
both parks to skip the regular lines at most rides
and attractions AGAIN & AGAIN (not just once per ride)"

Interesting...is this a new addition as I have never seen that offered before.

Pricing is sorta nuts....it would still be cheaper for our family of 5 to book a night in the hotel room...but interesting all the same.

 

[johnnyf0614]

We found, for our family of 5, it was cheaper or roughly equivalent to book a night at one of the hotels than it was to pay out of pocket for Express.

That changes based on the time of year you visit, obviously. Looking at your signature, and guessing you're traveling during April Vacation (so just before or just after Easter)...that's probably not going to be the case for (again, guessing based on your hopper prices) the 3-ish of you.

We are going week before Easter. We are also going with extended family. Total of 12 of us. We looked into the Hotel idea, and it was more money to do that.

 

[bellaprincess98]

If anyone should be complaining about things being "unfair", it's people like me who have paid to stay at a Disney Resort during the test period but haven't been chosen to participate in FP+. How is that fair?

Yes, your right. Its unfair for you too!

 

[Eastern]

No, fp- is available now. Its not EVERY single ride that is running out of all fp's by 9:30am. From what I've read, that's only been happening at TT, TSMM, and Soarin'. That's 3 rides out of everything in all of WDW. And if you get there early you can still ride them.

After reading all these comments, it seems to me that Disney should just make these 3 rides, TT, TSM and Soarin, the FP+ rides. They are the only rides that seem to have consistently long (90 min +) waits and run out of FPs early, all the time.

 

[Planogirl]

Interesting...is this a new addition as I have never seen that offered before.

Pricing is sorta nuts....it would still be cheaper for our family of 5 to book a night in the hotel room...but interesting all the same.

It appears to only come rolled into your passes and doesn't seem to be something you can buy later on unless you can somehow upgrade your passes. It is pricey but still interesting....

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We found, for our family of 5, it was cheaper or roughly equivalent to book a night at one of the hotels than it was to pay out of pocket for Express.

We did the same thing for our family of 3 in January 2012. It was cheaper to buy our 2-day tickets from UT, then get a one-night booking at RPR which gave us two days of express pass, than buying two days worth of EP for three people. As a bonus, we also saved on parking (one $15 nightly parking fee rather than 2 days x general parking in the parking garage).

To the poster who mentioned the $1000 total cost for one day of Universal tacked on to a Disney vacation, the same is true in reverse (adding one day at Disney to a Universal or SW vacation). One day tickets are a killer for almost any park (SW's current $50 one-day admission excluded).

 

[pilferk]

At any time during any of this (testing & after full implementation), you can opt to get a card instead of a band.
"If you prefer, you may elect to use a card instead of a MagicBand." (from here: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/my-disney-experience/frequency-technology/)

Since having the card still allows you access to FP+ (even without the band), the only real way that they can prevent double-dipping is if they can change the legacy FP machines so that they won't accept the RFID cards. As many have mentioned on other threads, it is doubtful that Disney will spend money on changing a system they are eventually eliminating, so IMO, it is likely double-dipping will continue to be an issue until they completely do away with the old FP system. Disney will try to mitigate it by not AUTOMATICALLY handing resort guests a card at check-in to go with their bands, but according to Disney's info, a guest can always request a card.

I'd read the same thing...and I think it was pointed out in the rumor thread, too.

I agree, it's doubtful they'll make the change. I was only commenting on the rumor, itself, that the OP thought was supposed to have occurred already.

I wonder if you could "triple dip", with FP+ on your MB, a KTTW card, and a paper/plastic ticket. Just spitballing...

 

[BayouMickey]

The only problem with this is it totally goes against Walt's original ideas. So, I don't see them doing it this way.
That is why I think eventually FP+ will be offered to offsite guests once it is all rolled out and fully implemented....

Walt's ideas was pay per ride, without a fast Pass. ie. ticket books....

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Interesting...is this a new addition as I have never seen that offered before.

Pricing is sorta nuts....it would still be cheaper for our family of 5 to book a night in the hotel room...but interesting all the same.

It appears to only come rolled into your passes and doesn't seem to be something you can buy later on unless you can somehow upgrade your passes. It is pricey but still interesting....

I agree....its expensive . But at least is possible. For some folks, it would be worth the hefty fee (kind of like staying at a monorail resort ).

 

[pilferk]

We are going week before Easter. We are also going with extended family. Total of 12 of us. We looked into the Hotel idea, and it was more money to do that.

Yup, that's sorta what I figured. I think room rates (even if you do deluxes and do 5 to a room) are so high for that period in April...you can't make it work out in your favor.

 

[johnnyf0614]

Yup, that's sorta what I figured. I think room rates (even if you do deluxes and do 5 to a room) are so high for that period in April...you can't make it work out in your favor.

Yeah unfortunately. We figured we'll suck it up, get to Universal when the open, and try and hit the big stuff first. If we see the crowds are unmanageable, we'll consider buying the express pass at that time.

 

[Planogirl]

Yeah unfortunately. We figured we'll suck it up, get to Universal when the open, and try and hit the big stuff first. If we see the crowds are unmanageable, we'll consider buying the express pass at that time.

Some people might wait for HPII to open which hopefully will keep crowds down. So far they only say opening in Spring which doesn't say much. Personally, I wouldn't go near the studios during that opening without Express passes for anything!

 

[daytondisney]

I'm the last one to defend FP+ simply based on the lack of information regarding the entire system, but the one thing I don't think people have any right to complain about is preferred treatment that on-site resort guests receive. Sorry, but that's life. Disney SHOULD offer better incentives to guests willing to shell out the money to stay on property.

This isn't an incentive. It is a measured test rollout.

Disney knows that there is very little need to incentivize people to overpay for small hotel rooms and cramped buses. An hour here or there, "free" chicken nuggets, wristbands, etc.

Almost forgot -"magic"

 

[Disneyholic]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sonofanarchy
If anyone should be complaining about things being "unfair", it's people like me who have paid to stay at a Disney Resort during the test period but haven't been chosen to participate in FP+. How is that fair?

I don't understand this. Aren't ALL resorts live now for Magic Bands and FP+?
Go to the MDE site and check it out.

Maggie

I think Maggie is right. I went onto MDE a while back to start my MBs and I have until October 30 to finalize my MBs for mailing. I have done my Ressies, added my tickets and done FP+. I just received an invitation E-mail 2 days ago to start my MBs with a final date of November 19. That's fine and dandy considering my WDW vacation starts November 30. The big problem is that we are leaving on the 21 for our DCL cruise. There is no way we would receive them in the mail before the 21 and I'm not even sure if we would have received them in time for our November 30 ressie since we drive to WDW.

Glad I didn't wait for the invitation. I just took it under my own initiative to look it up and found out I could do it without said invitation.

 

[kaetra]

Ah well, there's always Gatorland!

This made me giggle

 

[pilferk]

Disney hasn't said anything officially about the legacy Fastpass system, nor about what the limits will be once testing is done.

The consensus among those who make their living advising us on Disney certainly appears to be that legacy Fastpass is a goner. I tend to agree with that, they didn't invest billion(s) in a new system to supplement what was already there.

I think the key addition is "eventually".

I don't think the legacy FP machines are in jeopardy of being deactivated "soon". I think they'll finish the resort guest testing of FP+ and MB's at some point either just prior to, or just after, the holiday season,, and then begin a limited roll out/test for day guests some time late this winter or early spring. And only once that process is complete, and functioning to their liking, will they completely shut down the legacy systems (and even then, they will likely get "shut down" in the sense they will not be operational unless a huge SNAFU pops up).

I'd say we probably have roughly 6 to 8 months til we will see those machines go dark. And maybe longer if the roll out/test for day guests is a horror show.

 

[Minniesgal]

Not entering into the debate, but want to clarify something:

The Universal Express privilege you can BUY, at the gates, includes ONE "front of the line" use for each eligible ride. NOT unlimited use at any ride all day long.

The Universal Express version that Uni Hotel guests get to use include ALL DAY, as many times as you like on as many eligible rides as you like, use. You can not purchase this outside of booking a hotel room for the night.

No this is incorrect you can buy express pass unlimited at the park gates which gives the same privileges as insure guests