Unfair :(

[Minniesgal]

No. You only get the opportunity to enter each ride once. On site can do whatever they want.

Not true. You can purchase express pass unlimited at the park entrance same perks as onsite I know because we have done it several times.

 

[Woodmnky]

I agree that staying in Disney resorts should come with it's perks, but Disney needs to be open and maintain transparency with their other customers who they actively and pervasively market to, especially local AP holders.

The current situation is probably skewed more than normal, though, because of the beta testing of the new system (which was no doubt easiest for Disney to perform at the resorts they own), together with the presence of the legacy system. I still think that isolating that from the resort guests doing testing would be a lot more problematic than some people think, both from a system perspective and customer relations as long as the beta system is still (what's that word they keep using?....oh yeah) "glitchy".

I agree. It is very frustrating for those of us who weighed the pros & cons of onsite vs offsite and chose offsite not being able to factor in this. I won't go so far as to say that it is unfair, because life is never "fair" but it does stink.

 

[Granny square]

They sell the unlimited now too. It just costs more. You can buy either the regular or unlimited.

I'm sorry! I didn't realize!

 

[Granny square]

lol, can I just say that I am thrilled we switched weeks from the marathon and presidents wife to the boring next week. So I will just stay happy that I am going to wdw and getting my own bedroom and getting time with my mom and sister, the primary goal of the trip

 

[Orsino]

Yes, it's unfair.
No, it won't ruin your vacation.

I was there last week and only experienced one day of what I would call severe fastpass shortage. (Monday the 21st in Epcot). We were in Epcot again on Friday and Fastpasses were fine.

FP+ inequity won't ruin your vacation unless you let it.

 

[Andyman33]

So does anyone know one way or another if it is magic bands only once this goes "live"?
Or still just speculation? Because if it's no real fast passes (paper) and just the fp+ then who will be saying "unfair"--me because I always get more than 3 per day.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Here is the link to the two different Express Pass options for visitors to the Universal parks:

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

SeaWorld offers something similar, called "Quick Queue":

http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/Attractions/Rides/Quick-Queue-Unlimited

Both available for purchase by ANY day guest.

I have used both systems (as well as the original Fastpass at Disney) and both are far superior to the Disney FP. You would not believe how nice it is not to have to return to a certain ride at a certain time. You can ride it (gasp!) whenever you want, with front of the line access. After you ride it once, assuming you have the unlimited EP or the QQ, you can ride it again. No additional FP needed. Still front of the line access. Beautiful.

Does it cost? If you are on onsite guest at either family of parks, no....its an included benefit. As an offsite guest, then yes, it does. You can choose to buy it, or you can choose to stand in line. At least you have a choice. You have options. I think that's what most Disney offsiters are asking for.....a choice.

Personally, I think that Disney is looking for some way to strong-arm people to pay ridiculously inflated prices for motel-style accommodations, and this is what they have found will work. Otherwise, the reasons for staying onsite are becoming woefully fragile......access to an overpriced dining plan with mediocre food quality, and problematic "free" bus transportation (slow, crowded, and prone to a variety of issues.....just read the transportation board).

 

[Minniesgal]

So does anyone know one way or another if it is magic bands only once this goes "live"? Or still just speculation? Because if it's no real fast passes (paper) and just the fp+ then who will be saying "unfair"--me because I always get more than 3 per day.

No one (I think not even Disney) is sure of anything but anything I have seen written is that the future is FP+ only. What they haven't said is that the limit of 3 is final.

 

[2girlsmom]

It is important to remember that this is still in test for Disney. I agree, it is a pain, but they HAVE to be able to test and part of that is testing the system with lots of people. Once they go live, FP+ is NOT supposed to/expected to be a "perk" for onsite folks, as everyone will have access to FP+. For what it's worth, we were just there this past weekend, and while the wait times were about an hour for Test Track from early in the day and 100+ for Soarin, and FP were out to 9pm at 9:30am on Saturday for Soarin, we did find that about 4pm the wait times for standby dropped significantly, down to 30 minutes on TT and 50 minutes on Soarin, for example. And wait times for all other rides/shows at Epcot and MK stayed fine, 15 or 20 minutes mostly. We also did IOA on Sunday and there were NO long waits there, the longest was 15 minutes for FJ, so express was certainly not needed. Also, by 4pm according to my MDE app, wait times on Saturday for TSMM at HS was down under 60 minutes as well. Still longish waits, but not outside the realm of possibilities. I understand the sense that this feels wrong, especially for those of us that are very used to using FP the way we always could before, and with all the uncertainty, as I stay offsite too, but I would just say that by our experience, it wasn't as bad as the hype.

 

[tajz90]

No you can purchase unlimited express pass at the park entrance same privileges as onsite hotels

Sorry. Speaking of the 35+ option

 

[Minniesgal]

Here is the link to the two different Express Pass options for visitors to the Universal parks: https://www.universalorlando.com/Theme-Park-Tickets/Universal-Express/Express-Passes.aspx SeaWorld offers something similar, called "Quick Queue": http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/Attractions/Rides/Quick-Queue-Unlimited Both available for purchase by ANY day guest. I have used both systems (as well as the original Fastpass at Disney) and both are far superior to the Disney FP. You would not believe how nice it is not to have to return to a certain ride at a certain time. You can ride it (gasp!) whenever you want, with front of the line access. After you ride it once, assuming you have the unlimited EP or the QQ, you can ride it again. No additional FP needed. Still front of the line access. Beautiful. Does it cost? If you are on onsite guest at either family of parks, no....its an included benefit. As an offsite guest, then yes, it does. You can choose to buy it, or you can choose to stand in line. At least you have a choice. You have options. I think that's what most Disney offsiters are asking for.....a choice. Personally, I think that Disney is looking for some way to strong-arm people to pay ridiculously inflated prices for motel-style accommodations, and this is what they have found will work. Otherwise, the reasons for staying onsite are becoming woefully fragile......access to an overpriced dining plan with mediocre food quality, and problematic "free" bus transportation (slow, crowded, and prone to a variety of issues.....just read the transportation board).

I kinda disagree Disney has never said offsite will be excluded from FP+. In fact they recently announced that FP+ will be available to annual pass holders with magic bands even when staying offsite within a few weeks. If you read what it says on MDE it says FP+ will be open to anyone with a park access. I for one am sure it is he intention to make it available to all and it is just this interim testing phase that is painful.

Walt would certainly be horrified if it were available to onsite guests only and I have never seen heard or read anything that states that is the intention. I realise I may well be wrong but I'm reserving judgement until the system rolls out fully.

 

[surferdave]

So does anyone know one way or another if it is magic bands only once this goes "live"?
Or still just speculation? Because if it's no real fast passes (paper) and just the fp+ then who will be saying "unfair"--me because I always get more than 3 per day.

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.

 

[momto2inKC]

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.

Exactly!

 

[momto2inKC]

So does anyone know one way or another if it is magic bands only once this goes "live"?
Or still just speculation? Because if it's no real fast passes (paper) and just the fp+ then who will be saying "unfair"--me because I always get more than 3 per day.

It's still in 'testing' phase. No one knows, everyone is just speculating what *they think will happen.

 

[Hisgirl]

I felt privileged enough just having the magic band and walking right onto the 'E ticket' rides with my early reservation. There is no way I would have walked past the folks in line and pulled an additional pass, just because I 'could'. I feel sorry for the folks who haven't been able to have this advantage. Sure, we spent money to stay onsite, albeit at a discount plus my cheaptickets coupon and my ebates rebates. thumbsup2) My additional ticket pull meant one person who needed a fastpass wouldn't get one.

I'm staying offsite in Feb and we won't have this advantage. I believe in sowing and reaping and I chose to sow kindness instead of E ticket gluttony.

 

[mm1971]

Here is the link to the two different Express Pass options for visitors to the Universal parks:

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

SeaWorld offers something similar, called "Quick Queue":

http://seaworldparks.com/en/seaworld-orlando/Attractions/Rides/Quick-Queue-Unlimited

Both available for purchase by ANY day guest.

I have used both systems (as well as the original Fastpass at Disney) and both are far superior to the Disney FP. You would not believe how nice it is not to have to return to a certain ride at a certain time. You can ride it (gasp!) whenever you want, with front of the line access. After you ride it once, assuming you have the unlimited EP or the QQ, you can ride it again. No additional FP needed. Still front of the line access. Beautiful.

Does it cost? If you are on onsite guest at either family of parks, no....its an included benefit. As an offsite guest, then yes, it does. You can choose to buy it, or you can choose to stand in line. At least you have a choice. You have options. I think that's what most Disney offsiters are asking for.....a choice.

Personally, I think that Disney is looking for some way to strong-arm people to pay ridiculously inflated prices for motel-style accommodations, and this is what they have found will work. Otherwise, the reasons for staying onsite are becoming woefully fragile......access to an overpriced dining plan with mediocre food quality, and problematic "free" bus transportation (slow, crowded, and prone to a variety of issues.....just read the transportation board).

I know everyone wants to keep comparing the benefits of "front of the line" provided by US and SW to the Disney on site guest and FP+. It's just not apples to apples. The shear number of guests staying on property is so much higher that if they went to a similar system, off site guests would never be able to get on a ride. Just compare the number of resorts and capacities and it's easy to see. As a result, Disney is trying to find an alternate solution(while using to to increase revenue and track guest experiences to generate more profit). Disney has the normal on site guests, AP holders and DVC (which is expanding). Can you even imagine the outrage if they gave all those guests the opportunity to just go "front of the line"? There would be 1,000 posts on here full of negative comments and why you can no longer stay off site and go to the parks.

While everyone has a right to express their opinions, negatively or not, let's just see how the final roll out looks when we get there. Does it stink right now when FP are gone by 9:30.....Yup. Is it frustrating that no one knows what Disney plans to do......Yup. I wonder how many people consider that maybe Disney doesn't know yet and that is what the testing and slow rollout is designed to determine. I'm not trying to make an excuse or defend Disney for the way the testing has effected guests, but how else can you test market something that is open 12-20 hours a day and handles 10's of thousands of people at a time. No easy solution.

With all that said, I do feel bad for those that are on vacation and find it tougher to tour the parks with everything in flux. We did so in August and I hear it is worse now with more resorts participating. All I can offer is to make the best of it and don't let missing a ride or the glitches ruin your vacation.

 

[bellaprincess98]

Exactly!

Yeah, and that incentive is fast pass+, it shouldn't be both! And it won't be soon, but during my trip it is!

 

[sonofanarchy]

Yeah, and that incentive is fast pass+, it shouldn't be both! And it won't be soon, but during my trip it is!

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?

 

[TomiRocket]

I also do not find it unfair. We are paying the extra money to stay on property rather than save by staying off-site and I do appreciate this little extra perk. EMH are a nightmare and prefer to skip the parks on those days. I'd think most people who do pay more to stay on property would feel this way.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

I know everyone wants to keep comparing the benefits of "front of the line" provided by US and SW to the Disney on site guest and FP+. It's just not apples to apples. The shear number of guests staying on property is so much higher that if they went to a similar system, off site guests would never be able to get on a ride. Just compare the number of resorts and capacities and it's easy to see. As a result, Disney is trying to find an alternate solution(while using to to increase revenue and track guest experiences to generate more profit). Disney has the normal on site guests, AP holders and DVC (which is expanding). Can you even imagine the outrage if they gave all those guests the opportunity to just go "front of the line"? There would be 1,000 posts on here full of negative comments and why you can no longer stay off site and go to the parks.

While everyone has a right to express their opinions, negatively or not, let's just see how the final roll out looks when we get there. Does it stink right now when FP are gone by 9:30.....Yup. Is it frustrating that no one knows what Disney plans to do......Yup. I wonder how many people consider that maybe Disney doesn't know yet and that is what the testing and slow rollout is designed to determine. I'm not trying to make an excuse or defend Disney for the way the testing has effected guests, but how else can you test market something that is open 12-20 hours a day and handles 10's of thousands of people at a time. No easy solution.

With all that said, I do feel bad for those that are on vacation and find it tougher to tour the parks with everything in flux. We did so in August and I hear it is worse now with more resorts participating. All I can offer is to make the best of it and don't let missing a ride or the glitches ruin your vacation.

You missed the entire point of my post.

What I am saying is that Disney's competitor parks have found a system where they can benefit their onsite guests while still offering a comparable product (for a price) to their offsite visitors. Pay the price to stay onsite and get the included benefit, or have the option of paying the price to add the perks as an add-on, its the choice of the consumer.

Universal and SW do not exclude ANY guest from those benefits. Its just a question of whether or not those benefits come at an additional cost. Offsite guests to either of these sets of parks have options.

Disney has completely excluded offsite guests from an options regarding FP+. Not a very magical decision on their part.