What FP+ has done to our touring.

[dianeschlicht]

This is our second DVC trip where we have used FP+, and I now know one thing for sure it has done for our Disney touring. At least for us, we find we spend far less time and money in the parks than we used to and far more time just relaxing at the resort and going off site to eat and shop. With Disney making this move and building so many DVC resorts, they may actually be shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to those of us who have traditionally spent the most time and money there over the years.

For neither our 10 day trip in Dec. nor this one so far have we gone back into the parks after we have come back to the resort. We have gone to the parks in the morning to experience lower crowds, and have come back to the villa and either cooked our own meal or gone off site do dine in the evening. Even the thought of going back to see Wishes or Illuminations holds no interest, because it means battling the crowds for a spot to watch something that we've seen dozens of times just to hold our viewing spot.

If these last two trips with FP+ are any indication, this might just have cured me of some of my Disney excess. I am even thinking of how and where I can exchange my points for places other than Disney locations. For 17 years I have been saying that purchasing DVC was the best thing we ever did. Now I'm starting to rethink that.

 

[twinsouvenirs]

How do use the FP plus? All in the AM? We did most things in the am to beat crowds but saved our FPs for the pm when things are crowded. How did FP affect your Wishes/Illuminations viewing? Just curious! We have only used it one trip, and were able to do more than we would have otherwise, but part of that is the change in our touring due to kids, not FP+

 

[bzzelady]

Diane...I'm right there with you right now. I actually decided to rent out my banked/current year points and take a break this year...hopefully, some of the dust will settle with the Fastpass+ and the system will become more user friendly with more testing and feedback. I really miss the days where I could stand at the Southpoint bus stop and say, "Let's just get on the next bus that comes by" rather than making a spreadsheet to plan every step of the vacation.

 

[jekjones1558]

ITA, Diane. The Magic Bands have made trips with DH SO SO much easier. He has health issues to deal with in the morning so we are never able to get to the parks early. Being able to get fast passes for later in the day is a godsend. In both Oct. and Dec. we were also able to change fast passes on the fly with the iPhone app or kiosk. We quit eating much in the parks years ago when the dining plans came along and we still tend to eat off property. I am going in a couple of weeks with DNiece and again at the end of April with DH. It will be interesting to see if the Magic Bands still work as well for us now that they are being used so widely.

 

[wdrl]

This is our second DVC trip where we have used FP+, and I now know one thing for sure it has done for our Disney touring. At least for us, we find we spend far less time and money in the parks than we used to and far more time just relaxing at the resort and going off site to eat and shop.

Due to FP+, we have tinkered with the way we visit the Parks and ride the attractions. But, overall, we tend to approach our Disney time in much the same way as we always have. In other words, we haven't found FP+ to be detrimental to us enjoying our time at Disney.

Do you feel that FP+ is forcing you to make changes that you don't want to do? Or do you think that -- after 17 years of membership -- you are wanting a change and would like to try something different?

 

[Chuck S]

FP+ really hasn't changed my touring style very much. I generally get to the parks fairly early and do my very favorite rides, have a nice TS lunch, and use FP+ for afternoon rides. Then head back to the resort for some down town...It was always rare for me to make a trip back to a park later in the day, unless I specifically wanted to see on of the firework shows. The only real change is being able book all of my FP+ times for afternoon, rather than whatever time the FP Kiosk was issuing return times for.

Magic Bands do seem to speed up the process of entering the park, because it has, in effect, doubled the number of available turnstiles for entry. I don't spend as much on merchandise as I used to, but I think that is just because 1)I don't always find something I like and 2)I'm more selective than I used to be...I don't "need" all the knick knacks, my shelves are full.

 

[ErinC]

We are here now experiencing fp+ for the first time. So far ours have worked without issue and we have been very pleased. We have 3 girls(two teenagers) and a time change difference, rope drop is pretty much not an option for us. Vacation includes sleeping in! We were just commenting yesterday that we love being able to go to the park and still have fast passes for reasonable times. One family member doesn't have to run all over the park to get fps for the family. Sunday morning we went to church, the grocery store, then hit Hollywood studios and rode toy story mania, the movie ride, tot, single rider rock in roller coaste, and star tours. All the things we cared about riding and then headed back to boardwalk. We rested then went to extra magic at mk. We would have never been able to do that before with the old system. Now I will agree with Diane that we may end up spending less time in the parks because we won't need as much time to do the things we want. We are using ap's this trip so I don't think anything of blowing in and out of a park for a couple of hours. I do think that fewer people will buy park hoppers with the new system. We still have 4 days to go, so we'll see if my opinion changes in the next few days. We already have found ourselves leaving property for dining on the last few trips before this one. With a family of 5 dining in disney restaurants is just getting ridiculous. Even our counter service meals we have had have been so unimpressive. I think that is because of free dining. But that's a completely different subject...

 

[bobbiwoz]

For DH and me, FP+ works. Since October we have spent part of approximately 20 days in a WDW park, and have enjoyed the main rides and attractions that we like! Twice a ride was down for our FP+ time, so it is not perfect.

We do like going to the final show of AIE, so we do go back to DHS when it suits us. I am happy to see Wishes from TTOTW, probably have gone there 4 times since October, did a HalloWishes Fireworks Cruise once.

DH and I do not often eat off site, except for IHOP breakfasts but we do not like the traffic jams around WDW on weekend nights. We know about back entrances, but coming home from Church one Saturday early evening, we were in traffic for over 45 minutes!

With PAP, the water park experience, just for a few hours at a time, is important to us. We have renewed our first, and will buy the voucher to have it for next year as well. Our present ones expire in December.

 

[keishashadow]

I'm giving FP+ another go-around end of May before I pass final judgment. Hoping that spring break crowds will help them refine the process.

Things went well for us in October, but we weren't part of the FP+ test and could still use regular FP machines.

January from Thursday prior to MLK weekend was a royal mess! The return lines were ridiculously long. It got to the point where we would just walk away from a long snaking line after spending almost an hour total for return time @ BTM. If they haven't started to station a CM at the entrance to the standby line, even if it is 50 yards from where it normally would be, then they should. People jumping into the line before they are due to return is a big problem when it's busy and needs to be curtailed.

 

[com_op_2000]

I do not like using the FP+.
Have been on three trips using the FP+ system and have had issues each time.
It is causing us to spend less time in the parks, we are getting SW passes later this year and US/IoA next year. do not tell Mickey.

 

[granmanh603]

This is our second DVC trip where we have used FP+, and I now know one thing for sure it has done for our Disney touring. At least for us, we find we spend far less time and money in the parks than we used to and far more time just relaxing at the resort and going off site to eat and shop. With Disney making this move and building so many DVC resorts, they may actually be shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to those of us who have traditionally spent the most time and money there over the years.

For neither our 10 day trip in Dec. nor this one so far have we gone back into the parks after we have come back to the resort. We have gone to the parks in the morning to experience lower crowds, and have come back to the villa and either cooked our own meal or gone off site do dine in the evening. Even the thought of going back to see Wishes or Illuminations holds no interest, because it means battling the crowds for a spot to watch something that we've seen dozens of times just to hold our viewing spot.

If these last two trips with FP+ are any indication, this might just have cured me of some of my Disney excess. I am even thinking of how and where I can exchange my points for places other than Disney locations. For 17 years I have been saying that purchasing DVC was the best thing we ever did. Now I'm starting to rethink that.

That is exactly what we found on our 3 wks in Oct. We went early left the parks and rarely had the desire to go back at all later in the day....except EPCOT (stayed at BWV) and would wonder over for a drink and snack. And spent more time eating off property.. on weekend we eat late lunch as big meal. The first time we went off property to eat, we did not take the MB who wants to carry or wear them off property and when we got back the room key(the still gave you them in Oct) locked out of room... 15 +min later after all kinds of processes back in room, lesson learned carry your Disney monitor everywhere you go.
We had decided after that trip not to go at all in March but DS and family decided to come down so now we have to go in a few weeks but only a week. Also thinking of selling DVC or renting points. See how it goes in March and we had our Oct trip for 2014 booked already for BWV so we will see. We also had trouble in Oct with our FP+ rides down and we do not have smart phones, so did not know the rides were down and had hard time finding kiosks there were not many and very hidden. Now I guess with off site people using them there will be lines and easy to find. LOL

 

[tjkraz]

Our touring style has evolved in recent years and is now an ideal fit for FP+. We like to arrive at the parks mid-morning and stay for maybe 4-6 hours. With FP+, there's no danger of our return times being 2-3 hours down the road. We know which headliner attractions we want to ride in advance and can schedule that to fit our preferred touring method.

There's no great impact on our gift shop browsing time or in-park dining. We usually have lunch in the parks and that won't change. Dinner has often been in our villa, resort, DTD, off-site, etc. Again that won't change.

I'm still thrilled that we've been able to completely eliminate the running to get FastPass tickets, the uncertain return times and most of the dead time that often existed between our scheduled ride times.

Years ago we would earlier (typically within an hour of park open) and would hop to a second park almost every day. That style is not a great fit for FP+. Fortunately we've outgrown it.

 

[jade1]

This is our second DVC trip where we have used FP+, and I now know one thing for sure it has done for our Disney touring. At least for us, we find we spend far less time and money in the parks than we used to and far more time just relaxing at the resort and going off site to eat and shop. With Disney making this move and building so many DVC resorts, they may actually be shooting themselves in the foot when it comes to those of us who have traditionally spent the most time and money there over the years.

For neither our 10 day trip in Dec. nor this one so far have we gone back into the parks after we have come back to the resort. We have gone to the parks in the morning to experience lower crowds, and have come back to the villa and either cooked our own meal or gone off site do dine in the evening. Even the thought of going back to see Wishes or Illuminations holds no interest, because it means battling the crowds for a spot to watch something that we've seen dozens of times just to hold our viewing spot.

If these last two trips with FP+ are any indication, this might just have cured me of some of my Disney excess. I am even thinking of how and where I can exchange my points for places other than Disney locations. For 17 years I have been saying that purchasing DVC was the best thing we ever did. Now I'm starting to rethink that.

Great hearing from the locals on this.

I can see some folks that do early park visits and burned out on the night shows taking your opinion. If we visit a park early-we will never use FP+ until that evening in another park. That way the return park will be a great use of time as well.

Opposite for us though. The new system fits like a glove for us. We will never drive anywhere at WDW for one thing. Mostly though our mornings and early afternoons are never park visits. We enjoy fishing and golfing the mornings, and usually close a park so now no need at all to rush in.

Our park visits will continue to be late afternoon through the evenings-but now 1000 times better with FP+, but the evenings and night shows "ARE" some of the main reasons we visit WDW.

If anything we will add many more contracts as the kids now older visit more and more especially with FP+.

As for shooting themselves in the foot-will have to see. This can morph incredibly yet-maybe 3 additional FP+ for DVC owners, or 3 FP+ in one park-then 3 in another. Expansion means more FP+, so they just need to get moving IMO.

As for DVC being the best thing ever-you still have a lot of equity-something you would not have if you had never purchased, so I think you can still say that even if you sell, or you can exchange-still a good thing.

ITA, Diane. The Magic Bands have made trips with DH SO SO much easier. He has health issues to deal with in the morning so we are never able to get to the parks early. Being able to get fast passes for later in the day is a godsend. In both Oct. and Dec. we were also able to change fast passes on the fly with the iPhone app or kiosk. We quit eating much in the parks years ago when the dining plans came along and we still tend to eat off property. I am going in a couple of weeks with DNiece and again at the end of April with DH. It will be interesting to see if the Magic Bands still work as well for us now that they are being used so widely.

Sounds like you are benefitting more than Diane.

 

[Rest&Relax]

FP+ has worked well for us. We are more evening people now. After 20 years with DVC we don't rush in the morning. We enjoy our morning cup of coffee on the balcony, the resort pool then head into a park for early dinner some where. I agree food service is not the same and for that reason this will probable be the last year for TIW.

 

[Rest&Relax]

In addition, so far with the MB no problems. We are down here now waiting to check in at OKW. We we're suppose to fly in today, but the snow /ice storm that hit the Midwest Sunday, we jumped ship on Saturday and flew down then. We arrived at MCO without any reservations. When called DVC no studios available for points (didn't want to waste points) so did cash discount and stayed at Coronado Springs. Resort is nice but definitely not a DVC resort, having truly spoiled myself the past 20 years. We were able to link MB to the resort and made our pre DVC easy to manage. FP+ has worked well. Getting ready to officially start our vacation!

 

[jade1]

FP+ has worked well for us. We are more evening people now. After 20 years with DVC we don't rush in the morning. We enjoy our morning cup of coffee on the balcony, the resort pool then head into a park for early dinner some where. I agree food service is not the same and for that reason this will probable be the last year for TIW.

FWIW-we have found Shulas and Blue Zoo at S&D to be excellent-kind of expensive but the do take TIW, we also enjoy EPCOT dining/drinks-just the whole atmosphere and Illuminations-no way we leave offsite with that a 5 min walk through IG and a ticket in hand. We can drive and eat offsite all year in MPLS-boring.

 

[jade1]

In addition, so far with the MB no problems. We are down here now waiting to check in at OKW. We we're suppose to fly in today, but the snow /ice storm that hit the Midwest Sunday, we jumped ship on Saturday and flew down then. We arrived at MCO without any reservations. When called DVC no studios available for points (didn't want to waste points) so did cash discount and stayed at Coronado Springs. Resort is nice but definitely not a DVC resort, having truly spoiled myself the past 20 years. We were able to link MB to the resort and made our pre DVC easy to manage. FP+ has worked well. Getting ready to officially start our vacation!

Oh my-a vacation before the vacation, nice job.

 

[Rest&Relax]

Oh my-a vacation before the vacation, nice job.

Worked out very well! We have eaten at Shulas to. It just seems we don't eat as much as we use to, plus we don't eat breakfast out as much.

 

[Alice Sr.]

Do not anticipate any changes. We only use AP's, hit whatever park has the least anticipated attendance for the day early, leave by 11:00 for the resort pool and then go to wherever we have our dinner ADR's. Unless it's F & W time, then we spend more time at Epcot.

 

[jade1]

Worked out very well! We have eaten at Shulas to. It just seems we don't eat as much as we use to, plus we don't eat breakfast out as much.

Yea we are headed that way as well, we split the 12 oz filet and the scallops and it's still a struggle-but rarely any wait there (at least early) and very tasty.

We do breakfast in DVC as well-sometimes a Char Breakfast (usually BC)-and now even less hurry after the char breakfast with FP+