Who else is glad they do NOT have a trip planned right now?

[wisblue]

My touring style involved 3 parks per day. I was always on it. If that is considered rocket science then I am way smarter than people give me credit for.

I hope you are joking.

Learning what time the FP return time was for a ride is different than being there to get the FP.

 

[magicbob]

And then you would have to transport yourself to the park to claim your FP.

That IS rocket science.

Beam me up, Scotty. There are no FPs on this planet.

 

[motherof2boys]

I feel bad for those who had frustrating experiences lately! We were there 12/27-1/5 and had a great time! We did every ride we wanted too. Some multiple times. We had no problems with our Magic Bands or Fastpass+ We actually loved both. We were booked our Fastpasses the night before but numerous times we changed the times during the day with our Smartphones.
We already have a Summer trip booked & we're so looking forward to it!

 

[Mad Hattered]

I hope you are joking.

Learning what time the FP return time was for a ride is different than being there to get the FP.

I have a car. If you knew how many rides I rode in a day with FP- then it just might blow your mind. Not to mention the paper FPs I brought home as souvenirs. Maybe I really am a rocket scientist?

 

[Sammie]

I have a car. If you knew how many rides I rode in a day with FP- then it just might blow your mind. Not to mention the

paper FPs I brought home as souvenirs

. Maybe I really am a rocket scientist?

You mean you brought home passes you pulled and never used.

If so, I can't imagine why people are shocked they changed it.

 

[Silock]

You mean you brought home passes you pulled and never used.

If so, I can't imagine why people are shocked they changed it.

As many on here are wont to point out, not using a FP "only makes the standby line shorter."

 

[Mad Hattered]

You mean you brought home passes you pulled and never used.

If so, I can't imagine why people are shocked they changed it.

Yes...I explained it in an earlier post.....I have 22 of them in our "Disney box". If you count as many times I have been to Disney and add up the days, then that means I have screwed 0.314 people out of a FP.

And now I crave pie again....great!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes...I explained it in an earlier post.....I have 22 of them in our "Disney box". If you count as many times I have been to Disney and add up the days, then that means I have screwed 0.314 people out of a FP.

And now I crave pie again....great!

 

[Mad Hattered]

Mom. Thanks for letting me stay up late.

 

[amg35]

Answering first post...

I'm thrilled to have a trip scheduled. It's been a long time since just the two of us have been anywhere together ( dogs, work, etc) and we deserve it.

We've saved and are doing it right, Beach Club, end of October, Halloween party, 9 nights... we can't wait.

We aren't people who go to WDW every year and I have no idea when/if we'll go back after this trip. We have a list of vacation spots to visit...

So fast pass, no fast pass, whatever, we are excited. This trip is more about finding all the "hidden" stuff, eating/drinking (food and wine) and just relaxing around the hotel, touring other hotels. We feel we have plenty of time to do that and ride the rides a few times. We feel very fortunate to be able to take this trip.

I hope everyone gets to have a great trip sooner or later.

 

[mom2rtk]

Mom. Thanks for letting me stay up late.

LOL, just make sure you brush your teeth after eating the pie.

 

[shopn24seven]

We were just there, too, late Dec- Early Jan. Froze my petunias off. VERY COLD.
Pre-Planning for 2015 in the SUMMER

 

[shopn24seven]

MB and FP+ worked like a charm about 90% of the time.

 

[CSI007]

Better to be on vacation ANYWHERE, then working.

At this time I don't see any of Disney's changes affecting our touring plans. We always only needed 2 to 3 FPs to do everything we wanted. We have almost always traveled in late May (once in Early October). Our next trip will be late August (first time for this month) which is supposed to be less crowded at that time so we are hoping for even less problems with crowds. If you plan smart even with minimum FPs I think you can do OK. The longest we have ever waited in a line at Disney in Standby was about 20 minutes. We average 5 to 15 with an emphasis on 5.

 

[magicbob]

MB and FP+ worked like a charm about 90% of the time.

In what business is a 10% failure rate considered acceptable?

Also, 90% success may have been your experience, but many people have been reporting much worse performance. And it's one thing if the MB doesn't work when you try to pay for your Dole Whip and another matter entirely when it won't let you into the park and you have to spend an hour at GS while all the people who were behind you in the line are merrily streaming into the park, so by the time you actually get in, you've not only lost 30-60 minutes of your time, but it was 30-60 minutes of valuable "prime touring plan" time. If I want to spend my vacation gambling, I'll go to Vegas instead.

And a lot of people are unhappy with FP+ even when it IS "working like a charm" (i.e., as designed). Time spent in a long line to GET the FP+ (I have informed you thusly), only to find out that the most popular rides are already sold out (I have informed you thusly), record breaking (long) FP return lines (I have informed you thusly), and longer standby lines at attractions that never even needed a FP before (I have informed thusly).

To summarize:

 

[bjakmom]

I have a car. If you knew how many rides I rode in a day with FP- then it just might blow your mind. Not to mention the paper FPs I brought home as souvenirs. Maybe I really am a rocket scientist?

Now we know who to blame for FP+!!!!

You mean you brought home passes you pulled and never used.

If so, I can't imagine why people are shocked they changed it.

The problem (well, one of them) that I foresee is, I can't imagine how many FP+ will go unused and uncancelled under this new system. I have 3 groups of friends who have been in the last few months and they all reported that they did not use about 50% of their scheduled FP+s in the parks due to not making the times or changing their plans (imagine that) and not being able to get the site to work to change or cancel them. In Nov we were there for 3 days and 1 whole day went unused when we decided to return to a different park that afternoon. I tried to cancel and rebook, but after a few tries and repeated "glitch" in the system messages, I gave up. So I was about a 33.3% 'nonuser'. No comparison to my nonuse when I didn't have to plan what I wanted to ride 60 days in advance.

Answering first post...

I'm thrilled to have a trip scheduled. It's been a long time since just the two of us have been anywhere together ( dogs, work, etc) and we deserve it.

We've saved and are doing it right, Beach Club, end of October, Halloween party, 9 nights... we can't wait.

We aren't people who go to WDW every year and I have no idea when/if we'll go back after this trip. We have a list of vacation spots to visit...

So fast pass, no fast pass, whatever, we are excited. This trip is more about finding all the "hidden" stuff, eating/drinking (food and wine) and just relaxing around the hotel, touring other hotels. We feel we have plenty of time to do that and ride the rides a few times. We feel very fortunate to be able to take this trip.

I hope everyone gets to have a great trip sooner or later.

That is my hope too, amg35, have a wonderful trip and enjoy!

 

[magicbob]

The problem (well, one of them) that I foresee is, I can't imagine how many FP+ will go unused and uncancelled under this new system.

Agreed. Sure, occasionally an unused FP was brought home and put in a scrapbook, but more often they were given to someone else and got used (some here will argue that was abuse).

Before anyone touts that unused FP+ slots will only make the standby line move faster... I concede that. However... an unused FP+ may make the standby line 119 minutes instead of 120 minutes for each person waiting in that line. There is only a miniscule benefit to the standby line. Whereas, under the legacy FP system, if the FP was (gasp) "transferred" to someone else, that family would actually realize a significant benefit (5-15 minutes vs. 120 minute wait).

Sorry if you don't think that's "fair" but I would much rather see one family receive some pixie dust and save 1-2 hours, than for every person in the line to save 1 minute.

The problem with wanting "equality of outcomes" is that the only way this can be achieved is for everyone to be equally miserable.

 

[bjakmom]

Agreed. Sure, occasionally an unused FP was brought home and put in a scrapbook, but more often they were given to someone else and got used (some here will argue that was abuse).

Before anyone touts that unused FP+ slots will only make the standby line move faster... I concede that. However... an unused FP+ may make the standby line 119 minutes instead of 120 minutes for each person waiting in that line. There is only a miniscule benefit to the standby line. Whereas, under the legacy FP system, if the FP was (gasp) "transferred" to someone else, that family would actually realize a significant benefit (5-15 minutes vs. 120 minute wait).

Sorry if you don't think that's "fair" but I would much rather see one family receive some pixie dust and save 1-2 hours, than for every person in the line to save 1 minute.

The problem with wanting "equality of outcomes" is that the only this can be achieved is for everyone to be equally miserable.

That was one of our favorite things to do with FP- we couldn't use - DGrD10 loved picking the people approaching a long stand-by line or just entering the park as we were leaving and spreading a little magic. Loved seeing them smile when they realized they had been pixie dusted.

I am hoping that this new system does not create the 'grumpy' syndrome we often see on extremely hot, busy, or long line days - it seems that by 'testing' a system that is not working well, disney is creating a situation where people feel stressed and annoyed at the way their day is going and the amount of time they are asked to deal with fixing things - not to mention the decrease for many in FPs. I am not happy about the amount of time I have already spent on the phone with IT dealing with MDEx problems - so I'm already not entering this next trip with my usual joy, knowing that I have to go right to GS to straighten out these tickets. I think this new system will spawn a growing trend of guests arguing with CMs at the FP+ line trying to get them to let them through. We all know how difficult those situations are for the poor CMs.

Too many grumpy people in the parks makes for a lesser experience for everyone - no matter how many rides you get to ride.

 

[Son of Gadsden]

In what business is a 10% failure rate considered acceptable?

Clearly, not Disney. That's why they're still testing it.

Also, 90% success may have been your experience, but many people have been reporting much worse performance. And it's one thing if the MB doesn't work when you try to pay for your Dole Whip and another matter entirely when it won't let you into the park and you have to spend an hour at GS while all the people who were behind you in the line are merrily streaming into the park, so by the time you actually get in, you've not only lost 30-60 minutes of your time, but it was 30-60 minutes of valuable "prime touring plan" time. If I want to spend my vacation gambling, I'll go to Vegas instead.

Inconsistent results are typical of testing phases. I would say that at this point, if you feel that way and don't feel like it's worth it to go to Disney if you have the risk of having a bad experience with a testing phase, you should go to Vegas until the phase is over. Anyone going to Disney should be researching what's going on at that point, and know that it's a risk. Things are always changing, and it's irresponsible not to do your research. It works that way for everything. If you decide to take a vacation to the beach, and you don't do any research and just blindly go to your hotel, you may find that a hurricane destroyed the local pier last hurricane season. Maybe you planned to fish off of that pier and now your vacation isn't what it could have been. Not accusing you of not researching, you clearly have, as you know what MM+ is.

And a lot of people are unhappy with FP+ even when it IS "working like a charm" (i.e., as designed). Time spent in a long line to GET the FP+ (I have informed you thusly), only to find out that the most popular rides are already sold out (I have informed you thusly), record breaking (long) FP return lines (I have informed you thusly), and longer standby lines at attractions that never even needed a FP before (I have informed thusly).

As I'm not a fan of quoting parts of a post I disagree with and disregarding the points I agree with and thus making the OP look like they had no good points, I'll say I agree with this. I really enjoyed FP+, but one of the few complaints I had last trip was the fastpass lines. It was kind of ridiculous. However, a lot of it was user error. FP times are being strictly enforced now. If you are 5 minutes early, your mickey is blue instead of green. There were a lot of people who did not speak English, or couldn't accept the fact that they were early that held up the line. To put it boldly, when I go to Disney, i accept the fact that I'm going to deal with a lot of stupidity. But no, FP and the rest of MM+ clearly isn't going off without a hitch. But, once again, it's in a testing phase, so clearly Disney doesn't consider it a finished product.

It's an inconvenience for those that end up on the wrong end of the testing phase spectrum. But, I really think it's unavoidable if you want progress, just like the unsightly construction that some say ruins the magic has to take place in order to have more attractions. We can all stay in our safe box and have no changes ever happen, and never have any improvements or progress, or we can deal with the inconveniences.

 

[magicbob]

That was one of our favorite things to do with FP- we couldn't use - DGrD10 loved picking the people approaching a long stand-by line or just entering the park as we were leaving and spreading a little magic. Loved seeing them smile when they realized they had been pixie dusted.

Abuser!

I think this new system will spawn a growing trend of guests arguing with CMs at the FP+ line trying to get them to let them through. We all know how difficult those situations are for the poor CMs.

Disney has opened themselves up for this. It's a self-inflicted wound. I'm all for adding technology, but unless they are willing to risk turning away people who DO have a FP even though the blue Mickey may be a tech glitch, there's no way to stop people from abusing the new system. Ironic isn't it? For all of the talk of how the old system was "abused" at least you either had a "ticket" (paper FP) or you didn't. Now if you have one you can't prove it, and if you don't have one, the CM can't prove that you don't. It will be interesting to see if they take a hardline stance on the blue Mickey (previous precedent as well as recent reports indicate that they will just let anyone in if they argue).