WOW, FP+ is worse than I even imagined

[boomgoesthemickey]

Welcome to the party pal!

yippy kay yay..

 

[crostorfer]

Amen, OP.

I'm not even bothering trying to make FP+ reservations in the 4-7 window, staying offsite at Uni. We may not even show up until 6:30ish. It's just too much of a headache. We'll just take advantage of low wait times during the party. I don't want our costumes to get messed up anyway.

 

[Luvchefmic]

But it is very different to say: "Sorry you had the experience you did. We used FP+ and MDE and had a very different experience. Our family loved it."

...than it is to say....

"You obviously didn't know what you were doing. You should have done more research. FP+ works great for people who understand how it works and you obviously had no interest in even trying to find out."

Both posts would, technically, be "opposing opinions". And both are "allowed" on this site. But doesn't one of the two sound more genuine and doesn't the other sound petty and pointless?

While I agree with you I have to say usually the post that starts a thread can set a tone for the way the thread will go. This one came out swinging, spitting, and fighting mad.

 

[aaarcher86]

We just linked our tickets 40 days out so that is why there was nothing for A&E and 7DMT the other day. We did get 7DMT but it dropped our other FP for that day.
I have A&E for one of our kids. She's four. It shouldn't have even let me make that selection.

Definitely agree with that.

 

[maxiesmom]

While I agree with you I have to say usually the post that starts a thread can set a tone for the way the thread will go. This one came at swinging, spitting, and fighting mad.

Yep. It is easier to pat a calm dog on the head than one that is snarling at you.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

So, after realizing about a year ago that FP+ was going to ruin WDW vacations, and in spite of the many who "love the flexibility of only getting 3 rides, but they can sleep in", I had my first encounter with this abomination today.

The FP+ reservation process could use A LOT of streamlining! Not easy nor intuitive, unless you are happy taking Disney's selections as they are and booking your whole party at once. Any changes to that seem way more complicated - with several dead ends - than it needs to be.

That said... Over the past year, I've taken time to read Mesa's comprehensive FP+ thread and others, and knew what to expect. With that, my reservation process went off without a hitch. Should it be that complicated? No. But for a DISer watching this stuff for about a year, the info was available to us to help.

And as with anything, it seems that very often when one expects a debacle and focuses energy on that expectation, one gets it. Sad but true.

I hope that, assuming you go on this trip, you ultimately enjoy it despite this experience.

 

[maxiesmom]

I might be confused on this whole situation here, but if you only have MNSSHP tickets which means you can't enter the park until I think 4PM, even under the old paper fastpass system I would think by then all paper fastpasses would have been distributed for "Dwarf Hill" and Belle. So essentially you would have had the same result you have now, right.

There you go, thinking things through and making sense.

 

[smitch425]

Right now I just have A&E for my four year old. I have no idea how I made one reservation since she isn't 7 yet.

While the ticket is assigned to her name, it doesn't recognize her age. It is just recognized as a ticket for someone age 3-9. Similar to how the MNSSHP ticket is just recognized as a one day MK ticket.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

While the ticket is assigned to her name, it doesn't recognize her age. It is just recognized as a ticket for someone age 3-9. Similar to how the MNSSHP ticket is just recognized as a one day MK ticket.

It does recognize her age as it said she had to be accompanied by somebody but it wouldn't let me choose another party member and made the selection for her anyway.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

The FP+ reservation process could use A LOT of streamlining! Not easy nor intuitive, unless you are happy taking Disney's selections as they are and booking your whole party at once. Any changes to that seem way more complicated - with several dead ends - than it needs to be. QUOTE]

This ^^^^

If you make your reservations for your entire party and do not change attractions it works quite well. A&E and the dwarf hill are the pain. When we added 7DMT it deleted our previously chosen FPs. I was on the phone for over 30 minutes to fix it.

Our experience these past few days sucked. This is our second time using FP+ as we were part of the testing last year.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

KikiMouse - no doubt -- the thing is messy. I couldn't get over the "dead end" that when you cancel one FP+, no option to add one back. Maybe that's worth a little popup screen when you go to cancel, no?? Needing to cancel all and start over or call WDW to add one for you is ridiculous.

Now, I avoided this problem by reading threads on here, though. And doing a "test run" before our 60 day window opened. Does feel a bit like you need a degree in FP+ to get it all right.

Sorry it's been a pain for you.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

If we tried to book them 60 days out then it would have been better I would think.

It's the "golden ticket" attractions that are the problem. Everything else is fine.

and yes, it should have a pop up to tell you that you will lose other selections. It really should have a pop up asking you which selection you want to drop in place of your new selection. Maybe with all the phone calls they will upgrade the system some day.

 

[missmun52]

It may be time for a reminder....

When people come to this Board and post that FP+ and MDE worked flawlessly for them and that they are the greatest invention of all time, that is not an ivitation for the nay-sayers to chime in that the poster is some combination of a liar or cheerleader. Let them post their experiences; let's all absorb them; and let's move on.

Likewise, when a poster comes here and posts how horrible their experience was, that is not an invitation to the supporters to call out the OP; imply that they are an idiot; accuse them of not doing enough research; or fault them for not knowing every trick in the book. Remember that the very fact that the OP is here on this site means that he is statistically toward the front of the curve of FP knowledge. The vast majority of people who go to WDW will go in with less FP savvy than the OP. So if the OP had issues, even though he had a headstart on using the system, you can imagine what the majority of guests will face. Sure, there are lots of great resources here, including mesaboy2's soon-to-be-named Thread of the Year. But those resources will be read and digested by a percentage of guests that is too small to calculate. To some extent, WDW is responsible for creating a system that is user friendly, glitch-free and intuitive. I'll let you decide if they have done that. But piling on a poster for not understanding the system is more of an indictment of the sytem itself than of the user. The OP had his experience and you all have yours. Let it go. Both ways.

We'll stated!

 

[jeneric997]

I've had two different experiences with trying to reserve FP+ for 7DMT. Trip in mid August crowd level 6-8. DD invites a friend 55 days out. At 50 days out no problem copying all FP+ experiences, including 7DMT on 3 days.

Fast forward to my September trip. Crowd level 3. DH didn't have his ticket until 57 days out- couldn't copy 7DMT at all. Took about 2 weeks just to get him on the ride. Since then I have never been able to adjust his time! Maybe Disney is releasing less FP+ at slower times??????

The amount of time to log on to MDE, deal with the site.... it negates a lot of the + in FP+. If we can't get the time changed, we will show up at RD to ride it together, but again, having to show up at RD negates the + in FP+!

The thing that worries me is that capacity for rides won't increase, so as more people use the system it will get harder to get a lot of rides not just 2 or 3. The success stories we hear and I've experienced may not last long.

 

[JanieMc]

KikiMouse - no doubt -- the thing is messy. I couldn't get over the "dead end" that when you cancel one FP+, no option to add one back. Maybe that's worth a little popup screen when you go to cancel, no?? Needing to cancel all and start over or call WDW to add one for you is ridiculous.

Now, I avoided this problem by reading threads on here, though. And doing a "test run" before our 60 day window opened. Does feel a bit like you need a degree in FP+ to get it all right.

Sorry it's been a pain for you.

Me too. We just got back and it really did take lots of know-how to uh, know how it goes. And it was confining. What it does, imho, is switch things up so those of us who had touring down pat, or at least to our liking, have to relearn it all. There should definitely be more prompts. I agree what I learned on the Dis made things a lot more expected and doable. I can see how it can be a mess for some folks, even if they're up on the subject. This said, I enjoyed what we did, and the opportunities like Wishes FP+ (even if the view isn't the best, lolling on the grass is awesome) were nice.

It seemed to me that the people in FP+ lines were treated fairly--they got priority and it was right. We didn't feel slighted or anything standing in line and seeing others go ahead--we'd done that ourselves before... but yes, I totally empathize with those who are critical. There's a good bit to be critical of, and a good bit to enjoy.

 

[smitch425]

It does recognize her age as it said she had to be accompanied by somebody but it wouldn't let me choose another party member and made the selection for her anyway.

Interesting! Thanks for that correction. I'm guessing they allow it to be booked because she could be going with someone in a different room/party. It is good that they have that warning. Hopefully you can work it out and get at least one more FP. Good luck!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

There's a good bit to be critical of, and a good bit to enjoy.

Agreed!

 

[plumsiren]

It may be time for a reminder....

When people come to this Board and post that FP+ and MDE worked flawlessly for them and that they are the greatest invention of all time, that is not an ivitation for the nay-sayers to chime in that the poster is some combination of a liar or cheerleader. Let them post their experiences; let's all absorb them; and let's move on.

Likewise, when a poster comes here and posts how horrible their experience was, that is not an invitation to the supporters to call out the OP; imply that they are an idiot; accuse them of not doing enough research; or fault them for not knowing every trick in the book. Remember that the very fact that the OP is here on this site means that he is statistically toward the front of the curve of FP knowledge. The vast majority of people who go to WDW will go in with less FP savvy than the OP. So if the OP had issues, even though he had a headstart on using the system, you can imagine what the majority of guests will face. Sure, there are lots of great resources here, including mesaboy2's soon-to-be-named Thread of the Year. But those resources will be read and digested by a percentage of guests that is too small to calculate. To some extent, WDW is responsible for creating a system that is user friendly, glitch-free and intuitive. I'll let you decide if they have done that. But piling on a poster for not understanding the system is more of an indictment of the sytem itself than of the user. The OP had his experience and you all have yours. Let it go. Both ways.

The issue is when a poster makes sweeping generalizations about how no one could possibly be having a good experience under the same conditions. At that point, it's only fair for other posters to counter that with their own experiences. You're practically inviting it by making statements of opinion out to be statements of fact.

 

[itchin2go]

The issue is when a poster makes sweeping generalizations about how no one could possibly be having a good experience under the same conditions. At that point, it's only fair for other posters to counter that with their own experiences. You're practically inviting it by making statements of opinion out to be statements of fact.

Well said.

 

[Planogirl]

The issue is when a poster makes sweeping generalizations about how no one could possibly be having a good experience under the same conditions. At that point, it's only fair for other posters to counter that with their own experiences. You're practically inviting it by making statements of opinion out to be statements of fact.

I agree! I try to be careful to say that I personally don't like something or that it doesn't work for me. I realize that others might love something I can't stand and vice versa.