WOW, FP+ is worse than I even imagined

[3Gsandme]

I don't agree. All you need is getting there early enough and not a hint of luck. Even with A&E's limited capacity and definitely with 7DMT, all I would need to do back in the day would be to head for the respective FP kiosk and get in that line. Even on busy days, the previous FP eater--TSM--lasted more than an hour (and usually closer to two) before being exhausted.

Well, it's still down to luck a little bit. Even the old way. It also depends on you being able bodied enough to do the rope drop trot. It also depended on the hope that there would be FP left after your window opened. I don't have historical data about exactly how long it took FP to run out when TSMM was new so I can't say how it compares to the A&E fervor. To me, FP+ levels the field a little bit, meaning that some people are doing less and other people are doing more. If you're someone who is doing less, you're a lot less happy than the people who are doing more. OP is the former. I think the perceived "lack of value" coupled with "who moved my cheese?" syndrome makes for really unhappy people. I also think how well you worked the FP system probably directly correlates to how much you hate FP+.

But, to be clear, the amount of people who actually were working the fast pass system to get a dozen a day were a small number. Even if that number seems big on the Dis.

 

[mesaboy2]

1. Well, it's still down to luck a little bit. Even the old way. It also depends on you being able bodied enough to do the rope drop trot.

2. It also depended on the hope that there would be FP left after your window opened.

I don't have historical data about exactly how long it took FP to run out when TSMM was new so I can't say how it compares to the A&E fervor. To me, FP+ levels the field a little bit, meaning that some people are doing less and other people are doing more. If you're someone who is doing less, you're a lot less happy than the people who are doing more. OP is the former. I think the perceived "lack of value" coupled with "who moved my cheese?" syndrome makes for really unhappy people. I also think how well you worked the FP system probably directly correlates to how much you hate FP+.

But, to be clear, the amount of people who actually were working the fast pass system to get a dozen a day were a small number. Even if that number seems big on the Dis.

1. I don't understand how with the old way. Unless you are referring to a very general luck of being able-bodied and healthy.

2. I don't understand what you're saying here.

Before, all I had to do was go early enough and go straight there to get one. That's it, period.

Of course, this debate is academic anyway.

 

[danila]

We used FP+ for our family for 10 days over thanksgiving. We were able to ride everything every day in every park -- not just our 3 FPs. It was easy to change them up too. I did my research and booked them 60 days out. I even changed them daily in the parks. No Disney magic was involved. Just simple planning. Hope you get to try it again and have a better trip

 

[crystal1273]

Now I know some of us like the new system but there are some of us who liked the old system as well
In the pass if we planned a day in Epcot we could get FP's for soaring and/ or test track and then stand by the other one with little to no wait especially early in the morning.
Reports from this summer indicated that Soaring was so bad that they attempted SB+ which failed.
I myself now had to planned both attractions on two different days because of the tiering and book a bunch of fp's for attractions that either we are not interested in or usually don't need fp

 

[mom2rtk]

Well, it's still down to luck a little bit. Even the old way. It also depends on you being able bodied enough to do the rope drop trot.

Even with TSMM, all you needed to be able-bodied enough to do was make it to the FP kiosk within the first hour. No trotting necessary.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

I think the problem with the whole FP+ thing is the cost. Disney has invested 1 billion $ plus into this and who knows, probably much more than that. In the meantime, no new attractions and all kinds of over priced and under whelming experiences they're pushing on everyone trying to pay for it. Not to mention all the cut backs.

It's bad for the overall experience. Very similar to the effect that the DDP has had on the restaurants and menus. FP+ itself is not so horrible but so many other things are suffering because of it.

 

[3Gsandme]

Even with TSMM, all you needed to be able-bodied enough to do was make it to the FP kiosk within the first hour. No trotting necessary.

The idea of rope drop was/is to "move briskly" as soon as you can to your ride of choice, yes? It makes no sense to me that if there was no threat of the FP extinguishing quickly that people would run for them. The idea that they would run out and you had to beat people to the kiosk came from someplace. But, people are weird, so whatever.

Anyhow, I know you're a legacy FP fan, so I don't want to belabor a lot of points here because I find it doubtful I'm going to make you (or OP) feel better about FP+. I think that FP+ has leveled the playing field and, again, if you benefited a lot from legacy FP, you probably don't like it much. For the way I like to tour and plan, FP+ works pretty well.

 

[mesaboy2]

The idea of rope drop was/is to "move briskly" as soon as you can to your ride of choice, yes? It makes no sense to me that if there was no threat of the FP extinguishing quickly that people would run for them. The idea that they would run out and you had to beat people to the kiosk came from someplace. But, people are weird, so whatever.

Anyhow, I know you're a legacy FP fan, so I don't want to belabor a lot of points here because I find it doubtful I'm going to make you (or OP) feel better about FP+. I think that FP+ has leveled the playing field and, again, if you benefited a lot from legacy FP, you probably don't like it much. For the way I like to tour and plan, FP+ works pretty well.

There was no threat of FPs extinguishing that quickly. Why people walked briskly had more to do with trying to get a shorter wait in standby or an earlier FP, but not because FPs would be gone by the time they got there.

 

[Luckybee]

That is the myth that revisionist history hath wrought. There was only one attraction in all of WDW that people ran to early in the day to ensure themselves of a FP, and that was TSMM. Did people rush to get FPs at other attractions? Sure. But did they need to? No. In all of my trips to WDW under the old system, never, ever, EVER, EVER did I get shut out of obtaining a FP for an attraction that I wanted. Never. With the new system, there are a couple of attractions, (and granted, it is only a couple) where one could get shut out even if they do everything "right". No matter how much of a FP+ hater you are, or how much of a FP+ lover you are, there is one inescapable truth which is not subject to varying opinion, and that is that people who arrived at the parks when they opened had a 100% chance of getting FPs for the rides that they wanted and with the exception of one ride, the supply of FPs was never exhausted by noon. Except for TSMM, you could walk into any park at 10:00 a.m. and get any FP that you wanted. It would not be for a time of your choosing, but you could see clear as day what the return time was going to be before you got your pass, so the choice to get one or not was yours. Under the new system, certain attractions can exhaust by 12:15 a.m., 60 days in advance.

Of course, under the new system, one does not have to get up with the roosters to be guaranteed a FP by getting to the park for a morning visit. And one can largely pick the time that best suits them. And those are truly benefits. But they come at the cost of hanging out with the owls at midnight in hopes of getting what you want. Pick your poison. Hang with the roosters or hang with the owls. Some preferred to hang with the roosters and achieve 100% success. Some prefer to hang with the owls and achieve lesser results for the most popular rides. No one is right or wrong.

This^ ...and more importantly (at least for dh and I) we could walk through the parks and not have to worry about fp's since most of the rides we liked
ie : small world, jungle cruise, potc etc. had non existent lines. The longest we EVER waited for any of those was 10 minutes(and many times there was no wait at all).

When I look at the time predictions on our touring plan personalized schedule for the secondary rides I shudder.

For some strange reason this part of the equation always seems to get lost in the fp+ discussions. For us it is the most important part. We were never ride commandos, we rarely did rope drop(like once), we didnt repeat. Yet we could walk into a park, in the late morning or early afternoon, ALWAYS grab a fp for something we wanted, and wander around trying all the rides we wanted with minimal waits. Granted we didnt go in the height of summer, or Xmas or March Break. Looking at touring plans now compared to pre FP+ it literally will take us twice or three times the amount of time to accomplish the same thing if we chose to stand in crazy lines. which we wont. ever. just not worth it for us.

To solve the problem of long lines at the BIG attractions imho Disney now created long lines at all attractions(albeit not AS long)...and why some prefer that is beyond me. I'd rather wait for a longer period of time once or twice and get it out of the way then have to wait....and wait ....and wait.....and wait....and wait...........................................

I dont mind hanging with the owls but I hate hate hate that we would have to waste so much more time in line if we chose a short trip Disney for us has been somewhere where we would on short notice decide to fly into for 4 or 5 days or do it as an add on to a Caribbean trip. Now thats out of the question for us and it means unless we're doing a strictly Orlando holiday we wont be doing Disney at all in the future.

 

[f19810]

We used FP+ for our family for 10 days over thanksgiving. We were able to ride everything every day in every park -- not just our 3 FPs. It was easy to change them up too. I did my research and booked them 60 days out. I even changed them daily in the parks. No Disney magic was involved. Just simple planning. Hope you get to try it again and have a better trip

Keep in mind that when you went last November, not everybody was using fast pass +. Many people used both FP+ and FP and standby lines were not as long as they are now with everybody using FP+. Also, the hardest FP+ to get were not options last year (A & E and 7DMT), Last year, I could decide what park to go to that day and knew that if I made rope drop (not a problem for me) I could get a FP for any ride. This year I have to know what park I am going to 60 days in advance and if I want to change my park days, I may not get the popular FP+ (7DMT, TSMM, Soaring or TT) at convenient times. My main problem with FP+ is the standby lines for rides that didn't have lines before.

The other thing that I don't like is having to stay up until midnight or 1 am to try to get FP+ for the rides/times that I want. I then have to get up at 5:15 to go to work so that I can earn money to pay WDW. At lest if I get up early to make RP (and it would be after 5:15) and I get tired, I am not going to make a mistake that could harm a person. If I get tired at work and make a mistake, the consequences could be harmful to patients.

 

[Suvadoo]

This^ ...and more importantly (at least for dh and I) we could walk through the parks and not have to worry about fp's since most of the rides we liked
ie : small world, jungle cruise, potc etc. had non existent lines. The longest we EVER waited for any of those was 10 minutes(and many times there was no wait at all).

When I look at the time predictions on our touring plan personalized schedule for the secondary rides I shudder.

For some strange reason this part of the equation always seems to get lost in the fp+ discussions. For us it is the most important part. We were never ride commandos, we rarely did rope drop(like once), we didnt repeat. Yet we could walk into a park, in the late morning or early afternoon, ALWAYS grab a fp for something we wanted, and wander around trying all the rides we wanted with minimal waits. Granted we didnt go in the height of summer, or Xmas or March Break. Looking at touring plans now compared to pre FP+ it literally will take us twice or three times the amount of time to accomplish the same thing if we chose to stand in crazy lines. which we wont. ever. just not worth it for us.

To solve the problem of long lines at the BIG attractions imho Disney now created long lines at all attractions(albeit not AS long)...and why some prefer that is beyond me. I'd rather wait for a longer period of time once or twice and get it out of the way then have to wait....and wait ....and wait.....and wait....and wait...........................................

.

This. Everyone keeps mentioning A& E or 7D's, but everything that is a FP+ attraction now has a longer line. Also, the lines start right at rope drop because people have FP+ reservations at opening. With legacy, I remember FP's were not issued until the attraction had a wait.

 

[f19810]

In my opinion, the best thing to do would be a combination of the old and new systems. Everybody can FP+ one ride and the other FP would be at the kiosks (remodeled for the bands). This way, the people who like to know that they can at least ride the most popular rides, can get a FP+ before going to the park and get to the park after rope drop.

 

[Angel Ariel]

This. Everyone keeps mentioning A& E or 7D's, but everything that is a FP+ attraction now has a longer line. Also, the lines start right at rope drop because people have FP+ reservations at opening. With legacy, I remember FP's were not issued until the attraction had a wait.

Not entirely true. FPs were issues at park opening, but the first return time issued was not until appx 40-45 mins after the park opened. So if you grabbed a legacy FP for space mountain at 9:05am, and were in the first window of the day, the return window would start around 9:45am.

 

[f19810]

In my opinion, the best thing to do would be a combination of the old and new systems. Everybody can FP+ one ride and the other FP would be at the kiosks (remodeled for the bands). This way, the people who like to know that they can at least ride the most popular rides, can get a FP+ before going to the park and get to the park after rope drop.

 

[crystal1273]

I think that FP+ has leveled the playing field and, again, if you benefited a lot from legacy FP, you probably don't like it much. For the way I like to tour and plan, FP+ works pretty well.[/QUOTE]

I don't want to get into which system is better and for who and why as we all seem to be expressing the same opinions based on old versus new depending on which we seem to think is the better system.
That being said I have read what you stated above before and would like to know how FP+ has leveled the playing field. Popular FP+ are gone usually with 15 minutes of the midnight hour if not in less time. Forget it if you can only book 30 days out. You have to continue trying to get FP+ days and weeks out for attractions that you want and hope you don't encounter any glitches in the system.
And how is it leveled if you can book all you fp+ for those who have the luxury of taking longing vacations therefore also limiting the amount available.

 

[mom2rtk]

The idea of rope drop was/is to "move briskly" as soon as you can to your ride of choice, yes? It makes no sense to me that if there was no threat of the FP extinguishing quickly that people would run for them. The idea that they would run out and you had to beat people to the kiosk came from someplace. But, people are weird, so whatever.

Nope. No brisk walking required to get a FP for ANY RIDE at WDW with legacy FP. While some might have been rushing to get to the standby line sooner, and some might have wanted to get their FP and get moving to something else, it was a CHOICE. I in fact frequently stopped for a character meet or two on the way into DHS to avoid that initial onslaught of people...... because I knew as long as I was there during the first hour I could still get a TSMM FP.

 

[crostorfer]

The idea of rope drop was/is to "move briskly" as soon as you can to your ride of choice, yes? It makes no sense to me that if there was no threat of the FP extinguishing quickly that people would run for them. The idea that they would run out and you had to beat people to the kiosk came from someplace. But, people are weird, so whatever.

Anyhow, I know you're a legacy FP fan, so I don't want to belabor a lot of points here because I find it doubtful I'm going to make you (or OP) feel better about FP+. I think that FP+ has leveled the playing field and, again, if you benefited a lot from legacy FP, you probably don't like it much. For the way I like to tour and plan, FP+ works pretty well.

Did you ever use legacy FP? I think you are confused as to how it worked on 98% of park days.

You could arrive at DHS after noon on a slow day and still get a TSMM fast pass. You could arrive at 3pm at EPCOT on a slow day and get a fast pass for Soarin or Test Track. You could arrive almost every day at the MK at 7pm and get a fast pass for any of the Mountains.

You are making it sound like in order to get a legacy FP you had to arrive at every park at rope drop and run back to the machine to obtain a FP. That absolutely, positively, was not the case. The playing field was completely level, with any guest who entered the park, no matter where they were staying, having the same opportunity.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Nope. No brisk walking required to get a FP for ANY RIDE at WDW with legacy FP. While some might have been rushing to get to the standby line sooner, and some might have wanted to get their FP and get moving to something else, it was a CHOICE. I in fact frequently stopped for a character meet or two on the way into DHS to avoid that initial onslaught of people...... because I knew as long as I was there during the first hour I could still get a TSMM FP.

Ita. We never literally ran or "moved briskly" for any legacy fp, and that includes TSMM. We never had any issue getting what we wanted, and I.never stressed about it.

Contrast to.now...my fp+ window opens tomorrow night. Last night I was working on firming up our plans, and wow did it stress me out! We have always planned what days we would be in which parks, but we never felt tied to it...with fp+, I am definitely feeling more tied to what decisions we make now. I definitely feel like there is less room for on the fly changes in the plan, and feel more stressed to make sure every person in our party is getting the time they want for what they want to see. Planning is a lot less fun than it used to be.

 

[mom2rtk]

Ita. We never literally ran or "moved briskly" for any legacy fp, and that includes TSMM. We never had any issue getting what we wanted, and I.never stressed about it.

Contrast to.now...my fp+ window opens tomorrow night. Last night I was working on firming up our plans, and wow did it stress me out! We have always planned what days we would be in which parks, but we never felt tied to it...with fp+, I am definitely feeling more tied to what decisions we make now. I definitely feel like there is less room for on the fly changes in the plan, and feel more stressed to make sure every person in our party is getting the time they want for what they want to see. Planning is a lot less fun than it used to be.

I can't decide of these "Legends of Legacy FP" are revisionist history put out there in an effort to make FP+ look better by comparison...... or if people reporting this stuff really just made assumptions about how it would be and never fully tested it for themselves.

 

[RadioFanatic]

What about for those who weren't able to get fast passes until the end of the day in spite of doing it at exactly midnight when we should have? This means we cannot get fast passes during the daytime and we lose out on additional fast passes. Has anybody had that issue and not had a problem with lines?