You can accomplish just as much...if not more with FastPass+!!!!!

[morethananyonex]

Several people have posted on various forums today that they got TSM as their fourth FastPass. Anecdotal, sure, but there you have it.

Others have posted that they attempted to change TSMM FP+ earlier in the day and were given no availability. Seems like Disney may be holding back slots and releasing them throughout the day.

 

[MuddyTires]

The crowd level is a 3 or 4. Sheesh. It's not like this is summer or Christmas crowds. Not to mention, this isn't widely available knowledge yet. Yep, we on the DIS and various sites are very aware of it.

Speculation would lead one to believe that if you go during low crowd seasons this may be your reality. Sweet deal. For those that travel during busier times it may not be. We won't know that until they "test" summer and Christmas. That means we have 7 more months of not really knowing what the heck is going on. Luckily we have people like Josh that have access to data that can actually track this stuff. Do you think you would get it from Disney? He is going to call it like he sees it, one way or the other.

Perhaps if he put it in a glossy brochure and explained it's "magical" potential you would understand. Maybe not.

Lol - where do u think josh is getting the data from??

 

[mom2rtk]

Others have posted that they attempted to change TSMM FP+ earlier in the day and were given no availability. Seems like Disney may be holding back slots and releasing them throughout the day.

I wonder if that will be standard operating procedure down the line, or if they kept some to "surprise and delight" some folks on "4th FP Rollout Day".

FP Roulette. How fun.

 

[morethananyonex]

I wonder if that will be standard operating procedure down the line, or if they kept some to "surprise and delight" some folks on "4th FP Rollout Day".

FP Roulette. How fun.

FP Roulette. Still better than shovelling snow .

 

[Mad Hattered]

Lol - where do u think josh is getting the data from??

I totally think Walt was buried with a smartphone and he is keeping him in the loop.

 

[AndreaA]

This is exactly what I am talking about. Like many others from both viewpoints you are cherry picking things Josh says that jives with your personal opinions of either individual aspects of the system or the system overall and then concluding that "he views it negatively".

I'm not trying to single you out in particular. Almost everybody is doing this assuming Josh is coming down one way or the other regarding the system. If you read his recent posts regarding FP Plus there is no way you can say Josh is either for it or against it in any way IMO....

Actually, I never said that I thought Josh views FP+ negatively as a whole - and expounded upon that in another post above your most recent. What I am saying is that his data shows and he agrees that FP+ IS increasing standby waits. Now if you think that's okay, then feel free to say why you feel that way. For me, and for others, longer standby waits are NOT a good thing, no matter what the possible benefits of FP+.

 

[Jennasis]

FP Roulette. Still better than shovelling snow .

I'm gonna get that tattooed on my left arm.

 

[minmate]

All you need is no kids and possibly one of the greatest theme-park commando strategists of our time in your group, and you'll get done "just as much as before, if not more." I'm sold. Anyone have the AP sign-up URL handy? Oh, and DVC? Yep, I'm a tough crowd.

You mean the AP/DVC URL to sign up for all those future "free" trips, right?

 

[Mad Hattered]

I'm gonna get that tattooed on my left arm.

Pretty soon you will look this when you are trying to book your 4th FP+.

 

[minmate]

All you need is no kids and possibly one of the greatest theme-park commando strategists of our time in your group, and you'll get done "just as much as before, if not more." I'm sold. Anyone have the AP sign-up URL handy? Oh, and DVC? Yep, I'm a tough crowd.

You mean the URL for all the "free" AP/DVC trips, right? I've been meaning to track that down too!

 

[SashaFarce]

Josh is awesome. All other arguments are invalid.

In all seriousness (well, I was pretty serious on the line above, but whatever), if you like your own touring style better than Josh's, you do you. If WDW's business changes are hampering your style, open your own park. Things are going to change - accept it, move on, it's working for many people and is not the massive failure that the doomsayers keep reporting. It works a heck of a lot for me.

I also chose not to have children, and if you make that choice, then that is the choice you made and you have to live with it when it comes to vacation planning. I also choose not to rope drop. Josh doesn't rope drop all the time either. Not every experience is the same and who cares if it is?!

 

[Jennasis]

Pretty soon you will look this when you are trying to book your 4th FP+.

It'll go great with the dolphins-wearing-Mickey-ears ankle bracelet tattoo...

 

[jade1]

The crowd level is a 3 or 4. Sheesh. It's not like this is summer or Christmas crowds.

Yea all along everyone kept saying this would work great except summer and XMAS.

 

[notfrostyjosh]

If you want to know what "Josh" thinks about something, you can just ask.

FastPass+ is a complicated subject with positive and negative impacts on the overall theme park experience. Sometimes I discuss positive impacts, other times I discuss negative impacts. But talking about one thing that's negative doesn't mean FP+ is "bad" and discussing another aspect as positive doesn't make it "good." So if you want to know what I think, it's that FP+ makes some things easier and other things harder. That is not an inconsistent point of view.

I am not real sure how to address many of the other comments in this thread. It is true that I know what I'm doing and in these kinds of posts, I follow my own advice and use hundreds of pictures and thousands of words to explain why it works and what you can do differently if you need to make changes. Of my theme park visits, less than 1% are rope drops. I don't like to get up that early any more than anyone else does. But the purpose of the post linked is to go through the (usually new) ideal morning plans as written so that's what you see.

The plans are written for a family with cushioning on the expected arrival/departure times to take into account strollers, slower walkers, etc. You'll note that I am 15 minutes behind the entire morning because I spent that long taking pictures of the Mine Train and Anna and Elsa and whatnot. Several times throughout the morning I also went back over there to check on things. I also experienced a 10+ minute delay on Splash Mountain and several minutes at Haunted Mansion, among other technical issues. The plan still worked perfectly with virtually no waits. If your experience following the plans is different (something that isn't noted in this thread or any other that I've seen - just hypothetical "but josh you dont have any kids and sprint to every attraction and you don't go to Winnie the Pooh seven times in one morning), I would be more than happy to address those concerns.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Josh is awesome. All other arguments are invalid.

In all seriousness (well, I was pretty serious on the line above, but whatever), if you like your own touring style better than Josh's, you do you. If WDW's business changes are hampering your style, open your own park. Things are going to change - accept it, move on, it's working for many people and is not the massive failure that the doomsayers keep reporting. It works a heck of a lot for me.

I also chose not to have children, and if you make that choice, then that is the choice you made and you have to live with it when it comes to vacation planning. I also choose not to rope drop. Josh doesn't rope drop all the time either. Not every experience is the same and who cares if it is?!

I prefer to picture Josh as suave.

I like my touring style but am not one to turn anyone down if they can do it better and give me some tricks to enhance my experience. I think Josh does a great job. I don't know if I like him more for his cargo shorts or the snark. Personally, I find him funny as Hell (which is an argument in itself and am surprised no one on the DIS has argued that there is no way Hell can be fun).

His honesty is refreshing (one way or the other)...and not in a Durian fruit kinda way.

 

[jade1]

OK I'll ask:

Is this sound advice for tomorrow?

By the time you can theoretically select a fourth FP+, many of the top selections will be gone, including Toy Story Mania, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Soarin’, and Test Track most days.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Yea all along everyone kept saying this would work great except summer and XMAS.

Well apparently they were so confident in the system that they didn't do this "test" for the last three weeks when crowds were 8s. You know, just to get a "feel" for it.

 

[notfrostyjosh]

One other helpful piece of information easywdw pulls is FP+ availability at every attraction, all day. So I can tell you exactly when Toy Story Mania ran out of FP+ on March 22nd or exactly what times were available at Soarin' on April 19th at 11:36am. Based on what I've seen, by 1pm FP+ availability for the headlining attractions is going to be slim and then quickly deplete as it gets later. There are cancellations and other oddities that cause FP+ to become available unexpectedly. Crowds today were much lower than expected to the point where there were 19 people in line at Soarin' at 8pm. It would not surprise me if FP+ availability is fairly healthy tomorrow at 1pm, but we are talking return times at Test Track for 6:15pm and Toy Story Mania from 7:45pm - 8:45pm. Available, probably. But not necessarily convenient and they will go quickly.

 

[TLSnell1981]

My friends just returned from being there the full week of Easter.
They felt that hands-down their best advantage had nothing to do with FP+, but utilizing the MDE app for wait times. You don't hear much about the app, but I plan on relying on that during our upcoming trip and see where it takes us. We'll definitely FP our must do's but I think most choices will be made on the app's wait times. We'll see what happens -- but I'm definitely going to go with a positive attitude. I can't wait to be there!

I'm here now, and I hate the app. It's buggy...and a bit schizo. My room ressie disappeared the day we arrived, AND the second leg was mysteriously cancelled. While, Disney "fixed" the reservation (only appeared internally). The dang app deleted all my dining AND FP for that period. GS says, "it doesn't "communicate" sometimes. Oh, and to just go to the kiosk line, if (and when) it happens again". I don't think so... I really shouldn't have to work this hard or waste my time (approximately 3 hours) making their darling baby behave.

And, that's besides, the huge issue with the Firework Dessert Party. 650+ unsuspecting guests were affected by the "systems's boo boo". Yes,the FP lines are quite long. I will stop now, before I go with other "sweet nothings", regarding new "enhancements".

Look, I moan and groan about multiple changes, that were made, within a short time frame and with LOTs of issues. I'll admit, that drink vinegar for breakfast and spout hyperbole, but... Oops, there I go...AGAIN!

Just say to the the app!

 

[Shaden]

If you want to know what "Josh" thinks about something, you can just ask.

FastPass+ is a complicated subject with positive and negative impacts on the overall theme park experience. Sometimes I discuss positive impacts, other times I discuss negative impacts. But talking about one thing that's negative doesn't mean FP+ is "bad" and discussing another aspect as positive doesn't make it "good." So if you want to know what I think, it's that FP+ makes some things easier and other things harder. That is not an inconsistent point of view.

The plans are written for a family with cushioning on the expected arrival/departure times to take into account strollers, slower walkers, etc. You'll note that I am 15 minutes behind the entire morning- just hypothetical "but josh you dont have any kids and sprint to every attraction and you don't go to Winnie the Pooh seven times in one morning), I would be more than happy to address those concerns.

Your First point, I clearly agree. But I do wonder what you think about my overall interpretation, essentially: If you have a good plan and RD, you can still get as much (potentially more) done before noon. If you plan on arriving later, the increased SB lines are probably going to make it difficult for you to get as much done as in the past ? Though this might vary from low, and moderate season to High season. I think there really will be different impacts depending.

As for the later part, I hope you didn't take offense as I quoted others, and posted my own experience and expected experience, but, once we throw in the little kids and the older lady on the scooter, we very probably wont be able to keep up with that touring schedule. I wonder then at which point the crowds will overcome us. That being said, for my wife and I, alone, the first week, as people who work out and can book it if we want to, not going to be a problem.

One other helpful piece of information easywdw pulls is FP+ availability at every attraction, all day. So I can tell you exactly when Toy Story Mania ran out of FP+ on March 22nd or exactly what times were available at Soarin' on April 19th at 11:36am. Based on what I've seen, by 1pm FP+ availability for the headlining attractions is going to be slim and then quickly deplete as it gets later. There are cancellations and other oddities that cause FP+ to become available unexpectedly. Crowds today were much lower than expected to the point where there were 19 people in line at Soarin' at 8pm. It would not surprise me if FP+ availability is fairly healthy tomorrow at 1pm, but we are talking return times at Test Track for 6:15pm and Toy Story Mania from 7:45pm - 8:45pm. Available, probably. But not necessarily convenient and they will go quickly.

And this stuff sounds awesome, so I PM'd you.