I've been reading these forums for a while and after returning from my 15th trip to Disney last week, I thought I'd finally share my thoughts on the disaster that is fastpass plus:
1) I stay offsite-it's more cost effective and convenient for my family. However, on this trip, it made me feel like a second class citizen with the new system of fastpass plus
2) The lines to do fastpass plus signups were VERY long. I was there at rope drop during a low-crowd week and still had to wait on line in all parks for 15-30 minutes on some occasions just to get my fastpass plus. And not being able to change a time on my phone just because I'm staying offsite was absurd. I would have to wait on line for 15-30 minutes all over again
3) There are not enough faspass plus kiosks at many locations-and to try and compensate they had people with ipads there trying to do selections as well. The ipads frequently malfunctioned causing much frustration.
4) I hated how the whole fastpass plus made the disney experience feel-as someone who was coordinating what we were going to do each day, this felt like work for the first time. And there was also a lot of stress and running to make our hour windows for rides or else risk losing them. All sense of reason was gone. At major rides like space mountain if you showed up 5 minutes early or 5 minutes late and that stupid scanner didn't turn green you were denied entry. It's an amusement park, not the DMV. The sense of fun and spontaneity is being drained for an adult with kids going to Disney. If your kids have to pee, that's too bad. Make your window or lose it. Zero understanding that a large percentage of their customers are parties with young children, and there is nothing more unpredictable (except maybe the weather) than the behavior of a young child.
5) At MAgic Kingdom, I was one of the first on line to sign up for fastpass plus. Except the ipad kept malfunctioning. After 30 MINUTES, they finally got me signed in. By then ALL times for Enchanted Tales were gone. I complained-the person I was working with said: "what's the big deal-the wait is only 30 minutes?" (clearly someone that's never had to stand on line with a 1 year old and a 4 year old)-after getting it bumped to A 4th LEVEL SUPERVISOR and 20 more minutes, they finally said: "you're right, we'll get you in to Enchanted Tales"
6) The 3 ride limit at magic kingdom is absurd-with so many rides affected by lines, why are you forcing people to make choices? Again it takes the fun away for the person planning. They are literally asking you to plan your entire day before you even get there. And once you're there, you feel pressured to plan it right, or else stand on line for a ride you misjudged.
7) I hated separating from my family during my fastpass plus wait-I missed my kids' faces on entering the park becasue I have to run ahead to make sure we get the fastpassses and don't stand on line for the rides they want to go on. To be fair, I used to run ahead to fastpass one ride in the past as well (i.e. toy story in DHS-however, I could be there and back before my family even made it to the wizard's hat-now I ahve to wait on line and do this whole process of choosing the whole day-I lost the first 30 minutes with my family every disney day)
8) I agree with others who have posted that Disney will increase the number of fastpasses by offering them for a fee soon. Congratulations: you'll make more money. But you're also upsetting longtime customers and fans like myself who are not as excited to go back in the future as I used to be. This trip was work and while I enjoyed it, it was because I like spending time with my family. My enjoyment was in spite of Disney, not because.
9) We did Sea World and universal as well this trip and the contrast I felt on thise days compared to my Disney days highlighted everything above for me. Those days were Waaaaaay more relaxing.
10) I'm on the Winnie the Pooh regular standby line. There is NOBODY waiting in the fastpass line. Zero people. However, the lady running the line held us for nearly 15 minutes at that branch point. With my 1 year old screaming I asked her why she couldn't move us forward. Her answer: "just in case someone comes with a fastpass." Now as someone holding a fastpass I of course would want to get in fast. But there was NOBODY there, and she held the standby line for almost 15 minutes. She said this was part of the new policies. The standby line would be hled for stretches to minimize the waits for people with fastpasses.
Those are my thoughts. I'm not naive. I know this is about money. I get it. But I'm unhappy and thought I'd share it. Perhaps if they hear enough unhappiness, it will make a difference. Who knows? But I felt it neccesary to post. I don't know who has had good experiences with this system, but this was mine and I wanted to share it.
1) I stay offsite-it's more cost effective and convenient for my family. However, on this trip, it made me feel like a second class citizen with the new system of fastpass plus
2) The lines to do fastpass plus signups were VERY long. I was there at rope drop during a low-crowd week and still had to wait on line in all parks for 15-30 minutes on some occasions just to get my fastpass plus. And not being able to change a time on my phone just because I'm staying offsite was absurd. I would have to wait on line for 15-30 minutes all over again
3) There are not enough faspass plus kiosks at many locations-and to try and compensate they had people with ipads there trying to do selections as well. The ipads frequently malfunctioned causing much frustration.
4) I hated how the whole fastpass plus made the disney experience feel-as someone who was coordinating what we were going to do each day, this felt like work for the first time. And there was also a lot of stress and running to make our hour windows for rides or else risk losing them. All sense of reason was gone. At major rides like space mountain if you showed up 5 minutes early or 5 minutes late and that stupid scanner didn't turn green you were denied entry. It's an amusement park, not the DMV. The sense of fun and spontaneity is being drained for an adult with kids going to Disney. If your kids have to pee, that's too bad. Make your window or lose it. Zero understanding that a large percentage of their customers are parties with young children, and there is nothing more unpredictable (except maybe the weather) than the behavior of a young child.
5) At MAgic Kingdom, I was one of the first on line to sign up for fastpass plus. Except the ipad kept malfunctioning. After 30 MINUTES, they finally got me signed in. By then ALL times for Enchanted Tales were gone. I complained-the person I was working with said: "what's the big deal-the wait is only 30 minutes?" (clearly someone that's never had to stand on line with a 1 year old and a 4 year old)-after getting it bumped to A 4th LEVEL SUPERVISOR and 20 more minutes, they finally said: "you're right, we'll get you in to Enchanted Tales"
6) The 3 ride limit at magic kingdom is absurd-with so many rides affected by lines, why are you forcing people to make choices? Again it takes the fun away for the person planning. They are literally asking you to plan your entire day before you even get there. And once you're there, you feel pressured to plan it right, or else stand on line for a ride you misjudged.
7) I hated separating from my family during my fastpass plus wait-I missed my kids' faces on entering the park becasue I have to run ahead to make sure we get the fastpassses and don't stand on line for the rides they want to go on. To be fair, I used to run ahead to fastpass one ride in the past as well (i.e. toy story in DHS-however, I could be there and back before my family even made it to the wizard's hat-now I ahve to wait on line and do this whole process of choosing the whole day-I lost the first 30 minutes with my family every disney day)
8) I agree with others who have posted that Disney will increase the number of fastpasses by offering them for a fee soon. Congratulations: you'll make more money. But you're also upsetting longtime customers and fans like myself who are not as excited to go back in the future as I used to be. This trip was work and while I enjoyed it, it was because I like spending time with my family. My enjoyment was in spite of Disney, not because.
9) We did Sea World and universal as well this trip and the contrast I felt on thise days compared to my Disney days highlighted everything above for me. Those days were Waaaaaay more relaxing.
10) I'm on the Winnie the Pooh regular standby line. There is NOBODY waiting in the fastpass line. Zero people. However, the lady running the line held us for nearly 15 minutes at that branch point. With my 1 year old screaming I asked her why she couldn't move us forward. Her answer: "just in case someone comes with a fastpass." Now as someone holding a fastpass I of course would want to get in fast. But there was NOBODY there, and she held the standby line for almost 15 minutes. She said this was part of the new policies. The standby line would be hled for stretches to minimize the waits for people with fastpasses.
Those are my thoughts. I'm not naive. I know this is about money. I get it. But I'm unhappy and thought I'd share it. Perhaps if they hear enough unhappiness, it will make a difference. Who knows? But I felt it neccesary to post. I don't know who has had good experiences with this system, but this was mine and I wanted to share it.
