Can you explain to me people's disdain or lack of using the current FP system? I've never had an issue with it, aside from the high demand attractions running out very early. The Universal Express Pass is literally a "Pay to skip the line" product and a lot of people are using it, not the majority, but a whole lot.
"Pay-to-play" systems like those at Universal are easy to understand and use. It's naked capitalism. A lot of people don't like it but nearly everyone understands the concept immediately. "I pay X dollars and get to use a faster line." No sticking cards in slots, no pieces of paper, no return times, no studying "the rules",
no preplanning.
When I watch what happens at Universal, I'm always amazed at how many buy Express Passes
after they arrive. There's a family of 4 spending more for Express Passes then they would have spent if they had just booked a night at one of Universal's lovely Deluxe Resorts which also would have included
unlimited Express Passes for two days! But they buy 4 limited Express Passes anyway because they haven't done their "homework". Can you blame them? It's a vacation. It's supposed to be relaxing. It's supposed to be fun. When they purchase those limited Express Passes, they are buying "fun".
Going to Orlando already is a complex vacation for the uninitiated and FP/FP+ just makes it more complicated. Worse, FP tends to favor people like you and I; super-users who know every intricate detail. Users who know which FPs to pick up first, know how to tour the parks, and know what to do waiting for the FP return time.
FP+ won't solve anything. The uninitiated are going to say "Gee, I have an 'appointment' for Peter Pan in 50 minutes, Oh, I'm not sure what I can do, I don't want to miss it. I guess I better just stand here waiting for that 'appointment'."
Conversely, at Universal if I stay on site, I can sleep in, take my time, walk up to nearly any attraction, show them my room key, and they let me into the Express line. It's that simple. I don't have to figure where I'm going or what I'm doing next. I can live in the moment knowing that, if I want, I can ride Men in Black next or, if I don't want that, I can ride The Simpsons next.
It's a vacation but FP and the new FP+ treat it like a planning choir. Great for a Disney exec who is use to looking at a Microsoft Project schedule but not for your average vacationer who just wants to have fun.
Universal's Express Pass system means vacation fun.
WDW's FP/FP+ system means vacation work.
Until WDW's execs get it into their heads that most people just want to relax when they're on vacation, they're going to keep trying to implement systems that they think make business sense for them, not that are fun for their paying customers.
