Tier System?!?

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
So, first off, sorry if this has been discussed on another thread. Frankly, I'm too lazy to search the myriad and wasteland of new bathroom paint job threads and where they moved someone's most beloved trash can posts.

That said, we frequent WDW around every 4 years and DL a few times a year (not now that we're living on the east coast). We're heading down to WDW for the week of December 3rd and we just used the mydisneyexperiece to book all our fastpasses for the week. This will be our first trip since 2012 and the first time setting up our trip with the new system. But, since my wife is very meticulous with just about every detail (OCD really), we thought that this would work out pretty good for us. And I get the whole "plan your week" thing that Disney is trying to do to make things "easier" while on your vacation.

However...

In our multiple phone calls to Disney customer service for booking, modifying, adding, and removing things for the last 4 months, we were never ONCE told about the Tier system that Epcot and DHS have in place. My wife found out the hard way this morning as she was trying to set up fast passes for Frozen and Soarin'. She had to call in and have someone tell her that this system was in place and gave her a tip to just get over to Soarin' early in the morning and hope for the best. Really? The agent said that they try to do the tier system in those two parks so that people will go on the other rides in the parks and helps spread out the flow of people.

Here's an idea Disney, make more friggin' attractions that people want to go on! Rather than punishing people that are staying on property and waking up early in the morning to try and get a spot on your waiting list for a new ride and jumping through hoops to plan (she got frozen for 6pm, 3 minutes after it was available for us to book it, wow. Just think if she was 4 minutes into our window, we wouldn't have gotten it), build some stuff people want to do!! This just screams out 'we're desperate!' for business on our other rides.

Sorry for the rant, but dang, I can't believe that Epcot is turning into a half-day park before it gets refurbed. At least we got Frozen I guess.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
Nobody likes the tiered Fastpasses, but they became necessary when Disney decided to implement FP+ and start "pushing" all guests to use it, which brought many more users into the system and highlighted the obvious issues with lack of capacity/attractions that you mention. In order to spread the limited supply of desirable FP+ around, Disney had to limit the number of "good" FP+ that each guest could have for its two parks with the fewest desirable attractions, HS and Epcot.

That being said, while Disney itself does a poor job on its own website by not providing any guidance on the tiers for HS and Epcot, the tiered system has been widely advertised and discussed elsewhere online and in every Disney guidebook since it was implemented over two years ago. While it's unfortunate that you didn't hear of it ahead of time, it sounds like you still scored the Holy Grail of FP+ (Frozen Ever After). As far as having to dash to either Soarin' or Test Track at rope drop (or in the alternative, having to wait until the last hour before closing to visit) to ensure a short wait, while it's an annoyance, at least you'll be in the same boat as every other guest.
 
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Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I wouldn't go that far... :facepalm:

My comment wasn't meant as a reflection on the quality of the attraction -- but I believe the consensus is that Frozen is, far and away, the toughest FP+ to obtain at present, and one of the only FP+ from which some visitors are totally shut out, even when making their FP+ 180+ days out from their trip.

My own experience supports this -- in making my family's FP+ for an upcoming trip just a short time ago, I had no trouble getting FP+ for Test Track, Soarin', TSMM, RnR, 7DMT, etc. -- only Frozen had very little availability; it was totally "sold out" for the first 3 days of our trip, with very limited availability on the remaining days.
 
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rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It even tells you in MDE that you can only reserve 1 of this type per day until you use up your first 3. I agree it sucks, but Fastpass queues for Soarin', Test Track, FEA, ToT, RnRC would be 120min without the tier system. It's a necessary evil unfortunately...

We both completely missed it. And I've been following these boards for over half a decade and never saw anything on it. I guess I Homer Simpson ed it and have been gleefully oblivious to it.

Regardless, this really needs to be in the customer service spiel at the end of their call for reservations.
 

Raineman

Well-Known Member
Sorry for the rant, but dang, I can't believe that Epcot is turning into a half-day park before it gets refurbed. At least we got Frozen I guess.

Regardless of FP+ and the attractions that are available to use it, I would never consider Epcot a half day park. If your focus is solely on blitzing the attractions, then it maybe is a half day. If you are at all interested in exploring World Showcase, along with all of the other nooks and crannies, then it could take at least a day to see everything Epcot has to offer-and this is with almost nothing to see in Innoventions. Just my opinion.
 

Kylo Ken

Local Idiot
Regardless of FP+ and the attractions that are available to use it, I would never consider Epcot a half day park. If your focus is solely on blitzing the attractions, then it maybe is a half day. If you are at all interested in exploring World Showcase, along with all of the other nooks and crannies, then it could take at least a day to see everything Epcot has to offer-and this is with almost nothing to see in Innoventions. Just my opinion.
Totally agree with your post. If Epcot is a half-day park then what would you consider DHS?
 

rle4lunch

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Regardless of FP+ and the attractions that are available to use it, I would never consider Epcot a half day park. If your focus is solely on blitzing the attractions, then it maybe is a half day. If you are at all interested in exploring World Showcase, along with all of the other nooks and crannies, then it could take at least a day to see everything Epcot has to offer-and this is with almost nothing to see in Innoventions. Just my opinion.

We don't consider it a half day park either, but I was just noting the deteriorating nature of the attractions and how dated they are. Yes, Epcot has a cash cow with world showcase and their endless festivals they hold, but we don't go just so we can meander around World Showcase for 5 hours. Granted, this time we'll be taking our 18 month old son, so it'll naturally be slower anyway, with nap breaks in the middle of the day as well.

Here's the other side of that coin though. We only go every 4 years to WDW, but in the last 12 years (3 visits) Epcot has only had 1 upgrade, which is Test Track (and really, was it that impressive to warrant multiple rides?) Everything else in the park is withering away. I've been going to WDW since I was 6 (1982), in that time I've watched it soar to the greatest heights of imagination, to what it is now, a nice 'slow' day that feels like walking around a mall that's about to go out of business. Walking 15 minutes to get to each ride that is actually worth riding helps absorb some of the time that you spend in the park, along with the abhorrent wait times for Soarin' (which I hope is remedied by the extra theater.. which we always skipped since it was the same thing as what we saw at DCA for around 1/4 of the wait time) and Test Track (unless you do the single rider of course). Here's hoping that Frozen is better than the monstrosity that was Maelstrom.
 

Raineman

Well-Known Member
We don't consider it a half day park either, but I was just noting the deteriorating nature of the attractions and how dated they are. Yes, Epcot has a cash cow with world showcase and their endless festivals they hold, but we don't go just so we can meander around World Showcase for 5 hours. Granted, this time we'll be taking our 18 month old son, so it'll naturally be slower anyway, with nap breaks in the middle of the day as well.

Here's the other side of that coin though. We only go every 4 years to WDW, but in the last 12 years (3 visits) Epcot has only had 1 upgrade, which is Test Track (and really, was it that impressive to warrant multiple rides?) Everything else in the park is withering away. I've been going to WDW since I was 6 (1982), in that time I've watched it soar to the greatest heights of imagination, to what it is now, a nice 'slow' day that feels like walking around a mall that's about to go out of business. Walking 15 minutes to get to each ride that is actually worth riding helps absorb some of the time that you spend in the park, along with the abhorrent wait times for Soarin' (which I hope is remedied by the extra theater.. which we always skipped since it was the same thing as what we saw at DCA for around 1/4 of the wait time) and Test Track (unless you do the single rider of course). Here's hoping that Frozen is better than the monstrosity that was Maelstrom.
I agree with you on alot of this. I first went to Epcot in 1990 as a 16 year old, with a thriving Communicore, Horizons, the original Imagination, World Of Motion, Wonders Of Life, etc, and it was my favourite part of WDW. It does kinda feel a bit desolate now, and the main reasons I go back now is the World Showcase, and the nostalgia of what the park once was.I did like Maelstrom the one time I rode it-probably only because it was so weird.
 

TXDisney

Well-Known Member
They tier these rides for guests. So it's not to make your trip less convenient, it's to make it more convenient. We actually have no problem with the tier system, the part we don't like is trying to commit certain days to certain parks months in advance. When my wife and I did this 2 years ago it was a breeze bc it was just 2 of us. But we went that same week you're going last year with 8 adults and 2 1yr olds and there was a lot of altering which cost us some days with rides.

My advice is if there's 2 rides on the same tier that you love, try and maybe do multiple days at that park. We normally do 2 days each st MK and Epcot. I do understand no everyone goes for a week and that's not doable. If that's the case book one of the rides for fp than get to the park when it opens and ride the other ride.
 

jaques21

Active Member
I have no problem with the Tier system since I am use to long wait times for rides of the old days. Though I do agree they should mention how the FP+ system works, better for those new to FP+, I understand it.
 

deanna88

Active Member
I had a fast pass for test track last month, and was able to ride soarin when we first got there as a 10 minute wait, frozen with a 45 min wait and then test track in the afternoon with a fastpass. Its definitely possible to ride all three.

We also walked around world showcase for at least 5 hours, getting food and drinks, and just taking it all in. Epcot is definitely a full day park in my opinion and one of our favorites. ;)
 

Tavernacle12

Well-Known Member
I think you lucked out getting Frozen. Soarin hasn't been nearly as bad as it used to be now that it has a third theater, and Test Track has a single rider line. Frozen is almost always worse line-wise. The tiers suck, but without them they'd run out of FPs for those three rides the first day they were available.
 

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