Are changes coming to Florida passholder program?

[21stamps]

I actually ported there on the Magic one year on the Sunday of the fest. They skip KW that week now because snowflakes. Since we left at sunset, craziest thing I saw was ***less chaps

There's laws against nudity and flashing now. I haven't been to FF since 2009, 2000-2009 every year,, but even in 2009 the law was in effect. I did not notice any enforcement though. Still the same nudity.lol.

My first "adult" KW experience was NYE Y2K. It was quite a shock. I will freely admit that I had leg envy towards quite a few of the women, who were not in fact women.

Back on semi topic.. If Disney offers a passholders 25-30% room only ticket for my upcoming dates, I will purchase the AP!!! I did the math and I will actually come out $400 ahead. Even though only 1 4 day ticket and 1 2 day ticket.
I'm hoping they do. Does anyone here know when they would be released?

 

[Mike S]

Hey, i'm just glad they finally give a discount at all merch locations...even if it is just 10%. I remember when it used to just be at the WoD store (prior to the refurb/expansion) and it was a worse experience than shopping at IKEA.

If only they had merch I was interested in...

 

[MrPromey]

I grabbed on to the FP+ thing because you're wrong about that singular aspect.

I'm sorry that you don't believe that you are wrong, but you are.

Except that's not true and it's been proven over and over again that day of guest have access to all but a single digit number of experiences.

So when you say this, you actually mean all but the SAME single digit number of attractions, day after day? As in, we can agree that unless staying on property, a family can pretty much forget getting fastpasses for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train regardless of the time of year even two years after opening, right?

Can we also agree that the same currently holds true for Frozen and that unless something major changes, it'll be the same way for years, too?

... And unless they have a particularly special trick up their sleeve, do we have any reason to believe this won't be the case with Avatar next year and Star Wars whenever that opens?

To be clear, are you saying I'm wrong about this?

We are on a thread talking about how they are looking into adding additional blackout dates for parks with new attractions for passholders.

What I was initially talking about (like the person interviewd in the link article) which you may have missed since it wasn't part of this back and forth chain was how we are effectively blocked out since Fastpass+ immediately pushes wait times out on the newest stuff - that's the class system thing I'm referring to that you seem to be insisting I'm wrong about unless I'm misunderstanding you.

I've elaborated on other aspects of the system that I think hurt people who aren't booking far in advance due to the convoluted itinerary it can create as well as what it appears to have done for wait times on attractions that didn't have Fastpass under the old system but you seem to keep ignoring all of that so I'm not sure if you're saying I'm wrong about all of that too or not.

 

[Bocabear]

There's laws against nudity and flashing now. I haven't been to FF since 2009, 2000-2009 every year,, but even in 2009 the law was in effect. I did not notice any enforcement though. Still the same nudity.lol.

My first "adult" KW experience was NYE Y2K. It was quite a shock. I will freely admit that I had leg envy towards quite a few of the women, who were not in fact women.

Back on semi topic.. If Disney offers a passholders 25-30% room only ticket for my upcoming dates, I will purchase the AP!!! I did the math and I will actually come out $400 ahead. Even though only 1 4 day ticket and 1 2 day ticket.
I'm hoping they do. Does anyone here know when they would be released?

FF last year there was full on nudity walking the streets... lots of painted women as well. I was a little shocked first time I saw it...but the err umm....activities going on near Sloppy Joes were a bit extrememe even for my jaded eyes...lol
topic: They always offer passholder discounts but the actual rooms available at those rates are rare as hen's teeth... Our passes have gone up again in price and the names changed.. saw we have not gained anything since they took away Pleasure Island long ago... I think we get a little discount on the Party For The Senses (Which is a must-do for anyone who hasn't been)...

 

[21stamps]

FF last year there was full on nudity walking the streets... lots of painted women as well. I was a little shocked first time I saw it...but the err umm....activities going on near Sloppy Joes were a bit extrememe even for my jaded eyes...lol
topic: They always offer passholder discounts but the actual rooms available at those rates are rare as hen's teeth... Our passes have gone up again in price and the names changed.. saw we have not gained anything since they took away Pleasure Island long ago... I think we get a little discount on the Party For The Senses (Which is a must-do for anyone who hasn't been)...

I dressed up every year, sometimes in line with the theme, sometimes not. Here's a photo of a weeknight where I wasn't dressed up.. So I did get body painted... But only my arm lol. Also, the advantage to having friends with their own stores on Duval? All the free beads that I want

I think I'm out of luck on even a passholders discount.. All of the monorail resorts are sold out my week. I need hundreds of people to cancel

 

[Bocabear]

I dressed up every year, sometimes in line with the theme, sometimes not. Here's a photo of a weeknight where I wasn't dressed up.. So I did get body painted... But only my arm lol. Also, the advantage to having friends with their own stores on Duval? All the free beads that I want

I think I'm out of luck on even a passholders discount.. All of the monorail resorts are sold out my week. I need hundreds of people to cancel

Last year's theme was Intergalactic Freak Show... It was a fun theme... This year is Political Voodoo...not sure WHAT I am going to do...
Also there is the Zombie Bike Ride which is becoming HUGE...I think that started just a couple years ago... We were Zombie Convicts last year...

 

[mikenatcity1]

What happens if Disney opens something new in each park? Does that mean you bought an AP and can't go into the park's at all?

I would hate that...

 

[21stamps]

Last year's theme was Intergalactic Freak Show... It was a fun theme... This year is Political Voodoo...not sure WHAT I am going to do...
Also there is the Zombie Bike Ride which is becoming HUGE...I think that started just a couple years ago... We were Zombie Convicts last year...

Awesome photos!!!! Omg I miss those crazy days!! I'm really curious to see photos of the parade this year with that theme. That's a tough one!

 

[MrPromey]

I know you're wrong. I got 7DMT in May multiple times day of for my 4th fastpass for my family of 4 (only 3 FP+ as my youngest is under 3) on the app. I also had a friend in July get Frozen twice in the same day- again day of- for his party of 2. Obviously, the smaller the party, the easier it is- but to say getting a fastpass is impossible is completely false. In fact, you can get them day of.

Also- there is this thing called rope dropping. If a local wants to ride 7DMT, line up on the right, get there at opening, and go ride it. At most you wait what, 10 minutes?


Don't get me wrong- I'm not a fan of MM+ and the fact people defend booking 180 days out is laughable. I much prefer Universal's stress-free planning. But lets call a spade a spade- The FP+ can be easily worked in the park. Give me any ride, and I'll get a FP+ for it day of with my 4th FP if I refresh enough and adjust times/party sizes.

I'm glad to hear a first-hand account that explains someone has done it.

I'd love to know your secret. I need 4 (tops, usually 3) and it's never happened for me - looking in advance I have never seen anything open at any point in my 30 day window or checking day of at any point while there.

Obviously, I'm not there every day so I suppose day of is entirely luck of the draw but as I said before, I've only ever seen all passes gone for the day for that one.

As far as rope drop, let's just say that being there for rope drop and rushing to that part of the park wouldn't be practical for my family - not with the Magic Kingdom, anyway. Epcot is a possibility, though. I know that sounds like a cop-out (with MK) and to a degree it is but that would only be practical as me alone doing that which kind of defeats the point in my case.

Have you ever gotten them not day-of within your 30 day window?

Out of curiosity, you say multiple times you've gotten them day-of. How many times have you been able to do this and on what days of the week, what times of the year?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what time of day you usually end up being successful in finding them and what time of day are the passes typically good for at that point?

I'd honestly love to be wrong and learn the secret of this one, really I would.

To me, the problem with FP+ in general isn't that it sucks in general, just that they don't have enough in-demand attractions with a high enough capacity to support the number of people using the system. It seemed to work for most attractions on the old system because there was a large enough percentage of guests not trying to use it that standby lines weren't crazy and there was no need to add attractions to the roster and encouraging people to book for things that never before hat waits, which created standby lines when often there had previously been 15 minute or less waits.

I also suspect (but have no way of knowing) that attractions that previously had FP saw a larger percentage of their capacity given over to FP+ in an attempt to make it work with all the extra guests using it which would make standby for those longer, too.

 

[MrPromey]

I would hate that...

We're all in freak out over the unknown right now. A few things to keep in mind:

Based on what we know of the survey, they'd still have some level that wouldn't be blacked out they'd be happy to sell us. You may already be at that level.

They already did this to some extent with the silver passes this year with everything that opened in June.

if they were to keep doing it this way, it wouldn't feel so obvious... But the fact that they're asking in a survey suggests they want to be more blunt about how they do it.

 

[LongLiveTheKing]

I grabbed on to the FP+ thing because you're wrong about that singular aspect.

I'm sorry that you don't believe that you are wrong, but you are.

How is he wrong about FP+ if he listed 12 attractions that you couldn't get fast passes for ONE park? I don't get how you even find your example of 5 rides regularly not allowing day of bookings to be remotely acceptable.

 

[jakeman]

How is he wrong about FP+ if he listed 12 attractions that you couldn't get fast passes for ONE park? I don't get how you even find your example of 5 rides regularly not allowing day of bookings to be remotely acceptable.

I've deleted my response to this several times because I didn't want to put forth the effort into something that is just going to be interpreted as a defense of a system I really don't care all that much about; but since you seem to be a bit froggy this morning, why not have a go at it?

I'm not saying his general argument is wrong. I don't care to read that wall of text. I'm saying the facts used to support his opinion are. The myth of FP+ requiring planning months in advance for your stay is just that, a myth. It's been demonstrated dozens of times that routinely all but a few attractions across property are available day of. Pulling up day of FP+ times has been going on around here since the system came out. One data point does not an argument make. Also regarding that data point, 6 were meet and greets, 1 was a parade that was over, and another was an attraction that FP+ was down at and it wasn't used at all.

To your second point, you understand essentially what you are saying is that unless all attractions are available for on demand access to you the system is unacceptable? Historically, most of the headliner attractions were out of fastpasses by noon. I'm sure you can search for TSMM and find threads about waiting in the line at rope drop to get fastpasses for the day or getting to Soarin at 10 a.m. to get a 6 p.m fastpass. Prior to the fastpass system 17 years ago, you just waited in line: 80-100 minutes for Safaris, 3 hours on hot days for Splash.

Much like my "issue" in the other thread, make whatever argument you want, just support it with accurate and verifiable facts. To be clear again, I'm not saying that @MrPromey is wrong in his general conclusion, but the "facts" he's using it to support it is incorrect based on what has been consistently demonstrated over time.

Finally, would it help if I said I read the first couple of post and, while I understand this is just a survey, this implementation would have me reconsidering my annual pass? See...I don't disagree with the premise, but if we are going to draw conclusions without authenticity we might as well be arguing between the world being flat and the sun orbiting the earth.

 

[mimitchi33]

I would pay the extra money when I move there...

I'm sorry. I just thought of this when I finished reading the article.

What the heck does Barney have to do with this?

 

[Buried20KLeague]

There's laws against nudity and flashing now. I haven't been to FF since 2009, 2000-2009 every year,, but even in 2009 the law was in effect. I did not notice any enforcement though. Still the same nudity.lol.

My first "adult" KW experience was NYE Y2K. It was quite a shock. I will freely admit that I had leg envy towards quite a few of the women, who were not in fact women.

Absolutely no enforcement of the nudity and flashing laws. Not in the party zone. If you're outside of it, by literally 20 feet, you'll politely be told to either return to the party zone or cover up asap. I still haven't seen any arrests for violation of these specific laws.

I MAY know a couple who did full body paint as Jack and Sally very well. VERY WELL.

 

[21stamps]

Absolutely no enforcement of the nudity and flashing laws. Not in the party zone. If you're outside of it, by literally 20 feet, you'll politely be told to either return to the party zone or cover up asap. I still haven't seen any arrests for violation of these specific laws.

I MAY know a couple who did full body paint as Jack and Sally very well. VERY WELL.

Ha Ha!!!! Awesome!

 

[MrPromey]

I've deleted my response to this several times because I didn't want to put forth the effort into something that is just going to be interpreted as a defense of a system I really don't care all that much about; but since you seem to be a bit froggy this morning, why not have a go at it?

I'm not saying his general argument is wrong. I don't care to read that wall of text. I'm saying the facts used to support his opinion are. The myth of FP+ requiring planning months in advance for your stay is just that, a myth. It's been demonstrated dozens of times that routinely all but a few attractions across property are available day of. Pulling up day of FP+ times has been going on around here since the system came out. One data point does not an argument make. Also regarding that data point, 6 were meet and greets, 1 was a parade that was over, and another was an attraction that FP+ was down at and it wasn't used at all.

To your second point, you understand essentially what you are saying is that unless all attractions are available for on demand access to you the system is unacceptable? Historically, most of the headliner attractions were out of fastpasses by noon. I'm sure you can search for TSMM and find threads about waiting in the line at rope drop to get fastpasses for the day or getting to Soarin at 10 a.m. to get a 6 p.m fastpass. Prior to the fastpass system 17 years ago, you just waited in line: 80-100 minutes for Safaris, 3 hours on hot days for Splash.

Much like my "issue" in the other thread, make whatever argument you want, just support it with accurate and verifiable facts. To be clear again, I'm not saying that @MrPromey is wrong in his general conclusion, but the "facts" he's using it to support it is incorrect based on what has been consistently demonstrated over time.

Finally, would it help if I said I read the first couple of post and, while I understand this is just a survey, this implementation would have me reconsidering my annual pass? See...I don't disagree with the premise, but if we are going to draw conclusions without authenticity we might as well be arguing between the world being flat and the sun orbiting the earth.

The crux of my argument was that whether Disney implements a blackout or not, the 60 day vs 30 scheduling will likely prevent most passholders from riding new attractions, anyway - just like under normal, practical circumstances, it has for 7DMG for two years and Frozen, currently.

If you weren't bothering to read my "wall of text" every time you kept insisting I was wrong, you may have missed me repeatedly trying to make this point.

I guess you could point out how someone else told of their success day-of with an OCD strategy of checking the app as soon as their third pass was in play, even going so far as to focus on refreshing it while on other attractions (something I'm certainly willing to try) but can we at least agree that this seems beyond the way this system has been marketed?

If you consistently can't get fastpasses for an attraction in advance, starting 30 days out, doesn't that seem like a system working against you if 30 days is as far in advance as you can book?

BTW, I'll agree about the meet-and-greets being more of an "argument" and I'll say the same for the parade even though, at 1:22 when I first posted, the 3pm parade had not yet occurred.

 

[MrPromey]

Ever since they switched to being able to do 4th FP in your app and not a kiosk, I've done it several times. My only trip since then was May (I was there in January but don't remember if they had it then).

It was every park and honestly every attraction. TSMM, RNRC, TT, 7D, etc. only thing I couldn't get was Elsa and Anna when they were at MK- but I did get the other princesses.

It's just as simple as getting in the app and constantly refreshing. I remember going to meet Ariel, and as soon as they scanned at first FP point I hopped on and grabbed little mermaid for the next 5 mins. When I was walking down that line I grabbed 7D. It could've been around 3-4pm.
That's just one example. Sometimes it takes changing times and sometimes it takes refreshing, but I'd knock it out in less than a minute. Or if it wasn't available, I'd just put the phone away and try again in 5 mins. (Hell- on Ariel I could do it during the ride rather than have to watch it )

I'll certainly give this strategy a try. The problem with rope drops and my family is we are local to Florida but not specifically to the Orlando/Kissimmee area.

We're close enough to make staying in a hotel a waste of money more than a couple times of year but far enough away to make rope drop hard when everyone needs to wake up and pile in the car to hit I4.

I'm willing to drive this early but family isn't quite so motivated to wake up that early and then move quickly once in the parks.

Anything I can deal with on my own to improve chances is something that might work, though, so I'll be trying this next time, for sure!

 

[Daveeeeed]

There's laws against nudity and flashing now. I haven't been to FF since 2009, 2000-2009 every year,, but even in 2009 the law was in effect. I did not notice any enforcement though. Still the same nudity.lol.

That honestly might (and should be if it isn't) unconstitutional. No reason why a women can't, but a guy can take of their top.

 

[GeoffR]

I have always considered getting an AP, but living in New England it's difficult just to get down there once a year, let alone enough times to justify the price. Reading these posts, I can see that maybe it's ok that I don't have one. They seem to only be beneficial to FL residents, and they are very expensive.
As far as the FP+ system, I'm not a fan to be honest. When I was there a few weeks ago I felt myself being dictated by that schedule that I couldn't enjoy just being there. 2 days into the trip, we said screw it and did what we wanted. It was much more relaxing and we still only waited about 30 minutes at most. For me though, half of the fun is taking in the details, and the ques do exactly that.

 

[GhostHost1000]

So how would this work for DVC members who have to book basically 11 months in advance and Disney never has a clue when their new attractions will officially open until much closer to that time