I'm sorry, I don't want to be blunt here, but, there is absolutely nothing in that post that isn't exactly the same, except better, then the old FP or is absolutely untrue.
1. Old FP required you to use a specific window and you didn't even get to have a choice. Not real spontaneous!
2. Exactly the same no matter what the system.
3. Certainly does. You decide what your first park will be. Set up for Fastpass for that time frame, and then park hop and "attempt" to get others for your new location when you get there. Park hopping before almost always got you to the next park after the old FP's had run out.
4. Actually works exactly the opposite of that and you aren't making second trips to those areas to get a FP. You know where your locations are and plan easily around it.
5. Not really months, but, who would set up FP's and not use them. What would be the purpose. It actually insures that most people will be in a certain park on a certain day. You have to use the first three before you get others.
6. How is that different then arriving at a park the first time and not knowing where things are and having to find them to get the old FP. You are no better off with that then just planning for what rides you might like. Then all you have to do is ask a direction, everything else is the same.
7. Actually a whole lot easier because it informs you of what things you want to do overlap each other and allows you to change one or the other to fit in with what you want to do.
Sorry, but, unless you are thinking about back when you got a FP and they allowed you to use it whenever you wanted, there is no advantage to the old way. That happened by accident and was changed at least a year before FP+ came out. It was never meant to work that way to begin with, they just got lazy and let it happen.
Under the old system, our experience was we show up at 9am and see a 60 minute wait for a ride, get a fastpass that's within the next hour or so. I did notice that sometimes the 60 minute wait had a 75 or 80 minute fastpass, which I suspect was because they put a limit on the number of fastpasses for a timeframe (they actually told me this was the case) - never did I see it offer a 30 minute fastpass for a 60 minute wait. Now I get sent over to a kiosk which tells me I can get on that ride at 9pm tonight, or maybe sometime next week. BUT IF YOU READ WHAT I SAID, I AM PROPOSING A NEW SYSTEM IN WHICH YOU GET A FASTPASS THAT HOLDS YOUR PLACE IN LINE, SO PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE STOP ARGUING THAT THE OLD SYSTEM DIDN'T DO THIS BECAUSE IT IS COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT, AND IF ANYTHING, MAKES A STRONGER CASE FOR MY PROPOSAL. I understand that some people have learned how to game the system for their benefit at the expense of the other visitors and feel very angry and threatened when someone tries to propose a new system, but please direct criticism at the new proposal. Let me get you started: I theorize that they set the limit on the number of classic Fastpasses in a timeframe to address these problems:
1. They realized that their public spaces, stores, restaurants, bars, etc didn't have the capacity to suddenly have everyone waiting in line to be shifted there. Some suckers need to be boxed up in line like cattle, at least until they increase capacity in the alternative places to wait.
2. If there isn't a supply of people standing-by, the ride could potentially go idle if the FastPass-holders don't arrive at a uniform rate - which could happen regularly due to a fireworks show, parade, etc. Downtime=lost capacity.
3. If you don't allow the FastPass line to build up by allowing some StandBys through, the StandBy lane could be stuck non-moving for hours. Too many FastPasses could = Fastpass lane turns into long wait just like Standby.
The balance to maintain an adequate queue of standbys would have to happen by offering an incentive to wait in line/disincentive to FastPass:
1. A time-penalty for FastPassing - increase the penalty incrementally if the line is too short, or decrease it if the line is getting too long.
2. Another source of people to fill the Standby queue is those whose FastPass is tied up on another ride.
Another mistake I think they might have made was not correctly calculating the impact of outstanding FastPasses when calculating Standby time.