FastPass+ Chaos at MK today

[Rutt]

I gotta say I may not be an expert, but I've done both the paper and mm+ system and have found the new system much more fulfilling.

With the paper passes we never got to ride tsmm, soarin, test track, and even ppf we only got on because another family managed to get a spot at BOG and gave us their papers.

With fp+ we did all of the above, and still managed to ride all the old favourites with minimal waits. And yes, I was able to book almost all (tsmm was the exception) the morning of our visit.
Not having to carry loose change and a room key, etc is also nice. We always carry a card with us just in case.

As someone who generally comes once a year, spends about 5-6000 on hotel, food, and merch, I actually think mm+ is awesome.

I get the feeling I'm not in the minority either as nearly every single person I know who's been under both systems loves it. Mind you we are all crazy Canucks so there's that.

 

[erasure fan1]

You've obviously never used FP+ I take it?

1. It's 60 days for resort guests and 30 days for others. Not FIVE MONTHS.

2. Unless it's a very busy time of year, there are plenty of Fastpasses available the day before or day of. The perception that you MUST book them 60 days in advance is a ghost story spread by those who hate the system and want to see it fail.

3. Look around this forum. There are people planning their "ride strategy" YEARS in advance. I saw a guy yesterday planning out his 2018 trip. People who want to show up and "wing it" are few and far between.

4. You can actually eliminate much of your "strategizing" all together because your day no longer needs to include crisscrossing the park to retrieve paper Fastpasses.

1 & 2. Yes I have used it, last summer. I figured someone would throw out the "you don't have to plan that far, there are plenty of FP+ the day of blah blah blah." No there isn't. We planned 30 days out last year and guess what, couldn't get 2 of the 3 things we wanted. And guess what else, nothing available checking back the day of, the day before, the day before that.................. So you are right, I don't have to book in advance. But we want to take the advantage of the HUGE cost that is Disney, you bet you have to plan well before your time comes up.

3. Its not about showing up and "winging it". I doubt if you asked people they really want to plan what and when for their rides that far out. They do it because they feel they have to. Again this may be in your wheelhouse but not mine. We never wing it, but we also never needed to plan things out this much. So what if we need/want to change what park we are going to the day before? Well there goes getting a pass for soarin, or toy story, space mountain...... So we have lost flexibility.

4. Yea, awesome, no more running across the park for a fastpass. Oh wait let me stand in line for 20 min or more each time for my additional passes for stuff I have never needed a fastpass for before. After our 3 passes were done, they had no passes for any major attraction.

 

[Rutt]

1 & 2. Yes I have used it, last summer. I figured someone would throw out the "you don't have to plan that far, there are plenty of FP+ the day of blah blah blah." No there isn't. We planned 30 days out last year and guess what, couldn't get 2 of the 3 things we wanted. And guess what else, nothing available checking back the day of, the day before, the day before that.................. So you are right, I don't have to book in advance. But we want to take the advantage of the HUGE cost that is Disney, you bet you have to plan well before your time comes up.

3. Its not about showing up and "winging it". I doubt if you asked people they really want to plan what and when for their rides that far out. They do it because they feel they have to. Again this may be in your wheelhouse but not mine. We never wing it, but we also never needed to plan things out this much. So what if we need/want to change what park we are going to the day before? Well there goes getting a pass for soarin, or toy story, space
4. Yea, awesome, no more running across the park for a fastpass. Oh wait let me stand in line for 20 min or more each time for my additional passes for stuff I have never needed a fastpass for before. After our 3 passes were done, they had no passes for any major attraction.

That really sucks. I don't understand how you've had so much trouble. I've always had no issue getting fps the morning of.

 

[lazyboy97o]

FastPass+ works if your the kind who plans six months in advance. Given the numbers, that can't be a majority of people. The program was designed to push people to attractions that could not support FastPass because they lacked demand. It's about even the number of attractions per day.

 

[Rutt]

FastPass+ works if your the kind who plans six months in advance. Given the numbers, that can't be a majority of people. The program was designed to push people to attractions that could not support FastPass because they lacked demand. It's about even the number of attractions per day.

Two out of the three times we've gone we've booked with less than 90 days, and managed to get everything we want minus BOG.

Most of the people I know book more than six months out and start planning right away.

As for the second part, of course it was. This way people other than the Disney lifers would get to enjoy the popular attractions too, creating more return visitors.

 

[sjhym333]

I went out the parks this week and checked FP's before I left the house. All attractions were available for EPCOT, AK and Studios. The only attraction I couldn't get was the Frozen Meet & Greet at the MK. 7DMT had 3 times available. I go to parks regularly and no, not everything is always available. The Frozen Meet & Greet is never available (and that doesn't matter to me) but I have more often then not gotten 7DMT. There are very few days that I can't pick up most attractions in EPCOT and AK if I check in the morning of a trip out to the park. At the Studios the only one that is hit or miss most days is Toy Story Midway.

 

[ratherbeinwdw]

Several of my friends who weren't staying onsite and couldn't reserve fp's until 30 days out, could not get fp's for several of the E ticket rides. A couple of them really wanted to do the mine train, but even with checking two or three times a day until the day of, from 30 days out, they could not get a fp. They finally had to wait in an hour-long line to ride it.
I do like the magic bands, but the system that goes with it really needs some fine tuning. We've never been able to get a tier 1 ride after we've finished our first three--except at AK. That's one park where we've had no trouble getting tickets for anything there day of. Those who say they never have trouble getting them day of at the other parks, must be very lucky or maybe it's the time they go. But, I think we should let people know that many of us aren't that lucky, so as to keep them from not trying harder-- before they go--to get what they really want. We go a lot, so it's not that we have gone at a peak time and not been able to get them day of. We've gone most times of the year except January and February. I can't stand to be cold.

 

[sjhym333]

I understand and I see similar experiences posted a lot. That hasn't been my experience. I just checked for tomorrow to see what was available. EPCOT, AK and Studios had everything available on Sunday including Toy Story Midway Mania. Shockingly in the MK I could get a Anna and Elsa meet and greet time at 12:30 (I have never seen that before...I let those go so that a family with kids could grab them instead). 7DMT was booked as was the afternoon parade. Everything else was open. I expect that if I keep checking today and tomorrow I could get 7DMT at some point. Again this is just my experience and what I just saw on MDE a few minutes ago.

 

[bhg469]

Yeah but be realistic. If I'm park hopping to Epcot at 3:00 in the afternoon, there's no way I'm getting a Fastpasses for Test Track or Soarin' under either system.

but if there weren't fast passes available for test track, it didn't create an hour wait for spaceship earth under the old system.

 

[lazyboy97o]

As for the second part, of course it was. This way people other than the Disney lifers would get to enjoy the popular attractions too, creating more return visitors.

The "Disney lifers" are the ones who benefit the most, who the whole system was designed around.

 

[Mouse_Trap]

They must be laughing so much up at Universal.

For a similar amount of cash, Universal has two Potter lands, Transformers, Simpsons & Spiderman upgrades and now King Kong.
Disney gets erm.....a ride reservation system, doh!

Even forgetting the capital investment, I dread to think what the ongoing running costs for MM+ are, but certainly will be running at tens of millions $s a year.

Now we all know Disney loves to lower it's running costs. How long before the decide the whole reservation system is a failure and scrap it.

Likely, we can only dream this will one day happen, and return to the purely times of just a standby queue. Perhaps give a small number of Fastpass to on-site guests each day (say 1 for Value, 2 for Moderate and 3 for Deluxe) for use anytime, anywhere.

 

[BrerJon]

That really sucks. I don't understand how you've had so much trouble. I've always had no issue getting fps the morning of.

Even if there are slots available the morning of, you still have to deal with the tiering system. I've yet to see any of the MyMagic defenders explain how somebody arriving in the morning with no pre-booked Fastpasses can get Fastpasses for Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain to use within a couple of hours.

This was easily doable under the old system. You get a 1015-1115 Fastpass and a 1030-1130 Fastpass for a different ride, and have done the mountains by midday no problem. The new system won't let you get a second tier 1 attraction until *all* your passes have been used up which means at the very least you have to get Fastpasses for attractions you have no intention of going to, just to fill the time.

If they abolished the limit and the tiering, that would go a long way to improving things.

 

[wdisney9000]

Old way: Walk to Test Track to get a Fastpass. Walk to Soarin' to get a Fastpass. Ride Living With the Land. Walk back to Test Track to use Fastpass. Walk back to Soarin' to use Fastpass.
New way: Ride Test Track standby. Ride Soarin' with pre-selected Fastpass. Ride Living With the Land with pre-selected Fastpass.

Your example for using the 'old system' (Legacy) is not the most efficient.

Old way: Arrive for rope drop (even better if its EMH). Ride Test Track (no wait cuz you were at rope drop). Walk to Soarin', get FP. Ride Living With the Land. Use FP for Soarin'.

Now you have ridden all three of the rides you used as an example within an hour. This could all be done by 9:30 am. Now you have the choice of getting another FP for Soarin or TT if you wanna ride again. You could knock out Nemo, Imagination, and Spaceship Earth within an hour or so and then use your FP for Soarin/TT. Now you have pretty much completed the big rides of Future World and even got to ride Soarin or TT twice and its not even noon. Thats 7-8 attractions you could do before noon and you didnt have to choose them 60-90 days out. If you park hop later you can still get FP for whatever is available and I assure it took less time than waiting at a kiosk line.

Now for the new system. I just logged into MDE and looked at FP+ selections for this coming monday for Epcot.(I have an AP) And FYI, Soarin' and Living With the Land are both tier 1 so you cant even select them both (which is what you did in your example). I chose Soarin', Spaceship Earth, and Nemo. (I used several variables for the third FP+ selection just to be thorough and all return times were the same). Earliest selections were: 1. Soarin for 9:30-10:30, 2. Nemo for 10:30-11:30, and 3. Spaceship Earth 12:05-1:05. Keep in mind that one of the biggest features people love of FP+ is not having to be at rope drop so lets say you arrive at the park at 10:00, which is still early for what most peoples arrive.

New way: Ride Test Track standby, uh-oh, the wait time is already at 40 minutes so you just go right to Soarin and use your pre-selected FP+. Ride Living With the Land standby. Ride Nemo with pre-selected FP+. Ride Imagination. Ride Spaceship Earth with pre-selected FP+ for 12:05 pm. Now you can ride Test Track standby. Wait time will def be 45-60 min by now. By the time you exit Test Track its around 1:30-1:45. Not a bad afternoon at all. But you waited in line at TT for almost an hour and it took much longer to ride fewer attractions than with the 'old way'. Now you also have to wait in line at a kiosk for additional FP+ and by 1:45, its slim pickins.

Using Legacy efficiently did require waking up early for rope drop, but I would rather do that a few days on our trip and have the ability to be spontaneous, get more rides in and have more time to spare rather than planning all that out a month or two in advance.

 

[sjhym333]

Even if there are slots available the morning of, you still have to deal with the tiering system. I've yet to see any of the MyMagic defenders explain how somebody arriving in the morning with no pre-booked Fastpasses can get Fastpasses for Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain to use within a couple of hours.

This was easily doable under the old system. You get a 1015-1115 Fastpass and a 1030-1130 Fastpass for a different ride, and have done the mountains by midday no problem. The new system won't let you get a second tier 1 attraction until *all* your passes have been used up which means at the very least you have to get Fastpasses for attractions you have no intention of going to, just to fill the time.

If they abolished the limit and the tiering, that would go a long way to improving things.

It is easily doable under the current system since the MK does not have tiers. You can do all three mountains with your 3 FP choices.

 

[sjhym333]

Your example for using the 'old system' (Legacy) is not the most efficient.

Old way: Arrive for rope drop (even better if its EMH). Ride Test Track (no wait cuz you were at rope drop). Walk to Soarin', get FP. Ride Living With the Land. Use FP for Soarin'.

Now you have ridden all three of the rides you used as an example within an hour. This could all be done by 9:30 am. Now you have the choice of getting another FP for Soarin or TT if you wanna ride again. You could knock out Nemo, Imagination, and Spaceship Earth within an hour or so and then use your FP for Soarin/TT. Now you have pretty much completed the big rides of Future World and even got to ride Soarin or TT twice and its not even noon. Thats 7-8 attractions you could do before noon and you didnt have to choose them 60-90 days out. If you park hop later you can still get FP for whatever is available and I assure it took less time than waiting at a kiosk line.

Now for the new system. I just logged into MDE and looked at FP+ selections for this coming monday for Epcot.(I have an AP) And FYI, Soarin' and Living With the Land are both tier 1 so you cant even select them both (which is what you did in your example). I chose Soarin', Spaceship Earth, and Nemo. (I used several variables for the third FP+ selection just to be thorough and all return times were the same). Earliest selections were: 1. Soarin for 9:30-10:30, 2. Nemo for 10:30-11:30, and 3. Spaceship Earth 12:05-1:05. Keep in mind that one of the biggest features people love of FP+ is not having to be at rope drop so lets say you arrive at the park at 10:00, which is still early for what most peoples arrive.

New way: Ride Test Track standby, uh-oh, the wait time is already at 40 minutes so you just go right to Soarin and use your pre-selected FP+. Ride Living With the Land standby. Ride Nemo with pre-selected FP+. Ride Imagination. Ride Spaceship Earth with pre-selected FP+ for 12:05 pm. Now you can ride Test Track standby. Wait time will def be 45-60 min by now. By the time you exit Test Track its around 1:30-1:45. Not a bad afternoon at all. But you waited in line at TT for almost an hour and it took much longer to ride fewer attractions than with the 'old way'. Now you also have to wait in line at a kiosk for additional FP+ and by 1:45, its slim pickins.

Using Legacy efficiently did require waking up early for rope drop, but I would rather do that a few days on our trip and have the ability to be spontaneous, get more rides in and have more time to spare rather than planning all that out a month or two in advance.

Using your own plan under the old system you could use the new system in the same way. Get there for rope drop and head to Test Track with a minimal wait. Head over to Soarin and use your FP+ to ride Soarin, exit Soarin and head to the Land Boat Ride which will be less then a 5-10 min wait. You still have 2 more FP's scheduled so you can use it for Spaceship Earth and one other attraction and still have minimal waits for everything else.

 

[BrerJon]

It is easily doable under the current system since the MK does not have tiers. You can do all three mountains with your 3 FP choices.

Oh my mistake, I thought all the parks had tiers now.

 

[sjhym333]

No, just EPCOT and the Studios have tiers.

 

[wdisney9000]

Using your own plan under the old system you could use the system in the same way. Get there for rope drop and head to Test Track with a minimal wait. Head over to Soarin and use your FP+ to ride Soarin, exit Soarin and head to the Land Boat Ride which will be less then a 5-10 min wait. You still have 2 more FP's scheduled so you can use it for Spaceship Earth and one other attraction and still have minimal waits for everything else.

Yes you could, but as I mentioned, many, many people have sighted that one of the benefits (a big one) of FP+ is NOT having to be at rope drop. If a person uses FP+ in conjunction with rope drop, it eliminates that benefit making FP+ nearly useless in this case. The advantage of pre-selecting FP is useless as well because you are there for rope drop and now have the advantage of choosing what you want to ride on day of, not 60 days ago. You can even ride TT or Sorain more than once without having to use all 3 of your FP+ selections first. And you still have to consider that FP+ selections are timed in a way that keeps you in the park waaaaaay longer than using legacy with rope drop.

 

[sjhym333]

Yes you could, but as I mentioned, many, many people have sighted that one of the benefits (a big one) of FP+ is NOT having to be at rope drop. If a person uses FP+ in conjunction with rope drop, it eliminates that benefit making FP+ nearly useless in this case. The advantage of pre-selecting FP is useless as well because you are there for rope drop and now have the advantage of choosing what you want to ride on day of, not 60 days ago. You can even ride TT or Sorain more than once without having to use all 3 of your FP+ selections first. And you still have to consider that FP+ selections are timed in a way that keeps you in the park waaaaaay longer than using legacy with rope drop.

And it definitely is one of the benefits of FP+ plus to not have to be at rope drop if you don't want to, but as you probably know that doesn't mean that everyone sees it that way. Doing the park at rope drop has it's advantage if you want to take advantage of it. And if you still get there at Rope Drop you can do TT and Soarin multiple times before it gets crowded.

I kind of agree that FP+ keeps you in a park longer then in the past but not fully. I believe that part of FP+ design was to purposely keep people from park hopping quickly. But that is still possible under the new system. Soooo, if you get there at rope drop and head to Test Track, then head to Soarin using your first FP+ you still have 2 remaining FP's. Log onto MDE once you exit Soarin and move your next FP to an earlier time since your Soarin FP has been used. You do that attraction and then you repeat. You could actually be done your 3 FP+ selections by 10:30 or 11. You can then park hop. It really is very similar to the old system but requires understanding and using the new system to your advantage...just the way people did under the old system

 

[Rutt]

The "Disney lifers" are the ones who benefit the most, who the whole system was designed around.

I disagree entirely. Most people (first timers especially) are made well aware of fast pass and my magic plus when they book now. I don't remember anyone ever telling me in the past that I would have to do a mad dash at park opening if I wanted to ride anything good back in the day.