FastPass+ Most Certainly Not Coming Back As It Was

[jlhwdw]

Come on Disney, give me fireworks and FP+ and I may yet pay that $7700 to stay at Contemporary in September. Lure me back please.

$7700?!?!

 

[StarshipDisney]

$7700?!?!

I guess you have not priced the monorail resorts lately.

Yes, made the reservation over a year ago so probably more now.

Rate for 7 nights in a Magic Kingdom view room in the Contemporary tower with park tickets and memory maker as a package:

Deposit: $200
Due July: $7,339.38
Parking: $175

Total: $7,714.38

What with food and buying stuff, I am sure that we would easily spend $10K on our vacation. BUT...Disney needs to lure me back with benefits or else I will stay in town and all Disney will get is $1500 of whatever I spend in Orlando. I will only pay full price for a full vacation and right now all they have is "Disney Diminished". Contemporary is nowhere near worth that kind of money right now.

 

[tomast]

Unpopular opinion: I loved the FP+ , I found them easy to use, free (and thats good now that you have to pay for everything and remove almost everything that was complementary.) and you can do all the best rides without doing a line if you do your homework.

Yes I am aware that AP holder would like to be more "flexible" so you can decide and get them on the same day and would no mind to pay extra for that, but for the people traveling from abroad where you knew with a lot of anticipation when where you traveling and you had already spend a ton on money on the hole package it was perfect.

 

[Purduevian]

I don't know how you can use the Disney web site or app to buy tickets or do anything else without being bombarded with being asked if we want to make FP reservations at that time.

I don't know how anyone standing in a long standby line and seeing people 'cut the line' in the FP line isn't asking themselves, "Hmmm. What's that and how do I get in on that?"

I did pass a woman in standby while in the fastpass line for Buzz and heard her say "I hate how they let the rich people cut!" Everyone knows there is a legal line cutting, but many don't realize it's free. Actually that same line, my father in law pulled me aside after the ride and asked how much extra he paid to skip the line (it was our first ride of the day). So someone people probably just make incorrect assumptions regarding FP.

^ This is a parody post.

Real talk: I was at the MK on NYE and I got 78 FPs. Never waited more than 2 minutes in any line. It was super easy. Barely an inconvenience.

Just because some people can pull things off that don't seem real to you does NOT mean it's a parody post. I was in a group of 2 on the Sunday before 4th of July and pulled 17 fastpasses (only ended up using 16 as we got rained on during fireworks and left without using it). A combo of Photopass and my personal picture time stamps let me put my day back together previously to show that it is possible.
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...he-magic-kingdom.929264/page-354#post-9391847

I will miss FP+ a ton because I understood the system and was able to "abuse" it to never wait in line. However I recognize that it certainly was not for everyone and Disney is leaving a lot of money on the table by not monetizing it.

 

[mikejs78]

I did pass a woman in standby while in the fastpass line for Buzz and heard her say "I hate how they let the rich people cut!" Everyone knows there is a legal line cutting, but many don't realize it's free. Actually that same line, my father in law pulled me aside after the ride and asked how much extra he paid to skip the line (it was our first ride of the day). So someone people probably just make incorrect assumptions regarding FP.

Was her name Katiebug?

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I did pass a woman in standby while in the fastpass line for Buzz and heard her say "I hate how they let the rich people cut!" Everyone knows there is a legal line cutting, but many don't realize it's free. Actually that same line, my father in law pulled me aside after the ride and asked how much extra he paid to skip the line (it was our first ride of the day). So someone people probably just make incorrect assumptions regarding FP.


Just because some people can pull things off that don't seem real to you does NOT mean it's a parody post. I was in a group of 2 on the Sunday before 4th of July and pulled 17 fastpasses (only ended up using 16 as we got rained on during fireworks and left without using it). A combo of Photopass and my personal picture time stamps let me put my day back together previously to show that it is possible.
https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...he-magic-kingdom.929264/page-354#post-9391847

I will miss FP+ a ton because I understood the system and was able to "abuse" it to never wait in line. However I recognize that it certainly was not for everyone and Disney is leaving a lot of money on the table by not monetizing it.

One thing everyone seems to be overlooking is that the more people in your party, the more difficult it is to get FP. Another thing many overlook is that some people just don't want to be bothered once they've used their first 3.

 

[Chi84]

Unpopular opinion: I loved the FP+ ,

It's so unpopular that WDW will almost certainly institute a paid version of it. The only question is how much they will have to charge to prevent so many people from buying it that the system becomes unworkable.

 

[Dreaming of Disney World]

One thing everyone seems to be overlooking is that the more people in your party, the more difficult it is to get FP. Another thing many overlook is that some people just don't want to be bothered once they've used their first 3.

You can divide your party into smaller groups to get fast passes. Look for fast pass windows with overlapping times. And if some people don't want to be bothered getting more after the first 3, then it's their fault they're missing out.

 

[Jrb1979]

Why not just get rid of the scheduling part of it?

 

[ImperfectPixie]

You can divide your party into smaller groups to get fast passes. Look for fast pass windows with overlapping times. And if some people don't want to be bothered getting more after the first 3, then it's their fault they're missing out.

I'm aware that you can split your party...we do it quite often. But there are people who just won't bother, and there are also people whose party is large enough that splitting into smaller groups just doesn't cut it because return times won't jive.

The people who don't bother just don't want to - they don't feel they're missing out at all. They just don't want to feel pressured during their vacations. (I know several people like this. Out-of-state APs and also DVC, with some overlap between the two groups.)

 

[DisneyDave54321]

Do we have any more idea when/if the new version of paid fastpass will be announced/implemented. We are going in February, do we think it will be up and running by then?

 

[PirateFrank]

I think it partly depends on what you consider adequate knowledge of FP+. Disney is pretty good at getting the word out about the need to make ADRs and FP+ selections as well as the time you can do so. I suspect most people know about the first three. After that, awareness starts to decline, and I don’t think many know how to maximize them to the extent talked about here.

Obviously, I don’t know for certain, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a large number of guests never go beyond getting the first three every day. I hope that whatever system Disney chooses to replace FP+ will be fairly easy to understand and use. If it’s a paid system, so be it.

I kinda have to disagree with you there. For the past several years, I'd receive reminder emails from WDW anywhere from 7 hours to 3 days after my ADR and FP+ windows opened....and I would NEVER receive an email before. It became a running joke in my family, if I booked ADRs or FPs when Disney told me to book ADRs/FPs, we would never eat at Ohana or Via Napoli...or ride 7DMT.

I actually used to love the fact that those reminder emails came after the fact. The process of getting ADRs and FP+'s was stressful enough. The fact that there was a subset of WDW vacationers that might not have researched sufficiently to know when their windows opened was a small bit of comfort that I might get the ADR/FPs I need.

 

[G00fyDad]

I kinda have to disagree with you there. For the past several years, I'd receive reminder emails from WDW anywhere from 7 hours to 3 days after my ADR and FP+ windows opened....and I would NEVER receive an email before. It became a running joke in my family, if I booked ADRs or FPs when Disney told me to book ADRs/FPs, we would never eat at Ohana or Via Napoli...or ride 7DMT.

I actually used to love the fact that those reminder emails came after the fact. The process of getting ADRs and FP+'s was stressful enough. The fact that there was a subset of WDW vacationers that might not have researched sufficiently to know when their windows opened was a small bit of comfort that I might get the ADR/FPs I need.

We would get along great! LOL That is exactly the way I think about things.

 

[PirateFrank]

We would get along great! LOL That is exactly the way I think about things.

Yup!

Reminds me of back in the original fastpass days. You recall that when TSMM first opened up? The CMs would line everyone up on Hollywood blvd, right in front of Hollywood and Vine. Then when the rope drop occurred, it would be a running of the bulls to the TSMM fastpass machines (or into TSMM itself). Thousands of Dadbods pushing, shoving and fighting each other the whole way to TSMM to get fastpasses for the wife and kids waiting at Echo Lake.

Some dad pushed me aside just as I was about to stick my cards into a fastpass machine. This guy proceeds to enter something like 12 keys to the world into the machine, taking his sweet old time doing it too. I looked up at the clock and saw the return times tick from 9am, to 10am, to 11:30am in the 2 minutes this guy took in front of the machine. I had a lunch ADR in Epcot later that day, so we needed to leave DHS before 12:45. Finally he walks away, I get my 4 fastpasses with 12:30 return times. I got what I needed - but had I let just one more person in front of me, I wouldn't have.

I realized right then and there that vacationing at WDW is a little like lord of the flies. When it came to ADRs and FP's....It was you against the 'world', so you had to leverage every advantage possible!

 

[G00fyDad]

Yup!

Reminds me of back in the original fastpass days. You recall that when TSMM first opened up? The CMs would line everyone up on Hollywood blvd, right in front of Hollywood and Vine. Then when the rope drop occurred, it would be a running of the bulls to the TSMM fastpass machines (or into TSMM itself). Thousands of Dadbods pushing, shoving and fighting each other the whole way to TSMM to get fastpasses for the wife and kids waiting at Echo Lake.

Some dad pushed me aside just as I was about to stick my cards into a fastpass machine. This guy proceeds to enter something like 12 keys to the world into the machine, taking his sweet old time doing it too. I looked up at the clock and saw the return times tick from 9am, to 10am, to 11:30am in the 2 minutes this guy took in front of the machine. I had a lunch ADR in Epcot later that day, so we needed to leave DHS before 12:45. Finally he walks away, I get my 4 fastpasses with 12:30 return times. I got what I needed - but had I let just one more person in front of me, I wouldn't have.

I realized right then and there that vacationing at WDW is a little like lord of the flies. When it came to ADRs and FP's....It was you against the 'world', so you had to leverage every advantage possible!

I remember those days. We went right after TSMM opened and I actually got a guy kicked out of the park. We were right at the front during the rope drop and he was standing behind us. When they released us he actually reached over and grabbed the top of my son's head (he was only 6 at the time) and shoved him back (to the ground) as he took off running like he was in an Olympic sprint. My son was almost trampled) The CM's saw that and went directly to the attraction with us because I was ready to beat the brakes off of him and they wanted to find him first. One went to the exit and one to the entrance to find him. He had already gotten his FPs and was in the attraction. The CM that was with us took us to the front of the attraction and had the CM there give us FPs for the attraction and walk us up to the front of the line (well, very close to the front.). We got to see them escort him out of the line and out of the attraction. After we got off the ride they were at the exit still talking to him and they were telling him that he had to leave the park. I thought they would have done that sort of thing backstage somewhere but he was very belligerent. They may have been waiting on security.

Paper FPs were insane. I do NOT miss them at all.

 

[CosmicRays]

$7700?!?!

My honeymoon back in 2013 at Animal Kingdom lodge was a 6 night 5800$, so I can definitely believe it.

 

[mikejs78]

Yup!

Reminds me of back in the original fastpass days. You recall that when TSMM first opened up? The CMs would line everyone up on Hollywood blvd, right in front of Hollywood and Vine. Then when the rope drop occurred, it would be a running of the bulls to the TSMM fastpass machines (or into TSMM itself). Thousands of Dadbods pushing, shoving and fighting each other the whole way to TSMM to get fastpasses for the wife and kids waiting at Echo Lake.

Some dad pushed me aside just as I was about to stick my cards into a fastpass machine. This guy proceeds to enter something like 12 keys to the world into the machine, taking his sweet old time doing it too. I looked up at the clock and saw the return times tick from 9am, to 10am, to 11:30am in the 2 minutes this guy took in front of the machine. I had a lunch ADR in Epcot later that day, so we needed to leave DHS before 12:45. Finally he walks away, I get my 4 fastpasses with 12:30 return times. I got what I needed - but had I let just one more person in front of me, I wouldn't have.

I realized right then and there that vacationing at WDW is a little like lord of the flies. When it came to ADRs and FP's....It was you against the 'world', so you had to leverage every advantage possible!

I remember those days. We went right after TSMM opened and I actually got a guy kicked out of the park. We were right at the front during the rope drop and he was standing behind us. When they released us he actually reached over and grabbed the top of my son's head (he was only 6 at the time) and shoved him back as he took off running like he was in an Olympic sprint. The CM's saw that and went directly to the attraction with us because I was ready to beat the brakes off of him and they wanted to find him first. One went to the exit and one to the entrance to find him. He had already gotten his FPs and was in the attraction. The CM that was with us took us to the front of the attraction and had the CM there give us FPs for the attraction and walk us up to the front of the line (well, very close to the front.). We got to see them escort him out of the line and out of the attraction. After we got off the ride they were at the exit still talking to him and they were telling him that he had to leave the park. I thought they would have done that sort of thing backstage somewhere but he was very belligerent. They may have been waiting on security.

Paper FPs were insane. I do NOT miss them at all.

My wife and I perfected the rope-drop FP blitz... I remember running (ok, the cast members wouldn't allow us to run, but walking fast seemed to be allowed) to TSMM, grabbing a FP, then heading to ToT or R&RC and doing both of those; we would generally go grab a quick FP somewhere, then head to a second headliner and wait a short amount, go on a couple of shorter rides, then get a 2nd FP as soon as our window opened for a second FP, trek across the park to ride the first FP, etc...

I couldn't imagine doing that now with two kids. FP+ is *much* less crazy than FP was... However, I could very much be happy with a MaxPass type system where I could make the FP selections without running across the park...

 

[pdude81]

The way I see it, the problem of ride capacity relative to park capacity isn't going away soon. There are also queues built up for Fastpass that would have to be completely changed if they don't want to continue the practice. So I'd just like to know what the rules are, and I'll take advantage of those. Bigger crowd increases are coming soon enough that I'm surprised we haven't had an announcement yet.

 

[PirateFrank]

The way I see it, the problem of ride capacity relative to park capacity isn't going away soon. There are also queues built up for Fastpass that would have to be completely changed if they don't want to continue the practice. So I'd just like to know what the rules are, and I'll take advantage of those. Bigger crowd increases are coming soon enough that I'm surprised we haven't had an announcement yet.

Alot of those FP queues could be quickly modified for standby spillover (though I also acknowledge some wouldn't be as easy). However, I don't think they're going that route, so it's a moot point. There will definitively be some variety of priority line. The big question we're all waiting on is whether it will just be a retimed FP+ or something different.

 

[G00fyDad]

My wife and I perfected the rope-drop FP blitz... I remember running (ok, the cast members wouldn't allow us to run, but walking fast seemed to be allowed) to TSMM, grabbing a FP, then heading to ToT or R&RC and doing both of those; we would generally go grab a quick FP somewhere, then head to a second headliner and wait a short amount, go on a couple of shorter rides, then get a 2nd FP as soon as our window opened for a second FP, trek across the park to ride the first FP, etc...

I couldn't imagine doing that now with two kids. FP+ is *much* less crazy than FP was... However, I could very much be happy with a MaxPass type system where I could make the FP selections without running across the park...

Getting rid of the legacy FP system also reduced the amount of line cutting. I could not stand when people would split up and go to the FP machines while one or more of their group went to the line. You could be within eyesight of the actual ride and suddenly there are ten times as many people in front of you now because people had to "catch up to their group". These days it is not so much of a problem.