Fastpass returning June 1st???

[CaptainAmerica]

Agreed! FP+ did NOT force people to plan! LOL.

I LOVE planning. Before MDE I did the spreadsheet as well (laminated that ****** too, LOL). If I am being honest FP+ ADDED stress, and ruined part of my planning experience.

With a park hopper and the way we did our park days a dining reservation just meant you needed to at least be in or near that park at dinner, where we spent your day could be flexible based on crowds or change of mind.

As much as I love planning, I also like the ability to change it up if plans go awry. With FP+ I always felt like I was "locking down" another portion of my day.

In the paper FP days I don't think I once walked away from a trip without experiencing all the E-tickets rides we wanted.
Then again those were the days of hour long morning EMH and 3 hour long evening EMH.

Lots of factors at play here, I guess, but I will say this --- More top notch C, D & E ticket attractions cures a lot of woes.
DHS is a great example. TSMM a walk on or close to it the ENTIRE length of our trip. Could you imagine that a couple o' years back?

The thing I always did to make FP+ more flexible, which I think I'm in the minority on, was to plan attractions that are physically close to one another and in the earliest possible time slots. I'd rope drop Splash, FastPass Thunder, FastPass Pirates, do Tiki Room, Carpets, and Treehouse, then FastPass Jungle Cruise. I'd be done with my first three FastPasses by 11:15 AM.

 

[WondersOfLife]

do you want to spend all your time (money) waiting in line?

No... That's why I'd prefer no Fastpasses.... Because rides that don't typically have lines end up having lines with Fastpass... It's a flawed system.

 

[wdwmagic]

Uh wut?

Rope drop FOP
FOP FP+
Bug
Safari FP+
FOTLK

There will be no rope dropping for off site guests once the new early 30 min resort opening begins.

 

[G00fyDad]

Agreed! FP+ did NOT force people to plan! LOL.

I LOVE planning. Before MDE I did the spreadsheet as well (laminated that ****** too, LOL). If I am being honest FP+ ADDED stress, and ruined part of my planning experience.

With a park hopper and the way we did our park days a dining reservation just meant you needed to at least be in or near that park at dinner, where we spent your day could be flexible based on crowds or change of mind.

As much as I love planning, I also like the ability to change it up if plans go awry. With FP+ I always felt like I was "locking down" another portion of my day.

In the paper FP days I don't think I once walked away from a trip without experiencing all the E-tickets rides we wanted.
Then again those were the days of hour long morning EMH and 3 hour long evening EMH.

Lots of factors at play here, I guess, but I will say this --- More top notch C, D & E ticket attractions cures a lot of woes.
DHS is a great example. TSMM a walk on or close to it the ENTIRE length of our trip. Could you imagine that a couple o' years back?

I remember the days I printed my information out and put it in a 1/2 inch binder and carried that in a backpack. I'd yank that binder out anytime someone had a question about the trip. LOL

 

[ShookieJones]

I remember the days I printed my information out and put it in a 1/2 inch binder and carried that in a backpack. I'd yank that binder out anytime someone had a question about the trip. LOL

LOL! Love it.

Planning is all part of the fun. Honestly my vacation actually starts when I begin planning the vacation in earnest and continues right up until we collect our luggage at the airport when we get back home. Then the post vacation depression kicks in. So odd, but so real. LOL Gotta start planning for next year.

 

[MJM]

There are a lot of us that go frequently, and don't feel the need to cram as much as we can into a single day at a park. We go for ambiance and maybe a few attractions if we feel like it. It's a much more relaxing trip, and we don't go there to be "productive". We go there to have fun and relax.

ETA: We also love FP+ as since we are older, we cannot run to attractions to grab a FP for later in the day, when we may decide to not even be in that park at that time. With FP+, we at least could get a few things in, if we felt like it. We didn't even use it on some days, and just played it all by ear. Yes, you can still do that and not have to plan every minute of your day in a Disney park.

Yes that sounds luxurious and lovely however my family lives is in the Midwest and we don’t have the money to make muplitple trips to WDW in a years time. We go once a year if we can. And many families can’t even do that. My kids want to ride their favorite rides on our once a year week long visit and we have to be “productive” and plan in advance to make that happen for them. Will they be ok if they don’t ride them all? Of course yes but if I can make that happen with some preplanning and the ability to FP the major attractions we are absolutely going to do that for our kids

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

The great myth that pervades message boards is that people like to "go with the flow" when they go to WDW. People plan. My mom planned with a clipboard, I planned with a spreadsheet, other people planned with TouringPlans. I disagree with the idea that FP+ is what forced people to plan. People were planning anyways, they just had the added stress of wondering if it would all pan out once they hit the parks. FP+ alleviated some stress by letting people know "phew, at least I have these three must-dos taken care of that I don't have to worry about."

I adore FP+ and I agree it did not force people to plan. I planned prior to FP+.
However I can HONESTLY say that when I was a kid we did NOT plan a thing.
Heck we didn't know what park we were going to until 20 minutes before leaving the hotel. It could be MK or Universal Studios or Cypress Gardens or Homosassa Springs...
That's just my parents. They have always been indecisive.

 

[Jrb1979]

I adore FP+ and I agree it did not force people to plan. I planned prior to FP+.
However I can HONESTLY say that when I was a kid we did NOT plan a thing.
Heck we didn't know what park we were going to until 20 minutes before leaving the hotel. It could be MK or Universal Studios or Cypress Gardens or Homosassa Springs...
That's just my parents. They have always been indecisive.

That's how I still do most of my vacations. I book my hotel and my flight. The rest I make up as I go when I get there.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

That's how I still do most of my vacations. I book my hotel and my flight. The rest I make up as I go when I get there.

We didn't even do that lol and my parents still don't.
They drive down. They never know where they are staying on the road until the pull in and they have a few go to hotels once they get there but still never know where for sure until they arrive.
Last time they went (November 2018) I literally booked a Disney resort room SAME DAY check in.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Agreed! FP+ did NOT force people to plan! LOL.

I LOVE planning. Before MDE I did the spreadsheet as well (laminated that ****** too, LOL). If I am being honest FP+ ADDED stress, and ruined part of my planning experience.

With a park hopper and the way we did our park days a dining reservation just meant you needed to at least be in or near that park at dinner, where we spent your day could be flexible based on crowds or change of mind.

As much as I love planning, I also like the ability to change it up if plans go awry. With FP+ I always felt like I was "locking down" another portion of my day.

In the paper FP days I don't think I once walked away from a trip without experiencing all the E-tickets rides we wanted.
Then again those were the days of hour long morning EMH and 3 hour long evening EMH.

Lots of factors at play here, I guess, but I will say this --- More top notch C, D & E ticket attractions cures a lot of woes.
DHS is a great example. TSMM a walk on or close to it the ENTIRE length of our trip. Could you imagine that a couple o' years back?

As a child we went on a lot of family vacations. My dad would not only do a spreadsheet but also a flow chart with if/then possibilities. At 3 PM on Tuesday we were to go horseback riding unless it was raining. If raining we would go to the pool. UNLESS there was lightning. The arrow would then show us at the lobby watching cartoons. He was a CPA.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The great myth that pervades message boards is that people like to "go with the flow" when they go to WDW. People plan. My mom planned with a clipboard, I planned with a spreadsheet, other people planned with TouringPlans. I disagree with the idea that FP+ is what forced people to plan. People were planning anyways, they just had the added stress of wondering if it would all pan out once they hit the parks. FP+ alleviated some stress by letting people know "phew, at least I have these three must-dos taken care of that I don't have to worry about."

people plan...but didn’t want to feel like they were paralyzed if they didn’t every second of the day.

it’s too expensive to feel like you’ve “missed out” without planning rides and incurring “food fines” if you aren’t watching the clock.

the biggest “board myths” are actually these.
1. It’s not overpriced
2. They aren’t amusement parks...they are - which means they should be fun. Or at least have a significantly better than average chance of having fun at all times.

Disney’s job has always been...and will still be forever...to find a balance between reservations/cost control and positive experience/PR/word of mouth.

the good leaders always understand this...which is why you must have one.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The great myth that pervades message boards is that people like to "go with the flow" when they go to WDW. People plan. My mom planned with a clipboard, I planned with a spreadsheet, other people planned with TouringPlans. I disagree with the idea that FP+ is what forced people to plan. People were planning anyways, they just had the added stress of wondering if it would all pan out once they hit the parks. FP+ alleviated some stress by letting people know "phew, at least I have these three must-dos taken care of that I don't have to worry about."

I'm afraid that I have to disagree with you on that. There was no special planning other then the fact that previous Guests that told us what were the must see's. They were, of course, the most popular ones. My first trip started out like that but it only took me about 2 attractions before I realized I was running all over the place getting from one must see to the other when I could have been enjoying an attraction instead. So we returning to the hub, headed toward adventure land and went one after another, until we had worked our way around. If we saw one that was way to long, we skipped over it and that became the evening target or the next days.

You cannot plan that ahead of time. That is the only thing that could be planned because all attractions were equal and planning consisted of things we really wanted to see again, not a scheduled certain time setup. Just a preference list. There is a much bigger chance of things not working out with the current formalized, got to be there at a specific time, then there ever was before. Why because as long as the attraction was operational the only thing standing between you and experiencing it was your patience and ability to stand in line for a few minutes.

We did plan basics like when were we going, where were we going to stay, how much to budget for the trip, how many days we were staying, what parks to go to, in what sequence, if we were going to spend all day there or break it up, were we going to drive there or fly there, how much money we were going to spend on souvenirs and what else we might like to do other then be in the parks. But you couldn't plan attractions except in the sense of which ones seemed like something we wanted to experience. That is why FP started the planning set up because all of a sudden we could attempt to get to an attraction at a specific time, but even then we didn't know what time that was going to be until we actually physically got to the park. You can plan specifics now, but that takes a lot of effort and even then you can't always get what you want. I'm glad that people enjoy planning, however, what is planned now is completely different then anything we could even begin to plan back in the early days.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Yes that sounds luxurious and lovely however my family lives is in the Midwest and we don’t have the money to make muplitple trips to WDW in a years time. We go once a year if we can. And many families can’t even do that. My kids want to ride their favorite rides on our once a year week long visit and we have to be “productive” and plan in advance to make that happen for them. Will they be ok if they don’t ride them all? Of course yes but if I can make that happen with some preplanning and the ability to FP the major attractions we are absolutely going to do that for our kids

The part in Red is probably the largest understatement to ever grace the interwebs. I'd say that most families cannot do that. Those of us that can afford WDW are few even though it seems like it's crowded with the majority of the US. The parks do not get even, I'd guess, 10% of the population able to afford it out of 350,000,000. It's hard sometimes to understand that just because we can do something we think almost everyone can.

 

[dmw]

The great myth that pervades message boards is that people like to "go with the flow" when they go to WDW. People plan. My mom planned with a clipboard, I planned with a spreadsheet, other people planned with TouringPlans. I disagree with the idea that FP+ is what forced people to plan. People were planning anyways, they just had the added stress of wondering if it would all pan out once they hit the parks. FP+ alleviated some stress by letting people know "phew, at least I have these three must-dos taken care of that I don't have to worry about."

Somewhere in my home archives I still have a copy of the Unofficial Guide to WDW book from the late 90's, complete with touring plans that you could pull out and take with you to the parks. I remember using the plans for the first trip I ever took as an adult and parent to WDW (family of two grandparents, two young children, and wife and I). That was in addition to a 3-ring binder that had all of the hotel info, ride info (height restrictions, etc.), dining locations and menus. We stayed in the Treehouse Villas at what was then called the Disney Institute.

 

[lentesta]

Somewhere in my home archives I still have a copy of the Unofficial Guide to WDW book from the late 90's, complete with touring plans that you could pull out and take with you to the parks. I remember using the plans for the first trip I ever took as an adult and parent to WDW (family of two grandparents, two young children, and wife and I). That was in addition to a 3-ring binder that had all of the hotel info, ride info (height restrictions, etc.), dining locations and menus. We stayed in the Treehouse Villas at what was then called the Disney Institute.

It'll never work.

 

[HoustonHorn]

There will be no rope dropping for off site guests once the new early 30 min resort opening begins.

When is that set to start? I thought it had already.

 

[dmw]

It'll never work.

Your paper plans were great, @lentesta ! We may not have followed them exactly, but they were a great basis for our final plans.

Oh, wait... were you being sarcastic?

 

[doctornick]

The great myth that pervades message boards is that people like to "go with the flow" when they go to WDW. People plan. My mom planned with a clipboard, I planned with a spreadsheet, other people planned with TouringPlans. I disagree with the idea that FP+ is what forced people to plan. People were planning anyways, they just had the added stress of wondering if it would all pan out once they hit the parks. FP+ alleviated some stress by letting people know "phew, at least I have these three must-dos taken care of that I don't have to worry about."

I think the ultimate point is that there are many different types of vacation styles - both at WDW/Disney parks specifically but with travelling in general. I think that anyone who pretends to speak for what "all" or "most" WDW guests do would be wrong. Because there is no one way people experience the parks.

I would expect that most of the people on these boards go frequently. Maybe multiple times a year or even every year, but probably every 3-4 years at least. Frequent enough to "know" the parks and have certain expectations. the big divide between "planning" and "being spontaneous" probably depends on what one likes to do (do more rides & attractions/be more park heavy vs spend less time in the park/spend more of their park time "relaxing" and enjoying the environments/maybe do more activities outside the parks. FP+ and preplanning like ADRs really hurts the latter but helps the former. But also - and this is important - the fact that the parks are far more busy than they were in past decades hurts both groups and tends to shift people to having to plan. That would be the case even if there were no advance stuff like FP+ or ADRs. We aren't going back to the 80's when there was sparsely attended off-seasons and even in busy times a lot of rides didn't have much wait. Not unless Disney jacks up the prices to unbelievably high rates that really deters guests from visiting.

 

[lentesta]

Your paper plans were great, @lentesta ! We may not have followed them exactly, but they were a great basis for our final plans.

Oh, wait... were you being sarcastic?

Yeah, I was joking. Glad to hear they worked! Let me know if there's ever anything I can help with for other trips.

 

[nickys]

When is that set to start? I thought it had already.

No date has been given yet.

Currently the parks open earlier than the official opening times for all guests.