FP+ only Toy Story Midway Mania

[DManRightHere]

Are you taIking about riding the same attraction twice in one day? If so, I dont see any advantage with FP+ for riding the same ride twice in one day. With FP+ you have to use all of your FP+ selections before you can get additional ones. Lets say you want to ride Soarin twice. You book a FP+ for 11 am and your other FP selections end around 3 pm. If all the FP+ for Soarin arent gone by then (strong possibility on a semi-busy day) you will get a return time between 5 or 7 pm at the earliest. Thats a lot of time between rides, much more time than it would take to return to get a paper FP. So now you have two options. One, leave the park and hit your room for a short break and return later, or two, stay in the park and wait it out. Both options make park hopping a hassle. Only way around this would be to arrive at rope drop and hit Soarin first,...but, that goes against what most people exclaimed was great about MM+, how it eliminated the need to be at rope drop.

With legacy you could have just rode Soarin at 11 am and immediately obtained a second FP when exiting. Simple. Only downside to this is that you would be standby for TT or you could just get there at rope drop and hit em both up quickly, which some people really enjoy AND it works great for park hopping. Im not saying legacy was better,...but legacy was better for me. Glad you had/are having a good trip though. I cant tell if your still there by looking at your trip countdown, lol. If so, have a good trip.

What I mean by not making double trips is we do not have to hurry over to an attraction to get a paper fastpass, then go to another area of the park with a shorter attraction line, and then go back to our FP attraction.

I know the FP+ is not ideal for multiple FP's for the same attraction, but I think it's a gain some loose some system. I find the FP+ to allow guests to do more with their day (or it feels like more since it's preplanned). This past trip seemed more relaxed than usual, that's also a big reason we're thinking of 1 park per day next trip.

As you have pointed out my expired trip countdown, I can't remember how to get to the edit section for the signature (I think it's the signature).

EDIT: OK, I found the edit section for signature, I guess before, I thought it wasn't a signature area I was looking for.

 

[BrianV]

I know this will sound like Im being an towards you, but I promise Im not.

So many people have said that with FP+ they dont have to "rush" to get FP's while their families enjoy themselves. They make it seem as if when they "rushed" to Toy Story that their family were all holding hands, singing Kubmaya while Mickey and Minnie popped up to have a picnic while it rained gum drops with double rainbows in the sky. While in reality it was more like little Johnny had to go to the bathroom and little Sarah was whining about how she wanted to go see Anna and Elsa again, not ride Toy Story, and the sun was beating down on them so they ducked into a shop to cool off and now both kids are begging to buy plush dolls and when told no, they throw a fit. Good times! (ya, I exaggerated both sides a little)

I always volunteered to be the FP runner. I loved it. The family would go grab ice cream and take a break while my Dad and I would grab a beer and go get the FP's. It was a nice break from the group and we never rushed. Sometimes the family would go ride a short lined attraction and we would all meet up in 30 minutes tht way my Dad and/or brother and I could relax and sit down with our beer and enjoy some time reminiscing about past trips.

No insult accepted. And indeed it was always I who was the runner. And I didn't mind a lot. But I guess I never really saw much of "Main st" Hollywood studios ever. Next trip in march will be really crowded. Arriving mid day would essentially mean no decent rides. However, I can FP+ a few decent rides and show up at the gate at 3 pm and have an afternoon of it. I know we'll get three good rides.

And in exchange, no insult intended, I hope your vacations aren't that bad (as your first example)!!

 

[hopemax]

What I mean by not making double trips is we do not have to hurry over to an attraction to get a paper fastpass, then go to another area of the park with a shorter attraction line, and then go back to our FP attraction.

I kind of wonder how this is actually working out for many guests. Yes, there isn't the "run around first thing," but I still see many comments of "we underestimated how long other attractions, walking, bathroom breaks, snack breaks would take, and so when it was time to use our FP for Splash, we were still in Fantasyland." So now people are running around trying to use their FP and then backtrack to finish the area they were in before. I think with legacy FP, it was a relative few number that were trying to maximize the usage, while most people would grab it when they entered an area, do the other things in the area, use FP, leave area, so they were more likely to be in the correct area. TSMM as an exception, although DHS is the easiest to go from one side to the other.

This also seems like the type of thing that would affect first timers, and infrequent guests worst of all. Frequent visitors could better estimate the likelihood of being in the correct area at the correct time. Or know which FP+ they could blow off, and still experience later that day without difficulty, or entirely because they know the next trip is around the corner. I think this is also why some people feel like they are over-scheduled. They notice that their FP time is less useful than it could be, because it's not where they want to be at that exact moment, and it becomes an annoyance and "they made a mistake in planning," not a positive.

 

[pax_65]

I just can't believe the number of people in line for FP+ kiosks in the park, and the number of people in line for Guest Relations in the parks because they couldn't get their bands to work properly. I wasn't one of them because I got my FP+s on my smart phone 60 days out. My band worked great in the park. (It wouldn't open the door to my room, but after repeated trips to the front desk to fix it I gave up and just had family members let me in.) But still, the experience in the parks wasn't as good as it used to be for me - I can't believe these people waiting in lines for FP+s only to find most of the FPs for top attractions were GONE would want to come back to WDW and repeat the experience. I'm not even sure I do - and I've been to WDW 25+ times.

 

[pumpkin7]

I would happily run all over the park, from one end to another to get fast passes if it meant I didn't have to plan my holiday to the letter.

 

[GrumpyFan]

I don't know if this was posted earlier but I seem to remember some discussion about "paid fast pass" several pages ago and this article explores the possibility that Disney could consider that.

http://www.fool.com/investing/gener...stpass-bets-people-will-pay-to-not-stand.aspx

I can see this happening. In fact, I think it's been planned all along.
If you read some of the patent applications they filed for Next Gen (before it became known as MyDisney Experienc and FastPass+), they mentioned the possibility of doing just this, in order help drive revenue.

U.S. Patent Application 7720718 B2 - A goal of this invention is to improve the desired functionality needed to derive increased guest satisfaction, additional revenue opportunities and resort differentiation.

I can't see them offering attractions for re-rides, but I could see where they might offer more than 3 FP+ for guests staying on property, or maybe even sell a tiered ticket that came with more FP+ for a day.

 

[GrumpyFan]

I have to wonder if more tests of FP+ only might be on the way after the holidays?
Maybe all attractions in a park that has FP+ doing a few days of FP+ only. Or, maybe testing the ability for guests staying at specific resorts to have more than 3 FP+.

 

[sshindel]

I haven't seen much, and will fully admit that I have not gone back and read through 27 pages of this thread. Call me lazy.
Did the world end last week when they went FP+ only? Were there reports of riots and gnashing of teeth? Did Disney have to give so many refunds due to ruined vacations that they are now broke and being purchased by Carl's Jr?

In all seriousness. Were there any reports on the success/failure of this experiment?

 

[pax_65]

I was there last week. I saw a lot of confusion and people were pretty upset. Disney had a small army of customer service people doing their best to make accommodations.

I had my FP+ in advance, but if I paid nearly $100 for entry to a park and was told I couldn't ride the park's most popular attraction, I'd be pretty ed too.

 

[wdisney9000]

And in exchange, no insult intended, I hope your vacations aren't that bad (as your first example)!! [/QUOTE]

I don't have kids, but my nieces and nephews have to pee ALL the damn time.

 

[MonorailMan]

No results of the test have been made public yet. Speculation was that the FP only test was to see if the new track for TSM (rumored for Soundstage 1) should be reserved for FP only. The test was only for those 3 days and is now reopened to everyone.

 

[BigTxEars]

No results of the test have been made public yet. Speculation was that the FP only test was to see if the new track for TSM (rumored for Soundstage 1) should be reserved for FP only. The test was only for those 3 days and is now reopened to everyone.

Kinda....

 

[BroganMc]

When I first used FP+ it was during my NYE trip last year. Those are highly planned trips for me where I know exactly which park I'm visiting on which day. I had a much different and happier experience with FP+ then. I suspect most of the positives you hear are from the first time users who are marveling at being able to book a FP on a smartphone.

Sadly, that honeymoon phase wears off when you visit a second time and stay longer. It evaporates completely if you're also a DAS user who must trek back and forth all over a park to use that service in combination with FP+.

I came away from my recent 3 week long Disney vacation hating it so much I dreaded returning. I'll be back this NYE because I'm taking my entire family, but my 3 week trip in March next year will be spent mostly offsite doing non-Disney park stuff.

 

[BigTxEars]

When I first used FP+ it was during my NYE trip last year. Those are highly planned trips for me where I know exactly which park I'm visiting on which day. I had a much different and happier experience with FP+ then. I suspect most of the positives you hear are from the first time users who are marveling at being able to book a FP on a smartphone.

Sadly, that honeymoon phase wears off when you visit a second time and stay longer. It evaporates completely if you're also a DAS user who must trek back and forth all over a park to use that service in combination with FP+.

I came away from my recent 3 week long Disney vacation hating it so much I dreaded returning. I'll be back this NYE because I'm taking my entire family, but my 3 week trip in March next year will be spent mostly offsite doing non-Disney park stuff.

We are fans, I like the certainty FP+ provides us, less worry for us and thus more relaxing.

And just for future reference, you can't complain about nuthin if your going to Orlando for 3 weeks at a time on vacation

 

[BrianV]

I came away from my recent 3 week long Disney vacation hating it so much I dreaded returning. I'll be back this NYE because I'm taking my entire family, but my 3 week trip in March next year will be spent mostly offsite doing non-Disney park stuff.

Three weeks in disney and I would want to kill myself. Now that we tend to do at max 3 day trips, I think I could only manage maybe 5 or 6.

But I see your point. A three day trip for me is highly planned. It has to be, to optimize park crowds, etc. At three weeks, it doesn't really matter. You can do whatever you want any day and switch parks at will. I can see a definite downside to MM+ on a three week trip.

 

[BigTxEars]

Three weeks in disney and I would want to kill myself. Now that we tend to do at max 3 day trips, I think I could only manage maybe 5 or 6.

But I see your point. A three day trip for me is highly planned. It has to be, to optimize park crowds, etc. At three weeks, it doesn't really matter. You can do whatever you want any day and switch parks at will. I can see a definite downside to MM+ on a three week trip.

Good point. I think on a 3 week trip I would have a number of days where I was structured with FP+s and then a number of days when I had none planned. A mix of both structured and non structured days.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Three weeks in disney and I would want to kill myself. Now that we tend to do at max 3 day trips, I think I could only manage maybe 5 or 6.

But I see your point. A three day trip for me is highly planned. It has to be, to optimize park crowds, etc. At three weeks, it doesn't really matter. You can do whatever you want any day and switch parks at will. I can see a definite downside to MM+ on a three week trip.

Three weeks? I would have done myself in starting the second week. I cannot go there that long without getting serious mental health issues.

My very first visit in 83 was for three days, at some point I changed that to 4 days (I presume that 4 parks were the reason for that). I once did a special buy 4 day package including a room at POP Century. The special was three free days when you booked seven. I stayed in the room for the 7 days but added non-expirational to the last 3 days and used them another time. I just used the hotel as an home base location and I would have crawled to the airport just to get out of there by the end of the week. Guess I'm not a true fan. I can take just so much of that mouse before I call rodent control.

 

[wdwmomof3]

I'm not gonna lie, the Fast Pass only test for TSM has me a little panicked. We went last Thanksgiving and I loved using Fast Pass Plus and really loved the Magic Bands. I didn't mind planning a few fast passes in advance but I also liked the freedom of waiting in line if we chose to. Hearing this news of the test has me worried for our next trip in few months. I feel like for the first time in forever I can't keep up with all of these changes and things are getting more and more difficult to plan. If the test was to see if the third track should be fast pass only thats fine, but I would hate to stand in a 60 plus minute "fast pass" line. That's crazy.

 

[wdisney9000]

No results of the test have been made public yet. Speculation was that the FP only test was to see if the new track for TSM (rumored for Soundstage 1) should be reserved for FP only. The test was only for those 3 days and is now reopened to everyone.

So would 3rd track be fp+ only. If so, the original two would be standby only? Interesting

 

[Foolish Mortal]

So if 1 track would be dedicated to FP+, what would the issue rate per hour be ? Because if the issue rate is going to cause a 45+ minute wait on a slow loader that doesn't make sense or seem worth it.