FP+ vs ADR, which is more annoying/valuable?

[MrHappy]

It's 6:59am. The kids are asleep, you are at the kitchen table. Laptop open. Your eyes are fixed on the clocked. There's a calm steadiness in the air.
TICK! 7! A banjo begins to play inside your head as you hit refresh and start filtering through rides or restaurants - depending on how far away your next trip to Disney World is, of course. Months of planning, schedules, spreadsheets, and it all comes down to this - 'fingers, and internet, don't fail me now!'. You close your eyes to place yourself in Tomorrowland as you map out the logistics of stampeding to the monorail to get to the Grand Floridian for Tea...on time. Finally, the storm is over, your roster is complete. You did it. The ultimate vacation. Sure, you had to go to some back ups here and there, but all-in-all, a meticulously planned schedule. Everything is set up for you months in advanced, just follow the schedule, arrive on time, and have no worries. Right?

So I ask you - which system is more annoying, FP+ (the system that straps you to a specific area of a specific park at a specific part of the day and when that's over, repeat the process), or the perhaps less flexible ADR system (the system that also has you watching the clock, with the added bonus of penalties). You can take the positive spin...which system is more valuable. For this fun Friday survey, assume you're a resort guest.

Thanks, I look forward to your thoughts!

[I find these systems fascinating and actually like them. I think it would be borderline anarchy without them.]

EDITED FOR ACCURACY

 

[Weather_Lady]

(Off-topic: Don't they both start at 7am now?)

I find both reservation systems annoying in the sense that Disney requires me to work out my touring itinerary 6 months ahead of time, even though Disney's park hours, refurb schedule, showtimes, etc., won't be finalized for several more months. I hate making blind guesses and having to choose between spontaneity and 90-minute queues for headliners. I'd much prefer it if both "windows" didn't open up until a few weeks before our visit, and only after Disney had committed to a particular schedule. I also wish we could go back to the old, paper Fastpass system, which saw far fewer users competing for Fastpasses at any given attraction/moment - but you "can't put toothpaste back in the tube" as they say, so I try to make the best of it, plan ahead as best I can, and roll with the punches. I do appreciate that at the very least, resort guests get a little bit of an advantage for both systems (they ought to get something in exchange for paying several times the nightly rate of comparable offsite hotels).

 

[Tuvalu]

Online ADRs open at 6 am Eastern. FPs at 7 am Eastern.
But I get your point.

 

[MrHappy]

Thanks @Tuvalu (love your trip reports btw) and @Weather_Lady.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I've always gotten exactly what I wanted and I've never logged on at 6am to book anything. So I don't consider either of them annoying.

 

[MrHappy]

I've always gotten exactly what I wanted and I've never logged on at 6am to book anything. So I don't consider either of them annoying.

Interesting. I think you may be in the minority, but good for you! Besides your luck in booking, how would you describe your in park experience in making your FP+ and ADR times? Rushed, convenient?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Interesting. I think you may be in the minority, but good for you! Besides your luck in booking, how would you describe your in park experience in making your FP+ and ADR times? Rushed, convenient?

I have a three year old so our touring style has been pretty relaxed over the past few trips. I rarely make same-day ADRs and I typically only use my three pre-booked FP+. We take advantage of slow crowds in the mornings and then use our three FP+ in the evenings after an early afternoon nap. We cluster them physically close together, so we're not pressured to be in a certain part of the park at a certain time. So if it's our Tomorrowland day, we'll have Fastpasses for Buzz, Space, and Speedway.

 

[joejccva71]

I think most attractions aside from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Flight of Passage, Toy Story Mania, and Frozen are pretty easy to get. The only FP's I would try to get on a dime at 7am were those 4, the rest? Not that bad.

I do find that trying fit in ADR's around the schedule to be annoying. I want to eat at the best signature places, but trying to schedule that and fit it into your day can be a pain. I think my schedule that I've worked for May works though.

There are also certain things I won't do. For example, going to Animal Kingdom on an EMH morning is something that I won't do. It's a mob scene. I feel like I'm in a roman empire formation about to charge into battle. No thanks.

 

[MrHappy]

I think most attractions aside from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Flight of Passage, Toy Story Mania, and Frozen are pretty easy to get. The only FP's I would try to get on a dime at 7am were those 4, the rest? Not that bad.

I do find that trying fit in ADR's around the schedule to be annoying. I want to eat at the best signature places, but trying to schedule that and fit it into your day can be a pain. I think my schedule that I've worked for May works though.

Thanks Joe, I can tell you're an uber planner....by proof of your Dining Plan thread! I guess that's my biggest complaint as well, marrying the 2 into a fixed cohesive schedule - making the Dining work around the FP+'s.

 

[MrHappy]

I feel like I'm in a roman empire formation about to charge into battle. No thanks.

View attachment 264509

ARCHERS!

 

[DarthVader]

here are also certain things I won't do. For example, going to Animal Kingdom on an EMH morning is something that I won't do. It's a mob scene. I feel like I'm in a roman empire formation about to charge into battle. No thanks.

Holy cow, that's a sea of humanity - I guess I may scratch off that as an option for our trip in April

 

[joejccva71]

Holy cow, that's a sea of humanity - I guess I may scratch off that as an option for our trip in April

I mean, if you go to AK on a non-EMH morning and get there atleast 90 minutes before rope drop (7am-7:30am) since park opens at 9am, you'll be able to be at the front of the pack and be fine. My recommendation? Don't take the bus, it starts too late and is slow. Take Uber or Lyft that morning. Just my advice.

Although, the issue with doing that is when you get there that early (with the initial march of people) the cast members don't put you through the main queue. They put you in the FP queue so you end up missing all that cool stuff that's in the standby queue line. That's the drawback.

 

[DisAl]

Most valuable? For our family, the ADRs because the dining is an important part of the trip for us, especially the character meals for the grandkids. We may change our minds later but we do our ADRs at the 180 day mark every trip to make sure we have some nice restaurants lined up.
As for the FPs, we also schedule our highest priority for what we think we will be wanting to do at the 60 day mark, and then try to change if our plans change. If plans and reality match up the FPs save a lot of time. I think we have modified FPs just about every trip with the MDE app though. There have been times that we would walk up to an attraction, find the wait times minimal, go ahead and do it, then drop the FP that was for later and replace it with something else.

 

[DisAl]

I think most attractions aside from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Flight of Passage, Toy Story Mania, and Frozen are pretty easy to get. The only FP's I would try to get on a dime at 7am were those 4, the rest? Not that bad.

I do find that trying fit in ADR's around the schedule to be annoying. I want to eat at the best signature places, but trying to schedule that and fit it into your day can be a pain. I think my schedule that I've worked for May works though.

There are also certain things I won't do. For example, going to Animal Kingdom on an EMH morning is something that I won't do. It's a mob scene. I feel like I'm in a roman empire formation about to charge into battle. No thanks.

View attachment 264509

Is that the line for the restroom?

 

[DarthVader]

get there atleast 90 minutes

That's just not going to happen. I have a fast pass for the Pandora ride and we'll live with that. I can't see standing in line waiting for the park to open an hour and a half for the luxury of waiting in line at the ride. Thanks for the advice though, I do appreciate it.

 

[DarthVader]

So I ask you - which system is more annoying, FP+ (the system that straps you to a specific area of a specific park at a specific part of the day and when that's over, repeat the process), or the perhaps less flexible ADR system (the system that also has you watching the clock, with the added bonus of penalties)

This is the stuggle I have. Book my ADRs 180 days in advance, trying to tie reservations to what I feel will be best the park days. For instance, I like to avoid MK on Mondays because that seems pretty busy, but what happens if Be Our Guest is available on a Monday but not the day I plan on visiting the park.

Then couple that with the FPs where I book them 60 days in advance and I need to now juggle the must have rides my family wants with the ADRs which may be at odds, i.e., Soarin is available on Wednesday, but I have ADRs in HS that day - its enough to make my head explode.

It took a fair amount of work for me, but I finally got everythign aligned to a degree that's work able.

 

[joejccva71]

That's just not going to happen. I have a fast pass for the Pandora ride and we'll live with that. I can't see standing in line waiting for the park to open an hour and a half for the luxury of waiting in line at the ride. Thanks for the advice though, I do appreciate it.

No worries. I get a little crazy with the planning.

 

[JIMINYCR]

Its annoying that weve gotten to the point where doing both are necessary for a trip. Most Value wise its the ADR's. The competition for a table for dining especially at the better restaurants has gotten crazy. Book a trip during any high crowd season or free dining promotion time and your getting everything you want is like winning the lottery. Having gone to WDW multiple times, we know exactly which restaurants we want and which ones we would rather avoid. So making choices of where we want to dine is easy, but when we get locked out and have to settle for a table somewhere less enjoyable, its frustrating. FP+ choosing later on can be a headache as well but if I cant get my choice and times I want its less of a problem and can be worked around.

 

[Minthorne]

I 'd answer booking DVC rooms

 

[correcaminos]

I 'd answer booking DVC rooms

Really? I find that more fun and less stressful.

I find ADRs annoying to have to do that far out. I really dislike this. Fortunately food isn't important to us and we have a few "go to places" that others either are afraid of or something so we usually can get in. We're going in June and I have nothing other than our room booked. APs already renewed so no big there.

FP+ I find annoying but more useful. Again I don't like planning this far out. We'll often pick a big few rides and go from there.

One trip we had 3 FP+ scheduled in advance and no ADRs. It was June and it worked. So I find this whole system obnoxious now.