I like My Disney Experience but definitely want to vent about fast passes. Anyone with me?

M

MonoMan

New Member
This September will be our first time back in 5 years. On the 60 day mark I was ready at 6AM (Central) to go online and make my FP+ reservations. I was able to make 2 before the system was bogged down and crashed. All I have to say it was a miserable experience. I finally said forget it, and will just wait in standby or just get available FP+ that day in the park.

I found it took way too much planning and too much time to get a few FP+. I was able to get FoP and SDD and gave up on the rest.
 
BraveGirl

BraveGirl

Well-Known Member
I hate FP+ and my recent trip to DL, which still uses the old paper FP system, confirmed and increased my hatred of FP+. I think DL has the perfect system - regular paper FP for everyone, and if you don't want to run around the park picking up your FPs, you can pay a little extra to do it from your phone. So much better.
 
Whippet Mom

Whippet Mom

Active Member
COrunner said:
In the interest of not just out right complaining about the fast pass system I wanted to at least give some praise to the MDE app.

Pros: Wait Times - After buying apps previously to monitor crowds/lines, I really do think MDE is good as it can get with giving line wait times
Food: Again no real complaints, I've been able to make reservations and cancel without any real problems

Okay, now I can vent, FP+ is awful.

1. Disney trying to bring back 'tiers' to rides. I want to pull FP's at TSMWM, SDRC and RNRC because those are the rides I want to go on. No Disney I don't care that you think I should only pick one then get the pleasure of going to Indy Live and Muppet Vision.

2. Where are all the fast passes? I feel like FP+ has now become ticketmaster where every morning at 7a bots are grabbing every avatar/slinky dog or otherwise or there are just people that are taking 10+ vacations that overlap far enough out that I'll never get those. This is a third year we've done a short 3 day trip and had no access to the latest n greatest WDW toy.

3. For heavens sake let me overlap. You pull a pass at 9:35, then cannot pick another ride at 10:30... Seriously. I appreciate you being concerned that I should probably eat or shop or maybe my sneaker goes flat or jazzy runs out of batteries, but trust my ability to schedule my own time.

4. Finally if I pay to 'park hop' let me freaking park hop. I am fine if you are only giving me 3, I'll take a 9:00 SD, a noon frozen and a 3p SDMT

That was therapeutic. Anyone else want to pile on?
Click to expand...

I totally agree with the issue with Fastpasses & park hopping.. We plan on park hopping big time on our last day but I can't set fastpasses to do so.. At least I got FOP for the morning of the last day & from there we will wing it trying to set some up
 
polynesiangirl

polynesiangirl

Well-Known Member
I was really surprised for our trip next month...I'm used to jumping in and trying to get FPs immediately and even then sometimes missing out on maybe one FP we want (or getting stuck with a less than ideal time), but this time around even when I did that there was NOTHING left for at least 3 or 4 rides we wanted. Nothing! And we're not even going on a busier-than-usual week!
 
WDW_Jon

WDW_Jon

Well-Known Member
Agree, not a fan, slightly different as we always do 14 days from uK and used to be able to decide where to go as it suited, now a pain in the a$$ planning 2 weeks of dining and attaractions.
Used to choose where we went the night before as we had plenty of time to see everything.
Also preferred the old system as we get out early, return to resort and the out on an evening so we would always get some for the big stuff first thing...
 
Tinkwings

Tinkwings

Pfizered Fairy
Premium Member
In the Parks
No
EthylCooper said:
I can't stand FP+. In my experience the wait times at the parks are back to as bad as they were before fastpass existed at all. You can't get two fastpasses for the same attraction, can't get a fastpass for the two best attractions in the tiered parks, and can't get hardly anything if you're making an impromptu trip. I'm making my first Disneyland trip in a couple of weeks and was thrilled to learn that they still have the much superior same-day fastpass system that WDW used to have. I'll be able to get much more done in a day there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for reminding me of another reason I want to go to DL in the near future.....:angelic:
 
correcaminos

correcaminos

Well-Known Member
my only issue with the newer system is the over scheduling of life. I don't want to schedule a month out, let alone 2 months out. I don't want to plan meals 6 months out either. So I'm not a huge fan of let's do it all way in advance. The rest I can deal with. I also move FPs around the day of when possible so I don't have to wait so long between FP
 
COrunner

COrunner

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I agree and am glad to see common concerns.

Also going back to complaints, I want to make sure and note that these are fixable issues. I really enjoy our time at the parks and not getting FP's just means we hang out in line like we did for FOP last year and most likely will for SD this year, also part of the WDW experience is that you go in knowing the park isn't yours and there will be some waiting here and there (unless anyone wants to gift me a VIP guide, will definitely take one of those!). What I appreciate is that they seem to take feedback and try to move the needle slightly over time.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Texas84 said:
Change to Disneyland's Maxpass. Problem solved. The pick 3 first then nothing remaining system is silly.
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I would like to see Disney keep FP+ for experiences like m&gs and events.... and goto maxpass for all other FPs.

Or limit advance FP to a ratio to number of days you have. Example, get one advance FP for every two days of tickets etc.

All these things aim to balance the “must do” while still allowing the adhoc
 
P

PeakSeason

Well-Known Member
I have no issue with doing Fastpasses the current way. I can plan 60 days out. I can be online at 7 am. I know that I need to grab the most popular attractions first and I know that I have a better chance of getting what I want at the time of day I want it if I try for it several days into my vacation versus day one or two. But DANG, the system has to actually work and be able to handle the number of guests who need it at the same time. If I plan my morning around making Fastpasses and then as I'm about to confirm my selections everything freezes up, that's just unacceptable. This was my experience with Fastpasses for my trip next week. I wasn't able to get the full site or the app to function properly until after noon and by then it was too late for the new rides. I'll do it Disney's way, but Disney needs to give me the ability to actually do that.
 
Goodeone

Goodeone

Active Member
Count me in the camp of people that actually prefer the FP+ system, especially if visiting the parks with less able bodied people. I have an aunt with an artificial leg and a friend with MS. Criss crossing the park trying to collect or make paper fast pass times was absolutely exhausting for them. With the new system you're able to work your way around the park in a much more sensible manner.

Even going without them, I am still a fan of pre-booking. I enjoy planning ahead and typically use a crowd calendar to try to figure out which park to visit on which day anyways. I've been gotten much more done than before by booking my priority FP's in advance and then adjusting on the fly with the app. It's great to walk around the park and jump in a short(ish) standby line for a b-tier ride that I already had a FP for, and then swap out that FP for a different ride or experience later in the day.

Park hopping works fine as well. You get your morning FP's, and then as those get used up you start booking what you can for your 2nd park while you're still physically in your first park. It's a great way to grab priority firework or night activity viewing spots.

Also, all of this is from the POV of someone that has only ever used FP+ as an off property guest with a 30 day window. If you use the system properly, you can definitely get more done in a day than you've ever been able to before, or the same amount without having to run around like a mad man.
 
Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
How many threads will it take to realize your “experience” is not typical?
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(Sigh.) "every. Single. Time." would seem to indicate it's not a lucky one-off.

If you're referring to party size, I'm sure there are plenty of parties of two (and one) around here.

If you have more and my system doesn't work, get creative. Put Mom + one kid on Frozen and Dad + one kid on Test Track. Then do the reverse.

Where there's a will, there's a way. If you just want to complain, go ahead. More FP's for me.
 
A

atjimfromdisney

Active Member
There's not a perfect system that will be able to accommodate every family's wants and needs, but I think FP+ has done a pretty great job in advancing the Fastpass system. Don't get me wrong, I loved the legacy system of "Paper Fastpass" days. Being able to work the system to get multiple "E Ticket" rides throughout the day with timing the next Fastpasses at the right time was my jam :cool:

At a resort the size of Walt Disney World, Fastpass+ is a much more applicable system to use. With four parks, and most people parkhopping at least once or twice throughout their vacation, the legacy (paper) Fastpass system has major downsides, whereas with the Fastpass+ system, it gives quite the opportunity to hit multiple "E-Ticket" attractions in multiple parks in a single day with not a crazy amount of effort.

One thing I will say is that MDX (MDE) needs major work to accommodate the demand.
 

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