Just returned from a week at the World - some thoughts

DisneyGal1221

Member
Original Poster
Just returned from a week a Disney World and a few thoughts I wanted to share:
FP+ - FW Campground was not part of the test this week and we definitely suffered for it. At opening, the FP for rides such as Soarin' and TSMWM would already be hours into the future (I know people rush to these rides, but this was more than that). My family attended Fantasmic on Friday night and barely got in because so many people had already gotten a FP+ for that showing. They were told they would have to stand, but luckily found a seat. I understand the new setup, don't love it but understand it, however it is frustrating to be one of the few resorts not testing and worry about missing things because of it. Again, I don't love the idea of the new system, but will be happy when everyone is on the same playing field and has the same opportunity to FP something.

However, my big complaint with FP+ is how much it slows the line down. I was at HS 15 mins prior to opening and got in line. The lines would move very quickly with those using KTW cards and Annual Passes, but I repeatedly saw Magic Bands not working. There were CM there to assist, but I saw so many not working that it was concerning. The other concern is using the bands for FP's - where currently you just hand them a piece of paper, scanning the bands is not a quick process. The use of even more MB in the future will only slow the line down even more.

Now my biggest issue - many effects and rides just weren't working while we were there. The lighting on many rides worked at times and didn't at other (PoC, Dinosaur, Everest). Effects weren't working (Fire on SSE, on CoP oil came out of water spout in Kitchen instead of water, Yeti on Everest) or rides just simply broke down a lot (PoC multiple times, Ariel, SM). Also, we were on The Land when it started pouring and to say the roof leaked in the greenhouse would be an understatement. I saw CM having to scramble to move plants and get them out from under the waterfalls. I understand these rides take a lot of work to maintain, but what Disney has always done well is the little things and keeping up the illusion. To say the illusion was hindered by the malfunctioning would be an understatement.

I love WDW and will return many times, however, I hope once the implementation of FP+ is complete, they will spend some time on just general maintenance issues.
 

bebert

Well-Known Member
Dont like to hear the feedback on FP+ making it even harder to get on rides during peak times. I am going during Thanksgiving and it sounds like that could be a nightmare, it was already bad enough without FP+.
I am surprised to hear about the Land leaking like that, I was there in June during a tropical storm and saw nothing like that.
 

rufio

Well-Known Member
This is disconcerting to hear. :( We just booked a last minute trip and are unable to try FP+ even though we are staying in deluxe villas (DVC) because of the time constraints. The crowd calendars say it'll be dead, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

That's awful about the breakdowns and effects! Hopefully they get those working soon. I can't imagine what Walt would think if he could see the state of things now.
 

Clamman73

Well-Known Member
From what I observed last week and use of magic band, on the Fastpass line entrance magic band reader, you have to put the Mickey head of the band direct on the Mickey head of the reader to get it to go green quickly. Sometimes my band would turn on my wrist and would have make sure it was in the right position as I walked up to the reader.

Last Monday it was raining while on the Land. Water was dripping in on areas just coming out of the aquaculture area.
 

RandomPrincess

Keep Moving Forward
There are only 2 sections for reserved seating at Fantasmic. Mickey is for FP+ and Pocahontas is for people with the Fantasmic Dining Plan. The rest of the theater would have had to be filled with regular guests.
 

DisneyGal1221

Member
Original Poster
Good to know about Fantasmic - could have just been a confused CM.

If the crowds are dead, I don't think you will have a problem getting to ride what you want, it will just definitely require some planning. If the FP's are gone or wait is too long, we got lucky with single rider lines on RnRC and TT. For Soarin', I was able to get a fast pass by being there when it opened one day and coming in the entrance by England in Epcot so I wasn't battling a crowd to get to the pavilion. The other day, we were unable to get a FP but waited until about 10 minutes before closing and were able to get on with a 15 minute wait.
 

eeyoremum

Well-Known Member
This is disconcerting to hear. :( We just booked a last minute trip and are unable to try FP+ even though we are staying in deluxe villas (DVC) because of the time constraints. The crowd calendars say it'll be dead, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

That's awful about the breakdowns and effects! Hopefully they get those working soon. I can't imagine what Walt would think if he could see the state of things now.

I booked on Friday for arrival this coming Sunday and were able to do customize and book FP on our bands. I am very excited to try it out.
 

jkl2000

Well-Known Member
Just returned from a week a Disney World and a few thoughts I wanted to share:
FP+ - FW Campground was not part of the test this week and we definitely suffered for it. At opening, the FP for rides such as Soarin' and TSMWM would already be hours into the future (I know people rush to these rides, but this was more than that). My family attended Fantasmic on Friday night and barely got in because so many people had already gotten a FP+ for that showing. They were told they would have to stand, but luckily found a seat. I understand the new setup, don't love it but understand it, however it is frustrating to be one of the few resorts not testing and worry about missing things because of it. Again, I don't love the idea of the new system, but will be happy when everyone is on the same playing field and has the same opportunity to FP something.

However, my big complaint with FP+ is how much it slows the line down. I was at HS 15 mins prior to opening and got in line. The lines would move very quickly with those using KTW cards and Annual Passes, but I repeatedly saw Magic Bands not working. There were CM there to assist, but I saw so many not working that it was concerning. The other concern is using the bands for FP's - where currently you just hand them a piece of paper, scanning the bands is not a quick process. The use of even more MB in the future will only slow the line down even more.

Now my biggest issue - many effects and rides just weren't working while we were there. The lighting on many rides worked at times and didn't at other (PoC, Dinosaur, Everest). Effects weren't working (Fire on SSE, on CoP oil came out of water spout in Kitchen instead of water, Yeti on Everest) or rides just simply broke down a lot (PoC multiple times, Ariel, SM). Also, we were on The Land when it started pouring and to say the roof leaked in the greenhouse would be an understatement. I saw CM having to scramble to move plants and get them out from under the waterfalls. I understand these rides take a lot of work to maintain, but what Disney has always done well is the little things and keeping up the illusion. To say the illusion was hindered by the malfunctioning would be an understatement.

I love WDW and will return many times, however, I hope once the implementation of FP+ is complete, they will spend some time on just general maintenance issues.

One thing though, related to your first observation - not sure exactly what days you were there, but the past week or so and the beginning of this week are/were likely to be very crowded times because of the school holiday.
 

darthspielberg

Well-Known Member
As far as I was aware the current Fastpass system and the testing FP+ one do not share numbers, therefore, FP+ usage wouldn't effect the number of paper fastpasses or how far out the return times were. Sounds like it was just really busy.
 

CaptainShortty

Well-Known Member
This is disconcerting to hear. :( We just booked a last minute trip and are unable to try FP+ even though we are staying in deluxe villas (DVC) because of the time constraints. The crowd calendars say it'll be dead, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

That's awful about the breakdowns and effects! Hopefully they get those working soon. I can't imagine what Walt would think if he could see the state of things now.

Where are you staying? You should be able to set up Fastpasses regardless if how close in you booked if you're at an eligible resort. You just need to link your room res and park tickets to yor MDX account.
 

BalooChicago

Well-Known Member
Hope you don't mind me adding my thoughts here - figured I didn't need to start a new thread. We were at WDW from 10/16-10/20 (Today). I'm conflicted.

Plus: I was able to get on any ride I wanted. I've never made it on Toy Story Mania before, so that's a plus.

Not having to worry about the KTTW card is nice. Using the Magic Band for charging is very convenient. I'd be curious how much more on average a MB guest spends as room charges compared to someone who previously used a KTTW card. My guess is people spend more.

Bad:

The reading distance for the bands needs to be adjusted. You have to get it just right, which is a pain. It's annoying as the door key, but it causes huge delays for entry - especially for kids. It'd be nice if one band could be parent + kid. My 5 yo got pretty good at it by the end, but could see it being a problem.

We travel as a family. We all "friended" each other or whatever it's called, and the app defaulted to showing all FP+ reservations without any indication (on the main screen) of who had the FP+. My Dad a couple times got his FPs confused for others. It would be nice if others were color coded somehow.

Due to offering FPs for everything short of toilet rooms, Stand-by lines much worse for rides that shouldn't even have FP lines to begin with.
 

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