Just returned from a week at WDW and FP+. (Almost) Nothing but good things!

[durangojim]

So we were in the world last week staying at the BC. There were 6 of us - 2 kids and 4 adults, which were my parents, my wife, and me. I was in charge of all the FPs. We made our FP+ reservations however many months in advance that they were available. We also made Be our guest FP+ reservations for lunch which worked out incredibly well. We had park hopper passes and Premier Annual passes and we would do one or two parks per day.
In the past I would be the "runner". We'd get to the park in the morning, usually around opening, and I'd go run and get FPs for an attraction for later in the day. Then get in line at something else and repeat throughout the day. The downside to this is that my parents often would not get to the park at the same time, so we'd have to wait for them to get FPs, or if we slept in some FPs (toy story) wouldn't be until later in the day when we might not even be in the park.
I was apprehensive about using the system, but not having to worry about getting FPs really alleviated most of the stress associated with having to get to the park at a certain time or having to constantly leave the group to go get FPs.
The other thing that I don't see many people mentioning - which IMO is the best feature - is the ability to change FPs on the fly during the day with your cell phone. This is genius! We did this for a couple of reasons - 1. What we were going to use the FP on didn't have a long line. 2. We changed parks during the day 3. We decided to stand in line and get an FP for something else that had a longer line (did this with Little Mermaid and seeing Mickey at MK). For me, this made for a much more relaxing trip and we were able to go on just as many, if not more rides than usual.
The only downsides that I see is not being able to use FPs for more than 1 park a day and being limited to 3 FPs and tiers, also some rides have longer standby lines (Pirates). Other than that, I'm sold on the Magic Band, FP+ system and think the pros far outweigh the cons. I look forward to using it again in the future!

 

[disney4life2008]

I agree on FP+. It is very nice to be able to change selections on my time vs being at the attractions. I woke up late one morning and all my return times had passed I was able to log in from my bed and get later times and walk on those 3 attractions. That is a success. But the limitations of park hoping is still a problem but likely workable if further planning is done.

 

[Betsyboo]

I'm looking forward to not having to run for FPs. I've been able to make my selections and can stroll into the park later than rope drop if I want to without worrying if I can ride something without a wait. Glad you had a good experience. I hope mine is the same.

 

[jgd250]

I'm looking forward to not having to run for FPs. I've been able to make my selections and can stroll into the park later than rope drop if I want to without worrying if I can ride something without a wait. Glad you had a good experience. I hope mine is the same.

 

[jgd250]

I tried to change my FP selection at HS last week. At around 2pm, nothing was available to change to. So, you really need to get in your selections as early as possible and if your plans change later in the day, you're probably out of luck - at HS, at least.

 

[wdwmagic]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with MyMagic+

 

[sm57co]

I agree with your points on FP+. I like the whole system overall. The major downside I see is parkhopper now seems less valuable to me. probably won't get it again. Also like you mentioned, limiting to only 3 selections. I'm wondering why Disney decided to only let you choose 3 vs say 5. I think this is the biggest negative.

 

[Minnie_girl]

I agree with your points on FP+. I like the whole system overall. The major downside I see is parkhopper now seems less valuable to me. probably won't get it again. Also like you mentioned, limiting to only 3 selections. I'm wondering why Disney decided to only let you choose 3 vs say 5. I think this is the biggest negative.

Me too.

 

[Cesar R M]

I agree with your points on FP+. I like the whole system overall. The major downside I see is parkhopper now seems less valuable to me. probably won't get it again. Also like you mentioned, limiting to only 3 selections. I'm wondering why Disney decided to only let you choose 3 vs say 5. I think this is the biggest negative.

I think they should add 2 selections more if you buy parkhopper. (exclusively to 2 selections in OTHER parks)

(to clarify since I read this thing a few days later and sounds kinda confusing..: "I think they should award 2 more FP+ selections if you buy ParkHopper")

 

[graphite1326]

I found good and bad with my experience. For MK it worked out great. I had my picks at the front of the park and at rope drop I went to the back and worked my way forward. However, that doesn't work with the other three parks. I ended up not using some of them becasue we rode the rides we wanted to early. For example: At HS we had an early FP for TSMM and used it. We had one for RNR later but when we got there quite early the line wasn't bad so we rode it and didn't use the FP. Our later FP was for Fantasmic which I don't understand because you don't really need one. I guess it's just to reserve a seat but during the non-busy season I don't think you would need one.

 

[stevehousse]

I found good and bad with my experience. For MK it worked out great. I had my picks at the front of the park and at rope drop I went to the back and worked my way forward. However, that doesn't work with the other three parks. I ended up not using some of them becasue we rode the rides we wanted to early. For example: At HS we had an early FP for TSMM and used it. We had one for RNR later but when we got there quite early the line wasn't bad so we rode it and didn't use the FP. Our later FP was for Fantasmic which I don't understand because you don't really need one. I guess it's just to reserve a seat but during the non-busy season I don't think you would need one.

But the thing about that is, you could have easily changed your FP to different rides so u wouldn't have to wait in line for those, or kept it and ride twice!

 

[ncgator77]

I just returned from a trip over MLK weekend staying at the Wilderness Lodge. I'm a frequent visitor, and would consider myself a pretty efficient user of the legacy FP system, and wasn't sure how I'd like FP+. I have to say I loved it! The parks were open very late, so it was great not having to be a park early the next morning to rush to hit certain rides or get FPs. The bands worked perfectly for everything. The biggest downside for me (which others have pointed out) is the inability to use at multiple parks in one day for hopping, followed by the limit of 3 per day. I'm not saying there weren't advantages with the old system, or that this one is perfect, but overall I was very happy with it.

 

[KeithVH]

Two observations. Was just there also for a week. From an operational standpoint, everything worked fine.

From a policy standpoint, it absolutely bit the big one. Park hopping is pretty much toast now for us. On average we would use 5-6 FPs per day, at up to 3 different parks. That is no longer possible. Tiering makes things even harder in a single park. And the short hours (we're used to December, not January) really cramped our time schedule with them trying to keep us in a single park for 7+ hours at a time. Honestly, do they really think a 9AM and a 5PM pass is gonna fly when it's a hot day? Or you wanna eat dinner at another park?

I'm glad everyone seems to like them, but, even with everything working perfectly, it is the worst TDO change in more than 15 years. Enough so that we'll never go to Orlando again.

 

[G00fyDad]

It worked wonderful for us. Planned out the FP+ in advance for each day's afternoon. When we got to the park in the morning we rode walk-ons for every ride, and if we changed our minds before the afternoon park hop I could whip out my phone and make the necessary changes instantly. Park hopping was still very much a possibility for us. I loved the MM+ experience. I only wish that I had realized that a FP+ for Fantasmic was a waste. Could have used that elsewhere.

 

[coachwnh]

we have used it three times, and three very busy times (Oct before Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). The bands, for the most part, work fine. Its the limiting to the three FP+ choices and the lack of hoping that stinks. These problems have to be worse now as all parks have now eliminated paper passes. As I have stated on here, plus in an email to WDW, and in the phone conversation I had as a follow up to the email, it is not possible to maximize your visit to WDW (for a WDW veteran and especially a newcomer) with just three FP choices in one park per day. Its just not.

 

[graphite1326]

But the thing about that is, you could have easily changed your FP to different rides so u wouldn't have to wait in line for those, or kept it and ride twice!

Yes I did make changes later in my visit. We went to EPCOT later in the day and hadn't used any FP+ in the park we were in. BUT, by then there weren't any left for Soarin or TT.

When I made my changes they asked me if I had used any FP+ in the current park. I said no and they made the changes. I wondered then if I had used any if I could make the changes. You have to pick three, but I wonder if you can pick three but not in the same park?

 

[disneygirl1]

we have used it three times, and three very busy times (Oct before Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas). The bands, for the most part, work fine. Its the limiting to the three FP+ choices and the lack of hoping that stinks. These problems have to be worse now as all parks have now eliminated paper passes. As I have stated on here, plus in an email to WDW, and in the phone conversation I had as a follow up to the email, it is not possible to maximize your visit to WDW (for a WDW veteran and especially a newcomer) with just three FP choices in one park per day. Its just not.

Coach, I could NOT have said it better myself. We were there during Christmas too and overall found the FP+ system to be great (not gonna lie we double dipped with the FP- so that was a huge help). Love that you can change the times for your FP+ on the fly. What I truly dislike is the limit to 3 FP+ per day and the tiering at Epcot and DHS.

What email address did you use to voice your concerns? I too would like to send an email. As a frequent guest to the World and one who forks out the extra money to park hop I feel like I am being limited to what I can do, and I don't like that. We are heading back in May and a 1st timer is coming with us and I want to show her why we love Disney so much. But what concerns me is that b/c we can only get 3 FP+ we are going to be waiting in alot of lines. And for me that is a HUGE turn off! I already have anxiety about the thought of having to wait in line for Rock n rollercoaster and Test Track/Soarin.

I know alot of people said that getting to the parks at opening will allow you to get rides done, but for us.... We aren't rope drop people. We like to be in the parks late. Our goal is to be at the resort's bus stop bu like 830-9a. After all we are on vacation.

 

[coachwnh]

Coach, I could NOT have said it better myself. We were there during Christmas too and overall found the FP+ system to be great (not gonna lie we double dipped with the FP- so that was a huge help). Love that you can change the times for your FP+ on the fly. What I truly dislike is the limit to 3 FP+ per day and the tiering at Epcot and DHS.

What email address did you use to voice your concerns? I too would like to send an email. As a frequent guest to the World and one who forks out the extra money to park hop I feel like I am being limited to what I can do, and I don't like that. We are heading back in May and a 1st timer is coming with us and I want to show her why we love Disney so much. But what concerns me is that b/c we can only get 3 FP+ we are going to be waiting in alot of lines. And for me that is a HUGE turn off! I already have anxiety about the thought of having to wait in line for Rock n rollercoaster and Test Track/Soarin.

I know alot of people said that getting to the parks at opening will allow you to get rides done, but for us.... We aren't rope drop people. We like to be in the parks late. Our goal is to be at the resort's bus stop bu like 830-9a. After all we are on vacation.

Ill get the email address and mail address and post it for you. It took about 2 weeks, but I did get a call back. The woman did say they will read each email and that our concerns will help determine the next step. I guess we have to wait and see.

 

[coachwnh]

Coach, I could NOT have said it better myself. We were there during Christmas too and overall found the FP+ system to be great (not gonna lie we double dipped with the FP- so that was a huge help). Love that you can change the times for your FP+ on the fly. What I truly dislike is the limit to 3 FP+ per day and the tiering at Epcot and DHS.

What email address did you use to voice your concerns? I too would like to send an email. As a frequent guest to the World and one who forks out the extra money to park hop I feel like I am being limited to what I can do, and I don't like that. We are heading back in May and a 1st timer is coming with us and I want to show her why we love Disney so much. But what concerns me is that b/c we can only get 3 FP+ we are going to be waiting in alot of lines. And for me that is a HUGE turn off! I already have anxiety about the thought of having to wait in line for Rock n rollercoaster and Test Track/Soarin.

I know alot of people said that getting to the parks at opening will allow you to get rides done, but for us.... We aren't rope drop people. We like to be in the parks late. Our goal is to be at the resort's bus stop bu like 830-9a. After all we are on vacation.

Here are the address:

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

Walt Disney Guest Communications
PO Box 10040
Lake Buena Vista Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040