Limiting all guests to 3 FP+ choices per day

[Bob]

My magic 8 ball sees the following future for FP+.

Version 2.0 will allow for FP+'s across multiple parks on the same day.

Version 3.0 will allow for additional FP+'s per day for on-site guests. 4 FP+'s per day for value resort guests. 5 FP+'s per day for moderate resort guests. 6 FP+'s per day for deluxe resort guests and AP/DVC members.

 

[mcstensrud]

So I feel like i am behind the 8 ball on this matter due to the fact that I went to DL in Sept(instead of my usual WDW trip) and let my AP expire and now I have my May trip planned,got some flash drive in the mail but can't do any thing till I get a new AP or some kind of ticket? Was able to order Bands though not sure for what?Not that it matters but I booked through DVC member services as well.What should I expect? should I pre buy my AP's like I always do or wait till I get there.When will I be able to get FP? OMG this is not fun anymore!

 

[diz4ever]

I THINK IF YOU ARE WILLING TO FORK OUT THE EXTRA MONEY FOR THE PARK HOPPER OPTION YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET 3 EXTRA FASSPASSES PER DAY, WE USUALLY GET THE PARK HOPPER OPTION, BUT NO MORE UNTILL THEY FIX THIS. WE WENT ON THANKSGIVING WEEK AND WERE STUCK WITH THE 3 FASSPASSES AND WAITED IN LONG LINES AT TIMES WHEN WE HOPPED. WE ARE GETTING LESS FOR MORE!!!!!

 

[Disneyfamily4]

We just returned from an excellent Christmas stay in WDW and it was our third time using the magic bands, each time without incident. I am concerned, however, that by our summer trip we will be limited to just a total of three FP+ choices in a single park per day as paper FPs are phased out. It is great starting each day knowing you have three FP+ selections in a park, but its also great being able to pick up paper passes as you go. For example, on Christmas Day, we spent our time in MK and although it was crowded, we were able to pick up multiple passes as well as use or FP+ selections to make it an excellent day! The only issue was in AK during testing. I spoke with three CMs about not being able to get paper passes which limited us to the three FP+ we had. While speaking to a supervisor in the park, he understood our frustration as AP holders and offered us two additional passes of that day (which I never asked for). I just wanted to voice my concern. I have since had several conversations both while there and by phone at home, and it seems at though the new policy will limit all guests, both onsite and offsite, to three passes a day in one park. Personally, I can't see how its possible to maximize your time in any Disney park with only three FPs a day. Does anyone else see how this can really reduce what you can do on a trip? Does anyone else agree or disagree? Part of having a relaxing and enjoyable trip as a Disney vet is having a plan and being able to do multiple attractions in a day. This new policy will kill this.

I agree 100%. 3 Fast Passes a day for only one park hurts a lot more families than what the people here think.

For those of us who have kids between 8-12 years old, the rides is what brings us to Disney, not the parades, fireworks, or pavilions. A lot of people with kids in elementary and middle school only go to Disney in April (Peak Season), when our children are on spring break. In the past, we use 6-9 fast passes a day and that is every day of our trip. Now we get 3 and for families like me, this is not ok. With only 3 fast passes in April, I am dreading the thought of my kids begging me to wait 2 hours to go on a ride.

And for everyone reading the reviews. Consider the time of year that the review is for. Besides Christmas and New Years, The Park is dead this time of year. The wait time for rides is always under 30 minutes. So after the fast passes are finished, of course waiting 30 minutes or less is not miserable. Just wait until the reviews from March through August roll through. That is when we will see a real problem with Fast Pass +.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

A few months before MB's started testing I was talking to a cm working in mk about the rumor of 3 fp+/day, knowing our family usually used 6+/day. They said disney based the number on a survey they did. The survey results told them that the average family only used 1.5 fp's per day so they doubled the number to be generous. My first thought was who the (bleep) took the survey...sigh.

 

[Lucky]

A few months before MB's started testing I was talking to a cm working in mk about the rumor of 3 fp+/day, knowing our family usually used 6+/day. They said disney based the number on a survey they did. The survey results told them that the average family only used 1.5 fp's per day so they doubled the number to be generous. My first thought was who the (bleep) took the survey...sigh.

I wouldn't be totally shocked if the number of FP-pluses in the early test phase were decided in a casual way like that. But in the end it has to be adjusted for what the FP lines can bear and still function as intended. It's not more "generous" to give everyone 6 or 8 if that meant everyone was waiting for 45 minutes in a FP line. FP and FP+ mostly just shift waiting times around among guests; they don't reduce total waiting time very much.

Eventually maybe they can figure out how to use technology to create virtual queues at all popular attractions, so you can have a single queue for everyone that works something like a FP line, where you're not physically entering a line until (say) 15 minutes before you get on a ride. That could reduce total waiting times and let people do other things like sit in the shade, or spend money on snacks or in gift shops.

 

[Gabe1]

IMO the paper and FP+ along with Magic Bands was all part of the good PR plan launch. Gushing guests over how great MB & FP+ is while not taking away paper FP in same park or hop to parks. I've read countless trip reports glowing about how wondrous this new system worked all the while nobody was looking down the road what would happen next. But Disney got what it wanted out of the launch testing phase, archived positive reviews.

 

[Lucky]

IMO the paper and FP+ along with Magic Bands was all part of the good PR plan launch. Gushing guests over how great MB & FP+ is while not taking away paper FP in same park or hop to parks. I've read countless trip reports glowing about how wondrous this new system worked all the while nobody was looking down the road what would happen next. But Disney got what it wanted out of the launch testing phase, archived positive reviews.

Yeah, in early tests it was great if you were one of the ones getting extra FPs. Other guests without MBs standing in long FP lines weren't so thrilled (my sister was one of them), but no one asked them what they thought.

 

[englanddg]

Yeah, in early tests it was great if you were one of the ones getting extra FPs. Other guests without MBs standing in long FP lines weren't so thrilled (my sister was one of them), but no one asked them what they thought.

The most important part of being a polling agent is knowing who and how to ask to get the results you want.

 

[Gabe1]

This made me think back a year or so to when Disney said Magical Experience is what guests wanted. They wanted to be able to plan their vacations because without a plan vacationing was to stressful. lol Yeah, like I ever dreamed of FP'ing a QS restaurant.

That seems to be their go to response of the decade, the guests asked for it. But lets remember Starbucks was the #1 thing guests asked for according to their polls.

 

[lilclerk]

But lets remember Starbucks was the #1 thing guests asked for according to their polls.

I sorta believe that, though.

 

[englanddg]

This made me think back a year or so to when Disney said Magical Experience is what guests wanted. They wanted to be able to plan their vacations because without a plan vacationing was to stressful. lol Yeah, like I ever dreamed of FP'ing a QS restaurant.

That seems to be their go to response of the decade, the guests asked for it. But lets remember Starbucks was the #1 thing guests asked for according to their polls.

Actually, I do believe them. And, I think they took a cue from sites like this and others where people submit questions and seek advice, along with sites like touringplans and the other sites which came up with online and downloadable tools (like the DP calculator) for people to plan their trips with.

The issue is, while there are a lot of people on forums who are obsessive about trip planning...and there's nothing wrong with that...most aren't.

But, because of those other sites, Disney wasn't able to control the message. So, say someone starts a thread here asking about the best place to view Wishes at is. Someone, at some point, will probably respond saying that they should do the Wishes Dessert Party. Inevitably, someone else will respond and say it's not worth the cost and here's all the reasons you shouldn't do it.

It does make for a more educated consumer (who can then weigh the costs and benefits...or lack thereof) and make an informed decision about what is right for their trip. But, Disney doesn't want that! They want to control the message.

So, when I hear the "Guests wanted an easier way to plan their vacation", what I really hear is "We're tired of guests going to various sites with users and content we don't control to get their information, and the primary reason people do so is to help plan their vacation. So, if we create tools that allows them to do it through disneyworld.com, we can then control the information and presentation. This should boost sales."

Anyhow, I'm sure that was part of the logic behind MM+...in my opinion.

 

[Horizons19]

IMO the paper and FP+ along with Magic Bands was all part of the good PR plan launch. Gushing guests over how great MB & FP+ is while not taking away paper FP in same park or hop to parks. I've read countless trip reports glowing about how wondrous this new system worked all the while nobody was looking down the road what would happen next. But Disney got what it wanted out of the launch testing phase, archived positive reviews.

I agree. I have read so many reviews of this new system from members saying how great it is. But, they mention they are pulling paper FPs too. My family of 5 was there in December and had only the new system to use (because we were at Pop), only the 3 FP+s a day, with the tiering in Epcot so it was really only 1 FP+ a day. We used to ride TT 3 times and Soarin 2 times a day. This trip most Epcot days we only rode Soarin 1 time (with PF+) and TT zero. TT was the ride we would power walk to at opening but it was down one day and most of the other days we gave up and slept till lunchtime (not like us) because the Brazilian group which had rooms either side ours the entire 10 nights were loudly talking outside, laughing and slamming their doors till late and kept us up. At MK we found ourselves walking around in the afternoon for hours waiting for our third FP time not able to pull a paper fast pass with long lines for everything - even the people mover and this was the week before Christmas when school was still in session. This new system stinks. Even doing the best we could with it, getting there before park opening most days, racing from ride to ride in the morning and FP in the afternoon. I also saw long lines like I had never seen before (and we go every year at the same time). Pirates for example was zig zagged out to just out of the covered atrium. While the right side for FP had no one in it. After this trip we will likely not go back unless we have to be in the area anyway. And that speaks volumes coming from me a HUGE Disney fan who has gone to WDW at least once a year my entire 40 years on this planet. They need to increase the amount of FP per day and remove the tiering. But really I wish they had added more rides and not wasted money on this new system. Just my opinion.

 

[Horizons19]

And I will add that the bands only worked our last 2 days (out of 9) for FP+ usage. Not user error - system error.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Anyhow, I'm sure that was part of the logic behind MM+...in my opinion.

A lot of what MyMagic+ is about is Disney taking control over WDW's most valuable asset, its attractions, so they can be more effectively monetized.

Let's face it, without its theme parks, WDW would not exist. Despite corporate's obsession with their hotels and timeshares, those rooms are empty without the theme parks. Their restaurants have thousands of empty tables without the theme parks. The hearts of each of the theme parks are their rides, shows, meet & greets, and nighttime spectaculars. Those are what vacationers come to central Florida for. Those are what keep WDW alive.

The problem is that with the old system, Disney had no control over how these attractions were distributed. They were first-come, first-served. The person with the free ticket from a CM had just as much chance of getting access to Toy Story Mania as the person paying $1000/night to stay at the Grand Floridian.

Such a system doesn't encourage "guests" to spend more. Forget the $100 per day park ticket, in corporate Disney's mind, they were just giving away attractions.

With today's "squeeze the 'guest' for every penny he's got" philosophy both in Burbank and Orlando, that just won't do.

 

[Horizons19]

A lot of what MyMagic+ is about is Disney taking control over WDW's most valuable asset, its attractions, so they can be more effectively monetized.

Let's face it, without its theme parks, WDW would not exist. Despite corporate's obsession with their hotels and timeshares, those rooms are empty without the theme parks. Their restaurants have thousands of empty tables without the theme parks. The hearts of each of the theme parks are their rides, shows, meet & greets, and nighttime spectaculars. Those are what vacationers come to central Florida for. Those are what keep WDW alive.

The problem is that with the old system, Disney had no control over how these attractions were distributed. They were first-come, first-served. The person with the free ticket from a CM had just as much chance of getting access to Toy Story Mania as the person paying $1000/night to stay at the Grand Floridian.

Such a system doesn't encourage "guests" to spend more. Forget the $100 per day park ticket, in corporate Disney's mind, they were just giving away attractions.

With today's "squeeze the 'guest' for every penny he's got" philosophy both in Burbank and Orlando, that just won't do.

A friend of ours who was doing some work for Disney like 15 years ago said he sat in on a meeting with Disney upper management. The whole meeting was about how that the average family leaves WDW with $40 left in their pockets. How can we get that last $40. So yes they have that philosophy and have for a while now.

 

[Gabe1]

I agree. I have read so many reviews of this new system from members saying how great it is. But, they mention they are pulling paper FPs too. My family of 5 was there in December and had only the new system to use (because we were at Pop), only the 3 FP+s a day, with the tiering in Epcot so it was really only 1 FP+ a day. We used to ride TT 3 times and Soarin 2 times a day. This trip most Epcot days we only rode Soarin 1 time (with PF+) and TT zero. TT was the ride we would power walk to at opening but it was down one day and most of the other days we gave up and slept till lunchtime (not like us) because the Brazilian group which had rooms either side ours the entire 10 nights were loudly talking outside, laughing and slamming their doors till late and kept us up. At MK we found ourselves walking around in the afternoon for hours waiting for our third FP time not able to pull a paper fast pass with long lines for everything - even the people mover and this was the week before Christmas when school was still in session. This new system stinks. Even doing the best we could with it, getting there before park opening most days, racing from ride to ride in the morning and FP in the afternoon. I also saw long lines like I had never seen before (and we go every year at the same time). Pirates for example was zig zagged out to just out of the covered atrium. While the right side for FP had no one in it. After this trip we will likely not go back unless we have to be in the area anyway. And that speaks volumes coming from me a HUGE Disney fan who has gone to WDW at least once a year my entire 40 years on this planet. They need to increase the amount of FP per day and remove the tiering. But really I wish they had added more rides and not wasted money on this new system. Just my opinion.

And that is just it. I just emailed my Sis who has a DVC at the Boardwalk but often sells points off, she's not up on Bands or FP+. She will be there twice in February for a series of tournaments with my niece at Sports complex. I explained to her how she had to pick attraction for FP+ now or risk not getting what they want the day of. Order Magic Bands, link tickets. She is so confused and so doesn't want to bother with all this Cr@p, as she put it and why do they need to make this so hard. We've been following all this garbage but most guests not so much.

Her response was how in the H*LL can we do that? In either tournament we have no idea how they will do or as the series goes on what times they will be playing. So I explained altering her Magical Experience on her phone as the day went on around their ADRs. To which my dignified, conservative, extremely proper sister responded **** It! Do they have any idea what this time share costs me each year, no way are they going to tell me I can't get a FP while I'm staying at their DVC and paying through the teeth for two different tournaments. I kept silent. What could I say, I'm the messenger. My sister was flippin and she is a cool cucumber. I said long ago this was going to get ugly and my Sis is ugly a month out and one trip is going to be over the holiday weekend. If Disney still thinks this will get guests to spend more money, they have not met my sister when she is angry.

My Sis and I grew up Disney, first at DL 'cause there wasn't a WDW and I took my family at least for one 2 week trip annually. The week before Thanksgiving week the Toy FP+ queue was out past One Mans Dream and Toy standby was 2.5 hours. A slow season week. This is going to be an interesting Spring Break/Easter this year.

 

[ford91exploder]

A friend of ours who was doing some work for Disney like 15 years ago said he sat in on a meeting with Disney upper management. The whole meeting was about how that the average family leaves WDW with $40 left in their pockets. How can we get that last $40. So yes they have that philosophy and have for a while now.

Do they even realize how twisted this kind of thinking is, What they SHOULD be thinking is how do we get this guest to RETURN more often and create a long term income stream.

 

[ford91exploder]

And I will add that the bands only worked our last 2 days (out of 9) for FP+ usage. Not user error - system error.

Typical

 

[Gabe1]

And I will add that the bands only worked our last 2 days (out of 9) for FP+ usage. Not user error - system error.

Oh do tell.