Again.. FP+ doesn't create more people. This is also why the 3 limit is so important. I totally get you don't like not having a FP... but it's not like FP+ users have FP+ have unlimited use of the system.. once beyond their 3 uses.. they are in the same boat as everyone else.
If Disney is suddenly giving out tons of new FP+ slots... the people in those slots are now NOT somewhere else. They can't be boosting the lines everywhere all the time.
Actually, FP+ just might be boosting the lines at some headliner attractions even if attendance hasn't changed.
We are getting lots of reports of longer than normal lines for late October. (Especially at Guest Relations.
) Something has changed. Do I think what we are seeing is permanent? I hope not. I hope Disney gets the right balance between FP+ and Standby and things return to normal but, given reports, it seems what they have today is encouraging more to stand in line, especially in popular attractions. In other words, FP+ might be making a bad problem worse.
First, I believe Disney is distributing too many FP+ or, more specifically, a higher percentage of guests are actually using their FP+ selections. We all understand that a lot of FP tickets went unused. (I have a pretty big stack of them at home!) As a result, WDW got into the habit of distributing more FP than they had capacity for.
When switching over from FP to FP+, it's not too difficult to imagine that management would be reluctant to reduce the combined number of FP/FP+ being distributed. "What? We just spent $2 Billion for this system and you are telling me I have to hand out
fewer return times? You want me to try to justify that to
my boss?"
Disney wants us to plan our days around our FP+ selections. Perhaps guests are doing exactly that. Perhaps, as a result, a much higher percentage are actually redeeming their FP+ selections. Perhaps, as a result, Disney is going to have to adjust its FP+ distribution algorithm.
Second, FP+ is designed to change the way guests tour the parks. Given the reports of longer lines on some of the more popular attractions, it could very well be that rather than distributing crowds evenly, FP+ is encouraging guests to concentrate on the more popular attractions and discouraging guests from riding less popular attractions, attractions that tend to have spare capacity.
Hypothetically, let's say it's before FP+ and I arrive at DHS at 10 AM. I walk over to TSM and the return time is already for 7 PM that night while there is a 120-minute Standby line. Not wanting to wait, I grab a FP and head to something else with a short wait. Maybe I do One Man's Dream, Backlot Tour, Lights, Motor, Action, Honey I Strunk the Kids Playset, Star Tours, Indiana Jones. Anything with a typically short wait. Now it's getting around 5 PM and the kids are tired. They really want to head back to the pool to swim. Do I really want to hang around for another 2 hours for TSM? Maybe. Maybe not.
The point is that I've spent hours in the park and not one minute in the TSM FP or Standby lines and, possibly, very little time in a headliner attraction line. (Despite the best intentions of touringplans.com, most guests still tour the parks randomly.
)
Conversely, let's say FP+ is now in use and I get a TSM FP+ for 7 PM because that's what was left. I'm not going to bother to show up at DHS at 10 AM. I'm going to do something else. Maybe sleep in. Maybe shop. Maybe go to another theme park with better rides. (Hello Magic Kingdom!) I'm not going to try to fill my day on the Backlot Tour (which always has excess capacity) or One Man's Dream. Instead, if I go to another theme park in the morning, I'm more likely to head to that theme park's premiere attractions. If I'm at MK, I'm going to ride Peter Pan, not Hall of the Presidents. The point is, now I'm going for more E ticket attractions at another park, knowing that my FP+ selection for TSM for later in the day is secure.
Something has changed. We're reading lots of reports of long FP+ lines on the headliners, particularly at DHS and Epcot where there simply aren't enough E ticket attractions.
Are there suddenly more guests at WDW than in the past? Maybe. But, just maybe, FP+ is changing the way guests tour the parks, as it was intended to do. And, just maybe, Disney hasn't yet taken this into account in their FP+ distribution models.
