No fastpasses available today?

[tissandtully]

After trying FP+ out with our VWL stay this past week, I have to say I really appreciate not having to rush to FP machines at rope drop or even worry about getting to the park at rope drop. It's saved us considerable time, now I'm not sure if 3 FP+ is really enough for people who will only go to WDW once a year, since I'm an AP, I already knew what we wanted to do.

 

[tissandtully]

Go to Anaheim and ride TSMM where no form of FP exists total wait time is 30-45 minutes in PEAK season. FP definitely increases wait time and it looks like FP+ dramatically increases waits.

That's an unfair comparison, DHS suffers from a lack of family rides (ones without height requirements), this combined with FP makes the standby longer.

 

[NowInc]

Go to Anaheim and ride TSMM where no form of FP exists total wait time is 30-45 minutes in PEAK season. FP definitely increases wait time and it looks like FP+ dramatically increases waits.

For that to be an accurate assessment, both DCA and DHS would need an equal amount of rides. DCA has far more than DHS (which is a whole different problem), which means more people distributed in the parks, where at DHS there are fewer options so the few rides they DO have get more people.

 

[71jason]

Perhaps if everyone has 3 FP+, that usage is higher than when anyone could get however many FP they wanted but many people didn't know/get as many/use it efficiently.

This.^ Especially when mixed in with the novelty of a new system, it seems likely more FPs are actually being used. How long this lasts is one of the billion-dollar questions.

 

[lebeau]

Perhaps if everyone has 3 FP+, that usage is higher than when anyone could get however many FP they wanted but many people didn't know/get as many/use it efficiently.

Exactly.

I have two siblings who used to go to WDW at least once a year for cheerleading events. My brother was a judge and went a couple times a year for many years. Neither one of them ever used FP despite having spent several days in the parks. They thought it cost extra. My sister was very angry about Disney letting people pay to cut in line.

I know. D'uh. How stupid of them. Well, there were a lot of people out there who never got the FP message. Even if they did, they didn't understand how to use it effectively or thought it was a bother. A lot of FPs went to waste. But a lot of guests weren't even getting them to begin with.

With FP+, the usage has to be way up. Guests have them pre-scheduled. They know about them and by golly they are going to use them. Especially since the stand by lines are so long everywhere else.

 

[tissandtully]

Exactly.

I have two siblings who used to go to WDW at least once a year for cheerleading events. My brother was a judge and went a couple times a year for many years. Neither one of them ever used FP despite having spent several days in the parks. They thought it cost extra. My sister was very angry about Disney letting people pay to cut in line.

I know. D'uh. How stupid of them. Well, there were a lot of people out there who never got the FP message. Even if they did, they didn't understand how to use it effectively or thought it was a bother. A lot of FPs went to waste. But a lot of guests weren't even getting them to begin with.

With FP+, the usage has to be way up. Guests have them pre-scheduled. They know about them and by golly they are going to use them. Especially since the stand by lines are so long everywhere else.

Sorry, but I've never understood how people couldn't know about FastPass, that's a whole other level of oblivious.

 

[awoogala]

And with more guest sleeping in, what does that do to housekeeping? I'm sure room cleaning will start to back up. They'll have to add more housekeeping staff, and that won't save the company any money. It could happen.

which is why they are pushing dvc- barely any housekeeping staff needed! Only every 4th day!

 

[NowInc]

Sorry, but I've never understood how people couldn't know about FastPass, that's a whole other level of oblivious.

perhaps because at other theme parks its something you have to pay for

 

[Bairstow]

Sorry, but I've never understood how people couldn't know about FastPass, that's a whole other level of oblivious.

Pretty common, actually.
Had some friends just get from visiting the Magic Kingdom for the first time.
They never used Fastpass because they were under the impression you could only use the service if you payed extra for it, which is standard procedure at any other park.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Sorry, but I've never understood how people couldn't know about FastPass, that's a whole other level of oblivious.

It may be obvious to most veteran WDW guests, it was plainly advertised as such on every map, every resort video and so on. But the fact is a lot of people simply choose to ignore all the noise, and there is a lot of it, around WDW and focus on the touring/attractions and are used to their local parks charging for the priviledge to FP. Virtually every person I have discussed WDW with before their first visit had to be told a couple times how to use FP, when to use it, and when not to use it. We used it extensively, up to six/seven per day on our trips at times and will likely lose out some with FP+, I do not like trying to decide which park I will be in 60 days out at all. We do make ADRs at the 180 day mark but have resorted to mostly reserving dining locations out of the parks, in resorts so we can go there from anywhere with a quick bus/boat/monorail ride to avoid having to decide what park we want to visit six months out.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I am assuming double dipping is playing a part. As much as I don't want to admit it, I am sure I will double dip if the opportunity exists. I will feel bad about it, but I probably will still get fp along with fp+ if I can. Just being honest here!

If you're not breaking any rules and Disney has neither closed the double-dipping loophole nor instructed guests not to do it, there's nothing to feel badly about.... just as you shouldn't have felt bad for using legacy Fastpass during the years when many guests chose not to.

 

[tissandtully]

It may be obvious to most veteran WDW guests, it was plainly advertised as such on every map, every resort video and so on. But the fact is a lot of people simply choose to ignore all the noise, and there is a lot of it, around WDW and focus on the touring/attractions and are used to their local parks charging for the priviledge to FP. Virtually every person I have discussed WDW with before their first visit had to be told a couple times how to use FP, when to use it, and when not to use it. We used it extensively, up to six/seven per day on our trips at times and will likely lose out some with FP+, I do not like trying to decide which park I will be in 60 days out at all. We do make ADRs at the 180 day mark but have resorted to mostly reserving dining locations out of the parks, in resorts so we can go there from anywhere with a quick bus/boat/monorail ride to avoid having to decide what park we want to visit six months out.

Or they could just ask a CM. Not sure why that's so hard. Too many people today don't know how to fend for themselves, if everyone knew that all you had to do was google something, I think tech support people would be out of a job, haha.

 

[awoogala]

We have friend who just visited wdw. They just..went. After booking tickets and dining. No fuss.
Probably their only trip ever. Because of "free dining", they just toured around the dining.
They came back, and I was in awe about the rides they missed.
Some people don't want to have to get a degree in Disney before they go.

 

[tissandtully]

which is why they are pushing dvc- barely any housekeeping staff needed! Only every 4th day!

Hardly, I'm not sure if you own DVC, but I'd rather my dues not go up just so people can get new sheets every day.

 

[Weather_Lady]

We have friend who just visited wdw. They just..went. After booking tickets and dining. No fuss.
Probably their only trip ever. Because of "free dining", they just toured around the dining.
They came back, and I was in awe about the rides they missed.
Some people don't want to have to get a degree in Disney before they go.

...and theirs is just as legitimate a way to experience WDW as anyone else's. WDW is still a great place to "go with the flow" and have a marvelous time, so long as you don't have a lot of specific goals in mind.

If you want to "do all the attractions," however, you've got to go commando-style these days, keeping your 180 day and 60 day windows in full view -- WDW is making it harder and harder to leave anything up to chance. Your "magic" has got to be booked, paid for, planned, fussed over, confirmed, downloaded, uploaded, scanned and carved in stone 60 days out. As your friends wisely recognized, true "magic" is more often discovered by accident than booked ahead of time...

 

[NowInc]

...and theirs is just as legitimate a way to experience WDW as anyone else's. WDW is still a great place to "go with the flow" and have a marvelous time, so long as you don't have a lot of specific goals in mind.

If you want to "do all the attractions," however, you've got to go commando-style these days, keeping your 180 day and 60 day windows in full view -- WDW is making it harder and harder to leave anything up to chance. Your "magic" has got to be booked, paid for, planned, fussed over, confirmed, downloaded, uploaded, scanned and carved in stone 60 days out. As your friends wisely recognized, true "magic" is more often discovered by accident than booked ahead of time...

I'm going to disagree with that a bit. Having been going to WDW for my entire life, I can't recall any trip in the past that I was able to do everything UNTIL fast pass came out. Previous to that, if you wanted to do them all, you had to do it "commando-style" as you called it. Lines were long on popular rides...that has never changed. Hard as it may be to believe, but a very large percentage of visitors to the parks don't know or use Fastpass (never have..even before the nextgen) and have had pleasant spontaneous "magic" days. We need to step out of the mindset of being "in the know" to realize that although WE see things as being a bit less spontaneous, to those who don't know the difference, they still see it as it always was.

I am still reserving complete judgment on the new system until its 100% rolled out. Not going to get into my personal experiences with it yet again, but we'll see if my positive view of it changes as the new year approaches.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Or they could just ask a CM. Not sure why that's so hard. Too many people today don't know how to fend for themselves, if everyone knew that all you had to do was google something, I think tech support people would be out of a job, haha.

Right on the mark! There are a lot of people that do not take responsibilty and expect to be informed by others, they do not want to go out of their way to gather information anymore.

 

[lebeau]

Or they could just ask a CM. Not sure why that's so hard. Too many people today don't know how to fend for themselves, if everyone knew that all you had to do was google something, I think tech support people would be out of a job, haha.

A lot of casual tourists never think to Google this stuff. They expect to be able to show up and have a good time without any need to pre-plan - just like they would be able to do at any other amusement park they have ever been to in their lives.

I can remember thinking that way. The first trip I planned as an adult was our honeymoon in 2003. I had no plan whatsoever. My brother (the one who never used FP) bought me the Birnbaum's guide as a wedding present. Up until I read that, I didn't even realize Disney had 4 parks. All I knew is I had paid for a package that included everything but meals and was supposed to be worry-free. I was just going to show up.

It's not a good idea, but that's how a lot of guests expect things to be. Then they arrive and figure out they have made a horrible mistake.

 

[lebeau]

Right on the mark! There are a lot of people that do not take responsibilty and expect to be informed by others, they do not want to go out of their way to gather information anymore.

Yes, what kind of person pays a company thousands of dollars for a vacation and then shirks their responsibility to go out and extensively research that company's complex policies and procedures. These people who just expect to pay for their top dollar vacation and then show up and enjoy themselves are a bane on society!

Sarcasm for the sarcasm impaired.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Sorry, but I've never understood how people couldn't know about FastPass, that's a whole other level of oblivious.

FP was introduced in 1999. I've been going to WDW since the 1970s. I know WDW like the back of my hand. I knew there was this thing called FP.

I didn't start using FP until around 2003. Was it really free? Disney doesn't give "free" anything. What's the catch?

I'm standing in front of the attraction right now. Why should I have to come back later?

FP didn't fit neatly into any of my previous experiences of what a theme park was like.

There was something that just didn't seem right about FP.

Just saying ...