The Spirited Back Nine ...

[WildcatDen]

I think the obvious choice for another international park is a second Hong Kong park.

I was thinking West Virginia. Cue the Deliverance soundtrack. . .

 

[BrerJon]

Snow is the other four letter word beginning with s

Speaking of snow, if you're short of things to do while in the WDW area this time of year, I highly recommend a trip to Celebration to see the nightly snowfall... a far better Christmas party than Magic Kingdom's, for a far cheaper price (free!).

 

[BrerJon]

BrerJon, Until recently, I would have agreed with you that MDE for single-day tickets would not be an advantage, but the most recent addition to MDE seems to change this. Now that you can buy tickets with the app, you can get your day ready at the park without ever getting out of bed.

Step 1: Wake up and decide to go to MK
Step 2: Grab phone
Step 3: Log into app and buy single day ticket
Step 4: Reserve FP+ for 3 of the Big 5 rides (Splash, Space, SDMT, PP or Big Thunder)
Step 5: Go back to sleep until you feel like going to park

Seems to me this is a whole lot easier than trying to wake up, rush to do rope drop, sprinting around the park to find FP cards. Ain't technology grand?

MyMagic+ is a MyMagic- for more than just the inevitable trips to Disney's most popular attraction nowadays - the Guest Relations line, but for the overall ways it has diminished the quality of the experience.

Good luck being able to get all the rides you want at convenient times. And then good luck getting waits of less than 20 minutes, as you used to almost always get pre-Fastpass+. And good luck with the hour long standby lines it has caused, and the overcrowded eating facilities caused by people being pushed out onto the walkways instead of in lines.

This would be a bad turn of events at the best of times, but when coupled with huge price increases, those losses are amplified. I know lots of people love MyMagic+, but when you analyse it it's all smoke and mirrors to save Disney money while they extract more of yours, and unlike most people I'm just not seeing the emperor's new clothes.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

The real "old system" that actually worked was having no fastpass at all of any kind (which was how it was prior to 1999). And having a mass of quality rides that help spread the crowd level out evenly and keep individual wait times down (in EPCOT prior to the mid 90's, a lot of high capacity and efficient rides).

As it stands in regards to WDW for myself-
FP+ <<<< Fastpass <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< No Fastpass with more good rides

 

[BrerJon]

But this is the thing that so many are missing. You have full control over those things. You can change them. Sure, on a busy day, you might have to push lunch back 30 mins or something, but you pick the times. And, on busy days, you always have to make sacrifices under any system..

And what you're missing is that you can't choose any time slot any time, only what's available, and those are usually inconvenient, as guests who have booked in advance choose all the prime slots way before day guests or locals get the chance.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Sorry. 7 Dwarfs Mine Train is unavailable for the next 27 days.

You might be able to get the others, but good luck getting them in near proximity to each other. So you can do Space at 1pm and Splash at 8pm and face lots of long lines in between. Fun.

Not a lot of same day availability today either. I checked DHS and MK at around 12:30 and all of the MK Mountains were gone for the day (three 7 PM closings in four days thanks to the Christmas Party), Tower, RnRc, and Toy Story all gone for the day.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I was thinking West Virginia. Cue the Deliverance soundtrack. . .

Well, there was the Illfated Disney's America project that never came to pass, in Haymarket, Va. (I-66/US-15)

Interesting that all the bad things the opposition groups said would come true actually happened once they build a ton of houses there.

 

[arko]

Not a lot of same day availability today either. I checked DHS and MK at around 12:30 and all of the MK Mountains were gone for the day (three 7 PM closings in four days thanks to the Christmas Party), Tower, RnRc, and Toy Story all gone for the day.

When compared to the old system, its not much different. In order to get the best times at the best rides you had to be there at rope drop and make a run for it. not exactly how I like starting my day.

 

[arko]

Sorry. 7 Dwarfs Mine Train is unavailable for the next 27 days.

You might be able to get the others, but good luck getting them in near proximity to each other. So you can do Space at 1pm and Splash at 8pm and face lots of long lines in between. Fun.

As a Florida resident and AP holder we go throughout the year usually last minute getaways with the kids, and we usually get our FP+ the night before and can usually get spots in the morning one after the other in most cases. Of course there will always be days where that doesn't work, but its not an all or nothing thing either. The simple fact is your stand a better chance of getting the rides you want on short notice on less busier days. This was the case before FP+ and nothing has changed.

 

[RSoxNo1]

When compared to the old system, its not much different. In order to get the best times at the best rides you had to be there at rope drop and make a run for it. not exactly how I like starting my day.

There would have been availability at some of those at 12:30 on a day that's relatively low crowds. They need to reduce the advanced bookings, but make it so that you can hold two at once. Dropping from 3 to 2 advanced bookings would be a step in the right direction.

 

[arko]

There would have been availability at some of those at 12:30 on a day that's relatively low crowds. They need to reduce the advanced bookings, but make it so that you can hold two at once. Dropping from 3 to 2 advanced bookings would be a step in the right direction.

I have no issues with 3. With the old system to get a decent time meant running around the park. I have no desire to do that

 

[TeddyinMO]

There would have been availability at some of those at 12:30 on a day that's relatively low crowds. They need to reduce the advanced bookings, but make it so that you can hold two at once. Dropping from 3 to 2 advanced bookings would be a step in the right direction.

If same day availability is a problem, this seems very reasonable.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I have no issues with 3. With the old system to get a decent time meant running around the park. I have no desire to do that

They don't have to be mutually exclusive. The old system's rules could work on the app or the kiosks. That's not what I'm objecting to. Having centralized distribution was something that I (and others) suggested long before we ever got a whif of xPass/Fasptass+.

A big problem is that the parks have remained stagnant so 3 of the 4 parks don't have the attraction lineups to support 3 Fastpass+ reservations per guest.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Not a lot of same day availability today either. I checked DHS and MK at around 12:30 and all of the MK Mountains were gone for the day (three 7 PM closings in four days thanks to the Christmas Party), Tower, RnRc, and Toy Story all gone for the day.

When compared to the old system, its not much different. In order to get the best times at the best rides you had to be there at rope drop and make a run for it. not exactly how I like starting my day.

Right, which is why the best system of all would be to completely get rid of FASTPASS and FastPass+.

The really old system (i.e. pre FP/FP+) worked just fine for decades!

 

[Lord_Vader]

MyMagic+ is a MyMagic- for more than just the inevitable trips to Disney's most popular attraction nowadays - the Guest Relations line, but for the overall ways it has diminished the quality of the experience.

Good luck being able to get all the rides you want at convenient times. And then good luck getting waits of less than 20 minutes, as you used to almost always get pre-Fastpass+. And good luck with the hour long standby lines it has caused, and the overcrowded eating facilities caused by people being pushed out onto the walkways instead of in lines.

This would be a bad turn of events at the best of times, but when coupled with huge price increases, those losses are amplified. I know lots of people love MyMagic+, but when you analyse it it's all smoke and mirrors to save Disney money while they extract more of yours, and unlike most people I'm just not seeing the emperor's new clothes.

Many of the people (not ALL) I have talked to that are truly casual WDW visitors seemed to like FP+ in general because the old FP system was a pain for them, especially those with small children. Now they at least get a few FP+s even though many other lines are longer, they feel more satisfied than they were before.

It hurt many of us that were used to being able to game the system but the average guest wins which is what Disney's goal was.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Right, which is why the best system of all would be to completely get rid of FASTPASS and FastPass+.

The old system worked just fine for decades!

I would be behind eliminating FP altogether too.

 

[Little Green Men]

I'm not positive but it seemed like Disney held some FPs for attractions so you could get them same day. The SDMT was booked all week I was going to be there last Jan, but I decided to try again and was able to get one for the next day. Maybe it was a fluke. Ik it's more crowded now but they usually have FPs available except for the TSMMs or Soarin's.

 

[todd23]

Well, there was the Illfated Disney's America project that never came to pass, in Haymarket, Va. (I-66/US-15)

Interesting that all the bad things the opposition groups said would come true actually happened once they build a ton of houses there.

What did the opposition groups say would happen?

 

[PhotoDave219]

What did the opposition groups say would happen?

All sorts of horrible traffic and congestion.

 

[Nubs70]

What did the opposition groups say would happen?

Plus the general desecration of a very historical area.