What Happened?

[rucifee]

Then just plan in advanced? I don't know how hard it is for you to figure out when you'll have a free weekend, but you should know that you're not going to be able to get on the most popular rides, if you show up at noon on a Saturday. Besides, there's no penalty to missing you're FP+, so you couldn't you make some for everyday and hope you'll be there that day? I'm not sure how many you can make if you have an AP, but it doesn't seem too difficult.

Passholders get 3 FP+, but can only reserve 30 days in advance for up to 7 days at a time. Nice assumptions there, that we don't plan in advance (yes, we do most visits), that we should lower our expectations because we're second class members, expect that we shouldn't get to ride the "good rides", that we never arrive until noon.

Whatever makes you feel good. SMH

 

[Fox&Hound]

See what I do enjoy about the magic bands and fast pass + is that I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn and race to toy story with a mob of other people to get a fast pass. Now I have it booked way ahead of time and I can enjoy my vacation. And it's not like you have thousands of fast passes a day. We normally only have like three which allow us to plan our day better and if a time comes up for a fast pass and it's no longer a feasible option (lunch ran later, we are somewhere else in the park) then we skip it. I have seen family members run themselves ragged because they viewed their fast passes as something that must be kept no matter what and also due to poor planning would plan fast pass tickets at opposite ends of the park right next to each other and be stressed running around the park.t definitely requires some forward thinking and knowledge of the parks (park layout and which rides you actually need a fast pass for) and with that in mind you will be just fine!

 

[Flippin'Flounder]

Passholders get 3 FP+, but can only reserve 30 days in advance for up to 7 days at a time. Nice assumptions there, that we don't plan in advance (yes, we do most visits), that we should lower our expectations because we're second class members, expect that we shouldn't get to ride the "good rides", that we never arrive until noon.

Whatever makes you feel good. SMH

If you plan in advanced, why can't you ride the good rides? Last time I was at WDW I made my FP+ reservations 20 days ahead of Presidents Day weekend and got everything but 7DMT. I would think that on normal weekends it shouldn't be too hard to get them.

I said you get there at noon, because that's when rides have a 100+ minute wait, which you said you were subjected too.

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

So, do you work for Disney, or for a third party that Disney's farmed out for positive social PR?

No, not at all.

 

[rucifee]

No, not at all.

Not buying it.

If you plan in advanced, why can't you ride the good rides? Last time I was at WDW I made my FP+ reservations 20 days ahead of Presidents Day weekend and got everything but 7DMT. I would think that on normal weekends it shouldn't be too hard to get them.

I said you get there at noon, because that's when rides have a 100+ minute wait, which you said you were subjected too.

I didn't say I didn't ride the good rides ever, but they are hard to get. I can get 7DMT if I game the system, won't tell you how though so they don't close that loophole.

On normal weekends, unless you plan a few weeks in advance they are hard to get.

One difference between vacationers and locals that makes it tough for us is that we have all sorts of responsibilities before we can get to the parks, we're not on "vacation" so we have to do laundry, clean house, get the kids up, feed them, etc. Rope drop is hard when you're not on vacation. We've seen 100+ minute waits by 10:30.

 

[marni1971]

Now at Disney there is almost never a line .

Which one? Hong Kong?

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

Not buying it.

Yes, you got me. I signed up 3 years ago and have posted complaints and problems in the past, but it was all a long con to post something positive today.

 

[yedliW]

we went for a week last month in a week that is traditionally one of the slowest of the year (the week before Thanksgiving), and we couldn't get FP+ for Toy Story or the Mine train, and several of the meet and greets were booked as well.. We weren't right at the 60 day mark, but we were ahead of the 30 day mark.. A friend of mine who is a TA went the same week, and she couldn't get FP for those rides either, and she did look right at the 60 day mark..

Perhaps there should be (if there isn't already) a separate bank of FP+ available only for AP holders for same day reservations (or have perhaps a 7 day window). Sometimes it seems that Disney is taking AP and DVC members for granted..

 

[rucifee]

Yes, you got me. I signed up 3 years ago and have posted complaints and problems in the past, but it was all a long con to post something positive today.

Like many accounts that have been here for a while and only go unused except to post positive Disney messages. Grassroots positive campaigning is a thing, businesses have been using it as a PR tool for many years. What complaints and problems have you had, from your message you have been high on pixie dust this year.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Yes, you got me. I signed up 3 years ago and have posted complaints and problems in the past, but it was all a long con to post something positive today.

Sorry, but there are some here that simply cannot believe that anyone could possibly like the new MDE and FP+ systems. We love them both, and have an experience similar to yours. We love FP+ and have had no issues with getting what we wanted. We have also had no issues with the app either. It has worked for us. We have made dining reservations on the fly while there right from the app.

We never used the old FP system, because it didn't work for the way we vacation. I am not racing to an attraction to find out that all of the paper FPs were only for late afternoon or evening already, and we weren't going to be at that park then. With FP+ we schedule our 3 when we want to be there. Sometimes at rope drop, sometimes late in the afternoon. At least we don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get to a rope drop, run to an attraction to get a FP for later. We can stroll to a park when WE want to. Obviously, some disagree with this, and that's OK. Everybody has different experiences.

Have people had problems? Sure. No IT system is perfect or works every time. Nature of the beast. People need to get over it. It is never going away, so get used to it.

 

[Clyde Birdbrain]

Like many accounts that have been here for a while and only go unused except to post positive Disney messages. Grassroots positive campaigning is a thing, businesses have been using it as a PR tool for many years. What complaints and problems have you had, from your message you have been high on pixie dust this year.

I didn't like FastPass+ at first, but have grown to like it. The first times we didn't plan ahead and ended up picking our FP+ experiences with a CM using an iPad and that was just terrible. And at the beginning I was disappointed to find that rides like Seven Dwarfs were unavailable 30 days in advance. But now that I know I have to look closer to the date for popular rides and that we can already plan 3 rides before we leave the house I am liking it more and more. It works for us.

Yes, I suppose I am pretty high on pixie dust lately as we've been having a lot of fun at the parks, especially with all the holiday stuff.

 

[marni1971]

Thankfully the system is being diluted for Disneyland. Tokyo doesn't want it. And Paris is having second thoughts.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I don't really have much of an opinion about FP+. The 3 times I have been to WDW since it was implemented, I have been unable to get any, and I mean ANY FP+s for anything I actually would care to ride.

What I do know, is the days of popping over for dinner and an evening in the parks is over for me. You get there and all the restaurants are booked, all FP+s are gone, and everything has a massive line.

 

[rucifee]

I don't really have much of an opinion about FP+. The 3 times I have been to WDW since it was implemented, I have been unable to get any, and I mean ANY FP+s for anything I actually would care to ride.

What I do know, is the days of popping over for dinner and an evening in the parks is over for me. You get there and all the restaurants are booked, all FP+s are gone, and everything has a massive line.

Are you saying that you've been unable to ride the best ride at Epcot and have been missing out on what's obviously the best and most excellent choice for Tier 1 utilization, Living with the Land?

 

[disney4life2008]

Ironically, i think fp+ benefits me more as a local than it did when i was traveling here out of state. The fact that I can make fp+ reservations for any park the night before going disney 99 percent of the time is amazing. Like today, around 2am i said hey i will go to epcot today and was able to get soarin.

With that said, fp+ has caused enough strain for everyone and i think most would say either its good or bad. What I do know, spaceship earth has an actual line sometimes of 40 minutes or more which was never. Haunted Mansion and several others in mk have an extensive line. On the flip side, the fact that I don't have to run across the park to get paper passes is a blessing.

 

[disney4life2008]

I don't really have much of an opinion about FP+. The 3 times I have been to WDW since it was implemented, I have been unable to get any, and I mean ANY FP+s for anything I actually would care to ride.

What I do know, is the days of popping over for dinner and an evening in the parks is over for me. You get there and all the restaurants are booked, all FP+s are gone, and everything has a massive line.

Those days of popping over to epcot for dinner are over. But that is almost becoming standard. I dont unserstand how everyone claims to be poor yet eberyone is out shopping and eating especially this time of year. The mall at millenia is a perfect example. An hour or more wait for cheesecake factory on most nights.

 

[ThemeParkFan]

I also used to be an annual passholder, hadn't been in about 3 years and recently got an annual pass again, but my experience is very different. I've been following this forum for the last few years and because of all the negativity had a very low impression of FastPass+ and the parks. We got passes in August and I wasn't sure I was going to like it again, but we have already been 14 times since then and are loving it. We went to Food and Wine concerts several times (it was perfect to get FastPasses for concerts ahead of time so we had guaranteed seats) and love going to the lights at Hollywood Studios, looking at Christmas decorations in the resorts and listening to the storytellers at Epcot. We often just go for a half day or an evening for something specific like that.

We are finding FastPass+ quite handy and are often able to get what we want a few days in advance. The app works great and has never crashed for me. It is very fast, WiFi is now good throughout the park (it wasn't 3 years ago when we stopped going) and I like using the app to make reservations and look up wait times.

We regularly plan a trip based on what FastPasses we can get. The good ones like Toy Story and Seven Dwarfs Mine are often gone, like you said, but sometimes we can get them and then we plan a trip around it. I find it reasonable that people who pay a lot of money to stay at the Grand Floridian can get a FastPass for Seven Dwarfs more easily than someone like me who can go whenever I want, but I can still ride it quite often. A few days ago we were at MK and at 4pm were able to change a FastPass from Pirates to Seven Dwarfs. I find that we can more often get these good ones late as I suspect people are canceling them or more are opening up.

I like that the 3 FastPasses you get are often pretty close together, like all in the morning or evening. They are usually within a 4 or 5 hour period so we can go for just a half day or still visit another park. I think it's great. The Magic Bands work so well to get in the park and scan for a ride. When I think back to the old paper FastPass system and how CMs had to check times manually it seems archaic. Last time I was at Universal there was a huge line to get in as many people were having a problem scanning their ticket. Now at Disney there is almost never a line and you just scan your Magic Band, the thing turns green and you're in. I think it's brilliant.

Thats where I hate them. It forces me to plan ahead. I hate that. I want to be able to just decide which park I want to go to. Also, we didn't want the times they got cause we planned on going to a different park which made me edit two of the times instead of just choosing one at a time. Which is pointless

 

[ThemeParkFan]

If you plan in advanced, why can't you ride the good rides? Last time I was at WDW I made my FP+ reservations 20 days ahead of Presidents Day weekend and got everything but 7DMT. I would think that on normal weekends it shouldn't be too hard to get them.

I said you get there at noon, because that's when rides have a 100+ minute wait, which you said you were subjected too.

I went yesterday tried to get them day before all the ones we wanted were gone

 

[Csmith041177]

I definitely hear where you are coming from. I actually like the My Magic + system. I am an over-planner, and so it fights right in my normal planning. My issue with it is the amount of money spent on that technology (numbers I have seen are between $1-2 Billion), which is crazy to me. Universal certainly is far from perfect. But, in recent years, they have poured money into things that guest can see, experience, and most importantly, ride at the theme parks. I understand that infrastructure and long term planning are important (and beyond my skill set to comprehend). However, I do wish that some of the war chest that was poured into the + system would have been instead used on things that are more tangible for guests (like updating Future World in Epcot).

 

[ThemeParkFan]

I definitely hear where you are coming from. I actually like the My Magic + system. I am an over-planner, and so it fights right in my normal planning. My issue with it is the amount of money spent on that technology (numbers I have seen are between $1-2 Billion), which is crazy to me. Universal certainly is far from perfect. But, in recent years, they have poured money into things that guest can see, experience, and most importantly, ride at the theme parks. I understand that infrastructure and long term planning are important (and beyond my skill set to comprehend). However, I do wish that some of the war chest that was poured into the + system would have been instead used on things that are more tangible for guests (like updating Future World in Epcot).

Agreed. They should be putting there money into the things that matter the most.