When are the 4th, 5th, etc FassPass+ Bookings Going to be Available via MDE?

[Dwarful]

When I hear someone say that they used 10+ FP's in the MK under the old system that boggles my mind.

I just checked my My Itinerary on the WDW website. It looks like on Thursday June 5th we were in MK and we ended up using 12 FP+ that day. Some were for rides/attractions we wouldn't have normally used a FP for. We did have better luck with MK and FP's but not being able to re-ride favorite attractions like Peter Pan are the biggest disappointment for me.

 

[DisneyCane]

I don't know why it matters if you are in the same park to book. Just make a rule in the software that if the app detects you are in a different location, the FP+ must be at least 1 hour away to the start of the window.

As for people booking and not using them, what is the difference between that and booking something like Nemo just because it said to pick 3 and then not using it? Also, how many people are going to bother to book extra FP+ without the intention to use them.

For me, the biggest detriment to not having the ability to do the extra FP+ on the app is for park hopping. If I'm at Epcot and use my 3 FP+ I want some way to decide which park to hop to. If I know I can get a FP+ to Tower of Terror for example, I will go to the Studios. I don't want to go to the Studios only to find out that I can't get a TOT FP+ for 5 hours.

If I would have known in advance on the app then I can choose MK or AK and book something I want to ride. Also, it saves a lot of time because the window at the new park can open sooner than if you have to go there for the Kiosk.

At a BARE MINIMUM, they need to let you check FP+ availability at the other parks from the app to make informed park hopping decisions.

 

[cw1982]

I don't know why it matters if you are in the same park to book. Just make a rule in the software that if the app detects you are in a different location, the FP+ must be at least 1 hour away to the start of the window.

As for people booking and not using them, what is the difference between that and booking something like Nemo just because it said to pick 3 and then not using it? Also, how many people are going to bother to book extra FP+ without the intention to use them.

For me, the biggest detriment to not having the ability to do the extra FP+ on the app is for park hopping. If I'm at Epcot and use my 3 FP+ I want some way to decide which park to hop to. If I know I can get a FP+ to Tower of Terror for example, I will go to the Studios. I don't want to go to the Studios only to find out that I can't get a TOT FP+ for 5 hours.

If I would have known in advance on the app then I can choose MK or AK and book something I want to ride. Also, it saves a lot of time because the window at the new park can open sooner than if you have to go there for the Kiosk.

At a BARE MINIMUM, they need to let you check FP+ availability at the other parks from the app to make informed park hopping decisions.

1. What if you book something and then don't make it to the next park in time for that window? Many people have crappy concepts of time, think "I have an hour to go right up the street," and take their merry time, shopping, eating, etc... that hour difference could easily be wasted on many guests. (ETA: the "you" in that remark was not meant as you personally... more of a hypothetical "you" lol)

2. The difference is that no one is going to suffer because a Nemo FP went to waste... but for other attractions? Possibly so. Especially on busy days.

3. I do like the idea of being able to see FP+ availability at other parks before you leave, but then again that can all change so quickly that I can see how that could cause issues: "The app told me there were FP's left for RnRC, so I left the MK and came all the way over here, and now there aren't any."

Not sure what the solution is. I see the need to tweak the park hopping thing, but frankly I don't know how... besides, what were park hopping options like on the old system? Didn't you have to be in the park to get passes for those attractions?

This is why many on here recommend booking FP selections at your second park of the day, not your first one. Didn't apply to us because we were never at any of the parks at opening, but if we had been, it would have made more sense to do it that way.

 

[DisneyCane]

1. What if you book something and then don't make it to the next park in time for that window? Many people have crappy concepts of time, think "I have an hour to go right up the street," and take their merry time, shopping, eating, etc... that hour difference could easily be wasted on many guests. (ETA: the "you" in that remark was not meant as you personally... more of a hypothetical "you" lol)

This is why many on here recommend booking FP selections at your second park of the day, not your first one. Didn't apply to us because we were never at any of the parks at opening, but if we had been, it would have made more sense to do it that way.

To point #1, have the app pop up a warning that says something to the effect of, "it takes more time than you expect to switch parks. Allow at least 1 hour or you may miss your Fastpass return time and lose the ability to use it."

As far as the second point, due to FP+ being bookable from opening, it has really taken away the ability to ride with little wait on major attractions at rope drop. The FP line bogs down standby so quickly that if you went to Epcot at rope drop you'd have to be among the very first in line to not have a pretty good wait on Soarin' or TT.

 

[cw1982]

To point #1, have the app pop up a warning that says something to the effect of, "it takes more time than you expect to switch parks. Allow at least 1 hour or you may miss your Fastpass return time and lose the ability to use it."

As far as the second point, due to FP+ being bookable from opening, it has really taken away the ability to ride with little wait on major attractions at rope drop. The FP line bogs down standby so quickly that if you went to Epcot at rope drop you'd have to be among the very first in line to not have a pretty good wait on Soarin' or TT.

1. Even with messages like that, people will assume they know better than the system and screw it up lol. I see that mentality in action all the time.

2. There were several times during my last trip when TT was only a 30- minute wait, even in the middle of the afternoon. TT also has that single rider line. I know it can get backed up too, but in my case that didn't happen. Besides, didn't the old system mean that likelihood of getting a FP for a popular attraction would go down significantly after the first couple of hours that the park was open because the slots would quickly get claimed? So more people had to be there at park opening to get a FP than they do now that they can book in advance. We got to ride Soarin and TT on the same day with no problems and no long standby queues just last week. Might not work during peak crowds but for us it was no issue.

I do wish there was something else that could be done to enhance park hopping but I don't see it happening... at least not anytime soon.

 

[DisneyCane]

One other thing on the "wasted" FP+ bookings. Anybody with a ticket can book FP+ over the next 30 days for the heck of it and not use them.

As an Annual Passholder, I try to guess when I might go over the next month and reserve FP+ for those days. When I decide I'm not going that day, I always cancel them to open up the slots for others but I'm sure many people just leave them.

At least with park hopping (or doing a same park extra FP+ from the app), the person doing the booking is on property. I would think there is less likelihood of them just not bothering to use the FP+.

If the app gave a "transfer time warning" along with making sure the start of the window was at least 1 hour in the future, the person will have 2 hours to get to the ride at the next park. If somebody doesn't do that, then it is their problem and they will have to book a new FP+.

I don't see that as a huge issue. I am assuming (and we know what happens when we assume) that most park hoppers are passholders of some type. With the park hopping premium on the regular tickets I assume that normal vacationers don't park hop anywhere near as much as they did 10 years ago.

Lastly, if people do "waste" add on fastpasses, what difference will it really make? The rides that have them available are likely to have plenty of supply. It's not like some wasted FP+ will prevent a large number of people from booking SSE at 4PM.

 

[cw1982]

Yes, but as has been discussed extensively on other threads, most people who book at the 30-day mark and then don't use their FP's are likely AP's who change their plans for the day. Most people who are not AP's are going on specific dates based on what their trip dictates.

I don't think anyone who is park hopping would just "not bother" with their FP's that they book, but many people try to do too much in too little time, and then that would just create drama for CM's. I know you're saying it would be the guest's problem if they miss that time slot, but people have an odd way of assuming that they are entitled to being treated like royalty, even when it's not reasonable to have it done, while they're at WDW, so I'm sure that CM's would still have to hear about it and get yelled at by disappointed guests who try to blame the slow transportation, the long line at the food service, etc, for their lateness to the attraction.

I think you're wrong about park hopping being done primarily by AP's. DH and I are not AP's, and we didn't think twice about adding the park hopping to our tickets. The premium really doesn't add that much to the cost of the package, from a percentage standpoint. It only added about $110 (I think... but not much more than that) for DH and I to both park hop. Given that many here still recommend booking FP's at the second park of the day when park hopping, I don't think we're in the minority; it's not like everyone is suddenly saying "don't park hop anymore."

You're making huge assumptions about the level of FP's available at any given time, in terms of it not making a difference if passes are wasted. You may be right for most normal days, but in peak times I bet this doesn't hold true, and it's much easier to be consistent than to limit things just because the park is busier one day.

Now, if they were to offer some kind of system that allowed AP's and people who had been in the parks before to prebook park hopping fp's (so that they were reasonably sure that only people who knew how much time to allow, etc, were making use of it), then I'd say go for it. But given how little planning most first timers are doing, I don't think it's a good idea to have that open to everyone.

 

[JohnD]

It didn't make sense to allow only 3 FP+ choices to resort guests. Then WDW rolled it out to APs and finally non-resort guests. It didn't make sense to allow only 3 FP+ choices to everyone, then they rolled out the "4th" FP to the kiosks only.

My guess is that they want guests to get as much used to using the kiosks as guests were used to running to their favorite attraction to grab the next adverised FP available for it. The difference is that you have multiple choices to schedule where and when you want your next one to be. You don't have to be at the attraction you want to ride and it's not take it or leave it for the next available time for a particular attraction either.

So, I don't think it's as horrible as everyone is making it out to be. It's more flexible than the original FP. Given time, WDW may roll it out to MDE also. I see nothing wrong in their rolling out FP+ in stages.

 

[snayak]

I don't know why it matters if you are in the same park to book. Just make a rule in the software that if the app detects you are in a different location, the FP+ must be at least 1 hour away to the start of the window.

As for people booking and not using them, what is the difference between that and booking something like Nemo just because it said to pick 3 and then not using it? Also, how many people are going to bother to book extra FP+ without the intention to use them.

For me, the biggest detriment to not having the ability to do the extra FP+ on the app is for park hopping. If I'm at Epcot and use my 3 FP+ I want some way to decide which park to hop to. If I know I can get a FP+ to Tower of Terror for example, I will go to the Studios. I don't want to go to the Studios only to find out that I can't get a TOT FP+ for 5 hours.

If I would have known in advance on the app then I can choose MK or AK and book something I want to ride. Also, it saves a lot of time because the window at the new park can open sooner than if you have to go there for the Kiosk.

At a BARE MINIMUM, they need to let you check FP+ availability at the other parks from the app to make informed park hopping decisions.

While it would be nice to see FP+ availability from anywhere, if you can't book it, then its kind of useless isn't it? By the time you make it over to the park it could be gone...then what? In my opinion, forcing people to make a decision is a good thing, even if its a simple as "what park do I want to go to next". Giving somebody that is in a park priority for attractions (after 3 prebooks) is the way it should be done IMHO.

One thing that WOULD be cool is the ability to use your 3 prebooks across parks (A&E in the AM, and then ToT at night, with a Soarin' in the middle if you want). But still just 3 pre-books....and in that instance, the likely hood of getting a 4th is very low.

 

[cw1982]

While it would be nice to see FP+ availability from anywhere, if you can't book it, then its kind of useless isn't it? By the time you make it over to the park it could be gone...then what? In my opinion, forcing people to make a decision is a good thing, even if its a simple as "what park do I want to go to next". Giving somebody that is in a park priority for attractions (after 3 prebooks) is the way it should be done IMHO.

One thing that WOULD be cool is the ability to use your 3 prebooks across parks (A&E in the AM, and then ToT at night, with a Soarin' in the middle if you want). But still just 3 pre-books....and in that instance, the likely hood of getting a 4th is very low.

That would be cool... but I would want to see a significant time block between the passes, like at least three hours, to make sure people are allowing time to do other things and still have time to get between parks. Otherwise people would book 7dmt, Soarin, and RnRC (for example) and then not use them all, meaning someone who was in those respective parks will miss out. Still a very cool idea if done correctly.

 

[snayak]

That would be cool... but I would want to see a significant time block between the passes, like at least three hours, to make sure people are allowing time to do other things and still have time to get between parks. Otherwise people would book 7dmt, Soarin, and RnRC (for example) and then not use them all, meaning someone who was in those respective parks will miss out. Still a very cool idea if done correctly.

Sure, lets imagine there would be decent enough rules for booking, with either a minimum separation time, or attraction tiering or whatever. Getting 3 headliners would be very nice, but low likely hood IMHO.

If people (FP- or FP+) didn't use their FastPasses all that happens is the standby rider time goes down...if this happened enough, then people would be more apt to "risk it" without a FP+ and go into Standby. Of course, new headliners (7DMT, A&E, etc) are excluded from this thinking because folks still show irrational exuberance for those attractions so standby times will likely be very long in the short term.

 

[cw1982]

Sure, lets imagine there would be decent enough rules for booking, with either a minimum separation time, or attraction tiering or whatever. Getting 3 headliners would be very nice, but low likely hood IMHO.

If people (FP- or FP+) didn't use their FastPasses all that happens is the standby rider time goes down...if this happened enough, then people would be more apt to "risk it" without a FP+ and go into Standby. Of course, new headliners (7DMT, A&E, etc) are excluded from this thinking because folks still show irrational exuberance for those attractions so standby times will likely be very long in the short term.

3 headliners would indeed be more than possible, especially for the people who are making full use of their 60-day or 30-day windows. I was changing around my times for headliners as late as 1-2 days before I visited each park with no issue at all. Of course, right now, 7dmt and A&E would be the exception, but pretty much everything else is likely to still be available even the night before a visit on most days.

It's true that people not using their FP might make the standby queue go down, but that's assuming that enough people are skipping their FP for it to make a difference. IMHO what you'd see more of is a group here or there who could have gotten a FP if someone else hadn't had one tied up for a time that they didn't get to, but it not happening enough to make the standby queue improve by any noticeable degree.

 

[snayak]

3 headliners would indeed be more than possible, especially for the people who are making full use of their 60-day or 30-day windows. I was changing around my times for headliners as late as 1-2 days before I visited each park with no issue at all. Of course, right now, 7dmt and A&E would be the exception, but pretty much everything else is likely to still be available even the night before a visit on most days.

It's true that people not using their FP might make the standby queue go down, but that's assuming that enough people are skipping their FP for it to make a difference. IMHO what you'd see more of is a group here or there who could have gotten a FP if someone else hadn't had one tied up for a time that they didn't get to, but it not happening enough to make the standby queue improve by any noticeable degree.

I'm not saying 3 headliners aren't possible with the current system - rather the imaginary 3 FP+ across multiple parks over the entire day. By the time your 3rd FP is done the likelyhood of getting a headliner FP is low, that's all I was saying.

As for the standby lines, I was speaking in terms of statistical margins...if you let everybody make FP reservations as you want across all parks, statistically the number of "skips" will rise and consequently the standbys will fall. But you're correct, it may be trading a smaller group for a larger one, so marginally it likely won't make a difference, other than frustrating everybody (people in standby and people in park trying to book a FP). Which is kind of why I'm glad it isn't allowed.

My plan for touring is to hit Rope Drop in the morning and book the high priority FP+ (7DMT, Enchanted Tales, etc). I realize as a group of 2 or 4 adults without children our touring style doesn't jive with everybody else as we won't tire as quickly, etc.

Since we're going in October, our goal every night is to hit up F&WF as we're walking distance from International Gateway.

 

[Dwarful]

I will say we hit Epcot on two mornings arrived at 8 -8L15 AM for 9 AM rope drop. Did not do early entry at this park or evening EMHs. On the first day we went to Soarin' and walked right on, even asked to wait for row 1 as we knew for this day it would be our only ride on Soarin'. By the time we rode and got off the line was a 60 minute wait. By the time we made our way over to TT to use our FPs, only the single rider line was short...the stand by was 45 minutes. We used our FPs and then jumped back in the single rider line.

We did notice the biggest difference in MK with the rope drop. We really noticed this when we did our Fantasyland morning (two different days at MK one day Tomorrowland one day Fantasyland)...all of the rides ended up with at least 20 - 30 minute wait times after walked straight on and off of PP and that was with A LOT of people waiting for 7DMT and A&E. Big difference to how we would tour in the future.

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

I will say we hit Epcot on two mornings arrived at 8 -8L15 AM for 9 AM rope drop. Did not do early entry at this park or evening EMHs. On the first day we went to Soarin' and walked right on, even asked to wait for row 1 as we knew for this day it would be our only ride on Soarin'. By the time we rode and got off the line was a 60 minute wait. By the time we made our way over to TT to use our FPs, only the single rider line was short...the stand by was 45 minutes. We used our FPs and then jumped back in the single rider line.

We did notice the biggest difference in MK with the rope drop. We really noticed this when we did our Fantasyland morning (two different days at MK one day Tomorrowland one day Fantasyland)...all of the rides ended up with at least 20 - 30 minute wait times after walked straight on and off of PP and that was with A LOT of people waiting for 7DMT and A&E. Big difference to how we would tour in the future.

The family and I just returned from the World and we also noticed a big difference in how we would tour MK versus how we have done it in the past, especially with how we tour in the morning.

Except for Soarin and TT, we saw no need to use FP+ for any other rides.

BTW, we are from IL too and love the Blues!!!!

 

[Dwarful]

Thread drift: I guess Miller time just doesn't work in Bud town.

 

[Much-Pixie-Dust]

Thread drift: I guess Miller time just doesn't work in Bud town.

Nope, it's always Bud Time!

 

[disney4life2008]

Do CMs help you all the time? I would rather select my rolling FP+ myself I do not want a CM hovering over me? That got on my last nerve in January

 

[disney4life2008]

I don't know why it matters if you are in the same park to book. Just make a rule in the software that if the app detects you are in a different location, the FP+ must be at least 1 hour away to the start of the window.

As for people booking and not using them, what is the difference between that and booking something like Nemo just because it said to pick 3 and then not using it? Also, how many people are going to bother to book extra FP+ without the intention to use them.

For me, the biggest detriment to not having the ability to do the extra FP+ on the app is for park hopping. If I'm at Epcot and use my 3 FP+ I want some way to decide which park to hop to. If I know I can get a FP+ to Tower of Terror for example, I will go to the Studios. I don't want to go to the Studios only to find out that I can't get a TOT FP+ for 5 hours.

If I would have known in advance on the app then I can choose MK or AK and book something I want to ride. Also, it saves a lot of time because the window at the new park can open sooner than if you have to go there for the Kiosk.

At a BARE MINIMUM, they need to let you check FP+ availability at the other parks from the app to make informed park hopping decisions.

I am sure this will be rolled out in the future. Though, under legacy FP if you park hopped to HS you had no idea if they were any left anyway. But I will say with the new system they can at least add that in.

 

[cw1982]

Do CMs help you all the time? I would rather select my rolling FP+ myself I do not want a CM hovering over me? That got on my last nerve in January

Honestly, the one time a cm didn't help us, I wish they would have because the screen on that I pad was disgusting. Besides, many people aren't as tech savvy as they think they are so they end up slowing down the process for everyone. None of the CM's minded checking our options for us if we wanted to look at a few things before picking one, so having them help us didn't annoy me as much as I thought it would.