Any Reformed FP- Uber Users Who Have Embraced FP+ ?

[Silock]

Yup. I'm the runner. And sooo happy I have three less rides to run to and don't have to dash across the park.

It's like that old saying: "Less costs more."

Or something.

 

[Shaden]

Even then, though, on one day we got FPs at DAK in the morning because we started the day there. We went to MK at about 2 and I wanted to see if we could get something to use in between the FOF parade and a 4:30 dinner reservation at Liberty Tree. I went to the kiosk near Stitch, waited about 5 minutes, and got FPs for 3 for BTMRR at 3:30, which was my first choice. So, experiences may vary.

Indeed. For the record I had pretty good luck with the kiosks on a few days, low waits, just kinda pop up to the kiosk and as nice as I could tell the CM to get the hell out of my way and stop slowing me down

Its funny that people THINK I am super negative on FP+. I am actually not, there is no question that we got less done, with more effort though, so in SUM I am not a fan of FP+ in comparison to legacy FP. But I have also noted some of the benefits, including arrival day, and the potential for sleep ins, and what I imagine the benefits to be on peak days.

But yes, when there in May, we were often able to pull some nice FPs for later in the day after burning out 3 FPs between 11 and 1pm without TOO much wait at the kiosk.

This only really applied in MK and AK though. And to an extent in DHS (but only because I LOVE star tours)

But, in those parks, in particular in MK, we did pretty well for FPs under FP+.

We tour the first 2 weeks of May, AND this was the first period were offsite guests could book in advance, and before the big media push for FP+ by Disney.

BUT, I doubt it would have changed tooo much (I am sure a bit, and I am sure for the negative, more demand = increased waits and less availability afterall)


There were still time sinks, sometimes spending 10 or 15 (and as high as 30 once) mins at the kiosk lines (and some glitches as well).

This ironically often required the same things people say they hated about FP- crisscrossing the park, not knowing what was available until I got there, sending a runner to the kiosk, etc etc.

BUT, we got a lot done, were able to book several FPs on a few days for different attractions.

But again, this is low season, in the parks with the most capacity/least demand.

 

[Shaden]

I found the easiest way to get back to back FP+ times, for me, was to originally book all of the FP+ at the *opposite* time of day that I wanted them, and then modify them to the times I was looking for. (For all but 7DMT and A&E - for those two, I'd take the best option).

yes yes yes.

I was, for some of our trip, booking for 3 groups, totalling 12 or 13 (depending) ... this can be HARD. The best bet for us while looking for FPs at 11, 12 or 1 (or 10, 11, 12) was to book them all for late in the day, and then adjust each to the correct time slot we actually wanted.

by far the best route.

 

[Hokie2000]

In the first example, someone is speaking only for themselves and their feelings. That's valid - everyone should be able to do that, regardless of who agrees with them or not. In the second, someone is extrapolating their experience to everyone else as well, and that is something entirely different. No, I don't think it's an accurate representation for the average guest, or probably even very many guests. I do acnowledge that it may be accurate for some, though, and those people do have a right to voice that opinion if that is how they feel. No one, though, IMO has the right to extrapolate that because their experience was "x," then everyone else's experience should be "x" as well, no matter what side of the discussion they are on.

Great post, Angel Ariel, I think you've hit the nail on the head completely.

Civil discourse, you haz it.

 

[Hokie2000]

"Don't waste your time with an FP+ kiosk if there is a line. Because there is a line, there probably isn't anything decent left. And honestly, if there isn't a line at the kiosk, the SB line for what you want may not be very long at all". Wanna bet what these people ended up with? My money's on such coveted FP's as The Great Movie Ride or The Muppets: http://s1375.photobucket.com/user/LakeTravis99/media/FPKiosk_zpsfd7f131e.jpg.html

I have no experience with long kiosk lines, but yesterday there was no line at a FP+ kiosk and I ended up with 5 FPs for RnRC 2 hours into the future. Not too shabby.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I have no experience with long kiosk lines, but yesterday there was no line at a FP+ kiosk and I ended up with 5 FPs for RnRC 2 hours into the future. Not too shabby.

Hokie.....what the heck do you think you are doing, coming in here with your details and actual real life experiences that demonstrate that, while results may vary, many people can achieve very positive results using FP+ and, yes, it's annoying kiosks? Pish! Be gone with you! I need someone else to generalize for me what my experience is **really** going to be like!

 

[Laketravis]

I see the PR Team is out in full force this morning.

Experiences WILL vary. And some would like for you to believe that there is enough pixie dust to go around for everyone.

I was watching wait times yesterday and how low they were, so I'm not surprised that there weren't any lines at a kiosk and you were able to get 5 FP's for RRnC two hours out when the standby line was only 20 minutes on a day rated as a "2" according to EasyWDW.

In fact, I just logged onto MDE and had no trouble at all making 3 FP's for RRnC, ToT, and Star Tours for multiple choices of times for today, rated as a "4" per EasyWDW.

Your experience isn't typical because this is currently one of the lightest weeks of the year in terms of crowds. What you've proven is that you can get additional FP's for a headliner on a day when you don't really need them.

It's when the parks are more crowded and you really need the FP's that you'll find there are few good selections left - as demonstrated by the experiences of others in another thread. To purposely mislead "members" into expecting such optimal conditions when they visit is only setting the stage for their disappointment.

 

[MrInfinity]

I see the PR Team is out in full force this morning.

Hi Lake, welcome back to the conversation. I thought you'd left.

So Hokie comes out and tells of an experience that debunks your argument that to like FP+, one must like "getting on 3 rides then waiting in long standby lines for everything else"... and you feel the need to say this person is part of a PR team?

Experiences WILL vary. And some would like for you to believe that there is enough pixie dust to go around for everyone.

Yes, that is the whole point of FP+. Take the Pixie Dust that used to only go to those who used FP-, and spread it around so each person can use 3 FP+. There is enough to go around. That's what causes you to get less, that to make enough to go around, you don't get as many as you used to. Wouldn't you prefer the old situation, in which there wasn't enough to go around, yet you got more than most guests?

I was watching wait times yesterday and how low they were, so I'm not surprised that there weren't any lines at a kiosk and you were able to get 5 FP's for RRnC two hours out when the standby line was only 20 minutes on a day rated as a "2" according to EasyWDW.

We already established that "posted wait times" have little to do with "actual waiting done". Like if the HM has a posted wait of 45, but you can ride it in 30 by standby, or you can pull a FP for it and ride in 5, if you sit here behind a computer screen and rely on the posted wait times, then all you're analyzing is the waits Disney is posting, not real experiences.

In fact, I just logged onto MDE and had no trouble at all making 3 FP's for RRnC, ToT, and Star Tours for multiple choices of times for today, rated as a "4" per EasyWDW.

Same day. Neat. Well, this was my experience too. Interestingly enough, even on busy days you could get FP+'s for those rides no problem.

It's when the parks are more crowded and you really need the FP's that you'll find there are few good selections left - as demonstrated by the experiences of others in another thread. To purposely mislead "members" into expecting such optimal conditions when they visit is only setting the stage for their disappointment.

I went wen the parks were more crowded. Opening day for SWW. HS was jam packed. I rode a ton.

Also interesting, YOU went when parks were crowded, and per your own words, "I actually do have a very efficient touring strategy that allows us to accomplish quite a bit", which is awesome. Remember you got to ride 3 headliner coasters including the brand new SDMT plus secondary rides during a 4-hour visit in a mid-afternoon day on one of the busiest days of the year, after having rope-dropped at another park and rode all the headliners there too. Clearly FP+ is rocking for you. Why can it not be for Hokie too? Why reduce the experience to "well that's only because it's a 4-day".

So I don't see the case you're making. Many people (yourself included) ride a ton by using an "efficient touring strategy" and FP+, but someone else comes out and tells of how they ride a ton or get a useful FastPass and you say it's only because of the day.

 

[Hokie2000]

I see the PR Team is out in full force this morning. Experiences WILL vary. And some would like for you to believe that there is enough pixie dust to go around for everyone. I was watching wait times yesterday and how low they were, so I'm not surprised that there weren't any lines at a kiosk and you were able to get 5 FP's for RRnC two hours out when the standby line was only 20 minutes on a day rated as a "2" according to EasyWDW. In fact, I just logged onto MDE and had no trouble at all making 3 FP's for RRnC, ToT, and Star Tours for multiple choices of times for today, rated as a "4" per EasyWDW. Your experience isn't typical because this is currently one of the lightest weeks of the year in terms of crowds. What you've proven is that you can get additional FP's for a headliner on a day when you don't really need them. It's when the parks are more crowded and you really need the FP's that you'll find there are few good selections left - as demonstrated by the experiences of others in another thread. To purposely mislead "members" into expecting such optimal conditions when they visit is only setting the stage for their disappointment.

Posted wait for RnRC was 50 minutes when FPs were used.

 

[Angel Ariel]

but someone else comes out and tells of how they ride a ton and you say it's only because of the day.

Actually, I read Hokie's post as being about there were no lines at the kiosk and being able to get RNRC for 5 for 2 hrs out - not about whether or not a ton was ridden that day, but specifically about kiosk wait and availability.

I do think kiosk lines, and availability for 4th FP+ and beyond are very dependent on crowd levels. As I already detailed out in this thread (and another), we did not have the same experience at the kiosks as Hokie did. Quite the opposite in fact. We didn't see any headliner availability at all (for MK this was largely because it was a party night, absolutely. DHS, though, was open as usual). Crowds on our days were, IIRC, around 7s (could be wrong, not going to look right this second).

So yeah, I would expect a much less crowded day to have more success at the FP+ kiosks than a more crowded day - for no other reason than less people in the parks = less FP+ reservations made in advance = more availability on the day of.

I don't doubt that Hokie got a lot done, and I'm glad they had so much success! But, when I compare that to my personal experience, I do believe that 1 major difference is the crowd levels.

 

[Mikie]

I know some of you are antagonizing the heck out of each other, and some of this could have been accomplished with a bit less snark (although probably not by me, as my family can attest). BUT I truly appreciate Laketravis coming "to trial" and even though I sort of thought the request for such specific detail was initially over the top, I found the plan and the detailed critique of it very helpful.

I don't usually latch onto exactly who is saying what in a thread, just follow the conversational flow, but this whole exercise really does help me put into perspective what may be "a lot" to get done or "I can only ride 3 and out except for junk" (yes, I'm summarizing, generalizing and hyperbolizing)

Sincerely thank you for sticking with this. It helps me understand some of the theoretical discussions I like to follow as well as see some specific context and strategy I may now know to use or avoid for my own next trip.

 

[Laketravis]

I know some of you are antagonizing the heck out of each other, and some of this could have been accomplished with a bit less snark (although probably not by me, as my family can attest). BUT I truly appreciate Laketravis coming "to trial" and even though I sort of thought the request for such specific detail was initially over the top, I found the plan and the detailed critique of it very helpful.

I don't usually latch onto exactly who is saying what in a thread, just follow the conversational flow, but this whole exercise really does help me put into perspective what may be "a lot" to get done or "I can only ride 3 and out except for junk" (yes, I'm summarizing, generalizing and hyperbolizing)

Sincerely thank you for sticking with this. It helps me understand some of the theoretical discussions I like to follow as well as see some specific context and strategy I may now know to use or avoid for my own next trip.

Thanks Mikie. I agree it's useful to know both positive and negative experiences; it helps one temper their strategy with contingencies in the event they don't encounter a magical experience every step of the way.

In regards to the back and forth banter, I think it's obvious to anyone who reads these forums that there are those who just came back and report on their experiences (both positive and negative) and then there is the PR Team who seeks out and quickly refutes any negative experience with a glowingly positive example of their own, often with an incredible amount of minute details intended to offset any potential disagreement from a variety of angles. It's apparent from many of their posts that they aren't responding to the poster - they are attempting to speak to a larger audience. That's the tactic of a good PR Team!

Surely, those anecdotal details they offer about exact times and days and FP+ arrival times and times spent in line down to the exact minute and even a head count of the number of people in line in front of them when admonishing others as making "general statements" or "hyperbole" aren't coming strictly from memory of an event weeks or months ago, because we all know memory is notorious for being inaccurate as well as extremely selective.

No, they most certainly must be working from meticulous notes in order to be able to provide such levels of strictly positive facts. So rather than offer that data in piecemeal fashion only to refute a less-than-positive experience or comment, and since their stated mission is to "help others" obtain the most optimal experience possible, it would make sense that they compile their data and present it in it's totality so that we can all see the complete experience including the best times/days/attractions/conditions under which to optimize the experience for all.

 

[wisblue]

I see the PR Team is out in full force this morning.

Experiences WILL vary. And some would like for you to believe that there is enough pixie dust to go around for everyone.

I was watching wait times yesterday and how low they were, so I'm not surprised that there weren't any lines at a kiosk and you were able to get 5 FP's for RRnC two hours out when the standby line was only 20 minutes on a day rated as a "2" according to EasyWDW.

In fact, I just logged onto MDE and had no trouble at all making 3 FP's for RRnC, ToT, and Star Tours for multiple choices of times for today, rated as a "4" per EasyWDW.

Your experience isn't typical because this is currently one of the lightest weeks of the year in terms of crowds. What you've proven is that you can get additional FP's for a headliner on a day when you don't really need them.

It's when the parks are more crowded and you really need the FP's that you'll find there are few good selections left - as demonstrated by the experiences of others in another thread. To purposely mislead "members" into expecting such optimal conditions when they visit is only setting the stage for their disappointment.

Yep, and your experience about New Year's Eve Day at EPCOT or the weekend after Thanksgiving isn't typical either.

When the parks were really crowded it was difficult, if not impossible, to get even 3 FPs for what you would consider a headliner in parks like Epcot and DHS, unless you arrived at the park early and started gathering them right away.

If you want me to use the busiest times of the year to describe how difficult it is to get useful paper FPs, I could relate my experiences about visiting Disneyland and DCA during the week between Christmas and New Year's. I'm sure that experience was very different than someone who visited during early December, as mom2trk has reported.

But, I'm not complaining about it. I knew what we were getting into, studied up about Disneyland in advance, arrived at the parks early and took advantage of single rider lines (some of which are not really advertised) and the one useful FP we were able to get each day. We didn't get more than one FP a day because it made more sense for us to ride the attractions that had FPs (and that we wanted to do) while standing there with a 20 minute standby line instead of getting a FP and having to come back later (sometimes 2-5 hours later). And, with all that, we had a great time and were able to do everything we wanted to do and then some (except for Splash Mountain because it was too cold for our tastes) in just 3 park days. It certainly wasn't because Disneyland has paper FPs instead of FP+, which definitely would have been more useful to us in those conditions.

If it takes you two weeks at WDW to do everything you want to do, and you aren't interested in repeating things, it really makes me wonder what the heck you are trying to do. It has to involve A LOT more than doing attractions in the parks. I am hard pressed to see how someone couldn't do every attraction in each park (except maybe MK) in 1 or 2 days each, even at the busiest times of year, with efficient touring and efficient use of FP+. If there are only a handful of attractions in a park that you are interested in, one day should be plenty.

So, what you are saying in the end is that standby lines are shorter and FP availability is greater when crowds are lower. The larger the crowds, the more you have to plan to do as much as you want to do. In our experience, that was true before there was any FP, with paper FP, and with FP+.

And you are admitting, without saying it directly, that your statement that FP+ condemns guests to 3 rides with short lines and long lines for everything else is overly broad and is heavily dependent on crowd levels and how one approaches the parks. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[wisblue]

Thanks Mikie. I agree it's useful to know both positive and negative experiences; it helps one temper their strategy with contingencies in the event they don't encounter a magical experience every step of the way.

In regards to the back and forth banter, I think it's obvious to anyone who reads these forums that there are those who just came back and report on their experiences (both positive and negative) and then there is the PR Team who seeks out and quickly refutes any negative experience with a glowingly positive example of their own, often with an incredible amount of minute details intended to offset any potential disagreement from a variety of angles. It seems obvious from many of their posts that they aren't responding to the poster - they are attempting to speak to a larger audience. That's the tactic of a good PR Team!
Surely, those details they offer about exact times and days and FP+ arrival times and times spent in line down to the exact minute and even a head count of the number of people in line in front of them aren't coming strictly from memory of an event weeks or months ago, because we all know memory is notorious for being inaccurate as well as extremely selective.

No, they most certainly must be working from meticulous notes in order to be able to provide such levels of strictly positive facts. So rather than offer that data in piecemeal fashion only to refute a less-than-positive experience or comment, and since their stated mission is to "help others" obtain the most optimal experience possible, it would make sense that they compile their data and present it in it's totality so that we can all see the complete experience including the best times/days/attractions/conditions under which to optimize the experience for all.

It is truly charming that you see yourself as the intelligent voice of reason who is being unfairly persecuted by the "PR Team" and that you think that anyone is buying it when you say that you are using that term as a compliment. Just like nobody was buying it yesterday when you said that you were leaving the discussion.

 

[Laketravis]

Wis, how can anyone trust your recollection of what happened last summer if you can't even remember a post from yesterday?

I didn't say I was "leaving the discussion" - I said:

I agree, and I'm stopping this nonsense right here.

 

[Queen2PrincessG]

My family does not consider 8:45am the crack of dawn. In fact, it seems bizarre to me that anyone does.

We also don't consider rope drop a punishment. It's awesome.

I don't either. Im simply stating that you don't need to be there at RD to have a great trip. It doesn't insure a better trip. We are up everyday at 5 am so making RD is actually a late start for our typical days BUT some days we don't enter a park till 1. This last trip we went in at 6pm. With FP+ you no longer have to be there early to do what you want.

FP makes RD a fun show to see but not a necessity to have a successful trip.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I do think kiosk lines, and availability for 4th FP+ and beyond are very dependent on crowd levels.

You are absolutely correct Angel, and not just for kiosks and 4th FP+s, but for people's entire MM+/FP+ experience. I've said it, Lake says it, most people know it.....experiences will vary. They can vary by season, or they can even vary for two different people in the same park on the same day! Heck, look at Lake's observations regarding Epcot and Spaceship Earth on his last trip. He hit it wrong, so wrong, at the worst time, between 12:00 and 12:15, the only 15 minute window when there was a 65 minute wait. How unlucky! To him that WAS the wait, and what he'd expect everyone waited. Of course, the majority of people who rode that day waited 30 minutes or less. Someone who did the same ride, in the same park, on the same day, had a very different experience. Experiences vary.

Sure, I am often forced into trotting out my positive experiences in the context of refuting some sweeping, misleading generalization, but the honest truth is there are people out there having both positive and negative experiences with FP+, at all different times of year. You can have a good experience with FP+ ANY time of year, you can have a bad experience with FP+ ANY time of year. The point is, we should be here to make people aware of that. To help them plan and anticipate, and hopefully avoid the negative experience. To do that people need an objective telling of the good and the bad. It's possible that my positive experiences are not typical of what many guests might experience. However, it's just a possible that Lake's negative experiences are not typical of what many guests might experience. We shouldn't generalize those experiences, we should just report, honestly and factually.

Why can't we all come here and say "this is where we went, this is what we did, and the result for us was good/bad/indifferent. While experiences will vary and you may not have the same result I did, you should consider how this, that, and the other thing could affect your experience." That will show people what they might be able to accomplish, pitfalls they might experience, and they can plan and tackle their WDW vacation with a measure of hope, knowledge that there could be troubled waters, armed with planning and strategy. Guess what? With that most people will have a little good, a little bad, and likely an overall great trip.

Or we could play games, mince words, get clever, misrepresent our experiences, and manipulate wait data to convince people that because of FP+ in order to find value in a WDW vacation they have to double the amount of time they spend at WDW, be happy only getting on 3 attractions they want to do with no wait while waiting on long lines for everything else, and they shouldn't even bother trying to get a 4th FP+, ever. Because that is, you know, sooooo helpful.

 

[Suvadoo]

I don't either. Im simply stating that you don't need to be there at RD to have a great trip. It doesn't insure a better trip. We are up everyday at 5 am so making RD is actually a late start for our typical days BUT some days we don't enter a park till 1. This last trip we went in at 6pm. With FP+ you no longer have to be there early to do what you want.

FP makes RD a fun show to see but not a necessity to have a successful trip.

I don't think RD was ever a requirement if you didn't care about riding headliners without a wait. Legacy FP's were still available later in the day, unless you were visiting at a super busy time.
But from what I'm reading and from my own experiences last April, RD is still important to a lot of people, especially in the tiered parks.
Once again, it's dependant on what is important to your family.

 

[DisneyKidds]

and thanks Mikie!

 

[Suvadoo]

You are absolutely correct Angel, and not just for kiosks and 4th FP+s, but for people's entire MM+/FP+ experience. I've said it, Lake says it, most people know it.....experiences will vary. They can vary by season, or they can even vary for two different people in the same park on the same day! Heck, look at Lake's observations regarding Epcot and Spaceship Earth on his last trip. He hit it wrong, so wrong, at the worst time, between 12:00 and 12:15, the only 15 minute window when there was a 65 minute wait. How unlucky! To him that WAS the wait, and what he'd expect everyone waited. Of course, the majority of people who rode that day waited 30 minutes or less. Someone who did the same ride, in the same park, on the same day, had a very different experience. Experiences vary.

Sure, I am often forced into trotting out my positive experiences in the context of refute some sweeping, misleading generalization, but the honest truth is there are people out there having both positive and negative experiences with FP+, at all different times of year. You can have a good experience with FP+ ANY time of year, you can have a bad experience with FP+ ANY time of year. The point is, we should be here to make people aware of that. To help them plan and anticipate, and hopefully avoid the negative experience. To do that people need an objective telling of the good and the bad. It's possible that my positive experiences are not typical of what many guests might experience. However, it's just a possible that Lake's negative experiences are not typical of what many guests might experience. We shouldn't generalize those experiences, we should just report, honestly and factually.

Why can't we all come here and say "this is where we went, this is what we did, and the result for us was good/bad/indifferent. While experiences will vary and you may not have the same result I did, you should consider how this, that, and the other thing could affect your experience." That will show people what they might be able to accomplish, pitfalls they might experience, and they can plan and tackle their WDW vacation with a measure of hope, knowledge that there could be troubled waters, armed with planning and strategy. Guess what? With that most people will have a little good, a little bad, and likely an overall great trip.

Or we could play games, mince words, get clever, misrepresent our experiences, and manipulate wait data to convince people that because of FP+ in order to find value in a WDW vacation they have to double the amount of time they spend at WDW, be happy only getting on 3 attractions they want to do with no wait while waiting on long lines for everything else, and they shouldn't even bother trying to get a 4th FP+, ever. Because that is, you know, sooooo helpful.

Did you go to school for this? Your posts are loaded with the most manipulative wording I have ever seen. It's all backhanded.
First you start out in every responsen agreeing with the poster. Then the second phase is the ad campaign for Disney's FP+. But to do this you try to convince everyone that you are wholly benevolent and impartial and you appreciate reading about everyone's experiences, both positive and negative. In this phase you also include positives about your FP+ experiences.

Finally you move into phase three or as I like to call it the attack phase of your posts. This is when you accuse "others" of sweeping generalizations and gross exaggerations when they report negative FP+ experiences. So in other words you try to convince your audience why you are right and the FP+ detractors are wrong. Every post follows the same pattern.

Yes the FP+ detractors are nothing but a bunch of manipulative so and so's! Just curious, who's paying you to post? Whoever they are, they should demand a refund.