FOP and Navi both down all day. FP+ Wasted

[Stasieki]

Update as the OP

I did come back to AK today and stopped at guest services on the way in. No line to speak of with only 1 person ahead of me.
The CM I spoke with added a FOP pass for the people who lost their Navi one.
So assuming FOP stays up today we will all get to ride.
Except of course the little ones who had Navi and are too small for FOP

Thanks for coming back to update. Enjoy FOP. It's amazing! Sorry the little ones will miss out on Navi.

 

[DavidNYC]

Won't help this time but may be worth a letter to guest relations if you're planning on going back for another trip. I've written a number of times over the years for major issues that interfered with the trip (I save it for really major ones - only written 2-3 times in about 20 trips) but they've never failed to provide some accommodation for me on my next trip.

 

[mrsdaly]

I’m interested in hearing from anyone who did wait exactly what Guest relations was able to do.
Anybody have first hand experience?

I've gone to guest relations when Frozen ever after was down, because I couldn't wait til it opened back up to use the later fastpass. They gave me one to use the next day that I planned to be at Epcot. I'm wondering if they were doing the same. I was the only one in line and it still took the guy a good 20 minutes to figure it out. I didn't even think it was worth the 20 minutes, hahaha! But FOP is a different story. But it is not worth waiting in an hour plus guest relations line to get a fastpass for another day!

 

[AngiTN]

This problem with the Pandora rides is not a maintenance, over-use issue. Devoting more time to upkeep won't fix the problem, so those suggesting that can put it aside. Unfortunately, this is worse. It's a design flaw. They have a hitch in the design in the fire alarm system in the building that houses both rides. When it glitches, both rides are on the fritz. Which sucks

We had a FP for last night too. We can't get back over there today either, just takes too much time on it last day. I did see the line at GR last night and it was crazy. The only reason I'd stand in the line would be if I was off site without a park hopper ticket. I would ask for a hopper to hope to come back today, if I could.

If I was on site if do it at my resort.

 

[JETSDAD]

Will you please explain this in more detail? I would appreciate it!

When a ride goes down and you get an Anytime FP it doesn't count as you having used a FP and the Anytime FP does not count as a regular FP. It is in addition to your normal FP usage. The original FP should disappear and you could go in and grab a different FP in it's place. If it didn't disappear for whatever reason you could modify it or cancel it to grab something else. As normal you could keep adding additional FP's after your first 3 while being able to keep the Anytime FP available for use whenever.

 

[hiroMYhero]

Update as the OP

I did come back to AK today and stopped at guest services on the way in. No line to speak of with only 1 person ahead of me.
The CM I spoke with added a FOP pass for the people who lost their Navi one.
So assuming FOP stays up today we will all get to ride.
Except of course the little ones who had Navi and are too small for FOP

Thanks for reporting the great Guest Recovery!

 

[hiroMYhero]

Will you please explain this in more detail? I would appreciate it!

The easiest way to think of an Anytime FP is as a Bonus, not a replacement. Disney gives you a Bonus/Appeasement/Anytime FP; you process the replacement of the FP of the downed ride.

If the downed FP was for one of your initial 3 FPs, you do need to “replace” it and use it so that you can move on to book FP#4 and so on while holding onto your Bonus.

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Hi there,
We rode FOP with fastpass+ during our June trip last year and Navi via standby. I was wondering why I couldn't get FPs for FOP this year's trip at 60 days but I did get one for Navi. Have they stopped distributing FPs for FOP all together because of this issue?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Have they stopped distributing FPs for FOP all together because of this issue?

No, FPs are still issued for FoP; they are difficult to book depending on crowd-size and time of year.

 

[AngiTN]

Hi there,
We rode FOP with fastpass+ during our June trip last year and Navi via standby. I was wondering why I couldn't get FPs for FOP this year's trip at 60 days but I did get one for Navi. Have they stopped distributing FPs for FOP all together because of this issue?

No. They had simply all been distributed for your trip days

 

[DSLRuser]

Please don’t start blaming me for expecting to get to ride the attraction that I booked over 2 months ago.

#1 - I am sure there is fine print some place....but any reasonable person knows that attractions break. The is no "guarantee" that you get to ride everything you want. Your FP+ was for your spot in a window during normal operation. Since operation was not normal, you go back to being at the mercy of the attraction and the stand by times when it is fixed.

Sorry. I get it. It sucks. But Disney can't make everyone else FP+ VOID, just so they can honor yours.

Booked I might add as per Disney’s crazy plan everything down to the minute for your whole trip months in advance.

Let's be clear. You are in no way obligated to plan everything down to the minute. that is on you. If you do not like the current FP+ system, you are totally free to wing it and do everything stand by. I have my FP+ ready to go for my upcoming trip. But I am also ready to pivot should things change.

 

[DSLRuser]

a 1-day non-expiring ticket to AK. Both those rides down all day is a major problem, IMO.

lol....just wow

 

[anomamatt]

lol....just wow

Nice snark and wonderful contribution to the community.

I have gone to DAK many times solely to do FOP and Navi. If both are down, how could one possibly get the same value? I have an AP so I wouldn’t expect anything beyond a replacement of my FP (if I had one). But for others who don’t go often, this is a big deal.

I know people (well, one couple) that scheduled a special trip JUST to do pandora. And they only had one day in DAK. They got their FP for FOP and got to ride it. But if the ride was down all day, they would be devastated. In such a scenario, WDW offering a 1-day pass to DAK is pretty insignificant, but would send a message they care about their customers.

 

[HopperFan]

i didn't realize they were in the same building. that is kinda wonky but i would assume thee is a firewall between the 2 rides cause to soundproof them from each other the wall that is created most likely would be fire rated if built to true sound proofed specs. at least in home construction it would also be firerated and deff have a gap.


so the anytime fastpass which is my question . . . do you need to book a ride or do you just walk up to the line of a ride in the list?

Well, FoP seems to have lots of "overheating" issues which seems to trigger alarms and the evac of both rides .............. too many times.

They seem to be one for safety .................. here is the basic blueprint = one building.

You can google it, alarms evac both.

 

[DSLRuser]

Nice snark and wonderful contribution to the community.

just being the voice of reason in the age of "I am special, give me something for free because I am making a bunch of noise".

 

[AngiTN]

just being the voice of reason in the age of "I am special, give me something for free because I am making a bunch of noise".

Here, here

 

[anomamatt]

just being the voice of reason in the age of "I am special, give me something for free because I am making a bunch of noise".

It would cost them nothing and would be a nice exchange for two rides being down all day that have massively increased DAK attendance. People do go there for those rides alone.

And in the future a reasoned response means more than your “lol”.

 

[3Boys Meemaw]

just being the voice of reason in the age of "I am special, give me something for free because I am making a bunch of noise".

I'm guessing that you have the resources to visit disney often. I have a trip planned in August and if this happens to us I will be heartbroken. Not for me, but for my grandchildren. We are only able to come every 3 years or so and feel lucky to be able to do this. If these problems are due to poor engineering, Disney owes their guests proper compensation. This may encourage them to plan better in the future.

 

[Nancy O]

. We are only able to come every 3 years or so and feel lucky to be able to do this.

Lucky, my kids are on the once a decade plan! LOL

 

[Tattylou]

Nice snark and wonderful contribution to the community.

I have gone to DAK many times solely to do FOP and Navi. If both are down, how could one possibly get the same value? I have an AP so I wouldn’t expect anything beyond a replacement of my FP (if I had one). But for others who don’t go often, this is a big deal.

I know people (well, one couple) that scheduled a special trip JUST to do pandora. And they only had one day in DAK. They got their FP for FOP and got to ride it. But if the ride was down all day, they would be devastated. In such a scenario, WDW offering a 1-day pass to DAK is pretty insignificant, but would send a message they care about their customers.

This was us basically. We were actually on vacation down at the Gulf coast. Drove up to Disney for an overnight to mainly do/see Pandora, but decided to do a day at Magic Kingdom first too. Animal Kingdom was our 2nd (and last day). I had a 5:10pm fast pass for FOP.....got there to find It was closed...waited 2 hours with hot and tired kids just in case it opened and it never opened. We had a long ride back to the St Pete beach area so we just left at that point. Got offered the anytime fast pass in an email or it said could use the fast pass the next day if/when FOP opened (except I couldn't because it was our last day). We were totally disappointed. It did not ruin the trip, but it was definitely part of why we came up to Disney and the main reason we went to AK. So, it was a bummer. We live in Massachusetts so we probably won't be back for at least a year.

OP, glad to hear it kind of worked out for you in the end.