Charge for FP? Please say it aint so!

I spend a pretty significant time researching every major vacation destination I go to. Not quite a year, but close to about 6-8 months for sure. Smaller trips are different, but when I went to Europe or the big road trip through southern California, all about the same amount of time of planning as a first time Disney trip. Not at all unusual for a big vacation IMO. Some people like to have detailed plans no matter where they go. Some people like to just go with the flow. Both options are 100% possible for every vacation, including Disney. And both can have both positive and negative outcomes.

I agree 100%. We go to Disney once every other year, and twice on the alternating years...yet I still put a lot of time into planning. It’s part of my process, and I enjoy it. My point was that a vacation like a trip to Disney World shouldn’t take months of planning to ultimately be fun. Having to get up at 6:30 AM eastern time 60 days before your trip to try to ensure your family can ride a ride is not only absurd, it is ostentatious. Everyone knows that FP+ was put in place not for the customers’ benefit, rather as a way for Disney to avoid having to create new, updated rides by forcing customers into having to choose less popular rides as well as a means to “get people out of lines and into the shops spending more money”. Yet, all it really did was increase lines all around while allowing Disney to track our every move and purchase.
 
I disagree. That is overkill. I mean, I completely understand why you did it, however for a destination to set the precedent that you need to do weeks of research prior to going on your vacation in order to enjoy your vacation...then what is the point?! Yes, I feel as though it’s always a good idea to make yourself aware of your surroundings and options when going to a new locale. However, Careful and meticulous planning have absolutely no business being referenced in the same context as vacation planning. Disney’s lazy, entitled attitude toward the American public that helped create and shape the company into the mega-empire that it is today is egregious. However, until we awaken from the sewing machine spindle pricked coma Disney has put us in and start putting our money where our mouth is, absolutely nothing will change. The bubble Disney has created for itself will burst... it’s just a matter of when.
Well I guess you could say I was on these boards for a year before our first Disney trip. And what, 13-14 years later, I still am. I guess that is a major overkill.
 
We are a party of 4. 2 adults, 2 kids and we purchased 8 days of extra fastpasses for our upcoming September trip. We were going to purchase all 10 days but I didn't see a need to get them for our Epcot days. I'm having a little buyers remorse but were gonna go with it. If it's a game changer then we will do it again. If its not then we wont. The way I see it, Disney is expensive anyway so whats a little more money to make the trip a little easier?
 


We are a party of 4. 2 adults, 2 kids and we purchased 8 days of extra fastpasses for our upcoming September trip. We were going to purchase all 10 days but I didn't see a need to get them for our Epcot days. I'm having a little buyers remorse but were gonna go with it. If it's a game changer then we will do it again. If its not then we wont. The way I see it, Disney is expensive anyway so whats a little more money to make the trip a little easier?
I would do the same if they were offered for DVC.
 


We are a party of 4. 2 adults, 2 kids and we purchased 8 days of extra fastpasses for our upcoming September trip. We were going to purchase all 10 days but I didn't see a need to get them for our Epcot days. I'm having a little buyers remorse but were gonna go with it. If it's a game changer then we will do it again. If its not then we wont. The way I see it, Disney is expensive anyway so whats a little more money to make the trip a little easier?

That's our plan too. We have a 10 day/9 night trip coming in November and will be booking for all but our departure date. I agree completely with your last sentence! It's already expensive and if this little cost (little in the grand scheme of things) gives us a little more added ease and convenience, it makes sense for us to do it. Especially since we don't go to Disney that often and aren't sure when our next trip will happen.
 
We are a party of 4. 2 adults, 2 kids and we purchased 8 days of extra fastpasses for our upcoming September trip. We were going to purchase all 10 days but I didn't see a need to get them for our Epcot days. I'm having a little buyers remorse but were gonna go with it. If it's a game changer then we will do it again. If its not then we wont. The way I see it, Disney is expensive anyway so whats a little more money to make the trip a little easier?
We added 3 days on our 10-day trip. Even that was overkill. On a 10-day visit we'd get 30 FPs each. Adding 9 more made it 39. On those days we had so many rides queued up and it keeps you in the park for 7+ hours. You have 8 days of extra FPs in the same amount of time... That'll be 54 rides per person and eight 7+ hour days. That's a lot. If you're into being on rides the entire time you'll have an amazing time riding all day and never waiting for anything.
Yet, all it really did was increase lines all around while allowing Disney to track our every move and purchase.
YMMV, but we don't wait much for anything since the implementation of FP+. We were in WDW around opening day of TSL and I don't think we waited over 20 min for a single ride. It is pretty useful once you figure out the ins and outs.
 
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We added 3 days on our 10-day trip. Even that was overkill. On a 10-day visit we'd get 30 FPs each. Adding 9 more made it 39. On those days we had so many rides queued up and it keeps you in the park for 7+ hours. You have 8 days of extra FPs in the same amount of time... That'll be 54 rides per person and eight 7+ hour days. That's a lot. If you're into being on rides the entire time you'll have an amazing time riding all day and never waiting for anything.
We also have 88 anytime Fastpasses (2 each, each day) so yes we will be riding a whole lot.
 
88 anytime Fastpasses?!? That's amazing that everyone got 2 each day!!! Do you mind me asking how you got those?
Long story but it boils down to lost dining plan credits when we did a checkout/ checkin last September when we extended our stay due to losing 2 days when Irma came to visit.
 
Long story but it boils down to lost dining plan credits when we did a checkout/ checkin last September when we extended our stay due to losing 2 days when Irma came to visit.

I’m sorry you lost days to Hurricane Irma but I’m glad they compensated you! I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy all those fastpasses!
 
When people say they dont like the "planning" part of a Disney trip, dont like getting up when they are there to get to parks foe EMH, and then complain about lines etc. My response is simply, you cant complain when you dont plan. I cant think of ANY trip for a vacay I would take where I dont plan things. Unless its just going to a beach to just sit and relax or maybe to Vegas to gamble but even that requires some planning if you want to do more than sit in a casino, any trip requires planning to maximize your time and enjoyment. A trip to NYC, DC, foreign country, etc. If you dont plan it then you will miss things or find yourself pinched for time. So people who dont plan and then complain, my response is..Thats on you.
 
When people say they dont like the "planning" part of a Disney trip, dont like getting up when they are there to get to parks foe EMH, and then complain about lines etc. My response is simply, you cant complain when you dont plan. I cant think of ANY trip for a vacay I would take where I dont plan things. Unless its just going to a beach to just sit and relax or maybe to Vegas to gamble but even that requires some planning if you want to do more than sit in a casino, any trip requires planning to maximize your time and enjoyment. A trip to NYC, DC, foreign country, etc. If you dont plan it then you will miss things or find yourself pinched for time. So people who dont plan and then complain, my response is..Thats on you.
We've basically never planned anything for a Disney trip and I've managed to do every ride in all 4 parks in the same day. It's very much not a necessity to doing the parks. And for other trips we'll look up maybe a few things to do but never book anything until we get somewhere, and never had an issue doing things this way. It's way more relaxing to not have a schedule. Doesn't mean you're getting less done. Going in clueless is more of the issue than not planning.
 
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I can understand both of your points. On our first trip we planned parts and I decided to have more a relaxing schedule and in the end my family didn't enjoy that. The second trip we had it very planned and that was the best trip we had. During our second trip, my SIL and her family came too and other then FP, they had nothing set up. They loved it! While I think the planning/not planning really depends on each family and their preference. I was the book reader and schedule for every day, she would read a few things on the Disney website and ask me a few questions. We both had what we felt was near perfect trips. Both our families have now done 2 trips to the park and we both love our type (planned vs relaxing) of trips. I honestly think it's the really the issue of clueless vs planning. I felt with my slight planning of our first trip, we were still very clueless. I should've done more researching the daily part of lines, crowds and stuff like that vs what the rides are all about. My SIL had talked to a lot of people before their first trip so she know what to expect on the crowds and lines. They still decided to not have a schedule and loved it so much they followed the same style the second trip. But on our second trip, I did all the planning and we had the schedules and just like my SIL, we loved our trip! It really comes down to family preference on the type of trip you have, but if you don't look up anything and come in clueless thinking you can walk up to all rides, shows, lunches, etc.… that's where the issues lie. We had 2 different types of trips, but we were both fully aware of what type of trip we were getting and if you asked either one of us, we wouldn't change our minds on how we did it. But neither of our families were clueless and went in with the knowledge of what we wanted and I think that is the most important part.
 
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...Everyone knows that FP+ was put in place not for the customers’ benefit, rather as a way for Disney to avoid having to create new, updated rides by forcing customers into having to choose less popular rides as well as a means to “get people out of lines and into the shops spending more money”. Yet, all it really did was increase lines all around while allowing Disney to track our every move and purchase.

I agree about forcing people to be elsewhere in the park, but not at all about them not having to update rides.
 
We've basically never planned anything for a Disney trip and I've managed to do every ride in all 4 parks in the same day. It's very much not a necessity to doing the parks. And for other trips we'll look up maybe a few things to do but never book anything until we get somewhere, and never had an issue doing things this way. It's way more relaxing to not have a schedule. Doesn't mean you're getting less done. Going in clueless is more of the issue than not planning.


Every ride in all 4 parks in one day? Okay...but how?
 

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