FP TIER changes at DHS as of August 29th

[bookgirl2632]

No, the best solution to all this is to not even care about FP’s at HS. Show up to HS at 5:30 am ready to RD. Head to SDD and TSMM and then ToT and RnR. I’m thinking you’ll be able ride those 4 rides in an hour, two tops

Except if I’m getting up that early, it’s to go to Galaxy’s Edge. My plan is GE in the wee hours, break for a nap at the resort, and then back at DHS for the afternoon and evening. I do have another DHS day, but it’s our departure day, so we won’t be doing EEMH, though we will be getting there by 9am.

 

[WillowRain]

OF course they can if they want to

Edit (my cat hit my keyboard before I was ready to post)

I don't think they can guarantee a reservation to every on site guest but they could certainly implement some type of reservation system.

Sooo, they probably cannot guarantee every hotel guest. But, they could do reservations for longer than the 23 days Disneyland is doing, like 60 days. And basically depending on the length of your hotel stay they can offer dates accordingly, or make it a free for all like Moonlight Magic or AP events. From what I hear at Disneyland it's a color coded band, and if they see your band and you are not either in line for the ride or at the end of your light saber or cantina visit, they escort you out, literally Storm Troopers escort you out. There is a 1 hour overlap on times from 11-12, 3-4, and 7-8. They would obviously have to extend hours for the first 60 days too, 8 to midnight. Plus, you know, they can do whatever they want. I cannot imagine they will just let everyone in all at once.

 

[mesaboy2]

They already tier lots of stuff based on resort levels. This would be no different.

What “lots of stuff” are you referring to?

 

[BattyKoda]

There's a lot of talk of Park Hopping in this thread... how do you think this change will affect the other parks?

 

[cakebaker]

They already tier lots of stuff based on resort levels. This would be no different.

The only advantage I can think of anyone has, based on where they stay, is the ability of CL guests to buy additional FP’s.

 

[mar7967]

The only advantage I can think of anyone has, based on where they stay, is the ability of CL guests to buy additional FP’s.

Resort overnight parking rates vary by resort type too - more expensive at the Deluxe, cheaper at the values.

 

[10CJ]

I don’t think they would let the deluxe guests take all the slots. They would set some aside for deluxe, some aside for moderate, some value and a set for off-site/everyone to try for. They could let deluxe book first though so not everyone is trying to book at the same time.

They could somehow incorporate length of stay. You need a 4 night or more stay for a change to book, etc.

 

[Delirium]

A lot of these Fast Pass strategies (like going to Epcot first and using a tier 1 there) seem extreme and may not work well at all for parties of 4 people or larger, since same day FP availability will be hard to come by with crowds as large as they will be,

We're not going to be there all of the chaos, but if we were, I think we would approach it this way.

• Accept the fact that we would be using FPs for two days at HS. Slinky would be out Tier 1 on one day and TSM on the other. Note, our whole party would not ride RNR, or that would be under consideration for FP on Day 2.
• Accept the fact that we would be getting up super early on out HS days. There really is nothing else that will work well in this scenario.
• On the day we FP Slinky, do RNR, ToT, and Alien Saucers in standby (in that order) at Rope Drop.
• On our day with TSM as FP, we would do Galaxy's Edge at rope drop.
• Tier 2 FPs would probably consist of Star Tours once on both days, Fantasmic once and who knows what show on Day 2.

 

[stewart715]

They already tier lots of stuff based on resort levels. This would be no different.

Huh? Like what?

 

[HopperFan]

Resort overnight parking rates vary by resort type too - more expensive at the Deluxe, cheaper at the values.

And for the same exact sized piece of asphalt.

Yeah other than the offer of CL FP+ - which you pay dearly for so not sure if count that .. everything you get extra is resort intensive. Those extras at your resort you pay for in your room rate.

Once we all enter the parks we are pretty much equals - as it should be because we pay the same to enter. Offering in park advantages to certain guests for free - don’t see it happening. $$$ I can see.

 

[stewart715]

And for the same exact sized piece of asphalt.

Yeah other than the offer of CL FP+ - which you pay dearly for so not sure if count that .. everything you get extra is resort intensive. Those extras at your resort you pay for in your room rate.

Once we all enter the parks we are pretty much equals - as it should be because we pay the same to enter. Offering in park advantages to certain guests for free - don’t see it happening. $$$ I can see.

It shouldn’t happen and it won’t happen. Even the CL FP perk is a trial and as you said, not free. The only thing that staying CL gets you is access to pay more money to get more. This pilot program likely stemmed from CL rooms not booking to capacity often or fast enough to their liking.

There would be no benefit to tiering access to GE based on resort tier. Makes little to no sense.

 

[Randomsoulshine]

This doesn't screw with my plans too bad because we already were wary of DHS and were thinking of doing EPCOT instead -- but it's another thing that makes me see the Universal part of our trip as kind of a relief. The only planning surprises I've gotten from Universal are actually positive surprises. I'm not worried about ending up in a bad spot there, except the usual illness, injury, hurricane, earthquake, assorted acts of God.

But on the WDW side ... it seems like Disney puts this really elevated planning burden on the guests, but they keep moving the goalposts. It has me feeling like I've got to watch my back.

Trust issues, man. They're not vacationy.

We are here now and just did two days at Uni and IOA. Best two days so far. We don’t have express pass and still never waited over 25 mins for anything because we rope dropped. At Epcot on arrival evening we never got to do Soarin due to long wait time. Refresh didn’t help us any that late in evening. I’m nervous about HS tonight. We do have TOT and RNR but couldn’t get Slinky Dog. We just aren’t ok with waiting an hour or more for a ride. So we shall see how it goes.

 

[cakebaker]

Resort overnight parking rates vary by resort type too - more expensive at the Deluxe, cheaper at the values.

I was speaking of advantages regarding FP.

 

[Mom2Stitch]

Sooo, they probably cannot guarantee every hotel guest. But, they could do reservations for longer than the 23 days Disneyland is doing, like 60 days. And basically depending on the length of your hotel stay they can offer dates accordingly, or make it a free for all like Moonlight Magic or AP events. From what I hear at Disneyland it's a color coded band, and if they see your band and you are not either in line for the ride or at the end of your light saber or cantina visit, they escort you out, literally Storm Troopers escort you out. There is a 1 hour overlap on times from 11-12, 3-4, and 7-8. They would obviously have to extend hours for the first 60 days too, 8 to midnight. Plus, you know, they can do whatever they want. I cannot imagine they will just let everyone in all at once.

I'm a by the book, stick in the mud, rule follower. That being said, if Storm Troopers are kicking me out personally, I may have to stay as long as it takes for that to happen ....that's just incentive for breaking the rules.

A lot of these Fast Pass strategies (like going to Epcot first and using a tier 1 there) seem extreme and may not work well at all for parties of 4 people or larger, since same day FP availability will be hard to come by with crowds as large as they will be,

We're not going to be there all of the chaos, but if we were, I think we would approach it this way.

• Accept the fact that we would be using FPs for two days at HS. Slinky would be out Tier 1 on one day and TSM on the other. Note, our whole party would not ride RNR, or that would be under consideration for FP on Day 2.
• Accept the fact that we would be getting up super early on out HS days. There really is nothing else that will work well in this scenario.
• On the day we FP Slinky, do RNR, ToT, and Alien Saucers in standby (in that order) at Rope Drop.
• On our day with TSM as FP, we would do Galaxy's Edge at rope drop.
• Tier 2 FPs would probably consist of Star Tours once on both days, Fantasmic once and who knows what show on Day 2.

We will be there 2 days after the chaos officially begins and this is similar to our plans. We have 2 mornings planned for DHS, getting there in the way-too-early hours of the day. Of course before it was going to be easier with RNR as a T2, so now it just has to go standby I guess. We are not ToT people, so no loss there. I was planning 1 day to dedicate to GE and the other mostly for TSL since we've not seen it yet. We made a point of doing all of the shows last trip, so good to go on those for a little while. Star Tours is an obvious 2nd choice, not sure we will even use a 3rd FP now. We are at YC, so after we have done our must do's, we will go and have a nap/swim. We do have an early lunch MM Fantasmic! package booked, hoping we will be able to get back in that night, it's our favorite show.


I don't see Disney offering reservations to hotel guests based on level, even with an equal number of slots set aside for each level it just looks bad, IMO. No matter how they would try to offer reservations to on site guests, there are just too many rooms and not enough hours in the day. I think the extra hours in the morning are all we will see to try and balance out the crowds.

 

[stewart715]

There are and have never been any perks related to the parks based on your hotel level. And there never will be.

The perks you receive for paying extra to stay at a deluxe resort stop with the amenities and furnishings of the deluxe resort. The Club Level FP+ pilot program is just that: a pilot program and it's not free. In fact, it's quite expensive. The only thing I could see happening is participants of the Club Level FP+ program can make exclusive FP+ reservations at GE and have unlimited access to GE. I still doubt that will happen.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

There are and have never been any perks related to the parks based on your hotel level. And there never will be.

The perks you receive for paying extra to stay at a deluxe resort stop with the amenities and furnishings of the deluxe resort. The Club Level FP+ pilot program is just that: a pilot program and it's not free. In fact, it's quite expensive. The only thing I could see happening is participants of the Club Level FP+ program can make exclusive FP+ reservations at GE and have unlimited access to GE. I still doubt that will happen.

Do you consider getting a DDP vs QSDP at the deluxe a perk for the free dining promotions? You eat the food IN the parks .

 

[Sarahslay]

I’m trying to remember, did they announce the previous change at Epcot when Character Spot was moved to tier 1?

They did about a month before because I was like "I wouldn't want to try and use that as a tier 1 anyway, we'll just stand in line". It was after many had already made the FP as a tier 2 so they got to keep the FP with other tier 1s. (I only remember this because I thought it was really stupid that the meet and greet would be a tier 1)

 

[stewart715]

Do you consider getting a DDP vs QSDP at the deluxe a perk for the free dining promotions? You eat the food IN the parks .

Eh, those are just vacation packages. And it doesn't give you priority/special access, it's just a way to prepay for food. And I don't think those packages are exclusive always to deluxe resorts? Anyways, my point was there has never been access priority to parks based on hotel. They've never done an EMH for deluxe only, for example. Everyone has the same access to the parks whether you stay at a standard view studio at the All Star Resort or the Grand Villa at the Grand Floridian. And that's the way it should be!

 

[focusondisney]

Do you consider getting a DDP vs QSDP at the deluxe a perk for the free dining promotions? You eat the food IN the parks .

Not necessarily. Lots of restaurants are outside of the parks. And let’s face it, that is a direct dollar for dollar upgrade, not a “perk”. Since you pay rack rate to get free dining, it is a direct incentive to book the deluxe resorts. Disney is not crazy enough to give a family of 4 more than double their resort rate in food with the regular dining plan. Nor would getting the quick service plan for the same family entice them to book rack rate at a deluxe. Those offers are a very specific & targeted sales offer. Not a resort level tiering perk.

 

[fiasco32]

There would be no benefit to tiering access to GE based on resort tier. Makes little to no sense.

Tell me what makes more sense, then?

Disney is going to do something. It may not be this, exactly, but it's going to be something. This just makes the most sense.

Here's what's clear to me: Disney got LOTS of kudos in the press and blogosphere for the rollout of SWGE at DL. Minimal lines, and when there were lines, they came up with ways (virtual queues) to make it so folks didn't have to actually stand in a line, like for the Cantina.

Disney loves good press. Disney hates bad press. Disney is not going to want to have a celebrated opening of SWGE at DL and then follow it up with a cluster of an opening at HS. They just won't let it happen.

So they'll take the most logical approach: let's replicate, in some way, what we did at DL. Reservation system to get into the park the first few weeks. Virtual lines once you're inside.

Now, we all know there are way more resorts at WDW than there are at DL. We also know that WDW has long given extra perks based on the level of resort you stay at. You may not want to admit that, but it's true and people upthread have given many examples. I won't rehash them. So we know Disney is already giving people extra things here and there because they pay more for Deluxe and Moderate resorts. That's just the way it is. Yay capitalism.

I could be wrong and Disney could come up with an even more inventive way to solve this problem through some other unique reservation system at WDW, but the more and more I watch what's happening, the more I'm convinced that they're absolutely not going to just let people line up outside the gates of HS at 1am the day before and allow it to become a free for all.

There's just no way.