My Un-magical FP+ Experience...

[Suvadoo]

Where did the OP say that hated the place? You know, it is possible for one to HATE what the idiots in charge at Disney are doing to a place that the really LOVE. As for FP+, it seems that half of the people like it and the other half hate it. When a business introduces a product that a large percentage of it's customers can't stand, it's typically not a very wise decision...especially when said product doesn't draw any new customers.

What's this half stuff? According to the poll on the boards roughly 1/3 like FP plus and roughly 2/3 like legacy. I know it's not scientific, but get you mis information straight!

 

[tim123]

Not quite correct. There are other theme parks in the area. You can argue about the value and quality of these Parks. But you also have the choice of Universal, Sea World. If you really wanted too you can drive to Tampa and go to Busch Gardens. And quite frankly I think Disney needs the competition otherwise they can get really set in their ways.

Or you can just go to the beach.

So there are other options.

MK is the most visited theme park in the world by far. There will never be another 30,000 acres WDW build in the United Staes again. We love WDW for a reason. Universal and sea World aside..there is no comparison.

 

[DisUniversal]

What's this half stuff? According to the poll on the boards roughly 1/3 like FP plus and roughly 2/3 like legacy. I know it's not scientific, but get you mis information straight!

I was being generous to FP+.

...in other news "Universal Orlando's new Harry Potter land sent Comcast Corp.'s third-quarter theme-park revenue soaring 18.7 percent compared with the previous year, the company said in an earnings report today."

 

[gamerlovesdisney]

Since most of us on these boards are "Disney Addicts", we can talk about not going to WDW because we dislike the changes they've made. And yes, at some point, Disney will begin to miss the money from the AP clients, the Vacation Club people, off-site guests and other repeat customers. But I think we're forgetting about the people who are there for the first time or come only once or twice a decade. Will these people even know about FP+ before getting to the parks? I doubt it. Think about their experience now - longer SB lines in previously walk-on attractions, more people milling about making the parks seem much more crowded, and getting on fewer rides. AND IF they know about FP+, their first experience might be the long line at the FP+ kiosk. I don't think these people will become repeat customers either. I do believe that at some point in the future, Disney will see a decline in attendance.

Also, let's talk about word-of-mouth. Since I hated my last trip last year, when friends ask me how the trip was I tell them about the changes and what it's now like. I can honestly say that at least 10 or so families decided NOT to go because of what I told them (and they were repeat visitors-going about once a year). They decided they could get more of their money's worth going elsewhere - and besides, there isn't anything new to see.

When will this begin to affect Disney? Who knows, but I think it will soon.

 

[Laketravis]

43 years…and suddenly it is all ruined because of FP?...

I certainly wouldn't discount the significance of that.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Disney TELLS me what 2 rides I can do or swap around...then has me running
through the park...from 1 END to another END to arrive at a FP ressie????. OH...change your FP+ while in the parks...NOT for TIER 1 rides!!

Suggests, doesn't force.

I have blown off most 2nd/3rd selections...so...How many guests, with children, COULD NOT get those times because they were reserved for my party???? Forget about having the kids/family rest in the afternoon.

Okay, well, it was your choice to blow off your unwanted FP+s instead of trying to change them to attractions you wanted more.

Why would I now get a "Park Hopper"...I'm spending 3/4 of a day in 1 park???
Went to Fantasmic & the stand-by line was out in the street & when they entered..only the "far left" section was available for seating.
If I choose "Fantasmic" as a FP+......I can't get anything I want ALL DAY (NOW..Tier 1--HA-HA!!) ???

Again, choice. Not pleasant choices based on prior trips, but nothing is mandatory.

What idiot designed this system???? Have them call me !!!!!
Oh yes..."Balance out the rides"....ABSURD !!!!
Balance this: At the end of the day..The same # of people are on each ride, each day..and if some rides have low attendance maybe a re-hab is in order rather than PUNISHING the guests!!

Well, you could call - or better, e-mail - Disney and calmly but firmly express your displeasure and ask to be called. They do respond.

MY WISH...
I want the team/developer of the "new & improved"(HA-HA) FP+ to:

"Bring his/her family to WDW", use FP+ like the common folk.....then tell me how wonderful it was...dragging kids back & forth through the parks from 1 end to the other....and ...take note of ALL the rides he/she and family DIDN'T GET ON!!!!!!!!

Okay. What evidence do we have that FP+ wasn't (or isn't) tested on executives' families?

Why would I think that Disney would ask the "Dedicated Disney Veterans" what works...BEFORE this horrendous system was implemented. OK...Keep the new method..but...let people "spontaneously" choose rides like the old paper system!!

We're not their target market. And clearly, many people don't like change. New visitors won't/can't consider it a change.

AGAIN....HELLO....I AM ON V V A A C C A A T T I I O O N N ????

IT IS "EASIER for me to PLAN & SCHEDULE a CORPORATE CONVENTION" for 300+ people than to SPEND HOURS on a DISNEY SITE PLANNING A "VACATION" WITH THE CURRENT FP+ SYSTEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MY PROJECTION;
The next step is to "PAY" for extra FP's or something similar.

Sorry Walt....The "Magic" is dead !!!!:faint

Walt didn't create any version of FastPass, so it doesn't make sense to apologize to him.

 

[wen8jr]

While, I haven't been as many times as you, I would hardly call myself a "newbie". We had many trips using the old fastpass system. We've had two with the new system. I take offense at your implication that if I like the new system, it's because I don't know any better.

You get offended pretty easily. How I take the comment is that if you never used legacy FP, then you would not be able to compare a prior experience to FP+ and FP+ may seem great to a newbie because they have no comparison.

I'm not a newbie but even if I were I would relate to the OP regarding FP+ in many ways. For example, at one point last week I would have liked to change our schedule and visit a different park on a different day than originally planned. To do so, I would have lost FP+ scheduled 60 days out and the headliners were gone according to the site. Instead we sucked it up and continued on with the original plan. At another point, I went to a Kiosk and tried to get more FP after scheduling/using the first 3 early hoping more would become available and only 4 choices were left in MK and none were desirable at all.

We even did rope drop and did not get to ride as much as we normally would have - because FP+ dictated our every move (we had to make it to the next one on time and of course rides are not next to each other per say) and we did not have time to do repeat rides or did not want to chance getting back in line if we wanted to use FP+ for another ride in time. We had to rush lunch to meet our last FP time, the restaurant was so slow serving our food which is hard to predict 60 days out. All of this while still happened even though we laid out the park maps and planned dining times, etc. when choosing FP+ to ensure we weren't running back and forth across the park.

My overall opinion is that while FP+ could be cool technology if maximized in it's use, legacy FP was much better. With legacy you weren't so restricted and we got more done. Too much over planning with FP+. With legacy, there was spontaneity as I chose the rides I wanted, where I wanted and when I wanted and if they were out of FP hard tickets then they were out. FP+ did not ruin our trip by no means but we didn't have any circumstances crop up that interfered too much with the times scheduled (if I had small children I would have probably had a bigger issue with it).

What determines a Legacy FP or FP+ fan? It probably all depends on what your touring style is. Our touring style is to get there at rope drop, primarily do all the rides and do some more than once.

 

[TRICKY_TINK]

My husband doesn't like me watching Soap Operas as he says I get to personally connected with the characters. So I just read DIS boards now. Thanks for daily fix

 

[wdwrich]

My husband doesn't like me watching Soap Operas as he says I get to personally connected with the characters. So I just read DIS boards now. Thanks for daily fix

 

[PEC]

We can rant on this board both ways forever. Bottomline the success of MyMagic+ will not be known probably for about 5 years. Disney is going to look at the bottomline figure. It would be easy to say the Annual Report in November will tell the story but one year is not telling anybody anything. For many, i it is causing people to not go or spend money they likely went the first year to figure it out.
I would say judging by this one site more people don't like it but to be honest the average Disney vacationer doesn't visit this site. In fact we are not likely the cross cut of the population to run a poll off of. It may be alieanting the multiple visitors (this site) and I could see long range problems of losing the die hards. At the same time they may be looking at todays society and believe they need to develop a new group of die hards. That should be known in 5 years.
Let me add, Disney may have some concerns if the Annual Report if off some this year. My point is more if the profits are up one year may not be a true long range gauge. No big turns in the economy either way happened last year so that would not be an affect.

 

[kate2961]

I have loved going to WDW with my family over the past 12 years and expect to continue to go in the future.

And I totally get the OP. While I love that FP+ allows me to finally get on TSM without the rope drop dash, I don't like that I am placed in the far right (or left depending on your perspective) of the amphitheater for Fantasmic.

I can see OP's point. I just feel less magic lately on my trips. But I'm taking each trip as it comes and not giving up yet. There is still enough there for us to make the trip, but maybe not as often.

Perhaps we'll go to DL instead.

Kate

 

[tim123]

We can rant on this board both ways forever. Bottomline the success of MyMagic+ will not be known probably for about 5 years. Disney is going to look at the bottomline figure. It would be easy to say the Annual Report in November will tell the story but one year is not telling anybody anything. For many, i it is causing people to not go or spend money they likely went the first year to figure it out.
I would say judging by this one site more people don't like it but to be honest the average Disney vacationer doesn't visit this site. In fact we are not likely the cross cut of the population to run a poll off of. It may be alieanting the multiple visitors (this site) and I could see long range problems of losing the die hards. At the same time they may be looking at todays society and believe they need to develop a new group of die hards. That should be known in 5 years.
Let me add, Disney may have some concerns if the Annual Report if off some this year. My point is more if the profits are up one year may not be a true long range gauge. No big turns in the economy either way happened last year so that would not be an affect.

Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation with deep pockets and a model designed well into the future to return huge annual profits to their investors..The "Parks" devision is a huge cash cow and a tiny fraction of the overall corporation. The changes they have made to date show an attitude of "who cares" about tradition, history, Walts vision, employees welfare etc..
And the suits..couldnt care less about you or me.

 

[Jennasis]

My Un-magical FP+ Experience...

WORST, UNMAGICAL WDW TRIP I'VE EVER HAD!!!
....ABSOLUTELY STINKS !!!!!


.....I can't get anything I want ALL DAY

What idiot designed this system????
....ABSURD !!!!
PUNISHING the guests!!


Sorry Walt....The "Magic" is dead !!!!:faint
__________________

I don't see "I hate the place now" anywhere in there.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Except that WDW isn't GM.. competition from Honda, Audi, VW etc..isnt going to replace the one and only 30,000 acres at WDW.

WDW does have competition.

Sticking to competition in Orlando....One of the main reasons they built FP+, out of their own mouths, is to "lock people in" before they get to Orlando. Because once they get to Orlando, according to Disney, they are exposed to the marketing of "other area attractions." I can take a guess who they are talking about, it's either Universal or Gatorland Regardless..

They don't need to lose people entirely...but even people shaving off a day or two or three to go see "other area attractions" is enough to cut into their profit.

 

[tim123]

I don't see "I hate the place now" anywhere in there.

All those exclamation points and adjectives add up to affection. Sorry. I should go back to college and brush up on my Thesaurus.

 

[jerseygal]

My children's fast passes appear wiped out on MDE and they have 0 listed. Has anyone seen this? We leave tomorrow.
I went in to print everything off and 2 of my children are greyed out?

That is SCARY! We think "everything is a go", work hard to pick these FP+ and then you see them DISAPPEAR in the MDE A/C????

FRUSTRATING AND SHOULDN'T HAPPEN!

Hope that you get it resolved.

 

[Baptist]

My heart goes out most to the "off-site" stays. Without priority booking for ADRs and FP+, it's frustrating not having access to reservations to the popular rides and restaurants. Some posters have reported not being able to get "regular" FP+ (not just A&E and 7DMT). Heck, I'm even frustrated with our upcoming 5 day stay (not being able to get all the reservations we wanted, not complaining because we do have A&E and 7DMT). For everyone, it's hard to change these reservations because nothing else is available (we are going the 1st week of December, so not an overly crowed time).

My friend has a condo in Orlando that he rents for cheap. The value proposition is greatly reduced if you can't get reservations.

With that said, I'm leaning towards liking the new system. It's great to have a TSM, A&E, and 7DMT without having to get to the parks in the morning. I just wish they could increase capacity to allow more FP+ or put more limits on quantity of FP+ per individual (for example, only one A&E FP+ per person, per stay, I like the 3 per day limit). That way, the OP may have a different experience.

 

[Laketravis]

..The "Parks" devision is a huge cash cow and a tiny fraction of the overall corporation.

Let's get the facts straight. The "Parks" division is not a huge cash cow. That dubious distinction goes to ESPN.

 

[LoraJ]

For my trip next week I have 4 non-expiry park hoppers. I really hate the way FP+ is pretty much useless with hoppers. Thinking about using just two of those tickets, another day come at 4pm for MNSSHP and then going to Universal the rest of the week saving the other 2 tickets for a time when this system goes away, if ever. I do not like that I cannot get FP's for Soarin' and Test Track. And at Epcot it keeps giving me rides lumped in with Test Track that I know are 20 min or less waits. Why waste a FP on that? And since I canceled those FP's and kept test track it won't let me add others. So I have just 1 FP reserved at Epcot. Will it let me book one more after I use my test Track one? Really do not like this system.

 

[tim123]

Let's get the facts straight. The "Parks" division is not a huge cash cow. That dubious distinction goes to ESPN.

It most certainly is one of the top cash cows in the overall company. I stand corrected..you would think I would know better having been born in Bristol CT!
PS I changed my picture for your comfort!