We just moved to FL in September, so I can't take a position on what it was like as a local before FP+, but we honestly love being AP holders and 22 minutes from our garage to the WDW gate. We take advantage of FP+ and we either decide a week ahead up to the day of, which park we will attend. We go 2-3 times a week. For example, Wednesdays are early release school days for my Kindergartener...I just decided 30 minutes ago that we will go to AK when I pick him up. I effortlessly made FP+ for the safari, Everest and Kali. We will ride those rides, have a snack and be back home for dinner. We love just going when we want and if we are in the mood for Wishes or Illuminations...we go! If a park is busy, we leave...no big deal. We also go to Downtown Disney a lot just to grab dinner and people watch or take the boat from there to POFQ for beignets or go see Bob at POR. To sum it all up, FP+ works for us as locals, but our touring pace is so much more relaxed.