Fast Plus+ Experience

[Dr. Disney]

Going in 12 days and haven't received anything yet

Pick me, Pick me

[vicster]

That may be true because I leave on the 21st and no email, no magical express....

We're leaving on the 21st also and we received a package FedEx approximately 8 days prior to the date we're leaving.

[Pally]

I wonder if this is for US residents only. I would love to receive this perk. We are using ME. I can always hope.

[Grumpy.]

I wonder if this is for US residents only. I would love to receive this perk. We are using ME. I can always hope.

Nope. Not only for Americans. We're Canadian AND booked thru a TA and we were picked for it.

[vicster]

I wonder if this is for US residents only. I would love to receive this perk. We are using ME. I can always hope.

I can't see that - they don't know if you're a US resident when using ME. Plus Disney loves having the international guests as do I!

[taleasoldastime]

I also am not fond of the idea so far. It seems like WAY too much planning. My favorite disney trips are the ones that are spontaneous and this seems to take away all of that. Im not trying to plan minute for minute but if they switch to this then it seems like i will be forced to in order to get anything done.
I guess we will just have to see how it turns out though.

[Pally]

Well, I can see where this might be quite beneficial to some people especially newbies. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people walking around frustrated because they have not planned, had no clue where anything was located to even what they wanted to do let alone even knew what was being offered and were ready to pack up and go. I know some people who said they barely were able to get on any rides because they were so disorganised. We all know these type of people. Of course not us because we obsess. I have been told by my family that I am somewhat commando in style. I love to research but I know a lot of people just like to wing it (newbies) and get into trouble and feel like they have wasted a lot of money.

[Imagineer1981]

Mixed feelings...gotta think on this one.

[AXOAlum]

For parades/fireworks in a certain reserved seating section ONLY, then I think it is fine... for any attractions, however, I say NO!!

We always stay on property and we always hop - I think this new system would force more people to do both (assuming the future would mean more FP+ for those on property) which means more $$ even though you may not be paying directly for the service.

We have booked a rather last minute trip (60 days out) and we are so limited on ADR offerings. I can't imagine having to know that I would be at MK at Splash at 11am for my FP+. There are too many variables that can go wrong - bus breaks down, someone is sick, a meet & greet where a character spends more time with your little one than planned... too many things that could prevent you from being in line at your assigned time.

Now - if they want to greet you at the park on your way in and say here are your choices, that's another thought. You know you are in that park, you know your dining plans for that day - much easier to plan once you are on site, and seems more fair for everyone that way.

[TikiGoddess]

I don't see the problem with this new system.

If you can plan ahead, and know when you're going to be in a certain park, you use the FP Plus. If your plans change last-minute, then don't use the FPs. Wait standby or get in-park FPs.

If you can't plan ahead, or prefer not to, use the in-park FPs as usual. Disney will not do away with the current system -- FP Plus is just an add-on to it.

Kathy

[figgie]

I agree Christine, where does this system leave us local people? We frequent the parks, pay our money and are loyal guests, are we out of the new system all together?

[disneynarula]

I agree Christine, where does this system leave us local people? We frequent the parks, pay our money and are loyal guests, are we out of the new system all together?

Perhaps they are just using Magical Express customers to test it out? I have to agree that this sort of stinks. We are staying off property for a week before we check into Art of Animation and we rented a car so we are not using Magical Express. My MIL is going to fly in and she is using ME. Maybe she will get the information if they are testing the system during our trip.

Honestly, I think this is an awesome idea. We are not frequent fliers to WDW and we want to be able to see most of the major attractions. If I can do that without long waits then... hooray!!!If we can guarantee ourselves a spot for the parade without waiting for an hour I am totally up for that.
It's not like they are doing this for every attraction, right? There are still some rides that don't have or need Fastpass. You can ride all these rides when ever you want to.

At this point I have already secured my ADRs and that kind of forces us to make some sort of rough plan anyway. If I know I am going to be in the Magic Kingdom on a given day then planning a specific time to ride an attraction is not that big of a deal to me.

Not to be but I would probably even be willing to pay a nominal fee for this. We tend to stay in values and moderates. We stayed at a deluxe once and we loved it but we were staying on a stipend from my husband's work. I can't say it would ever be worth it to me to spend hundreds of extra dollars per night to stay in a nicer room but I would totally be on board for spending an extra few dollars a day to avoid lines.

[Grumpy.]

Just did the trial day yesterday. (Sitting in Everything Pop right now).

I liked using the Fastpass +. It was cool to pick the times you wanted for the attractions you wanted. What I really liked was, you were still able to use in the in-park Fastpass system as well. So you knew you had certain fastpasses covered and could pick and choose a couple more. It was a fairly busy day and we spent a small amount of time in line. We did have to do some zigzagging across the kingdom to meet the ride times but we managed to do it. If they don't allow you to still use the in-park system, I wouldn't have liked it.

As for people waiting to see if there are picked for the trial, this one ended on September 24. Not sure if or when the next one will be.

[mydisneygirls]

We too are here now and used the new Fastpass. Here's the thing...you do get to pick the ride you want to use it on (we chose 4 rides for the day and they were all at different times) but you can only use it once. It's not like you can use it continuously within the hour. I asked a cast member about it and he said that they are going to use it to replace the paper Fastpasses but that's all he knew. I guess Disney is trying to go "Green" and save on the paper. My original thought was that they were going to charge for this but I don't think they will....just trying to eliminate the Fastpasss lines and reduce on paper. To me, makes sense.

[awaggett]

We had our trial last Saturday (22nd). For the rides, it was just like the regular Fast Pass system (except scheduled in advance).

We also used ours for the Fireworks and Parade. For the fireworks we got to watch from the rose garden area in front of the castle--great viewing--so close to castle and Tink flew directly over. Sitting on damp grass was not as fun, but not a big deal!

The parade viewing was in Hub, across from Castle--good spot, but for the 10 pm parade, it was not really necessary to have a secured spot--there was plenty of space.

All-in-all, good experience. Not sure I would like to plan out all my days of my trip far in advance, but one evening was fun!

[Lizzie]

How far out did you get the postcard? We go Nov 9.

[MadMadamMim]

We just used the new program last week to view Wishes in the Rose Garden. (We were unable to use the other three because we decided to go to a different park). It was an amazing viewing spot BUT we totally lucked out and got there early because there were not enough seating areas for the amount of people they let in. Let me tell you there were some super grumpy people when they found that out (I guess sitting on the ground did not appeal to them).

[vicster]

We used ours last week and it was pretty awesome! I would definitely pay for it.

[Aurora]

We just used the new program last week to view Wishes in the Rose Garden. (We were unable to use the other three because we decided to go to a different park). It was an amazing viewing spot BUT we totally lucked out and got there early because there were not enough seating areas for the amount of people they let in. Let me tell you there were some super grumpy people when they found that out (I guess sitting on the ground did not appeal to them).

I don't think I would have been very happy either, especially if I had rescheduled the day to be there. I guess that's why it's in "beta" mode right now.

[ledudes]

We used ours a couple weeks ago. I think it was kind of nice for the fireworks and parade, but not really a necessity. I didn't love waiting in line for my viewing area on the lawn but we did plan along wiht our schedule so we were able to do it all pretty easily. It was nice to have the past pass for meeting Mickey casue we times it where we would all be entering the park and could get one nice posed group photo.