My Experiences With My Disney FastPass+ Next-Gen Magic Experience

[Gator]

You can only make them in advance unless you get KTTW cards.

And based on what's in our News forum it looks like the legacy FP machines are coming out soon.

So let me get this straight. Instead of the 3-5 fastpasses/day for E ticket rides that my family used to get each day, we now get 1 E ticket pass and 2 others for Winnie the Pooh and Ariel. No extras during the day once I get there? No "Hey we want to skip the line for Space Mt AND Splash Mt AND Big Thunder"? Or am I missing something here.

[DizneyFreak2002]

So let me get this straight. Instead of the 3-5 fastpasses/day for E ticket rides that my family used to get each day, we now get 1 E ticket pass and 2 others for Winnie the Pooh and Ariel. No extras during the day once I get there? No "Hey we want to skip the line for Space Mt AND Splash Mt AND Big Thunder"? Or am I missing something here.

You are limited to 3 FP+ for one park per day... You book 60 days out if staying onsite... If staying offsite, you use your RFID plastic ticket and then approach a kiosk in the park the day you visit... Offsite guests can not book 60 days out... And right now, only DAK is testing offsite guests use of same day FP+ kiosks..... But, it appears all legacy FP machines will be removed in the very very very near future, so it is reasonable to assume each park will be on this system soon...

As for which attractions you can book, only Epcot and DHS are tiered at the moment... MK and DAK are not, unless something has changed and has not been reported on... As of now, you will be able to book a FP for Splash, Space, and Big Thunder... If MK winds up tiered, then, depending how they decide to break up the attractions, you may still be able to book the three or you may be able to book one or two of the three... It all depends how Disney tiers the attractions and if MK goes tiered in the future...

In DHS, you can choose either TSMM or Rock N Roller Coaster, you cannot choose both... They are listed as Tier 1 or Tier A attractions... ToT, on the other hand, is a Tier 2 or Tier B attraction... So in DHS, you can still FP two of the most in demand attractions (TSMM/RNRC and ToT with then a third pick)...

[Gator]

You are limited to 3 FP+ for one park per day... In DHS, you can choose either TSMM or Rock N Roller Coaster, you cannot choose both.

Well that is lame. I have a 2 1/2 (3 by our next trip) year old who can"t do the 44 or 48 inch rides. I like to FP those rides so she's not waiting forever for the other two kids to ride. So instead of a 15 minute turnaround, she and the remaining parent may have to wait up to an hour for this "big kid" rides. Fail, Disney. Epic fail.

[Ian]

Well that is lame. I have a 2 1/2 (3 by our next trip) year old who can"t do the 44 or 48 inch rides. I like to FP those rides so she's not waiting forever for the other two kids to ride. So instead of a 15 minute turnaround, she and the remaining parent may have to wait up to an hour for this "big kid" rides. Fail, Disney. Epic fail.

Definitely another one of my issues with this program ... it doesn't handle the mixed family well. If you have some who like to ride the "big" rides and some who don't, it's really hard to plan around that.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Definitely another one of my issues with this program ... it doesn't handle the mixed family well. If you have some who like to ride the "big" rides and some who don't, it's really hard to plan around that.

Would child swap work in Gator's case? Get FP's for everyone and then child swap? Or do they only do child swap from the stand by queue? I never used child swap, nor do I know anyone who has... And in Gator's case, I have no idea how it would work, or if it would be a waste of even more time...

[Ian]

Would child swap work in Gator's case? Get FP's for everyone and then child swap? Or do they only do child swap from the stand by queue? I never used child swap, nor do I know anyone who has... And in Gator's case, I have no idea how it would work, or if it would be a waste of even more time...

Well sure you can do child swap if you have a FP, but what Gator is saying (and what my issues were) is that with a limit of 3 FP per day, per park you lose the flexibility to FP all of the "big" rides in a park which means waiting in the interminable stand-by lines if you want to ride them.

So, for example, say you have little ones and you go to MK in the morning and you get your FP+ for a mix ... Peter Pan and Pooh for the kids and a Space Mountain for you. Now you have to stand in the stand-by line for Big Thunder and Splash Mountain if you want to ride them. And God forbid you decide you want to go to Epcot in the afternoon ... forget riding Test Track or Soarin' at all!

[Gator]

Well sure you can do child swap if you have a FP, but what Gator is saying (and what my issues were) is that with a limit of 3 FP per day, per park you lose the flexibility to FP all of the "big" rides in a park which means waiting in the interminable stand-by lines if you want to ride them.

Egg-zatly. Baby swap won't help here. I'm used to getting an Etickiet FP first thing, hitting a few rides at FantasyLand, grabbing another FP before we use the first set, and then continuing this throughout the day. I maximize the fastpass system to our benefit. FP+ takes away at least 2 or 3 FPs I would normally get. It doesn't make the trip better. It makes it worse by adding wait times throughout the day AND making me get up yet another early morning to book all the fastpasses (as if ADRs for dining wasn't a big enough pain in the backside).

I really don't get why they're doing this, other than turning this into a "pay for more play" offer in the future. As much as I want to see Epcot again, Disneyland is looking better and better.

[GMRO]

FP+ takes away at least 2 or 3 FPs I would normally get. It doesn't make the trip better. It makes it worse by adding wait times throughout the day...I really don't get why they're doing this, other than turning this into a "pay for more play" offer in the future.

You summed it up pretty well! Basically it STINKS!

I think after our May2014 trip I will be spending more time on the WATER vs. the parks.

90 to 120 mins for the popular attractions in stand-by line...and no "legacy" FP's... I'm out! I see no advantage in booking 60 days out or else. I've enough regimentation in my life...not on my vacation too!!!

[badkitty]

I hope they change the number you can get.

Also, I like to FP my favs more than once in a day (which has always been an option with the original). I can't seem to do this with the new system. I also miss getting FP when I park hop. Makes purchasing park hoppers less attractive.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I really don't get why they're doing this, other than turning this into a "pay for more play" offer in the future. As much as I want to see Epcot again, Disneyland is looking better and better.

BINGO... Gator, you win a prize!!! Pay for play system is EXACTLY what this will wind up becoming...

Want to book 60 days in advance? Stay in our over priced hotels!!! This is the first step in the pay for play system... Watch what comes next, other than HUGE price increases in 2014 to start offsetting the wasted cash already spent on something that wasn't broke to begin with...

[Gator]

Also, I like to FP my favs more than once in a day (which has always been an option with the original). I can't seem to do this with the new system.

Yes!!! My son and I did ExEv 4 times on our last trip. We grabbed FPs early and often until the time ran out. Now he's going to get to do it just once by FP and all the other times waiting in a 45-75 minute line. Why can't they give you a few fastpasses to start and then you can get some more throughout the day. It just makes sense.

Sorry to keep posting, but all these "cons" keep coming back. Slowly getting harder to justify all the extra money to go to FL.

[Ian]

Want to book 60 days in advance? Stay in our over priced hotels!!!

I'd dispute the fact that their hotels are over-priced.

They're always full, which means the price point if anything is probably a bit too low.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I'd dispute the fact that their hotels are over-priced.

They're always full, which means the price point if anything is probably a bit too low.

But there in line the problem... They are not always full... And the values tend to be closer to fully booked than the deluxe...

People are staying offsite in larger numbers than before... DME failed to keep people on property... And failed to keep people from staying off site.. Just look at Christmas Eve this year... Parking lot closed but the MK never reached a phase closing... More cars than the lot could handle... Why? More offsite guests...

Compare Poly, GF, or Contemporary to any 5 Star hotel, which none of the WDW deluxe resorts are despite what people want to say... Compare the value resorts to any Motel 6... WDW resorts are always double the price... Just because someone pays it doesn't mean it isn't over priced... And many more people are realizing WDW resorts are over priced compared to nicer, better hotels off property...

EDIT: adding this in, people elsewhere are reporting the WDW resorts seem to be operating at no more than 50% full despite the huge crowds yesterday on Christmas Day and again today... IF, and I caution that to be a strong if, wonder why the WDW resorts are not seeing much more than 50% of capacity?

If anyone knows for a FACT and no guessing, can you post as to the capacity the WDW resorts are running at this week and next?

[Ian]

All I know is, second week of December, my Mom's friend wanted a room on property and there was nothing available deluxe or moderate.

[DizneyFreak2002]

All I know is, second week of December, my Mom's friend wanted a room on property and there was nothing available deluxe or moderate.

Not doubting your mom's friend's experience, just wondering how others could be reporting resorts at only 50% or so capacity during the busiest week of the year, and yet she couldn't get a room... Makes me wonder if somewhere along the line Disney (and other hotels for that matter) take rooms offline so they can fudge the numbers... Meaning, savings on labor... BUt then that wouldn't make much sense either cause they would make a ton more money by renting the rooms than having them sit empty and keeping labor on the low side... Then again, what do I know? I'm not in hospitality LOL...

***See this is why I said A BIG IF in my previous post... For all I know, the resorts could be at capacity and those who are there right now and see things for themselves could be misjudging... Who knows? I cannot seem to verify it myself, which is why I also asked anyone who may know to respond...

***Let me also add in here, I know people and have talked to people who have said just that, Disney does in fact take rooms offline and do not make them available to guests... Their claim is Disney does this so they can manipulate the numbers meaning, if a resort has, say 2600 rooms, and only 900 are booked, Disney would remove 800 rooms from inventory, and claim 50% capacity, when in reality, the true capacity number is 35%... This of course does not include rooms they are taking offline for real reasons such as refurbishing them... I have heard this from several people, but never have I been able to confirm they do this.. I just figured they removed rooms from inventory only when refurbishing them, not to play with the numbers to make things look better than they are...

[Buttercup]

Oh Ian I beg of you to put all of that in writing and send it to Disney. I wrote them an email a few weeks ago about how frustrated I am with the system for my upcoming 3 trips and I got a response within a couple days. The woman who wrote me wanted to call me after the holidays so we could discuss my thoughts further.
I would LOVE for you to be able to talk to a Disney rep because you know how to properly articulate all the issues there is with the new system.

[JerseyDad]

I'd dispute the fact that their hotels are over-priced.

They're always full, which means the price point if anything is probably a bit too low.

....ab-so-lute-ly NOT true!

....I was at POP for 10 days in Aug/Sept ....the food court was only 3/4 open (1 food station was always closed) and 1/3 the dining room was roped off so that no one could sit there ...so the staff didn't have to clean it.

.....the reason being....

.....food court workers AND the bartender at Petals told me that they were at about 75% to 80% occupied. (that was "verified" by me ...seeing that the rooms to each side of ours were vacant for 9 of our 10 days ....and 1/3 of the rooms on the 1st floor below us, poolside, Bldg 5, were empty for 90% of the time. Which ticked us off, because we requested that room location numerous times prior to arrival ...and were told "no you can't have that" at check-in ...and then later on saw all the vacancies and were fuming that we were not accommodated ...but that's another story ).

....let me add that LAST year ...when AoA was not even completed (no Mermaid Bldgs yet) ...we checked in (same time ..Aug/Sept) ...and we were offered a free upgrade to AoA (which we declined). So ...even a brand new highly desired resort was not full ...a year ago.

...the CM's there (at POP) were complaining that their hours were cut ....staff reduced ...because ever since AoA opened ...POP's occupancy dropped ...and other than at holidays / spring break ...free dining promotions ..it was never full like it had been a few yrs ago.

....they were having a hard time to fill Value rooms...and the highly sought after suites at AoA.

....oh ...and something that I just remembered. A different bartender told me that the housekeeping staff was also miffed (I didn't talk to any of them directly) ...because their 'tips' are down due to lesser occupancy. I know that they depend on that $$ (maybe that's why my $5/day 'tip' got us a zoo full of towel animals ...and enough soap and shampoo to last a year....)

[buzznwoodysmom]

I have no inside info as it seems some of you have, but based on my last three Disney vacations I would think the resort's were pretty close to being full during my trips.

Our last trips were in July/August 2012, Feb.2013, and this thanksgiving. On all three trips our resort parking lots were full (often had trouble finding a parking spot), the rooms around us all seemed occupied, the pools were packed, quick service/food courts were always packed, and the resort's just seemed very busy. During those trips we stayed at the following resorts; AKL Kidani, CBR, YC, BWV, ASMu, WL, and POR. Again, this isn't anything concrete, but in my opinion they were all pretty full.

[Ian]

Apologies for taking this off topic into resort occupancy discussions ... let's all try and focus back on the original discussion of NextGen.

My bad!

[FantasmicJ]

We were at WDW the first week of December and I was a fan of the FP+ system overall. However, there were 2 things that we used that apparently are going away which I think could be missteps by Disney.
1. The tiering system. We booked our FP+ prior to when this was put into effect.
2. Having the ability to get paper fastpasses throughout the day.

Now, if the paper fastpasses stayed, I'd be totally fine with the tiered system. We used the paper fastpasses to supplement our FP+ times, and it really gave us great flexibility and really allowed us to optimize our day. Having not done a trip with the tiering restrictions, I can't give a full opinion on it.

The main benefit to me is that FP+ allowed us to have FP times for later in the day without getting to the parks right away in the AM and heading for a ride to gain our paper FP. In addition, it removed all the park criss-crossing that used to occur to get fastpasses.

As far as changing FP+ times, I didn't find it to be a huge burden overall. I had times where the app didn't work that well, but I have faith in Disney that they will continue to work on those bugs.

The park hopping wasn't a huge deal to us, we were able to schedule the entire week and make modifications throughout the week to help maximize our trip and FP+ ressies. But, I will also say if they were to keep the paper fastpasses that would help to solve for the inconvenience of the lack of FP+ park-hopping that some folks have experienced.

I do agree with others on the difficulty of mickey to mickey on the magicbands and readers, it seems they could do better usability testing and change angles, etc to get this to work better. I've also never seen so long of FP lines at places such as Soarin' just to get into the line as people were having trouble with getting the reader to work. Something needs to be done, we had to try to navigate through that line to get our kids to the bathroom as we were just eating at sunshine seasons there...

I really enjoyed having the charging, room key, photopass, tickets, and fastpasses on the magic band. Personally, I feel that my Disney vacationing style may change due to what they are putting in place. However, I am not convinced that it will be diminished at all based on what I experienced last trip. Based on my caveats at the beginning of my post, we'll see if that ends up coming true ultimately...