New FP system if not staying on-site

[Gregandmel]

It's been 3 1/2 years since we've visited and I"m trying to plan a trip to Universal next summer (my 3 boys want to experience US and IOA). I'm curious to know about visiting one of the WDW theme parks separately during our trip (not staying on site) - if the regular FP system is no longer an option during that time, are you still able to access the FP+ or how will that work if you aren't staying on site? Thanks!

[VWL Mom]

I would think you would still be able to access FP+ if you purchase your ticket in advance. You would just need to enter your ticket number in MDE.

Not 100% sure though since I haven't seen an "official" release on that or APs.

[Strmchsr]

Lynn is correct. If you purchase tickets in advance, or have APs already activated, you just link those numbers in to your MDE account and will be able to use FP+. Staying on-site is not an issue (though they may do a +10 for on-site guests like with ADRs). Just make sure you have your tickets in advance and you'll be good to go.

[Gregandmel]

So if I buy my tickets at our local AAA (we are members) then I assume the barcode is what I would use to log into MDE - even if I don't have a "date" attached to the ticket? It'll let me choose FP times on a certain day - even though the ticket isn't "date specific?". Thanks again for any updates on this. Trying to get used to the "new way" :mickey:

[Strmchsr]

Through AAA it might not let you do your FP+ in advance. It seems the only way to do it is to have date specific tickets. So, if you were staying off-site you would have to buy the tickets through Disney and have them at will-call so that they are date specific. Without that people could buy tickets for any time and just randomly make FP reservations even if they are not in the park. I know this is the way it is with AP, too. You can't just get a voucher. You have to do a will-call activation for a specific day to get to do the FP+ in advance. But, you can just activate your tickets on day 1 and do your FP from there.

[Gregandmel]

Can I order the Disney park ticket through a Disney site with a "date specific" on it so I can go online 45 days ahead of time (or whatever the window is) to make the reservations?

Wow - so many different ways of doing things now! Really need to make sure I understand how it works before we get back to WDW. 2 major things will change for us this next trip: we aren't staying on-site and the old way of FP will be different. Guess that's ok since it will give me a chance to think about Disney quite a bit while I figure it out. :mickey:

[Strmchsr]

Can I order the Disney park ticket through a Disney site with a "date specific" on it so I can go online 45 days ahead of time (or whatever the window is) to make the reservations?

That''s my understanding, yes. You order through Disney and do will-call pick-up with specific dates and you can use that confirmation number to do the FP+. I'm not 100% sure about that, but I think that's how it works.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Through AAA it might not let you do your FP+ in advance. It seems the only way to do it is to have date specific tickets. So, if you were staying off-site you would have to buy the tickets through Disney and have them at will-call so that they are date specific. Without that people could buy tickets for any time and just randomly make FP reservations even if they are not in the park. I know this is the way it is with AP, too. You can't just get a voucher. You have to do a will-call activation for a specific day to get to do the FP+ in advance. But, you can just activate your tickets on day 1 and do your FP from there.

So if I understand this correctly, it looks like Disney may be about to put out of business 3rd party ticket vendors such at The OTC? Requiring date specific tickets makes since, but under the current system appears to be impossible for anyone but the WDTC to do, correct?

[Strmchsr]

So if I understand this correctly, it looks like Disney may be about to put out of business 3rd party ticket vendors such at The OTC? Requiring date specific tickets makes since, but under the current system appears to be impossible for anyone but the WDTC to do, correct?

That is the way I understand it. Now, they might put a new system in place requiring date-specific tickets even for 3rd party vendors. I'm really not sure about that, but with the system as is, if you have any interest in doing FP+ before you arrive then it seems you'll have to go through Disney directly. And that's in Disney's best business interests. They want to keep everything in-house. The whole point of having FP+ 60 days out and ADRs 180 days out is so that people plan so much stuff for their day at Disney that they can't even think about a spur of the moment trip off site to Universal or Sea World or wherever.

[mechanic]

That really doesn't make any sense.
What about ap holders on their repeat trips during the year?

[Strmchsr]

What about ap holders on their repeat trips during the year?

That's not a ticket issue, but seems to be a room booking issue. If you have a room booked/staying on-site then your AP will be linked and you can get your FP+ in advance, but if you're not staying on-site I have no idea how they'll handle it.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Through AAA it might not let you do your FP+ in advance. It seems the only way to do it is to have date specific tickets. So, if you were staying off-site you would have to buy the tickets through Disney and have them at will-call so that they are date specific. Without that people could buy tickets for any time and just randomly make FP reservations even if they are not in the park. I know this is the way it is with AP, too. You can't just get a voucher. You have to do a will-call activation for a specific day to get to do the FP+ in advance. But, you can just activate your tickets on day 1 and do your FP from there.


So if I understand this correctly, it looks like Disney may be about to put out of business 3rd party ticket vendors such at The OTC? Requiring date specific tickets makes since, but under the current system appears to be impossible for anyone but the WDTC to do, correct?


That is the way I understand it. Now, they might put a new system in place requiring date-specific tickets even for 3rd party vendors. I'm really not sure about that, but with the system as is, if you have any interest in doing FP+ before you arrive then it seems you'll have to go through Disney directly. And that's in Disney's best business interests. They want to keep everything in-house. The whole point of having FP+ 60 days out and ADRs 180 days out is so that people plan so much stuff for their day at Disney that they can't even think about a spur of the moment trip off site to Universal or Sea World or wherever.

Strmchsr , after reading additional posts on this issue (mostly yours), I think it's having date-specific RESORT reservations that give you early bird FP+ access, and not having date-specific tickets, which really do not exist at WDW since no ticket is truly date-specific until it is used for it's first park entry, except for APs. So now tickets from the OTC are not blocked out of early FP+ reservations, just people NOT staying on-site.

Is that how you see this now? I think the whole voucher/will call thing (something I have NO experience doing either) is a technical problem with Disney's computers that don't have anything to do with date-sensitive tickets.

[Strmchsr]

Is that how you see this now? I think the whole voucher/will call thing (something I have NO experience doing either) is a technical problem with Disney's computers that don't have anything to do with date-sensitive tickets.

Yes, i think that's what it's boiling down to. I've been trying to make sure I have it straight as well. It seems this is a specific plan by Disney to give an advantage to on-site guests. Off-site guests will have to book their FP choices day-of.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Yes, i think that's what it's boiling down to. I've been trying to make sure I have it straight as well. It seems this is a specific plan by Disney to give an advantage to on-site guests. Off-site guests will have to book their FP choices day-of.

Okay, I think I am down to one remaining question (today).

Lets say someone is staying off-site, that they pre-purchase their 5-day park pass from the OTC, and they link their ticket on the MDE website.

Their first day is December 1, 2013 at the Magic Kingdom, and they enter the park using their 5-day park pass from the OTC, and the pass will expire 14 days from first use.

Once they enter the MK on day 1, my understanding is that is when they can book their first day's FP+ reservations, so they will of course stop in the middle of Main Street and block traffic while they try desperately to get FP+ reservations for Space Mountain.

My question is this: Do we have confirmed experiences from people that have stayed off-site that even though they have started the countdown timer on their tickets by entering the MK on day 1, that FP+ reservations are still limited to day-of reservations?

I can see a system where once an off-site guest enters their first park, that the MDE website would allow them to make all of that ticket's FP+ reservations for days 2 through 5, but I have not actually heard reports of people's experience with this scenario one way or the other.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

Ooops, I just realized it is probably not possible for someone to have tested my theory since no off-site guests have been allowed to use FP+ yet...

[Strmchsr]

Ooops, I just realized it is probably not possible for someone to have tested my theory since no off-site guests have been allowed to use FP+ yet...

Correct. So, the answer to your question, like a lot of this right now, is who knows?