Perks staying on property? Less n less perks!

[Poohbear88]

With all these FP plus I feel the advantages staying on property are getting less n less! If we are only aloud to pick one big ticket item why not stay off property pay less money and get same ride pick as people staying on property! I really don't understand what Disney is trying yo do! Why fix something that was not broken!

[Tekneek]

Traditional FP is going away, so being able to schedule FP+ in advance will be a "perk" of staying on-site (as long as your tickets are connected to your reservations). The value of staying on-site is certainly debatable, but it has never really presented a value in terms of the theme parks (aside from being able to use Disney transportation).

[NJGIRL]

From what I got from a cast member at EPCOT, FP+ will be opened to all guests eventually, not just people staying on site.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Tekneek]

From what I got from a cast member at EPCOT, FP+ will be opened to all guests eventually, not just people staying on site.

Yes, it will be, but you won't be able to schedule it in advance. It will have to be done on-site. Disney will let resort guests schedule in advance because they know when you will be there.

[NJGIRL]

:30
Yes, it will be, but you won't be able to schedule it in advance. It will have to be done on-site. Disney will let resort guests schedule in advance because they know when you will be there.

Then offsite guests will be getting FP just like they do now. There isn't a + for them. If that is the case they are going to have a real problem. With just the testing people getting advanced fast passes, there were no FP left after 9:30 - 10:00 in the morning when we were there a couple of weeks ago. The CM were getting slammed with unhappy guests. Once they open it to all hotel guests and not offsite guests they will be driving away a lot of people.

What ever happened to Disney saying that they will never charge for FP? That is a round about way of charging IMO.

[mickclub1955]

Fast pass was never really a perk of staying on Disney property to begin with. So Fast Pass + is a perk that you do get first pick (up to 60 days in advance) on fast passes when you do stay on property. Extra Magic Hours are a perk. Transportation is a perk. The only thing that everyone is losing are the number of fast passes per day. And everyone is going to be limited to three (not just those staying on the property). Staying on property still is a very good value.

[Poohbear88]

I realize you get to pick three but my concern is they are telling us that we can only pick one big ride and the rest are not the popular rides! I think that this is just crazy planning! Why didn't they leave it the way it was! At least it was fair to everyone! This way you may not get to ride the ride you want without standing in line for 90 minutes!! I just don't want to plan every minute of my vacation! It feels to much work and having to over think every thing! Maybe if I stay off property we could visit other places! Just very frustrated with all these changes!

[MargaretMessler]

I just don't want to plan every minute of my vacation! It feels to much work and having to over think every thing!

I feel the same way. I don't have a problem with changes, but this particular one just doesn't work for me.

[cajundisneyfreak]

I love Disney.I have been going every year since 2002.I'm not liking this fastpass+ change either.Especially since you can only get 1 for the major rides at Epcot & HS.I didn't see anything wrong with the old way.It's bad enough you have to plan your days around ADR's now rides too.We use to get park hoppers but with this what's the point.Especially if you can only get 3 fastpass+ per person per day at 1 park.As far staying on property,that is getting ridiculous also.The value resorts are $150.00 a night with Pop Century slightly higher.The Little Mermaid rooms at AOA are $188.00 a night.It's becoming unaffordable for some people like myself.Instead of wasting billions of dollars on magicbands why not fix things in the parks? Whoever is in charge these days is out to make a buck.I bet Mr.Walt is rolling over in his grave. All he ever wanted was an affordable place for families to spend time together and have fun.Whoever is in charge should go visit the attraction:Walt,One Man's Dream.Ok I am done ranting.I'm not bashing Disney.Just the idiots running it. :mickey:

[PopPhan]

:30

Then offsite guests will be getting FP just like they do now. There isn't a + for them. If that is the case they are going to have a real problem. With just the testing people getting advanced fast passes, there were no FP left after 9:30 - 10:00 in the morning when we were there a couple of weeks ago. The CM were getting slammed with unhappy guests. Once they open it to all hotel guests and not offsite guests they will be driving away a lot of people.

In my opinion, that is why we are seeing this new "1 'E-Ticket' and 2 other" testing pattern at EPCOT and DHS. So many complaints from those not involved in the testing about not being able to get 'E-Ticket' FastPasses.


What ever happened to Disney saying that they will never charge for FP? That is a round about way of charging IMO.

Never say never and never say always!! Those statements will come back to bite you!

If you wanted to really get technical about it, they are still not charging for FastPass, this new system is FastPass PLUS!!! :thedolls:

In reality, they are not charging even for FP+ -- It is a PERK, not an ENTITLEMENT. They can limit it in any way they choose.

[SBETigg]

I see it the opposite way of the OP. I can't imagine staying offsite if FP+ is giving onsite guests an advantage. Which I'm sure is what Disney is banking on. But, I can't imagine the current system is going to be the final version. I think it's going to see a few adaptations in the next year or so before they find what really works.

[DizneyRox]

I love Disney.I have been going every year since 2002.I'm not liking this fastpass+ change either.Especially since you can only get 1 for the major rides at Epcot & HS.I didn't see anything wrong with the old way.It's bad enough you have to plan your days around ADR's now rides too.We use to get park hoppers but with this what's the point.Especially if you can only get 3 fastpass+ per person per day at 1 park.As far staying on property,that is getting ridiculous also.The value resorts are $150.00 a night with Pop Century slightly higher.The Little Mermaid rooms at AOA are $188.00 a night.It's becoming unaffordable for some people like myself.Instead of wasting billions of dollars on magicbands why not fix things in the parks? Whoever is in charge these days is out to make a buck.I bet Mr.Walt is rolling over in his grave. All he ever wanted was an affordable place for families to spend time together and have fun.Whoever is in charge should go visit the attraction:Walt,One Man's Dream.Ok I am done ranting.I'm not bashing Disney.Just the idiots running it. :mickey:
That was then, this is now...

You can see over at the Corporate Investors Page on the Disney Website:


The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products. The company's primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital toward growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value.

[JerseyDad]

Quote:
Originally Posted by http://thewaltdisneycompany.com/investors
The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products. The company's primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital toward growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value.


....and the easiest way to do this is to keep the +30,000 resort rooms filled with guests ...and that will be achieved with 'perks' ....as in added FP+ 'reservations" to the deluxe resorts ...and a tiered, yet diminished quantity to the moderate and value resorts. Of course ...if you WANT more FP+ 'reservations" ...you can always pay for them.

....it's easy to see that this is what WDW is planning to do, and it's much like Universal does with giving ExpressPass to it's resort guests. Of course they only have 2500 rooms ...as opposed to WDW's +30,000 ...so WDW cannot be so generous to just give FastPAss to everyone ....at least not for free ....and it'd make a mess of the lines ...which are already growing longer to begin with.

[NJGIRL]

....it's easy to see that this is what WDW is planning to do, and it's much like Universal does with giving ExpressPass to it's resort guests. Of course they only have 2500 rooms ...as opposed to WDW's +30,000 ...


This is my problem with the whole thing. They are trying to be Universal and they can't....Universal has 2 theme parks and only 3 hotels that give the Express pass to hotel guests.

Disney has only 4 theme parks but 20 hotels (just a guess I didn't count). It doesn't shake out the same.

The Express line at Universal really doesn't effect the regular lines. We have gone in the Express line at Universal and sometimes have been there with no one else or very few other people with us.

From what I am seeing these new rules will

1)turn off the people who stay offsite.....It will not make me want to stay on site, it may make me stay away.

2)It may stop locals from getting annual passes.

3)It may stop people from buying park hoppers.

just my thoughts....:D

[Gregandmel]

Our very first trip was in June 1997. We had never been before and were true newbies. This was before FP so our first experience was in the heat with large crowds and 45-60 minute waits for nearly everything. We truly only did about 6 things a day before we were exhausted and wanting to go back to our offsite hotel. At the time, we spent about $3500 (and our hotel was free as we were with friends who had a timeshare) but it took a lot of savings on our end to make the trip. It took 11 years before we made it back and the large part of why we gave it another try was 100% due to the FP system. This time, we did our homework, knew what we wanted to do at each of the parks and worked the FP system the way it was designed. The experience was so wonderful that we found ourselves back 18 months later with my parents to share the experience and again....had a wonderful trip. So wonderful that we encouraged some of our friends to go and helped them plan their trip using our tips and tricks to maneuver the parks and do it as efficiently as possible. The experience for them was so wonderful that we created another family of Disney fans who can't wait to go back and re-do their experience there.

That brings me to modern day-Disney and the new FP Plus. We have been saving points on our Disney rewards as well as change over the past 3 1/2 years since we were last there. had planned a summer trip in 2014. However, with the roll out of the new FP and all the unknowns of how it will work right now, we are instead planning a trip to Universal and staying on-site there to take advantage of the front of the line pass and doing some new things. I will wait and see what eventually happens with the new system and what changes they make. We work way too hard for our vacation money and I want it to be spent enjoying my time with my family. I hope it smooths over and they make adjustments based on feedback. Our friends went in mid-October because I have always raved about how great that month is. Not so much. They are Disney addicts like the rest of us here on this board and found large crowds, wait times, unhappy CM's, and they were part of the magic band testing group with pre-reserved FP. They were limited to the 3 choices of the day and the rest of the day they stood in long lines.

Haven't given up on Disney - just plan on waiting to see how it all eventually rolls out.

[Tekneek]

They are Disney addicts like the rest of us here on this board and found large crowds, wait times, unhappy CM's, and they were part of the magic band testing group with pre-reserved FP.

Regardless of how this FP+ thing shakes out, I hold Disney entirely responsible for the CM situation. There were a lot of CMs who were not just unhappy, they were downright unpleasant to be around.

[spoiledraf]

If the plan is to bring in more $$, Disney will adjust on the fly. If filling every room with on site visitors makes them more money, that's what they will do. Those visitors will be paying room fees, which go up every year, be eating every meal on site, making them big bucks as well. they deserve the "perk" of early choice of FP+. If that doesn't work as planned, they will adjust some more.

Personally, I like the new plan. We'll be arriving in 12 days staying at a monorail resort. I'm paying a lot of money to stay there and I feel I deserve a little more than the guy staying at the Days Inn on International Drive. No knock on your those folks, as I used to do the same, but now if I am paying $400 a night to Disney instead of $69 a night to who ever, I have paid for the right to pick and choose my fast passes early. I found out a looonng time ago that life isn't fair.

[spoiledraf]

[QUOTE=Gregandmel;2386659] Our friends went in mid-October because I have always raved about how great that month is. Not so much. They are Disney addicts like the rest of us here on this board and found large crowds, wait times, unhappy CM's, and they were part of the magic band testing group with pre-reserved FP. They were limited to the 3 choices of the day and the rest of the day they stood in long lines.
[QUOTE]

I have been to Disney in the past in October and it was great. This year seems to have been a bit different. If you want to blame Disney for large crowds, I think they will thank you for the compliment. It's there goal to have large crowds. That's what the free dining and room discounts are all about. Putting guests in the rooms! If you are going to complain about too many people, Disney is no longer the place for you.

Life in general for employees in this country has taken a turn for the worst. When the economy took a dive, every manager was forced to do more with less. If you had 20 employees, half of them were let go and the rest picked up the slack. As things have improved (for some) management realized they could make people do a lot more work than pre recession and they just kept piling more work on those individuals. I know my job showed a 40% increase in production. I'm sure the same goes for Disney employees. They are working harder with more responsibility and in the personal service industry, that doesn't leave mush time for personal interaction. And that's beginning to show. Hopefully they will adjust to customer input.... but not likely. The stock holders don't care if you are having a bad day. They just watch the dividend reports. :thedolls:

[DonaldDuckUSA]

So FP+ is shaping up in a way that you can only get one FP for a "big" ride?

See, staying on site is not a value for us at all. We'll keep staying off-site. Granted, to each his own. We're only a 4-5 hour drive, so we have our car anyway.

Still, I used to be sad that we couldn't spend a lot of money on a room, walk to EPCOT in the AM, or ride the monorail to my resort at night.

Then I was REALLY sad that we couldn't take advantage of FP+ and Magic Bands. Now that I know you may only be able to use it for one "big" ride, I'm not bummed at all.

If they're only booking for one ride 60 days in advance, it won't be so out of control for non-resort guests. Maybe I can snag a good one first thing in the AM.

[mickclub1955]

So FP+ is shaping up in a way that you can only get one FP for a "big" ride?

See, staying on site is not a value for us at all. We'll keep staying off-site. Granted, to each his own. We're only a 4-5 hour drive, so we have our car anyway.

Still, I used to be sad that we couldn't spend a lot of money on a room, walk to EPCOT in the AM, or ride the monorail to my resort at night.

Then I was REALLY sad that we couldn't take advantage of FP+ and Magic Bands. Now that I know you may only be able to use it for one "big" ride, I'm not bummed at all.

If they're only booking for one ride 60 days in advance, it won't be so out of control for non-resort guests. Maybe I can snag a good one first thing in the AM.
In the future staying on site will have nothing to do with FP+. If the test goes well, and they keep the one "big" ride deal, when they get rid of regular fp, that will apply to you as well if you want to use fp.

[NJGIRL]

If the plan is to bring in more $$, Disney will adjust on the fly. If filling every room with on site visitors makes them more money, that's what they will do. Those visitors will be paying room fees, which go up every year, be eating every meal on site, making them big bucks as well. they deserve the "perk" of early choice of FP+. If that doesn't work as planned, they will adjust some more.

Personally, I like the new plan. We'll be arriving in 12 days staying at a monorail resort. I'm paying a lot of money to stay there and I feel I deserve a little more than the guy staying at the Days Inn on International Drive. No knock on your those folks, as I used to do the same, but now if I am paying $400 a night to Disney instead of $69 a night to who ever, I have paid for the right to pick and choose my fast passes early. I found out a looonng time ago that life isn't fair.


Don't speak too soon. When I was there last month even the people staying on site were not too happy.

You have to realize that before you could get a fast pass for Soarin & Test Track on the same day.....No more.

Before you could get fast passes at the MK then park hop to EPCOT and get fast passes there....No more.

Before you could get unlimited fast passes within the rules set out.....No more.

Before you could plan your park day last minute...No More.

And Disney has $90 rooms also....And those people get the same perks as the people who spend $400 on a room .

[mechanic]

I haven't used a fp in my last 3 trips.
Longest wait I've done was tsm. About 75 minutes. Even on popular rides the lines come and go. So I walk. See a short line and step up.
I have a relaxing unplanned day.
Enjoy the magic.

[Dream'nDisney]

We will still park hop. We have never been able to get a FP when we hop over to a different park in the late afternoon anyway because the machines were already shut down, so I don't see how this new system will change park hopping.

[NJGIRL]

I haven't used a fp in my last 3 trips.
Longest wait I've done was tsm. About 75 minutes. Even on popular rides the lines come and go. So I walk. See a short line and step up.
I have a relaxing unplanned day.
Enjoy the magic.

What no one understands, unless you have been there since this has all started is that the FP+ system has effected the regular stand by lines also. This is a mess that you can only appreciate if you have gone through it.

[buzznwoodysmom]

What no one understands, unless you have been there since this has all started is that the FP+ system has effected the regular stand by lines also. This is a mess that you can only appreciate if you have gone through it.

Rita,
I haven't been yet, but I completely get what everyone has been complaining about. I've read countless complaints, not only on Intercot, but on many other discussion boards. This system is disliked by the majority of guests that frequent sites like Intercot. I am seeing the same thing across the board. Makes me very nervous about my trip next week.

I honestly think for those who seem to not be bothered by it either haven't been since they started "real testing" (those who tested it early on did not get the full effects of the system) or don't have an upcoming trip. It's easy to say "it's still in testing" or "in the end it will all turn out OK" if you won't be directly affected by it in the near future (or have been affected already).

[faline]

What no one understands, unless you have been there since this has all started is that the FP+ system has effected the regular stand by lines also. This is a mess that you can only appreciate if you have gone through it.

I agree. We were there in August and there was a definite impact on both regular standby lines AND the old fast-pass system. At that time, we we were not part of the "test" group. Those in the testing group (with Magic Bands) were given priority in ride entry over those with the regular old fast passes. So, if you had a fast pass and were held back in favor of those with bands, imagine the combined impact on those on the standby line. Then, for rides that traditionally did not have the regular fast pass such as Pirates, those with bands zipped through a completely empty line while everyone else stood in a 25 minute standby line. Our experience was made even longer because when we got to the boats, they decided to queue us around the end to come out on the fastpass side of the ride!!!

I can only imagine the chaos has gotten worse as more folks are now on the fastpass+/band system. I do hope they sort this out sooner rather than later.

[NJGIRL]

So Linda you had bumps back in August and it seems like it has gotten worse. :(

Denise, that is a major problem I have when I hear "it is in the testing phase, the kinks will get worked out". People that have gone in the last couple of months or are going in the next couple of months have spent a lot of money to take a Disney vacation. This is not their "test vacation" it's the real thing. We are not talking about an attraction being down for refurb, we are talking about having to wait in very long lines all day long. When we were there, most days we only did three rides before noon and that was getting there before 9 in the morning. The day we went to EPCOT it was only 2 attractions before noon.

I hope that things get better before you go

[cer]

"it is in the testing phase, the kinks will get worked out". People that have gone in the last couple of months or are going in the next couple of months have spent a lot of money to take a Disney vacation. This is not their "test vacation" it's the real thing.

Exactly.