buzznwoodysmom
12-03-2013, 03:03 PM
Ok, so here is where I have some mixed feelings. I'll start with the positive.
On one hand I can see how pre scheduling FP+ from home can be a good thing for certain vacationers, on certain kinds of Disney vacations. Sometimes when we visit in the summer we like to sleep late, hang out by the pool, have lunch and head to the parks in the late afternoon. The only downside to that is we don't get much use out of FP because by the time we get to the parks there isn't much left. On trips like this I can see FP+ being a very valuable tool. But...... we don't always vacation this way, and I would say the vast majority of Disney vacationers don't either. This is pretty much the only time I can see FP+ actually having a significant positive effect on our vacation.
When we booked our FP+ selections we were able to pick ANY 3 attractions in all 4 parks. Even with that we found that we normally would have used more than 3 per day. I would not be too happy about the new tiered selections at Epcot and DHS. I definitely hope this is not the route they ultimately go with this.
We did not like having the times scheduled ahead of time. We didn't feel it saved us any time. We didn't feel it made the trip any more convenient. And we felt there was not much room, if any, for spontaneity. If anything it was frustrating to have a FP for a ride at a time we really didn't need it. Sometimes the standby wait time wasn't so bad that we would have used a FP, so it felt like a wasted FP. I know we could have traded it for something else, but when looking online the times available to switch didn't flow well with all the other stuff we had to plan ahead of time. Overall, for me, it's just too much planning ahead of time.
We did have to change the time on one of our FP+ selections. We didn't arrive in time for our Soarin FP so I made the change on the bus on the way to the park. I wasn't able to change my nephew's time because he was in another room, and I didn't have access to their MDE. I was able to change his time to match ours at a kiosk once inside the park. No problems at all with the change. However, I did have to wait a while to use the kiosk. Lots of people using them, most of these people have no clue what they are doing, and that equals long waits. I really feel for those without smartphones first thing when the parks open. I imagine it's a nightmare.
Keep in mind I booked these FP+ selections about a month before our trip. For some of the rides I booked these for 20 something people. I did all the selections at once, meaning I did "select all". I didn't make any of my immediate family's selections individually so we definitely all had the same exact FP at the same exact time. That's speaking for my immediate family of 4 (or the 5 of us in my room).
In MK at Buzz Lightyear my son was told that his band said he should have been at BTMRR at that time. They insisited that his FP was for BTM, not Buzz. I explained that the other 20-25 of us in our party all had Buzz at that time and so should he. They ended up sending him through, but I know that it was definitely a glitch on their part because his FP was made at the same time as everyone else's and I didn't make any changes. While in line I checked the phone app and sure enough the app on my phone showed Buzz at that time for him, so not sure why BTM came up for the CMs at the entrance. I felt they handled it well by allowing him through with the rest of us, but I am sure they don't like doing that. I can just about imagine how many people say they have a FP+, but really don't. Still not fair to the individuals that do have the correct FP, especially since we were with a big group. I wouldn't have been happy at all if he wasn't allowed to ride with the other 20 something members of his family. Later on at BTMRR we were worried his band wouldn't work again, but it worked fine and he went straight through without problems.
At DHS DH's band said he did not have a RNRC FP+. Same thing as at MK. I had made all of these RNRC FP's at the same time. DH definitely had same time and ride as the rest of us. Everyone's band worked except for DH. This time the CM refused to let him through. I was already through but had to go back to see what the problem was. The CM said he could approve the entry, but would have to delete DH's Toy Story Mania FP+ for later in the day to allow him through. This was beyond frustrating since they apparently could see he had a TSM FP, but couldn't see the RNRC FP. I eventually just told DH "come on" and we went through anyway. I felt bad doing that, but we had a party of 20 something people waiting for us to get through. And we could see on my phone app that DH did have the RNRC FP. At the second scanner in the line DH's band worked so we weren't sure if they front line CM had deleted TSM or not.
After RNRC while the rest of the group got in line for the Little Mermaid show DH and I got in line at the FP+ kiosk to see if DH's Toy Story Mania was still there. It was. The CM helping us said he doesn't know why the CM at RNRC couldn't see the correct FP+. It would have been extremely irritating if DH had missed riding RNRC with his family because of this "glitch". I honestly feel that until the kinks are all worked out a guest should never be denied entry. I know there are dishonest guests out there, but it would be wrong to not allow entry when there are still this many problems, especially when the guest can produce the phone app showing the particular FP+.
Other than that I don't think we had any other issues using the bands for our FP+ selections. I had all our times saved in my phone's "notes" for easy access, but it was also easy to access the times through the app, although it was slow at times.
I did notice that at a few rides the bands really slowed up the line. Either the guest had trouble lining up the mickey to the reader, or like in our case the band didn't work and you had a guest/guests holding up the line because they were supposed to have that FP and were talking with the CMs about it. There is also a second reader in line, closer to the attraction. Scanning the bands just takes more time than looking at a paper FP, so having every guest have to do it twice, just takes more time.
Overall, I do not like FP+. Even in the future with all the glitches worked out and the system in perfect working order, I just don't like having that much planned before I get to the park. Not my cup of tea at all!
On one hand I can see how pre scheduling FP+ from home can be a good thing for certain vacationers, on certain kinds of Disney vacations. Sometimes when we visit in the summer we like to sleep late, hang out by the pool, have lunch and head to the parks in the late afternoon. The only downside to that is we don't get much use out of FP because by the time we get to the parks there isn't much left. On trips like this I can see FP+ being a very valuable tool. But...... we don't always vacation this way, and I would say the vast majority of Disney vacationers don't either. This is pretty much the only time I can see FP+ actually having a significant positive effect on our vacation.
When we booked our FP+ selections we were able to pick ANY 3 attractions in all 4 parks. Even with that we found that we normally would have used more than 3 per day. I would not be too happy about the new tiered selections at Epcot and DHS. I definitely hope this is not the route they ultimately go with this.
We did not like having the times scheduled ahead of time. We didn't feel it saved us any time. We didn't feel it made the trip any more convenient. And we felt there was not much room, if any, for spontaneity. If anything it was frustrating to have a FP for a ride at a time we really didn't need it. Sometimes the standby wait time wasn't so bad that we would have used a FP, so it felt like a wasted FP. I know we could have traded it for something else, but when looking online the times available to switch didn't flow well with all the other stuff we had to plan ahead of time. Overall, for me, it's just too much planning ahead of time.
We did have to change the time on one of our FP+ selections. We didn't arrive in time for our Soarin FP so I made the change on the bus on the way to the park. I wasn't able to change my nephew's time because he was in another room, and I didn't have access to their MDE. I was able to change his time to match ours at a kiosk once inside the park. No problems at all with the change. However, I did have to wait a while to use the kiosk. Lots of people using them, most of these people have no clue what they are doing, and that equals long waits. I really feel for those without smartphones first thing when the parks open. I imagine it's a nightmare.
Keep in mind I booked these FP+ selections about a month before our trip. For some of the rides I booked these for 20 something people. I did all the selections at once, meaning I did "select all". I didn't make any of my immediate family's selections individually so we definitely all had the same exact FP at the same exact time. That's speaking for my immediate family of 4 (or the 5 of us in my room).
In MK at Buzz Lightyear my son was told that his band said he should have been at BTMRR at that time. They insisited that his FP was for BTM, not Buzz. I explained that the other 20-25 of us in our party all had Buzz at that time and so should he. They ended up sending him through, but I know that it was definitely a glitch on their part because his FP was made at the same time as everyone else's and I didn't make any changes. While in line I checked the phone app and sure enough the app on my phone showed Buzz at that time for him, so not sure why BTM came up for the CMs at the entrance. I felt they handled it well by allowing him through with the rest of us, but I am sure they don't like doing that. I can just about imagine how many people say they have a FP+, but really don't. Still not fair to the individuals that do have the correct FP, especially since we were with a big group. I wouldn't have been happy at all if he wasn't allowed to ride with the other 20 something members of his family. Later on at BTMRR we were worried his band wouldn't work again, but it worked fine and he went straight through without problems.
At DHS DH's band said he did not have a RNRC FP+. Same thing as at MK. I had made all of these RNRC FP's at the same time. DH definitely had same time and ride as the rest of us. Everyone's band worked except for DH. This time the CM refused to let him through. I was already through but had to go back to see what the problem was. The CM said he could approve the entry, but would have to delete DH's Toy Story Mania FP+ for later in the day to allow him through. This was beyond frustrating since they apparently could see he had a TSM FP, but couldn't see the RNRC FP. I eventually just told DH "come on" and we went through anyway. I felt bad doing that, but we had a party of 20 something people waiting for us to get through. And we could see on my phone app that DH did have the RNRC FP. At the second scanner in the line DH's band worked so we weren't sure if they front line CM had deleted TSM or not.
After RNRC while the rest of the group got in line for the Little Mermaid show DH and I got in line at the FP+ kiosk to see if DH's Toy Story Mania was still there. It was. The CM helping us said he doesn't know why the CM at RNRC couldn't see the correct FP+. It would have been extremely irritating if DH had missed riding RNRC with his family because of this "glitch". I honestly feel that until the kinks are all worked out a guest should never be denied entry. I know there are dishonest guests out there, but it would be wrong to not allow entry when there are still this many problems, especially when the guest can produce the phone app showing the particular FP+.
Other than that I don't think we had any other issues using the bands for our FP+ selections. I had all our times saved in my phone's "notes" for easy access, but it was also easy to access the times through the app, although it was slow at times.
I did notice that at a few rides the bands really slowed up the line. Either the guest had trouble lining up the mickey to the reader, or like in our case the band didn't work and you had a guest/guests holding up the line because they were supposed to have that FP and were talking with the CMs about it. There is also a second reader in line, closer to the attraction. Scanning the bands just takes more time than looking at a paper FP, so having every guest have to do it twice, just takes more time.
Overall, I do not like FP+. Even in the future with all the glitches worked out and the system in perfect working order, I just don't like having that much planned before I get to the park. Not my cup of tea at all!