FP+ w/Hopping

[AvonleaCF]

Hi!

Disney veteran, but brand new to FP+.

Today is my 60 day mark for a solo trip and I just made all my selections. That part was easy peasy and I got everything I wanted (except for both Toy Story AND Great Movie Ride! I don't like the tiers!!!).

Anyhow how does this all work with hopping? I have the hopper and know you can't select multiple parks in one day online. So how easy is it to get same day FP+ at the kiosks? Or are you in trouble when park hopping and just have to wait standby? Are the lines at the kiosks insane or can you use the app on your phone?

This is wayyy too much planning for me! There are days when I go to the bus stop and just hop on the first bus that comes and wing it. I'm scared all standby lines will be unreasonable, even for attractions that normally never had a wait (like Figment... WHY is Figment FP+?!?).

Thanks!

[Strmchsr]

I agree with you. I HATE the FP+ and having to plan every second of our trip way in advance plus things like Imagination and POTC that never needed FP now have it which has created much longer standby lines. Pre-FP never a wait for imagination and usually 10-20 min for POTC. Now? Always some line for Imagination and 20+ for POTC. But, we roll with it. To answer your question, it depends. The most popular rides you won't be able to get often times in the afternoon but there will be something available. A lot of times we skip the 4th and so on now because we really don't care about what's still available or we can just do standby on those rides. You cannot do your 4th and so on FP from your phone. Only the first 3. After that you have to return to the CMs with iPads for each additional FP. It's a little annoying, but they have stations around, not just one spot, and it's not too hard to find them. The lines can sometimes be a little long, but usually not horrible and the CMs move things along quickly.

[deedee73]

I truly am going to really miss the spontaneous moments at Disney but again since we haven't tried the FP+ yet I will wait & see what I think after the trip. Personally though it is looking like a big pain in my Polish dupa especially since I am the trip planner/organizer. Also if the kid is exhausted it will be harder to justify changing plans this way.

[AvonleaCF]

Okay so I made all my FP+ for stuff I REALLY want and usually have long lines, like 7D (never been on it before), Toy Story Mania, Soarin', and Kiliminjaro. I guess if I hop to MK or something in the afternoon I'll just risk standby or see what's available FP+ with a CM; at least 7D is secured so the others I can just deal with. Maybe I'll just visit Carousel of Progress, Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and Swiss Treehouse over and over and over. :P I'm going Labor Day week when crowds are historically low, but I've never been with the new system in place so all bets are off.

[Strmchsr]

I'll be there the same week Cindy (arriving Labor Day). It shouldn't be too bad. You just get on what's available and deal with it. At least you got the things important to you so you know you'll get those and standby shouldn't be too bad except at the most popular rides that week.

[missymouseworld]

Personally though it is looking like a big pain in my Polish dupa especially since I am the trip planner/organizer..

That's funny but so true!!

We used FP+ around late morning/early afternoon. We had park hoppers also. If we decided to get to the park really early (never did) then we would do things that the lines were short. Had our lunch scheduled for later around 2 or 3 (because we were there during spring break when it was extremely busy) and then hopped to another park later at night after returning to hotel for a swim. We never were able to get additional FP for the evening for popular rides but did other attractions. The kiosks were always too busy.

Good luck

[deedee73]

Thanks. Glad u enjoyed my truthfulness.

[WiltonJohn]

........things like Imagination and POTC that never needed FP now have it which has created much longer standby lines. Pre-FP never a wait for imagination and usually 10-20 min for POTC. Now? Always some line for Imagination and 20+ for POTC.

HUM..... wondering........ is it FP+ that is causing this increase in the stand-by lines (if there actually is one)....... or might it be because the parks are (according to what I can find on the web) experiencing significantly higher attendance?

Are we maybe blaming FP+ for something that is NOT mainly related to it, and any change is due to other factors?

best,

................john

[Strmchsr]

HUM..... wondering........ is it FP+ that is causing this increase in the stand-by lines (if there actually is one)....... or might it be because the parks are (according to what I can find on the web) experiencing significantly higher attendance?

While there certainly is higher attendance in the parks, no disputing that, I'm at WDW usually 4-5 times year. The shift in lines at these attractions was directly correlated to the opening of the FP+ lines. With attractions that previously had a FP line I haven't noticed much change beyond a slight increase that probably is due to higher attendance, but with the attractions which did not previously have a FP line (and never needed one) such as Haunted Mansion, POTC and Imagination the standby lines jumped significantly when the FP+ lines were added. And basically it's because those attractions don't need FP. Now instead of having 2 standby queues which flowed smoothly previously you have 1 essentially empty queue which is underutilized with FP and one jam packed queue for standby people.

[azcavalier]

We have adjusted. There are things I don't like about FP+ (removing the spontaneity is first and foremost), but we have made it work.

For park hopping, we plan all of our FP+ for the SECOND park of the day. Get to the first park early (especially if staying on site and you can take advantage of morning EMH), and hit the big stuff first thing. Then, when you get to the second park, you can also hit the big stuff there without having to worry. It's worked out really well for us.

[AvonleaCF]

For park hopping, we plan all of our FP+ for the SECOND park of the day. Get to the first park early (especially if staying on site and you can take advantage of morning EMH), and hit the big stuff first thing. Then, when you get to the second park, you can also hit the big stuff there without having to worry. It's worked out really well for us.

I was thinking about this, but I almost never know what my 2nd park will be. I always get to the first park at opening, but then the 2nd depends on how long I stay at the 1st. If I stay until 2pm or so, I may go back to my resort and rest for a while and hit another park in the evening. Other times, I'm not at all tired so I continue on. Sometimes I've had enough by noon and leave for the day; other times I go somewhere else. Or there was that one time I hit all 4 parks in one day on a whim. It's just too hard to plan in advance (for me, anyway).

So I made all my FP+ for the 1st park of the day and will just wing it after. I'm trying not to stress over this... it's VACATION! (But c'mon Disney, let us choose more than 1 park per day! If you want us buy hoppers make it worth it!!).

[azcavalier]

I was thinking about this, but I almost never know what my 2nd park will be.

Yeah, I hear ya. But, you know, Fast Pass + allows you to be MORE spontaneous! Disney said so when they rolled it out!

[AvonleaCF]

Yeah, I hear ya. But, you know, Fast Pass + allows you to be MORE spontaneous! Disney said so when they rolled it out!

LOL! It's like when I did free dining. I made an ADR every night cause I felt like I was supposed to. But some nights I just wasn't in the mood for what I choose. Or I picked a TS in HS and would have rather stayed in Epcot. I'm afraid if I choose FP+ for an afternoon in AK I'll HAVE to go there, even if I"m too hot & tired to continue on after a morning in MK.

I need to stop overthinking my choices, too. I keep opening my spreadsheet (I know, I know) and second guessing myself. It's not like the rides don't have standby queues. And it's not like I'm actually going to miss anything. If I wind up hoping to MK in the afternoon I'll just skip 7D, SM, and anything with a huge wait. But I'm sure there'll be other things that are >20 that will be fine.

It's Disney World. It's still better than a day at the office.

[MNNHFLTX]

We have adjusted. There are things I don't like about FP+ (removing the spontaneity is first and foremost), but we have made it work.

For park hopping, we plan all of our FP+ for the SECOND park of the day. Get to the first park early (especially if staying on site and you can take advantage of morning EMH), and hit the big stuff first thing. Then, when you get to the second park, you can also hit the big stuff there without having to worry. It's worked out really well for us.

This really is the way to go, IMO. You can get a full day's worth of E-ticket rides and then do the "other" attractions (i.e. the only ones that will have any FP+ availability later in the day, which you would probably not need anyway, since the lines will be shorter). I know this is a pain for those who want to sleep in, but if there are a bunch of "must-do" rides and limited time, I think it's really the only option that makes sense.

[KAJUNKING]

While there certainly is higher attendance in the parks, no disputing that, I'm at WDW usually 4-5 times year. The shift in lines at these attractions was directly correlated to the opening of the FP+ lines. With attractions that previously had a FP line I haven't noticed much change beyond a slight increase that probably is due to higher attendance, but with the attractions which did not previously have a FP line (and never needed one) such as Haunted Mansion, POTC and Imagination the standby lines jumped significantly when the FP+ lines were added. And basically it's because those attractions don't need FP. Now instead of having 2 standby queues which flowed smoothly previously you have 1 essentially empty queue which is underutilized with FP and one jam packed queue for standby people.

I believe it is directly the result of fastpass plus and that means its working exactly the way disney intended it to work. It is my understanding that one of the main goals of fastpass plus was to be able to distribute the crowds more evenly in the parks, which now there are lines at attractions that didnt have lines before makes me think that its working. The other goal of fastpass plus was that disney would know ahead of time which attractions would be busy and when, so that they could move people around and have attractions staffed correctly.