FP+ at WDW versus MaxPass at DLR; is it really as different as it seems??

[twodogs]

We have been to WDW several times since FP+ (and earlier when it was FP-), used Magic Bands, booked our 4th and beyond FPs on the app, etc (last visit to WDW was this April). We are going to WDW again in December. In between our April WDW visit and the upcoming one, we have been to DLR twice, most recently in September, after MaxPass was introduced (which we used). We have done paper FP several times at DLR also. This got me thinking...

My question, which seems like an obvious one I guess, but I'm wanting to verify, is that it seems so different that I can only have ONE FP booked at a time (other than the initial 3 for the day), EVER at WDW. Is that correct??? If I am reading and remembering correctly, once I get to the 4th FP and beyond, it is one at a time for the rest of the day, no matter how late the return time of my FP is compared to the current time? So if I book my 4th FP as something that has a return time of 4 hours later, I can't make any other FP fr 4 hours, until I use the current one?

I honestly think the answer is yes, I can only hold one FP after the initial 3, but compared to DLR's system, that seems crazy. With MaxPass at DLR, I was able to book 45 different rides for our party of 4 (some were repeats of the same ride, but 45 "episodes" of riding) in our 3 day trip last month (if we did paper FP at DLR and had to walk to each attraction, it would have cut this down somewhat but not 50% or anything). It is because at DLR, it is like what I recall of old FP-, where you can book another FP 1.5 hours after you book a FP (if the return time is way out, like 4 hours later, and you have Max Pass (paper FP is 2 hours after you book a FP)). So many times, we had several sets of FPs at once, scattered with return times throughout the next several hours.

Please let me know if I am crazy in my thinking about WDW. If you can only have one FP at a time at WDW other than the initial 3, I can't see us getting more than 5-8 total FPs for any given day, on the best day, especially if we are anywhere other than MK, due to this limitation. Sorry this is probably a super simple question, and I just need to accept the answer and how it's done at WDW, but I really like the DLR system because it seems to allow so many more FP per day (even without any ability to prebook FP there)!

 

[hiroMYhero]

I can only have ONE FP booked at a time (other than the initial 3 for the day), EVER at WDW. Is that correct???

Yes; that’s correct.

 

[sharonabe]

Please let me know if I am crazy in my thinking about WDW. If you can only have one FP at a time at WDW other than the initial 3, I can't see us getting more than 5-8 total FPs for any given day, on the best day, especially if we are anywhere other than MK, due to this limitation. Sorry this is probably a super simple question, and I just need to accept the answer and how it's done at WDW, but I really like the DLR system because it seems to allow so many more FP per day (even without any ability to prebook FP there)!

You'll be lucky to get 5 or 6 per day. Would love to know if anyone has had 8 in a given day since FP+ was introduced.

Of course, the biggest difference here is that you PAID for those 45 FP at DLR. FP+ at WDW does not cost extra. For just my family for 3 days at DLR, that would be an extra $120. I'm not yet ready to pay that for something you can get for free.

 

[mom2rtk]

The biggest difference is that at DLR all FPs are still available at rope drop. At WDW, many have been widely (or fully in a handful of cases) distributed already.

Something else to note is that DLR has not added FP (at least not yet) to the second tier attractions (Pirates, Small World, etc). So the FPs you are getting are headliner rides.

But MaxPass is new. Availability is still high. I think that will change over time as more APs roll around for renewal and more people add it. They have not had an AP pricing structure change since it was introduced. If they build it into a renewal price (instead of offering it a la cart) and a critical mass has the benefit, that would have a substantial impact on the system.

 

[mom2rtk]

Of course, the biggest difference here is that you PAID for those 45 FP at DLR. FP+ at WDW does not cost extra. For just my family for 3 days at DLR, that would be an extra $120. I'm not yet ready to pay that for something you can get for free.

Yes, that's definitely a critical difference as well!

 

[twodogs]

Thanks for all of the replies. I agree that MP was something we paid extra for (though it wasn't as big of a "cost" since we always buy Photopass, and that is included with MP, so it didn't end up being an extreme outlay of money over the PP that we were already planning on buying). However, DLR still has free paper FP, which would have limited us in number of FP somewhat, but would not have limited us to 5 FPs per day, or something that low (so the free option at DLR is still going to net more FPs by far than the WDW system).

And I agree with mom2rtk that we were getting headliners, over and over. We rode Guardians of the Galaxy (the old ToT) 11 times in 3 days, all with FP. All the while getting FPs for multiple other headliners. Even before MP, we've gotten a lot more FPs per day than I anticipate getting at WDW.

I agree that as MP rolls out and more use it, the value will go down. We were fortunate to be using early in the course and really got a lot out of it.

We will see how it goes at WDW in December. It is going to be a busy time, and we will definitely do rope drop and see how we do. It is just a different strategy than DLR, and I have to wrap my head back around it!