FP+ Works Against Families

[PurpleKomodo]

Okay friends. I try not to complain too much, but after experiencing FP+ for the first time, I feel that it is working against one of the main philosophies behind Disney World. Disney wanted families to be able to do things together and for Disney to be fun for everyone in the family. I feel like FP+ is working against that ideal. Here's why:

When planning my FP+ reservations, I frequently had to choose between things that DH and I wanted to do and things that were mainly for DS (2.5). I had to ask myself, is it okay to not get a FP+ to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel for DS even though he loves them so DH and I could ride BTMRR or Splash Mountain? We were lucky enough to get a 4th FP for those princesses, but only one so DH took DS and I waited outside. Same with Ariel. At HS, we had to choose TSMM for our tier 1 FP. We thought maybe we would ride RnR single rider, but it was unfortunately down for a large part of the day so when it came back up, even the single rider line was seriously long. I honestly felt that we constantly had to choose between stuff for us and stuff for him. And sometimes our group had to split up to make things happen. I am always willing to do whatever will make my kiddo's vacation magical, but it is my vacation too. We don't get to go more often than every 3-4 years, so we try to make the most of the time we are there. I can only imagine the agony of families with kids big enough to ride big rides and littler guys (which will likely be us by the next trip). Having to choose between FP+ for the taller people and the smaller is really difficult.

Anyone else have this sentiment? Any tips on balancing it out?

 

[ELSA711]

We as a family of 5 loved it! I'm sure in your situation with 2 adults and one little itty bitty one it is tough though.
What about rider swap, I hear that works out for some with little ones.
We went when my youngest DD was 2 and I swear she rode Splash and BTMRR with us. Was your DS not tall enough.

 

[lbmiller77]

I guess I'm confused. If no FP exist (in existing form and previous form), wouldn't you still have to choose things between rides for adults and rides for little kids? You would still have to split up to ride certain rides (riderswap) regardless of FP. I'm about to travel with my 3 year old and myself. I know going in to this trip there are rides I will not be able to go on because my son can't or may be to afraid to try. FP just allows me to get through a couple of lines quicker, it doesn't prevent me from riding other rides.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

No it doesn't.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

My DS is pretty little for his age. He was 1/2 and inch shy for 7DMT and nowhere close to 40 inches. We did rider swap, but we still had to use FP+ for those rides which meant they were not available for characters and such.

 

[JasonMouse]

What you're saying is it's unfortunate they basically limit you to one FP+, given the other attractions don't need a FP. I hope they start removing the top tier limit is all I can hope for. Just use the wait times to figure out where to go from there. I don't understand meeting characters, since I've never been into that. I'm also fine with missing a few attractions. That's only 10% of the fun for me. The no-line attractions are OK for family bonding too.

My other thought is try to figure out how to have fun standing in line. I don't know if it's a game or starting a discussion or playing with the phone or what, but it should be possible than anxiously waiting to get through the line trying to get as close as you can to the people ahead of you.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

I think it is less about the waiting in line and more about what FP+ has done to lines. Since FP is available to characters, it has become necessary for some (A&E). Plus, we were pretty good at the old FP system and could usually get quite a few more than 3 a day. Now, the options for 4th FPs are so little that 3 is pretty much the max. Only choosing 3 attractions with long lines to FP means skipping several more with long lines that I previously may have been able to FP. I would like to see the old "use 1, get 1" system come back instead of having to use all 3 before we could even try for another. Don't get me wrong... we had a great trip and were able to do lots of things. I just felt like the system put us in some pretty tough decisions as parents.

 

[lizard1]

While I can see where you are coming from, I don't agree that the system goes against families. I view the choosing of FP the same way I view the choosing of activities on any vacation. For instance, if it were just DH and I, we might choose to take a 5 mile hike in the Smoky Mountains. However, with a 5 year old along with us, I would never choose that because she would get tired and bored and it would end up frustrating us. The same with FP....sometimes as a parent you have to choose something the kids would like because it is their vacation too (if you are choosing to take them with you). Likewise, they are sharing your vacation, so sometimes you choose something you would enjoy instead. Unfortunately, sometimes the choices you have to make when you have kids along are not the preferable choices for you...sure I would rather ride RNR and TOT but when you have kids that don't ride those types of rides sometimes you have to sacrifice and take the FP for TSMM and Beauty and the Beast. I think the same could also be true with other aspects of a Disney vacations as well- I pick restaurants based on what I think my kids will be able to tolerate or based on the characters that may appear, not just on the food offerings as I would if it were just my husband and I.

 

[deidre74]

Its not like FP+ only limits you to three rides each day. You just need to prioritize whose rides are more important and then the others you have to stand in line for.

 

[ELSA711]

I think it is less about the waiting in line and more about what FP+ has done to lines. Since FP is available to characters, it has become necessary for some (A&E). Plus, we were pretty good at the old FP system and could usually get quite a few more than 3 a day. Now, the options for 4th FPs are so little that 3 is pretty much the max. Only choosing 3 attractions with long lines to FP means skipping several more with long lines that I previously may have been able to FP. I would like to see the old "use 1, get 1" system come back instead of having to use all 3 before we could even try for another. Don't get me wrong... we had a great trip and were able to do lots of things. I just felt like the system put us in some pretty tough decisions as parents.

I guess it depends when you go, we had no problem getting 4th, 5th even 6th and 7th FP+ some days in MK
We were very very lucky last year I guess. But we always booked FP+ for the kids first. Not once did we consider what the parents wanted to do. LOL That happens after 3 I guess.
Time will tell when we go again this year.

 

[wisblue]

It seems to me that the challenge and balancing act you are describing is going to be there regardless of FP+.

If there were no FPs at all, you would have to decide what lines to wait in. With paper FP, you would have to decide what FP to take and what things to do standby. When our daughters were small there were no FPs and our trips were centered around the kids' preferences. When Splash Mountain first opened, I went on it by myself (waiting in the standby line) while my wife walked around with the kids. As the kids got a little older, sometimes one of us would go on a ride with whichever of the kids wanted to do it while the other stayed outside with the ones who didn't.

Regardless of the system, the best you can do is identify what things are a priority for each family member and then try to develop a plan that allows you to do those things with minimal waiting. For example, in your case, the lines to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel are not always that long. So, you might be able to do that without a FP. For some of the things like BTMRR and Splash, you could go to them in the first hour after the park opens and do them with short waits and no FP. As the PP mentioned, using the child swap may enable you to do some,of your favorites without excessive waiting.

 

[nilla]

I may be in the minority here, but I haven't noticed FP+ significantly affecting the standby line adversely. A&E would've had a huge line without the FP capabilities, meaning most of us wouldn't have ever had the chance to meet them. The only reason we met Rapunzel when she was in the area where Merida now resides was because my wife literally sprinted back there at rope drop.

 

[vinotinto]

Yes, I hear you. DD and I like TSMM. DH and DS like RnRC. Pre FP+ we never had an issue getting FPs for both. Now we either split up or DH DS have to do standby at RnRC. I understand that you could get it as a 4th, but because the windows are 1 hour with no overlap, by the time we are able to go for a 4th, there's not much left or it's at dinner time. Same with TT and Soarin.

It's not just families, it's anyone that travels in any kind of friends/groups with different interests.

 

[xnascar2x]

You could of used FastPass+ along with Rider Swap at MK for Splash Mountain and BTMRR. By doing this you would of only needed one FastPass+ for Splash and one for BTMRR. Instead, it sounds like you you used 2 on each of those attractions.

 

[2Tiggies]

While I don't think it specifically affects families, we found that it does make it difficult for groups - even small groups - who opt not to link their accounts. We met up with different friends several times last year and when we tried to get FPs on the day, the system offered each account a different selection. Short story: it was always impossible to get FPs to do something together. We just found a lot of planning and co-ordination was needed well in advance if we wanted to do anything and missed the days when everyone present could go to a FP machine together and pull out FPs to ride something together.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Okay friends. I try not to complain too much, but after experiencing FP+ for the first time, I feel that it is working against one of the main philosophies behind Disney World. Disney wanted families to be able to do things together and for Disney to be fun for everyone in the family. I feel like FP+ is working against that ideal. Here's why:

When planning my FP+ reservations, I frequently had to choose between things that DH and I wanted to do and things that were mainly for DS (2.5). I had to ask myself, is it okay to not get a FP+ to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel for DS even though he loves them so DH and I could ride BTMRR or Splash Mountain? We were lucky enough to get a 4th FP for those princesses, but only one so DH took DS and I waited outside. Same with Ariel. At HS, we had to choose TSMM for our tier 1 FP. We thought maybe we would ride RnR single rider, but it was unfortunately down for a large part of the day so when it came back up, even the single rider line was seriously long. I honestly felt that we constantly had to choose between stuff for us and stuff for him. And sometimes our group had to split up to make things happen. I am always willing to do whatever will make my kiddo's vacation magical, but it is my vacation too. We don't get to go more often than every 3-4 years, so we try to make the most of the time we are there. I can only imagine the agony of families with kids big enough to ride big rides and littler guys (which will likely be us by the next trip). Having to choose between FP+ for the taller people and the smaller is really difficult.

Anyone else have this sentiment? Any tips on balancing it out?

We are also a family of 3 (DD is 3) and we have similar concerns with FP+. DH and I used FP+ on our adults only vacation last year and were meh on it then, with just adults. We definitely have concerns about including DD in the scenario the next time we go.

I wish I had some advice, but it sounds like we're in a similar boat so I'm also looking forward to reading what advice others have. Just wanted to let you know you aren't alone

 

[ktlm]

I absolutely agree, and it is even worse for families with more than one child with different aged kids or kids with different tastes (i.e. 1 loves thrill rides and the other is thrill ride adverse). We are a 3 person family. DH and I love RNCR. DD has been tall enough to ride it for the last few years, but will not set foot on it; however, she loves TSM. So, since TSM is a Tier 1, we FP+ that. DH and I have not ridden RNRC at all our last 2 FP+ trips. We did not want to take over an hour out of park and family time if we took turns, and neither of us felt right about riding it, when the other one who also loved it did not. Before FP+ and tiers, the single rider line was usually 10 or 15 minutes when we were there. We would either grab FP when we were able too after our initial TSM FP, or we would just take turns jumping in the much shorter single rider line.

I have also had requests from several of my friends with more than one kid to assist them in making their FP+. I have watched them struggle in the tiered parks, when their kids have different preferences- and watched them feel like they were putting one kid over the other depending upon what they picked. I have watched this same struggle with non-tiered parks because of the 3 pass limit and the differences in what the kids liked. I have heard over and over; how much harder it is than the older system, and how non family friendly it is. My friend with 3 kids almost cancelled her entire trip over it. I talked her off the ledge, and they did go and have a good time, but the new system definitely adds a whole level of stress.

 

[ParrotBill]

My beef about FP+ is similar. We often want to see attractions together and sometimes want to see things separately. MDE and FP+ make it hard to plan around time windows, like around 2pm I want 3 party members to go on BTMRR, and 3 others to go on Haunted Mansion. It is really geared toward everyone in the party doing all the same things at the same time. It's a lot of work to try to modify the schedule for one or some... and it might not work out and then you start all over. And please stop leaving 45 minute holes in my schedule! I cannot usually get in a line for another attraction in between. Yes, I know you think I will go shopping. Knock it off. Let me say start at 10am and give me 3 in the window from 10 to 2.

 

[3DisneyFanz]

Oh it works great. All you have to do is make sure you're okay getting them at times that are terrible to coordinate with a 2 year old. When that is tapped out then just start looking for single passes for your entire party and hope for overlaps. If you miss the overlap then just grab what you can and one person can go in the FP line at a time and then wait for everyone's time so they can get in too. Easiest thing ever!

 

[3DisneyFanz]

I may be in the minority here, but I haven't noticed FP+ significantly affecting the standby line adversely. A&E would've had a huge line without the FP capabilities, meaning most of us wouldn't have ever had the chance to meet them. The only reason we met Rapunzel when she was in the area where Merida now resides was because my wife literally sprinted back there at rope drop.

This is very true. There are now routinely 30 minute waits for HM, PoTC and especially Journey Into Imagination. I'm so thankful we now have the opportunity to skip those waits with our FP+ where before we had to wait up to 5 min to get on those rides before. It's great getting to FP+ Figment as opposed to the old days when we just walked right on.