Following in the footsteps of Pop Century and All-Star Resorts, all Disney World resorts will be eliminating Key to the World cards throughout the month of January. Guests checking in on or after the elimination date may be able to request cards, but they won’t be offered by default. Newly issued Key to the World cards will not work in legacy FASTPASS machines. The schedule is as follows:
- Monday Jan. 6 – Art of Animation Resort
- Tuesday Jan. 7 – Port Orleans Resort
- Wednesday Jan. 8 – Caribbean Beach Resort
- Wednesday Jan. 8 – Coronado Springs Resort
- Thursday Jan. 9 – Old Key West Resort
- Thursday Jan 9 – Saratoga Spring Resort
- Friday Jan. 10 – Wilderness Lodge
- Monday Jan. 13 – Beach Club
- Monday Jan 13 – Yacht Club
- Tuesday Jan. 14 – Animal Kingdom Lodge
- Wednesday Jan. 15 – BoardWalk Inn
- Thursday, Jan. 16 – Contemporary Resort
- Friday Jan. 17 – Grand Floridian Resort
- Friday Jan 17 – Polynesian Resort
- Monday Jan. 20 – Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground
Guests staying on-site can customize their MagicBand colors and names for shipment prior to arrival. Guests that don’t order their MagicBands will be issued MagicBands at check-in.
Using expired room-only Key to the World cards in the legacy FASTPASS machines is increasingly hit or miss, with cards working some days in some machines, while not working other days. In addition, Disney has filed numerous permits to remove legacy FASTPASS machines in the near future. I’d expect to see the complete elimination of legacy FASTPASS by the end of April. Off-site guests should use FastPass+ at Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Magic Kingdom the same way they’re currently using it at Animal Kingdom. That means off-site guests without MagicBands will schedule their FastPass+ experiences inside the theme park on the day of. On-site guests and those with MagicBands and tickets attached in My Disney Experience should be able to continue making reservations 60 days in advance.
Aww man! Going in February! Lol. But at least now we know how to plan. That’s better than all the what ifs and maybes.
What about AP cards?
Man. Haven’t tried Fastpass+ in the parks yet but am unconvinced that it will make for a better visit. Our previous visits have gone off without a hitch because of the legacy Fastpasses. I hope our next visit in a month doesn’t change my mind about future trips.
Considering I rarely pulled FP- except for headliners and I have already scheduled those with FP+ for our trip the end of this month these further events should have no impact on me. I do feel for those FP warriors but it is what it is. I wouldn’t expect any overhauls to this new world order regardless of all the complaints. Disney didn’t invested a lot of effort & money to just disassembly it.
Just an fyi….other sites are reporting the legacy fp machines
will be removed from all parks by end of January. We are
going to the World in early April and I’m certainly not planning on the legacy fp machines still being there.
While I’m not being all dramatic about it, and think it’s far from the end of the world, this further cements my desire not to go again for a while, after bi-yearly trips the past few years. In the same way, my first trip where FastPass existed prompted me to want to go back much more often, unlike the rare trips up until then where line-waiting was the thing I most remembered.
The Disney hotels are over-priced, with mediocre service and Hampton Inn-quality rooms for Four Seasons prices. And we’ve been dumb enough to pay to stay concierge at both Grand Flo and Grand Cali, so I, sadly, know whereof I speak.
The vaunted “transportation options” are mostly over-crowded, shared resort buses and an only-occasionally working monorail. And, yeah, I’m just gonna say, ‘No thanks,’ to taking an hour to get from park to park, with two bus changes and waiting in lines that are longer than those for attractions, being considered a “perk.”
And just like we no longer eat at Disney’s restaurants due to the ridiculousness involved in getting, and god forbid, canceling, reservations, if you dare to decide at, say, 10 AM that you don’t actually want to have that 8 PM steak dinner in Epcot you booked six months ago, but would instead rather watch a parade in Magic Kingdom. Nope! Not allowed. Pay Disney for the “privilege” of changing my mind about a meal with more than 10 hours notice? Not. Gonna. Happen. In large part this is because the food is, at best, over-priced and on par with my local Chili’s–and that’s on a good day–so it’s doubly not worth the effort and cost. If it were sublime, than, yeah, maybe. But that has NEVER been the case for us, outside V&As.
I don’t want to go to the expense of paying on-property rates for the “bonus” of scheduling my vacation, down to an hour window, two, three or six months in advance. I’m sorry. I just don’t.
For me, a vacation is being able to say, ‘Hey, let’s do this instead,’ or ‘Let’s do nothing at all,’ if that’s what strikes our fancy on a particular day. Not because I’m an inconsiderate, selfish jerk out to ruin others’ precious vacation time, but because my daily life is already super scheduled. I don’t want my vacation to be another stressful to-do list. The concept of, ‘But we need to be here by 3:06 or we’ll be penalized $20 each for missing our Toy Story Midway mania ride “reservation” is just ridiculous to me.’ (And how long before they do that, too, for “fairness”?)
I just can’t imagine there’s gonna be much left for the day-trippers to pick from, and doing so is gonna be a major PITA, when the system is fully enforced and no legacy FastPass machines remain. Oh and, I sure as heck hope they’re gonna do a better job on ride maintenance with the new three-and-done, only-one-headliner, once-per-ride-per-day, tiered reservation system, because our last two trips we were stuck on rides, had rides shut down while waiting in line and/or arrived to totally closed (for unscheduled reasons) rides multiple times, each and every day of our trips.
We don’t live close enough to go on regular day trips, or even more than once every other year, so, you know, it does suck if we miss a headliner ride we were really looking forward to because there were no FastPass+ reservations available that day. It’s one of the reasons we go: to ride all the big rides. And, sure, we COULD wait in a 90-minute standby line, but that’s not fun either. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of enjoyable, which is what a vacation should be.
Just to clarify … It’s totally fine that Disney doesn’t feel the same as I do. I have no illusions that they’ll miss our business one tiny bit. Besides, we’ll probably go back again someday anyway. Just not for very long, and definitely without doing all the extras: in-park meals, on-site, week-long stays, tours, hard-ticket events, etc.
Snarkymama, I agree with every word you said.
Snarkymama, thank you for putting into words so perfectly how my family feels about this as well. We are going to Disney(probably the last time) in March. We surprised our little girls at Christmas with a Disney Cruise and a few nights on-site to go to the parks. I have been back and forth as to what to do regarding tickets, add them to our package or buy them separate in hopes that we can use the legacy fast pass system one last time. I get up this morning and read this article and it seems like my decision has been made.
We were a family that used legacy FP to the full extent and that worked for us. The thought that we can only get THREE in one day at one park…..Are you kidding me Disney??? What about the disconnected rides at MK, are they no longer disconnected. How do they expect us to tell our 7 & 9 y/o they have to CHOOSE between soarin or test track as they can’t do them both because there is no fast pass anymore and for them at this age they don’t do well in 90+ minute rides, what young kid would do well in any line that long???
Oh well as snarkymama said, I’m sure they aren’t going to miss us one bit but I’m sad about these changes. I don’t know why they don’t leave both systems in and let individual people CHOOSE how they want to experience the parks.
It will be interesting to see what happens when someone hacks into the magic bands and gets whatever information is stored on the bands, whether it be personal info, bank info, etc….
Can you book fast pass plus at differnt parks in the same day? Example- Safari in am at AK and Wishes fireworks viewing at MK in pm? Imam going at a very busy time of year and thinking park hopper is useless if i cant get fp+ at different parks.
To be fair….its depends how you choose to tour that impacts what rides you get on. Obviously there are other variables as well, but rope drop and a good touring plan can work wonders. You do one headliner in the morning and use a fpp for one in the afternoon. It takes some planning…but it can be done…..even with little folks.
I just keep remembering the wise words of Clark Griswold. “It’s all part of the experience, honey.” So, whether freezing you eyelids or waiting in line, it’s just part of it.
That said, we’ll be there for 8 days and will have plenty of time to stand in line all we want. Or not. We don’t go often enough to be used to anything, so we’ll just stand around overwhelmed, as usual. 🙂 55 days!
This is great news! I think the whole system will work a lot better the more loop holes they close. We’ve been going every 2 years since we’re engaged (2005) with a lot of family trips before that. We started yearly trips last year when our son turned 2. We are going January 25 and I am honestly more excited for this trip than any before. FP- was nice, but it resulted in us zig zagging all over the park and spending any time saved out of lines running ail over. We rarely ever used more than three FPs, since by using a smart touring plan you can avoid most lines anyhow. It is going to be so nice to just stay in Frontierland without having to walk across the park to get a FP for SM and then back to Frontierland, and then back to SM to ride etc. I don’t mind putting a little planning in beforehand to help myself have a great trip, actually, I really enjoyed the planning, as it has resulted in me being very excited for our trip.
Ok, so, this system will work better for some people and worse for other people, fine. But… “How do they expect us to tell our 7 & 9 y/o they have to CHOOSE”? Really? The same way millions and millions of people had to do before Fastpass, or if they don’t understand Fastpass, or at theme parks that don’t have Fastpass, or in life in general, really. Sometimes people (yes, even 7 and 9 year olds) have to make tough choices.
Jenn, no. 3 fastpass + at one park per day.
Obviously everyone who posts on this website has educated themselves in the fine art of WDW touring. The fast pass plus will just be a factor that needs to be adjusted too, it isn t the end of the world. I find fast pass plus to be a great benefit, I will no longer have be at the studios an hour before opening to ride toy story. I can sleep inn, hurray for me. If you are so concerned about lines go when the park is slow.
I was doubtful of these changes but when we went in october, we had FP+ and never pulled a FP- even though we had KTTW and APs. we were able to sleep in when we wanted and never made rope-drop. It made for a more relaxing vacation overall.
also, to this person “It will be interesting to see what happens when someone hacks into the magic bands and gets whatever information is stored on the bands, whether it be personal info, bank info, etc….’ —-> no personal information is stored on the band.
also to the person that mentioned “How do they expect us to tell our 7 & 9 y/o they have to CHOOSE between soarin or test track ” here are some answers: Go to Epcot twice, use Soarin one day and Test Track another or make rope drop and wait in shorter stand-by line. BUT BUT…. thats not the way i used to do it…. WAH WAH…. just adjust, its what you have to do in many real world situations.
Going Feb. 13th to 23rd. We save all year to go during this break for us (teachers). We sacrifice going out to dinner, summer trips, sporting events, and many other small savings that contribute to our February trip. We are rope droppers, park hoppers, EM late-nighters, and everything else that allows us to see it all. I loved the legacy FP- , but looking at the FP+ system, we think it will work to our touring advantage. Case in point: We go to MK on our first morning, rope-drop, ride most headliners by 11:00 AM, minus Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, head out of the park to eat lunch..anywhere! We head back to EPCOT at 4:00. Have FP+ for Soarin at 4:30 (try tp FP that time with legacy) for Living With The Land at 5:30, dinner at The Land at 6:15, and Mission Space FP+ at 8:00. We stick around for Illuminations at 9:00 and then get to Epcot at rope drop in the morning to ride Test Track back to back. It works out so well for us, with park hoppers, during a 10 day stay. Now, I do agree that the off-site staying, short vacation going, non-hopper people may have certain issues with the change, but if you do some creative planning, I think anything can work. More importantly, kudos to this Josh guy! Been following his plans for years and he has never, ever, let us down. Be creative, follow Josh, breathe, and enjoy 🙂
Maybe I missed it, but it feels like those of us who can only afford to stay off-property are getting hosed. We can stay a week in a Marriott timeshare for the same amount of money that it would cost to stay just one night at a Value Resort, for example. So, that automatically removes us from the MagicBand and FP+ 60 day priority group. Josh’s touring plans worked to perfection the last time we could afford to go (3 years ago) and we are hoping to go again this summer. If we have to choose our FP+ options on the day that we arrive at the park, will there really be many options left to choose from?
No one’s getting hosed. You get what you pay for. If you stay at a offsite hotel where you are paying 100-200 for an entire week, why would you expect to receive the same experience as someone paying 700-1400? My wife and I drive cars that are 10 years old so we don’t have car payments and I don’t have cell phone, and thus save enough to stay onsite.
“Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty.
I see a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be.”
I hope to be at WDW this summer. Thanks for update/news Josh to help in our planning.
thats not the way i used to do it…. WAH WAH…. just adjust, its what you have to do in many real world situations.
WAH WAH…seriously? What are you six?
Thanks Mick, i will do a rope drop at AK then use FP+ at HS in the evening! Your right, as long as you get there early and know your rides you want to do then i should make out ok. Plus I like that Fantasmic, Wishes, and parade viewing is added! With us going late June, early july those will be needed and hopefully i get them! Lol
Walk me out in the Morning Dew, my honey
Just my two cents here… glad to see Disney is making this final move. Not because it’s going to be a great thing, but because they need to commit one way or the other. PLUS!!! It’s NOT to make a better experience, it’s to make it easier (no lost pieces of paper), cheaper (no overhead from printers and paper), make money (less time in line = more time spending money), and finally they can manage the park before you show up. If they know you have a FP scheduled for Monday at 8pm at Pirates then they know you’re planning to use your ticket at MK. Its going to be a good thing for everyone involved. It WILL allow some of us late arrivers to actually get FP’s for the headliners.
We hardly used fastpasses anyway, except for the prime rides like the Mountains. We get there when the park opens, ride the rides that did not have fastpasses first, get fastpasses for Peter Pan since there is ALWAYS a long line for that, Space Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. We would be done riding the rides with no fastpasses by 11,along with some that has fastpasses but none was needed because it was not busy yet, go to lunch, be some of the first for lunch so when we finish, lunch is starting to get busy and we go ride some rides that are not as buisy during this time and use our fastpasses. The we would have all afternoon to ride again if we want, shop, walk and look, whatever. Then see parades, fireworks, and head out. The key is to get there early if you want to ride a lot of rides. That has always been the case. The addition of fastpass+, in my opinion, will just enhance because you can reserve parade spots, Fantasmic spots, things like that. Time will tell but the new system could be a very good thing.
As far as staying off side, part of the price that is paid for the resort rooms cover parking, which otherwise is 15.00, (maybe more by now), transportation, extra magic hours, and if you catch free dining, meals are free. It is all in how you see it and if the extras are worth it to you.
Thanks for the info, Josh! Coming to the World late Jan and hope to see you!
I’ll admit… when i heard of all the preliminary FP+ stuff, it made me feel like SnarkyMama. We go once a year, and its a big deal. Had legacy FP down to a science. But just like all us hard core Disney Geeks that frequent this site… we all figured out how to maximize FP-
I’m confident that with Josh’s info and insight, along with smart crowdsourcing… we’ll all find ways to make FP+ work well. Keep in mind that a massive majority of people at Disney are not like us. Meaning they just show up at 10:30 with no clue what FP+ even is or how to maximize.
Just like being in the woods… you don’t have to outrun the bear… just your friend. Us hardcore Disney geeks can already “outrun” 90% of the typical hapless folks that aimlessly wander the parks.
The only hesitation I have right now is we only stay offsite. How all this shakes out for us “off siters” will determine my fam’s future Disney trips.
We’re going in Late April like always….
Keep us posted Josh…. Keep up the great work!!
We were there Dec 12th-19th and stayed on site at POP. I was hyperventilating because I was worried about not having access to the legacy fast passes. Well, I followed a smart touring plan and used my allotted fastpasses judiciously. We got there at rope drop and left around 6:30. In between, we rode practically EVERYTHING and some of our favorites we rode two or three times. I think until you actually use the system, reserve judgement. You may find you like it. I’ll still be going. We love the Disney experience.
Count me as another not happy with the tiered system. We used the FP+ for our August trip (without the tiers) and it worked reasonably well. But true, I did pull extra legacy FPs for my favs, Safari, EE, TSMM, & BTM so I could ride more then once.
But really? Have to choose between Sorin or TT? TSMM & RocknRoll? How is this an improvement Disney? I like the idea of booking FP+. But think they could make it a better experience, wish they would take out the tier, make 4 FPs an option, and give options for park hopping.
Going soon and stuck with tiering. I have to admit it’s taken some of the usual I’m going back to WDW anticipation out of it for me.
I love Josh’s crowd calendar, don’t leave home without it!! Best planning tool! Thanks for doing it.
We are going the 12th thru 18th and staying offsite. For that week, the deluxe were $350+ a night. The values were $129. For $270 @ night we get a 3 bedroom house with a pool 4 miles from Disney. I have been a faithful on site traveler, but I just can’t swallow the prices anymore. I’m hoping low crowds will allow us to ride some things without FP. However for our typical summer trip I am not sure what I will do. We may bite the bullet and stay on site or we may opt to visit Universal and Seaworld. My thoughts mirror snarkymamas. I don’t see these changes as positive and it makes me sad, because Disney is my happy place. I hope my opinion will change and I will be pleasantly surprised.
I gotta laugh at the people who keep saying “You get what you pay for. If you stay at a offsite hotel where you are paying 100-200 for an entire week, why would you expect to receive the same experience as someone paying 700-1400?” I’m not sure I understand your logic or lack therof ? Does the same apply to food in the parks ? I stay at a Deluxe resort so I should get more food at CRT than those staying at a value because my hotel cost more ! And those staying off-site should get even less !! Makes no sense right ? The resort price is the resort price. With that you get whatever amenities that your resort offers. The park tickets are what gets you into the parks. Since everyone pays the same for the park tickets, everyone should be allowed to have the same experience.
Although sceptical and worried at first reading comments about FPP I’m now coming round to the idea
The problem atm, with both systems running (and some using historic cards getting even more) there’s not enough FP’s available to offer more than 3 in advance
I recon they want to get rid of legacy fastpass ASAP so they can then work on fine-tuning FPP. This hopefully will include increasing FPP pre-bookings, adding park hoping and possibly something similar to the legacy system like getting more once your current ones are used (based on availability on the day)
Otherwise once the legacy systems are gone the fastpass queues will be under-used
We’re going in Aug (from the UK) and hope it’ll be sorted by then
Note: I don’t think Toy story is currently included in FPP. Which is kind of my point. Whilst both systems are running It’s just not possible for them to set it up the way they want
I’m completely with snarkymama on this one. My family and I just had a wonderful week at disney over Christmas break. Getting to the parks early and fully utilizing fast pass- were key to making the trip as fun as it was. We also stay offsite, since we can get a suite for 92 dollars per night. Obviously, disney has the right to change their system, just as I have the right not to go back. The question is whether enough people will, like me, be turned off enough by this change not to return, that disney will be pressured to restore fast pass- or at least make serious modifications to the fast pass plus system. Or, if disney really wants to add to their profit margin, maybe they’ll add the option universal has where you can pay more to avoid lines. I’m wondering if that may be on the way. In any case, I’m not sure I will be returning if this system remains in place as it is.
trust me . ANYONE THAT SAYS THATS NOT ABOUT THE MONEY ! ITS ALWAYS ABOUT THE MONEY . from the second you arrive in your room till when you leave to go home DISNEY if it chooses will know where you are , what you are doing ,purchasing , drinking , WATCH OUT JOSH , & eating ect.ect. as a 18 year veteran of the parks IF you follow joshs plan that he has laid out FREE I might add .you should have no worries .if for example you want to sleep in go to the pool , get breadfeast , arrive at epcot & expect to ride soarin . forget it . BUT . FP+ WILL ALLOW THAT . WHICH I BELIVE IS WHAT DISNEY IS TRYING TO DO
I’m just wondering what teired Fastpass+ means. I understand that I can’t pick TT if I already have Soarin’ FP+ however when my FP slot is finished can I pick an FP+ for TT?
Regarding the legacy FP machine removal my personal opinion is let’s wait how things will go and don’t jump into conclusions too early. At first we thought that there would be no FP+ available on the same day as all of them had been booked in advance and voila there were available FP+ tickets even for the headliners for offsite guests. We just don’t know enough about the new system yet to judge anything:)
Thanks Josh for your updates, keep them coming:)
@Aristol: With FASTPASS+, the 3 FPs you can get are the total FPs you can get for the day, period. The “tiered” part of that is that the rides for a given park are divided into two “tiers,” with Tier 1 being the top-demand “headliners” and Tier 2 being a larger number of less-in-demand attractions, some of which haven’t traditionally needed FPs anyway. Of the 3 FPs you can reserve (whether in advance or the day of visit), just 1 of those 3 can be for a Tier 1 attraction, and the other 2 can be used only for Tier 2 attractions. So while you can certainly ride TT after using FP+ on Soarin’, you won’t be able to get a FP+ for TT to do so.
Interestingly, as reflected in Josh’s excellent “cheat sheets” and elsewhere, I haven’t yet seen anything listing Magic Kingdom attractions being divided into the two tiers yet. I don’t know whether they simply haven’t gotten around to doing this at the MK until fully “testing” the tiering at the other three parks, or whether they’re looking at the far larger number of attractions at the MK and simply figuring the same three total and one Tier 1 model isn’t going to work well there, and either just won’t divide them or will have a different model of how many total and how many Tier 1.
@pete, toy story IS included. So you can get FPP for that attraction.
Will plastic annual pass tickets still work in fp- machines?
@Katie. They should for now but note expectation that legacy fastpass machines will be removed by spring.
I just want to say that FP is one of the things that made my fall in love with Disney the first time we went. The trip was supposed to be a once in a lifetime trip coming all the way from Oregon. We did Universal, Sea World and Busch also, and they were a lot of fun, but when we went to Disney and were able to use the FP system and cut out so much of the standing in line time, I was hooked. The last trip we took, we stayed onsite for a week for the free dinning. While it was fun eating at places we normally would never do, onsite was a one and done for us. Even with the free dinning it was still $1000-$1500 more for the week, and it just was not worth that for a hotel room instead of a 2 bedroom condo. That means we would be at the mercy of what happened to be available the day of. And to be honest with you, even if we could book out later, I don’t want to plan what park I have to be at every day. I have noticed that some people here say that they did not need many fast passes and they were able to do all the headlines. That is great. The problem I saw was that most of those were going in the off season. We would love to go then but it is just impossible with 2 kids in school. We have from mid-July thru August to go.
The thing that I just don’t understand is why they don’t just do both. I completely understand why some people like the new system. Some people like to completely plan everything, I also can see how much easier it could be for single parents, and I am sure there are other people who like it. But why not just offer one or the other. Pick one and you have to stick with it. Make everyone happy. I also agree with other who have posted here and Disney will probably not miss my business, but why even take that risk?
Ah, thanks Chris
I had seen somewhere that it wasn’t, must have just been in early testing
Didn’t know too much about the tier system, that seems a bit much (and a pain)
Only 3 a day is limiting, being tiered as well is just poor
I hope they do as I suggested and increase options once legacy is removed. I can see however they could offer extended options – charged
We’ll have to wait and see…….
Preach it, snarkymama! We feel the same as you when it comes to this crap!
So, do people really not think MK will not be tiered, as least in some fashion? What do you think the lines are going to be like for that glorified kiddie coaster when it opens? Trying to snag a FP+ for that thing will be similar to a scene from The Hunger Games. EVERYONE will be RUNNING towards the Cornucopia.
Can someone please tell me if I’m wrong but weren’t “old” KTTW cards (i.e. no active park admissions associated) able to be used for a FP in the Legacy system? If so that is a great reason to phase out the old system.
Julie, yes & no. Everyone does pay the same for park tickets, but so does everyone at Universal. Yet, those who stay on site at a Universal resort get their Front of the Line privilege. I guess WDW is rewarding on site guests with booking FPs ahead of time. So on site and off site aren’t getting the same experience. I see nothing wrong with on site guests getting extra perks.
This will be my 6th summer in a row at Disney and sadly I am not nearly as excited as prior years. I even planned 4 days at Universal too which honestly I don’t like that park but it will be less stressful having FOTLA and not having to schedule my entire trip by ride order…Actually am looking forward to the dark side of Orlando this summer!
Will the disconnected FP still be-available under this FP+ system? How will/does that work? I see that they are part of the choices to pick from in the three choices for the whole day so does that mean the only way to get those with the FP+ system is to preschedule them?
30 trips since 1987 with my disney freak wife (maybe a little freak myself) and subsequently with our five children; we believe in legacy fastpass. Going in two weeks to WL, but not looking forward to fastpass+. It is what it is, but it seemed to work fine before. Have to agree with snarkymama on this one. Love Josh and now Lisa, but beg to differ as far as fastpass+ is concerned. Spontaneity is no longer allowed, planning rides
60 days out for each and every day is absurd.
The entire (over)reaction to FP+ doesn’t make a lot sense to me. It may very well have a negative on our touring…or it may not, maybe it will improve it. Unlike far too many, I will actually reserve judgement until after I actually experience it. One of the biggest complaints has been “spontaneity is dead”. I can’t say I agree. You get 3 FP+ per day. Let’s say the average length of time for an attraction is 10 minutes. That’s 30 minutes – we’ll bump it up to one hour to cover the short waits – out of an average operating day of 10 hours. That leaves nine hours to be spontaneous and do whatever tickles your fancy.
The good news? My husband gets to hear me plan a real safari to Africa now rather than all the Disney he has been hearing for the last 6 years. Doing Disney once this spring, as it is my son’s first trip, but all this stuff about FP+ has made me realize that Disney is not my happy place. Seeing the world is much more exciting to me. Disney planning is a lot of fun for me because there are so many variables so it is like a big puzzle. Africa is turning out to be that way too.
I absolutely agree with those that are UNhappy about all of this. FP Legacy made lines bearable for those with small children and rewarded those that “fly by the seat of their pants” while in the parks. This new FP+ crap simply rewards those that are willing to plan months in advance; but how many people are actually able to do that???? We don’t.
And to the person that said you should get more/better perks for staying on site? Phhhhhhhtttttt!!!!!! Get over yourself! I should be penalized for trying to save some money by staying off site???? Disney is waaaaay overpriced. We went in May of last year for 8 days and it cost us over 5 grand for a family of 4, and with the exception of 3 meals in the park, we brought our own food and drinks in backpacks every single day. We bought 0 souveniors. Our only big expense was staying in a large suite at Old Key West. And even with the military discount we paid over $500 a night. That’s nuts!
On top of that, we figured up how much time we wasted waiting around for Disney transportation and it was exceedingly ridiculous. This was the third week of May. I pity the poor saps that go during the summer and are at the mercy of the buses there. Yikes!
Yeah, I think it’s safe to say we’re done with Disney World until the guys in charge get their heads out of their butts and realize it’s just not affordable for most people to go. We’re taking a 2 week vacation to the beach in June and the total bill will be less than 3 grand. And we’ll be in a 3 bedroom, 3 bath house … on the water … with a private dock … and a private boat …. and 2 kayaks …. and surrounded by TONS of great food that is reasonably priced.
I’ll still read Josh’s blog because I do enjoy it so much, but so long to the greedy mouse and his kingdom of “Made in China” crap!
It will be interesting to see what impact the South American tour groups have on the various lines this summer. They typically stay off site and I’ve seen their leaders stand at FP- machines pulling 100s of FPs while their group was on other rides.
“And to the person that said you should get more/better perks for staying on site? Phhhhhhhtttttt!!!!!! Get over yourself! I should be penalized for trying to save some money by staying off site????”
Look…Disney wants people to stay onsite. They make more money that way. They need to entice people to do that, so yes onsite guests should get more/better perks. Look at it this way…you’re not being penalized, WDW resort guests are being rewarded. If you want those rewards (whatever they may be in the future) then stay onsite.
LOL’ing at the comments about how it is SO UNFAIR for offsite guests not to be able to schedule FP+ 60 days in advance and how the mouse is really sticking it to them. But in the same breath they brag about how much cheaper it is to stay offsite and how they can get a 6 bedroom condo for less than a room at a value, etc, etc. Isn’t it obvious that those who choose to stay onsite, pay the inflated room costs for the “extras”? Oh horror, oh gasp! It’s SO UNFAIR that Disney guests get Extra Magic Hours!!! “We bought park tickets just like they did!!!!!” It’s SO UNFAIR that Disney guests get free parking at the parks!!!! “We bought park tickets just like they did!!!!!”. It’s SO UNFAIR that Disney guests get the Magical Express pick up at the airport. “We bought park tickets just like they did!!!!”. Come on. Off site guests are still going to have same day access to FP’s just like legacy FP’s, so what is the big deal. If Disney wants to make the pre-booking thing a “perk” to onsite guests to help fill the rooms, why not?
@Pete: at Disney WORLD, Toy Story is definitely a FASTPASS ride, but my understanding is that at DisneyLAND, it isn’t. Maybe that’s what you had seen and weren’t picking up on the locations?
Obamacare meet Fastpass+ and vice versa
To those that said “no more spontaneity”. Where was the spontaneity before? How was walking up to a machine that spit out a ticket that said “return at 1:30” spontaneous?
@Brian B: Because we could CHOOSE to use the 1:30pm FP if we wanted to and if it didn’t work out, we give our FP to someone else who can use them and go onto the next FP ride because you were not limited.
We pull legacy FP all day long, used most of them and the ones we didn’t use, we gave to others. We CHOOSE to spend our days in the parks that way rather than standing in lines. We’d much rather go from FP kiosk to FP kiosk, turning in those tickets and almost always walking on the ride(sometimes a 5-10min wait), rather than standing in a 45 min line for the Jungle Cruise with small kids. It was nice to know we could start at HS at rope drop and do TSM, get FP for the other top rides before lunch and then hop over to MK an be able to FP space mountain, etc. You CANT do that anymore. Sure you can ride space mountain in the afternoon once you get there if your willing to spend 60-120min in line, I’m NOT. For the life of me, I never understood people who were willing to stand in those long lines. Who’s having more fun, and getting more bang for their buck, the person in the 60-90+ min line or those of us who have been able to ride 2-3 rides or more by using the legacy FP system?
Everyone tours differently, I get that, but I for one surely don’t like to pay that much money to have to stand in lines like that when I don’t/didn’t have to.
I don’t see a lot that is positive about the new FP+. Just another aspect of your WDW “vacation” that now needs to be planned well in advance. I prefer the old FP system as it gave you a little more options.
Fact is, not all resorts are rolled out. Once everyone is making reservations for FP+, it’s not going to be that fun expecially during peak times. What to get a FP for TSM for a certain day, too bad, all gone. Try another day, all gone. Need to change a FP time, too bad, all booked for the day. Guess you have to wait 2 hrs in standby. Seems like it will be worse that making ADR’s in some cases. I feel bad for the offite guess or locals that need to make a FP ressie same day.
We’ll be heading back to WDW in the future, but just no sure when yet. Think we’ll wait for all the dust to settle once everything is implemented and opened. May have to check out Universal/Sea World in the meantime. Express pass sounds better and better each day. 🙂
@kalliyan1: but the only difference now is that you can’t give it away. And either way, that’s still not spontaneity.
Not even going to get involved in the DIS style debate going on here. Got a legit question about KTTW cards.
Is there a reason to request a KTTW card at all? Would it be just as a back up for the Magic Bands? Traveling in February and wonder if it’s worthwhile to ask for a KTTW card other than as a neat souvenir.
Basically–and, again, I don’t expect Disney, or anyone else, to give a mouse’s patooty what I think, or cater to me in any way, shape or form–I am willing to play the game up to a point, because I enjoyed the Disney experience enough to make the inconveniences and planning hassle worthwhile.
Here’s where I’m coming from: We took trips in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Each one was a bit more complicated and less enjoyable than the last, which is why we’ve said we don’t really need to go again in the near future.
OK: I’ll sit online and wait at dawn to make my dining reservations at mediocre, but, yes, cutely themed and very convenient restaurants, six months in advance.
NOT OK (AKA where I draw my, personal line): If I want to cancel, and we always CANCELLED, not just no-showed, those reservations made six months ago without two days notice, Disney will charge me for the privilege. Oh and, I have to give you my credit card number each and every time and hope and pray I’m properly checked in, not mis-charged, etc. Given Disney’s crack IT staff and amazing computer systems, thanks anyways.
SOLUTION: We no longer ate at Disney restaurants and ended up being grateful to avoid the bad food and high prices. We saved money, ate better and I no longer had to check Disney dining daily hoping for that “one” special reservation to open up. So, in that way, the stupid cancellation policy was a boon for me.
OK: Disney offers high-priced accommodations with special “on site” perks, including transportation, extra magic hours, free parking, etc.
NOT OK: The accommodations themselves are pretty mediocre. Small, poorly maintained and not just expensive, but absolutely ridiculously over-priced, based on the amenities, service and room size and quality. The conditions of all 3 Disney deluxe rooms we’ve stayed in are shameful. Acceptable if I was paying $69 at a roadside La Quinta, not $550/night in a so-called “flagship” resort. Throw in the idea that extra magic hours have been dramatically slashed and the “transportation options,” in particular the monorail, are hugely annoying and/or unreliable and those perks aren’t looking very perky.
SOLUTION: We stayed “off-site” at the Waldorf on our last trip. We had a huge, gorgeous suite for less than the price of a Disney Deluxe standard room, impeccable service, fantastic amenities and, bonus, a better view than even the most awesome Disney “theme park view” room pic I’ve ever seen. We could see every park and nightly fireworks from every angle at both Epcot and MK. And, with the exception of the Magic Kingdom, driving our car to the parks every day was faster, easier and more convenient than any Disney transportation method I’ve ever tried. Score!
OK: I’ll get there at rope drop, run all over the park and follow a touring plan, only go to recommended parks on recommended days and abide by the FastPass return time on my ticket in order to avoid long lines. (Though, yeah I sure miss the flexibility of the “return anytime after” way it used to be …)
NOT OK: Having to plan my rides six months, or even 60 days in advance, and having to go back to Disney’s resorts to even have that right. (Though maybe when the Four Seasons open that one would be worth it.) Only being allowed one “headliner” pass per park and having to constantly monitor my smart phone all day long to navigate from ride to ride on Disney’s schedule, since you can only pick certain times, etc. OR, alternatively, continuing to stay off site, but then having NO options until you get to the park, and then having to wait in line at a kiosk to even get those, which I expect to find are extremely limited.
SOLUTION: That last one is, I believe, the straw that broken this mama’s back … Or at least my Disney vacation bug. My husband already hated the rope drop crowds, waiting to get in and then running to a big ride and crisscrossing the park to get FastPasses. I was the one beating the Disney drum and I’m just not hearing the mouse calls anymore.
I’m OK with paying more for extra perks, but they have to actually BE perks; i.e. make me feel like I’m receiving fair value for what I’m getting. It’s not the price point, so much as what you get for it. So far, Disney’s hotels and restaurants have not made me feel like I’m getting value for their offered services at the prices they’re charging, so my expectation is that the FastPass+ will be equally sub-par. I enjoy the Disney magic, but I’m not snorting pixie dust.
I’ll be happy to be proven wrong if this turns out to be an awesome addition that makes the parks more pleasant for all. I totally admit that’s a possibility. And I’m also not making any “vacation ruined” I’ll-never-set-foot-on-Disney-property-again declarations.
This is absolutely just my initial and highly personal assessment, based solely on what I’ve read here and other places, and other’s opinions and experiences will certainly differ. It’s all good, and I promise you I’m not losing even five minutes of sleep over the idea that we’ll vacation in Hawaii, Mexico, Europe … Or wherever, next year, and the years after instead of Disney World. For about the same price, I might add, in higher quality accommodations.
What it really boils down to is this: We spent a week at the Ritz, in a suite, on Maui for less than what our ’11 Disney trip at the Grand cost. To me, that’s just crazy pants. And, yeah, I’m the one who planned them both, so it’s my own dang fault for paying that much in the first place, but that’s also a big part of why I’m not planning another Disney trip in the near future. Throw one more complication into the mix and it goes from “well, maybe” to “no freaking way.”
@Anonymous: Agreed you can’t give it away but you also have to agree that 3 is 3! A far cry from being able to pull 7-10 at MK deciding to use them or not, then go to HS and pulling 3-4 FP all the while not having to stand in line to ride.
Being able to CHOOSE at 2:00pm on the day your at MK that you want to go to HS for the rest of the day and get some FP there is spontaneous, oh but wait…we have our FP+ scheduled at the MK for 3, 6, and 9PM and we cant reschedule because 1. the times don’t work and/or aren’t available 2. we made the spontaneous decesion to go to HS so we loose our whooping 3 FP+ allotments for the day.
I think I’ll go to Europe, Mexico and Hawaii with Snarkymama 🙂
Snarkymama
I wish I could express my thoughts as well as you do. You are, absolutely, positively spot on with your analysis of the situation.
This is bogus. We go every Nov and stay in an awesome 3 bdrm condo at Reunion Resort (one exit down I-4 from WDW) for $450/week. All the $$$ we save on accommodations pays for almost everything else. We RD everyday and hop almost everyday. We would easily use 6+ FPs. Not only would we be down to 3 now but I can’t even spread them among two parks! I’m very sad right now. I am not a “wait in liner” (yeah, even the shorter Nov lines) and this move by Diz greatly changes the playing field, IMHO.
In December we stayed at POR and only used the FP+ system. We had KTTW cards, but wanted to truly test the MagicBands. We HAD to use the cards at TS (more on that later). The bands were awesome for getting into the room, paying for purchases at stores, using at entrance and FP+.
We did set up FP+ times a month before our trip. We used Josh’s guide to the most recommended park of the day and made our park selections that way. Worked like a charm! We were able to change/modify our rides throughout the day via kiosks and CM with iPads. It was much easier than I thought it would be.
The negatives we experienced: 1.) Park hopping… we couldn’t get FPs in 2 different parks in the same day. We were there during a slow period, so waiting in line wasn’t more than 20 minutes. No biggie, but would be a biggie at peak seasons. 2.) Wi-Fi wasn’t working. We could’ve used our personal internet on our smartphones (we did have coverage), but again… we were trying use Disney’s system/Wi-Fi. We kept getting error messages and had to depend on the kiosks and CMs. 3.) Our MagicBands would not work at any of the table service restaurants and we HAD to use our KTTW cards. All of our TS servers were frustrated by the MB system. I hope they get the TS kinks worked out before all the resorts go card free.
As an annual 2 week Disney vacationer and some years even more, after this year’s trip during Xmas, will not be going back anytime soon and will be renting our points. We did have success with EMH(gasp, yes we did this time) and using FP+ later in the day; however, those weren’t the reasons for our decision. It was very difficult to use the My Disney experience as it kept refusing to open or it was unavailable even with two different carriers and several different types of phones in our party. We did not have the ability to change times or better yet, even cancel a dining reservation two days ahead of time. Wifi in the room did not work well either. Concierge even had difficulties with system. I am fine with being held accountable for reservations I make, but when I cannot cancel within a time frame with the tools Disney pushes on me – it is a problem. For those of you that will think to yourselves, use the phone – we did – it was having problems as well. Having then to wait on hold for 25 to 30 minutes to speak to a live person, it is not customer service, nor is it what it used to be. Change is good to a certain extent; however, even many of the CMs this trip lost their magic 🙁 It just was not the same. The meat cutter back home at least greeted with a smile and by name and I didn’t have to travel 1,000 miles 🙂
You can cancel dining reservations quickly and easily via phone at (407) WDW-DINE.
If you call the dining line to cancel one of the questions is if you’re currently at WDW… select that and you get put right through. I’ve never waited more than a few seconds.
Actually you do get different perks for staying at different resorts. At deluxe resorts, a lot of them are connected by the monorail for transportation to the MK, they have concierge levels, suits available, table service restaurants that a lot of them take 2 dining credits if you go dining plan, and I’m sure there are other things but I have never stayed at deluxe, At moderate resorts, the rooms for the most part are a lot quieter than the value resorts, table service restaurant, although not fine dining, and at value you get counter service, affordable rooms and not very many other amenities. It depends on what you want to spend. All give transportation to the parks, allow free parking at the parks, extra magic hours, etc. Staying off site yes the cost may be less for the room, but no perks for staying on site. It is not about what is available to you once you get in the parks, nor what you get at meals, it is the perks that come with staying on site with Disney. It is all in what you personally want to spend. No right or wrong answer, it’s just preference.
We just have to get used to the new normal. Used fast pass plus in November. Worked really well. However, we could still use paper fast pass also. But actually used very few legacy fast passes. Going in 2 weeks, hoping to maybe get a few legacy fastpasses before there are gone forever. Following Josh’s crowd calendar & touring plans really makes the trip so much easier. Thanks for your hard work josh!! You make my day!
You can’t buy Chevy and expect a Porsche…if you stay onsite you should get more perks! It is simple business 101. Disney is a business and if they don’t find a way to make more money each year their service and quality will down.