Magic Bands/FP+ and Legacy FP (Rumor)

[Amy]

I would guess it should be fairly slow when you are there. The marathoners should be cleared out...mostly...and you shouldn't have too terribly long of a wait for anything.
Bummer they changed it right before you were going though. It sounded like you had a good plan...

[cy1229]

The people I really feel for are the ones who are totally clueless. They don't know anyone who's a major Disney-o-phile, and that they should do all this planning for ADR's and ;p+ in advance. They're the ones who are going to have a miserable time in line.

[theBIGyowski]

Yeah...we won't be going to EPCOT on any morning because they just don't have enough going on at Rope Drop to warrant it. We'll be doing the other 3 parks at Rope Drop and EPCOT on Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening.

I went ahead and bit the bullet on FP+. It doesn't really change my plans much because the crowds are very low for the days we are there. It just means that we'll have to wait about 35-40 minutes in the standby line for Soarin'...which in the grand scheme of things isn't too bad. We will still carry our "paper" tickets with us in hopes that we can still use Legacy FP in EPCOT along with FP+.

[Amy]

Yeah...we won't be going to EPCOT on any morning because they just don't have enough going on at Rope Drop to warrant it. We'll be doing the other 3 parks at Rope Drop and EPCOT on Wednesday afternoon and Friday evening.

I went ahead and bit the bullet on FP+. It doesn't really change my plans much because the crowds are very low for the days we are there. It just means that we'll have to wait about 35-40 minutes in the standby line for Soarin'...which in the grand scheme of things isn't too bad. We will still carry our "paper" tickets with us in hopes that we can still use Legacy FP in EPCOT along with FP+.

If you are still in EPCOT later at night you might be able to avoid a lengthy wait for Soarin' too...

[theBIGyowski]

yeah...the line for Soarin' shouldn't be too bad. The problem is that the lines for Test Track are hardly ever less than an hour...even during slow days and times. So it's in our best interest to use FP+ for Test Track.

We still plan on trying to use our tickets to get FP for Soarin' though. I'm hoping that with Legacy FP going away soon...they are not caring about people gaming the system in the parks that still have both...as most guests either won't try or don't have physical tickets at all because they bought their park passes via a package.

[Amy]

yeah...the line for Soarin' shouldn't be too bad. The problem is that the lines for Test Track are hardly ever less than an hour...even during slow days and times. So it's in our best interest to use FP+ for Test Track.

We still plan on trying to use our tickets to get FP for Soarin' though. I'm hoping that with Legacy FP going away soon...they are not caring about people gaming the system in the parks that still have both...as most guests either won't try or don't have physical tickets at all because they bought their park passes via a package.

It's worth a try anyhow...although I wonder if they will have actually removed the FP machines altogether? You might luck out in those first few days ~ fingers crossed!

[theBIGyowski]

I think they will either be shut down or removed in MK after tomorrow.

[Wizzard419]

You might be able to see the machines but, since they are networked, I am guessing they will all have their covers on them.

[Amy]

You might be able to see the machines but, since they are networked, I am guessing they will all have their covers on them.

packwingfan that works at WDW posted a picture of the covered FP machines tonight and said today was the last day for the paper FP...

[dstrawn9889]

in the MK

[Amy]

in the MK

Oh...that I didn't catch ~ thanks!

[theBIGyowski]

I posted about it on FB while I was there (our soarin' got onto me for doing so ) that I was able to use Legacy FP in EPCOT even though I was using FP+ in other parks. Now...I did not try doing this on the same day that I had FP+ reservations in other parks...as we only did EPCOT on 1/15. I did have other FP+ reservations for EPCOT that day though...so it is possible until they get rid of Legacy FP in EPCOT and DHS...which should be happening very soon.

[Amy]

I posted about it on FB while I was there (our soarin' got onto me for doing so ) that I was able to use Legacy FP in EPCOT even though I was using FP+ in other parks. Now...I did not try doing this on the same day that I had FP+ reservations in other parks...as we only did EPCOT on 1/15. I did have other FP+ reservations for EPCOT that day though...so it is possible until they get rid of Legacy FP in EPCOT and DHS...which should be happening very soon.

Yeah, I'm thinking the loop hole won't exist for very long as they seem to be phasing out the paper FP pretty quickly.

[Wizzard419]

I wonder how much the new system will change perception of the entry times since it still is just some low paid meat puppet that stands there and says go ahead (and presumably allows for a break in protocol) as opposed to a physical gate like you would see on a subway.

So far the system hasn't been fully rolled out (and I still see no proof of the lofty claims of the price), but overall it seems like a massive waste of money at this stage because all they have to show for it is new hotel locks and the data provided is almost no different from the old system since the collection points haven't changed. No guest is clamoring to go on a WDW vacation because they have new wristbands, even ride upgrades to use the tech aren't going to drive the needle. The only perks are that logistically, they get a better picture for staffing/resources for specific days (at the same time they could still make accurate predictions based on hotel bookings), and placing a charge card on your wrist makes you more inclined to bill to your vacation which means they save on swipe fees, but still it will take a while to turn a profit on that.

[theBIGyowski]

Yeah...I was kind of surprised at how "relaxed" the park entries were...especially MK. It seriously looked like you could just walk right past the RFID readers if you wanted to and it was crowded enough to distract the CMs. For example...DW had issues getting past the finger scanning...so the CM would always have to come try to assist her before handing her off to the CM with the iPad. While those CM's were distracted by my DW...I could have easily walked right past them and into the parks. Now maybe they have security watching for that kind of stuff but maybe they don't at all times.

I agree on the ROI...not sure when it will start being worth the investment they have in it. I'm sure there's some kind of long term strategy that we don't know about.

One thing about FP+ with regards to touring times...it is probably likely that some people will not get to the parks at rope drop if they have FP+ reservations for the attractions they want...and those times are later in the morning or after. Before you would have needed to get there at rope drop to get a FP for TSMM or Space Mountain/Splash/etc...so you could get other FP's that same day. The only major downside is that the attractions are tiered in every park except for MK...and you only get one FP+ reservation in the first tier...meaning you have to choose between Soarin' or Test Track...TSMM or RnR...EE or Safari...etc.