Have Disney killed Park Hopper?

[Guest]

We are travelling to Orlando next month. All the Fastpasses are organised but the one problem area is Epcot. We plan to visit Epcot twice during out trip. The first time we are scheduled to visit we are going to HS in the am/early pm then heading to Epcot for the late pm/evening to catch the fireworks. I had assumed that we would be able to book a Fastpass for Test Track for late in the evening after we used our third Fastpass at HS but having spoken to friends who have just returned the chances of getting a 4th Fastpass are zero. The queues at the Fastpass booths are horrendous and the App simply can't function because of the volume of people turning up on the day with no pre booked Fastpasses. Apparently all the main rides had stand by queues of 90mins plus. We have a Fastpass booked for Soarin booked for our 2nd Epcot day but we can't fit in two full Epcot days. So in essence have Disney killed Park Hopping in peak season with these new Fastpasses?

[shack69]

I hear what you are saying but with the old system you would of turned up at epcot in thev evening and their would of been no fast passes at all. At least now you can hit the studios in the morning and ride when most are still arriving. Then have FP's booked for epcot in the evening.
I know this means no FP's at the studios, but for me this is better as in the past we have turned up in a park and ridden nothing on an evening because of the waits.
Have they killed hopping NO, could they open the system up so you can select FP's from multiple parks YES. so 2 for stuidos and 1 for epcot.
As for extra ones. Having been someone who knew the old system and could maximse FP's , the new system is not as good for me, but it does seem to give more people the chance of FP's, so I suppose its fairer ( I know the 30 / 60 day thing is not but i'm not starting that debate).

[Sioux]

I wouldn't say they've killed Park Hopping with FP+ and in my experience we always knew arriving at parks late in the day we would be unlikely to get a FP under the old system, as there was always a limit on the number they gave out so nothing much has changed in that respect. We tend to make use of the single rider lines and Test Track has one so I'd suggest using that if riding TT is a must do.

FP+ does divide opinion but at least it's included in the ticket price.

[sky13]

Nope.

In fact - I think park hopping works great under the new FP+ system. Essentially my ideal situation is to hit rope drop at my first park, do all the rides while the queues are short, then when it starts getting busy hop over to my second park. I would have booked FPs at my second park, so I can just go straight onto rides when I get there.

Under the old system, as shack69 has said, the Test Track, Soarin', TSMM and some other FPs were taken very early in the morning, so you would not have been able to get them if you park hopped over.

If you want to do Test Track and Soarin at Epcot on the same day, would try to rope drop and head to one of them early before the queues build, then use an FP to ride the other. Alternatively there is single rider at Test Track, though this can still get long.

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies. The problem is that we have first timers with us who are only in Orlando for a week. I'm not convinced that under FP+ it is doable given the size of the stand by queues. Single rider queue at Test Track isn't something I was aware of so thanks for that. We will have used our 3rd FP by 12:15 so I naively thought that a late evening 4th FP at Park 2 would have been possible but the evidence suggests otherwise. Guess it's just a case of adapting previous touring plans to fit the Disney game plan. Can't help thinking this is all designed to fill up their hotels and keep you in their parks longer each day and for more days during your stay.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bigbairn

Can't help thinking this is all designed to fill up their hotels and keep you in their parks longer each day and for more days during your stay.

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Is that not what anyone would want if they owned disney? I would be trying to keep people in 24hrs a day if they were spending money!

[Guest]

There's always the single rider line for Test Track! Does it really matter that you are sat in a car behind the one your friend is in?

[Guest]

Originally Posted by spiya

Is that not what anyone would want if they owned disney? I would be trying to keep people in 24hrs a day if they were spending money!

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I realise that it is a business which is trying to maximise revenue. My concern is the longer term impact. I've spoken to 3 families who have experienced both the new FP+ and the old FPs. All said the same thing. They will go back to Orlando but they won't be going back to Disney. I've been watching the size of the stand by queues over the last two weeks. I've just had to resign myself to hours in queues or choosing the least popular attractions to alleviate the boredom.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by spiya

Is that not what anyone would want if they owned disney? I would be trying to keep people in 24hrs a day if they were spending money!

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Mhm. Exactly.

For the OP, I'd give FP+ a go first, I wasn't its biggest supporter either when it was announced but actually using it, it worked quite well. The headline rides will probably have all the FPs booked up later on in the day, but it would've been the same with the old system (the tickets run out, and the machines covered over).

Non main rides will probably still have some FP slots free to book at the kiosks so I wouldn't rule that out, and don't forget about the standby lines. Queues will probably be less later in the day.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by geoffa

There's always the single rider line for Test Track! Does it really matter that you are sat in a car behind the one your friend is in?

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No it doesn't. That was an excellent tip I wasn't aware of.