I like FPPs. I also remember waiting what felt like 3 hours in the HOT July sun for Tower of Terror because FPPs didn’t exist then. No thank you!
Sometimes we just have to muddle thru the storm to get to the other side!!
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That’s the point. You would have to prioritize your FPP choices accordingly. It doesn’t have to be an hour exactly. Could be 30 minutes, etc. But for those with much longer stays, the “need” for the Fast Pass system to be immediate becomes less important since you have an advantage on being able to schedule days further out than most everyone else.
No, still terrible. The added stress of making sure you got the right one on the first try would be insane. You think it’s cutthroat now, it would be far worse with that method.
There’s nothing really wrong with the FPP system. It’s not like its required and all are welcome to still wait in the long lines that were always there should they so choose. All it’s doing is just electronically holding your place in line, much like the DAS.
It’s just the IT portion of things that is fouled up right now and has been for a while and getting worse. The infrastructure of the system is not capable of the load and that’s inexcusable.
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For the original poster:
Don’t give up on modifying that SDD fastpass! After seeing your post I decided to see how the app was working for me. On a whim I checked out if it was possible to modify a few of my fastpasses. I didn’t try any of the really hard to get ones but I was able to change several fastpasses to times that were not available on my 60 day mark. So it can be done! 
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Yes.
And they can resolve that by spreading out the load. It is a simple matter of bottlenecks. You can invest a ton of money in increasing infrastructure just to help the system for the 1 hour that the system becomes overwhelmed, or you can spend NOTHING and spread that load out more.
I disagree about it becoming more cutthroat. I’ve thought heavily about it not just from a practicality standpoint, but an algorithmic one. There are many advantages and few disadvantages…and many of the things perceived as disadvantages aren’t actually when you really think it through.
I’m only talking about the scheduling system when you are more than 10 days out (for example).
Considering the site is always bogging down throughout the day and the bottleneck is literally every day at 7AM, the money SHOULD be spent. Disney is getting ready to drop 84 BILLION on Fox…time to throw a few bucks at the servers.
Additionally, there’s zero customer advantage of limiting 1 FPP per [time periord] with the exception of maybe a few minutes (at most, no more than 3-5 minutes). It will do nothing but cause frustration and will remove the feature as a selling point for Disney. The frustration one feels now at 7AM will pale in comparison if FPPs are now on a 30minute-1hour delay.
Disney doesn’t need to save money here, they need to fix the issues.
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true dat
Actually, quite the contrary. There is a ton of advantage to the user. The least of which is that it becomes a great equalizer in many regards.
Anyhow, I don’t disagree that Disney needs to improve their IT infrastructure heavily…but even if it was working perfectly, I think the spreading out the FPPs offers several advantages.
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Thanks @paul - yes I will keep trying…and for all my griping and complaining, except for SDD, I got everything else I wanted at the exact time I needed - so I’m done my whining now. It’s just I had my nice little spreadsheet all laid out with what to schedule in what order and after 3 hours in, I was just trying anything at any day. I don’t know if the system got “fixed” or it was because I switched to Firefox… doesn’t really matter at this point
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Like what?
And the “equalizer” argument is really suspect as it will likely just lead everyone to instead “compete” at 7AM to “compete” at the top of the hour when the next window opens up. Not to mention you’ll also now be having people “compete” with the “modifiers” who try and fix their FPPs throughout the day, including those in the parks.
1, Right now, people who live in the Eastern Time Zone have the most advantage (well, plus the people in Europe). People on west coast have to actually wake themselves up in the middle of the night in order to have any chance whatsoever. But spreading them out means that even if a west coaster gets up at a reasonable time, they still have a shot at the FPPs.
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People can be more strategic in getting the FPPs they want, rather than a mad dash to get something.
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If someone is slower on the draw, or has a less than perfect internet connection, etc., it is possible that 90% of the available FPPs are gone within a short time period. They lose out. But with it spread out, there is still an advantage to those who are quick on the draw, but it doesn’t lock out others from getting a shot.
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For those who are having a short trip (say, 3 days or less), they will be more focused on the first three days of the window. This means they can spend their time there first. But those who have much longer stays could decide to focus not on front-loading their FPPs just to get something, but can spread out the headliners across more days.
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If a person is unavailable at any given time during the day (right now, at exactly 7:00 ET), they lose out. But with it spread out more, they might lose out a LITTLE, but they won’t lose out a LOT. This makes it LESS cutthroat. I mean, the fact is there are times people can’t hit the given time slot. It is nice to know all the good FPPs won’t be gone if I’m busy for an hour or two. (The system MIGHT even be designed to account for this, where if you miss two hours, then when you log in, it gives you a chance to “catch up.”)
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It becomes possible for Disney to actually separate out the infrastructure in how they handle the case of people in the park accessing the system versus people doing their 30 day or 60 day FPP reservation. This can result in further enhancement in user experience. (Who knows…perhaps they already do this?)
…
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- For argument’s sake, I’ll agree with this one. If the “global” FPP window still opens at the same time, 7AM, the biggest advantage is now apathy setting in with most people not wanting to wake up just to get that 1 fast pass. However, there is nothing to suggest they would still have a shot at the good FPPs if they wake up hours later.
- While a general mad-dash won’t happen, a more specific mad dash WILL happen. As you only get 1 shot per hour, they will have to be absolutely sure whatever they chose is what they want, OR (and far more likely) just go for the hardest-to-get ones first and then modify later. So, they’ll likely go for the bigger attractions first (like FOP). This is where the stress comes in. So now all the FOPs are gone even faster for all days because now everyone is focused on just those.
- Same reason as #2. Having everyone hyper focused on one FPP at a time means the hard-to-get ones now become impossible-to-get. There is an even worse disadvantage here if you have slow internet or your browser acts up if you want to ride anything more popular than Barnstormer.
- This already happens. There’s no advantage here. In fact, now it’s a disadvantage because of how long and frustrating it is to get the passes.
- What makes all the “good FPPs” not gone? I’m starting to think there’s a key component here that you haven’t mentioned. Are you expecting each time zone to get a rolling window with their own set of availability?
- There’s no reason Disney can’t already do this, so this isn’t an advantage.
Unless there’s a key process that you are implementing here that you haven’t mentioned (like the rolling window for time zones), there’s little to no advantage being demonstrated here. I know it seems “fanboyish” but Disney wouldn’t have implemented the current system without a MASSIVE amount of testing first to find the happy mediums. There’s just too much money at stake to create a negative user experience if there was an obvious better way.
I could actually model it out in software if I had the time/inclination. I’m confident it would show you I’m right on this one. 
I can play out many scenarios in my head, and they all work to the general advantage of the user. For example, what you’re assuming about number 2 applies today already. The point is that it gives others a chance at the headliners that they might not get a chance at otherwise because something is faster.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Disney isn’t going to do it. But it WOULD help things, I have no doubt about it. (I didn’t touch on all the advantages, nor explore them in detail here, but I could if I had the time/inclination).
So I’ll just leave it at that.
According to a cast member earlier today, Disney IT pulled a majority of Fast Pass inventory and will not release them until the system is back up and running 100%. You’re not losing your mind and this is not normal. Even for Disney.
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Thanks! Good to know - but I may or may not have already lost my mind 
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LOL! I feel the same way- about losing my mind, and trying to get FP since Sunday.
Or, you know, they could simply do what they already do at DLR and use the MaxPass.
MaxPass is the epitome of what a reservation system should be. There are no “tricks”, no strategy to follow, no need to wake up early, no competition, no “edge” for advanced users. As long as you use it, everyone is on the same level playing field.
What is more, it makes touring the park a joy again. It returns the spontaneity to it and not this OCD driven obsession with silly timesheets that seem so popular on this forum.
This guy said it better:
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Disagree. I have to work and can’t keep hopping on to schedule my FPs. Something strange is going on with MDE right now and Disney needs to fix it. When I made them for my trip in May, the system worked just fine.
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Agree, that guy said it better.
That said, I concur that DLR w/ MaxPass outshines WDW w/FP+.
The biggest issue for Disney in adopting MaxPass is that WDW is a destination vacation far more than Disneyland. They make TONS of money by convincing people to stay on property. The number one way of doing that? Providing access to FPP and EMH. (Not suggesting there aren’t other advantages, but those are up at the top.)
Even if you go 6 days for a family of four and pay $10 per person per day, that’s $240. But the amount Disney makes from that same family staying in one of their resorts, even at the low end is FAR MORE than that.
If FPP was replaced by MaxPass, Disney would lose a LOT of revenue because a significant number of guests would switch to off-site resorts.
But, we can dream!