Walt Disney World raises prices for busiest times of year

Also, the larger your group, the harder it is to get FP's day-of. If you're patient and have a lot of free time, you can usually wiggle individuals in swap times to where you're together, but it's a pain in the ass. A week advance is ideal, for sure.

It's funny how we're all used to it enough now that we embrace the system, and even wish you could do 4 in advance in a day. The paper system still had its advantages, because most (but not all) attractions allowed you to get a ticket as late as 2 hours in advance. In those days, we could stack them most of the days, alternating with stuff that had short lines or no passes (People Mover, shows, train, etc). We did a day at Magic Kingdom in late 2013 where we did 7 FP's easily.

The FP:SB ratio is 4:1 on a low crowd day and 10:1 on a busy day. Which really makes you think what some of those waits would (or wouldn't) be if they were all standby.

I never got a chance to try out the paper system.

And Brett, that's typically what we have done; try to be at the park at opening with the first FP's starting around 10 or so.

It sounds like it would at least be an especially nice option for locals/annual-pass-holders to be able to park hop with FP's for a day.

OhioStater said:

That sounds like a great day at Disney, especially when you toss in the park hop. Relatively speaking, your wait times were short.

By Disney standards, maybe.

I guess I've been spoiled by my visits to the major parks in Dubai. I don't think I waited more than ten minutes for anything.

Jeff said:

The paper system still had its advantages, because most (but not all) attractions allowed you to get a ticket as late as 2 hours in advance. In those days, we could stack them most of the days, alternating with stuff that had short lines or no passes (People Mover, shows, train, etc). We did a day at Magic Kingdom in late 2013 where we did 7 FP's easily.

Boy do I miss the days of paper Fastpasses. The most I ever did in a Magic Kingdom day (admittedly during a slow season) was 9. I also remember the brief window of time in 2013/2014 when they were launching FP+ and you could do both - book your three Fastpass+ but still have full access to legacy Fastpass tickets.

I think what I miss the most though are the minor and moderate attractions not having Fastpasses. I've said it before, the days when you could get on rides like Haunted Mansion or Spaceship Earth in relatively no time at all are long gone now that there is Fastpass demand for these attractions.

I have figured out ways to make the current system work for me, but the overall rides per visit average has gone down significantly. Unless it's a trip to Epcot to walk around and eat, I won't even bother going to a park without FP+ reservations. Not because I'm not willing to wait in lines, but because I know how long and slow moving nearly every standby line is with the current system in place.