Up until now, visitors have had to make Fastpass+ reservations in blocks of three. You could reserve three Fastpass+ times for each day of your visit for each ticket-holder. Then, once you'd gone on all those rides, you could make three more Fastpass+ reservations for later that day, by visiting one of the Fastpass+ stations in the park.
Now, you don't have to make your reservations in blocks of three. Want just one or two reservations? Go ahead. And once your reservations are used, you can make additional reservations on the day of your visit through Disney's official My Disney Experience app on your smartphone or tablet. You no longer have to see a cast member at an in-park Fastpass+ station.
How long will we see how long those stations last, now that they're no longer essential for making additional reservations? I suspect that Disney will keep them staffed early in the day, for people who didn't know that they could make their reservations in advance. But with more fans using the app to book their fourth Fastpass+ and beyond, I wouldn't be surprised to see the stations going away by mid-day.
If you've not used Fastpass+ for a Walt Disney World visit before, you will need to go to disneyworld.disney.go.com/plan and create an account, if you haven't made an account with Disney's website before. If you have a Disney World hotel reservation, you can link that reservation to your account. If not, you'll need to add the family and friends you will be visiting with, then link their theme park tickets to their accounts, so that you can start making Fastpass+ reservations. (So, yes, you will have to have bought your tickets in advance.)
Do all this well in advance of your 30- or 60-day window opening, so that you can log on and start making reservations as soon as you are eligible. If you want to get reserved times for high-demand attractions — meeting Anna & Elsa or riding the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train — you should log in just after midnight on the day you can make reservations. Otherwise, logging in anytime that day should be fine. We recommend going for your choice of up to three among the high-demand, long-wait attractions in each park for your advance reservations.
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Then go for other popular attractions for your "extra" reservations:
Magic Kingdom
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Epcot
Get the rides you want first, then go back and change the reservations to nail down the specific times you want. We recommend reserving for early in the day, but not in the first hour that the park is open.
Plan to arrive at the park for the opening, then do the other popular rides you don't have reservations for, before the lines build up. Your Fastpass+ reservations should come into play after that - typically between 10am and 1pm. As soon as you check in for your third Fastpass+ reservations, get out your smartphone and try to make additional reservations for the rides you missed.
If you are traveling by yourself, or you are willing to ride separately from your family or friends, using single rider lines can be a great alternative to Fastpass+, as they allows you to skip much of the wait without having to make an advance reservation. Here is a list of rides with single-rider lines, at top Disney and Universal theme parks.
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But now only one question remains: what do the anonymous trolls (well, aside from me) think of this change? Will they be impressed and finally start to see the company in a more positive light, or will they still find something to hate and start with the same endless flood of complaints they usually bring in? Let's just wait and see....
I think it's pretty fair that you've decided to wait and actually physically try the tweaked, new(ish) system before making final judgements. However, I think it's important for me to mention that since I already know everyone's opinions on FP+ pre-tweaking and I'm more interested in your opinions on it post-tweaking. I mean, if you guys still wanna complain about FP+ pre-tweaking, that doesn't mean you can't do it. Freedom of Speech and all that. But just thought I'd put that out there.
But, in all honesty, I really do respect and appreciate your decision.
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