i dont understand...why did they do this to begin with?
Like I said in an earlier post, there are definitely some benefits to it, and I enjoyed my day at Animal Kingdom using the new paperless system. It was probably the best day at the parks I've had in a while.
Now, it DOES limit your ability to park-hop between all four parks in one day. But when you're doing that, you rarely have time to get FP's anyway, and would need to go when it's off-season, when FP's aren't needed anyway. The day I went to the park was pretty busy, with Animal Kingdom being open until 8 pm, but that proved a good time to utilize the new system. The advantages to the guest are:
1. Having your day planned out ahead of time is relaxing...before, you literally had to strategize your best FP times. If Everest's FPs were being issued Return Times of 7:30 when you were on the other side of the park, you had to make a mad dash to get there before they ran out. The problem of being in the right place at the right time for FP distribution has been completely eliminated. All it takes now is one quick stop to get 3 Fastpasses for any rides of your choosing, and then you're free to enjoy the rest of the day at your leisure. Knowing when our evening FP return times would be by noon meant we could plan meals easier and meander from ride to ride until our designated return time quietly arrived. Disney's insane crowds have made getting FPs a hassle, but with the new system this issue is completely eliminated.
2. Less to carry. This is more of a perk for hotel guests, obviously, but even for us it was nice to not have to worry about keeping track of six slips of paper that tend to like to get lost. This is a small perk, but it was nice nonetheless to need nothing but your ticket (or wristband) to check in with.
3. Faster standby lines. I'm not advocating that standby lines have become shorter with the new system...I don't know if they have or haven't, and haven't been to Disney enough times in the NextGen era to pretend to know. HOWEVER, I have been enough times pre-NextGen to know that the RATE at which the standby lines move, regardless of posted wait time, is A LOT faster under the new system. I'm not sure if Disney is distributing them differently, or strategizing return times, or if its the enforcement of return times that causes this but either way, there was no stopping and waiting for hours while FP guests got to go in front. In fact, even the FP lines themselves seemed much shorter. I'm guessing this is no coincidence.
4. Flexibility. Before, you got your FP and were stuck with it...if you got a FP for one ride instead of your favorite attraction because it was broken down, there was no switching it out once your favorite ride was fixed again. Now, you CAN switch out FP's if you so choose, which is a nice option that was not there before. I don't know how effectively this works, but the fact that it is an option at all in the first place means that it's always a possibility and can always be improved upon. This saves a lot of headache from your day.
Now, the system is not without its disadvantages. Like I said, when your whole day is pre-planned for you, it makes hardcore Parkhopping difficult. Also, the FP lines can get backed up due to people not knowing how to properly use the scanners. With that being said, once inside the actual line proper, past all scanners, the line is very quick. Also, veterans won't be able to save up Fastpasses and have like ten a day. But I think this improves the average guest's experiences in the long run anyway.
To answer your original question, OrlandoParks, I can see why Disney has rolled this system out. By planning your day for you, it forces you to stay in one park, like I said before. This means you have more time to eat and shop. But this ended up working out for us in the long run. Instead of spending huge amounts of money, we looked at all of the attractions we had never seen before in our time between Fastpass returns--we walked through some nature trails, saw a couple of side-shows, and still did not see everything in the park. It was a nice change of pace to actually walk through and explore Animal Kingdom the way it was meant to be seen rather than running to Everest, Dinosaur, and leaving. I had a lot of fun that day.
Add to that the lack of hassle FP+ gives you (when compared to the old system) and I'd say it's a pretty nice little feature. I was expecting a miserable day, but I was very pleasantly surprised by it. I think that most of its critics would be too, if anyone were to actually give it a chance. I was skeptical and negative too, but I have yet to see one negative review from an actual user of the new system. As one of the few here who's actually tried it so far (from what I've read), I have to say you can't really knock it until you try it. Maybe my low expectations helped my reaction, but in the end I think I can get used to it.