I know most of y'all are "wait and see" on the FP thing but I got some new info, or confirmations rather, as well as an interesting glitch.
So, I lost my last day passes and had to drop my party day passes to get them back. I emailed Guest Services, and rather than emailing me back they called me. CM's name is Audra and she's awesome. I was able to re-book, based on availability, FPs for our party day. I could only get two of the ones we had originally wanted. But I was assured they'd stick and I shouldn't lose my passes for our last day either.
Audra did assure me this year will be the last time passes for these events will be available; the system has updated and can now recognize the difference between park tickets and party tickets. Exceptions are being made, and not everyone is being flagged this year, but in the future passes on special event tickets will not be available; a regular park pass must be used to book FP.
There it is! I'm back to having 5 days of Fast passes, but not without some serious time and effort. On to coffee cup number three this morning.