Magic Kingdom going FP+ only on 1/14/14

[donsullivan]

Cast members are reporting that as of january 23rd paper fastpasses shall be phased out entirely. In all 4 parks. Not sure if I believe it.

They are speaking the truth, Epcot and DHS are going FP+ on Tuesday and Thursday of this week (don't remember which day for each) so Wednesday is the very last day for legacy Fastpass in any WDW park.

 

[Fractal514]

Your term was "parks and resorts." And DL showed building quality rides/attractions/restaurants can bring in the guests to achieve the desired ROI. Saying that without MM+ WDW would not have received any other investment isn't an endorsement for the program.

I agree that building desirable attractions and restaurants can achieve ROI, it's the folks in Orlando who seem to be focused on other projects.

 

[Sped2424]

They are speaking the truth, Epcot and DHS are going FP+ on Tuesday and Thursday of this week (don't remember which day for each) so Wednesday is the very last day for legacy Fastpass in any WDW park.

Well I'll be, good thing I have some fastpasses from my old favorite attractions, cause know they are going to be a thing of the past :<

 

[wm49rs]

I agree that building desirable attractions and restaurants can achieve ROI, it's the folks in Orlando who seem to be focused on other projects.

And that apparent dichotomy of purpose between the coasts is just one of the reasons people are upset with the MM+ program.

 

[asianway]

They are speaking the truth, Epcot and DHS are going FP+ on Tuesday and Thursday of this week (don't remember which day for each) so Wednesday is the very last day for legacy Fastpass in any WDW park.

I thought it was a "test". Bwahahaha

 

[djkidkaz]

The big issue I am reading and hearing about is how long it takes to scan into the Fastpass+ line as well as use it at the end of the queue before you board. The good news is that it is making the Stand-By line move more when there are holdups.

Actually I watched this for awhile the other night. The FP+ scanners are MUCH faster than the ones used to enter the park. I watched group after group go into Peter Pan at MK and each person only had to tap their band for literally one second for it to register and turn green. Very smooth!

 

[Rob562]

I wonder when they will update the app so we can see what FP+ return Time windows are available. It would make it a lot easier to figure out which park to go to for us lowly APs who still can't book in advance.

That would be a very tough collection of data to convey in a usable manner to Guests without sending them to a complex spreadsheet-esque page. At the minimum, for most attractions there are 12 slots distributed (60 minutes at 5-minute increments). Over the course of a 9a-9p day, that's 144 possible slots. I think some attractions have even smaller-increment windows, which adds to the possibilities. How do you convey all that, for all attractions, at all the parks, in a format that the layman can understand?

-Rob

 

[Rob562]

Actually I watched this for awhile the other night. The FP+ scanners are MUCH faster than the ones used to enter the park. I watched group after group go into Peter Pan at MK and each person only had to tap their band for literally one second for it to register and turn green. Very smooth!

Presumably it's because the database of active FP+ reservations is much, much smaller than the admission gate database. A ticket scanned at the gate could be one of any millions of possibly active admission tickets, and then has to be checked for validity and marking a day used.

But a ticket scanned at the FP+ post only has to be checked against the short list of profiles with a FP+ that's valid at that moment. If it's a go, it turns green. If it's not a match, it turns blue. A simple yes/no query. (Then the "mark it used" database update happens at the second post, but the system could be prepared for that from the scan at the first post)

-Rob

 

[GoofGoof]

Presumably it's because the database of active FP+ reservations is much, much smaller than the admission gate database. A ticket scanned at the gate could be one of any millions of possibly active admission tickets, and then has to be checked for validity and marking a day used.

But a ticket scanned at the FP+ post only has to be checked against the short list of profiles with a FP+ that's valid at that moment. If it's a go, it turns green. If it's not a match, it turns blue. A simple yes/no query. (Then the "mark it used" database update happens at the second post, but the system could be prepared for that from the scan at the first post)

-Rob

This makes a lot of sense. On my recent trip I noticed the same thing. The gate scanners were a bit slow compared to FP returns. My room was always instantaneous. I had no issues with delays in FP return other than having to take my kids band out of my pocket when he didn't feel like wearing it.

 

[RSoxNo1]

So one component of MM+ that's going to be interesting is the larger group. Previously with FP if you had a group of 10, you might get 5 FP for a 10:00-11:00 window and 5 for a 10:05 to 11:05 window. I don't think FP+ is designed to handle this logic. Has anyone run into this being a problem with larger groups?

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Actually I watched this for awhile the other night. The FP+ scanners are MUCH faster than the ones used to enter the park. I watched group after group go into Peter Pan at MK and each person only had to tap their band for literally one second for it to register and turn green. Very smooth!

One thing I noticed that affected the time for it to register (either at FP or at park entrances) is that the wristband is pretty darn large. I have an average-sized wrist for a girl, and the actual mechanics of the magic band are fairly long (over an inch, I'd say), so that if you aren't wearing your magic band super tight against your wrist, the mechanics shift. Doesn't seem like much, but if you don't put it completely flush against the sensor, it really doesn't register properly. A few times for the first day or so, I'd wait for the light to turn green, only to realize that my band wasn't totally flush. For other people with small wrists, and kids who likely don't want to wear a wristband super tight for a week, that could be a factor.

 

[Rob562]

So one component of MM+ that's going to be interesting is the larger group. Previously with FP if you had a group of 10, you might get 5 FP for a 10:00-11:00 window and 5 for a 10:05 to 11:05 window. I don't think FP+ is designed to handle this logic. Has anyone run into this being a problem with larger groups?

You could get different times under paper FP even when you were talking about 2 or 3 people. It all depended on when the current distribution window filled up and switched to the next time slow.

FP+ should eliminate that. At the in-park kiosk you can scan all of the tickets and then reserve them as a single group. On the website or phone app you'll already be grouped together and can just select everyone and reserve your times. There's even a feature to "copy" your previously-arranged FP+ times to someone else in your friends list if someone joins you after-the-fact.

-Rob

 

[Fractal514]

One thing I noticed that affected the time for it to register (either at FP or at park entrances) is that the wristband is pretty darn large. I have an average-sized wrist for a girl, and the actual mechanics of the magic band are fairly long (over an inch, I'd say), so that if you aren't wearing your magic band super tight against your wrist, the mechanics shift. Doesn't seem like much, but if you don't put it completely flush against the sensor, it really doesn't register properly. A few times for the first day or so, I'd wait for the light to turn green, only to realize that my band wasn't totally flush. For other people with small wrists, and kids who likely don't want to wear a wristband super tight for a week, that could be a factor.

Did you remove the outer grey band?

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Did you remove the outer grey band?

Holy Holy #$&% I had no idea (and now I feel dumb!). I got mine at hotel checkin and went right to the parks...no one said anything to me about it and I didn't get any materials explaining, so that helps I just removed the extra part and put it on - it is definitely easier to wear.

I do still think the "mechanics" part of the band is a bit chunky, though. Also, if I did that, I wonder how many other people are wearing their bands incorrectly? Doing that immediately doubles (at least) the time needed for a FP or park ticket to register!

 

[Fractal514]

Holy Holy #$&% I had no idea (and now I feel dumb!). I got mine at hotel checkin and went right to the parks...no one said anything to me about it and I didn't get any materials explaining, so that helps I just removed the extra part and put it on - it is definitely easier to wear.

I do still think the "mechanics" part of the band is a bit chunky, though. Also, if I did that, I wonder how many other people are wearing their bands incorrectly? Doing that immediately doubles (at least) the time needed for a FP or park ticket to register!

I think that, as many have pointed out, right now Disney is doing a CRAP job of educating folks on MM+. I think part of it is that some of the cast members don't like it and either aren't enthusiastic, or downright want to see it fail (maybe subconsciously) and so they aren't going that extra-mile to point stuff like this out and help spin it. I know that some folks on this board probably appreciate and enjoy hearing a cast member talk smack about the new system, but if I were a Disney manager, I'd fire anyone bad-mouthing it at all to a guest. Sure everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but on the company dime, they need to be towing the company line, and that certainly isn't happening right now.

 

[GhettoJetta5]

I think that, as many have pointed out, right now Disney is doing a CRAP job of educating folks on MM+. I think part of it is that some of the cast members don't like it and either aren't enthusiastic, or downright want to see it fail (maybe subconsciously) and so they aren't going that extra-mile to point stuff like this out and help spin it. I know that some folks on this board probably appreciate and enjoy hearing a cast member talk smack about the new system, but if I were a Disney manager, I'd fire anyone bad-mouthing it at all to a guest. Sure everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but on the company dime, they need to be towing the company line, and that certainly isn't happening right now.

My parents stayed on property in late November and were offered to try the Magic bands, and in the same sentence the CM said something like "it doesn't really work, and you probably don't want to try it, but I can set it up if you really want me to"... Not the best way to get pilot data for managers and IT teams trying to get the bugs out of a system...

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I think that, as many have pointed out, right now Disney is doing a CRAP job of educating folks on MM+. I think part of it is that some of the cast members don't like it and either aren't enthusiastic, or downright want to see it fail (maybe subconsciously) and so they aren't going that extra-mile to point stuff like this out and help spin it. I know that some folks on this board probably appreciate and enjoy hearing a cast member talk smack about the new system, but if I were a Disney manager, I'd fire anyone bad-mouthing it at all to a guest. Sure everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but on the company dime, they need to be towing the company line, and that certainly isn't happening right now.

That's a shame. Honestly, I was not a fan of this idea at all. I don't like the idea of scheduling every detail of my vacation, but the reality is that's the system we've been given. As I mentioned above, the app has its quirks and its not perfect, but in some ways it really did make my vacation easier. I even (surprisingly) found myself looking at those annoying charm things! Although I thankfully did not buy them

CMs need to get on board, because Guests can pick up on the negative attitude and it's really dooming this thing before it has a chance to work out. We might not like the decision to do it, but does that mean we really wish for it's total failure? What if the extra money that will supposedly be made from this means more/better new attractions? I know their recent history on commitment to upkeep and new attractions hasn't been stellar, but with more revenue, it's a a somewhat logical conclusion.

I'm firmly from the "the idea of this stinks" camp, to the "well, I wouldn't have done it, but it's here and it's helpful" camp. So yes, I would like it to be continuously refined and to see it succeed at this point. I think CMs should too.

 

[RSoxNo1]

You could get different times under paper FP even when you were talking about 2 or 3 people. It all depended on when the current distribution window filled up and switched to the next time slow.

FP+ should eliminate that. At the in-park kiosk you can scan all of the tickets and then reserve them as a single group. On the website or phone app you'll already be grouped together and can just select everyone and reserve your times. There's even a feature to "copy" your previously-arranged FP+ times to someone else in your friends list if someone joins you after-the-fact.

-Rob

Right, I know it was contingent on what was distributed in the window. I'm curious if issues will arise though where they don't have availability for a group of 10 because each window only has 5 spots left.

 

[GoofGoof]

Right, I know it was contingent on what was distributed in the window. I'm curious if issues will arise though where they don't have availability for a group of 10 because each window only has 5 spots left.

My guess is if you are booking for 10 people as a group and there are less than 10 spots available the time will not show up for you as available. It will only show times that have 10+ reservations available. This is how the airlines work for ticket levels. I had to book airfare for 8 on my last trip, but there were only 4 tickets available at the lowest cost level then it bumped up. When I put in 8 people all 8 tickets showed the next level of ticket. I had to book 2 separate reservations for 4 people each to get 4 tickets at the lower price and 4 at the higher one.

 

[RSoxNo1]

My guess is if you are booking for 10 people as a group and there are less than 10 spots available the time will not show up for you as available. It will only show times that have 10+ reservations available. This is how the airlines work for ticket levels. I had to book airfare for 8 on my last trip, but there were only 4 tickets available at the lowest cost level then it bumped up. When I put in 8 people all 8 tickets showed the next level of ticket. I had to book 2 separate reservations for 4 people each to get 4 tickets at the lower price and 4 at the higher one.

That's my guess as well. Right now the opposite holds true for dining. If there are no tables for 2 at a restaurant but there are tables for 4, the table of 2 won't show up as available when you search.