Another Test Eliminating Standby - now at Anna & Elsa M&G

[lazyboy97o]

I would say yes. I heard a long time ago that they don't want long attractions, like over 4 minutes, because in their mind, more time spent on an actual attraction the less time the guest is shopping.

It's usualled BS-ed as people no longer having long enough attention spans due to technology.

 

[BrerJon]

Are they hoping guests will go shop instead of waiting in line? IF so, that seems ridiculous.

Err, yeah that's pretty much it. Jay Rasulo, in his address to shareholders, said the major financial benefit of the MyMagic+ project was to make sure that guests don't spend their day waiting in lines, as when they're waiting, they're not spending.

They have this figure in their head, that a perfect Disney day includes 10 shows or attractions (a bit difficult in parks like DHS that don't have that many total), but the average guest doesn't really care what they see. Fastpass+ was designed to get people to sign up for a ride that might be a walk-on normally.

This is the next step - by making the *only* rides you can do the ones that have Fastpass+ available, it means you're never going to be waiting long in lines, have plenty more time to spend money on food and merchandise, but will still get to do lots of attractions, just not the ones you might have been hoping for.

 

[BrerJon]

Can't they just build a waiting area to get into the waiting area where you can then pick up FP+ to return at another time to a smaller waiting area?
My head hurts.

That's pretty much what they already have at Dumbo.

 

[Figments Friend]

Can't they just build a waiting area to get into the waiting area where you can then pick up FP+ to return at another time to a smaller waiting area?
My head hurts.

Or....

Can*t they just build a few more actual real Attractions to create more waiting areas to get into the real Attractions where Guests will happily wait with or without a FP+ and return again and again to those waiting areas?

That would be nice.
The fact that today*s Disney does not seem overly motivated to do so on a grand scale makes my head hurt.

 

[BrerJon]

Can*t they just build a few more actual real Attractions to create more waiting areas to get into the real Attractions where Guests will happily wait with or without a FP+ and return again and again to those waiting areas?

The best analogy I heard the other day, I think it was from Mike, was that Disney is a kid who is willing to do anything to pass a test except study for it, even if that anything takes twice as much time and effort as actually putting the work in.

 

[Mike S]

The best analogy I heard the other day, I think it was from Mike, was that Disney is a kid who is willing to do anything to pass a test except study for it, even if that anything takes twice as much time and effort as actually putting the work in.

Well I can't take all the credit for that, saw someone else use the same analogy before (might've been @ParentsOf4....). A kid willing to do anything for that A except study. It's a solid gold comparison.

 

[Hula Popper]

That honestly doesn't even make sense considering that usually all the FP+ for the meet is gone so quickly each day at that 60 day mark...I seriously want to know who the idiot is that is coming up with will bull crap!

The post says they'll add additional FP+ for that day:

Apparently, a number of extra/new FASTPass+ times are being added to the daily day allotment for Anna and Elsa, but as it seems right now…it’s just for that current day.

So, say that all FASTPass+ return times were gone for today and tomorrow for Anna and Elsa. Guests in the Magic Kingdom today could get on their phones or go to a kiosk as of 9:15 a.m. and see added return times for today, but not yet tomorrow.

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

This is just silly. Capping the stand-by wait? Why? What do they say to people when they come up and ask? "No, sir. As a courtesy to you and to improve your WDW experience, we will not allow you to wait 70 mins for this attraction that you wanted to see. You're welcome. Have a magical day!"

And allotting more FastPasses just defeats the point of the whole FastPass system. If everyone has one, then it ceases to offer any kind of advantage. And if you close the stand-by line, then the meet and greet essentially becomes "By Reservation Only" with FastPass being your reservation. And then the whole thing basically becomes a lottery with only a select few getting to see Anna and Elsa.

The idiocy of this is staggering. Heaven forbid they implement this permanently at popular attractions around the resort.

 

[Sped2424]

[QUOTE="hpyhnt 1000, post: 6340586, member: 52135"

The idiocy of this is staggering. Heaven forbid they implement this permanently at popular attractions around the resort.[/QUOTE]
I am really worried that this might be the future. Suddenly the only way we can experience an attraction is with a Fastpass. But resort guests will get first dibs on them just like BOG leaving anyone else out to dry. This is really not an okay system at all.

 

[jencor]

Going on a long awaited visit end of October and the question is do I get to ride the rides or just go to FP+ kiosk to kiosk without ever actually doing anything. I do not want to go shopping in my waiting time. I did not spend all that money to go to the parks to go shopping. I guess eventually the FP+ kiosk will be placed in the stores, that might get me in the store, but does not mean I will buy.

 

[dadddio]

My only input here is that back in May, we had FP+ for Princes fairy tale hall (Cinderella and Rapunzel). We would have LOVED to meet Elsa and Anna, but alas, all FP+ were gone....
My gripe is that even WITH FP+, we arrived on time for our slot, and we STILL waited in that cramped, claustrophobic, smelly, noisy, poor excuse for a queue that is really just a hallway for at LEAST 1 hour before we got to enter the actual M&G.....So if they give you a standby return time and you have to wait an hour, what advantage does the FP+ actually give you??????

You don't have to wait three hours in the cramped, claustrophobic, smelly, noisy, poor excuse for a queue?

 

[dadddio]

Who are they are trying to fool when they do this? The BoD? Execs in Burbank? Themselves? If they have "X" number of people in the park and "X" number of attractions open, whats the difference if those people are in a virtual queue or not? If theyre not sanding in line at Anna & Elsa M&G then they are standing in line somewhere else. Does this not make the queue at other attractions longer than it would normally be since the people that would be in line for Anna& Elsa are now in another queue. Seems like a zero gain for Disney and a slight loss for the guest since other attractions would now have an unnecessary longer wait time.

I don't understand how it could be a loss for the company. If people are waiting less time in the queue, then guest satisfaction increases and the company benefits. Also, it seems that it would be a somewhat better experience for the guest since the people who are not standing for hours waiting to see A&E can be riding a ride somewhere. So instead of a slight loss for the guest, it's a plus for the guest as he can fit in another attraction or two.

 

[FigmentFreak]

I don't understand how it could be a loss for the company. If people are waiting less time in the queue, then guest satisfaction increases and the company benefits. Also, it seems that it would be a somewhat better experience for the guest since the people who are not standing for hours waiting to see A&E can be riding a ride somewhere. So instead of a slight loss for the guest, it's a plus for the guest as he can fit in another attraction or two.

Problem is if this system goes to all rides it will be a loss for the company, but more importantly for the people who are not allowed to use the standby line and also cannot get a fast pass+.

Scenario: First Time Ever Happy Vacation Family decides to sleep in after a long day of travel and not get to MK until noon. By this time all ride standby lines have been deemed full, so Vacation family sings a happy song and skips on over to the handy dandy FP+ kiosk or gets on MDE to conveniently book a FP+, but wait there are no fast passes left for any rides. Now Happy Vacation family has spent big $$$ to enter the MK, but cannot ride any rides.

Here is were the Company idiocy and guest loss collide in a very unmagical way. You can darn well bet Happy Vacation Family will be at Guest Relations requesting money back and not stepping foot in that Disney Park every again.

This is with the assumption that Happy Vacation Family has never been to Disney, which is a lot of park attendees, so they don't have the plethora of knowledge we have here in our little brain trust - this was me on my very first trip many many years ago - I had not clue about on-line communities or regular fast pass or dining reservations.

 

[HolleBolleGijs]

I don't understand how they can possibly limit the queue to one hour. And if there are a bunch of people waiting around (which there most certainly will be), how will they decide who gets to get in line once it (quickly) gets to be under an hour? There'll end up being a line for a line.

 

[stevehousse]

I don't understand how it could be a loss for the company. If people are waiting less time in the queue, then guest satisfaction increases and the company benefits. Also, it seems that it would be a somewhat better experience for the guest since the people who are not standing for hours waiting to see A&E can be riding a ride somewhere. So instead of a slight loss for the guest, it's a plus for the guest as he can fit in another attraction or two.

Yes, using fst pass and not having to stand in a long line is a benefit, but customer service satisfaction would not increase when barely anyone can even get on the said attraction/meet n greet to begin with. (I secretly wish you worked at city hall on Main Street to take all the A&E complaints so you would finally see that your comments on customer service are just wrong)

 

[sgtbtlbailey]

I'm sure this has been mentioned before but I will repeat it for its inherent logic, if demand is so high for Anna and Elsa, perhaps it would make sense to have them do one shorter appearance in location A, then another shorter appearance in location B in a different scene, then another shorter appearance in location C in a different scene than A or B, etc as demand dictates. This would address the apparent dictate of never having more than one face character "on stage" at any time.

Like they used to do for Mickey in the Judge's Tent......

 

[flynnibus]

I don't understand how they can possibly limit the queue to one hour. And if there are a bunch of people waiting around (which there most certainly will be), how will they decide who gets to get in line once it (quickly) gets to be under an hour? There'll end up being a line for a line.

If they kill the standby all together after an hour... instead of trying to maintain an hour of standby. The first hour of standby is to just 'prime the pump' so to speak until the return times come back to fill the queue.

 

[wdisney9000]

I don't understand how it could be a loss for the company. If people are waiting less time in the queue, then guest satisfaction increases and the company benefits. Also, it seems that it would be a somewhat better experience for the guest since the people who are not standing for hours waiting to see A&E can be riding a ride somewhere. So instead of a slight loss for the guest, it's a plus for the guest as he can fit in another attraction or two.

There is a slight chance of guest satisfaction increasing due to not having to wait but the flip side of that coin is that guest satisfaction could go down due to the fact that all FP+ and return times are taken for the day and now they dont even have the chance to try standby.

It does free them up to hit another attraction but now whatever ride they go to has a longer line because of it. Essentially guests are waiting in two lines at once. If Disney does this with other attractions/shows/dining spots then we will have guests "virtually" queued for several attractions PLUS the line they are currently waiting in PLUS whatever FP+ selections they have. It seems like a good idea on the surface but (IMO) in reality they arent relieving much stress off the system. By decreasing the line at A&E they are increasing the line somewhere else.

 

[nickymous]

I was talking to a cast member in guest relations on saturday. I told them my one voice didn't mean anything, but that I needed to say something about my disappointment with the whole FP+ program. You can't get FP, dinner reservations, etc, anymore without booking months in advance. What happened to the days of, "Hey, let's go to Disney today!" ? The guy said, I don't want to argue with you. Really?! I didn't have a negative tone at all. Actually was laughing when I was talking to him. I guess he had gotten an ear full already.

 

[dadddio]

Yes, using fst pass and not having to stand in a long line is a benefit, but customer service satisfaction would not increase when barely anyone can even get on the said attraction/meet n greet to begin with.

Assigning FP+s to the M&G doesn't reduce the number of guests served. The M&G is going to serve the very same number of guests either way. The only difference is that the time that each guest spends waiting in the line is minimized.