Disney to increase the number of FastPass+ entitlements per day and include park hopping

[RSD Part Deux]

So, this is currently active already? Good to know. Couple question if you don't mind....

Are you able to book an attraction that you have previously done that day? And, if you have done this at DHS or Epcot, are ou able to book a "top tier" attraction (e.g. Test Track/Soarin'/Maelstrom or Toy Story/RNR) with the 4th and beyond FP+?

I'm sorry I don't know the answers to your questions. I gave all I know.

 

[OswaldTheRabbit]

Just an FYI- I was at both DHS and MK yesterday and was NOT able to get more fast passes after my 3 were up. Not only that the DHS FP+ people hadn't even heard about it yet. The MK FP+ people knew about it but said it wasn't able to do it yet. We tried the kiosk anyway so she could show me and it says "no times available" when you request one.

I was really hoping to take advantage of it on this trip but oh well....

Also I can see that now FP booking will be crucial to get the earlier times so you can add more on. At least for us Commando Style guests

 

[Kevin_W]

When using the kiosk, does all of your party need to be there with their Magicbands? Can you have a kiosk runner?

 

[BigTxEars]

I thought it stated mid April, but I can't remember where I read that now.

 

[doctornick]

When using the kiosk, does all of your party need to be there with their Magicbands? Can you have a kiosk runner?

Just one person needs to go as long as all the profiles are linked on MM+.

 

[RSoxNo1]

There was another travel planning survey that came out yesterday. Not much revealed from it, but it did address the issues of park hopping on Fastpass+ as well as getting more or less Fastpass+ reservations per day. The full details of the survey can be found here:
http://www.wdwthemeparks.com/news/2014/04/05/disney-surveys-travel-planning-survey

One of my lengthier responses was as follows:

There are many attractions that do not require Fastpass+ selections except on the busiest days of the year, yet they are available daily. More importantly, the number of advanced reservations is too cumbersome and results in far less marquee attractions available day of.

I would much prefer a system with less Fastpass+ attraction options and only 1 advanced booking. This would also allow Disney to eliminate the tiers at Hollywood Studios and Epcot.

Once in the park, guests should get an additional Fastpass+ reservation and when they use either of the two that they have they should be able to get an additional one at either their current park or the next park they intend to visit that day.

 

[morningstar]

I'm wondering if there will be different definitions of "used" for FP+ choices. For example, if you got a FP for Illuminations but you can't get more than 3 unless you've used your first 3, then what then? It could be like DL where some attractions aren't linked together or tied to the limit, I assume.

The official info was pretty vague. Maybe that's the case, maybe not. Maybe they will fix it soon after.

But if it's true, then don't do that. Pre-book your first three Fastpasses early in the day. Add on one or two after that. Then in the afternoon, see if you can get a Fastpass for Illuminations. Maybe you will be out of luck. I guess you have to weigh how critical the Illuminations Fastpass is to you vs. several for other attractions.

 

[morningstar]

The 'we say nothing' is classically the approach of those who believe they hold all the cards and can do whatever they want regardless, where those that share... step off the pedestal and project a picture of collaboration.. even if you don't bend. Disney isn't standing to lose sales by saying a feature is not delivered yet... people still want to goto WDW. But imagine how many people have said "I won't touch this with a ten foot pole" because everything is so volatile?

They didn't have to commit to dates... but they could have done a ton to calm fears. It's just like when the RFID stuff started... the uncertainty leads to massive flows of distrust and misinformation. Once Disney started saying what their intentions were... it puts the fire out almost entirely.

I think it is that if they say they will deliver a feature, but then change their minds, the gripes will be louder than the ones wondering why they are not planning the feature. They wait until they are confident the feature can be done and testing indicates it will be a good policy.

 

[morningstar]

The challenge they have to figure out is how to ensure that a guest doesn't use Park Hopping to book Midway Mania, Soarin, and Expedition Everest on the same day.

I don't think that's a problem. It sounds like your pre-booked 3 FPs still all have to be for one park. Tiering is only needed to make sure there are still some FPs available for top-tier rides for off-site guests. Once everybody is on an even playing field, if there are still TSMM Fastpasses available after you use up your first three, lucky you. Don't be surprised if there are not.

 

[morningstar]

The problem I have is that as a local the wait times on most of the attractions has actually increased. We used to be able to ride HM every time we visited MK but now it's consistently a 40 min wait. I saw another website who actually looked at all the data and wait times from last year without my magic+ and the same time this year with it and it showed the majority of attractions had increased while a lot of the etickets had dropped in wait a little. So an example was HM going from like 20 to 40 min average and Space going from a 70 to 50 min average.

That's pretty much what I expected. D-E tickets get shorter standby lines as more people are riding them on Fastpass. But B-D tickets get longer lines, since people have more time leftover to ride them after not standing in E ticket lines.

 

[mergatroid]

This sounds like good news, was always dissapointed with the original 3 max limit.

 

[morningstar]

While reading the blog post, I just kept expecting to read this new option was available for only $19.95. Lol

An interesting way to get some money out of this would be to offer advanced planning for any FP+ attractions over the initial 3 for only $5 each. I just can not see WDW failing to capitalize on this somehow (in addition to the data mining benefit, of course)

There is just too much capital involved in FP+ to let this slide by. It may not happen during the "test period", but it will happen.

I believe that the original plan was for Disney to charge for FP+. I also believe that that is still the plan. Once everyone gets used to using them and planning their days in advance, then the additional costs will come. The longer wait times on B and C level rides will push people into buying lots of fastpasses.

I have never known Disney to give something away free if they could charge for it. Under the legacy system, they couldn't charge for the fastpasses because no system was in place. Now the system is almost in place.

Multi-day park tickets used to automatically include park hopping and were non-expiring. Now you pay extra for both those perks. The fastpasses could shortly be another option in the MYW tickets.

I don't know. Certainly Disney wants to make money, but they have a little bit more class than to nickel-and-dime you. It isn't the state fair where you pay per ride. You pay your up-front admission and then you can just have fun without worrying about money. I don't see them making it so you can't have a good time without paying for extras.

 

[morningstar]

Disney had been claiming that they were getting something like a ridiculous 98% "positive feedback on social media" around FP+ and the MagicBands.

Maybe they count this site as "antisocial media".

 

[morningstar]

But if ever find out my Rapunzel picture was signed by some overweight 55 year old dude I am gonna have a piece of Mickey's booty on a platter

With what I've heard about character CMs having to learn to sign autographs authentically, it would most likely be a CM who plays Rapunzel. Then again, it could be the overweight 55 year old dude who trains CMs to play Rapunzel.

 

[morningstar]

What exactly does this conversation have to do with Fastpass+?

And hate to break it to you both but flying Tinkerbell has long been played by a man, no lawsuit required.

That's a fairy, not a princess.

 

[ford91exploder]

I based that on the fact that TDO knows today how many used how FP+ on each ride at each park, by the hour, how many booked FP+ on each ride at each park on May16th, the 17th, the 18th etc how many changed their FP+ today at each park and for which rides to which rides....how much FP+ can handle, how hard it is to change, what it should look like in 2016, etc thing we no nothing at all about.....and the fact that they have some brilliant business minds working for them on their customer service matters. No offense but the fact is that they know more than we do. Again no issue with debating it but trying to sound like we have the answers and they are a bunch of lost morons on FP+s matter is just silly.

The problem is Disney has a group of people running the parks who DO NOT LIKE THEME PARKS, Just ask @WDW1974 or @Lee about what the P&R executives think and SAY about the guests. Bad decisions flow downhill from there.

There is no question that TWDC has more DATA than we do but the people in charge of P&R at the moment have not the skills or inclination to use it to make a better park experience their SOLE concern is maximizing their quarterly bonus.

Used to be I thought the worst possible thing would be for P&R to be sold, Now it looks like it may be the only salvation for P&R is to be sold to someone like Oriental Land Company (Tokyo Disney etc) who have a passion for theme parks.

 

[BigTxEars]

With what I've heard about character CMs having to learn to sign autographs authentically, it would most likely be a CM who plays Rapunzel. Then again, it could be the overweight 55 year old dude who trains CMs to play Rapunzel.

Never know!

 

[BigTxEars]

The problem is Disney has a group of people running the parks who DO NOT LIKE THEME PARKS, Just ask @WDW1974 or @Lee about what the P&R executives think and SAY about the guests. Bad decisions flow downhill from there.

There is no question that TWDC has more DATA than we do but the people in charge of P&R at the moment have not the skills or inclination to use it to make a better park experience their SOLE concern is maximizing their quarterly bonus.

Used to be I thought the worst possible thing would be for P&R to be sold, Now it looks like it may be the only salvation for P&R is to be sold to someone like Oriental Land Company (Tokyo Disney etc) who have a passion for theme parks.

No disrespect but I doubt that seriously. If they did not care about the parks (and I doubt that) then they would still recognize them as cash cows and do what what they thought would drive more traffic with MBs. That would be to make the guest use them and love them would it not? I doubt the folks running the show are not trying to integrate MB into the parks and guest experience in the best way possible.

Either the exec love the parks and want the guest experience to improve or hate them and are just trying to milk them for more money, either way the MBs being successful is a huge part of either. The best way to increase their bonus is to drive more traffic, thus more profit, that is thru smart customer approved use of the MBs. These guys and gals are not dumb.

Again they know way more about where MBs came from, are now and where they are going than anyone on here. Second guessing them is fine, heck it's fun but let's not forget that the folks running it know more than we do. A little benefit of the doubt for them makes sense to me.

 

[LAKid53]

The problem is Disney has a group of people running the parks who DO NOT LIKE THEME PARKS, Just ask @WDW1974 or @Lee about what the P&R executives think and SAY about the guests. Bad decisions flow downhill from there.

There is no question that TWDC has more DATA than we do but the people in charge of P&R at the moment have not the skills or inclination to use it to make a better park experience their SOLE concern is maximizing their quarterly bonus.

Used to be I thought the worst possible thing would be for P&R to be sold, Now it looks like it may be the only salvation for P&R is to be sold to someone like Oriental Land Company (Tokyo Disney etc) who have a passion for theme parks.

Not true - I've and spoken to one and she is very concerned about how the parks are run and guest satisfaction. When she found out I was an AP, she was quite interested in my thoughts - why was I an AP, did I stay on-site, what did I think- I didn't get the impression this was just chatter but a real interest on her part about what guests thought of the parks. And this was a social (non-Disney) setting and I was just another attendee.

Back in the 80s when Disney was in danger of being bought by Sony, the ONLY thing keeping the organization solvent was the Parks.

 

[BigTxEars]

Never said they were dumb, Sociopathic yes but not dumb, Just the breed of executive who goes from company to company bleeding it dry and jumping ship before the inevitable crash. There are a lot of these people loose in corporate america these days and Disney is no different.

You do not get a shot at mahogany row by ones technical skills, you get there by your social skills and who you know, It's why deals are done on the golf course not the conference room.

For example Jay Rasulo was Paul Pressler's disciple, Pressler led The Gap into near bankruptcy, Hired at Disney - got out just before the board booted him out and led Avon into dire financial straits. He's now a Vulture Capitalist - with Clayton, Dublier and Rice a firm modeled on Romney's Bain Capital spreading financial destruction elsewhere.

Networking is clearly present in who gets what position as it always has been but the skill to perform that position is extremely important as well. I do not see how one can claim these folks are just out for more money and nothing else and then claim they put people in positions that directly effect the ability for them to maximize that money just because of their social skills and regardless of their business skills. Makes no sense at all.

Regardless I would rather believe in those who know the MB program inside and out than simple conjecture on the internet about the current state and future of the MB program. No offense to anyone on here but that's what the vast majority of what goes on here, conjecture from the internet. Not the most accurate thing in the world from my experience.

I get the feeling you and I do not agree on corporate America, I certainly do not see them as sociopathic. No problem with disagreeing on corporate America but I really don't think we will ever agree on this matter because of it. Beside the only way we will ever know who is right is in the future I guess