Fast pass plus

[WDW1974]

NextGen has included platforms, integration, new interaction technologies, new show elements, new show technologies, sets new levels of expectations when it comes to personalized experiences, alters what it means to 'wait' in a theme park, will radically alter the company-guest interaction points, fundamentally shift how people approach trips, and if successful.. redefine what it means to visit a theme park. By setting new expectations.. Disney puts the screws to the competition who can not compete at that level because they do not have the same sort of infrastructure and end-to-end control of the customer.

It's akin to being able to order something from Amazon and getting it in 2days.. vs what it used to mean to shop via mail order. That's the kind of fundamental shift support for NextGen is predicated on. It doesn't matter what the product is.. no consumer is going to order today from someone who insists you mail them a handwritten form, and wait a few weeks for some product to show up COD. The shopping experience has changed - and customers demand that experience as a prerequisite to do business with you. Disney is aiming to reset the bar at a level only they can achieve - as a way of cornering the market through technology.

That sounds so polished that I'd hire you if I were a WDW exec and needed an online BRAND ADVOCATE to push all the buzzwords on the PR talking points list. Seriously. That is mighty good stuff!

 

[WDW1974]

That makes me think of something a coworker of mine used to say, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."

Yep. That's sorta what I was getting at.

You can do an awful lot of things with $1.5 billion (and counting) ... WDW has become so stale and has so many needs from infrastructure to entertainment. And this is what they decide to spend on?

 

[WDW1974]

What makes you think that person doesn't work for Disney in the PR department??? Buzz words, talking points etc. Might be time to "educate" the web fans.....????

People have been arrested/sued for pumping stocks on Yahoo some times it's a CEO. Can't remember who got caught a couple of years ago but a CEO was pumping his own stock. SEC didn't like that at all.

Doubt it, but anything IS possible!

 

[RSoxNo1]

Very little has been officially announced for Fastpass+, they've done testing but as far as I know there hasn't been much in the way of press releases. There is value to the system but it doesn't seem that the value has truly been established.

If you want to make it a perk for people staying on site, that's fine. Maybe make it so that from your hotel room you can book that Toy Story Mania fastpass for later in the day, while off site visitors have to be checked into the park.

More importantly, the ability to book a fastpass from anywhere in the park for any attraction on an needed basis (basically attractions like Haunted Mansion only run Fastpass+ on crowded days) also has it's advantage. The problems with the current fastpass system have often been the issue with backtracking.

What I dislike is scheduling all 3 or 4 Fastpass+ attractions before the day plays out. So much changes while you're in the park that it makes it problematic. The same rules should apply with scheduling your Fastpass that apply with the current Fastpass system. If you want to schedule your Toy Story Mania Fastpass for 5:30 PM but you're making that reservation at 9:05, you can make another reservation at 11:05 AM (assuming that they are more than 2 hours out, if it's less than that you can get one earlier).

This is a positive use of technology and it will improve the guest experience. I have suggested years ago that Fastpass kiosks should be placed throughout the park that would allow guests to get Fastpasses for any attraction. By utilizing smartphones every guest with a smart phone now has certain abilities, and these centralized kiosks can also exist for people that don't have smart phones. They can replace the current Fastpass machines and accomplish the same thing.

They're building positive changes to the infrastructure but they're not taking advantage of it. It's as if someone built a highway but only allowed you to drive a standard transmission on the highway. Yes, some people would love it but the masses wouldn't.

 

[71jason]

My theory on that is here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/numbers-cars-and-quality.856357/page-17#post-5225009

I don't think my theory is right but it's the best I could come up with given the limited information.

I think you're right in that they need to monetize this somehow. Selling it or using it as a perk to drive up hotel occupancy rates (both ala Universal) seem the easiest ways to do that. I'm wondering if that was the initial plan, but fear of a P.R. backlash led to the convuluted system we've seen hints of, a way to make sure free FP doesn't completely disappear (but isn't so useful that the upcharge option doesn't look attractive).

 

[nytimez]

Oh yes companies have social pumpers to "explain" things and in that post NXGN stood out in my mind, easier to type and it's just letters. Think KFC.Fried food was deemed bad for you so KFC logo was started. Clothes are another big social networking product, star wears X and bam you get it posted every where you can to get as many eyes as possible on it. Disney has a social networking department doesn't it??? Social media or what ever they call it???

That's not really fair to Flynn. Agree or disagree with him - and he and I have disagreed - but I believe he comes by his views honestly.

 

[Juliaz3]

I would welcome a change to the current FP system. My husband and I are on vacation, no kids, and don't care about being in the park at 8 a.m. However, we do want to ride some of the feature rides and would like the chance to get FPs for them. Often because of the time of year we go we can get FPs even when we enter the park after 10 a.m., but it's annoying to have to walk all the way to the ride just to get a slip of paper when most things we want to do at that time of day are on the opposite side of the park. Sometimes we've made that walk to find the FPs gone for the day. So if there was a way to get them through an app or using a screen near the main entrance gate, then I'd be thrilled.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I think you're right in that they need to monetize this somehow. Selling it or using it as a perk to drive up hotel occupancy rates (both ala Universal) seem the easiest ways to do that. I'm wondering if that was the initial plan, but fear of a P.R. backlash led to the convuluted system we've seen hints of, a way to make sure free FP doesn't completely disappear (but isn't so useful that the upcharge option doesn't look attractive).

This is what's happening: For years TDO has survived by inflating regular prices and offering discounts. They also maintained hotel occupancy numbers thanks to Magical Express. During this time they survived on substantial additions every 3.75 years. This model worked for a limited period of time because their competition was remaining stagnant in terms of development. Now their competition is building at an accelerated rate and Disney's old metrics are no longer working. Rather than do the obvious and compete with an aggressive build cycle they are attempting to monetize anything and everything that hasn't previously been monetized. The result of this is Fastpass+.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Making dining reservations six months in advance (WTH?!) is one thing, but the thought of reserving a Fastpass just scares me. It also screams corporate Disney, IMO. Never thought I'd see the day where you reserve your spot on a ride at a theme park.

Stay out of Anaheim. Please and thank you.

 

[GoofGoof]

Never thought I'd see the day where you reserve your spot on a ride at a theme park.

We do it now with regular fast pass. You take a ticket and it tells you to come back between 1:15pm and 2:15pm. Your spot is reserved. The only difference is with FP+ you can pick a time instead of getting stuck with whatever the return time happens to be when you get to the machine and you can (and probably will have to) do it days in advance. It still seems like a big waste of money to me so I doubt you'll see it in CA any time soon.

 

[Californian Elitist]

We do it now with regular fast pass. You take a ticket and it tells you to come back between 1:15pm and 2:15pm. Your spot is reserved. The only difference is with FP+ you can pick a time instead of getting stuck with whatever the return time happens to be when you get to the machine and you can (and probably will have to) do it days in advance. It still seems like a big waste of money to me so I doubt you'll see it in CA any time soon.

Not me. The Disney parks I regularly visit let me come back to an attraction anytime after the specific time on the Fastpass. Still, it's not the same. People are actually going to be reserving Fastpasses online... What is that? It sounds pretty ridiculous, IMO. I hope it never comes, let alone coming sometime in the future. If it does, I'll be counting on the APs, inducing myself to get together and start an uproar. Not joking.

 

[Gabe1]

I would welcome a change to the current FP system. My husband and I are on vacation, no kids, and don't care about being in the park at 8 a.m. However, we do want to ride some of the feature rides and would like the chance to get FPs for them. Often because of the time of year we go we can get FPs even when we enter the park after 10 a.m., but it's annoying to have to walk all the way to the ride just to get a slip of paper when most things we want to do at that time of day are on the opposite side of the park. Sometimes we've made that walk to find the FPs gone for the day. So if there was a way to get them through an app or using a screen near the main entrance gate, then I'd be thrilled.

No where is this hike for a FP more annoying than at AK!

I don't think we need FP+ to fix the hike. Like the new soda machines that you choose a picture and the machine only has one delivery spout, FP machines could be designed for guests to click the FP they desire and the machine spits it out, FP machines could be all over the parks that way.

Have a gnawing feeling FP+ is going to have a great deal of glitches. The biggest glitch is going to be Disney themselves. If you can't keep the attractions operational it isn't the time to launch FP+.

 

[captainkidd]

The system? Or the idea if we actually show you the facts.. you'll still just close your eyes?

Different thread. Same ignorant attitude.

This is a 16 page thread. Are you going to close YOUR eyes to the fact that not everybody agrees with you? Oh wait, as you point out all the time, you do understand that. You're just pointing out how stupid those who don't agree with you are.

 

[captainkidd]

I don't have the energy to go back to where I left this thread. Only so many trainwrecks at once. So I figured this was a good quote to rest my hat on.

Reading through what Disney put out on FP+, I just am flabbergasted. How confusing. How time consuming. How wasteful (yeah, that comes to mind with a $1.5 billion, and growing tag). It doesn't sound like anything I'd want to be part of. It seems as if WDW is trying to micromanage guests' time and money down to the second and last penny.

They are trying to reinvent the WDW visiting experience. No doubt. And they talk of it spreading to Anaheim and Paris (nope and you gotta be kidding me).

Worse, they truly do NOT have everything planned out. FP is going away. And Disney is looking at this as a new revenue stream, so to those who think this will be a free service down the road I think are kidding themselves. The problem isn't even so much that we, the fan community, don't get what FP+ will fully entail. It's that Disney folks you (or I) talk to don't seem to know either. You can't reinvent the WDW experience and not have detailed plans, yet it seems like they're sorta making it up as they go.

None of this sounds like fun. It sounds tiresome and tedious. No, I don't make plans when heading to WDW beyond a meal here or there (something you once didn't have to do). I just drive (or fly) up and do what I wish. I don't wait in lines more than 20-30 minutes as a rule. I just relax and enjoy, which I might be off on but sorta think that's the point of theme parks. I don't get the point of this from the guest perspective beyond the OCD crowd. I do know that I am tired of paying more and getting less from Disney. I don't see this helping me as an APer who often stays off-site and often makes last minute visits at all. Actually, I don't see it helping the majority of visitors period. People still don't understand FP. They're going to understand this bizarrre planning 'tool'?

I don't think so.

This. Exactly this.

 

[WDW1974]

Oh yes companies have social pumpers to "explain" things and in that post NXGN stood out in my mind, easier to type and it's just letters. Think KFC.Fried food was deemed bad for you so KFC logo was started. Clothes are another big social networking product, star wears X and bam you get it posted every where you can to get as many eyes as possible on it. Disney has a social networking department doesn't it??? Social media or what ever they call it???

I agree ... and I am also 100% sure that Disney has folks on this forum. I just don't happen to believe Flynnibus is one of them. I do think some of his posts read like PR because he's a good communicator and knows what buzzwords to use. And the post I was quoting was a thing of beauty. Brian Charles Kohn (wherever he is) would be proud.

 

[WDW1974]

I think you're right in that they need to monetize this somehow. Selling it or using it as a perk to drive up hotel occupancy rates (both ala Universal) seem the easiest ways to do that. I'm wondering if that was the initial plan, but fear of a P.R. backlash led to the convuluted system we've seen hints of, a way to make sure free FP doesn't completely disappear (but isn't so useful that the upcharge option doesn't look attractive).

Free FP is going away.

The question is when will FP+ be an upcharge service and who will pay ( all guests? all guests except deluxe and DVCers? just offsite guests? APers? Or do APers get3-4 free uses a year and then pay?) ... after this is up and running it is planned as a new revenue stream and they certainly aren't expecting to generate that by all this 'free time' guests will have (that was the fallacy of the original FP -- people would spend more on food and merchandise while waiting to ride).

 

[lazyboy97o]

(that was the fallacy of the original FP -- people would spend more on food and merchandise while waiting to ride).

Which should be fixed with nice long Stand-By lines. Can't risk riding The Haunted Mansion because you might miss that hug with Cinderella you planned six months ago.

 

[flynnibus]

That sounds so polished that I'd hire you if I were a WDW exec and needed an online BRAND ADVOCATE to push all the buzzwords on the PR talking points list. Seriously. That is mighty good stuff!

They can't afford me

I'm just reiterating what they've portrayed. Something that has been lost in all the hoopla over specific products in this initative.

Can't say if they will succeed... But it is ambitious

 

[flynnibus]

What makes you think that person doesn't work for Disney in the PR department??? Buzz words, talking points etc. Might be time to "educate" the web fans.....????

Because anyone with a clue can find out otherwise. As someone whose 'been to business school' ( been? Was that a tour?) one should have learned to do some basic research before blurting out unfounded claims.

 

[flynnibus]

I agree ... and I am also 100% sure that Disney has folks on this forum. I just don't happen to believe Flynnibus is one of them. I do think some of his posts read like PR because he's a good communicator and knows what buzzwords to use. .

Hey - I use terminology - not buzz words. I tell the marketers what's important or not. They regurgitate my concepts, not the other way around