Fastpass+, a solution to "overwhelmingly negative" responses from families

[Tim_4]

I think that it is not a simple as what you postulate (sarcastically or not) but rather the fact that Disney has totally lost touch with their guests in favor of tracking your habits and spending right down to the last cent so that their marketing department can find ways to squeeze every last cent out of you. Sarcasm not taken into account I do not think they are intentionally screwing up guests experiences but unintentionally doing so due to complacency and allowing book smarts to over rule real world logistics.

The only way marketing would be successful in "squeezing every last cent out of you" is if the insights they gain help them actually give you what you want. Other wise, their squeezing would be unsuccessful and everyone will learn their lesson. My guess is, the squeezing works and people pay up. We shall see.

 

[WondersOfLife]

But that's because its the only way you know...

Not always true. I have a local theme park named Carowinds and they don't have a fastpass system (that anyone uses). True that I barely wait in line to ride the rides, but it's a local theme park. Not many people go there.

Universal Studios charges like 20 bucks per person for theirs. I only see about 4 or 5 people in the express lane ever 15 or 20 minutes for Harry Potter. What sucks? I still had to wait one hour and fifteen minutes. 50 minutes for spider man. Over an hour for simpsons, despicable me, the mummy.. And that's considering that barely anyone uses their express passes.

So I disagree. I'd rather be the cruel guy and prefer everyone else to wait in the queue line if they please, but the way I think about it: one hour wait vs. 5 minutes... hmmmm..... Obvious choice.

 

[WondersOfLife]

-People are far more impatient than they were 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years ago. (Children and Adults alike)
-WDW is the number one tourist destination in the world with attendance rising by millions over the past few decades.
-People are always looking for shortcuts.

BINGOOOOOO. ^^^^^


My age group... We are the most impatient people you will ever meet. If we waited over an hour to ride space mountain we would've thought it sucked. Waiting 5 minutes (really 15 minutes just to walk through the whole blame queue line) and we think it's amazing!

Also.. Always looking for shortcuts.

I know I already get a lot of hate on this site. But I am starting to have a feeling that the older disney fans reach a certain point to where they just want to stop completely on new ways of managing around WDW. Fastpasses probably being the #1 thing.. But my generation thinks it's the greatest idea in the world. Same goes with video effects rising over Animatronics (I'm only against it on some occasions). The generation is changing a lot. And I think WDW needs to step up on their game just as much as Universal is right now. Like they did with Fantasyland..



...Sorry for getting majorly off topic there for a minute. Probably belongs in another thread.

 

[wdwgreek]

BINGOOOOOO. ^^^^^


My age group... We are the most impatient people you will ever meet. If we waited over an hour to ride space mountain we would've thought it sucked. Waiting 5 minutes (really 15 minutes just to walk through the whole blame queue line) and we think it's amazing!

Also.. Always looking for shortcuts.

I know I already get a lot of hate on this site. But I am starting to have a feeling that the older disney fans reach a certain point to where they just want to stop completely on new ways of managing around WDW. Fastpasses probably being the #1 thing.. But my generation thinks it's the greatest idea in the world. Same goes with video effects rising over Animatronics (I'm only against it on some occasions). The generation is changing a lot. And I think WDW needs to step up on their game just as much as Universal is right now. Like they did with Fantasyland..
...Sorry for getting majorly off topic there for a minute. Probably belongs in another thread.

As someone of your generation, I agree with your evalutation of how, our generation is impatient in general. I know i never wait more then 20 minutes for any attraction. I do however disagree about the generilzation you made about video effects over Animatronics. I think AA's are amazing I ride the COP, CBJ, and Tiki just to watch the amazing AA's (well COP dosn't have amazing AA's they just amuse me.) The best of the Little Mermaid in NFL is the AA Ursula. The screen attractions don't do it for me, I could sit at home with headphones and watch a screen or pick up my Wii and do what people do in Toy Story Mania, all i need is somone to spray me with water. (joke! lol) In the end of the day though why do we think Pirates, Haunted, and Splash are amazing rides? Not because of screens or 3D effects, but because they have story, theme, and honestly amazing AA's with which to tell the story. Universal is a bunch of cheap thrills hidden behind sceens, nothing immersive there.
Again I do see your point about alot of people age 15 to 20, yet i don't think or believe leaving behind AA's fr screens does anything to give disney an edge, sure witty intigration fine, but I'll take an attraction with some tasteful AA's over a screen any day.

 

[the-reason14]

The way it's reported now is that you can get 3 or 4 total Fastpasses per day. The biggest change here is that Disney will be tracking usage, so you'll be able to change your Fastpass if you miss your window. The problem with that is that marquee attractions will still run out of availability quicker, so the enforcement of the return time is going to get people.

There are advantages that they're building into the system that make sense from Disney's standpoint (controlling crowd distribution) but it's done at the inconvenience of the guests. By limiting the number of Fastpasses per day, and then counting actual usage Disney is changing the back end system entirely. The good thing is, the increase # of attractions may result in the number of Fastpass+ reservations increasing day of, much in the same way that park hours increase as you get closer to the date.

I suspect that on most days, DHS, DAK and Epcot will have that 3 or 4 Fastpass+ reservation limit. For the most part that's all that's needed. Conversely, the Magic Kingdom should have a much higher capacity, and I could see availability bumped up to 6 Fastpass+ reservations.

While I don't like this substantial change on the back end and front end, there are ways that it could work. The biggest issue I see though is how they'll handle park hopping. In theory they could restrict Fastpass+ distribution by groupings across all four parks. This would mean that guests might be able to get two "Group A" attractions per day, one in Park 1 and one in Park 2. I see it as an issue though if the number of Fastpasses available per day per park is different.

So I'm guessing 3 fast passes a day for rides worthy of fast pass or will I be forced to get 1 for a true e ticket like splash then the other 2 for like Peter Pan and a show? Either way, 3 fast passes isn't nearly enough. I'm used to getting damn near 12 or more a day but that's usually thanks to the help of my dads ticket/fast pass. I see more benefits with this then I originally did but it still has a lot of holes in it.

 

[flynnibus]

Not always true. I have a local theme park named Carowinds and they don't have a fastpass system (that anyone uses). True that I barely wait in line to ride the rides, but it's a local theme park. Not many people go there.

Universal Studios charges like 20 bucks per person for theirs. I only see about 4 or 5 people in the express lane ever 15 or 20 minutes for Harry Potter. What sucks? I still had to wait one hour and fifteen minutes. 50 minutes for spider man. Over an hour for simpsons, despicable me, the mummy.. And that's considering that barely anyone uses their express passes.

So I disagree. I'd rather be the cruel guy and prefer everyone else to wait in the queue line if they please, but the way I think about it: one hour wait vs. 5 minutes... hmmmm..... Obvious choice.

Could you try again and make a cohesive point? You are saying 'no one will show up' if people need to wait.. yet you use examples of people waiting (and not paying for front of the line passes..) in successful parks. And not having to wait in a park that you say not many people goto...

How does this support your premise?

 

[flynnibus]

BINGOOOOOO. ^^^^^


My age group... We are the most impatient people you will ever meet. If we waited over an hour to ride space mountain we would've thought it sucked. Waiting 5 minutes (really 15 minutes just to walk through the whole blame queue line) and we think it's amazing!

You act like being impatient is a positive trait..

 

[muteki]

So I'm guessing 3 fast passes a day for rides worthy of fast pass or will I be forced to get 1 for a true e ticket like splash then the other 2 for like Peter Pan and a show? Either way, 3 fast passes isn't nearly enough. I'm used to getting damn near 12 or more a day but that's usually thanks to the help of my dads ticket/fast pass. I see more benefits with this then I originally did but it still has a lot of holes in it.

The way they were doing it in the trials were you would have a (and this is oversimplified but you get the point) 1 E ticket, 1~2 D~C ticket, and a B~A ticket (show, for example). They may or may not do it the same way when it is finally rolled out for real, but that is how it was done in the past.

So yeah, worst case scenario, 3 FP+ a day could mean 1 you really want/need, 1 you don't really want/don't need, and 1 you never would have gotten in the first place.

 

[WondersOfLife]

As someone of your generation, I agree with your evalutation of how, our generation is impatient in general. I know i never wait more then 20 minutes for any attraction. I do however disagree about the generilzation you made about video effects over Animatronics. I think AA's are amazing I ride the COP, CBJ, and Tiki just to watch the amazing AA's (well COP dosn't have amazing AA's they just amuse me.) The best of the Little Mermaid in NFL is the AA Ursula. The screen attractions don't do it for me, I could sit at home with headphones and watch a screen or pick up my Wii and do what people do in Toy Story Mania, all i need is somone to spray me with water. (joke! lol) In the end of the day though why do we think Pirates, Haunted, and Splash are amazing rides? Not because of screens or 3D effects, but because they have story, theme, and honestly amazing AA's with which to tell the story. Universal is a bunch of cheap thrills hidden behind sceens, nothing immersive there.
Again I do see your point about alot of people age 15 to 20, yet i don't think or believe leaving behind AA's fr screens does anything to give disney an edge, sure witty intigration fine, but I'll take an attraction with some tasteful AA's over a screen any day.

I do not disagree with you in any way and I love AA's myself. But I that sort of goes with the fact that we're theme park junkies .-.

My friends from chapman highschool just came back from a trip to WDW and I was excited to hear about all their opinions on different rides and stuff.. And to my shock, they all said the pirates, peter pan, tiki room, country bears.. sucked. People my age (and most likely when we're adults too) aren't as attached to things we know the history behind. Most said that Soarin', Mission Space, Rockin' Roller Coaster, and.... get this.. American Idol, were all their favorites.

I'm starting to realize why Disney is adding stuff that particularly us as disney park fans don't like.. but more of what the average person likes instead.

 

[WondersOfLife]

You act like being impatient is a positive trait..

being impatient for an hours worth of waiting to ride something that's only a minute long seems pretty reasonable to me.

 

[flynnibus]

being impatient for an hours worth of waiting to ride something that's only a minute long seems pretty reasonable to me.

Ever heard of 'good things come to those that wait...'?

Never waited for a concert? for tickets?

Someday when you actually create something yourself or work hard at it.. you'll learn to appreciate something for the amount of effort it took to get there or complete it.. not just be fixated on 'that must have been boring..' because it took awhile.

 

[Unomas]

I hate the idea. I don't want to have to plan my rides before I go. Sometimes my plans change several times over leading up to arrival. And it's not only parents going to Disney World. People of all situations and ages are visiting. How does that help them?

 

[DisneyJoe]

I hate the idea. I don't want to have to plan my rides before I go. Sometimes my plans change several times over leading up to arrival. And it's not only parents going to Disney World. People of all situations and ages are visiting. How does that help them?

If you don't want to plan, then don't, it's as easy as that.

Not everyone will be planning their trip - just like not everyone uses Fastpass now, and not everyone makes ADR's.

 

[wdwgreek]

I do not disagree with you in any way and I love AA's myself. But I that sort of goes with the fact that we're theme park junkies .-.

My friends from chapman highschool just came back from a trip to WDW and I was excited to hear about all their opinions on different rides and stuff.. And to my shock, they all said the pirates, peter pan, tiki room, country bears.. sucked. People my age (and most likely when we're adults too) aren't as attached to things we know the history behind. Most said that Soarin', Mission Space, Rockin' Roller Coaster, and.... get this.. American Idol, were all their favorites.

I'm starting to realize why Disney is adding stuff that particularly us as disney park fans don't like.. but more of what the average person likes instead.

Ugh our generation!!! When I went with my friends senoir year of high school, first day they went on all the "cool" rides at DHS while i did muppets, star tours and GMR a bunch of times, but when we went to MK i dragged them onto every AA attraction I could! They hated them... even CBJ and COP, sigh. and American Idol... yikes.... Whats the matter with kids today?

 

[Goofnut1980]

Ok, my turn to chime in.. hahah and pardon my french... I am a very positive person when it comes to what Disney does.. but

What es me off more than anything being a seasoned Disneyian is my next trip. The 180 day mark came, and I couldn't book reservations for dinning because the calendar was not posted. When they did post it.. it shows MK closing at 7pm on 9/13, which means Halloween Party..

As we know, Disney annouced Limited Time Magic that promoted on Friday 9/13 - HS would be open till the 13th hour, but the site shows closing at 8:30pm... How do they expect people to plan when they can't provide the correct tools to do it with???

 

[lebeau]

Ok, my turn to chime in.. hahah and pardon my french... I am a very positive person when it comes to what Disney does.. but

What es me off more than anything being a seasoned Disneyian is my next trip. The 180 day mark came, and I couldn't book reservations for dinning because the calendar was not posted. When they did post it.. it shows MK closing at 7pm on 9/13, which means Halloween Party..

As we know, Disney annouced Limited Time Magic that promoted on Friday 9/13 - HS would be open till the 13th hour, but the site shows closing at 8:30pm... How do they expect people to plan when they can't provide the correct tools to do it with???

I ran into a lot of similar things planning our last trip. And of course park hours were changing up until the week before we left. It wasn't a big deal when all I had to plan were ADRs. But it will add up when I am expected to plan in greater detail.

 

[Goofnut1980]

I ran into a lot of similar things planning our last trip. And of course park hours were changing up until the week before we left. It wasn't a big deal when all I had to plan were ADRs. But it will add up when I am expected to plan in greater detail.

Touche! because how can you plan dinner, if you can't plan the rides and when FP+ will give you the options on when to ride??

I tested FP+ for my December trip and it was stupid how it just randomly selects times and then you get 1 of 4 itineraries to use. We park hop. That doesn't always work for me.

 

[disneyeater]

Thanks for chiming in Len

Sounds like you've built 'inclusion' for FP+ so it doesn't break the tool... I'd call it 'compatibility' more than anything. The FP+ recommendations sounds interesting, but not all that compelling IMO.

Why do you bury this personalized touring tool so far down in the website? It's interesting in the 'which plan is for you..' texts the Personalized plans aren't really represented. You are positioning all the canned plans first.. and then offering the personalized plans as the 'last resort'. The personalized plans are the last in the drop down.. they are the last in the list.. and they aren't represented well in the guidance texts.

Compare this to positioning the Personalized Plans as the first recommendation (hey, its optimized for you!), and then offering the canned reports as alternatives if the personalized plan is too much or too involved.

This is your most advanced solution... including the ability to dynamically refresh it.. yet it's not promoted as the lead product in the category. Why is that?

The canned plans are likely up front because they are the easiest to use and work for most people, especially new-comers.

The canned plans can also be optimized. You can optimize them at anytime during the day dynamically as described earlier. It is a fantastic feature to allow one to adjust when things inevitably don't go to plan.

 

[Unomas]

If you don't want to plan, then don't, it's as easy as that.

Not everyone will be planning their trip - just like not everyone uses Fastpass now, and not everyone makes ADR's.

It's not as easy as that. We use Fastpass in the park and that works because you're there. You can plan accordingly. So if we decide not to use it and not plan 180 days out when we will ride Test Track - we end up waiting in potentially extremely long lines.

I need to see it in action before passing final judgement. But from everything I'm reading, it sounds terrible. Planning Disney trips is already more arduous than your typical vacation. Now we're going to have to sit down and decide at what times we want to ride our favorite attractions and keep up with those reservations as well?

 

[CJR]

This is one of those ideas that looks great on paper, but over looks the many factors that could mess it all up.

For example, any outdoor attraction can cause someone to get upset when their scheduled time just happens to be while it's raining. Also, what if the attraction previously reserved closes for last minute maintenance?

I'm sure they've thought about some of this, but I just don't think it's worth the hassle. They're just ultimately replacing the current complaints for new ones. They're determined to make it happen, but I don't see it making people's experiences much better overall.

I sometimes wonder if Disney just makes up comments since I never know anyone who has given them feedback and the comments they claim they got always seem unrealistic. The people who said this is the worst part of the experience aren't the ones who plan their vacation 180 days in advance.