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

[englanddg]

I've seen this all over the place too. So is the show up rate on ADR's so good that a CM can not even check the tables to see if any thing is available? I would think that out of 100 or so ADRs for the night that 20 might be no shows...and their spots could be offered up to walk ins. Maybe they overbook ADRs to account for this.

I don't think that's the case. I strongly suspect people miss ADRs all the time. I know I have for various reasons, including one day that was a complete wash because the kid got sick and we hung out at the hotel rather than push ourselves on the Parks.

I have never operated a Disney restaurant, but I did operate restaurants for 11 years that dealt with an advanced reserved dining system. So, with that in mind, I suspect the policy (and it does sound like a policy, because I've seen it mentioned many times by others, and I have personally experienced it, including picking up the phone and making the ADR at the restaurant after being told there was no space by the hostess and then being seated upon returning to the hostess stand)...

Anyhow, I suspect the policy evolved for two reasons.

1) Guest Service

Yeah, I know that sounds odd, considering they are turning away one Guest for a mystery ADR, but if you've ever worked restaurants with reservations, people are not always timely. And, the people who are not...sometimes don't care that they are not timely. They assume, since they have "a reservation" they can show up whenever they want, and they don't understand how turning the tables are important to keep the seating flow going in a restaurant, and they don't care to understand.

Not that they should, but if you operate a restaurant and assume that a table will be occupied for 45 minutes to an hour for the meal, and you have an ADR that is 20 minutes late, you may not wish to risk seating this couple in front of you and losing the ability to seat the ADR that shows up 5 minutes later furious that now THEY have to wait.

Most restaurants outside of Disney wouldn't care, but I can see Disney Management making this decision to alleviate Guest Complaints (valid or not). As Disney controls pretty much everything on the Parks, Guest Service is a nightmare, as some aspect of Disney can be blamed for pretty much everything by the Guest. It's not "I'm sorry, I got stuck in traffic, I should have left earlier", it's "I didn't know I'd have to wait 30 minutes for a darned Disney bus and now you are telling me I have to wait an hour for the seat I reserved!".

2) To force more people to make ADRs

In 2010, I had no trouble getting into restaurants as a party of 2 going in mid-August. Sometimes I had to wait 30 minutes to an hour, but the only restaurant that turned me away was Le Cellier.

In 2011, I had repeated issues getting into Full Service restaurants, with the only exception on that trip being Sci Fi and the few ADRs I'd made. I was not told "there will be a wait", I was told "There is no room at all, and will be no room" repeatedly.

So, fast forward to 2012, I made ADRs for EVERYTHING! Completely regret it...but you can see the logic.

Anyhow, by discouraging walk-ups, people rush to start using the ADR system, which it seems Disney wants to encourage.

<shrug>

All my opinion, but there you have it.

 

[Lord_Vader]

one of my big suggestions to a friend of mine going next week is to get a Morphie Juice iphone battery case. The extra battery life is key as we often had ours die on the bus ride home late at night.

I got very astute about finding power outlets within the MK.

We use a New Trent USB battery pack on our trips, it holds enough juice to completely charge four iPhones per day at a minimum and is only about 4"x4" so it drops right in the backpack and since it has USB ports (2) it can charge two devices no matter what type at a time and only costs around $75. I highly recommend anyone carry extra power for their smart-phones especially if you are using MDE and/or cameras.

 

[G00fyDad]

We use a New Trent USB battery pack on our trips, it holds enough juice to completely charge four iPhones per day at a minimum and is only about 4"x4" so it drops right in the backpack and since it has USB ports (2) it can charge two devices no matter what type at a time and only costs around $75. I highly recommend anyone carry extra power for their smart-phones especially if you are using MDE and/or cameras.

I like this idea for iPhones and iPods, but Android users should get a couple of batteries off of ebay for around $3 - $5 each and just as many chargers for those batteries so they can charge them each night, then take the batteries with them in the parks. I do this and only use 2 batteries a day with heavy use.

 

[xdan0920]

I like this idea for iPhones and iPods, but Android users should get a couple of batteries off of ebay for around $3 - $5 each and just as many chargers for those batteries so they can charge them each night, then take the batteries with them in the parks. I do this and only use 2 batteries a day with heavy use.

Ah...

I love how easy it's going to be to tour the parks.

 

[Musicmanbrain]

I think it's important to remember that every second you spend in line is a second you aren't in a shop spending money. FP isn't about 'guest experience', it's about WDW income from sales. Universal doesn't have anywhere near the same income stream from stores and therefore to make up the difference they charge for their FP system (was there this morning and it was $120 per person!).

I'm one of those annoying park guests (to WDW management) who uses FP and doesn't spend in the shops. The new FP+ system will timetable me to be in the park longer than I usually would (i park-hop alot) with probably more lengthy gaps between rides. What am I meant to do with that extra time .... Spend spend spend!!!

 

[BigThunderMatt]

I guess. But there shouldn't be a "mad scramble" to begin with. And like I said - what about the people that have no idea this had to be done, or couldn't do it for whatever reason, or decided to just drop in at a park, or... There might be "valid reasoning" but I still think it's dumb.

In this age of information, ignorance is a choice. Even as not onboard with NextGen as I am, I am the first person to have little to no pity to people who do not utilize the information that is literally at their fingertips. Disney puts it out there for you to peruse, if you do not do so or choose not to because you expect Disney to hold your hand through every step of the process and spiel to you every possible negative experience you may or may not have at the moment of booking your trip (as well as every minute of every day that you are there) then you deserve every second of the crappy trip you get as a result.

 

[EOD K9]

Ignoring the privacy issues and the limited number of available FPs...has anyone really thought about the practical aspects of having all of this tied to your smartphone? And by that I mean battery life. Let's face it, when a phone is in constant use, the battery can drain very fast. Most people will have dead batteries before they reach the third hour of use. And does Disney really want people just sitting around charging their phones (and NOT spending money)? Not to mention only about 50% of cell phone users have smartphones, so even with the FP terminals they will be setting up, there will be crowd control issues with them.

Despite the fact that I abhor the idea of Disney knowing practically my every move under NextGen, I hate the loss of FP. It's clear they are limiting them to 3 per guest per day. I easily use 6 or 7 (if not more), and quite a few for the same attraction. That is now all gone. So now instead of me spending money by getting a snack or lunch or dinner, I am now spending the time in line. Since I now have to wait in longer lines, I won't have time to spend the money I might have spent because now I have to get in another line in order to maximize the number of attractions I can experience. Plus I always park hop, so now I can't get a FP at one of the parks I visit.

Well Disney lost this guest. I haven't been since September (and by this time, I would have gone at least three time since then). I have allowed my Annual Pass to lapse and have no intentions of renewing it. I have gone to DLR twice since my September trip to WDW, and my third trip to UOR since Sept. is coming up next weekend. TDO has shown they have no interest in offering anything to guests who are not 5 year old girls, and instead just want their money and personal data for marketing purposes. I have no intentions of allowing that. Perhaps if people didn't begrudgingly accept this from businesses, we wouldn't have these issues. And I am sorry, but new bathrooms, expanded seating at Fantasmic!, and new entry roads to DHS should not get anyone excited. These are infrastructure changes that should be done without fanfare.

This is absolutely no sign of disrepect to you, but unfortunately, TDO does not care.

 

[fosse76]

I don't think that's the case. I strongly suspect people miss ADRs all the time. I know I have for various reasons, including one day that was a complete wash because the kid got sick and we hung out at the hotel rather than push ourselves on the Parks.

I have never operated a Disney restaurant, but I did operate restaurants for 11 years that dealt with an advanced reserved dining system. So, with that in mind, I suspect the policy (and it does sound like a policy, because I've seen it mentioned many times by others, and I have personally experienced it, including picking up the phone and making the ADR at the restaurant after being told there was no space by the hostess and then being seated upon returning to the hostess stand)...

Anyhow, I suspect the policy evolved for two reasons.

1) Guest Service

Yeah, I know that sounds odd, considering they are turning away one Guest for a mystery ADR, but if you've ever worked restaurants with reservations, people are not always timely. And, the people who are not...sometimes don't care that they are not timely. They assume, since they have "a reservation" they can show up whenever they want, and they don't understand how turning the tables are important to keep the seating flow going in a restaurant, and they don't care to understand.

Not that they should, but if you operate a restaurant and assume that a table will be occupied for 45 minutes to an hour for the meal, and you have an ADR that is 20 minutes late, you may not wish to risk seating this couple in front of you and losing the ability to seat the ADR that shows up 5 minutes later furious that now THEY have to wait.

That's not how ADRs work. They do not hold tables for people. It just means you get the next available table after your reservation time (assuming everone with a reservation time before you has been seated, of course).

2) To force more people to make ADRs

In 2010, I had no trouble getting into restaurants as a party of 2 going in mid-August. Sometimes I had to wait 30 minutes to an hour, but the only restaurant that turned me away was Le Cellier.

In 2011, I had repeated issues getting into Full Service restaurants, with the only exception on that trip being Sci Fi and the few ADRs I'd made. I was not told "there will be a wait", I was told "There is no room at all, and will be no room" repeatedly.

So, fast forward to 2012, I made ADRs for EVERYTHING! Completely regret it...but you can see the logic.

Anyhow, by discouraging walk-ups, people rush to start using the ADR system, which it seems Disney wants to encourage.

<shrug>

All my opinion, but there you have it.

I doubt that's it. While there have been times where I was able to snag a seat at a restaurant or two without an ADR, those have been very rare (and I always travel solo).

 

[janoimagine]

Also do realize the government doesn't need to get a court order to listen in on a cell phone they are not covered by wire tapping laws which only apply to land lines.5

Yes, they can track you if they choose to (with a court order), but they won't since there are millions of cell users in the country and they don't have time to worry about you in particular.

The Patriot Act pretty much gives the fed's the power to do whatever they want under the banner of National security, wether thats land lines or cell phones, passing conversation, emails, blogs, really any digital media or just simple suspicion ... any of those reasons apply. You can be detained and jailed ... really without probable cause, it's all outlined in the act.

 

[asianway]

Ah...

I love how easy it's going to be to tour the parks.

So I have 3 battery packs plus a wristband to haul around, and I MAY be able to forego carrying a wallet.

Got it, sounds great.

 

[flynnibus]

Yes, they can track you if they choose to (with a court order), but they won't since there are millions of cell users in the country and they don't have time to worry about you in particular. I can shout to the top of my lungs about a terrorist plot on my cell and the government will not even know about it. They don't/can't listen to every conversation on the planet. Besides it being illegal to do so. Yes, I know the government "does what it wants" but you know as well as I do that they aren't listening in on cell phones.

Unfortunately the combination of extreme computing power... the Patriot Act... and some extremely zealous people (backed by the Administration as well...)... The new mentality is 'just collect everything' and then justify your capture of it after the fact. No longer do we live in a world where they must have court orders FIRST and then capture the info. They capture everything now.. and then justify afterwards why they were able to find it was legal.

Read this older article on the data center the NSA was putting together. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/

There are a lot of people 'in the industry' that are not happy with the 'better to ask for forgiveness, then ask for permission' model agencies and the government have been moving towards.

 

[Thrill]

"A solution" is what I focus on. There are other solutions. They can actually shorten lines by adding attractions to distribute crowds evenly. They could get rid of FastPass at attractions which lose capacity to it (as they did at Haunted Mansion).

In my eyes, FastPass+ is little more than an illusion. You're going to spend more time in line on average, because more rides have FP now, and it often leads to logistical issues which drop capacity. It's just that now, you know where and when you'll have FastPasses weeks in advance, and won't have to physically go to get them.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

I think it's important to remember that every second you spend in line is a second you aren't in a shop spending money. FP isn't about 'guest experience', it's about WDW income from sales. Universal doesn't have anywhere near the same income stream from stores and therefore to make up the difference they charge for their FP system (was there this morning and it was $120 per person!).

I'm one of those annoying park guests (to WDW management) who uses FP and doesn't spend in the shops. The new FP+ system will timetable me to be in the park longer than I usually would (i park-hop alot) with probably more lengthy gaps between rides. What am I meant to do with that extra time .... Spend spend spend!!!

Yes -- this is dead on. That is why the original Fastpass system was put into place. It has zero to do with rider experience. It has to do with keeping money flowing throughout the park. There are still people who think the Fantasyland expansion was there to give them something new to ride. Its there to bring in money at the restaurant, quick service stands and the shops.

 

[unkadug]

Yes -- this is dead on. That is why the original Fastpass system was put into place. It has zero to do with rider experience. It has to do with keeping money flowing throughout the park. There are still people who think the Fantasyland expansion was there to give them something new to ride. Its there to bring in money at the restaurant, quick service stands and the shops.

Not to mention opening up new walkways thereby increasing the capacity of the park so that more people have an opportunity to spend their money.

 

[GenerationX]

Soon they'll be implementing the new FP- system, whereby you subtract both the lines and the rides and just go straight to the shops.

 

[Todd H]

So I have 3 battery packs plus a wristband to haul around, and I MAY be able to forego carrying a wallet.

Got it, sounds great.

MAGICal ain't it?

 

[G00fyDad]

So I have 3 battery packs plus a wristband to haul around, and I MAY be able to forego carrying a wallet.

Got it, sounds great.

Yep, sounds like you understood correctly.

 

[dhall]

Soon they'll be implementing the new FP- system, whereby you subtract both the lines and the rides and just go straight to the shops.

I dread the day someone in management comes to the realization that putting gift shops at the exits of rides, when guests have no particular reason to stay, is the wrong end: putting them in the queue, where the audience is captive might work a whole lot better. With the new Dumbo queue experiments in place, what's to stop them from putting shops in front of all the rides, like Rainforest & Cracker Barrel.

Just another idea that I almost regret typing out loud.

 

[fosse76]

This is absolutely no sign of disrepect to you, but unfortunately, TDO does not care.

Oh I know. I found it funny though, that in my 1 page e-mail to them, only one sentence regarded the privacy issue, yet that was the only thing they addressed in their response. And they sent a pretty lengthy response.

I'd really love to be a fly on the wall at City Hall when FP+ rolls out. You just know there are going to be a significant number of complaints.

 

[goherdibg]

You're missing the point. The demand for attractions and dining will create a "mad scramble" no matter what method they use. The theory with NGE is that guest satisfaction will increase if that mad dash is in the comfort of your living room a few weeks before vacation rather than sprinting from Pixar Place to Tower of Terror in 91 degree weather at 9:00 AM. You might disagree but there's valid reasoning behind it.

If you take what happens with ADR's then, yes you may be correct. I make ADR's because I am afraid of not getting into a TS meal on any given day without a long wait. Have I eaten at a restaurant simply because I have an ADR? Absolutely! We make our ADR's for around 7:00pm. On some days we ended up eating a QS lunch at 3:00 or so and weren't overly hungry at 7:00 but still kept our reservation and tried to slow-roll the time we arrived, etc.

Take that same approach with FP+ reservations. Will I make reservations at 180 because I am afraid of not getting one? Yep. Will that fear create a demand for FP's for other attractions. Yep.

I am looking at the positives in this by hoping it creates a demand for the less popular attractions for the rookies and make my wait for BTMRR shorter.