FastPass+ Chaos at MK today

[sjhym333]

Cast Members hate MyMagic, this is pretty hard to deny - you only have to spend fifteen minutes at a kiosk and listen to guest comments and the CM's diplomatic replies to tell that.

And yet still all those who love it will deny it, claiming all is roses and there was no better way to spend 2 billion bucks.

I sometimes wonder if some people are being paid by Disney to say how brilliant the system is because the front line experience is anything but, and the internet is full of MyMagic horror stories.

Anyone who owns a business knows that unhappy customers are the most vocal customers. It is just human nature. Just look at Facebook...people post happy pictures at a place with a couple of lines, but have a bad experience and you will see paragraphs of the injustice. Now add in fiercely loyal Disney fans and fan pages and of course you hear about a lot of the bad but the reality is the MK sees 30,000 to 50,000 people on an average day and the majority of those people will walk away with a great experience. How do I know? Because the WDW resort is busy and I look at these boards and see lots of posts about people returning to the resort over and over.

What I find interesting about conversations like this are two things. One is people who speak as experts but either haven't been there at all (someone on a thread went on and on about the unfairness of FP tiers in the MK) or those who make blanket statements as facts. Whenever I talk about my experience with FP+ I am always careful to say that it is MY experience and I understand others have had a different experience. I don't disregard their experience and I don't make blanket statements about mine. I have struck up conversations while on line in the parks with guests because I am always curious about their experience with FP+. I know as a local that my experiences are shaded by my ability to go any time I want. I have had many guests tell me that they love the new system...not all but the positive responses have far outweighed the negative responses. Out of the 40 or 50 experiences with FP+ I have only had two bad experiences where my FP's were no where to be seen in the system. The first time the CM's were helpful and respectful and tried to sort out the problem. It did not prevent me from entering the attraction. A CM told me to make sure in the future to screenshot my FP's, so now I do that. The second time the CM stopped me and told me I had no FP's left according to the system. I showed him my screenshot and he then had me scan my MagicBand and added the FP. I got to the next FP scan station and passed without problem. Both times the CM's did a great job of dealing with the issue. I also use the kiosks for additional passes. The past several times I have done that I have waited less then 5 mins to use a kiosk and get another FP. That is MY experience from weekly visits. The way some people talk you would think that there are 90 minute waits at the kiosks.

As for Disney spending the money it has on My Magic+. As a company Disney can do as it pleases with it's money. As a business owner myself I always weigh out the cost of something versus the return. I am sure Disney has done the same many times over. My guess is Disney is happy with MM+. Why? Because Tom Staggs just got promoted within the company and one of the factors in that has been the performance of the Parks division. If MM+ was a debacle then I expect you would see heads roll. Also, while I agree Disney should be building more attractions on a regular basis, if you look at what is currently going on in the parks it seems they are. Major additions coming to the AK, the probability of a Star Wars and/or Pixar additions to the Studios, the redo of Maelstrom at EPCOT. The one positive I see from FP+ is that Disney has realized that they need to up their capacity in attractions to open up more Fastpasses in the park. Even in the MK I think one of the reasons you are seeing alot of work in the hub is so they can add additional FP's for parades and fireworks, which in turn will relieve some of the pressure on FP's for other attractions.

Lastly, as I read about the 'horror' stories of FP, I can't help but think...that is such a first world problem.

 

[bhg469]

Anyone who owns a business knows that unhappy customers are the most vocal customers. It is just human nature. Just look at Facebook...people post happy pictures at a place with a couple of lines, but have a bad experience and you will see paragraphs of the injustice. Now add in fiercely loyal Disney fans and fan pages and of course you hear about a lot of the bad but the reality is the MK sees 30,000 to 50,000 people on an average day and the majority of those people will walk away with a great experience. How do I know? Because the WDW resort is busy and I look at these boards and see lots of posts about people returning to the resort over and over.

What I find interesting about conversations like this are two things. One is people who speak as experts but either haven't been there at all (someone on a thread went on and on about the unfairness of FP tiers in the MK) or those who make blanket statements as facts. Whenever I talk about my experience with FP+ I am always careful to say that it is MY experience and I understand others have had a different experience. I don't disregard their experience and I don't make blanket statements about mine. I have struck up conversations while on line in the parks with guests because I am always curious about their experience with FP+. I know as a local that my experiences are shaded by my ability to go any time I want. I have had many guests tell me that they love the new system...not all but the positive responses have far outweighed the negative responses. Out of the 40 or 50 experiences with FP+ I have only had two bad experiences where my FP's were no where to be seen in the system. The first time the CM's were helpful and respectful and tried to sort out the problem. It did not prevent me from entering the attraction. A CM told me to make sure in the future to screenshot my FP's, so now I do that. The second time the CM stopped me and told me I had no FP's left according to the system. I showed him my screenshot and he then had me scan my MagicBand and added the FP. I got to the next FP scan station and passed without problem. Both times the CM's did a great job of dealing with the issue. I also use the kiosks for additional passes. The past several times I have done that I have waited less then 5 mins to use a kiosk and get another FP. That is MY experience from weekly visits. The way some people talk you would think that there are 90 minute waits at the kiosks.

As for Disney spending the money it has on My Magic+. As a company Disney can do as it pleases with it's money. As a business owner myself I always weigh out the cost of something versus the return. I am sure Disney has done the same many times over. My guess is Disney is happy with MM+. Why? Because Tom Staggs just got promoted within the company and one of the factors in that has been the performance of the Parks division. If MM+ was a debacle then I expect you would see heads roll. Also, while I agree Disney should be building more attractions on a regular basis, if you look at what is currently going on in the parks it seems they are. Major additions coming to the AK, the probability of a Star Wars and/or Pixar additions to the Studios, the redo of Maelstrom at EPCOT. The one positive I see from FP+ is that Disney has realized that they need to up their capacity in attractions to open up more Fastpasses in the park. Even in the MK I think one of the reasons you are seeing alot of work in the hub is so they can add additional FP's for parades and fireworks, which in turn will relieve some of the pressure on FP's for other attractions.

Lastly, as I read about the 'horror' stories of FP, I can't help but think...that is such a first world problem.

The most vocal opponents are just more discerning. They expect more for 100 bucks a ticket and instead are getting construction walls and little to no payoff for 5 more years.


Disney should have realized they needed more capacity long before fp+ if they didn't know that then all our criticism is valid and they truly don't care about the parks.

Screen shot all your reservations? How do you not find this to be a ridiculous step?

how is someone who goes once every few years supposed to plan for that? Could you not see that making a major pain for a family that is there on a limited time?

 

[sjhym333]

The most vocal opponents are just more discerning. They expect more for 100 bucks a ticket and instead are getting construction walls and little to no payoff for 5 more years.


Disney should have realized they needed more capacity long before fp+ if they didn't know that then all our criticism is valid and they truly don't care about the parks.

Screen shot all your reservations? How do you not find this to be a ridiculous step?

how is someone who goes once every few years supposed to plan for that? Could you not see that making a major pain for a family that is there on a limited time?

When legacy FP was instituted I was working at Disney. It was a mess. People didn't understand the system. Years later when legacy FP was around for awhile people would still come up asking what FastPass was and how much did it cost. When I mentioned this on various boards everyone's response was if your going on vacation do your research. To answer your question...your supposed to plan for any trip: to Disney, to Europe or to Hawaii by doing research. Disney has not made FP+ a secret. If you reserve a room you are given information about it. The commercials on tv all around the country tout it. Taking Disney out the equation, whose fault would it be if you decided to head to NYC next week to see Book of Mormon only to get there and find out that it is sold out 6 months in advance?

Let's talk about capacity for a moment. A lot of the complaints here are that people could get 8 to 10 FP's a day and can now only get 4 on a good day. What does that mean? Did capacity decrease or is that more guests are using the system? I would say it is the later and that is a good thing. If you are a guest who only travels every few years and are paying for a hotel and $100 a ticket you can arrive at the parks knowing that you have at least 3 opportunities to ride attractions that are a must see for you. How is that bad? Disney is adding capacity. How is that bad? I screen shot my reservations. That is me. For me it is easy and saves time if you have a problem but I haven't heard anyone say they when they have had a problem with FP they have been denied access to an attraction.

 

[ford91exploder]

There are valid problems with MyMagic+. But RH isn't wrong on a lot of their points either. You AREN'T forced to book six months out. I too have had MOSTLY no trouble getting anything the day of besides SDMT, so I got there at rope drop, waited, rode, and still managed to get everything done. I'm also the first to know that I go during the week and I also try to go during managable times.

I know it's a hated product but I think people also have to understand there are those that have had no problems with it. That being said, I was totally against this when it was first announced, as someone who won't plan in advance for Disney (I don't have to, I'm close enough to go pretty much every week if I wanted, but I don't, and won't) I was very concerned by this. I don't mind the band at all. I've never had trouble lining it up to the mickey head, I've never had to twist my arm funny ... Sometimes I do think a bit of the complaining against it is just nitpicking and refusal to accept change.

Again, many complaints are valid. I'm not dismissing anyone who has had TRUE problems with it. I'm not dismissing cast members hating it. It sounds like a true ... disaster, to be honest.

I'm sure it will be repeated to me the problems, but I've read this thread, and the many others. I'm just repeating my experiences with it. Do I think the band and other aspects were necessary? Was the money spent on it necessary? LOL. No, it wasn't at all. Tech upgrades, sure, maybe some of the features and some features mentioned around the boards would be nice additions to it (I don't like the tiers either).

I guess instead of hating the system and being upset over it, I adjust myself and work with it. Not much has changed in my personal attending of the parks.

(I have yet to have a hotel reservation under the magic band, so no, I'm not saying this is the most amazing system ever and as prloblematic as it is for many, it also isn't for many).

Some of us who absolutely DESPISE the MM+ system have not BEEN able to do a SINGLE FP+ reservation since the system went fully online mainly because TWDC broke something in my account when back in the initial testing Contemporary and BLT guests were forced to use the MB system as part of a two week initial test for which I was unlucky enough to be a part of (Refusing the MB and using KTTW was NOT an option and yes I did ask)

Disney's answer is effectively 'Suck it - there is nothing we can do to fix your problem", I go because I USED to be a pixie duster and my family STILL is but the bottom line is they can do the FP+ attractions and I cannot. I spend a LOT of money at Disney and feel ill-used to be honest. I still manage to have a good time because the people i'm with have a good time and DL is still wonderful and I do get out there a couple times per year because business takes me to the LA area fairly frequently

I was never a FP+ commando I might do 1-2 FP per day when I could still get FP, My touring style has always been relaxed so not being able to get 8-10 FP per day has NEVER appealed to me.

 

[flynnibus]

Ugh time warp thread. Unwatch

 

[ford91exploder]

Ugh time warp thread. Unwatch

Why - Because a major production system run by a huge US corporation had a multi-day hard failure, Yet even from the beginning the system was unstable and had and continues to have long outages with this simply being the longest.

Or because TWDC created a 'God Box' then by policy removed the ability of the CM to help the guest and the stories out of WDW have changed from computer glitch broke my vacation but CM's fixed it. To Computer glitch broke my vacation and CM's were powerless to help.

Not a time warp - just artifacts of a poorly designed and implemented system which continues to fail under load.

 

[unkadug]

Some of us who absolutely DESPISE the MM+ system have not BEEN able to do a SINGLE FP+ reservation since the system went fully online mainly because TWDC broke something in my account when back in the initial testing Contemporary and BLT guests were forced to use the MB system as part of a two week initial test for which I was unlucky enough to be a part of (Refusing the MB and using KTTW was NOT an option and yes I did ask)

Disney's answer is effectively 'Suck it - there is nothing we can do to fix your problem", I go because I USED to be a pixie duster and my family STILL is but the bottom line is they can do the FP+ attractions and I cannot. I spend a LOT of money at Disney and feel ill-used to be honest. I still manage to have a good time because the people i'm with have a good time and DL is still wonderful and I do get out there a couple times per year because business takes me to the LA area fairly frequently

I was never a FP+ commando I might do 1-2 FP per day when I could still get FP, My touring style has always been relaxed so not being able to get 8-10 FP per day has NEVER appealed to me.

Why are you the only person in your party that FP+ will not work for?

 

[sjhym333]

Why - Because a major production system run by a huge US corporation had a multi-day hard failure, Yet even from the beginning the system was unstable and had and continues to have long outages with this simply being the longest.

Or because TWDC created a 'God Box' then by policy removed the ability of the CM to help the guest and the stories out of WDW have changed from computer glitch broke my vacation but CM's fixed it. To Computer glitch broke my vacation and CM's were powerless to help.

Not a time warp - just artifacts of a poorly designed and implemented system which continues to fail under load.

And yet tens of thousands use it everyday and are happy about it. I have on more than one occasion been at Walmart when their systems go down. It happens. The other day I was at a chain restaurant and their POS System went down. The brought paper checks but couldn't take credit cards. They comp'd our food. It happens. Sounds like your experience is a nightmare. I wonder if you close your MDE account then use a different email to open a new account and add your tickets/reservations on the new account. Whenever I have talked to tech support at Disney they have been courteous and helpful. I am sorry that hasn't been the same for you.

 

[ford91exploder]

Why are you the only person in your party that FP+ will not work for?

I have a premier passport and have for a long time, Premier Passports are admission media which work at both WDW and DL - Rest of family has WDW AP's What I think happened is during the test something got written to the database in error because system was not coded to understand this ticket media and it's probably low-level backend code which is accessible only to DBA's and that hosed my ability to reserve FP's.

Renewing is always a treat because my account always throws errors, Last time I renewed it took 2 GR people 2 hours and multiple reboots of their system to renew my PP. I really felt bad for the GR people, I sent a nice letter to their manager praising them for their efforts on my behalf.

 

[unkadug]

I have a premier passport and have for a long time, Premier Passports are admission media which work at both WDW and DL - Rest of family has WDW AP's What I think happened is during the test something got written to the database in error because system was not coded to understand this ticket media and it's probably low-level backend code which is accessible only to DBA's and that hosed my ability to reserve FP's.

Renewing is always a treat because my account always throws errors, Last time I renewed it took 2 GR people 2 hours and multiple reboots of their system to renew my PP. I really felt bad for the GR people, I sent a nice letter to their manager praising them for their efforts on my behalf.

I have a solution....don't renew. Problem solved.

 

[ford91exploder]

And yet tens of thousands use it everyday and are happy about it. I have on more than one occasion been at Walmart when their systems go down. It happens. The other day I was at a chain restaurant and their POS System went down. The brought paper checks but couldn't take credit cards. They comp'd our food. It happens. Sounds like your experience is a nightmare. I wonder if you close your MDE account then use a different email to open a new account and add your tickets/reservations on the new account. Whenever I have talked to tech support at Disney they have been courteous and helpful. I am sorry that hasn't been the same for you.

Since I'm DVC I cannot create a new Disney account since that email is tied to my DVC account, I've had no problems with CM courtesy and they have always TRIED to help however to limitations in the system are unable to.

What Disney would need to do and I'm not sure they even CAN is manually delete all my accounts both for MDE and DVC and manually recreate them.

One of the issues at Disney is much of Disney IT is outsourced and each system in many cases maintained by a separate entity but all the systems are linked and there is probably a very small group who manages the interactions but these people would never be accessible to guests.

The reality is it would probably cost Disney $ 10-50,000 to fix my issue and they are hoping I'll simply go away It's like the auto industry, yes there are fatal flaws in every car but it's cheaper to pay out a few lawsuits than fix the problem.

In my case have me sell my DVC and stop renewing PP, I'm simply not that important to them in the big picture of things.

 

[ford91exploder]

I have a solution....don't renew. Problem solved.

I see you have never met my wife, Happy wife happy life - so I deal with the disney issues, that does not mean that I will shut up about them though!

 

[Mike S]

I see you have never met my wife, Happy wife happy life - so I deal with the disney issues, that does not mean that I will shut up about them though!

I wonder what not renewing your pass and then buying a new one after the renewal period would do though. Would be like resetting your pass and let you get FP or would it just do nothing?

 

[erasure fan1]

When legacy FP was instituted I was working at Disney. It was a mess. People didn't understand the system. Years later when legacy FP was around for awhile people would still come up asking what FastPass was and how much did it cost. When I mentioned this on various boards everyone's response was if your going on vacation do your research. To answer your question...your supposed to plan for any trip: to Disney, to Europe or to Hawaii by doing research. Disney has not made FP+ a secret. If you reserve a room you are given information about it. The commercials on tv all around the country tout it. Taking Disney out the equation, whose fault would it be if you decided to head to NYC next week to see Book of Mormon only to get there and find out that it is sold out 6 months in advance?

While I do agree that any trip you take, you need to do your research and do some planning. If I go to NYC and want to see Book of Mormon, yea I should probably check for tickets. But never have I gone to a city and had to plan out and make a reservation for everyplace I want to eat and everything I want to do. Its not the fact that you have to plan, its the amount of micro planning that bothers me and the drop in flexibility that not only FP+ brings but also dining.

 

[wdisney9000]

I guess instead of hating the system and being upset over it, I adjust myself and work with it. Not much has changed in my personal attending of the parks.

Adjusting is the key. My wife and I did, and in some ways it has been enjoyable to explore new strategies. Do we like the new system? No, but we still have great vacations. We never loose sight of the fact that what we enjoy most about being at WDW is that we are together, in a wonderful environment. Rides are secondary.

 

[sjhym333]

While I do agree that any trip you take, you need to do your research and do some planning. If I go to NYC and want to see Book of Mormon, yea I should probably check for tickets. But never have I gone to a city and had to plan out and make a reservation for everyplace I want to eat and everything I want to do. Its not the fact that you have to plan, its the amount of micro planning that bothers me and the drop in flexibility that not only FP+ brings but also dining.

We agree about this...especially dining. As a local I like the FP+ because I can look at what is available in each park and make decisions before I leave the house. Most days I can get most everything I want. I realize that as a local I am lucky to have that ability. The downside is we can no longer just hop in the car, head to EPCOT and get into a restaurant for dinner, something we used to do a lot years ago. If we want to eat at any of the nicer, popular places we have to plan to do that months out. The result? We don't often eat at Disney. Once in a while we may do a quick service but mostly we prefer to head towards our house and stop by a favorite restaurant on our way back. Better food, cheaper prices and no tourists.

 

[Kman101]

I totally understand the frustration there. I was actually thinking of your problems with the system as I was writing my post. There's no excuse for them not fixing your problem. I don't buy that they can't, either. IMO. But I'm not some techie, either.

I'm not a fastpass commando either (and even as a close-enough local, I still get there at park opening to take advantage). I also admit if I can't ride something on one visit it doesn't really make or break anything for me, but again, I'm different. For that once in a lifetime, or once a year trip, it does and can impact a trip.

Some of us who absolutely DESPISE the MM+ system have not BEEN able to do a SINGLE FP+ reservation since the system went fully online mainly because TWDC broke something in my account when back in the initial testing Contemporary and BLT guests were forced to use the MB system as part of a two week initial test for which I was unlucky enough to be a part of (Refusing the MB and using KTTW was NOT an option and yes I did ask)

Disney's answer is effectively 'Suck it - there is nothing we can do to fix your problem", I go because I USED to be a pixie duster and my family STILL is but the bottom line is they can do the FP+ attractions and I cannot. I spend a LOT of money at Disney and feel ill-used to be honest. I still manage to have a good time because the people i'm with have a good time and DL is still wonderful and I do get out there a couple times per year because business takes me to the LA area fairly frequently

I was never a FP+ commando I might do 1-2 FP per day when I could still get FP, My touring style has always been relaxed so not being able to get 8-10 FP per day has NEVER appealed to me.

 

[Kman101]

Adjusting is the key. My wife and I did, and in some ways it has been enjoyable to explore new strategies. Do we like the new system? No, but we still have great vacations. We never loose sight of the fact that what we enjoy most about being at WDW is that we are together, in a wonderful environment. Rides are secondary.

Pretty much this. I like some aspects of this "newfangled" system, I like being able to adjust my FP+ times, and I actually do like being able to book them prior to visiting (and in that same breath, I also see nothing wrong with the old way). I do wish you can just walk up to the old FP areas, tap your band or card and reserve the ride that way. I do think some aspects of it have made it more complicated than it needs to be, and functions should be added that would really give some good benefits to the system.

I just don't agree that it truly *FORCES* you to either use/wear the band or reserve a ride six months out. To me, a fast pass not being available is no different than if I walked to the park and they were out already. Yes, some wait times are horrible now *most* of the time (I'm looking at you Haunted Mansion), but if you get there at rope drop, the parks aren't all that hard to manage and my touring of the park hasn't really changed.

 

[ford91exploder]

I totally understand the frustration there. I was actually thinking of your problems with the system as I was writing my post. There's no excuse for them not fixing your problem. I don't buy that they can't, either. IMO. But I'm not some techie, either.

I'm not a fastpass commando either (and even as a close-enough local, I still get there at park opening to take advantage). I also admit if I can't ride something on one visit it doesn't really make or break anything for me, but again, I'm different. For that once in a lifetime, or once a year trip, it does and can impact a trip.

I can buy the explanation with the CM facing system systems my issues cannot be fixed, The problem and it probably only affects those with PP's who are DVC and were there for the INITIAL MM+ tests If i had to guess probably affects less than 25-50 people, It's simply does not make economic sense for Disney to try and fix with no 'in-house' IT people available as this kind of fix is 'out of scope' for outsourced IT.

Now contrast this with my new fiber internet TV, A glitch in the order system broke my IPTV service after months of flawless service, Ordinarily they need to give out new boxes when this happens, But because they had IN HOUSE expertise they figured out how to push an update to my existing IPTV boxes and bring them back online.

Somebody at TDS is getting a bonus for that one because they no longer need to REPLACE CPE and they save a truck roll, And the customer is happy because instead of 24-36 hours to restore service service was back online in under 6 hours Customer was happy and the company SAVED money - LOTS of it I was just the first customer with a new procedure.

 

[Tigger1988]

Why do people keep repeating that you reserve rides 5 or 6 months out when that's not true?

60 days is not 6 months.