FastPass+ open to all guests at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Epcot next week

[GymLeaderPhil]

HINT: Those CMs with the iPads at the kiosks (or at service centers like Sid Cahuenga's) can do all sorts of things to bend and expand the limits on that system, and do "magical" things we cannot do with the kiosk or the MM+ app! Those limits we can see are only suggestions to a CM in a really good mood.

Please do not go up to these Cast Members with the sole purpose of trying to get extra FP+ or an attraction that is no longer available. You are setting people up for disappointment. They are there to assist with troubleshooting MM+ not to start making exceptions. If they see that it's appropriate, available, and achievable then they will.

 

[71jason]

2) CM making a choice to scan ALL the bands or tickets fora group:
Some FP return points, the CM would say "only one of you has to scan your band in the party" to move things along faster, saw that at BTMR more than once. Then other attractions or other times, CM would make every single person in the party scan their band or ticket. Saw that at Test Track multiple times (still had paper FP when I was there though).

This is just ripe for abuse once word leaks out to the mommy bloggers and other "insiders." Like the GAC but without as much moral questionability. Again, shows a system designed by people who don't really spend any time in theme parks.

The system isn't helped by the double checkpoints, either. I assume to prevent line-jumping, but there must be more efficient ways.

 

[GhettoJetta5]

Sorry in advance for the length of this post...
Most of the backups I could see in January, after parks went FP+ only (AK and MK saw last week), were more of the cast members explaining things to people, or some operational choices that slow things down.
As those photos show it gets really backed up at some attractions but I don't think it's only the 4 or 5 seconds to scan the band or ticket... Here's 2 examples.

1) CM explanations / guest education:
Having a MB or ticket alone does not get you in there, you have to book a FP+. I saw this play out numerous times on my trip right in front of me. Usually the family would move over to the stand-by line, and they understood quickly, but other times some wanted a detailed explanation or English is not their first language so CM spends a minute or two in that case explaining about that you had to book FP+. I saw this happen to day guests with plastic tickets and to resort guests with MB. After all this time the resort guests do not all get the whole MB and FP+ thing, so I have to forgive the day guests showing up and seeing FP+ for the first time! In a year I'd be more annoyed, but it's been only a WEEK at the MK.

2) CM making a choice to scan ALL the bands or tickets fora group:
Some FP return points, the CM would say "only one of you has to scan your band in the party" to move things along faster, saw that at BTMR more than once. Then other attractions or other times, CM would make every single person in the party scan their band or ticket. Saw that at Test Track multiple times (still had paper FP when I was there though).

RE #2 -- Either the training is uneven, or CMs have realized some people are already "milking the system" (spreading their FP+ across multiple attractions for different people in the party). Just think with 3 people in your party, if you only had to scan one band or ticket at each FP entry, you could TRIPLE your FP+, in theory. So I suspect the CMs are (perhaps wisely) checking ALL of the people in a party SOME of the time, even when there's a backup. It's unfortunate but...
Checking only one ticket or band on a busy day, people are going to abuse the heck out of that loophole if it became a predictable norm that CMs always only check one ticket/band for a group. So I think the CMs have to intermittently make everyone scan, sort of how parking attendants check your ID vs. your AP about 10 to 20% of the time going thru the parking plazas.
They won't stop everyone but it will deter you if you got checked say one out of five times. And this is where in time, you will see guests have a fake "meltdown" and act outraged they are getting the blue light, and yelling "How dare you check all of us you only checked one of us last time?!" plus some more hystrionics, etc.

I don't like 3 FP or 1 park limit, and most others don't either -- so people are going to try all kinds of tricks to get around these 1 park and 3 FP limits. There are some other creative ways too, people getting around the FP limits it's going to be worse than the whole GAC card abuse thing I fear, if the limits don't ease up soon that is.


HINT: Those CMs with the iPads at the kiosks (or at service centers like Sid Cahuenga's) can do all sorts of things to bend and expand the limits on that system, and do "magical" things we cannot do with the kiosk or the MM+ app! Those limits we can see are only suggestions to a CM in a really good mood.

In my (limited) experience, CMs would check every MB\card at the first checkpoint, but only one per party at the second checkpoint... This seems logical to me... I am sure it would be possible to have party member(s) line jump, depending on the ride, but less likely after seeing the CM at checkpoint 1 check all MB/cards... Just an observation...

 

[kelknight84]

In my experience it was faster to scan the bands than have the CM's check the FP return time on the ticket, so I don't buy that the bands slow things up much. I didn't even stop walking to scan my band. I strecthed out my arm as I got close, it registered green immediately on both checkpoints and I just kept on walking as did the rest of family.

 

[doctornick]

The system isn't helped by the double checkpoints, either. I assume to prevent line-jumping, but there must be more efficient ways.

I don't think the double checkpoint makes a difference. The backup and weeding out occurs at the first checkpoint, the second one is typically very quick.

 

[doctornick]

In my (limited) experience, CMs would check every MB\card at the first checkpoint, but only one per party at the second checkpoint... This seems logical to me... I am sure it would be possible to have party member(s) line jump, depending on the ride, but less likely after seeing the CM at checkpoint 1 check all MB/cards... Just an observation...

That's interesting, I can't say I noticed it, but my children wanted to scan their bands at every chance they got, so we always all scanned them. However, I think that you need to scan at the second checkpoint to mark the FP+ as "used" -- the first checkpoint only confirms that you have a valid one, but the second one is where it is removed from your list. If some party members' bands are not scanned at the second checkpoint, I think that this would result people still having valid FP+ for that ride which could be used to re-ride or changed to another attraction.

 

[71jason]

I don't think the double checkpoint makes a difference. The backup and weeding out occurs at the first checkpoint, the second one is typically very quick.

Agreed not as much of a delay--but still a delay.

 

[Rob562]

FP "kiosk" was just two (cold) kids with iPads standing in front of the covered Space Mt FP machines. Not seeing the efficiency there. And pretty bad show.

The only official kiosk location in Tomorrowland at the moment is outside Stitch, where there are both kiosks and CM's with iPads. Those CM's at Space were "helper/problem-solver" CM's. I presume that eventually the old FastPass machines will all be turned into full-service kiosks.

-Rob

 

[Redhawk]

Anyone else find it odd that Maelstrom is included in the same Tier as Soarin', TT, RoE & Character Spot?

I don't, actually. I've seen surprisingly long standby lines at Maelstrom even on low-crowd days.

The tier works for us. My husband and I could ride TT as single riders, use FP+ for Maelstrom. We don't meet Characters and we don't like Soarin'. But I agree that most people want FP to both Soarin' and TT so are upset they have to make a choice.

 

[gsimpson]

I thought the system everyone else hates worked great. Was there from 12/27 - 1/6 and the ONLY issue anyone in our party had was some of our photos did not show up in a very timely manner, and some did not show up at all. The magic band entry replacement of the turnstiles seemed to speed things up a lot, not much of an entry delay even on the 30th and 31st. Of course you do have two scanning posts taking the place of each turnstile. Everyone of our fastpasses and dining reservations (we had from 1 to 3 resis each and every day) worked without a hitch . Our room charges for things we did in the parks worked without a hitch and unlike the old rooms key each person's band charged their credit card. This should have worked with the kttw cards but for our group it never did in the past, it was always fun to see who was the lucky sod that got stuck with all the charges at the end of the trip even though we went through the process of assigning different cards to each kttw card each time. The only complaint I have about the system is that you can't have fast passes at more than one park picked in advance, we all park hop constantly when we're down there often starting in one park, then hopping to another or a hotel for a meal, then going to another park for entertainment or a meal, then sometimes a third park for fireworks. It would be great to be able to schedule fastpasses around the hopping instead of all one park for a day.

 

[RSoxNo1]

This! The line just to get into the Fastpass Return line has grown substantially throughout all 4 parks and especially on busy days. The Fastpass Return points are also seeing the slow down to the point that many attraction are then forced to send a lot of standby guests (despite a line for Fastpass) just to keep from sending empty cars at times.

The issues that were seen with people and paper Fastpasses are the same. People still arrive early and late. People still try to cheat the system. People still have one person holding all the Fastpasses. People still put away their Fastpasses or not have them ready, and people still don't even know what Fastpass is. The issues are that people now don't have tangible paper in their hand reminding them of their exact Fastpass times. People are booking half of their family at one ride and half at the other, showing up saying they are together, and blaming a technical error for the people without Fastpasses. The person holding all the cards now blocks the way in as they scan each card one at a time at one touchpoint. People put away their cards and even MagicBands (yes, the device designed to wear conveniently on your wrist.). Two groups with blue flashing lights at a touchpoint can instantly form a line. Don't even get me started as I watch people twist their arms in all sorts of wierd ways to get their MagicBand to line up or those with cards that hold it 5 inches away from the touchpoint and are confused why it isn't doing anything.

Also, much like the entry gates people don't understand that both Fastpass+ readers can be used. Disney has conditioned people to wait in a single file line for decades and now they need to condition them otherwise.

 

[71jason]

The only official kiosk location in Tomorrowland at the moment is outside Stitch, where there are both kiosks and CM's with iPads. Those CM's at Space were "helper/problem-solver" CM's. I presume that eventually the old FastPass machines will all be turned into full-service kiosks.

-Rob

I mean, they only had, what, a year and $1-2B to come up with a better plan.

Defunct, misleading FP machines are bad show.

 

[rct247]

Sorry in advance for the length of this post...
HINT: Those CMs with the iPads at the kiosks (or at service centers like Sid Cahuenga's) can do all sorts of things to bend and expand the limits on that system, and do "magical" things we cannot do with the kiosk or the MM+ app! Those limits we can see are only suggestions to a CM in a really good mood.

No. Stop. Wrong. You ruined it. Stop spreading lies. Period. Seriously.

The CMs with iPads do have more capabilities than a simple kiosk, but they are not there for you to exploit the system. In fact, let me one to even warn you that those iPads can see quite a bit of information including what you have used your Fastpasses for, what you booked, your times, and which cards/bands have what FP+ picks. So, they can also figure out if things don't add up. Disney is known for making magical moments, but they don't guarantee everyone the same magical moment, and they sure as won't cave just for begging or asking nicely. In fact, most cast member on here will tell you that the guests that are rude, begging, or trying to cheat the system will not get the best service out of them. They will get good service...it's the Disney way, but not their best.

How'd you like it if I said, go see omurice, he gave me change for the vending machine when I didn't have any. I bet if you ask really nicely, they will give some to you too. In fact, I've done it once this week and once last week. Just make sure you catch em in a good mood. Serious situation. What's a little change out of your pocket going to hurt. Now you have your whole office or school asking you. Then how does it feel. Get it. Got it. Good.

 

[rct247]

I mean, they only had, what, a year and $1-2B to come up with a better plan.

Defunct, misleading FP machines are bad show.

They are adding more where the Buzz Ligthyear machines were. Work walls are up. The ones at Space Mountain are "mobile kiosks" used to help distribute crowds during the test and also to see where potentially more permanent kiosk locations need to go. The goal is to not have as many FP machines as there were with legacy. The old machines are also still there because this is still a test. If Disney really needs to, they can pull those covers off tomorrow and return back to paper Fastpass.

 

[SpaceMtn101]

Ok take this as you may ....
My friend works in fastpass +. We have been friends for 7 years.
Last night we were talking about fastpass +.
This is what she has been told:
They are trying to set up more kiosks at mk. One place might be diamond horseshoe when it is not being used as a restrauant. They would use their iPads and not kiosks. They are also talking about self kiosks with no cast members at buzz.
Annual pass holders are suppose to get access soon but again no time frame same as cast members.
They maybe taking the tiers at Epcot and Hollywood away to allow park hopping. They do not know if they can keep the teiting and allow hopping at the same time. Hopping is suppose to go in effect soon after they are all live. No date yet.
You can buy magic bands for 12 dollars soon but you will only have charging privileges.
Phil Holmes was out helping guests a few days ago at mk

 

[wdisney9000]

One HUGE issue I see with the FP+ system is how long it takes to verify the FP with the RFID scanners. With the paper system it would take maybe a second for the CM to look at it and send you along.

Now it takes several seconds at minimum per person. They either need to add a lot more scanners at each check point or find a way to make the verification happen faster.

This issue is what causes the line seen in the picture above at Star Tours.

Exactly. In the last 4 days we have seen this at almost all major attractions several times a day (top of the hour and other times) and in different parks. It is not very busy so I can imagine what it will look like during peak season. I took the time to stand there a few minutes and watch and it is a cross section of guests not understanding how to use the system, people trying to cheat, and occasionally (rare) system error. Also, like @rct247 said, when a scanner goes blue, that will instantly back it up. I think this just proves that FP+ does absolutely nothing to make lines move more quickly, even with spreading FP distribution to attractions that didnt need it, FP+ lines just get jammed at the entrance which is another thing to add to the list of issues that never happened before.

Now...I'm sure some people are reading this and their fingers are itching to type out how it worked flawlessly for them and the had no issues. Same for my wife and I. We have had no issue. But keep in mind that we are the 1% who are familiar with the system even before we arrive. The other 99% of guests are going to continue to gum up the works and Disney heavily favors having that 99% demographic. The 1% are the reason they changed the system because we knew how to "abuse" legacy FP and get more than 3 per day. The 1% that forced the change are the only ones who truly understand how to use the new system, so whats the gain for regular guests? So no need to to waste your time typing out how the system is great and worked perfectly for you. I believe you. You still cant change the other 99%. Just for fun, here are some other examples of the FP+ line backing up:

Dinosaur

This is BTMRR and you can barely see my wife in the back with her hand in the air. She wasnt even at the back of the line and you can barely see her. Whats funny is that the line was this long and then when we got the FP+ entrance it had two turnstyle turns before the FP+ entrance. We waited a total of 10 minutes in FP+ line OUTSIDE the entrance and then another 12 minutes inside. A lot of guests were complaining. The poor CM had nothing to say that could help.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Exactly. In the last 4 days we have seen this at almost all major attractions several times a day (top of the hour and other times) and in different parks. It is not very busy so I can imagine what it will look like during peak season. I took the time to stand there a few minutes and watch and it is a cross section of guests not understanding how to use the system, people trying to cheat, and occasionally (rare) system error. Also, like @rct247 said, when a scanner goes blue, that will instantly back it up. I think this just proves that FP+ does absolutely nothing to make lines move more quickly, even with spreading FP distribution to attractions that didnt need it, FP+ lines just get jammed at the entrance which is another thing to add to the list of issues that never happened before.

Now...I'm sure some people are reading this and their fingers are itching to type out how it worked flawlessly for them and the had no issues. Same for my wife and I. We have had no issue. But keep in mind that we are the 1% who are familiar with the system even before we arrive. The other 99% of guests are going to continue to gum up the works and Disney heavily favors having that 99% demographic. The 1% are the reason they changed the system because we knew how to "abuse" legacy FP and get more than 3 per day. The 1% that forced the change are the only ones who truly understand how to use the new system, so whats the gain for regular guests? So no need to to waste your time typing out how the system is great and worked perfectly for you. I believe you. You still cant change the other 99%. Just for fun, here are some other examples of the FP+ line backing up:

Dinosaur
View attachment 44358

This is BTMRR and you can barely see my wife in the back with her hand in the air. She wasnt even at the back of the line and you can barely see her. Whats funny is that the line was this long and then when we got the FP+ entrance it had two turnstyle turns before the FP+ entrance. We waited a total of 10 minutes in FP+ line OUTSIDE the entrance and then another 12 minutes inside. A lot of guests were complaining. The poor CM had nothing to say that could help.
View attachment 44359

What would you suggest the CM say that would help? Free dole whips for all? Free FP+ to CoP?

 

[orky8]

What would you suggest the CM say that would help? Free dole whips for all? Free FP+ to CoP?

Haha, just kidding about FP+, it's going away next week.

 

[wdisney9000]

What would you suggest the CM say that would help? Free dole whips for all? Free FP+ to CoP?

I would suggest to play dead in that particular case. I could see the look of frustration on her face. As someone who understood what was happening I knew there was nothing the CM could do/say. The other (uneducated) guests in line didnt care. It was also people walking up thinking they could walk right in the FP+ entrance and when the CM pointed to the end of the line they stared firing questions at her. "why is there a line?" "why cant we just walk in?" "why is the regular line shorter?"

On a funnier note, I heard the Disney newb quote of the week at EPCOt the other day. A woman yelling to her family, "hurry up, I booked fast switch passes for the Fast Track".

 

[COProgressFan]

On a funnier note, I heard the Disney newb quote of the week at EPCOt the other day. A woman yelling to her family, "hurry up, I booked fast switch passes for the Fast Track".

And these are the folks who are supposed to figure out how to use the convoluted confusing FP+ system.

Set up some special account in advance online, purchase tickets in advance, somehow "link" different tickets with different people through some process that often barely works (based on numerous reports), figure out all the "rules" about tiers, return times, etc, etc.

Folks often say how stupid the typical park guest can be. Which may be true, but why should it be their job to figure this all out? They just wanted a fun vacation with their family. Instead FP+ requires that they have to do a lot of work just to ride some rides without ridiculous standby queues.