FastPass+ open to all guests including offsite beginning next week at Disney's Animal Kingdom

[raymusiccity]

I'm surprised at the timing of this test. On-site guests have had 60 days to get as many FP+ reservations as possible; off-site guests will have much less time, and it's the busiest period of the year in the parks. It's new technology for off-site guests, plus large crowds, plus less choice.

I'm supposing that Disney is going 'all in' for testing during a busy time of year. They'll get a trial by fire in real life that couldn't be duplicated by a simulation. Any flaws will be revealed, but at one of the lesser of the parks.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Please post link.

Give disneyworld.com/mobile a try.

 

[ford91exploder]

Just my 2 cents:

Not allowing FP+ reservations ahead of time must be either true testing or a transitional part of the phased rollout. A documented purpose of MM+ is to get guests to reserve things ahead of time, so that Disney gets more of their wallet. This is only effective if you can actually reserve things ahead of time.

It requires suspension of belief for that, with only 3 FP- per day in a single park, Schedule close together, do them leave and spend remainder of day at pool. The OLD FP system KEPT you in the park.

 

[JerseyDad]

It requires suspension of belief for that, with only 3 FP- per day in a single park, Schedule close together, do them leave and spend remainder of day at pool. The OLD FP system KEPT you in the park.

....I would have LOVED to have my 3 FP+ reservations all bunched close together!! All mine were spread across the bulk of the day ....in essence ...locking me in there for about 8 to 10 hours!! (PS: I didn't stay)

 

[GoofGoof]

Here is the rub with this scenario, What FP+ will I get for that $9.99? How long will it take for guest to realize the program is a sham? Gaging this program here among the blue pages is not representative of the average guest. Even someone who might somewhat understand the system at home when they book might not know which attractions need a FP or not. So they get to the park and after a day or two..."get with the program" Just to find out they are locked out of top attractions. PO4 is right, Disney is taking a huge risk. I agree this whole program is to drive room occupancy...but as a service provider you only get one chance with most customers (guest). The first impression is the most lasting impression. They have already decided that some of us veterans will be casualties and feel that they can just fill our spot with someone else. But is this a solid long range business model that will be successful? Do they honestly think they can fill these rooms to offset the potential loss in revenue by unhappy guest? Did TWDC think this was a "slam dunk"? Lastly are we (Me) to stupid to see the potential? Are we missing something here?

I agree it's all a shell game. For someone who plans to book at the 60 day mark exactly the $9.99 extra FP could have some value. If you are doing EPCOT and want to book both Soarin and TT someone might consider paying to do that. Same with TSMM and RNRC at DHS. If you don't plan on booking ahead there is no point. I'm not saying I would definitely pay it, but I could see someone valuing it especially during busy times. The other thing to consider is the average tourist may not know it has limited value. When they market it as a VIP experience with extra reservations to skip the lines people might buy in. There is a lot of crap Disney pedals that IMHO is a bit of a ripoff but others see value.

I agree that this system is a huge risk. It's a big investment which needs a big return but the return is so far not looking like it's based on anything solid. Lots of huge assumptions and wishful thinking. I can't figure out how they expect to get the return desired, but I am assuming we still don't know the full plan. What that plan is going to be is anyone's guess. There has to be more to it than what we know unless they just plan to roll it out around the globe and then the cost for WDW gets cut significantly as the other parks share the design and development costs.

 

[James122]

This sounds like a nightmare in the making. I do not envy the guest relations cast members at Animal Kingdom during the next couple weeks.

I don't know if this question has been addressed in the other threads, but how is FP+ going to work with large groups? I'm specifically thinking about Brazilian the tour groups, as well as the various other big groups that visit WDW throughout the year. I guess that unless a representative from the group makes everyone's ride reservations 60 days out, the entire group will have no choice but to use the standby lines.

 

[John]

This sounds like a nightmare in the making. I do not envy the guest relations cast members at Animal Kingdom during the next couple weeks.

I don't know if this question has been addressed in the other threads, but how is FP+ going to work with large groups? I'm specifically thinking about Brazilian the tour groups, as well as the various other big groups that visit WDW throughout the year. I guess that unless a representative from the group makes everyone's ride reservations 60 days out, the entire group will have no choice but to use the standby lines.

There is no way I want that job. No to mention being part of that group. There are plenty of large groups who visit from the states. On a lessor scale how about a family of ten or more? Not everyone in the group wants or can do the same attractions. The logistics of trying to coordinate something like that has to be a nightmare. There has to be a percentage of that group who say....heck with this!

 

[WDWBryan]

This is crazy that the have to use a kiosk. Glad that billions in technology is going well

 

[rct247]

My Mickey Monitor mentions access to MyMagic+ early next year. The treatment of AP holders in this has been appalling. That would have been a smart group to START this testing with since they have the most knowledge of the parks and how to navigate them and also would be the most relaxed if there were any issues. Instead, they've been disenfranchised. Of course, treatment of AP holders over the last decade has been a continuous disenfranchisement.

Not to mention Cast Members who have to help Guests on a daily basis. You'd think they would be a great group of people to try the new product out on because if it fails, the loss isn't terrible and also they would be able to explain it better to Guests once it is rolled out. Today, as a frontline CM how to use MyDisneyExperience or Fastpass+ and you get a whole lot of different levels of knowledge or incorrect knowledge or even no knowledge.

This is going to be bad. Limiting 3 FP a day will create huge lines. I just got back from WDW and i have already seen the lines increase greatly from just the resort guests being limited. The lines seemed to be double to triple than what they usually were at this time of year. I cannot remember the last time i had to wait in a long line for Philharmagic, Pirates, or Haunted Mansion at this time of year. Heck, last year i was there the week new Fantasyland opened and you still had short to no wait times on most rides all that week.

I went to Epcot today (didn't ride Test Track or Soarin') and while the lines weren't too bad and moved quickly, I also noticed many attraction actually had waits and lines now. Spaceship Earth now seems to use more of its queue even past the peak morning crowds. The Seas with Nemo & Friends was a 20 min wait around noon today with the line (although not fully extended inside) reaching to the beach scene just inside the entrance. Living with the Land actually had a short queue. Journey into Imagination was a short 5-10min wait around 11am, but the line backed up to the entrance doors. Grand Fiesta Tour had a super extended queue set up, but was only a 5 min wait. Norway in general is a huge cluster f with 3 major lines snaking through the country: Malestrom, Princess Dining, & Frozen Meet & Greet. Over at Hollywood Studios, at 5pm, Great Movie Ride had a 20 min wait with the line backed up past the car outside.

Fastpass+ really is a joke. It's a slap in the face to everyone. Those who never had Legacy Fastpass waste their selections. Those who think they can / should Fastpass everything waste their selections and complain about only being able to make 3 choices, and those who are veterans complain about being limited to 3 choices. The system can't handle the load yet. The system has a greater learning curve, and it has much different rules than Legacy Fastpass.

 

[James122]

There is no way I want that job.

You said it! I definitely would not want to be the one responsible for making ride selections for any large (read: more than 3 or 4) number of people.

 

[JimboJones123]

Is this rush all just to cut back on costs since attractions are now staffing about 20-30% more labor than they were before FP+?

 

[JerseyDad]

....CM's are not happy now ...haven't been for a while ...and are going to be less happy in the coming weeks (if that's possible). My daughter has friends that are CM's that started out in WDW as part of the college intern program ....and they tell her that they are completely miserable with all the changes.

 

[disney4life2008]

This presumes the wifi is able to handle near-capacity crowds. My experiences around July 4th suggest it was not as of this Summer.

I was there July 4th also and the wifi was very sluggish and do not try getting one of the charging stations by the new restrooms at any point.

 

[disney4life2008]

As a recap - Disney spent $1 Billion on this project which consists of FP+ and MME? Does this not include new attractions (and I am not referring to a mickey saying my name when I take a photo)?

 

[Admiral01]

I am amazed at how much this whole thing makes me never want to visit WDW again. I know I will visit again, but typically I have already planned a trip by this point in the year for sometime in the winter/spring (or both). As of now, I have absolutely no desire to revisit WDW and be forced to use a program like MM+ and those bands. My October trip was a disaster thanks to MM+ and MagicBands. Fool me once...

I'm sitting on a 2 month old AP, and I'm totally OK with not using it again thanks to MM+. I know TDO doesn't care about me one single bit, so the lack of my business will go totally unnoticed. I will know, however, that I'm not taking part in this money-grabbing scheme from a company I used to respect.

 

[surfsupdon]

We're DVC members and we use our points for Hilton Head Island, Aulani, Disneyland, and WDW. There's also a resort in Vero Beach, but we haven't been there yet. Not like you would have been stuck going to WDW all the time.

I like that you're happy and I respect that! And that you are getting good vacations, too!

But when you disapprove of a Company's direction as much as we do (at least in the theme park division, lol) we are glad we are not giving them any more money, especially if we disapprove of their direction. DVC purchasing would have just been about theme parks....so we did make the correct decision. For us. At this time.

But I am happy you are happy.

 

[lazyboy97o]

As a recap - Disney spent $1 Billion on this project which consists of FP+ and MME? Does this not include new attractions (and I am not referring to a mickey saying my name when I take a photo)?

Disney spent over $1 billion, possibly as much on $2 billion, on MyMagic+ which includes but is not limited to FastPass+. the My Disney Experience app, new Walt Disney World website, MagicBands, RFID cards, RFID infrastructure (POS terminals, turnstiles, room locks, etc.), In-park and resort Wi-Fi, planned and built interactive queues, planned interactive attraction enhancements (ie. custom "it's a small world" ending), as well as other infrastructure upgrades and data analysis systems. It was never about attractions but altering the existing Walt Disney World vacation experience.

 

[biggy H]

Once this system is up and running and working as planned in a year or so people will wonder what all the fuss was about.
The vast majority of guests in the end won't care. If people don't like the new system then don't go and while you are at it why bother posting on a forum about WDW. I suspect the vast majority of people moaning on here and elsewhere will just suck it up and carry on going and using the new system to their advantage.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Once this system is up and running and working as planned in a year or so people will wonder what all the fuss was about.
The vast majority of guests in the end won't care. If people don't like the new system then don't go and while you are at it why bother posting on a forum about WDW. I suspect the vast majority of people moaning on here and elsewhere will just suck it up and carry on going and using the new system to their advantage.

So in the mean time just keep handing over the cash for something that isnt working and its just tough if you cant do what was promised.


I suspect fhanny bhoys will find an excuse for anything from their beloved corporate monster, that they would be frothing at the gash about if similar were offered by a local consumer outlet.

 

[John]

Once this system is up and running and working as planned in a year or so people will wonder what all the fuss was about.
The vast majority of guests in the end won't care. If people don't like the new system then don't go and while you are at it why bother posting on a forum about WDW. I suspect the vast majority of people moaning on here and elsewhere will just suck it up and carry on going and using the new system to their advantage.

Barrack....is that you?......I know, I just had to do it.