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

[psukardi]

Ya, I knew he wasn't smart enough to come up with it. But it's something that holds very true and people should remember. Maybe more so in a forum like this. I think it's safe to say we are fanatics (fans) so we are far from a true sample-set of the Disney tourist. You have people that don't know about FP , DDP, EMH, etc. We are a few standard deviations from the norm

 

[doctornick]

Ya, I knew he wasn't smart enough to come up with it. But it's something that holds very true and people should remember. Maybe more so in a forum like this. I think it's safe to say we are fanatics (fans) so we are far from a true sample-set of the Disney tourist. You have people that don't know about FP , DDP, EMH, etc. We are a few standard deviations from the norm

Exactly. I think the idea that the average visitor uses less than 2 FP per day is emminently believable. A lot of folks don't even realize that FP exists or how to use it. And even people who are aware of FP might not use it that much if they don't see much value -- people who don't want to double back to a ride or just want to ride it now while they are there, etc. Reading on message boards, among a small percentage of the most educated visitors to WDW gives a very biased view of how the parks are toured by most folks.

Lines for rides get to 60-120 minutes long because a ot of people are actually, y'know, waiting in those lines.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

OMG@!!! MM+ might actually work, people are finally using it instead of guessing what it is or isn't...

Don't they know they are being tracked?

Don't they know Disney knows when they are going to the bathroom?

Don't they know there are little camera's in the bands taking pictures so Disney can sell those pictures?


Baloney.

With a slice of Swiss.


Jimmy Thick- /sarc.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

I disagree. Me and my family like to sleep in late and usually only get 1 or 2 a day, because by the time we get their all of the good FB are gone and we don't run around to get them. We like to take our time. For our families style this system is great but for the hardened Disney visitor with a system to get the most out of it this may reduce the number per day

Even though you personally disagree, it does not mean Disney is accurate with their count. You are not in the norm, of the people who use fast passes. The majority of guests, with kids ages 11-16 get up early and do as many rides as they can. Even my parents who are in there 70's get 3. The love small world, peter pan and thunder mountain. There is no way 2 is average for people.

As for the fast passes being gone? They are gone because you sleep late. I go to disney for two weeks during the peak season of April, including Easter last year. Only Toy Story Mania ran out of fast passes before 12 noon sometimes by even 1030AM. All other fast passes were around later. Test Trek closed about 2, soaring was pretty good and didnt run out to at least 5. In Magic Kingdom, where we spent the majority of our time, not one ride closed its fast pass system before 8pm. However, I do know that if anyone goes to Disney when the park is dead, if all rides are less then 25-30 minute wait, they close the fast passes for that reason, not because they ran out.

 

[George]

Disney is lying if they claim that the average person only used 2 fast passes per day. Lets face it, by saying people only used 2 passes, that is pretty much saying the average guest only goes on two rides per visit. The Fact is, if you used the fast pass once, you know how great it is to not wait in line, therefore you are not stopping at 2 per day. I would love to read this article, because it is such a blatant lie.

I'm an extroverted person and always strike up conversations with people whilst on vacation. I bet the ~2 fastpasses per day stat is correct. Under the Old Fastpass Organizational System (OFOS) there were three groups of people. Heavy users which we'll define as getting the near the maximum number of fastpasses that they could score on a given day. These people would oftentimes get 6 - double digit fps. They aren't the biggest group though. The biggest group is the medium users. They got 2-3 fastpasses a day. These people like the fastpass system, but several conditions had to be met for them to get a fastpass. For the most part, the people who returned well after the window closed are in the first group. In the middle group, a fastpass would not be pulled if the return window interfered with another activity. Further, the extra walking entailed by the fastpass may be deemed unacceptable based on what they were doing. Finally, the line had to be long enough when they were at the attraction to warrant the use of a fastpass. Then, there are a lot of people who found fastpasses more inconvenient than just waiting in line and they never used it. You may claim that these people are illogical, but they exist. Illuminating anecdote: Once my FIL were about to enter the fastpass queue of test track with our paper line cutters and a fellow tapped me on the shoulder. He said, "Do you still have to wait in line with a fastpass?" I said, "A short line. Five or ten minutes." He turned to his buddy and said, "See, I told you had to wait in line." The posted stand by wait was 50-55 minutes at this point. I have had numerous people tell me that they would rather queue up rather that get a fastpass and have to walk back later. In conclusion, I would bet 2 is pretty close to the real average. At this point, I don't think noobs have much to do with the average since the system has been around since 99 and MOST people figure out how to use it without much hassle.

Anyway, the folks who aren't going to like the new system are the former heavy users. There are a WAAAYYY higher proportion of these folk on these here boards than there are in real life. Further, the new system is getting a lot of people in the last group to use fastpass routinely for the first time. I talked to several people in this category in October.

 

[Jeffxz]

With the statistic that the average guest only uses 2 FP per day, does anyone know how that number was calculated? Is it simply turnstyle clicks divided by the number of FP distributed on a certain day? Is it the average accross all parks? The average at the MK? The average accross the enitre year?

 

[GoofGoof]

You do realize that not everyone goes/can go during low crowd periods dont you? Or that what is important to you is not what works for all dont you?

This is a very valid point. Everyone is looking at this from their own personal perspective assuming that everyone travels like they do. A person who always stays on property, stays for longer periods of time and rarely visits at peak times is going to be way less impacted by the 3 FP limit than someone who tries to visit Christmas or Spring Break week, stay at the Motel 6 on International Drive and do every ride in MK in a day.

Disney is lying if they claim that the average person only used 2 fast passes per day. Lets face it, by saying people only used 2 passes, that is pretty much saying the average guest only goes on two rides per visit. The Fact is, if you used the fast pass once, you know how great it is to not wait in line, therefore you are not stopping at 2 per day. I would love to read this article, because it is such a blatant lie.

This post is exactly what I'm talking aobut. I'm sure you are far from alone in using large numbers of FP on your trip, but you are also far from the majority of visitors. There are many local AP holders who visit the parks leisurely and if a ride has a short wait they do it, if not they hit it next time. I have been to AK several times with never using a FP. There are also some visitors who never knew how to use the system. Don't get me wrong, there is absolutley nothing wrong with using as many FPs as you like. It's all a matter of preference. My only point is that just because you tour the parks a certain way you can't assume that everyone else does. IMHO the 2 FP per visitor seems to be in the right ballpark but I have no evidence to data to support that.

 

[omurice]

Testing and results from Sept - Feb, does not mean much. The Crowds are manageable at these times and the glitches are easily worked out. What Disney Chief Iger said himself is that he is worried about the real crowds from March - July. So from March through July, that is when we will know for sure how the testing is going.

That word "Testing". Can this really be called testing anymore when it affects all the guests? Not saying we're in a disaster situation, maybe things are going smooth so far, but calling this a "Test" is just...
I know why the Mouse keeps saying "This is a test, this is only a test..." But why are we using that word?
We're in ROLL-OUT now, at least in AK. This thing is LIVE.

 

[CDavid]

Lets face it, by saying people only used 2 passes, that is pretty much saying the average guest only goes on two rides per visit.

Not nearly every attraction, at least until recently, even had Fast Pass, so everyone always enjoyed those attractions from the standby queue, and even on popular FP attractions you have the option of standby. In addition, there are always some people who for whatever reason don't use FP/FP+ at all. The average number of FP per guest and the average number of attractions experienced per guest are two completely different things.

 

[GoofGoof]

Not nearly every attraction, at least until recently, even had Fast Pass, so everyone always enjoyed those attractions from the standby queue, and even on popular FP attractions you have the option of standby. In addition, there are always some people who for whatever reason don't use FP/FP+ at all. The average number of FP per guest and the average number of attractions experienced per guest are two completely different things.

Agreed. Using AK as an example since that is the park with testing, here is a recent experience I had. I have 2 kids 6 and 3 who are too small for EE. We arrived at AK around 8:15am during EMHs. We went straight to Safari which had a posted 10 min standby line, but no actual wait. There are no other rides at AK with waits over 30 mins on any day other than peak holiday season and most are 15 mins or less. We did mostly everything else other than EE and never pulled a FP. If a wait was over 30 mins I might have reached for one, but we didn't encounter that.

 

[DisneyCane]

With the statistic that the average guest only uses 2 FP per day, does anyone know how that number was calculated? Is it simply turnstyle clicks divided by the number of FP distributed on a certain day? Is it the average accross all parks? The average at the MK? The average accross the enitre year?

I would assume that the system can tell them exactly how many FPs each ticket that went through the main entrance was issued. They don't need to do estimates. They can calculate the actual average. Would be very simple to do and I'm sure they designed the system from the get go for accurate stats.

 

[GoofGoof]

I would assume that the system can tell them exactly how many FPs each ticket that went through the main entrance was issued. They don't need to do estimates. They can calculate the actual average. Would be very simple to do and I'm sure they designed the system from the get go for accurate stats.

They know exactly how many fast passes were pulled, but not how many were used. For that info there would need to be some sort of estimate. I know I've taken FPs that I never used. With the new system they will know exactly how many are reserved and used.

 

[weedles]

Even though you personally disagree, it does not mean Disney is accurate with their count. You are not in the norm, of the people who use fast passes. The majority of guests, with kids ages 11-16 get up early and do as many rides as they can. Even my parents who are in there 70's get 3. The love small world, peter pan and thunder mountain. There is no way 2 is average for people.

As for the fast passes being gone? They are gone because you sleep late. I go to disney for two weeks during the peak season of April, including Easter last year. Only Toy Story Mania ran out of fast passes before 12 noon sometimes by even 1030AM. All other fast passes were around later. Test Trek closed about 2, soaring was pretty good and didnt run out to at least 5. In Magic Kingdom, where we spent the majority of our time, not one ride closed its fast pass system before 8pm. However, I do know that if anyone goes to Disney when the park is dead, if all rides are less then 25-30 minute wait, they close the fast passes for that reason, not because they ran out.

Not being argumentative but exactly where are you getting your statistics from? Just because its not the way you and your family tours doesnt mean its not the norm. As has been said numerous times the ultra planners (us boards people ) are the minority not the majority of wdw visitors. My family is planners (have my binder every trip lmao) and still usually only pull 3-4 FPs and almost always end up giving some away. Why? Not because we wait on line or skip things but because we do plan alot, make rope drop, and hit attractions during the right times.

As for the last statement never heard such a thing? We go busy times and we go dead times and FP has always been available

 

[Facepalm]

The thing is, this forces you to be even more of an uber planner if you want to fully enjoy the FP+ system. I have a really hard time imagining enjoying planning our day to that detail, let alone how a newcomer is going to view this. What I see is people staying home out of intimidation.

Look this isnt just about a bad system making my park day worse. Its about seeing the train headed for the damaged bridge, shouting to stop, and not being heard. I see so many potential ways for this to be a disaster with very little upside.

Just how much more money do they think people have to spend if they only provided the opportunity?

Their entire strategy to me seems like it could easily backfire. Dont need to be in the park until the afternoon FP reservations? Lets go to Sea World!

 

[Tom Morrow]

The thing is, this forces you to be even more of an uber planner if you want to fully enjoy the FP+ system. I have a really hard time imagining enjoying planning our day to that detail, let alone how a newcomer is going to view this. What I see is people staying home out of intimidation.

No it doesn't - you can change the time and/or attraction of your pre-booked Fastpasses at any time before you use them, and you can change them to a different park if you have not redeemed any of them.

 

[flyerjab]

I am glad to see that there was some reportable success with this from AK. As I continue reading reports and opinions about this, I feel that some of the online functions of this are great as they were things not previously available under the paper fast pass system - notifications of rides down, changing rides/times on th fly, etc. The one thing about this that still irks me, however, is a loss in spontenaety, especially with park hopping. I'm not saying that you can't park hop, it's just that if you do it while using the new FP+ system, you have to suck it up and know going in that the other park(s) you hop to will be stand by line only if you have already used a FP at a certain park.

And I know what it is. It's crowd control and trying to force more return on assets of the less popular rides. That's how I see it anyway. This is the part that concerns me as far as WDW building new rides in the near future. If they successfully spread out the hordes, with more people using FP for the rides that don't need them, I don't see TDO budgeting for new rides. I know the veteran, savvy WDW crowd on these boards won't be fooled, but the larger majority of lemmings out there will be IMO.

 

[ParentsOf4]

The one thing about this that still irks me, however, is a loss in spontenaety, especially with park hopping.

Our experience was that it was still possible to park hop by making FP+ selections for late in the day or evening at the second park and then riding all attractions at the first park Standby.

DAK is a particularly good park to start at. Its headliners (EE and KS) are high capacity attractions while FP+ does not add any appreciable advantage to the shows (FN and FotLK). Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl were longer waits but it was still possible to tour a lot of DAK without FP+ by being there for rope drop and knocking off EE and KS early.

In general though, FP+ reduces spontaneity. With above average crowd levels, it can be extremely difficult to change FP+ selections on short notice.

What FP+ does do is open up Epcot's Future World and DHS as "second parks" for park hoppers. If you book far enough in advance, you'll be able to get a FP+ selection for TSM or Soarin', something that was not possible with FP, where you had to be there for rope drop in order to get a decent FP return time.

However, capacity is extremely limited on these attractions. Most guests will not be able to get one of these late afternoon or evening FP+ selections. Offsite guests in particular might be shut out.

Furthermore, the current tiered system in place at Epcot and DHS make FP+ pretty useless except for 1 or 2 attractions. These parks really do need additional popular attractions.

FP+ changes the way we tour the theme parks. Looking at the big picture, it seems to me some will benefit from FP+ while others will suffer as a result.

As a whole, FP+ is a net-zero.

It's truly unfortunate that corporate Disney invested all that money in a new ride reservation system that benefits some of its paying customers and hurts others.

 

[Cesar R M]

Not being argumentative but exactly where are you getting your statistics from? Just because its not the way you and your family tours doesnt mean its not the norm. As has been said numerous times the ultra planners (us boards people ) are the minority not the majority of wdw visitors. My family is planners (have my binder every trip lmao) and still usually only pull 3-4 FPs and almost always end up giving some away. Why? Not because we wait on line or skip things but because we do plan alot, make rope drop, and hit attractions during the right times.

As for the last statement never heard such a thing? We go busy times and we go dead times and FP has always been available

statistics can be skewed depending on how you take them.
Did they take the entire Disney World Resort parks userbase for their sample size?
Did they only take the FP users as sample size?
If you take these two variants into consideration..the values will end completely different.

Because there are a ton of people that do not know fastpass, or do not use it... this can bring the "average" of FP used per day a lot lower than if they had compared only the visitors who use FP constantly.

 

[Facepalm]

No it doesn't - you can change the time and/or attraction of your pre-booked Fastpasses at any time before you use them, and you can change them to a different park if you have not redeemed any of them.

You keep repeating this while ignoring the glut of reservations 60+ out that will wipe out day of availability. What is possible now will not be when this system is fully implemented. For them to save money the way they think they can, they are relying on knowing as far out what they need to allocate where. None of that is for your benefit.

 

[kelknight84]

I don’t get how the legacy Fastpasses helped with spontaneity. You have to either run to the attraction you want or happen to be in the area to get one and then return during the 1 hour window. You can’t choose the one hour window or change it so you are set on when you have to use it. If you don’t like the return time, do you wait around until a later return, probably not so you just skip it or come back later. So I don’t see how FP+ makes this more difficult.