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

[lentesta]

That's where Fastpass+ could help. If the only change with Fastpass+ was digitizing it and helping guest avoid backtracking throughout the park that would be a time savings. Again, I shine the @lentesta bat signal. If backtracking could be avoided how much of a time savings would that be?

So the average guest was using around 2 FPs per day. That's one trip to get the FP, and one trip back to use it. Times two FPs. Maybe ten to fifteen minutes per day of walking, depending on the attractions?

 

[ryan1]

I think Popeye is second only to splash mtn in stateside water rides. It's a great attraction and IMO the third beat ride in a park that has the two best rides in the country.

What are the two best rides that you speak of? I'll guess Potter is the top but what is the other? Spidey?

I've only done Potter once and while it was a really great and extremely unique ride I didn't love it because I, for some reason, felt motion sickness during the motion simulator portions of the ride (so did another person in our group) and had to close my eyes a during those parts to keep it under control. The portions of the ride that didn't rely on the motion simulator aspect I was blown away with (the soul eater portion especially).

So other than that I thought the ride was fantastic but if Disney would import Crush's Coaster from Euro Disney I think that would surpass Potter as the best ride. CC was amazing.

Spidey I enjoy and think its very well done but I don't love it. I can't put my finger on why but I just don't. We rode it twice on our last visit because we had done every ride by 1pm and went back to do all of them again (except Potter). Its all personal preference though.

 

[GoofGoof]

Something like that could be amazing, and I think people could come away from it raving... it just won't be on the to-do list before they get to Orlando in the same way that "Harry Potter World" or "the Beauty & the Beast restaurant" are. Speaking to that idea specifically, though, it could tap into some basic travel desire the same way that Kilimanjaro tries to fulfill the widely-held desire to "go on safari". I think that's an example of a vacation-driving attraction without a franchise tie-in that Disney could/should look to emulate.

Agreed. It wouldn't be as big a deal as BOG but they will need to feed me if they want me to stay into the night. I think especially with the popularity of DDP they will need to add a bunch of table service seats to AK and like you said it could be a unique, not gonna find that at my local outlet mall experience.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Two days into a thirteen day trip to WDW, FP+ reserved 60 days out even though I really hated the idea of planning park days that far out...

All of FP+ reservations were scheduled in the afternoon, at the time my daughter was not coming with habit changed her mind 30 days out.

Day one at Epcot was flawless, bounced from ride to ride in the afternoon without pause for the most part and even rescheduled Soarin'for an hour earlier than previously scheduled, best afternoon at EPCOT for ride in fourteen years and fifteen trips.

Day two at MK, rode rides standby all morning FP all afternoon except SM which was down during our resi but honored later without question.

As a skeptic I am more sold on the convenience than ever, still hate the scheduling part but absolutely love the ability to ride ride after ride without pause over a three hour period and think it more than makes up for the hassle.

Now... Today my daughters band would not work at a kiosk, the cast member was told to comp our food/beverages to make up for the hassle, save me $20 or more for a ten minute stop at GR in the way to dinner, not a big deal as the issue was fixed in five minutes.

Our first ride photo on MM is lost, not a big deal if it was our last photo that would be different.

So far not a bad experience,in fact I do like it better than FP, how much is not determined.

 

[RSoxNo1]

What are the two best rides that you speak of? I'll guess Potter is the top but what is the other? Spidey?

I've only done Potter once and while it was a really great and extremely unique ride I didn't love it because I, for some reason, felt motion sickness during the motion simulator portions of the ride (so did another person in our group) and had to close my eyes a during those parts to keep it under control. The portions of the ride that didn't rely on the motion simulator aspect I was blown away with (the soul eater portion especially).

So other than that I thought the ride was fantastic but if Disney would import Crush's Coaster from Euro Disney I think that would surpass Potter as the best ride. CC was amazing.

Spidey I enjoy and think its very well done but I don't love it. I can't put my finger on why but I just don't. We rode it twice on our last visit because we had done every ride by 1pm and went back to do all of them again (except Potter). Its all personal preference though.

You're right, it's personal preference, but Harry Potter and Spider Man are often regarded as the two best attractions in Central Florida. My personal opinion is that they're up there for best attractions I've been on in the country.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Two days into a thirteen day trip to WDW, FP+ reserved 60 days out even though I really hated the idea of planning park days that far out...

All of FP+ reservations were scheduled in the afternoon, at the time my daughter was not coming with habit changed her mind 30 days out.

Day one at Epcot was flawless, bounced from ride to ride in the afternoon without pause for the most part and even rescheduled Soarin'for an hour earlier than previously scheduled, best afternoon at EPCOT for ride in fourteen years and fifteen trips.

Day two at MK, rode rides standby all morning FP all afternoon except SM which was down during our resi but honored later without question.

As a skeptic I am more sold on the convenience than ever, still hate the scheduling part but absolutely love the ability to ride ride after ride without pause over a three hour period and think it more than makes up for the hassle.

Now... Today my daughters band would not work at a kiosk, the cast member was told to comp our food/beverages to make up for the hassle, save me $20 or more for a ten minute stop at GR in the way to dinner, not a big deal as the issue was fixed in five minutes.

Our first ride photo on MM is lost, not a big deal if it was our last photo that would be different.

So far not a bad experience,in fact I do like it better than FP, how much is not determined.

Would it be more convenient day of to be able to reserve a Fastpass on your phone with a larger crop being available to all guests? Keep the legacy distribution rules, put it on your phone or at a kiosk and you've improved the system. That's a much better solution to this "problem".

 

[flynnibus]

I hardly ever run from ride to ride. I always look around and try to find details that I may have missed in years past as I think the decor is an attraction all by itself but you can't tell me that either Uni park has better details than WDW. The only reason I go to Uni is for Halloween Horror Nights and I've gone each year since 2000.

I wasn't comparing them - but you seem to feel the need to.

I'll give Uni this, they did the New York streets thing a little better than MGM but just slightly and Potter World is very very well done but with Potter done so well it has a negative effect on the rest of the lands because it shows how little amount of detail went into them and how cheaply they were built.

I won't bother with this because you'll just derail the thread - but I disagree.

 

[flynnibus]

You're right, it's personal preference,

'personal preference' for enough people for it to be recognized within the industry multiple times by multiple orgs as the best theme park attraction (prior to FJ opening).

"This innovative 4-D ride has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award as the world’s Best Dark Ride an impressive seven times; it’s been honored as the world's Best Attraction by Theme Park Insider four times; and won the 2000 Best Attraction THEA award by the Themed Entertainment Association."
https://www.universalorlando.com/Rides/Award-Winning-Rides.aspx

I know this isn't news to you.. but maybe the rest of the audience needed some review

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think the Cantina could be far more than just a counter service or a bar. The main bar area from the movie could be one room, but they could do additional rooms as well similar to how BOG has multiple rooms. There are endless possibilities with all of the Star Wars material, but I would think they could incorporate a few AAs of the droids and of course the band (and maybe the guy with a but for a face), make it a little interactive

But would't an big place be the opposite of the Cantina? It is sort of fascinating the way the romance of the Cantina has grown. It is not a nice or pleasant place, but a dive bar in a dangerous city where gun fights breaking out does not seem to be a notable occurrence.

 

[GoofGoof]

But would't an big place be the opposite of the Cantina? It is sort of fascinating the way the romance of the Cantina has grown. It is not a nice or pleasant place, but a dive bar in a dangerous city where gun fights breaking out does not seem to be a notable occurrence.

This is Disney not Universal. They aren't going to go Potter-scale on us and keep it small to be more accurate.

I think one of the most powerful draws of a place like BOG or Olivanders is to be able to literally step into an iconic place from a movie. Same goes for the Cantina. I could see the bar part of the Cantina being a little on the small side (probably full of people snapping pictures), but I'm sure if they build it there will be more than just bar seating.

 

[surfsupdon]

I don't look at the Uni parks as half day parks. Sure you might have ridden most headliner rides by late afternoon, but that is because less Guests have a high number of high capacity rides from which to ride. And these parks are still adding rides!!

Disney has a ton of Guests on not as many rides (especially at Epcot, HS, AK). Therefore you are at these parks much longer than needed because of lines.

The most refreshing thing about our most recent trip to Universal Orlando was that we just kept going on rides. Over and over. And they were GOOD rides! You spend more time in more crowded Disney parks with fewer rides than over at Universal, who has less people and a high number of rides, comparitively.

Hope that makes sense. And by the way, I prefer Disney overall, but like how Universal is adding rides pretty quickly

 

[msteel]

So.....
How is FP+ doing at AK? Not hearing anything after the first day makes me think it is doing fine. Either that or all the locals are avoiding the parks this time of year.

 

[RSoxNo1]

'personal preference' for enough people for it to be recognized within the industry multiple times by multiple orgs as the best theme park attraction (prior to FJ opening).

"This innovative 4-D ride has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award as the world’s Best Dark Ride an impressive seven times; it’s been honored as the world's Best Attraction by Theme Park Insider four times; and won the 2000 Best Attraction THEA award by the Themed Entertainment Association."
https://www.universalorlando.com/Rides/Award-Winning-Rides.aspx

I know this isn't news to you.. but maybe the rest of the audience needed some review

Thanks, of course didn't the same organization give Enchanted Tales with Belle an award?

 

[orky8]

So.....
How is FP+ doing at AK? Not hearing anything after the first day makes me think it is doing fine. Either that or all the locals are avoiding the parks this time of year.

I'm curious too. We are now in the middle of the busiest time of the year. So, how is it going? Anyone onsite able to report on kiosk lines? Based on the lack of reports of chaos, I have to assume the testing is going pretty well...

 

[TDF]

I'm curious too. We are now in the middle of the busiest time of the year. So, how is it going? Anyone onsite able to report on kiosk lines? Based on the lack of reports of chaos, I have to assume the testing is going pretty well...

I would really like to know as well. According to the MyDisneyExpierence app wait times aren’t that bad. Kali has a 10 minute wait, Dinosaur has a 40 minute wait, Everest has a 55 minute wait and Safaris has a 70 minute wait. For Christmas I don’t really find that bad.

I mean take a look at EPCOT. Journey has a 25 minute wait, Malestorm 55 minutes, Mission: SPACE 55 minutes, Test Track 80 minutes and Soarin 110 minutes. Test Track and Soarin I am not surprised about… but Journey and Malestorm! Holy cow.

 

[rael ramone]

Now... Today my daughters band would not work at a kiosk, the cast member was told to comp our food/beverages to make up for the hassle, save me $20 or more for a ten minute stop at GR in the way to dinner, not a big deal as the issue was fixed in five minutes.

Too bad you didn't have ressies at Vicky & Alberts that night...

 

[TDF]

At 3 PM on December 27, wait times were:

• KS - 90 minutes
• EE - 70 minutes
• Dinosaur - 70 minutes
• Primeval Whirl - 30 minutes
• Kali - 30 minutes

Nothing particularly remarkable for Christmas week.

But I'm dying to know what the wait times were like at the FastPass+ kiosks.

I'd really like to know how efficiently these were running earlier in the day as offsite guests entered the park and lined up to make their FP+ selections.

I don’t see a real difference between FastPass and FastPass+ in AK. These ride times are similar if not the same from any Christmas or day. I can only see EPCOT and DHS being hit hard with FastPass+ but considering that there was till FastPass for some of the big rides when I last check at 1:00PM it may not be that bad. I have a feeling once people get to know FastPass+ and the kiosks, it will be easy. Plus I think Disney may let guest link tickets and use the MDE app in the future. Not bad seriously.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I don’t see a real difference between FastPass and FastPass+ in AK. These ride times are similar if not the same from any Christmas or day. I can only see EPCOT and DHS being hit hard with FastPass+ but considering that there was till FastPass for some of the big rides when I last check at 1:00PM it may not be that bad. I have a feeling once people get to know FastPass+ and the kiosks, it will be easy. Plus I think Disney may let guest link tickets and use the MDE app in the future. Not bad seriously.

Exactly. The wait times today seem pretty typical for Christmas. I suspect it would take a detailed analysis to notice one way or the other if anything has changed with FP+. We'd have to defer to @lentesta and his awesome team for that.

FP+ is designed to change guest behavior so I expect some change. However, there's simply too many variables to have a clear understanding of what will happen with Standby lines at this time.

Frankly, the new DAS policy should have a bigger impact on Standby lines than FP+.

I do imagine there could be two changes resulting from FP+:

• FP+ return times begin immediately from park opening. No 45-to-60 minutes of "FastPass Free" touring at park opening. So Standby lines might grow earlier.
• For attractions that didn't have FP, adding FP+ to them could make wait times longer in the Standby line. I just checked the online app. Figment has a 20-minute wait at 5 PM. Is that normal for Christmas?

To me, the more interesting aspect is how efficiently WDW runs the FP+ kiosks. Unless they can run them efficiently or add more kiosks, I suspect Disney might be forced to give offsite guests some advance access to FP+.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I'm curious too. We are now in the middle of the busiest time of the year. So, how is it going? Anyone onsite able to report on kiosk lines? Based on the lack of reports of chaos, I have to assume the testing is going pretty well...

Kiosk lines aren't too long, FP+ entrance lines are a bit longer outside the ride but seem shorter once inside so the net effect feels like no real change.

 

[orky8]

To me, the more interesting aspect is how efficiently WDW runs the FP+ kiosks. Unless they can run them efficiently or add more kiosks, I suspect Disney might be forced to give offsite guests some advance access to FP+.

Of course, the flip side of that is that if this is working "ok," then maybe they won't have to give offsite users any advance access. That would be one pretty big perk for staying onsite and a good way to recoup the massive sum sunk into mm+. Granted, this "test" is so far only at AK, which would probably be the easiest to implement such a protocol. But so far, this seems to be going much better than I expected.