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

[weedles]

Agree totally that the change to 3 per day is limiting, changes how we will plan, and no I do not like it (Never said I did )

But that is apples to oranges when it comes to on/offsite prebooking.

Taking away the FP- DOES put everyone on a level playing field as NOONE will have to ability to double (or triple) dip the FP system in that park.
Everyone WILL have the ability to secure FP for the day whether it be ahead of time by days, weeks, hours or minutes from riding.

The FP+ arguments are like a ping pong game. Every time an adjustment is made the group that is affected is displeased. This time its offsite guests not being able to get as many FP they would like in a day at AK (level to everyone onsite who already couldnt).

 

[Disneyfamily4]

I can see so many problems with this. First, early in the morning, off site guests will be waiting in line for about 20 minutes or longer to use the kiosk. Then when they get to the front of the line, they will find out that Everest, Kali and the Safari are only excepting fast passes for 3-5pm, meaning the family has to sit around and wait to ride the only 3 attractions animal kingdom has to offer.

 

[ParentsOf4]

You are correct, but in this light being limited to 3 actually makes more FastPasses available. In the past I could way more than 3 FastPasses in a given day for the top tier attractions.

Although guests like you and I averaged much more than 3 FP+ per day, as a whole, WDW guests averaged about 1.5-to-2.0 FP per day.

FP+ will do a better job than FP of distributing some of the high demand FP+ selections to onsite guests.

However, FP+ does not actually add ride capacity. It simply redistributes it. FP+ creates artificial FP+ capacity by adding it to rides that shouldn't need it.

HM and PotC are great attractions but neither should require FP+. And providing FP+ for attractions such as Journey Into You Imagination with Figment is a joke.

When it comes to "good" FP+ selections, guests are still going to average the same as before. Again, that's because FP+ does not add ride capacity.

FP+ changes how the pie is sliced. It does not bake a bigger pie.

 

[CFDiG]

Has AK tiered their attractions on FP+ like Epcot and DHS?

 

[weedles]

We were at WDW during Thanksgiving week. Although one of the busier weeks, there are several weeks that are busier.

We found it nearly impossible to change our FP+ selections on short notice. Examples:

1. On Tuesday evening, I tried changing a Wednesday 10 AM FP+ selection for Peter Pan. The only alternative times available were 11 PM or midnight.
2. On Thursday morning (10 AM), I tried changing a Thursday 2 PM FP+ selection for RnRC. No alternative times were available.
3. On Friday morning (7 AM), I tried changing a 9 AM FP+ selection for Test Track. The only alternative time available was 7:25 PM.

FP+ might be OK during less busy weeks but then, so what? What matters is how well the system functions when strained.

There's a reason Disney went back to tiered FP+ selections.

WDW has insufficient ride capacity.

The same would happen trying to pull FP- during those days/times

We are in complete agreement as far as the ride situation (or lack thereof) there simply is not enough capacity for the amount of visitors.

Im very curious to see what happens with both FP+ times and standby during this. The limiting to 3 and elimination of double dipping I feel will have a positive effect on lines. (Again I said I feel, as in I think my opinion nothing more)

Maybe a mathematician could add some insight

 

[ParentsOf4]

Has AK tiered their attractions on FP+ like Epcot and DHS?

DAK has not yet tiered their attractions.

The beauty of DAK is that its 2 most popular attractions are real people-eaters.

Kilimanjaro Safaris can average over 3000 guests/hour, Expedition Everest over 2400 guests/hour.

 

[Figments Friend]

-

Wow...was not expecting this to happen now, during Peak Holiday season.
Seems crazy to do it now...why not wait until things slow down next month?
Perhaps they want to test it out during a busier time, at one of the 'slower' Parks to see how the system handles.

Very interested to hear how it all goes down.

Anyone here going to be at DAK in the next couple of weeks to experience this firsthand?

 

[wdwmagic]

Has AK tiered their attractions on FP+ like Epcot and DHS?

No tiers at DAK.

 

[donsullivan]

The part I find most disappointing about this is they still have not made FP+ available to Annual Passholders who have not stayed at a resort and are making no commitment on when they will. I fear this may drive AP's to a full on revolt at Guest Services

 

[psukardi]

Most know that you have to plan ahead for the major etickets (Soarin TSMM etc) and will get to the parks early to do such. Those that dont will not be able to without riding standby. I dont see how it is any different with it being a paper FP or FP+.

Bingo.

This is why I'm a fan of the new FP+. I'm too old to be waking up at the crack of dawn to be at the gate for rope drop to bum rush to the FP machine and grab my ticket. Let me wake up on my schedule, have a cup of coffee and read the paper. I'm on holiday gosh darn it! Now I can at least schedule this in for a later time in the day and if I don't get to it I don't sweat it because I didn't get on it the last time either

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Anyone here going to be at DAK in the next couple of weeks to experience this firsthand?

Yes. January 5.

 

[COProgressFan]

For all the folks who think that its fine to leave the FP scraps for off site guests, just remember how many guests on a given day are NOT staying in Disney resorts. I have no idea what the actual figures are, and obviously the numbers will fluctuate, but for the sake of argument lets be generous and say that 75% of park visitors are resort guests.

That means 1 in 4 guests are NOT staying on property, and therefore CANNOT book FPs in advance, and must wait in lines at kiosks to get whatever is left on day of, with no access to the old FP system, all while waiting in longer standby lines.

I completely understand that Disney wants to cater to its resort guests. But it is one thing to offer perks and benefits to them, than to completely skew the experience in favor of them at the expense of offsite visitors.

It certainly doesn't seem like to good plan to me to actively screw over 25% of your customers. As a result, I can easily see that any financial gains from onsite guests could easily be offset by losses from annoyed offsite guests.

 

[disney4life2008]

I can see so many problems with this. First, early in the morning, off site guests will be waiting in line for about 20 minutes or longer to use the kiosk. Then when they get to the front of the line, they will find out that Everest, Kali and the Safari are only excepting fast passes for 3-5pm, meaning the family has to sit around and wait to ride the only 3 attractions animal kingdom has to offer.

This is the problematic part with FP+. Many people on here keep saying off season, busy season, etc. The problem is that WDW theoretically no longer has an off season. To further complicate things, being an offsite guest puts you at a severe disadvantage because depending on the crowds (regardless of arrival time at the park) you will be limited to a kiosk. I have seen people look confused at simply inserting their media correctly - I can only imagine guests at a computer that have no knowledge of the system. And to your point about return times - people on here seem to think a certain amount of tickets will be released the day off. The more likely return times will be later in the day. This entire thing is a mess.

 

[asianway]

We were at WDW during Thanksgiving week. Although one of the busier weeks, there are several weeks that are busier.

We found it nearly impossible to change our FP+ selections on short notice. Examples:

1. On Tuesday evening, I tried changing a Wednesday 10 AM FP+ selection for Peter Pan. The only alternative times available were 11 PM or midnight.
2. On Thursday morning (10 AM), I tried changing a Thursday 2 PM FP+ selection for RnRC. No alternative times were available.
3. On Friday morning (7 AM), I tried changing a 9 AM FP+ selection for Test Track. The only alternative time available was 7:25 PM.

FP+ might be OK during less busy weeks but then, so what? What matters is how well the system functions when strained.

There's a reason Disney went back to tiered FP+ selections.

WDW has insufficient ride capacity.

The issue is not whether FP+ is no worse than FP. The issue is why did Disney spend $2B on a system that does little to improve overall guest experience.

Wait. You mean FP+ times that you liked werent MAGICally available? Sounds like you were SOL. Sorry, I mean SOL+.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

I, like many others, hate this entire system. Sure, it will save one member of our party from rushing to the end of the park to get FPs for Everest. But the fact that you can only get 3 per day irks me. I guess when I go in January, we will be using singles for Everest or hopping on towards the end of the day, and then the next time I go with my parents we'll use DAS (my younger brother has autism).

 

[CDavid]

As others have noted, this does seem a curious time to roll out full FP+ at a park, even least popular Animal Kingdom. It could actually be a very good time to see MM+ fail miserably, given the crowds and sudden change for off-site guests who largely aren't going to be familiar with the system.

 

[disney4life2008]

Although guests like you and I averaged much more than 3 FP+ per day, as a whole, WDW guests averaged about 1.5-to-2.0 FP per day.

FP+ will do a better job than FP of distributing some of the high demand FP+ selections to onsite guests.

However, FP+ does not actually add ride capacity. It simply redistributes it. FP+ creates artificial FP+ capacity by adding it to rides that shouldn't need it.

HM and PotC are great attractions but neither should require FP+. And providing FP+ for attractions such as Journey Into You Imagination with Figment is a joke.

When it comes to "good" FP+ selections, guests are still going to average the same as before. Again, that's because FP+ does not add ride capacity.

FP+ changes how the pie is cut. It does not bake a bigger pie.

Lets be real here - over half of the FP+ selections for all parks are a joke. The only attractions needing FP+ are Soarin, TT, Mission, TOT, TSMM, SM, Splash, BTMR and possibly a few select others. A FP+ for figment is crazy - I have never waited more than 15 mins and that one time I did the ride had broke down. I have never waited for Space Ship Earth more than 20 minutes (July 4 heat of the day), Captain EO (LOL), Great Movie Ride, LOL. It is just laughable. But that was with legacy FP. I have a feeling that things will change for the worse and there will be increased wait times for all attractions.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

You are correct, but in this light being limited to 3 actually makes more FastPasses available. In the past I could way more than 3 FastPasses in a given day for the top tier attractions. Now I can't which therefore, allows more FastPasses to remain in the pool, if you will. Also, while not confirmed, and as stated by another poster earlier; I would not be surprised if only a percentage of the FastPasses for a given date and timeslots are prereleased. I would imagine some will be held in reserve so it is first come first serve at the kiosk that day. In theory, onsite guests have preplanned, so they already have attractions picked so day offs will generally go to offsite guests. In theory being the operative word. Because you can always move them around day of (with the advantage of the app), but then that opens other FastPasses that were previously booked.

Not loving this whole plan, but as someone who generally stays on property I think it will effect me less than others. I will say I will be reading these boards over the next few months to get feedback on actual experiences and will be curious as to what tweeks they will make over that time as well in anticipation of our late August 2014 trip. I'm not sure they really even know exactly how this is going to play out yet.

Here's hoping it is not as bad as it could be.

I admire you for having a "glass half full".

My glass is just... Twice as big as it needs to be.

I hope you deal well with disappointment.

 

[wdwmagic]

The part I find most disappointing about this is they still have not made FP+ available to Annual Passholders who have not stayed at a resort and are making no commitment on when they will. I fear this may drive AP's to a full on revolt at Guest Services

Although not formally rolled out to APers, this DAK test will include AP holders. Anyone with an RFID entry ticket can use FP+.

 

[JerseyDad]

Yes I think Disney is suffering from its own success by having so many guests want to visit its parks but at the same time it has been short sighted in not building more rides and expanding to another gate years ago. Now you have guests that are unhappy and unwilling to stand in long lines and Disney is trying to figure out how best to address this. I don't think that FP+ was the answer. Charging for FP+ could be short term solution but again won't solve the ride capacity issues. I hate to think it but it is likely that Disney will eventually need to raise their prices even more both at parks and resorts to balance out the high demand and maintain the quality experience for those willing to pay for it.

....I read a press release elsewhere related to this and it's a pending nightmare ...so much so that it's also laughable. There WILL be many an angry guest .....that's a given.

....but ...maybe that's the point!! Maybe there is some kind of secret agenda at work here? WDW doesn't want to expand it's number of attractions .....so let's just tick off the non-hardcore guests SO much that they don't come back ...or do so less frequently. Then ...the lines are reduced ...the loyal guests book resort stays (big money maker) ...and Disney still makes a profit showing to Wall Street because they could cut expenses by not needing so many CM's to handle insane crowd levels.

......conspiracy theory hard at work!! (would not surprise me to see it be true in some manner ...really)

......and ...I had a really good laugh at the attractions that were put on the list as being "FP+ Attractions":

Character Greeting at Adventurers Outpost
Expedition Everest
DINOSAUR
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo – The Musical
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Primeval Whirl
It's Tough to be a Bug!

.....am I wrong? ...doesn't that list pretty much include EVERY AK attraction?!!

.....there's the problem!! There are 8 attractions, 1 ...maybe 2 which I'd say were "primary" (EE & Dino)) ....and 1 that's 'seasonal' (KRR). If there were 20 rides / attractions ...with 5 or 6 "primary" ...the FP issue would be ...a non-issue.