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

[ToTBellHop]

Saul!

 

[Weather_Lady]

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

You don't need a mathematician! WDW is STILL distributing the same number of Fastpasses every single day for the same attractions that have traditionally had it. Wait times at those attractions shouldn't be affected. It has added FP+ to several lower-demand attractions that didn't have it before. Obviously, this will slow the wait times at those attractions for those in the standby line, and decrease the wait (however minimally) for those with a FP+ for those attractions. The net result is a "positive effect on lines" only for people who typically used fewer traditional Fastpasses than FP+ is going to give them. For anyone who used more than 1 or 2 FPs per day for top tier attractions under the old system, the net result will be significantly longer waiting. The total amount of minutes spent in line by the guests as a whole won't change, because capacity has not changed.

 

[disney4life2008]

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.

I agree, I question if having an AP is worth it. My room price for January with the AP turns out to be the exact same pin price that Disney keeps emailing me - actually the pin is a little less. The AP was great when I could get a room at the value resorts for $40 in January but the rates now $80+ in January. And the discounts are not good - 10% off is not much compared to 20

 

[Nmoody1]

Ok, I use the term free loosely... But at Universal to get a fasass you pay to get in and PAY for a fast pass equivalent. Believe me, I'm not in support of the ridiculous prices you pay on a disney vacation - but I'm also saying the other alternative could be no fast pass.... Do you remember the early 90's where you could sometimes line up for 2-3 hours... At least the veterans of the parks can use their fast passes somewhat wisely and avoid some of these lines.

 

[disney4life2008]

Single rider reduces wait times on the rides that it is available. They don't care of the single rider line gets longer...Don't wait in it if you don't want to. They use the single rider line to fill cars quickly that are about to go out with empty seats. Being in the single rider line takes you out of the standby line and therefore reduces that wait time. In effect the single rider line increases capacity. There are only so many seats per hour. Everytime one is empty the affect is increased wait time. So the function and creation of a single rider line on some attractions is a result of efficience and therefore will not be illiminated from use... it may be illiminated from use by certain guests that no longer see the benefit of riding seperate to save a few minutes. Net result is still really the same.

hmmmmmm

 

[kap91]

Onsite or offsite, Disney always wants more guests (and their money ).

I'm not convinced Disney wants more guests. The parks are continually crowded and everything Disney has done lately has shown a desire to manage the crowds rather than attract new ones. (If they wanted to attract more people the solution would be build more (and bigger) attractions. Big new attractions increase capacity but also draw more crowds. They've been fairly slow on that front as I think everyone would agree. And as has been said numerous times the main purpose of FLE was to increase capacity and the purpose of my magic+ certainly isn't to draw more guests. All these interactive games take people out of lines, rides, etc. without attracting more guests. Contrary to popular belief I think WDW is very aware of what they are or are not doing. The parks are continually more and more clogged up with people but in many cases building more attractions could serve just to exacerbate the problem (at least in the short to medium term). Lines are guests #1 complaint. My magic + makes a lot of sense on this front because ideally it'll let guests ensure they get to ride what they most want and will let Disney better manage the flow of the crowds (by suggesting times for these attractions). This sets up a platform for the future where they can hopefully manage the flow of guests in the park better - especially if and when they do decide to build new attractions. Of course the whole thing has the added benefit of squeezing more money out of the same group of guests.

Make no mistake, Disney's primary goal with this system is of course to make money. But it seems to me that they wouldn't have invested over a billion dollars just for that reason alone. The WDW parks have gotten too popular for their own good and just expanding them would not solve the problem.

My magic + is not even a 1.0 product yet. It will be improved upon, expanded, and refined into the future. It's a fundamental change to the way the parks operate and will be here for a long time to come. Like all software products the initial versions are unstable, and have quirks, but they usually mature into something well worth the wait. I would expect to see the service expanded to multiple parks per day eventually as it'll allow Disney to manage traffic across the resort not just in an individual park. Obviously the profit motive here is a big part of it but while Disney may be greedy I don't think they can be called stupid. Time will tell if I'm wrong but this seems to me to be part of a long time strategy that allows Disney to build more without the crazy crowds we've grown more accustomed to seeing.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Yes word on the advance reservation for AP has been very quiet so far. I am starting to wonder if there will even be an option for advance reservations for APers. Hopefully I am wrong.

I just tried making a Fastpass reservation for a day when I had no hotel reservation and was able to do it. I could not do it for my family members who have annuals and could not do it. So who knows.

 

[Weather_Lady]

As someone who has rarely ever used FastPass, I am perplexed by something. It's the "I show up a rope drop to run to [insert popular attractions here] and get a FastPass" mentality, which seems to be the most disturbed by the MyMagic+ changes.

The reason we have rarely used FastPass is that we show up at rope drop to ACTUALLY RIDE [insert popular attractions here] before lines get long. We've been doing that long before FastPass was even around.

Maybe I'm just old school and don't get the modern touring strategies so maybe it's just beyond me.

I don't think the folks you saw getting FPs were at rope drop just to do that. The strategy is, "show up early, grab a FP for headliner #1, and then go ride headliner #2. By the time you're done with #2 and the line for headliner #1 has risen precipitously (in the case of TSMM, it could be up to 45 minutes within an hour of park opening), it's time to use your FP for headliner #1. Now you just saved yourself 30 minutes' wait time during that precious first hour after park opening, and can make your way to headliner #3..."

But there's nothing wrong with being "old school." Very soon, thanks to FP-, we'll all be old school again.

 

[flynnibus]

You don't need a mathematician! WDW is STILL distributing the same number of Fastpasses every single day for the same attractions that have traditionally had it

That is a HUGE assumption - and frankly.. one that doesn't jive with some of the recent observations in FP lines.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Ok, I use the term free loosely... But at Universal to get a fasass you pay to get in and PAY for a fast pass equivalent. Believe me, I'm not in support of the ridiculous prices you pay on a disney vacation - but I'm also saying the other alternative could be no fast pass.... Do you remember the early 90's where you could sometimes line up for 2-3 hours... At least the veterans of the parks can use their fast passes somewhat wisely and avoid some of these lines.

I would absolutely be in favor of removing FP entirely. As would dozens of other vets on this board.

I never once remember queing for 2-3 hours (outside of a peak week) for any attraction before FP.

 

[Weather_Lady]

That is a HUGE assumption - and frankly.. one that doesn't jive with some of the recent observations in FP lines.

To what observations are you referring, and how doesn't this jibe with the idea that FP distribution numbers for legacy FP attractions haven't changed? Are you saying there is evidence that fewer FPs are being distributed with FP+ for those?

 

[flynnibus]

To what observations are you referring, and how doesn't this jibe with the idea that FP distribution numbers for legacy FP attractions haven't changed? Are you saying there is evidence that fewer FPs are being distributed with FP+ for those?

The observations of extremely long FP return lines - lines not just held up by the mickey heads. For that to happen, there needs to be a lot more FP users than previously. For that to happen, there needs to be a lot more FPs available.

FP vs FP+ I don't care... you're saying the total of FPs hasn't changed. I'm saying the observed results in the field beg to differ.

 

[Tinous]

What's changed is that corporate Disney just spent billions (billions that could have been used for some really outstanding theme park additions) for something that's essentially "no different than legacy FP".

What's changed is that, as a result, Disney is now in a position to eventually eliminate the Extra Magic Hours benefit for onsite guests and claim that FP+ replaces it.

But you've just picked one specific point that's no different, and are basing a conclusion based on a hypothetical outcome that hasn't happened. It could be just as easily assumed that once the FP+ system is fully rolled out, it gives them flexibility and agility to do things they couldn't otherwise do. I can think of a lot of things that can be integrated and done with FP+ that would be impossible with legacy FP. There may indeed be some negatives like you want to speculate, but I can see so many more benefits at the end of this.

 

[GrumpyFan]

I've said this before, but I see this turning into an additional revenue generator for Disney, more-so for off-property guests though.
Here's a few ways I could see this playing out:

Ticket Options:

• Base Ticket $99 (No FP+)
• Base+ w/ FP+ capabilities at day of arrival - $104
• Base++ w/ Advanced FP+ and access to MM+ - $109
• Add-on additional FP+ - $2 for each FP+ or $5 for 3

On-property guests, or at least those who buy into a package would get the third option by default as would APers.

They could also offer FP+ packages for off-property guests to be able to have 3 pre-selected FP+ attractions and times. This would make for a quicker/easier process when arriving and trying to select attractions and times for the day at a Kiosk.

Regardless, I think we're going to see them doing a lot of tweaking of the system next year.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

We were told at an agent conference that this was one of the driving reasons behind FP+ - to eliminate the morning Fastpass dash.

They could of course just have built additional rides.

 

[kap91]

I would absolutely be in favor of removing FP entirely. As would dozens of other vets on this board.

I never once remember queing for 2-3 hours (outside of a peak week) for any attraction before FP.

While fast pass is undoubtedly to blame partially for this on the other hand there were a lot less people in the parks before fast pass began and a lot less people following the same touring advice. And no I don't have statistics to back this up but just looking at the mobs of people walking around and coming into the park entrances even during slow season would seem to back this up.

 

[Weather_Lady]

The observations of extremely long FP return lines - lines not just held up by the mickey heads. For that to happen, there needs to be a lot more FP users than previously. For that to happen, there needs to be a lot more FPs available.

FP vs FP+ I don't care... you're saying the total of FPs hasn't changed. I'm saying the observed results in the field beg to differ.

That's interesting. In that case there should be a noticeable uptick in the wait times for the standby lines for those headliners, as well.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I've said this before, but I see this turning into an additional revenue generator for Disney, more-so for off-property guests though.
Here's a few ways I could see this playing out:

Ticket Options:

• Base Ticket $99 (No FP+)
• Base+ w/ FP+ capabilities at day of arrival - $104
• Base++ w/ Advanced FP+ and access to MM+ - $109
• Add-on additional FP+ - $2 for each FP+ or $5 for 3

On-property guests, or at least those who buy into a package would get the third option by default as would APers.

They could also offer FP+ packages for off-property guests to be able to have 3 pre-selected FP+ attractions and times. This would make for a quicker/easier process when arriving and trying to select attractions and times for the day at a Kiosk.

Regardless, I think we're going to see them doing a lot of tweaking of the system next year.

I truly think you are making several mental leaps. I agree this is a revenue stream, but more from increased demand at the Resorts. Paying an extra $10/day for the parks is peanuts compared to moving from the Gaylord Palms to the Grand Floridian.

 

[ToTBellHop]

They could of course just have built additional rides.

Bite your tongue!

 

[njDizFan]

... And those return times could be a problem because they've already got ADR's during that time. So now you have to pick (because lord knows changing ADR's day-of probably won't happen, not at the popular spots anyway) between one of the only few FP options open and keeping your ADR. Which you've had to give a credit card for.

Great point!! I think this could be a serious real life scenario. I get up early with the whole family to make rope drop. I battle the running of the bulls to be early at the kiosks to make my FP+. I want to get on EE, Safari and Dinosaur.

Now since DAK is my first resort I will not be able to get any more FP+ at another park so I decide to stay there until closing and make my ADRs accordingly (6 months in advance BTW with a CC). Well thank goodness for now the FP+ is not tiered so I do get options for the 3 E-tickets(is that even going to be true in the future?). I get lucky and I get FP+ for the safari at 6:30...shoot thats my ADR for BOMA. I can't move that I already paid and can't be moved. But I do get FPs for EE at 12:30. Well I was planning on lunch at that time at the Rainforest....hmm do I wait until after and then trek back to the front of the park after with tired hungry kids. Oh and Dinosaur is all booked out for the day, standby city for me.

I think something like this is possible in my WDW future.