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

[Buried20KLeague]

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.

I think you're misunderstanding his point and my response. I agree the parks are much more crowded than 20 years ago.

He seems to be saying before FP everyone waited 2-3 hours. I disagreed. I don't even recall many trips with a 60 minute wait, even.

If FP was removed, waits would certainly be longer than they were back then just because of numbers in the parks... But they still wouldn't all approach 2 hours. And they would constantly move.

 

[ParentsOf4]

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.

I was one of those making the observation about unusually long FP+ lines during Thanksgiving week.

What I observed were numerous super-long FP+ lines at the top of the hour. By the second half of the hour, FP/FP+ lines were back to normal.

My guess is that, unlike FP, FP+ were being disproportionately distributed with an hour-to-hour window (e.g. 1 PM to 2 PM). It's not that other times weren't available, it's that when changing my FP+ selections weeks before I arrived, I noticed that most of the alternative times offered were hour-to-hour.

Based on what I observed Thanksgiving week, I suspect many others encountered the same.

We entered the Big Thunder Mountain FP+ line at about 1:55 PM and walked right up to the usual place.

By about 2:10 PM (after we exited the ride), it looked like this:

That line formed in less than 20 minutes.

I saw the phenomenon happen at all 4 parks on various attractions. It certainly did not happen all the time but as someone who visits every Thanksgiving, I had never seen it happen before for that week.

 

[rael ramone]

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.

Knowledge of the parks means knowledge of how things used to be, how clean things used to be, how good the food used to be, how good maintenance used to be, how many shuttered attractions/shops/dining they didn't have....

Certainly doesn't look like an oversight on their part. In fact, quite the opposite...

 

[kap91]

I think you're misunderstanding his point and my response. I agree the parks are much more crowded than 20 years ago.

He seems to be saying before FP everyone waited 2-3 hours. I disagreed. I don't even recall many trips with a 60 minute wait, even.

If FP was removed, waits would certainly be longer than they were back then just because of numbers in the parks... But they still wouldn't all approach 2 hours. And they would constantly move.

There's no way to know for sure but I disagree with this. Lines would be shorter but for some attractions would likely still be approaching the 2 hour mark. When a ride as hyped and low capacity as soarin' or tsmm is put at the busiest resort in the world it's going to happen. Tsmm at ca (no fast pass) routinely gets 1hr waits and that's at a park that's not as crowded, has more capacity, and is frequented by nearly all locals who know what they're getting and are hype immune so to speak.

 

[flynnibus]

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.

well it depends... if you just moved people from the standby to FP... then not really. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle..

 

[Tinous]

Oh wait... another 'first day poster' jumping right into contentious threads as if they never missed a beat?

Wow.. what are the odds.

LOL, and here's a link to where I say the same thing on another board "contentious" thread about someone posting there...
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopi...is_not_fun-Disney_World_Florida.html#54006713

Don't hate me just because I only bothered to create yet-another forum account today

 

[flynnibus]

My guess is that, unlike FP, FP+ were being disproportionately distributed with an hour-to-hour window (e.g. 1 PM to 2 PM)

Another distinct possibility..

What I do know is... we can't assume any variable is locked in stone.

 

[jhosier18272]

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.

The increase seems to be the limited amount of FP+ allowed. Most of the people in the lines had on the bands and the 3 only rule had made them wait on lines they might not have otherwise. With the paper FP you were able to get one, wait a bit, get another, go on the ride, get another, and so on. You were able to enjoy the park at a pace you could choose. Yes, i know you can choose the times for FP+, but you have to now judge the extended lines to see...do we have time to wait 90 min for Small World or will we miss the FP+ we have set up for Thunder Mountain.

Now adding everyone to this system will cause a bigger mess. My only hope is that as they introduce FP+ to all the parks for all people, they realize that 3 a day will not work. They need to open it up to the time system they have on the paper now (get one and cant get another for a bit). All i can see in the future is that everyone gets a FP+ for the rides like Thunder, Space, Splash, Mermaid, and Peter Pan...it will cause an extremely high increase wait times for all of the other rides, due to all their FP+ are used for the day. I don't want to pay for a day at the park and go on 4 rides.

 

[Tip Top Club]

Without getting too deep into this argument, I want to point out that the FP+ and Legacy Fastpass inventory are the same, and have been for quite some time. Meaning that if, For example, Everest had 2000 Legacy Fastpasses to distribute in a day, it now has 2000 FP+ in a day. Obviously those aren't real numbers but you get the point.

 

[DebDeb]

Offsite guests cannot use My Disney Experience to make their FP+ selections via their smart phones. They will be forced to use the FP+ kiosks.

Lines form with the current FP system, even though that system is about as efficient as possible.

Now imagine what's FP+ kiosks will be like when guests have to go through a series of screens and decide what rides and times they like.

I can envision a single family of 4 spending many minutes arguing over what to select, frustrating those in line behind them.

I'd love to force the Disney executives who approved this to experience this "magical" moment.

Your last line cracks me up! Kinda like congress should be forced to sign up for obamacare!

 

[kelknight84]

I seem to be one of the rare people that actually like the whole MM+ thing. We reserved an onsite hotel for one night. Got our magic bands, then cancelled the reservation. Purchased a 4 day FL resident pass and now we have access to FP+ in advance, and everything else. I just had to link the tickets to MDE. We've used one day so far and it worked awesome. Got right in, used it for photopass, payment, and when I wanted to change one FP I whipped out my phone and had no issues finding a better time.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I seem to be one of the rare people that actually like the whole MM+ thing. We reserved an onsite hotel for one night. Got our magic bands, then cancelled the reservation. Purchased a 4 day FL resident pass and now we have access to FP+ in advance, and everything else. I just had to link the tickets to MDE. We've used one day so far and it worked awesome. Got right in, used it for photopass, payment, and when I wanted to change one FP I whipped out my phone and had no issues finding a better time.

Ooooh. I like your thinking.

 

[71jason]

There's no way to know for sure but I disagree with this. Lines would be shorter but for some attractions would likely still be approaching the 2 hour mark. When a ride as hyped and low capacity as soarin' or tsmm is put at the busiest resort in the world it's going to happen. Tsmm at ca (no fast pass) routinely gets 1hr waits and that's at a park that's not as crowded, has more capacity, and is frequented by nearly all locals who know what they're getting and are hype immune so to speak.

While we can't "know," we do have a real world example from 10 years ago that is illustrative. Universal ditched it's rip-off of legacy Fastpass in the early 2000s, and now has a "no Fastpass" system for the vast majority of guests. Number of visitors has only skyrocketed since--Potter, Transformers, increase in Brazilian visas--and lines still average lower than before. And Uni's E-tickets (FJ, Transformers) don't get lines like Soarin' or TSMM.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I seem to be one of the rare people that actually like the whole MM+ thing.

Many will like MM+. MM+ (including FP+) offers some good benefits for guests that fit certain profiles.

For example, if you are an onsite guest and like to sleep in, there's little doubt in my mind that FP+ is a real winner for you.

However, MM+ does nothing to improve the overall experience for all guests. It simply changes it.

Fundamentally, guests judge their WDW experiences based on how much they enjoyed the rides & shows and how long they waited to experience them.

MM+ doesn't make any attraction appreciably better. Sure, there may be a point when one of the dolls on It's a Small World waves at me and says my name. Some will enjoy that. Some will find it creepy. (Can anyone say Chucky? )

Since MM+ doesn't increase ride capacity, it's a zero-sum game. There will be winners and there will be losers. Some guests will wait less; others will wait more.

MM+ will encourage some offsite guests to stay onsite but it also will encourage some offsite guests to not visit WDW at all.

Compare that to, for example, Avatarland. Once it opens, there's sure to be more guests who will visit WDW as a result. Avatarland will increase DAK's ride capacity.

Even for those who dislike the IP, it won't prevent them from visiting WDW. There won't be examples of people saying "I was going to visit Disney World but now that Avatlarland is open, I'm not going."

However, with FP+, that phenomenon will occur.

There are those that simply cannot afford (or refuse to pay) WDW's Resort prices. Realizing that they now will be stuck in WDW's Standby lines for all of WDW's major attractions while Disney devotes 80% of ride capacity to FP+ lines (mostly consumed by onsite guests), many offsite vacationers might very well give up on WDW.

MM+ could end up driving away nearly as much business as it generates.

MM+ made sense years ago when Universal wasn't much competition, when WDW essentially was competing with itself.

In 2014, MM+ is just a dumb business strategy.

WDW should follow the examples of WWOHP and Carsland. Build well-themed lands with truly outstanding attractions. That's the smart business strategy.

 

[flynnibus]

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.

Giving people more FPs will not reduce lines... only do the opposite (hence why its limited in the first place). The only thing that would do is give someone hold a FP the idea to not wait in standby. But their actual wait isn't going to go down much when their FP line is also flooded because they gave out so many more FPs.

 

[flynnibus]

Without getting too deep into this argument, I want to point out that the FP+ and Legacy Fastpass inventory are the same, and have been for quite some time. Meaning that if, For example, Everest had 2000 Legacy Fastpasses to distribute in a day, it now has 2000 FP+ in a day. Obviously those aren't real numbers but you get the point.

'the same' as in the some total (aka FP+ plus legacy FP = old legacy total) or the same amount available for EACH?

Your statement is confusing saying the 'FP+ and Legacy inventory is the same' - as in they are equal... or the combined total hasn't changed?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I guess it makes sense to do it at AK. Probably due to the amount of guests it gets compared to the other parks. But, this idea with the kiosks will be very nightmarish as many people won't be able to figure out how to use it.

 

[Tip Top Club]

'the same' as in the some total (aka FP+ plus legacy FP = old legacy total) or the same amount available for EACH?

Your statement is confusing saying the 'FP+ and Legacy inventory is the same' - as in they are equal... or the combined total hasn't changed?

We are, of course, speaking about legacy fastpasses going away. What I meant was they both pull from the same pool. Say, for example, again Everest had 20 FPs in an hour (again not real numbers, just for illustration) and I booked one FP+ on my phone, there would be 19. Then you inserted your ticket into a legacy fastpass machine, there would be 18 left that hour. And so forth.

 

[drew81]

My question is.....after Festival of the Lion King closes will visitors bypass AK all together and opt to visit the boy wizard????

Animal Kingdom is going to have a rough 6 months.

 

[JimboJones123]

Realize that onsite guests eventually will lose Extra Magic Hours (EMH).

The original business case for MyMagic+ (MM+) included eliminating EMH to save operating expense. Plans are still in place to move forward with this once MM+ is fully rolled out. Expect a press release along the lines of "Our guests tell us that being able to make advanced FastPass+ selections during regular park hours is such a wonderful benefit, that they no longer are requesting that we provide Extra Magic Hours."

Onsite guests aren't getting a better experience; Disney is simply replacing one onsite benefit with another one. A benefit that costs Disney less opex.

Offsite guests are screwed.

And us locals.