How MyMagic+ handles attraction closures with FASTPASS+

[Jimmy Thick]

How long before other theme parks implement this technology?

People complain about the "wristbands", but it looks as if they are working as they should. Giving you a better vacation experience.

Jimmy Thick- The cutting edge from Disney, as usual.

 

[flynnibus]

Ahead of time, when it goes down or even earlier if they know it is going down later.

That would seem overbearing for temporary closures. I would expect a rolling window concept. When the attraction goes down to the degree they know the closure is going to be... say longer than 20mins.. they make an estimated time to recovery.. and push all reservations within that window. And if the ride hasn't reopened before that time, they repeat the process. If they determine it's going to be closed all day, then push all the remaining ressies, etc.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

I've gotten pretty excited about FP+ (we're testing it in August), but this doesn't sound like a positive to me. They're going to make us reserve our FP times weeks in advance (and we can only reserve one ride on an attraction per day), then they might give us Dumbo/Figment if something goes wrong at Space Mountain/Test Track?

After carefully planning out our ride times, I wouldn't want to settle for 'something else', but it sounds like we won't have any other choice.

 

[wdwmagic]

How long before other theme parks implement this technology?

People complain about the "wristbands", but it looks as if they are working as they should. Giving you a better vacation experience.

Jimmy Thick- The cutting edge from Disney, as usual.

Outside of Disney? None of them, they don't have the infrastructure in place to do it, or the money.

 

[wdwmagic]

I've gotten pretty excited about FP+ (we're testing it in August), but this doesn't sound like a positive to me. They're going to make us reserve our FP times weeks in advance (and we can only reserve one ride on an attraction per day), then they might give us Dumbo/Figment if something goes wrong at Space Mountain/Test Track?

After carefully planning out our ride times, I wouldn't want to settle for 'something else', but it sounds like we won't have any other choice.

You have that problem right now though. If you hold a FP for Space Mountain tonight and it closes at your FP window due to tech problems what are you going to do? At least with this system you get a FP credit for something else. With the current system you get nothing.

 

[devoy1701]

I think it's horse manure. I actually think the dependency on your smartphone is unfortunate in general. I try not to have myself glued to my wireless device when i'm enjoying the parks. And one of the things that my wife and I are always commenting on is parents and children ignoring each other and instead paying attention to their phones or iPads. This encourages a loss of interaction and spontaneity of a day at the parks with your family. But it seems like I'll be at a disadvantage if I chose not to use it as well. It's a shame.

As for this particular operating procedure. I think that if an attraction closes while you are holding a FP for it, you should be able to get another FP in addition to the one that you're holding, and the one you're holding be reassigned for another time if the attraction comes back online before the end of the night. If you opted for a certain experience that was supposed to ensure that you got to ride say Space Mountain, and Space Mountain goes down during your window...these rules are pretty much saying "well you're SOL for getting on Space Mountain...but you can choose a different FP for Stitch, Buzz, Indy, or CoP if you'd like...we've gone ahead and expired your current FP for you already..."

The system should be set up for a "Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll try to reschedule this FP for later today, in the meantime, why don't you select an extra FP for another attraction you'd like to experience." This would solve the problem of the "influx of people trying to get on with past FPs once the attraction comes back up" by systematically spreading them out over the remaining operating day.

 

[flynnibus]

It is also interesting that they are holding back FP+ inventory for these re-arranged cancellations.

Well, all the systems can be oversubscribed to a degree.. it just means longer waits. The system could behave like..

I give out 100% of planned capacity..
but I can allow 10% oversubscription for any 'priority passes'

Priority passes could be a class of reservations like guest recovery, rebookings, GAC, even VIP, etc.

You can plan that way even without holding back capacity because you know you can oversubscribe to a degree without the whole thing collapsing. But if I were planning the system, I would have held capacity back from the 'planned capacity' anyways and release it in rolling blocks to emphasize availability in the near term.. instead of going the 'concert ticket' approach where everything sells out in minutes.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

You have that problem right now though. If you hold a FP for Space Mountain tonight and it closes at your FP window due to tech problems what are you going to do? At least with this system you get a FP credit for something else. With the current system you get nothing.

With the current system, I can come back later in the day and hope the ride is operational - it usually is. Either way, having the opportunity to use my FP at the headliner I originally booked (even if it doesn't pan out) is still preferable than having my FP+ wiped out and being forced to choose Dumbo/Figment (or any other 'leftover' attraction).

 

[tissandtully]

ALERT: SPACE MOUNTAIN IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

WE'VE ISSUED YOU A NEW FASTPASS+ FOR CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS. HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!

 

[danlb_2000]

How long before other theme parks implement this technology?

People complain about the "wristbands", but it looks as if they are working as they should. Giving you a better vacation experience.

Jimmy Thick- The cutting edge from Disney, as usual.

I actually ran across an article about a park that implemented a system similar to this back in the 90's, probably not on the scale Disney is doing but it was the same concept.

Great Wolf Lodge has also been using a system like this since 2005, http://www.pdcsolutions.com/en-us/rfid-customer-testimonials.html

 

[wdwmagic]

ALERT: SPACE MOUNTAIN IS CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

WE'VE ISSUED YOU A NEW FASTPASS+ FOR CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS. HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!

Did you read the article? You will have choices, up to 8 of them. Or depending on the timing, an option for any FP+ at any park for the next day.

 

[tissandtully]

Did you read the article? You will have choices, up to 8 of them. Or depending on the timing, an option for any FP+ at any park for the next day.

Yes, tis a bit of levity, Steve.

 

[wdwmagic]

Yes, tis a bit of levity, Steve.

Gotchya, sorry - wrongly assumed it was not a joke.

 

[devoy1701]

Did you read the article? You will have choices, up to 8 of them. Or depending on the timing, an option for any FP+ at any park for the next day.

I can think of 2 other attractions in the MK that would be on the scale of Space Mountain and would most likely be booked up.

So the 8 choices have a good chance of:
a) being rotten
b) being for an attraction I used to not need a FP for
c) all of the above

 

[njDizFan]

I think it's horse manure. I actually think the dependency on your smartphone is unfortunate in general. I try not to have myself glued to my wireless device when i'm enjoying the parks. And one of the things that my wife and I are always commenting on is parents and children ignoring each other and instead paying attention to their phones or iPads. This encourages a loss of interaction and spontaneity of a day at the parks with your family. But it seems like I'll be at a disadvantage if I chose not to use it as well. It's a shame.

As for this particular operating procedure. I think that if an attraction closes while you are holding a FP for it, you should be able to get another FP in addition to the one that you're holding, and the one you're holding be reassigned for another time if the attraction comes back online before the end of the night. If you opted for a certain experience that was supposed to ensure that you got to ride say Space Mountain, and Space Mountain goes down during your window...these rules are pretty much saying "well you're SOL for getting on Space Mountain...but you can choose a different FP for Stitch, Buzz, Indy, or CoP if you'd like...we've gone ahead and expired your current FP for you already..."

The system should be set up for a "Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll try to reschedule this FP for later today, in the meantime, why don't you select an extra FP for another attraction you'd like to experience." This would solve the problem of the "influx of people trying to get on with past FPs once the attraction comes back up" by systematically spreading them out over the remaining operating day.

I agree...what will happen when the attraction goes down early enough into park operations but my FP coincided with that closure. I still want the opportunity to get a FP for that attraction. At least in the old system they would honor your FP later in the day. It sound like your FP+ will expire.

To make it right they should at least give an open opportunity to get your original FP+ for the atraction you chose and an extra for the inconvenience or if that origianal attraction goes down for the rest of the day.

 

[orky8]

Did you read the article? You will have choices, up to 8 of them. Or depending on the timing, an option for any FP+ at any park for the next day.

But what are the 8 options? Obviously we will have to wait and see how this plays out, but the mountains are going to be completely booked 69 days out, so presumably you are going to get a fastpass for whatever is left available, which, if we are being honest, is probably attractions that never should have had fastpass in the first place. In the old system, when you got a fastpass you were entitled to ride that ride without (much) delay and if the ride went down, that artificially inflated the standby line. Now, you are just entitled to "a" fastpass, but not all fastpasses are created equal, and many, particularly those left the day of, are probably substandard and, indeed, rather useless. The flip side is that now the stanby line should be able to maintain a more constant flow, so at least hopefully if you lose your splash mountain fastpass and can't get a new one, the standby line won't be too terrible an option.

 

[orky8]

I can think of 2 other attractions in the MK that would be on the scale of Space Mountain and would most likely be booked up.

So the 8 choices have a good chance of:
a) being rotten
b) being for an attraction I used to not need a FP for
c) all of the above

But just think, before Disney spent $2 Billion (or is it 3 now?), you would have never had all those options!

 

[Master Yoda]

I think it's horse manure. I actually think the dependency on your smartphone is unfortunate in general. I try not to have myself glued to my wireless device when i'm enjoying the parks. And one of the things that my wife and I are always commenting on is parents and children ignoring each other and instead paying attention to their phones or iPads. This encourages a loss of interaction and spontaneity of a day at the parks with your family. But it seems like I'll be at a disadvantage if I chose not to use it as well. It's a shame.

As for this particular operating procedure. I think that if an attraction closes while you are holding a FP for it, you should be able to get another FP in addition to the one that you're holding, and the one you're holding be reassigned for another time if the attraction comes back online before the end of the night. If you opted for a certain experience that was supposed to ensure that you got to ride say Space Mountain, and Space Mountain goes down during your window...these rules are pretty much saying "well you're SOL for getting on Space Mountain...but you can choose a different FP for Stitch, Buzz, Indy, or CoP if you'd like...we've gone ahead and expired your current FP for you already..."

The system should be set up for a "Sorry for the inconvenience, we'll try to reschedule this FP for later today, in the meantime, why don't you select an extra FP for another attraction you'd like to experience." This would solve the problem of the "influx of people trying to get on with past FPs once the attraction comes back up" by systematically spreading them out over the remaining operating day.

So don't. Just don't complain when you don't get to play with the cool new toys. So far I have found that the simple My Disney app has saved me tons of time in the parks. I can reserve dining while in line at an attraction and I no longer have to walk halfway across the park to get an attraction wait time. My Magic+ looks like it will be even better.

 

[tnemgif]

I have to wonder if there will be some "good" FPs reserved for this situation, on a daily basis. And even if not, it seems that Disney would be able to better-manage which attractions to give some extra FPs for, even if those attractions are booked. Overall, it seems like a better crowd control system than the free-for-all cluster* that happens when an attraction reopens.

 

[flynnibus]

I think it's horse manure. I actually think the dependency on your smartphone is unfortunate in general. I try not to have myself glued to my wireless device when i'm enjoying the parks. And one of the things that my wife and I are always commenting on is parents and children ignoring each other and instead paying attention to their phones or iPads. This encourages a loss of interaction and spontaneity of a day at the parks with your family. But it seems like I'll be at a disadvantage if I chose not to use it as well. It's a shame.

Is it that much different then seeking out a time board to know what is happening with attractions? At least this is if you want it.. delievered to you 'as needed' instead of you having to seek things out.

the one you're holding be reassigned for another time if the attraction comes back online before the end of the night

It's a chicken and the egg problem...

How can I offer you a new time.. when I don't know when the attraction will be back online?
I can't assign times to you blindly.. because it's highly likely you won't like the time I give you. So.. I can't offer reassignment until I know.

Then.. if you were closed for a long time, there could be too many people that are in the same boat as you.. so I can't offer ALL of you new reride times because of limited capacity.

So now what?

I think offering another FP in the meantime as a form of guest recovery would be nice.. but there is only so much capacity.. which much of has already been promised to someone else.

I think what you might see the system evolve to is the idea of 'banking' FP credits. Instead of fixing things as 3 per day, you end up with a rationed amount based on your tickets, that you could use as you see fit. Your account may be boosted with new credits for guest recovery actions (downed attractions, bad Customer Service, special occassion suprises, etc).

So you end up with a variable amount of FP+ actually being available in a day.