I AM GLADLY EATING CROW!

[lebeau]

If you are staying in the resort, I am positive you will be able to do what I have done. Disney rolled this option out to be used, before it was officially announced.

As said in the beginning, when I asked the cast member why this is not announced, she said soon it will be. 10 days later, its announced. She was already trained to show guest how to use and navigate through The Disney Experience Ap.

It hasn't actually been announced yet. Tom Staggs made some vague comments about future plans. That's not an announcement just like a castmember telling you something isn't Disney policy.

I have read reports of onsite guests trying what you did with no success. So I wouldn't guarantee anybody anything. There are risks involved. Hopefully those who attempt the PH trick will be as lucky as you were.

 

[lebeau]

For real! I have already picked my FP+ and they are all for later in the evening. Our plans were to go for rope drop everyday, ride what we really want to, take an afternoon break, park hop and enjoy our evening FP+. Some days we will be able to book after 7pm or so but this....ARGH! I love that they are updating things and making them better for everyone but it is making things hard for me personally.

We did pretty much the same thing. We have little ones, so we take a break in the afternoon. As shuch, the plan is to take advantage of low crowds in the morning and use FPs in the late afternoon/evening. There are a few exceptons. All of our Epcot FPs are early because they are all in Future World. But then, once you get past Soarin' do your Epcot FPs even matter?

At MK, we have the Frozen M&G in the morning because that is the only time you can get it.

After reading the rumors (not announcements) about the possibility of additional FPs, I moved a lot of my selections to earlier in the day. But not all of them. For example, we have dinner at BOG one day. So I left the Storytime With Belle FP in the evening.

I figure we can alway move them back to evening on the fly if Disney doesn't announce anything between now and then. Most FP selections seem to be pretty wide available.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

It hasn't actually been announced yet. Tom Staggs made some vague comments about future plans. That's not an announcement just like a casmember telling you something isn't Disney policy.

I have read reports of onsite guests trying what you did with no success. So I wouldn't guarantee anybody anything. There are risks involved. Hopefully those who attempt the PH trick will be as lucky as you were.

I have seen reports were it has worked and not and from what I see, if your staying in a resort, it works. Like I said, the cast member did not unlock any magic code on my band. I questioned park hopping and she said, here look, this is what you need to do. She pulled out the Ipad and clearly navigated through the Ap to show what I have to do after I get into the 2nd park. From how she showed me, it absolutely looked as if it would work for anyone, but possibly only resort guests.

 

[lebeau]

I have seen reports were it has worked and not and from what I see, if your staying in a resort, it works. Like I said, the cast member did not unlock any magic code on my band. I questioned park hopping and she said, here look, this is what you need to do. She pulled out the Ipad and clearly navigated through the Ap to show what I have to do after I get into the 2nd park. From how she showed me, it absolutely looked as if it would work for anyone, but possibly only resort guests.

The point is, you don't know anything for certain aside from your own experience. I have read reports from other on-site guests that were not able to do what you did. Great that it worked for you. But until it is officially rolled out, there is no guarntee it will work for anyone else. Disney could have been testing something and the could end the test at any moment.

I'm not sure why we keep needing to come back to that. You know it worked. You don't know how or why. You can't promiseit will work again. I'm glad you shared your experience. But you shouldn't speculate beyond that. What if someone acts on your advice and plans around it and it doesn't work for some reason?

 

[cw1982]

I have seen reports were it has worked and not and from what I see, if your staying in a resort, it works. Like I said, the cast member did not unlock any magic code on my band. I questioned park hopping and she said, here look, this is what you need to do. She pulled out the Ipad and clearly navigated through the Ap to show what I have to do after I get into the 2nd park. From how she showed me, it absolutely looked as if it would work for anyone, but possibly only resort guests.

No one is disputing that the CM gave you information to the best of her knowledge. What we are trying to be careful of is people relying on your experience happening for them and then it not working. The fact that some have not been able to take advantage of the same method you used is an indicator that the CM was either letting you become part of some kind of test or that it was something that is being implemented on some kind of random basis for whatever reason. I am hopeful that everyone will be able to do what you did by the time my trip rolls around, but I am leery of planning my trip around your experience in case I am not one of the lucky ones. I figure it'll be an added bonus if it does work

 

[Disneyfamily4]

By the time your trips start, you will be able to use the system as I did.

The reason it didn't work for the few people who reported it was because they did it wrong. They tried to pre schedule their fast passes rather than enter the 2nd park and then schedule the fast passes. As the cast member told me, it will not work unless you physically enter the 2nd park. Everyone who has entered the 2nd park has reported it has worked. Several people were even able to schedule a fourth fast pass before this announcement was made and even within the last couple days.

 

[lebeau]

By the time your trips start, you will be able to use the system as I did.

The reason it didn't work for the few people who reported it was because they did it wrong. They tried to pre schedule their fast passes rather than enter the 2nd park and then schedule the fast passes. As the cast member told me, it will not work unless you physically enter the 2nd park. Everyone who has entered the 2nd park has reported it has worked. Several people were even able to schedule a fourth fast pass before this announcement was made and even within the last couple days.

I suspect you are right. But you don't know that!



I have heard from people who claim to have entered the second park and had it not work. You don't know that eveyone who did what you did was successful.

Your point about the 4th FPs illustrates exactly what I am saying. Disney is testing things. I can't schedule a 4th FP. Everyone's experience is not the same yet. Things are up in the air.

 

[DisneyJoe]

It hasn't actually been announced yet. Tom Staggs made some vague comments about future plans. That's not an announcement just like a castmember telling you something isn't Disney policy.

So when Tom said, on the Official Disney Parks Blog http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...alt-disney-world-resort-hotel-and-day-guests/

"So, we’re working on providing them with the ability to add and enjoy additional entitlements on the day of their visit. Once they’ve used the three they’ve booked, we’ll enable them to select another at kiosks in the parks. And once they’ve used the fourth, they can select another, and so on. We also heard that other guests liked the fact that with the FASTPASS service they could use FASTPASS when they park hopped. So we’re working on a service enhancement to add that feature to FastPass+ as well."

You don't consider that an announcement that they are going to roll these two features out?

 

[lebeau]

So when Tom said, on the Official Disney Parks Blog http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...alt-disney-world-resort-hotel-and-day-guests/

"So, we’re working on providing them with the ability to add and enjoy additional entitlements on the day of their visit. Once they’ve used the three they’ve booked, we’ll enable them to select another at kiosks in the parks. And once they’ve used the fourth, they can select another, and so on. We also heard that other guests liked the fact that with the FASTPASS service they could use FASTPASS when they park hopped. So we’re working on a service enhancement to add that feature to FastPass+ as well."

You don't consider that an announcement that they are going to roll these two features out?

Nope. Because it is not an announcement. It is a comment that they are working on something. When they announce that it will be available for certain, that is an announcement.

Based on those comments, I'm confident we can expect these features to be available at some point in the future. But they still have not been announced. I expect an announcement is probably coming pretty soon.

 

[cw1982]

One thing I am curious about, though, with this whole thing, is when they finally do let people start adding more FP+ choices, how long do you have to wait after using your third before you can start adding more? I thought I read something about a two hour window on one of these posts (not necessarily this thread), but I have no idea what they were talking about.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I have heard from people who claim to have entered the second park and had it not work. You don't know that eveyone who did what you did was successful.

Your point about the 4th FPs illustrates exactly what I am saying. Disney is testing things. I can't schedule a 4th FP. Everyone's experience is not the same yet. Things are up in the air.

I'm kind of leery of jumping into this fray, but what the heck. I signed up so here goes:

You say you can't schedule a 4th Fast Pass, but have you went to a park, used 3 passes and then attempted to obtain a 4th both on the app and at a kiosk?

Or have you went to a park, used 3 passes then hopped to another park, scanned your band at the tap style then attempted to obtain additonal Fast Passes both at a kiosk and through the app.

I've read a lot of opinions that this won't work, but those seem to all be from folks sitting at home trying to book more than 3 passes, or in a park trying to book extras without following the guidelines that Disney4 has outlined. These guidelines appear to be very similar to what Mr. Staggs mentioned this week.

I'm going to be in the parks soon, and will try this exactly has Disney4 has described and will report back on how it worked or didn't work for me.

 

[jlsHouston]

I'm dying to try this and see if it would work for me....

 

[Kevo]

I saw this article from touringplans.com this morning about the effect Fastpass+ has on wait times in WDW.
I love statistics, but I'm no expert, but they do seem to be picking up some indication that certain attractions are being affected quite badly by Fastpass+ whereas others are definitely improving.
It would be interesting to see whether our Forum members think the data stacks up?
http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/04/03/how-fastpass-plus-affects-your-wait-update/

 

[lebeau]

I'm kind of leery of jumping into this fray, but what the heck. I signed up so here goes:

You say you can't schedule a 4th Fast Pass, but have you went to a park, used 3 passes and then attempted to obtain a 4th both on the app and at a kiosk?

Or have you went to a park, used 3 passes then hopped to another park, scanned your band at the tap style then attempted to obtain additonal Fast Passes both at a kiosk and through the app.

I've read a lot of opinions that this won't work, but those seem to all be from folks sitting at home trying to book more than 3 passes, or in a park trying to book extras without following the guidelines that Disney4 has outlined. These guidelines appear to be very similar to what Mr. Staggs mentioned this week.

I'm going to be in the parks soon, and will try this exactly has Disney4 has described and will report back on how it worked or didn't work for me.

I personally haven't done any of those things. I have read reports from people who have.

Disney4 has explained the PH test which worked for him. If I were PHing, I would definitely give it a try. Hope it works for you.

I did read from someone who said that it is possible to get a 4th FP without PHing. But you have to go to the kiosk to do so. Depending on the length of the line at the kiosks, that may defeat the entire purpose.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I did read from someone who said that it is possible to get a 4th FP without PHing. But you have to go to the kiosk to do so. Depending on the length of the line at the kiosks, that may defeat the entire purpose.

I would expect the kiosk lines to diminish throughout the day. They are probably still very long in the mornings with guests that did not pre-book, but I'm anticipating much shorter lines in the afternoon and evening hours after the majority of the day guests have arrived. It should be fairly quick and easy to test this process.

 

[lebeau]

I would expect the kiosk lines to diminish throughout the day. They are probably still very long in the mornings with guests that did not pre-book, but I'm anticipating much shorter lines in the afternoon and evening hours after the majority of the day guests have arrived. It should be fairly quick and easy to test this process.

One hopes. But you never know. If a lot of people are doing it, the kiosks could get backed up. Hard to say. Fortunately I have almost 2 months to see how things play out and for Disney to make improvements.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I saw this article from touringplans.com this morning about the effect Fastpass+ has on wait times in WDW.
I love statistics, but I'm no expert, but they do seem to be picking up some indication that certain attractions are being affected quite badly by Fastpass+ whereas others are definitely improving.
It would be interesting to see whether our Forum members think the data stacks up?
http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/04/03/how-fastpass-plus-affects-your-wait-update/

Quite badly? The averages below

- Standby on 5 attractions increased less than 7 minutes each.
- Standby on 2 increased between 9 and 12 minutes. (that's a total of 7 where there was an increase)
- Standby on 4 attractions decreased between 6 and 11 minutes.

Even if you look at their worst statistical increase, 1 ride may be up 14 minutes, with the best decrease being 13 minutes.

Note that some of popular rides, such as Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, and Tower of Terror, times decreased!

 

[Weather_Lady]

Quite badly? The averages below

- Standby on 5 attractions increased less than 7 minutes each.
- Standby on 2 increased between 9 and 12 minutes. (that's a total of 7 where there was an increase)
- Standby on 4 attractions decreased between 6 and 11 minutes.

Even if you look at their worst statistical increase, 1 ride may be up 14 minutes, with the best decrease being 13 minutes.

Note that some of popular rides, such as Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, and Tower of Terror, times decreased!

One's reaction to these numbers is completely dependent on their touring style. Most "experienced" visitors never wait in the standby line for attractions like SM, EE or ToT unless they're arriving early in the morning -- instead they use a FP. By the same token, the "experienced" guest would not generally "waste" a FP on things with a more "mid-range" average wait like POTC or HM.

Your point that FP+ has leveled the playing field is well taken and your conclusion (that in the end, overall wait times haven't increased -- only leveled out a bit) is correct. However, that doesn't mean that the WDW-savvy guest doesn't have something to complain about: they are the figurative Peter (the guest who knows how to tour efficiently) who's been robbed to pay Paul (the clueless guest, or the guest who simply didn't care to use FP in the past).

Since headliners are still headliners and reason will still dictate using all of your FP+ for them even if there has been a small decrease in their standby wait times (meaning that for the experienced WDW guest, the decrease in the wait times for headliners becomes moot), and some mid-range attractions are now seeing doubled or tripled average wait times, the net result for the average experienced visitor is going to be more time standing in line, especially in the Magic Kingdom, than they used to have to do.

I'm not saying that a few more minutes in line is the end of the world or that it's going to ruin anybody's day, let alone their vacation, but I do think that those who say "but I'm paying more than ever and I'm not going to be able to do as much as I used to!" have good cause to feel that they've lost out.

 

[WildcatDen]

I cannot say I am eating crow as I was not so much against the system until I had a chance to try it out. Just back from a week in Orlando and I have to say that my experience with Fast Pass+ was overwhelmingly positive. It worked out great for my family and some of the new enhancements being discussed would make the whole thing even better. So, count me in as someone who views the new system in a positive light!

 

[Disneyfamily4]

So when Tom said, on the Official Disney Parks Blog http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/bl...alt-disney-world-resort-hotel-and-day-guests/

"So, we’re working on providing them with the ability to add and enjoy additional entitlements on the day of their visit. Once they’ve used the three they’ve booked, we’ll enable them to select another at kiosks in the parks. And once they’ve used the fourth, they can select another, and so on. We also heard that other guests liked the fact that with the FASTPASS service they could use FASTPASS when they park hopped. So we’re working on a service enhancement to add that feature to FastPass+ as well."

You don't consider that an announcement that they are going to roll these two features out?

I consider it an announcement just because of the timeline that took place.

I checked in on March 20th. After asking about downgrading my ticket to get cash back, the resort cast member told me "Sir, you still can park hop and use fast pass + at each additional park, let me show you". When I asked how come this is not announced she said "it will be announced very soon". Less than two weeks later, Disney announces how they are working on all the things listed above. IMO, when they say "working on it" it is meaning they are letting people take advantage of it now and are monitoring its progress for kinks and bugs.