Just told by Disney: full Passholder access to MDE could be up to 6 months

[donsullivan]

I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with Disney Guest Relations and was told that access to My Disney Experience including advance FP+ reservation for Passholder's who have not had a resort stay may not be available for up to 6 months.

This only impacts any Passholder who has not had a resort stay since all of this started. If you've had a resort stay you have full access now and for the foreseeable future.

EDITED for clarity based on comment below

 

[Tom]

I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with Disney Guest Relations and was told that Passholder access to the full My Disney Experience may not be available for up to 6 months. This includes advance booking of Fastpass+ as well as managing your FP+ on your smartphone or computer.

I have no idea what this means. AP holders can do all of that right now, as long as they have an AP and a Resort Reservation.

Our friends just returned from a trip to WDW, using APs. They linked them to their MDE account months ago, and booked their FP+ at the 60-day mark, and used the app throughout the trip.

 

[donsullivan]

I have no idea what this means. AP holders can do all of that right now, as long as they have an AP and a Resort Reservation.

Our friends just returned from a trip to WDW, using APs. They linked them to their MDE account months ago, and booked their FP+ at the 60-day mark, and used the app throughout the trip.

Edited original post to clarify that this only impacts the thousands of local and non-WDW resort guest Passholders who have not had a resort stay since this all started. Of course we all know well that if you've had a WDW resort stay you have full access to the program following that.

At this stage I'm preparing to concede defeat and pay the Passholder tax and book a room for next weekend to get access. They have defeated me at this point which is probably the saddest part of this all. It's the first time after being a Passholder for 20 years that I'm seriously wondering if I'll renew again in July.

 

[Tom]

Edited original post to clarify that this only impacts the thousands of local and non-WDW resort guest Passholders who have not had a resort stay since this all started. Of course we all know well that if you've had a WDW resort stay you have full access to the program following that.

At this stage I'm preparing to concede defeat and pay the Passholder tax and book a room for next weekend to get access. They have defeated me at this point which is probably the saddest part of this all. It's the first time after being a Passholder for 20 years that I'm seriously wondering if I'll renew again in July.

That makes more sense.

However, I still don't see how they can make this work if they allow APers without a resort reservation to book FP+ in advance. They have to restrict it to day-of to ensure that all resort guests have plenty of time to book theirs.

In theory, if everyone with an AP can book at any time (since there's no resort reservation to determine a date), APers could book them continuously (i.e. 3 per day, every day), even if they're not going to actually visit the parks.

It's the same thing for CMs.

With Legacy FP, there was no harm in letting CMs or APs use FP, because they couldn't get them any earlier than a guest. But if guests are restricted to 60-days, the only way to prevent CMs and APs from exhausting the inventory is to restrict them to day-of only.

 

[donsullivan]

That makes more sense.

However, I still don't see how they can make this work if they allow APers without a resort reservation to book FP+ in advance. They have to restrict it to day-of to ensure that all resort guests have plenty of time to book theirs.

In theory, if everyone with an AP can book at any time (since there's no resort reservation to determine a date), APers could book them continuously (i.e. 3 per day, every day), even if they're not going to actually visit the parks.

It's the same thing for CMs.

With Legacy FP, there was no harm in letting CMs or APs use FP, because they couldn't get them any earlier than a guest. But if guests are restricted to 60-days, the only way to prevent CMs and APs from exhausting the inventory is to restrict them to day-of only.

I gave up the fight tonight and booked a room at Pop (using a winter Passholder rate ironically) for next Friday. Once I did that and completed the payment for the reservation I immediately had full access to the program.

I've already cancelled everything I created but I've been trying different things to learn how the system works on my Mac as well as through the app on my iPad and iPhone. I am indeed able to book for the next 60 days following the first day of the resort stay. I haven't had time to test this part yet but I've been told that I can have reservations on any 7 unique days during that 60 day rolling window and have to either cancel, use or let one of those days expire before I can reserve additional days. As expected, all of the other constraints of one park per day, and max qty etc. are there just as I would have expected. I can see that the web app is still pretty flaky at times but I understand I'll have to accept that during this stage of the program and I'm okay with that.

I was trying to avoid this approach to things but when I was told it could be as much as 6 additional months before I'd have access otherwise, I just was not willing to wait any longer.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

In theory, if everyone with an AP can book at any time (since there's no resort reservation to determine a date), APers could book them continuously (i.e. 3 per day, every day), even if they're not going to actually visit the parks.

This begs the question: Why would APers do that?

While I understand your point, APs pay a lot of money for their passes. As an APer, I expect a certain amount of privileges for a $600+ pass.

 

[Tom]

This begs the question: Why would APers do that?

While I understand your point, APs pay a lot of money for their passes. As an APer, I expect a certain amount of privileges for a $600+ pass.

Why did people book multiple ADRs at the same time? Because they could.

FP+ has its advantages, but it definitely has disadvantages and affects people in different ways. AP holders are paying for unlimited theme park access when they buy a pass. And, they still get to use FP+, they just can't book them in advance.

Until they can figure out a way to prevent abuse, which is exactly what will happen if non-resort guests can book FP+ any time they want, it needs to be restricted to day-of.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Why did people book multiple ADRs at the same time? Because they could.

FP+ has its advantages, but it definitely has disadvantages and affects people in different ways. AP holders are paying for unlimited theme park access when they buy a pass. And, they still get to use FP+, they just can't book them in advance.

Until they can figure out a way to prevent abuse, which is exactly what will happen if non-resort guests can book FP+ any time they want, it needs to be restricted to day-of.

That could happen now. I'm not at WDW, but could book FP+ because I had a reservation at the beginning of the month.

Also, do you have any idea what a pain in the butt those kiosks are? Sorry, but if I'm paying that much for a pass, I want early access. They will probably figure out ways to restrict it. They can make it so it's 30 days out instead of 60.

 

[Tom]

That could happen now. I'm not at WDW, but could book FP+ because I had a reservation at the beginning of the month.

Also, do you have any idea what a pain in the butt those kiosks are? Sorry, but if I'm paying that much for a pass, I want early access. They will probably figure out ways to restrict it. They can make it so it's 30 days out instead of 60.

But 30 days out from what? If you don't have a reservation, there's no benchmark to start that timer.

I've been an AP holder, off and on, and I completely agree with what you're saying. AP holders are the most loyal guests. BUT, because they've invented this system, they've also invented some new problems and have taken away perks from all guests - both day and annual.

For example, I pay for park-hoppers, but I can't get a FP in more than one park now. I also can't repeat major attractions in the same day like we were able to before with legacy FP. We've all lost out, while also gaining perks like being able to ride TSMM without being there for rope drop.

But you have to think about this logically. Let's pretend there are 1,000 AP holders (there are WAY more, but I'm keeping this simple). If all of them have the "privilege" to sit on their computer and book FP+ for as far out as they can, that means there COULD be 1,000 FP+ reservations taken every day. Magnify this to the actual number of APers. If APers are booking FP+ 100 days out, and I can only book mine 60 days out, they could be gone (or extremely limited) by the time I log on and try.

And of course it won't be that bad, but it COULD be. There are plenty of bad apples - which has been proven by the need to charge cancellation fees for ADRs and restrict overlapping ADR times. When given the opportunity, people will do bad things.

They're going to have to create yet another database where AP holders can create virtual trips in their MDE accounts, and then be held to them, with regard to FP+. Otherwise, there's just no way to determine when APers can book FP+.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

It's currently 60 days out, but pass holders are restricted to booking fp+'s for 7 days only. You can't go into MDX and book 60 days worth of experiences.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

And of course it won't be that bad, but it COULD be. There are plenty of bad apples - which has been proven by the need to charge cancellation fees for ADRs and restrict overlapping ADR times. When given the opportunity, people will do bad things.
.

It's currently 60 days out, but pass holders are restricted to booking fp+'s for 7 days only. You can't go into MDX and book 60 days worth of experiences.

Problem solved

 

[Tom]

It's currently 60 days out, but pass holders are restricted to booking fp+'s for 7 days only. You can't go into MDX and book 60 days worth of experiences.

Well, see, that makes sense!

So, how does it work? You can book FP+ reservations on a total of 7 days (not necessarily consecutive) during a 60-day window that starts today? Does it calculate in a rolling 60-day manner?

 

[donsullivan]

Well, see, that makes sense!

So, how does it work? You can book FP+ reservations on a total of 7 days (not necessarily consecutive) during a 60-day window that starts today? Does it calculate in a rolling 60-day manner?

Yes, it's a rolling 60 day calendar during which you can have FP+ reservations on any 7 unique calendar days. All of the one park per day, and qty restrictions are exactly the same as for every eligible guest. if you have 7 unique days booked, you cannot book additional days until you use a day, it expires or you cancel it. This has been the known condition for many months now and is exactly what I see now that I booked my resort reservation for next weekend.

 

[Tom]

Yes, it's a rolling 60 day calendar during which you can have FP+ reservations on any 7 unique calendar days. if you have 7 unique days booked, you cannot book additional days until you use a day, it expires or you cancel it. This has been the known condition for many months now and is exactly what I see now that I booked my resort reservation for next weekend.

So, is the glitch that if you haven't already had a resort reservation in your name, you can't take advantage of this feature?

 

[Zummi Gummi]

Well, see, that makes sense!

So, how does it work? You can book FP+ reservations on a total of 7 days (not necessarily consecutive) during a 60-day window that starts today? Does it calculate in a rolling 60-day manner?

That is exactly how it works. The 7 days do not have to be consecutive. In theory, under the current arrangement, a pass holder could pick any 7 dates between now and March 19 (March 20 in another 13 minutes).

 

[donsullivan]

So, is the glitch that if you haven't already had a resort reservation in your name, you can't take advantage of this feature?

Right now, the only mechanism Disney has to authorize a passholder account for this feature is the booking and actual check-in of a resort stay. At this time they will not activate the feature on your account in any other way.

 

[Zummi Gummi]

So, is the glitch that if you haven't already had a resort reservation in your name, you can't take advantage of this feature?

Yes, though I'm not sure it's a glitch, per say. The MDX people are actively telling pass holders with resort stays they will continue to have access to the system after their reservation ends.

I suspect the system will work this way for pass holders and CM's (60 days out, 7 days at a time) when it goes fully live.

 

[Tom]

Yes, though I'm not sure it's a glitch, per say. The MDX people are actively telling pass holders with resort stays they will continue to have access to the system after their reservation ends.

I suspect the system will work this way for pass holders and CM's (60 days out, 7 days at a time) when it goes fully live.

Interesting. It does seem like a fair system, and now I see what people were actually upset about in this thread. Lots of missing information in the posts confused me greatly