Largest test to date of MyMagic+ will use all features including guest use of the MagicBand

[ParentsOf4]

I thought part of the reasoning behind the new FP+ is that it not only limits Fast passes, but also helps manage the Stand-by lines as well... that part of the problem now is that people descend on the FP machines early in the day, which fills the FP queue, which in turn makes the stand by lines crazy long.

Like with Soarin' for example, on a busy day you could get a FP for Soarin' at noon which tells you to come back at 5pm, but when you come back at 5pm the Stand-by line can be a 1 to 2 hour wait. So by booking the FP+ ahead of time, and limiting how many each guest gets, it'd keep both the FP lines and the Stand-by lines at a reasonable length.

Unfortunately, FastPass+ (FP+) probably will increase the length of Standby lines. Please find below a copy of one of my posts from January that summarizes how FP+ could impact lines.

FP+ seems to be changing Fastpass (FP) in ways that will make Standby lines longer. To understand this, it is necessary to understand a little bit about queuing and the current FP system.

A queue, more commonly called a line in the U.S., is basically a bunch of people standing around waiting for something. We experience queues every day, whether it is waiting to be served at a restaurant or waiting for a traffic light to change. Essentially, it occurs anytime we wait for something we want now.

Lines form when demand exceeds supply. In WDW’s case, “supply” corresponds to each attraction’s capacity, typically measured in terms of how many people can experience the attraction in an hour. For an attraction such as Peter Pan's Flight, its capacity (i.e. supply) might be 1200 guests/hour. A line for Peter Pan forms if more than 1200 guests want to ride it in an hour. The people wanting to ride Peter Pan correspond to its “demand”. The “price” of an attraction can be measured in terms of how long people are willing to wait to experience the attraction. As the line increases, the percentage of people willing to pay the price (i.e. wait in line longer) decreases. Nearly everyone might be willing to wait 5 minutes to ride Peter Pan but people will walk away if the wait time is 2 hours.

When introduced in 1999, FP changed the dynamics of the normal line by creating a second, preferred line. With a FP ticket in hand, you could skip what Disney began calling the “Standby” line and experience an attraction much quicker. However, FP did not increase capacity; it only changed how the wait time was distributed. People with FP tickets waited less. People in Standby lines waited more. Consider the following simplistic example.

Let’s assume, on average, 100 people wait 10 minutes for an attraction. The total wait time for everyone is 1000 minutes.

What a preferred line does is reduce the wait time for some people by making other people wait longer. In this simplified example, if a preferred line reduces the wait time for 50 to 5 minutes, then it increases the wait time for the remaining 50 to 15 minutes. The total wait time doesn’t change, only the wait time of the individuals in the two lines. For people in the FP line, their waits become shorter. For people in the Standby line, their waits become longer.

FP+ does not increase capacities of attractions. The capacities remain fixed. Therefore, like FP, FP+ does not shorten total wait time. It only changes how long individuals wait in the two separate lines.

The latest information suggests Disney intends to provide each guest with 3 FP+ experiences. Since the Magic Kingdom’s (MK) average attendance is over 46,000 per day and significantly more during busier periods, MK has to have over 200,000 FP+ experiences for many days. Disney realizes its current supply of MK FP experiences will not meet this demand. Therefore, Disney is increasing the supply of FP+ by adding FP+ to experiences that previously did not have FP.

As occurred when FP was created, adding preferred lines to attractions without increasing capacity means people in Standby lines wait longer. As a result, the first change we can expect from FP+ is that Standby lines will grow longer for attractions that are being added to FP+.

A second change in Standby lines should occur because of how Disney intends to distribute FP+. Previously, Disney did not distribute FP with return times for the first 40-to-60 minutes after park opening. As a result, Standby lines remained relatively short and it was possible to ride several attractions immediately after park opening.

To date, preliminary testing suggests Disney intends to change this policy with FP+. Rather than being able to schedule FP+ experiences to begin (for example) one hour after park opening, it appears Disney intends to allow guests to schedule FP+ experiences immediately after park opening. FP+ lines will form more quickly than in the past and the Standby lines will grow longer earlier as a result.

Putting these together, it seems FP+ could have the following impact on Standby lines:

1. Standby lines for attractions without FP where FP+ is added will grow longer.
2. Standby lines for attractions with FP will grow longer earlier in the morning.

Once FP+ is fully operational, it will be interesting if Disney makes further changes. For example, if Disney distributes more FP+ for existing FP attractions (effectively shifting ride capacity from Standby to FP+ lines), then those Standby lines will become longer. Conversely, if Disney distributes fewer FP+ (making the remaining FP+ more “valuable”), then those Standby lines will become shorter.

FP+ is sure to change how you experience WDW but perhaps not in ways you are going to like.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I believe right now they are just testing 3 FP for 1 Park only. I have a feeling Disney will try to keep a strict limit of 3 FPs per day to due to the increased number of guests using MM+. One aspect of MM+ is to allow guests an equal opportunity to pre-book FPs. However, FPs will be just like ADRs, so the good attractions like Space Mountain and Splash will go quick, while CoP or SGE might be able to be obtained at the last minute. This way all guests using MM+ will be able to get some sort of FP allotment before their visit. And there will be new kiosks once MM+ is fully rolled to modify FPs based on availability.

IMHO, the "one park per day" limit is not a big deal, if you can get "good" FP+ return times for later in the day.

The park hopping strategy with the FP+ system would be to tour the first park immediately after opening before the lines get too long using the Standby lines. Lines typically are shortest for the first hour or two after opening. Then, hop over to the second park in the afternoon, if you have later FP+ selections for that park.

For example, be at DHS for rope drop, use the Standby lines for TSM (always first), RnRC, TOT, and STII. Depending on your pace, you could be done with these by 11 AM. (I've done them even faster.) If you want, then watch one of the DHS shows (which handle lots of people), perhaps have lunch, and then hop over to Epcot where, hopefully, you have afternoon or early evening FP+ selections for either TT or Soarin'.

The key is to be able to get "good" FP+ return times for popular attractions. As I posted earlier on this thread, the numbers suggest getting "good" FP+ return times for popular attractions might be difficult.

Based on what I've read so far, I can't help but think of FP+ as an extension of WDW's Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) system. If you like the ADR system, you probably will like the FP+ system. If you don't like the ADR system, FP+ could stink.

Note that I use "good" in quotes because different people will have different definitions of what constitutes "good" FP+ experience return windows. Like FP, it appears FP+ will provide guests with a return window of about 1 hour.

 

[dreamfinder]

After reading that I now wonder; are they seriously going to go back to the ticket type system like they originally had ? You know, A,B,C,D,E, type tickets, only this time with the MyMagic+ thing ? I mean seriously sure it'll possibly impact lines, {I do not see the need for a fastpass line at Haunted Mansion poersonally, as an omnimover I see it as needless to be honest. I can get on that ride five times straight if I want to in a single day!} but limiting to three selections, do this change over the course of the day or what ?

I do vaguely recall someone posting about a survey they took, asking if they would be interested in admission only (no ride) tickets, morning only, afternoon only, etc. So basically thinking about returning to the old ticket system. This could definitely be implemented if they switched to the glowing orb at the entrance to every single line. But I don't think anyone has dared speculate if that is the long term plan as most people have focus on the chaos that is expected to reign when this system goes live as shown.

And while you and I may know that a FP isn't needed for HM, John Q Public from Podunk Missouri (or Arkansas, NY, MA, CA, etc) may not know that, and would be excited to book a FP for HM, or even for Stitch for that matter. As has been stated in this thread, it's a way to help ensure that everyone can get their 3 FPs as the more popular rides will very likely sell out at the 60 day mark.

 

[pixargal]

IMHO, the "one park per day" limit is not a big deal, if you can get "good" FP+ return times for later in the day.

The strategy with the FP+ system would be to tour the first park immediately after opening before the lines get too long using the Standby lines. Lines typically are shortest for the first hour or two after opening. Then, hop over to the second park in the afternoon, if you have later FP+ selections for that park.

For example, be at DHS for rope drop, use the Standby lines for TSM (always first), RnRC, TOT, and STII. Depending on your pace, you could be done with these by 11 AM. (I've done them even faster.) If you want, then watch one of the DHS shows (which handle lots of people), perhaps have lunch, and then hop over to Epcot where, hopefully, you have afternoon or early evening FP+ selections for either TT or Soarin'.

The key is to be able to get "good" FP+ return times for popular attractions. As I posted earlier on this thread, the numbers suggest getting "good" FP+ return times for popular attractions might be difficult.

Based on what I've read so far, I can't help but think of FP+ as an extension of WDW's Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) system. If you like the ADR system, you probably will like the FP+ system. If you don't like the ADR system, FP+ could stink.

Note that I use "good" in quotes because different people will have different definitions of what constitutes "good" FP+ experience return windows. Like FP, it appears FP+ will provide guests with a return window of about 1 hour.

Great strategy, thanks for sharing. I wondered how we could make the fastpasses work if we went to different parks in one day.

 

[Sue_Vongello]

"We" dicate ONLY 3 FP, "we" say ONLY 1 park, ONLY "our" system, ONLY "our" rules ...

Oh sure the guest has "total" control over their vacation now.

 

[Brandon Bowman]

Most people with Fastpass + (Or atleast me) does not want to park hop. Yes the strategy on point but what about those that don't hop?

 

[wdwmagic]

Awful. Biggest and most expensive mistake in WDW history. I hope everyone enjoys wearing a thick plastic band sweating around their wrist in the hot Florida heat.

I don't think anyone who has actually worn the band has complained of any issues like that. We will see though from this upcoming large scale test.

 

[rioriz]

I think at least some of the bitterness surrounds the rumored $1B to $2B price tag and what could have been done with that investment capital instead.

All for a system that, when you cut to the chase, appears to provide comparatively little in terms of guest enhancements.

As Disney CEO Bob Iger has readily admitted at quarterly financial reviews, the main goal of MyMagic+ (MM+) is to have guests plan more of their vacations prior to arrival in Orlando. The idea being that if they've preplanned their entire vacations at WDW, they're less likely to wander off to other Orlando vacation destinations.

When you get right down to it, MM+ is an "experience" that's being implemented for corporate Disney, not for WDW guests. Better crowd control, detailed tracking information for targeted marketing, more effective resource planning, longer guest stays; these benefit corporate Disney, not guests.

I wish people would feel this kind of bitterness about the wasteful spending in Washington....ok off soapbox

 

[ty17]

Awful. Biggest and most expensive mistake in WDW history. I hope everyone enjoys wearing a thick plastic band sweating around their wrist in the hot Florida heat.

Now tell us how you really feel

 

[Karenb64]

So this website is reporting that guests participating in test will still be able to use the paper based fp machines. This would seem to mean that once again, this test is just about working out the mechanics and not really testing what the guest experience is going to be -assuming the T&C is correct and you will not be able to use both systems once magicband+ if fully implemented. So, I'm frustrated that after this next period of testing, we still won't be much closer to knowing how it's really going to impact us.

 

[willtravel]

IMHO, the "one park per day" limit is not a big deal, if you can get "good" FP+ return times for later in the day.

The park hopping strategy with the FP+ system would be to tour the first park immediately after opening before the lines get too long using the Standby lines. Lines typically are shortest for the first hour or two after opening. Then, hop over to the second park in the afternoon, if you have later FP+ selections for that park.

For example, be at DHS for rope drop, use the Standby lines for TSM (always first), RnRC, TOT, and STII. Depending on your pace, you could be done with these by 11 AM. (I've done them even faster.) If you want, then watch one of the DHS shows (which handle lots of people), perhaps have lunch, and then hop over to Epcot where, hopefully, you have afternoon or early evening FP+ selections for either TT or Soarin'.

The key is to be able to get "good" FP+ return times for popular attractions. As I posted earlier on this thread, the numbers suggest getting "good" FP+ return times for popular attractions might be difficult.

Based on what I've read so far, I can't help but think of FP+ as an extension of WDW's Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) system. If you like the ADR system, you probably will like the FP+ system. If you don't like the ADR system, FP+ could stink.

Note that I use "good" in quotes because different people will have different definitions of what constitutes "good" FP+ experience return windows. Like FP, it appears FP+ will provide guests with a return window of about 1 hour.

So if you reserve in advance and don't show up, no biggie?

 

[bhg469]

I do vaguely recall someone posting about a survey they took, asking if they would be interested in admission only (no ride) tickets, morning only, afternoon only, etc. So basically thinking about returning to the old ticket system. This could definitely be implemented if they switched to the glowing orb at the entrance to every single line. But I don't think anyone has dared speculate if that is the long term plan as most people have focus on the chaos that is expected to reign when this system goes live as shown.

And while you and I may know that a FP isn't needed for HM, John Q Public from Podunk Missouri (or Arkansas, NY, MA, CA, etc) may not know that, and would be excited to book a FP for HM, or even for Stitch for that matter. As has been stated in this thread, it's a way to help ensure that everyone can get their 3 FPs as the more popular rides will very likely sell out at the 60 day mark.

As someone who has to work in Florida one week out of the year this would be great for me. When I'm passing through the central fl portion of my trip I like to visit the parks and depending on when I finish my work for the day, I may or may not visit. If I work until 3 what is the point of spending 95 bucks when I may only ride haunted mansion?

I would love to get out, spend a few dollars to get in, eat, walk around, observe and take in the atmosphere. The key is I would be paying a smaller amount to come in and spend more money. This could however be hard to enforce people abusing the system. Sharing bands and such.

 

[muteki]

If anyone lucky/unlucky enough to be a part of recent tests could post screenshots of the FP+ reservation process, I'd love to see how it looks today. I'm curious if/how the choices are still restricted.

 

[FigmentsFangirl]

I do vaguely recall someone posting about a survey they took, asking if they would be interested in admission only (no ride) tickets, morning only, afternoon only, etc. So basically thinking about returning to the old ticket system. This could definitely be implemented if they switched to the glowing orb at the entrance to every single line. But I don't think anyone has dared speculate if that is the long term plan as most people have focus on the chaos that is expected to reign when this system goes live as shown.

And while you and I may know that a FP isn't needed for HM, John Q Public from Podunk Missouri (or Arkansas, NY, MA, CA, etc) may not know that, and would be excited to book a FP for HM, or even for Stitch for that matter. As has been stated in this thread, it's a way to help ensure that everyone can get their 3 FPs as the more popular rides will very likely sell out at the 60 day mark.

In other words we're now to book fastpasses ? And we're limited to three per day ? Personally I'd much rather wait in line to be honest. Most rides {HM, JC, PPF, TS and SM} I'd very muh perfer to wait in line for regardless of how long the wait is. For example I waited 90 minutes for PPF; they let small groups from standby line onto the ride but let in pretty much everyone from the FP line. Which I thought weird because PPF is a omnimover type of ride. So why a fastpass there ?

But the booking of rides days before, that seems wrong to me. When I go to WDW I go to just throw out my plans aside from dinner, lunch of breakfast times that we planned ahead. Once those food things are dealt with for the day, I do as I like at WDW, no plans, no booked ridesw, heck in some cases, no fastpasses.

Is there something wrong with this picture ? limiting to three fastpasses seems backwards, but then the original system worked similar, at the most we ever got my family normally got three over the course of a day anyhow.

 

[OrderMuppet]

Based on what I've read so far, I can't help but think of FP+ as an extension of WDW's Advanced Dining Reservation (ADR) system. If you like the ADR system, you probably will like the FP+ system. If you don't like the ADR system, FP+ could stink.

Oh, gosh. Dealing with both of those systems--getting them to coordinate and such 120 days apart--could be a huge headache. I'm picturing a situation where someone, having meticulously made their ADRs at the 180-day mark, is sitting down at the 60-day mark to do FP+:
"Ok, I have our CRT reservation on Monday and we're not getting park hoppers this trip, so let's check out the MK FP+ availability for Monday. DD will cry herself to sleep if we can't do Peter's Pan's Flight and that line is a horror, so let's check that first... nope, no availability. Availability on Tuesday, however. We could do MK on Tuesday as well, except we'd have to move that Le Cellier dinner reservation that I worked so hard to get... And now we need to fit EPCOT elsewhere...We like it more than AK, so let's cancel everything we planned for that AK day altogether..." Etc etc.

Do you think there are plans to bring the ADR 180-day window and the FP+ 60-day window closer together?

(Edited for grammar.)

 

[tissandtully]

Oh, gosh. Dealing with both of those systems--getting them to coordinate and such 120 days apart--could be a huge headache. I'm picturing a situation where someone, having meticulously made their ADRs at the 180-day mark, is sitting down at the 60-day mark to do FP+:
"Ok, I have our CRT reservation on Monday and we're not getting park hoppers this trip, so let's check out the MK FP+ availability for Monday. DD will cry herself to sleep if we can't do Peter's Pan's Flight and that line is a horror, so let's check that first... nope, no availability. Availability on Tuesday, however. We could do MK on Tuesday as well, except we'd have to move that Le Cellier dinner reservation that I worked so hard to get... And now we need to fit EPCOT elsewhere, because we like it more than AK, so let's cancel that AK day altogether..." Etc etc.

Do you think there are plans to bring the ADR 180-day window and the FP+ 60-day window closer together?

Oh, gosh. Dealing with both of those systems--getting them to coordinate and such 120 days apart--could be a huge headache. I'm picturing a situation where someone, having meticulously made their ADRs at the 180-day mark, is sitting down at the 60-day mark to do FP+:
"Ok, I have our CRT reservation on Monday and we're not getting park hoppers this trip, so let's check out the MK FP+ availability for Monday. DD will cry herself to sleep if we can't do Peter's Pan's Flight and that line is a horror, so let's check that first... nope, no availability. Availability on Tuesday, however. We could do MK on Tuesday as well, except we'd have to move that Le Cellier dinner reservation that I worked so hard to get... And now we need to fit EPCOT elsewhere, because we like it more than AK, so let's cancel that AK day altogether..." Etc etc.

Do you think there are plans to bring the ADR 180-day window and the FP+ 60-day window closer together?

Except that you can still get a regular FP for PPF, which is the only way I'd ride on that over-rated thing.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Do you think there are plans to bring the ADR 180-day window and the FP+ 60-day window closer together?

I really can't say for sure what's going to happen anymore.

The problem I've run into with MyMagic+ (MM+) is that some normally reliable sources have either gotten things wrong or have changed their stories. At this point, I really believe there was a big-picture strategy with a number of details "decided". Then in January 2013, MM+ was announced and The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) ran into a bunch of problems. Press and Internet reception was not at all what was expected, Iger got that nasty letter from Rep. Markey, and technical issues started piling up. Meanwhile, Wall Street kept asking, "when are we going to start seeing some revenue from this?" Ever since, TWDC has been scrambling around, trying to do damage control, trying to get MM+ back on track, while realizing some of its "best" (which, for TWDC, means most profitable) ideas might not work.

My point is, with all the chaos surrounding MM+, anything that's "true" today might not be "true" tomorrow.

 

[tracyandalex]

For us I think the worst impact will be that we won't ride as many rides. As it is we don't wait more than 20 mins for a ride. The "must dos" for DD we FP and from what we have seen of the groupings we won't be able to get FP+ for all of those. So, if standby lines are longer we will most likely ride less rides which means our guest experience will be decreased by FP+ meaning we may start vacationing other places.
What if we want to ride TT and Soarin, but don't feel either is worth a 90 min standby wait? Decreased guest experience!

 

[willtravel]

One more thing I've been thinking about is how does Disney make FP+ accessible to everyone while still favoring onsite guests? I have one idea on this that's not based on any fact.

Allow offsite guests to book their FP+ selections 60 days in advance.

Allow onsite guests to book their FP+ selections 60 days in advance plus length of stay.

This would provide a significant advantage to onsite guests while still allowing Disney to claim that all guests can make their FP+ selections 60 days before arrival. Effectively, treat offsite guests exactly like what they are, "day guests", with each day considered a new arrival day.

I emphasize this is just speculation. In recent months, I've received conflicting information which, to me, suggests Disney still hasn't decided 100% what they are going to do once the program fully rolls out.

For me, I could care less about FP or FP+. I was at WDW for 8 nights May 11-18 and did 2 days at each park except AK, that was 1 day. And did 1 day hotel hoping and went that night to DD. Was able to do everything in all of the parks and had time left over. Yes, we go early May andmid/ latter October on purpose. We had 3 ressies that worked out well. Then when we were in parks we just went up and asked if there were any openings and did and just walked in.

 

[Bolna]

I don't think anyone who has actually worn the band has complained of any issues like that. We will see though from this upcoming large scale test.

I did not wear it for any length of time, but I tried it on at the AP exchange station in the Odyssee. They had some lying around. I found it uncomfortable. It was bulky and even though I don't have very small wrists, the normal one was too large already, so I would need to use the smaller setting. The thing that bothered me is that the middle part (where for a watch the clock would be located) of it is actually very thick and also quite long. It does not bend in that area. So for me the band did not fit nicely around the wrist, but there were gaps on both sides of the middle part. I also found the closing mechanism not to appear that reliable. I would not want to wear one of these in a wave pool and that would be the place where I actually could see a use for them. They don't have a clasp like a watch. The only thing I liked was that the material was nice to touch, rather soft.