Lines at the FP+ entrances

[Disneyfamily4]

Bob Iger, May 7, 2013:

"We have for years had in place products that are available only to hotel guests. And actually, one thing that I think Jay alluded to, didn't say specifically, is the MyMagic+ will definitely encourage people to stay more on-property than off-property. Jay was talking about essentially by being able to plan ahead, people will basically have more plans with us, and that will in effect discourage them from doing other things. I think it will also encourage them to stay more in our hotels."​

And again on February 5, 2014:

"One of the, I think, most attractive features [of MyMagic+] and one that I think will have possibly the biggest benefit is the FastPass+, which is the ability to reserve 3 times on 3 attractions per day, either before you visited the park if you are a resort guest, or the day you enter the park if you are a same day or a single day ticket holder."​

Iger is referring to the ability to pre-book FP+ selections for onsite guests vs. only day-of for offsite guests.

Essentially, onsite guests get preferential access to the best FP+ selections.

Offsite guests will have to go through a song-and-dance similar to FP. Namely, show up for rope drop and immediately head to FP+ kiosks. However, unlike FP, there will be thousands of offsite guests (and presumably AP holders) that already have booked the best FP+ selections. Offsite guests will get what hasn't already been picked over by onsite guests.

And let's not forget that onsite guests can change their FP+ selections via smart phone. Offsite guests need to get back into the FP+ kiosk lines in order to do so.

None of this justifies someone paying triple to stay on site.

Again, guests who are staying off site can pre plan their trip just like people staying on site. They have the same reservation window.

Forget about the company line, if you had to convince someone to stay in the resort, rather than staying off site, what would you be able to say? I love staying on site and even I cant think of what benefits the magic bands get me more than other people. Magical express has always been there. Transportation to the parks has always been there. What benefits do the magic bands give their guests, more than what the off site people get??

 

[ParentsOf4]

None of this justifies someone paying triple to stay on site.

Again, guests who are staying off site can pre plan their trip just like people staying on site. They have the same reservation window.

Two points.

First, in FY2013, Disney sold approximately 8.3M room nights at WDW and DLR. No doubt, there were hundreds of thousands more who were on the fence and considered staying onsite. They simply needed one more reason to stay onsite. Disney is hoping MyMagic+ is it.

Second, once an onsite stay is booked and tickets are linked to that stay, guests have been able to use those tickets to book FP+ selections, even if those days are after their stays.

Thus, those with annual passes who have stayed onsite have been able to make FP+ selections for days beyond their stays. I linked 10-day no expiration tickets to my stay in November and am able to make selections for the unused days right now. The key, it seems, is having those tickets linked to an onsite stay.

Presumably, word will get out and those desperately wanting to pre-book will plan a single night at a WDW hotel. Once enough do this, Disney will realize it has a hole in its system and, as they’ve done in the past, will take the necessary steps to close that hole.

 

[Goofyernmost]

None of this justifies someone paying triple to stay on site.

Again, guests who are staying off site can pre plan their trip just like people staying on site. They have the same reservation window.

Forget about the company line, if you had to convince someone to stay in the resort, rather than staying off site, what would you be able to say? I love staying on site and even I cant think of what benefits the magic bands get me more than other people. Magical express has always been there. Transportation to the parks has always been there. What benefits do the magic bands give their guests, more than what the off site people get??

It doesn't justify it and it doesn't have to, really. All it has to do is get people thinking that they will have a better chance of getting what they want for rides if they stay onsite and if they can afford it they will, instead of perhaps opting for offsite.

To @mousehunter96 Disney has control now of how many FP passes are put aside for whatever group they decide to allot them too. They may put aside more for onsite people but they won't put them all out there. It's like hotel rooms. Hotels will allot a certain number of rooms to Expedia or another booking site, but it will be a percentage of rooms that they don't think that they will be able to fill on their own. You may call directly to a hotel and try and book a room only to be told that they are sold out. Go to Expedia (or whatever) and voila you can get a room. There will always be FP's available for offsite guests, it would be colossally stupid for them not to have them. Judging from the cars pouring into Disney every morning, I'd say that the majority of the guests are offsite. Deprive them and the results will not be pretty.

 

[ParentsOf4]

There will always be FP's available for offsite guests, it would be colossally stupid for them not to have them. Judging from the cars pouring into Disney every morning, I'd say that the majority of the guests are offsite. Deprive them and the results will not be pretty.

You mean setting aside FP+ for offsite guests ahead of onsite guests (who pay Disney an average of $267/night more) wouldn't be more stupid?

When you have limited resources, your resources go to your most profitable customers first.

Disney has limited attraction capacity.

At the rates Disney charges, WDW's hotels are immensely profitable.

The reality is that WDW has enough "good" FP+ capacity for all onsite guests plus a subset of offsite guests on all but the busiest days. Disney doesn't have to hold back anything for offsite guests.

Instead, offsite guests will be fighting with each other for a reduced pool of FP+ availability.

Especially during busy times of year, it will be extremely important for offsite guests to be there for rope drop.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

People want direct gratification for their choices they make. By making the switch from staying off site to staying in a resort, people need immediate gratification that they have made the correct choice.

Right now, my brother who lives in Orlando, but doesn't have an AP since he has no kids, bought tickets to Disney to spend time with my kids. He reserved his fast passes already for the same time we have our rides pre-planned. So again, What is the advantage of staying in the resorts? With everything outlined, that will absolutely not make a person feel good about spending 1000's more.

 

[flynnibus]

You mean setting aside FP+ for offsite guests ahead of onsite guests (who pay Disney an average of $267/night more) wouldn't be more stupid?

I think the more important point is simply that it's a pool disney controls.. unlike the old fashion 'first come, first serve' where it was one pool... and no reserve - now Disney has a resource it can slice and dice and divvy out as it sees fit... all virtually hidden from outside eyes.

Disney can ration, do holdbacks, do unequal distribution, and many more tricks to make the finite resource look available or not to whom they chose.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

If anyone is going to Disney soon, and plan on going to Epcot, you can now chose two tier one rides. Me and a few people from his forum, just changed a tier 2 ride experience and as a replacement, both tier 1 rides show up. I don't know if this is a glitch or change in policy, but for all of us, we have reservations for both test trek and soaring. Just thought everyone should know.

Just another tidbit here, being that it may apply.

I called my brother for him to change his fast passes like I did and when he attempted to change his tier 2 ride, there were no tier one rides available for him to pick. Perhaps if this is not just a glitch, resort guests do not have tiers as a perk, which then may help people make the switch from off site to staying in a resort.

Anyone else make a change yet?

 

[ParentsOf4]

I think the more important point is simply that it's a pool disney controls.. unlike the old fashion 'first come, first serve' where it was one pool... and no reserve - now Disney has a resource it can slice and dice and divvy out as it sees fit... all virtually hidden from outside eyes.

Disney can ration, do holdbacks, do unequal distribution, and many more tricks to make the finite resource look available or not to whom they chose.

I agree.

You might recall over a year ago I ranted that what Disney gains with FP+ is control.

The attractions are WDW's most valuable resource. It's why most visit WDW.

Gaining control of these allows Disney to more effectively monetize their theme parks.

 

[Goofyernmost]

You mean setting aside FP+ for offsite guests ahead of onsite guests (who pay Disney an average of $267/night more) wouldn't be more stupid?

When you have limited resources, your resources go to your most profitable customers first.

Disney has limited attraction capacity.

At the rates Disney charges, WDW's hotels are immensely profitable.

The reality is that WDW has enough "good" FP+ capacity for all onsite guests plus a subset of offsite guests on all but the busiest days. Disney doesn't have to hold back anything for offsite guests.

Instead, offsite guests will be fighting with each other for a reduced pool of FP+ availability.

Especially during busy times of year, it will be extremely important for offsite guests to be there for rope drop.

They don't have to hold back, but, that is a lot of lost revenue in ticket prices alone. Do they want the number of guests to just be those that pay the high price and everyone else can go pound it? I suppose it sounds good in the short term, but, it is a fatal long term prospect. Besides why do you think they have added all those other places to the FP list. So they can get more FP's available! Nothing is stopping them from giving out the ones that we know are unnecessary to people that stay onsite as well as offsite. It just means that those that don't know any better will be going home saying, Wow, I got that FP for CoP and got to ride it immediately. What a great deal this FP+ is.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

Did you link him in to your WDW reservation?

When we both got our tickets, we tried but it would not let him in. I was told to call, but I ended up just telling him the times for the rides, being it is just two days in the park.

 

[flynnibus]

wild wait times today...

Soarin is only 45min!
yet Buzz is 45mins as well.. and JC is 40mins.. along with Space Mountain.. for a day touring plans was estimating as a 3 for MK... which is dame low

yet.. buzz wait times was forcasted to be peaked at 37.. and more like 30 most of the time.

Disney must be giving out FP+ like gangbusters on the onmimovers...

 

[ParentsOf4]

They don't have to hold back, but, that is a lot of lost revenue in ticket prices alone. Do they want the number of guests to just be those that pay the high price and everyone else can go pound it? I suppose it sounds good in the short term, but, it is a fatal long term prospect. Besides why do you think they have added all those other places to the FP list. So they can get more FP's available! Nothing is stopping them from giving out the ones that we know are unnecessary to people that stay onsite as well as offsite. It just means that those that don't know any better will be going home saying, Wow, I got that FP for CoP and got to ride it immediately. What a great deal this FP+ is.

Certain attractions ran out of FP in the past. For those popular attractions, FP+ doesn't change that much.

Someone, either offsite or onsite, got screwed in the past with FP. What FP+ does is make it more likely that an onsite guest won't get screwed.

This is not saying offsite guests won't get good FP+ selections, only that onsite guests have preferential access to those FP+ selections.

It's not much different than ADRs. Onsite guests book at 180 days plus length of stay. Everyone else at 180 days.

FP+ does help distribute ride capacity better. First, Disney is now using the first hour of park operation to distribute FP+ return times. (Previously, FP return times started 45 minutes to 1 hour after opening.) Second, FP+ does not allow guests to hoard ride capacity.

 

[ParentsOf4]

When we both got our tickets, we tried but it would not let him in. I was told to call, but I ended up just telling him the times for the rides, being it is just two days in the park.

I assume he's registered on MDE and booked his FP+ selections there.

Has he ever stayed at WDW since the rollout of MDE?

 

[Disneyfamily4]

I assume he's registered on MDE and booked his FP+ selections there.

Has he ever stayed at WDW since the rollout of MDE?

No he hates Disney. He has lived in Orlando for over 20 years so he is sick of it all. He says one little thing takes up 20 minutes in the news.

 

[Goofyernmost]

No he hates Disney. He has lived in Orlando for over 20 years so he is sick of it all. He says one little thing takes up 20 minutes in the news.

Might want to remind him that if if wasn't for Disney being there for 40 years, all that area would be now is grasslands and swamps, just like it was 40 years ago. Orlando and Kissimmee are what they are now because of Disney. It might be quieter without them, but, it sure would be dull.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

Might want to remind him that if if wasn't for Disney being there for 40 years, all that area would be now is grasslands and swamps, just like it was 40 years ago. Orlando and Kissimmee are what they are now because of Disney. It might be quieter without them, but, it sure would be dull.

Yeah, I'm sure he doesn't care. Did that make you upset that he hates disney? It seems that you are personally offended by that. You actually took your time to defend disney and explain that the people of ORLANDO should bow to their god, instead of a few people here and there being annoyed with the theme park.

Don't worry. Tonight I'm calling him and I'm going to explain to him that if it wasn't for Disney, he would be running his fortune 500 company in Charlotte, where he lived prior.

 

[stevehousse]

Just curious, how was he able to book FP+ if he isn't staying onsite? Did he just link his ticket and it automatically let him? When at u guys going to the world? Just curious because this is the first I hve heard of this being able to actually happen...more details please!

 

[Goofyernmost]

Yeah, I'm sure he doesn't care. Did that make you upset that he hates disney? It seems that you are personally offended by that. You actually took your time to defend disney and explain that the people of ORLANDO should bow to their god, instead of a few people here and there being annoyed with the theme park.

Don't worry. Tonight I'm calling him and I'm going to explain to him that if it wasn't for Disney, he would be running his fortune 500 company in Charlotte, where he lived prior.

I'm glad that you have more imagination then I do, because I don't believe that is what I said at all. I said that the Orlando and the Kissimmee that HE moved into 20 years ago only existed because of Disney's presence. Why, pray tell should I care if he love or hates Disney. I don't even know him. And in a real sense the people of Orlando and Kissimmee should acknowledge that they would not be looking or living how they are currently living if it hadn't existed. That's all... Why doesn't he move away if it is that godawful.

And if you tell him that about running his fortune 500 company in Charlotte (or you name a city) you would be correct. He would never had been able to have the resources he needed to operate a business like that in that area if the area hadn't developed and provided the service industries to support it. In this case the chicken came first.

Oh, and just so you don't kick into advance paranoia, I also never said that it was good or bad, I just said that this is how it happened. Get a grip!

 

[JimboJones123]

I had a CM tell me that more than half of the FP attractions in each park now take longer to go through the FP line than the stand by line.

 

[Disneyfamily4]

Just curious, how was he able to book FP+ if he isn't staying onsite? Did he just link his ticket and it automatically let him? When at u guys going to the world? Just curious because this is the first I hve heard of this being able to actually happen...more details please!

Any advanced ticket purchase through Disney is available for fast pass reservations as long as you make up a Disney experience profile. This is for all off site and resort guests. As I have said before, off site guests have been able to make advanced reservations.