So it's making a mountain out of a molehill to feel inconvenienced by walking back and forth across a park, but the notion that you wear a bracelet is such an egregious affront that we should all be up in arms?
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Magic Band Accessories
- Thread starter cslafferty
- Start date
englanddg
One Little Spark...
I bet I can book an Ohana or Le Cellier ADR right now, and I am 40 some odd days out.
That's not the point. The point is...will I WANT Le Cellier at 2p on August 3rd when due to weather the kid and I have decided we would rather go to Typhoon Lagoon since its been rainy all week and this was the first big break. And how am I to know that?
Oh, and if we don't show up and don't cancel 24 hours in advance, credit card gets dinged $10 bucks a head.
Magical!
And you don't have to. That's the thing people keep misunderstanding. Stand-by queues aren't going away. No one is going to make you pre-order anything. I don't see how this could bother anyone. If you like it how it is, keep doing it like it is. If you think this is a neat-o new benefit, take advantage of it. I like my Android but I don't get ed at Apple for offering a new iPhone. I don't like it, so I won't buy one. It doesn't make my Android WORSE because Apple users have a new upgrade they enjoy.
But think about a world with no reservations. People would be lining up for Le Cellier dinner at 11:00 AM and the line would be longer than TSMM. I think most people would rather roll the dice that they'll *probably* feel like having Le Cellier for dinner in two months than wait in line for dinner for hours.
That's an empty threat. They'll only charge you if you don't show up without telling anyone. If you call with a legit reason (monorail broke down, travel plans changed, etc.) they'll cancel your ressie with no fee. I've done this. The fee is there to stop people from blocking up tables "just in case," taking away from those who legitimately want to eat at a place.
bubbles1812
Well-Known Member
Where in my post did I mention the Magic Band? I don't really care about it either way. I think it is a relative waste of money, but there is stuff I have much bigger issues with than the dopey band. If I do get it, it'll probably go into my bag same as a card would be.
And yes, I would say it is making a mountain out of a molehill. There are plenty of ways to avoid it, but if you have to, it simply isn't that far.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
That's actually a good point. Which is sad.
bubbles1812
Well-Known Member
Yeah... I'm sure you get great quality family time having to get up at 3 am to book a restaurant. Do you get the kids out of bed so they can watch mommy and daddy curse in frustration when everything is filled? And now you are going to get to do it with rides too! Quality time...
Also, love the "most others." There are far more people who don't order the vacation DVDs or buy guide books than do. Do you realize how many just go on to the site and book a trip? Not to mention, your examples don't really hold water because again, that's not what I am talking about! (And you wonder why I question your reading comprehension when you always miss the point). Vacation DVDs are fine and dandy but that doesn't take away from having to now make all these different reservations months in advance on a website even you just admitted as legitimate issues.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
It's awfully ironic to me that the best way to improve the ADR system at WDW is probably to remove it (see DL).
My fear (and expectation) is that the same will play out for FP+.
It's a lot easier for me to get to Florida too, but if this doesn't work, I plan on being a DL pass holder once again.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
That wasn't at all the case before the dining plan...
In fact, isn't the vacation DVD only available in the US and Canada now? We can't get one in the UK.
The dining plan and dining reservations are not the same thing. I was talking about the latter.
I should have been more clear. The average "user" uses about 2.7 FP per day (or something close). There are a lot of non-users that brings the average of the total population of guests lower. The assumption is that a non-Fastpass user will probably be a non-Fastpass+ user as well, making the average FP per "user" of 3 more in line with current demand.
Tigger1988
Well-Known Member
Reservations existed long before DDP. People used to run to Communicore at park opening to book same day dining. It's silly to think that removing reservations completely wouldn't result in lines.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
Didn't the two coincide, or at least closely? If it was possible to make dinner reservations months in advance before the dining plan, I never needed it. It was the DDp that inflated demand and those seats.
englanddg
One Little Spark...
Or, I could walk by Living Seas and not realize there is a restaurant there and want to eat there on my trip, and my kids are excited by the ides, but because I didn't spend a myriad of hours camped on the internet or their barely working website and now it's booked solid with ADRs from people who did, so I can't...even if I am willing to say "hey, yeah, I'll be back at 3p when you have an opening"...nope.
As the Dining Plan (which FP+ smacks of) has become more popular, random eating at the parks outside of QS has become more complex. I think this is a cautionary tale for the casual park goer. People like me, or you, who go often and/or keep up with it, won't have an issue with the system. But, the people who don't? I'm sure they will. They'll feel gyped. Upset. And/or when they try and book and realize what a convoluted mess they've made the whole thing, may just decide it's not worth all this work for a vacation and go take a cruise or do Universal, or just go someplace non-theme park oriented.
I still fail to see the massive benefits and how it's worth the price tag...
So, when FP+ is in force and people don't show up to Space Mountain at 2:05p, are they gonna have an empty threat CC ding for that as well since they tied up valuable FP advanced reservation spaces? ADRs were in existance for years before Disney decided they needed to even feign a penalty due to abuse.
Oh...wait...I know how they get around it...they limit the number of FPs you can get a day.
Yeah, certainly worth 4 times the estimated budget for Avatarland...well spend Disney...well spent!
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
I never ran and never got there at park open and never had a problem getting in anywhere.
And I don't currently have that issue with ANY restaurant on DL property. And they take reservations. It's the DDP and forced early bookings at WDW that is the issue.
Rides will not fill up like restaurants do. The most recent Unofficial Guide in my home (2010) estimates that Big Thunder can handle 100 guests in 2 1/2 minutes. That's 40 per minute, 2,400 per hour, 28,800 in a 12-hour park day. How many guests should we assume Le Cellier can handle in a day? I have no idea what that number is, but compare it to tens of thousands of guests on a high-capacity attraction and it's not even close.
No.
FP+ is nowhere near the lion's share of the NextGen budget. It's just the most visible from a guest perspective.
You act like "dining reservations" are a unique concept to Walt Disney World. You ever try to take your wife out to eat on Valentine's Day without a reservation? When demand is high, you fill demand on a first-come, first-served basis. The other option is to raise prices to lower demand. You can only fit so many tables in the restaurant and there has to be SOME system to determine who gets in and who doesn't when more people want to get in than there are seats available.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
People are being forced into something because there are clear and deliberate consequences to choosing non-participation. It doesn't matter if you don't want FastPass, because you are now the lower priority on more attractions. Expansion of FastPass is a deliberate choice to make it more visible and have more apparent value. There is a reason people's itch FastPasses to this day will sometimes be hassled, because plenty of people still don't know that FastPass is free for everyone. It's a psychology of coercion. It's either choosing an experience of non-participation, that will be different than the experience of non-participation today.
The notion that Disney, at some point, will not reward those who participate the most is laughable. It is the logical progression of such minute tracking. It would be an active way of managing crowds as desired by pushing bonus FastPasses or discounts or any other such incentives that can move people where desired while also reinforcing desirable behavior.
The notion that Disney, at some point, will not reward those who participate the most is laughable. It is the logical progression of such minute tracking. It would be an active way of managing crowds as desired by pushing bonus FastPasses or discounts or any other such incentives that can move people where desired while also reinforcing desirable behavior.