MAXPass (upcharge mobile Fastpasses) coming to Disneyland...impacts to WDW?

[HauntedPirate]

What are jailbroken phones?

Smartphones that have had a special, customized version of either an Android OS or iOS installed. It's can be a risky endeavor - Worst case scenario is that your smartphone is "bricked" (in other words, dead and beyond recovery). It's something for the more tech-savvy to attempt.

 

[Bandini]

Smartphones that have had a special, customized version of either an Android OS or iOS installed. It's can be a risky endeavor - Worst case scenario is that your smartphone is "bricked" (in other words, dead and beyond recovery). It's something for the more tech-savvy to attempt.

Then I'm out.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Then I'm out.

Just to be clear - the DL app runs just fine on any normal smartphone.

 

[Luxe]

I have a bad feeling about this...

 

[flynnibus]

What are jailbroken phones?

If you root/jailbreak your iPhone.. you can do things like run apps that spoof the location data the device is feeding apps. So if you have something that is geofenced.. aka it only works when location data says you are within a certain area... you can fool the app into thinking you are somewhere you are not.

 

[flynnibus]

Wouldn't you think they would have started working on that before announcing the new program? I haven't heard a peep about it. And why add wifi at all if you can get your patrons to use a service they pay for.

What makes you think they would have to tell you they were working on it?

Adding wifi allows people to use your products without their data plans
Adding wifi gives you the ability to track and count your patrons
Adding wifi gives you the ability to implement geofencing concepts
Adding wifi gives you the ability to advertise a customer perk

 

[flynnibus]

I will be extremely disheartened if Disney goes live with this and there's a way around the GPS requirement to be in the parks. That will RUIN the system. I really hope the ticket has to be used to enter the park for this to work.

I'd like to think Disney will be on this, but given the massive loopholes in the WDW FP+ system, I have no confidence.

GPS data is easily defeated. But requiring you to use a certain network is far easier to enforce. The struggle is building the network to handle the # of users you have. Extremely dense user spaces like stadiums, theme parks, etc require a much more complex network to implement. It's all 'known' stuff.. its just a lot more expensive to implement vs a regular office/home/low-density solution.

I imagine before Disney does any patron-wide solution.. a park wide network will be in place.

 

[the-reason14]

Having experienced FP+, I now greatly dislike the old system. Running across the damn park to get a fastpass is an experience that I do not miss at WDW and do not like at Disneyland. Needing to be there at rope drop to get fastpasses for popular attractions at reasonable times is something I do not miss at WDW and do not like Disneyland. And being able to actually pick my FP time, rather than take the one being offerred, is something I really like at WDW, and miss when I'm at Disneyland (of course, if they don't enforce the end of the FP window at DL, that one doesn't matter much).

Well it works better in Disneyland because everything is within walking distance. I can somewhat kind of understand why people like the new system at WDW, but at Disneyland everything is conveniently there and close. I still don't like the new system, I really haven't been back to WDW enough to really use it as them switching to the current system is the main reason why I let my AP expired way back when, and why I'll never ever renew it.

 

[21stamps]

If you root/jailbreak your iPhone.. you can do things like run apps that spoof the location data the device is feeding apps. So if you have something that is geofenced.. aka it only works when location data says you are within a certain area... you can fool the app into thinking you are somewhere you are not.

Smartphones that have had a special, customized version of either an Android OS or iOS installed. It's can be a risky endeavor - Worst case scenario is that your smartphone is "bricked" (in other words, dead and beyond recovery). It's something for the more tech-savvy to attempt.

People still do this?

I haven't heard about it since the iPhone was available to all.
Back in the day people used to jailbrake iPhones all the time. I sold mine on eBay every year and am sure that's what half of the purchasers were doing.lol. Then At&T lost their exclusivity..Verizon hurt my resale value. Sprint pretty much destroyed it. ..especially the stupid phone payment plans, and now leasing.
Anyway, just surprised that it was still a "thing". seems odd.

 

[monothingie]

I agree, the aggressively inexpensive "introductory price" will help drive up usage and make it sustainable. It will be increased incrementally as they add accessibility to more attractions and events. If it becomes a viable add-on for Disneyland, rest assured, an additional FastPass+ up-charge option for WDW will happen.

Like a drug dealer. Sniff...

 

[monothingie]

Disagree if they had charged for FP as part of the magic band rollout the PR blowback would have been epic, I suspect that monetization was the end goal all along. In addition to the staffing management component which was the immediate goal

Magic bands paid for themselves with the additional consumerism they generated due to their ease of use and omnipresence throughout the resort. An impulse buyers dream.

 

[BubbaQuest]

It looks like jailbroken phones will be a lot more popular for Disneyland fans in the future... to bypass the 'only when in the park' geofencing.

I would assume they won't use geofencing, but an extension of their current "ticket must be activated" system. That is, you have to enter the park using the ticket associated with the app before you can start requesting fast passes. So no fastpass requests while queuing in the esplanade

I hope they implement some kind of 5 minute delay after entering though, otherwise as others have mentioned the entryways are going to be packed with people trying to immediately setup fastpasses as soon as they enter the park.

 

[flynnibus]

I would assume they won't use geofencing, but an extension of their current "ticket must be activated" system. That is, you have to enter the park using the ticket associated with the app before you can start requesting fast passes. So no fastpass requests while queuing in the esplanade

They will have to do more than that.. because the previous system just needed your ticket scanned... they will want to ensure you are not only scanned, but your last park scan is THAT park. They don't want you in DL picking up FPs for DCA.

It will be interesting to see if DL does a 'scan your own ticket' - since they don't use MDE like profiles.

 

[Bandini]

Magic bands paid for themselves with the additional consumerism they generated due to their ease of use and omnipresence throughout the resort. An impulse buyers dream.

Really? I thought that's what the suits hoped would happen, but it never did. Instead their unending price hikes have increased revenue.

 

[Bandini]

I would assume they won't use geofencing, but an extension of their current "ticket must be activated" system. That is, you have to enter the park using the ticket associated with the app before you can start requesting fast passes. So no fastpass requests while queuing in the esplanade

I hope they implement some kind of 5 minute delay after entering though, otherwise as others have mentioned the entryways are going to be packed with people trying to immediately setup fastpasses as soon as they enter the park.

I hope you're right. Otherwise all of the FP's will be swallowed up by AP holders booking "what if we go to the parks" FP's.

 

[pvtim]

Something that seems to be glanced over right now is that it is only on two rides....
Can anyone think why that is the case?
My two thoughts....

Half-hearted test like the golf cart in EPCOT parking lot/cabanas in MK/ Express line for AP holders
or
My fear...we will give you fastpass, but if you want it for these 5 rides you need to pay our extra fee.

 

[mikenatcity1]

I'm excited to see how this plays out as I think digital FP could be great. I hate when I see a FP is available at 1 time, I try to rush over to that attraction only to find it's gone or a much later time (i've become spoiled by WDW's FP time selection). I am a DL AP holder, but do not have the option for photos- I would pay this if I was going for 3-4 days, to get the photos alone. Reading the article, it says it will work the same way as the paper fastpasses- only available that day and 1 ride at a time...I think the difference here is that you won't have to run at park opening to your favorite attraction to try to get a fastpass, now you can book one and go to another line. The addition of Fastpass to TSMM and Matterhorn could be great- Matterhorn has 2 tracks and TSMM's line can get long and boring.

I don't think much else will change...at least for a while...DL operates very different than WDW with different visitors- it's not uncommon for AP holders to come in and only do parades or fireworks. FP+ would never fly at DL...most people don't plan that far out, nor do they want to FP every single attraction (plus- with only 3 resort hotels vs all of the good neighbor hotels that you can walk to, it wouldn't be worth the money spent).

 

[NearTheEars]

I hope you're right. Otherwise all of the FP's will be swallowed up by AP holders booking "what if we go to the parks" FP's.

Depends on their cost for access. Has that been announced yet? If it's still a daily charge, that could get costly.

 

[drizgirl]

Depends on their cost for access. Has that been announced yet? If it's still a daily charge, that could get costly.

All that has been said is that it will be included with certain levels of APs. What the new price for those APs will be has not been announced. Aren't they due for a price increase soon? It will be fascinating to see where this goes.

 

[Bandini]

Something that seems to be glanced over right now is that it is only on two rides....
Can anyone think why that is the case?
My two thoughts....

Half-hearted test like the golf cart in EPCOT parking lot/cabanas in MK/ Express line for AP holders
or
My fear...we will give you fastpass, but if you want it for these 5 rides you need to pay our extra fee.

No, it is for all rides that have FP now. they are adding FP to Matterhorn and TSMM