New Return Procedure at Soarin'

[natatomic]

I think it really depends on exactly how they handle it. If they simply bad mouth the company and tell the guest that this was all a stupid idea, then yes, I think that would be grounds for discipline. A better way to handle it would be to apologize, explain that it is a test, and that they are seeing that things aren't quite working out as expected. This way they would be admitting that there is a problem, sympathizing with the guest, but not totally trashing the company.

I agree this is the best way to handle it. But there is a not-so-small percentage of guests that will be irate, threatening, bullying, and swearing up a storm that can make it difficult even for the most docile or laid back CM to remain 100%. Everyone has there limits, and in a situation like this, I would imagine almost all the CMs were pushed to them.

 

[RSoxNo1]

A big difference is that people wouldn't even bother getting a paper FP when the wait time wasn't that high. With FP+, people are choosing M:S regardless of the wait time, resulting in MUCH more people coming in that way than before.

Also true. Guests are making Fastpass+ selections without any education on the actual wait time. That was a big deterrent for getting a Fastpass before, now it's not really a factor. I assume this was by design so that uninformed guests are making their selection based on the ride descriptions on Disney's site instead of the wait times.

 

[DisneyCane]

If they implemented this non-standby standby procedure using an electronic system that only allowed each person to have 1 spot per day it probably might work OK. This would prevent anybody from hogging the passes.

Another tweak would be to only give out a certain number per hour so that it couldn't run out early in the day. Finally, don't have any return times in the last hour of the park hours. Anybody that shows up in the last hour just gets in line.

With some tweaks they can make this work for rides like Soarin' with ridiculously long and very slow moving standby. It would be like a hybrid fastpass/standby system.

 

[BufordTJustice]

The only way I'm ok with it is if the ticket return time is for exactly how long the wait would have been if I waited in line. But if it's what would have been a one hour wait in line, but they give me a return time that's in 2 hours? That screws up the rest of my day/plans.

I am curious about what the return times are as well. Can anyone attest to what they are running? If the return time is equivalent to what the standby queue is running, then that is very similar to DAS and supports my theory that TDO took a poll of DAS users and found that they spent $ either shopping or getting something to eat or drink while awaiting their return time. If anyone thinks this is solely about increasing customer satisfaction, they are living in a fairytale.

 

[wm49rs]

I am curious about what the return times are as well. Can anyone attest to what they are running? If the return time is equivalent to what the standby queue is running, then that is very similar to DAS and supports my theory that TDO took a poll of DAS users and found that they spent $ either shopping or getting something to eat or drink while awaiting their return time. If anyone thinks this is solely about increasing customer satisfaction, they are living in a fairytale.

A fairy tale akin to your DAS theory. But keep trying....

 

[Fishbait]

If they implemented this non-standby standby procedure using an electronic system that only allowed each person to have 1 spot per day it probably might work OK. This would prevent anybody from hogging the passes.

Another tweak would be to only give out a certain number per hour so that it couldn't run out early in the day. Finally, don't have any return times in the last hour of the park hours. Anybody that shows up in the last hour just gets in line.

With some tweaks they can make this work for rides like Soarin' with ridiculously long and very slow moving standby. It would be like a hybrid fastpass/standby system.

Allowing people the option of only riding their favorite ride once or twice (using FP+) would lessen the guest experience, IMO. And to be honest, I don't think Disney should be in the game to make everything fair for everyone.

If I go to a theme park I know dang well that I will be waiting in line for stuff. It is up to me to best figure out how to optimize my time and whether or not the ride is worth the wait. But we all know that this is not something being tested to enhance guest enjoyment. This is done to keep people out of lines and spending money.

Instead of fixing something that isn't broken they should be doing something to really increase guest satisfaction like taking better care of what they do have and building new things to distribute people better (especially in the parks like Epcot and HS).

 

[dadddio]

All they had to do was update FP to be electronic. None of the rules needed changing. No one needed to book a ride slot 60 days in advance. The result of the FP+ nonsense is that it now needs to be "fixed" with some of the additional nonsense we saw being tested the last couple of days.

FP+ didn't create long wait times at Soarin'.

 

[DisneyCane]

FP+ didn't create long wait times at Soarin'.

+1

Soarin' is one of the very few rides that might have a slightly lower avg standby wait than it used to. The fastpasses used to be gone so early in the day that anybody arriving in the early afternoon on a busy day would have to ride standby if they wanted to ride. Now with FP+, some portion of those people have FP+ for later in the day and don't need to use standby.

All of the fastpass capacity was used the old way just as it is now so no more people are slowing down standby. The difference with classic fastpass is that if you arrived at rope drop you could get 2 or 3 fastpasses which kept other people from getting them later.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Scheduled me and my friend'sfastpasses today for Mission: Space, Test Track and Character Spot. If I can get a fastpass later for soarin, fine. If I can't, big WOOP. The ride ain't all that great anyways. Just an over rated giant simulator. I'd rather spend my time watching EO than standing in line for 45 minutes or longer waiting to ride this! (Not dissing EO. I like it actually)

 

[TomHendricks]

Scheduled me and my friend'sfastpasses today for Mission: Space, Test Track and Character Spot. If I can get a fastpass later for soarin, fine. If I can't, big WOOP. The ride ain't all that great anyways. Just an over rated giant simulator. I'd rather spend my time watching EO than standing in line for 45 minutes or longer waiting to ride this! (Not dissing EO. I like it actually)

So you're only willing to do the space simulator and the race track simulator, not the hang gliding simulator. Just want to make that clear, sometimes my understanding is limited.

 

[randyrut]

Scheduled me and my friend'sfastpasses today for Mission: Space, Test Track and Character Spot. If I can get a fastpass later for soarin, fine. If I can't, big WOOP. The ride ain't all that great anyways. Just an over rated giant simulator. I'd rather spend my time watching EO than standing in line for 45 minutes or longer waiting to ride this! (Not dissing EO. I like it actually)

So we are going in UNI and WDW in less than 2 weeks. For one of our Epcot days, we selected morning FP+ for Soarin' and Mission Space and a mid-afternoon FP+ for Maelstrom for when we are tipsy and at the back of the park drinking and shopping. Picked Soarin' as a FP+ because the queue is so insanely boring, that I would rather wait in a longer line for Test Track. Hopefully this plan will work out, but not really sure I am too into having to do all of this planning in first place.

 

[Tom Morrow]

So you're only willing to do the space simulator and the race track simulator, not the hang gliding simulator. Just want to make that clear, sometimes my understanding is limited.

Test Track is neither a race track or a simulator.

 

[WondersOfLife]

So you're only willing to do the space simulator and the race track simulator, not the hang gliding simulator. Just want to make that clear, sometimes my understanding is limited.

WHOAAA WHOA HOLD UP! I always get the kick in the face when I call Mission: Space just a high tech simulator ride on these forums and YOUUUUUU have the option to tell ME it's a simulator?! HAH. So many jerks on here.

And test track, while may be a simulator of car testing, is not a simulator RIDE. That's dumb. That's like saying every single ride in the entire park is a simulator. Big thunder = a simulator of a runaway mine train? Dinosaur = a simulator of time travel?

Geez everyone needs to stop being so smart Alex on these forums. What if there just wasn't a reply button? That'd be nice.

 

[WondersOfLife]

So we are going in UNI and WDW in less than 2 weeks. For one of our Epcot days, we selected morning FP+ for Soarin' and Mission Space and a mid-afternoon FP+ for Maelstrom for when we are tipsy and at the back of the park drinking and shopping. Picked Soarin' as a FP+ because the queue is so insanely boring, that I would rather wait in a longer line for Test Track. Hopefully this plan will work out, but not really sure I am too into having to do all of this planning in first place.

Never thought of it that way! Interesting method

 

[Finiamh123]

Yea I liked this idea better when it was called Fastpass(no plus). Maybe this is their test to phase it back in and then act like magic-bands never existed. Hehehehe

 

[WondersOfLife]

Yea I liked this idea better when it was called Fastpass(no plus). Maybe this is their test to phase it back in and then act like magic-bands never existed. Hehehehe

I agree with the other poster when all they had to do was make FP+ electronic... Not all of this "planning ahead" stuff. Just scan your ticket, like you would with original fastpass, and go about your day. Simple. Just turned into a computer instead of paper. Wouldn't have been that hard to do.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I agree with the other poster when all they had to do was make FP+ electronic... Not all of this "planning ahead" stuff. Just scan your ticket, like you would with original fastpass, and go about your day. Simple. Just turned into a computer instead of paper. Wouldn't have been that hard to do.

I just went through the process of planning out FP+ for a week long vacation. Yes, it's exciting to plan on what rides you're going to go on, but the reality is now I'm committed to these or I risk losing marquee attraction. Also, more than 30 days out I couldn't get FP+ for any of the days I wanted for Mine Train.

I maintain that the best mix is the following:

• 1 advanced Fastpass+ reservation
• 1 additional Fastpass+ reservation available upon entering the park
• Both Fastpass+ reservations can by cycled, meaning that once used you can get a new one depending on availability.
  
• Eliminate tiers
• Eliminate Fastpass+ on attractions that don't need it.
• Make everything available on the app - right now after your first 3 FP+ are used, you have to use the kiosks to get more. Also integrate DAS into the app.

They also still need to improve the interface online and on the mobile app. What I really dislike is when you have a group of 2 and only 1 FP+ is available. It's not easy to check a single person availability for a particular attraction.

 

[Timekeeper]

Whenever guests pick up paper passes from a CM instead of an automated system, at any attraction or character spot, what prevents guests from obtaining multiple passes?

 

[sbryant24]

Yea I liked this idea better when it was called Fastpass(no plus). Maybe this is their test to phase it back in and then act like magic-bands never existed. Hehehehe

I liked it better when there was no Fast Pass of any kind. You walked in, went to a ride, and stood in line.

 

[Butter]

In my day, they didn't even have any of these "rides"... you paid $75 and went to stand in a field, and if you didn't like the field, you stood in the parking lot. And you know what, WE LIKED IT.