No fastpasses available today?

wogwog

wogwog

Well-Known Member
Arewethereyet! said:
I just read thru this thread....every post: My take on things. First Someone tell me what was wrong with the system we had? Everyone said....Now we don't have to make rope drop and "run with the bulls" ....huh! Now if you don't score a TSMM and you want to ride that is exactly what you will have to do....along with many of the e-ticket attractions. A lot of us knew this system was going to be a cluster..... but were called Doom and Gloomers. Are there glitches?...you think? Someone give me something to be positive about this system.....anything....anyone? Major attractions and ride FP's will be gobbled up quickly at the 60 day mark....no big secret. Just like the attractive ADR's....that too was predicted.

We had a system that wasn't broke.....now we have a new system that seems to be always broke. If you are one of the lucky ones who have had no problem with the system....GREAT! good for you....but what about those who have had serious problems? They spent the same kings ransom for their vacation also. We all understand that when we go to WDW we will have to wait in line....it goes without saying....the problem is waiting in a unneeded manufactured line. Waiting on queues that previously had no wait or a very little wait.

IMO Disney is going to take a huge PR hit with MM+...the general attitude of most WDW guest is one of a self entitled attitude. What is going to happen when these people show up and their reservations are missing.....fouled up? GR will be manned by armed security. There have been reports that there have been artificially inflated lines at the turn styles because of how you have to hold your MB on the Mickey....This isn't something you can teach every single guest....I see big problems come the peak season. I wouldn't go to WDW at Christmas or Easter next year if Bob Iger himself picked me up in his private jet and flew me to Orlando. Then again instead of the stale entertainment at WDW I could sit in front of GR and be entertained all day....heck they might be able to sell it as a hard ticket event......lol...maybe even offer a FP+ for special reserved seating in front of GR.
Click to expand...
Nailed it.
 
CTXRover

CTXRover

Well-Known Member
donsullivan said:
Is this confirmed from disney sources that it was an unplanned 'glitch' or are you just speculating that to be the case?
Click to expand...

I'm no insider, but I called the My Disney Experience IT help call center about a FP+ question before our upcoming trip next week and she said right up front that they were having issues with the FP+ and FP system today and she would try her best to fix any potential problems we had. It actually was completely unrelated to that and my questions was answered, but certainly sounds like there was a glitch in the system today.
 
crispy

crispy

Well-Known Member
I was at Epcot today, and I was at Test Track at noon and didn't see them handing out paper fastpasses. That may have happened after I left. My DH and I were very surprised that the rides were out of fastpasses so quickly because the park wasn't really that busy. We didn't know if it was a system glitch or if it was foreshadowing of what is to come with FP+.

We are testing the MagicBands this week (will post more about it when I get home). We haven't had any major issues (i.e. it has worked for us 99% of the time without glitches), but I foresee major problems especially when everyone is using the system. Right now, the use of the MagicBands are limited and the writing is on the wall, For example, we arrived at Epcot before opening on Sunday, and they started letting park guests in at about 8:55 am. It took over 20 minutes for us to get into the park even though we weren't extremely far back in the line. The use of the bands/new readers are slowing everything way down. It has been the same for the fastpass lines - the lines have sometimes been 30+ people deep just to get on the ride because of having to scan the MagicBand which is crazy because not many guests even have them at this point. I just see this causing major headaches. We had FP+ for Soarin' and Test Track today so no issues getting on those attractions, but the standby lines were very long on a not-so-busy day. I also definitely feel the limits of only having 3 fastpasses per day (even though I have been double dipping and using my regular room key also - don't judge me!).

All in all, this cements in my mind that we will be holding off planning another WDW trip until the dust settles on the whole MagicBand/FP+ thing. I have not liked the idea of it from the beginning, but I wanted to try it with an open mind. It has enhanced our trip in some ways (it was great not having to dash to Soarin' first thing in the morning), I also see a lot of potential negatives mainly much longer wait times and the loss of spontaneity. For us, the limit of three fastpasses is a big negative especially at the MK. In a normal day there, we probably get at least 6 or 7 so being limited to 3 will really change how we tour the park. I refuse to wait in super long lines because I get annoyed. When things are too busy and I get super annoyed, I don't go in a gift shop and buy stuff - I go back to the resort and swim or take a nap. I think management is missing the big picture on this one. Unhappy guests are going to complain or leave, not spend money.

We did not add charging privileges to our band because we like to use cash so no info on that.
 
journ116

journ116

Well-Known Member
wogwog said:
A friend working at TSM was told last week 85% of FP are currently "reserved" for FP+. She does not know if that is ongoing or a test or if other attractions are the same. She hates when her rotation takes her out front of the attraction as a greeter and gets all the heat. I imagine GR folks are hearing even more.
Click to expand...
Honestly, upper management should be fielding those positions throughout this roll out. Better yet, place the members of that brain-trust meeting out front, so they can hear and see and experience FP+ in all its faded glory.

I am a planner by nature, but there's always, and should always be room for spontaneity. Does Spaceship Earth really need a FP? Living with the Land? IASW?

We have a trip planned for Feb. 2014, staying at the VGF via our DVC points, and buying our tickets from Under Cover Tourist...getting a tad nervous, and frankly, a little POed over this new system. Fingers crossed, right?
 
wogwog

wogwog

Well-Known Member
crispy said:
I was at Epcot today, and I was at Test Track at noon and didn't see them handing out paper fastpasses. That may have happened after I left. My DH and I were very surprised that the rides were out of fastpasses so quickly because the park wasn't really that busy. We didn't know if it was a system glitch or if it was foreshadowing of what is to come with FP+.

We are testing the MagicBands this week (will post more about it when I get home). We haven't had any major issues (i.e. it has worked for us 99% of the time without glitches), but I foresee major problems especially when everyone is using the system. Right now, the use of the MagicBands are limited and the writing is on the wall, For example, we arrived at Epcot before opening on Sunday, and they started letting park guests in at about 8:55 am. It took over 20 minutes for us to get into the park even though we weren't extremely far back in the line. The use of the bands/new readers are slowing everything way down. It has been the same for the fastpass lines - the lines have sometimes been 30+ people deep just to get on the ride because of having to scan the MagicBand which is crazy because not many guests even have them at this point. I just see this causing major headaches. We had FP+ for Soarin' and Test Track today so no issues getting on those attractions, but the standby lines were very long on a not-so-busy day. I also definitely feel the limits of only having 3 fastpasses per day (even though I have been double dipping and using my regular room key also - don't judge me!).

All in all, this cements in my mind that we will be holding off planning another WDW trip until the dust settles on the whole MagicBand/FP+ thing. I have not liked the idea of it from the beginning, but I wanted to try it with an open mind. It has enhanced our trip in some ways (it was great not having to dash to Soarin' first thing in the morning), I also see a lot of potential negatives mainly much longer wait times and the loss of spontaneity. For us, the limit of three fastpasses is a big negative especially at the MK. In a normal day there, we probably get at least 6 or 7 so being limited to 3 will really change how we tour the park. I refuse to wait in super long lines because I get annoyed. When things are too busy and I get super annoyed, I don't go in a gift shop and buy stuff - I go back to the resort and swim or take a nap. I think management is missing the big picture on this one. Unhappy guests are going to complain or leave, not spend money.
We did not add charging privileges to our band because we like to use cash so no info on that.
Click to expand...
What caught my eye was your comment about taking so long to use the rubber band to enter the park and at the attractions. The early propaganda on this fiasco was the rubber band would get you in the parks so much faster than the paper or plastic ticket. If they have not figured out the problem on that yet imagine how long they will take to fix Fast Pass minus and MyMagic minus. Even with the line of ticket takers backed up by guest relations with portable readers backed up by technicians and a crew of who knows how many other layers of added personnel to get you in the front. Let us not forget the extra folks to teach us the system at all those help stations and now the new fancy kiosks with another layer of folks stationed to assist guests who do not have a magic phone for the bad wifi. I will give them this, they are creating jobs. Maybe that explains why no one has time to build anything new. Everyone is busy trying to get us in the front gate.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
I'm glad to see that this was a glitch. I certainly fear that day guests are going to get shut out of attractions, but I didn't expect it to occur so suddenly or to such an extreme. If Fastpasses at all the popular attractions are distributed by 10 AM or even noon, it is going to cause me to question my Disney World spending significantly.
 
BeastlyKingdomme

BeastlyKingdomme

Member
I heard earlier from CM's of the respective attractions that TSMM FP's were gone almost immediately after RD and even ToT and RNRC FP's were gone by 10:30. So, it does sound like there may have been a glitch, but doesn't seem like it affected FP availability for these attractions.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
I'm glad to see that this was a glitch. I certainly fear that day guests are going to get shut out of attractions, but I didn't expect it to occur so suddenly or to such an extreme. If Fastpasses at all the popular attractions are distributed by 10 AM or even noon, it is going to cause me to question my Disney World spending significantly.
Click to expand...

There would have to be a pretty big crowd of people in the park to need all those fastpasses so quickly.
Even then, if a lot of them no-showed, that would mean that the standby queue would be considerably shorter than normal.


Which reminds me: what were the standby queues at these attractions like today?
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
Arewethereyet! said:
I just read thru this thread....every post: My take on things. First Someone tell me what was wrong with the system we had? Everyone said....Now we don't have to make rope drop and "run with the bulls" ....huh! Now if you don't score a TSMM and you want to ride that is exactly what you will have to do....along with many of the e-ticket attractions. A lot of us knew this system was going to be a cluster..... but were called Doom and Gloomers. Are there glitches?...you think? Someone give me something to be positive about this system.....anything....anyone? Major attractions and ride FP's will be gobbled up quickly at the 60 day mark....no big secret. Just like the attractive ADR's....that too was predicted.

We had a system that wasn't broke.....now we have a new system that seems to be always broke. If you are one of the lucky ones who have had no problem with the system....GREAT! good for you....but what about those who have had serious problems? They spent the same kings ransom for their vacation also. We all understand that when we go to WDW we will have to wait in line....it goes without saying....the problem is waiting in a unneeded manufactured line. Waiting on queues that previously had no wait or a very little wait.

IMO Disney is going to take a huge PR hit with MM+...the general attitude of most WDW guest is one of a self entitled attitude. What is going to happen when these people show up and their reservations are missing.....fouled up? GR will be manned by armed security. There have been reports that there have been artificially inflated lines at the turn styles because of how you have to hold your MB on the Mickey....This isn't something you can teach every single guest....I see big problems come the peak season. I wouldn't go to WDW at Christmas or Easter next year if Bob Iger himself picked me up in his private jet and flew me to Orlando. Then again instead of the stale entertainment at WDW I could sit in front of GR and be entertained all day....heck they might be able to sell it as a hard ticket event......lol...maybe even offer a FP+ for special reserved seating in front of GR.
Click to expand...

The system seems designed to prop up the hotel system by rewarding a percentage of on-site guests. The majority of WDW guests who don't stay on-site--not to mention those who do but who aren't OCD enough to plan a vacation day 2 months out--will suffer under the new system compared to before. This is further evidence TDO is a hotel company that happens to own some theme parks, no vice versa.

Ten to fifteen years from now, when WDW is owned by some company other than TWDC, B-school students will read a case study that begins with losing Potter and ends with MM+. It will be a horror story on how not to run a company.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
71jason said:
The system seems designed to prop up the hotel system by rewarding a percentage of on-site guests. The majority of WDW guests who don't stay on-site--not to mention those who do but who aren't OCD enough to plan a vacation day 2 months out--will suffer under the new system compared to before. This is further evidence TDO is a hotel company that happens to own some theme parks, no vice versa.

Ten to fifteen years from now, when WDW is owned by some company other than TWDC, B-school students will read a case study that begins with losing Potter and ends with MM+. It will be a horror story on how not to run a company.
Click to expand...

...unless it works, and Art of Animation is full to capacity in 2 years.

And before we begin blowing the Potter trumpet, let's not forget, Universal's system of offering queue advantages to their resort guests offers an even greater advantage to these guests than FastPassPlus, and predates it.
 
AdventureHasAName

AdventureHasAName

Well-Known Member
71jason said:
Ten to fifteen years from now, when WDW is owned by some company other than TWDC, B-school students will read a case study that begins with losing Potter and ends with MM+. It will be a horror story on how not to run a company.
Click to expand...

It begins a lot earlier than Harry Potter; it dates back to Frank Wells' death in 1994 and the disintegration of Future World.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
Interesting how all the people who kept lambasting those of us who have been saying that the paper/same-day FPs will disappear haven't been piping up on this thread.

They're usually front and center, making insulting comments about people's intelligence and using BIG CAPS FONT to scream about how that is not the case and there will still be FPs for everyone.

Maybe they aren't so sure any longer?
 
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