No fastpasses available today?

[wogwog]

I thought Disney could not charge for Parking at DTD because the garages are not being paid for with Disney funds but with public funds.

I think the public funding only paid part of the pedestrian bridges coming to cross the road not the garage. Not positive, I was just stating how far Disney may go to increase cash flow. They just started having valet parking at DT Disney a few days ago for $15 (not including tip). That is what triggered my thought process of where they might be headed. $

 

[bladerunner]

The three classic long waits for Toy, Soarin', and Test are still long. At this time 12:45 on 10/22 that would be considered a slow tuesday in the off season, the three big ones, Soarin', Toy, and Test have the exact same wait time of 70. All FP gone to the non band folks at 10ish. Rubber band people could still get them. At the same time the standby in the MK for Space is 15, Splash 25, and Big Thunder 20. Which hints to me the crowds are small as the MK always has the larger crowd. What I suspect is Disney is making sure all the rubber band people get on the hard to get on attractions with ease by "restricting" Fast Passes from everyone else. They want the rubber band people to want to return on their next vacation, thinking it will always be this way. Disney will expect them to give a glowing survey report and tell their friends how great the vacation was. Next visit when AP and off property visitors have the same access if they ever do) to FP as rubber band people the special treatment will not be as good. Unless Disney continues to tweek the system to allow the rubber band people that are more profitable special treatment. My guess Disney will develop a permanent but flexible way to encourage high spenders and discourage low spenders. Different allowance as to numbers of FP daily depending on your estimated value to Disney. A larger than usual yearly jump in parking rates, ticket only rates, and annual pass rates. Pay to play one way or another. Pay parking at Downtown Disney to non resort guests. $$$

If this is in fact how it will work I wonder how this will play out over time as word gets out and non-Disney guests change their plans in order to get that perk. In other words you may have been planning a Disney visit but not staying on Disney property. Will more people start to stay at value resorts at the very least? Does Disney have the room capacity to handle that sort of change as customers modify their stays to get the parks FP perks? How will this affect the central Florida economy and non-Disney hotels? I live in Florida and most of the time do a day trip and sometimes stay at Marriott or other non-Disney property but I can see that if this new FP strategy by Disney restricts my perks then I will simply stay on Disney property. Problem is how many others will see it that way?

 

[tracyandalex]

So this seems to confirm what I'm seeing. As an AP holder (who happens to be an Orlando local) I cannot use FP+ because I do not have a resort reservation.

I had an AP and a resort reservation and I couldn't use FP+, well at least not that i was aware of.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I had an AP and a resort reservation and I couldn't use FP+, well at least not that i was aware of.

Only select resorts have been part of the testing until very recently with most if not all under the test as of tomorrow.

 

[flynnibus]

If there is unused FP+ capacity, then that should mean that the standby line will move more quickly.

Exactly - it can't all be everything people are saying. You can't reduce FP/FP+ available, reduce crowds, AND increase standby significantly.

If the FP pool has been overran by FP+ allotment.. and in doing so they've reduced the # of FP available for paper use.. that's perfectly believable and would explain the shortage of FP paper. But that alone would not make the stand-by lines be crazy. You still need bodies using those FP+ and FPs to have any impact on standby waits. And unless the FP/FP+ allotment has GROWN, it won't have changed standby to the degree reported as well.

FP vs FP+ ratio doesn't change much except how many FPs are available for 'day of' use. It alone doesn't change standby significantly.

Where it would impact standby is by increasing the wait tolerance of customers if no FP is available. If you are in the park and know you can't get a FP, you are more likely to tolerate a longer wait than you would have otherwise.

There is more than simple FP+ taking FP allotment in play... to explain the park conditions observed.

 

[tracyandalex]

Only select resorts have been part of the testing until very recently with most if not all under the test as of tomorrow.

We stay at CS which I thought was on the list. I'm just finding it interesting that nothing was mentioned to us at all. It seems like there are many different stories out there. We're not going again until next December so hopefully things will be a little clearer by then.

 

[Lord_Vader]

We stay at CS which I thought was on the list. I'm just finding it interesting that nothing was mentioned to us at all. It seems like there are many different stories out there. We're not going again until next December so hopefully things will be a little clearer by then.

We were not invited to test this past July/August but as of yesterday the MB option popped up on MDE website and FP+ appeared today on our 60 day mark. BTW, we are neither fully paid off, we wait until the last day to pay off, nor are we checked in. If you are interested in testing, login to the website and check for any reservation on or before December 22nd.

 

[jj721]

We are staying at BWV, checking in on 10/29. I received MBs last week, and was able this morning to book FP+ times for all top attractions for each of the 5 days we will be there. We are a mixture of active APs, PAP Exchange certificates, and standard MYW tickets. All are now linked to the MDE and were eligible for FP+ selection. All time slots were pretty much open.

The only unusual thing is that the app works better than using the website via a laptop, which was really slow.

 

[Gabe1]

Exactly - it can't all be everything people are saying. You can't reduce FP/FP+ available, reduce crowds, AND increase standby significantly.

If the FP pool has been overran by FP+ allotment.. and in doing so they've reduced the # of FP available for paper use.. that's perfectly believable and would explain the shortage of FP paper. But that alone would not make the stand-by lines be crazy. You still need bodies using those FP+ and FPs to have any impact on standby waits. And unless the FP/FP+ allotment has GROWN, it won't have changed standby to the degree reported as well.

FP vs FP+ ratio doesn't change much except how many FPs are available for 'day of' use. It alone doesn't change standby significantly.

Where it would impact standby is by increasing the wait tolerance of customers if no FP is available. If you are in the park and know you can't get a FP, you are more likely to tolerate a longer wait than you would have otherwise.

There is more than simple FP+ taking FP allotment in play... to explain the park conditions observed.

On Toy Saturday the FP queue was out past One Mans Dream. It was ugly.

 

[flynnibus]

On Toy Saturday the FP queue was out past One Mans Dream. It was ugly.

queue to get a FP? Or FP return?

 

[Epcotbob]

Once it does fully roll out, how will FP+ work for those staying off-site? Will you only be able to reserve fastpasses after you've entered the park and thus "activated" your ticket for the day?

 

[RSoxNo1]

If there is unused FP+ capacity, then that should mean that the standby line will move more quickly.

That seems to be the case actually. Standby lines at Test Track and Soarin' seem low despite Touringplans.com reports that Test Track FP was gone at 9:45 and Soarin' gone at 10:30. Wait times topped out at 60 minutes today.

Something else of note, it looks like the default "Fast Pick" options aren't doing guests any favors either. Below are the "Fast Pick" options that are typically being generated at all times:
MK = Jungle Cruise, Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear
EPCOT = Soarin, Test Track, Mission Space
DHS = Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller, Toy Story
DAK = Festival of Lion King, Everest, Kilimanjaro

 

[OswaldTheRabbit]

Below are the "Fast Pick" options that are typically being generated at all times:
MK = Jungle Cruise, Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear

Hmmm what is up with the MK ones? The rest make sense.... But buzz????

 

[Bairstow]

Hmmm what is up with the MK ones? The rest make sense.... But buzz????

Longish line, claustrophobic queue area, godawful music.

It's not a pleasant place to wait.

 

[Jeffxz]

queue to get a FP? Or FP return?

Can't speak for Saturday, but I was there Sunday. FP return was going through switchbacks next to jack sparrow. There is now a cast member that holds a sign indicating the end of the FP line for tsmm. I got in FP return at 6:45pm, and it took about 30 mins to get on the ride. I asked the cm at the checkpoint if there was any downtime that caused the line and she said no, but the FP return has been like that for over a week.

Posted standby time was 120, and the whole back half of the standby queue that can be seen from the FP line was completely empty.

 

[NearTheEars]

It isn't really discrimination but now a "perk" of staying on-site. Disney may be our vacation destination but more than anything, they are a business. Their end goal is to make money and they have to fill those rooms.

I agree 100%. Like I've said before, yes it sucks that it has changed, but from a business standpoint I really can't argue giving loyal guests who spend their money on site an added perk of Fastpass+

 

[NearTheEars]

Disney has the write to discriminate and I have the right to not patronize the park.

Also agree with this 100% let your wallets do the talking!!!

Even as a local I'm surprisingly not outraged by the change. But if you are, let them know. The easiest way is to take your money elsewhere.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Can't speak for Saturday, but I was there Sunday. FP return was going through switchbacks next to jack sparrow. There is now a cast member that holds a sign indicating the end of the FP line for tsmm. I got in FP return at 6:45pm, and it took about 30 mins to get on the ride. I asked the cm at the checkpoint if there was any downtime that caused the line and she said no, but the FP return has been like that for over a week.

Posted standby time was 120, and the whole back half of the standby queue that can be seen from the FP line was completely empty.

I've done a lot of complaining about Fastpass over the years, but this really points to them needing new attractions in this park. Not building the Monster's Inc Coaster a few years ago has set that park back significantly.

 

[Gabe1]

queue to get a FP? Or FP return?

The FP return queue. It wasn't pretty. 2.5 hours standby. There were not any FP+ available all week and only a few paper FPs given out in the first 15 minutes the park was open on Saturday so there wasn't a queue for paper.

 

[NoChesterHester]

I've done a lot of complaining about Fastpass over the years, but this really points to them needing new attractions in this park. Not building the Monster's Inc Coaster a few years ago has set that park back significantly.

Same could be said about Future World. The lack of attractions contributes to the Soarin' wait time and FP distribution issues.