Purchase Fastpasses online Prior to visit

[stlbobby]

The thing is with NYC if you choose not to buy your museum tickets months in advance, unless is a special case like the Tim Burton exhibit at MoMA, you aren't screwed out of being able to get in. I can during my lunch break on a whim decide to walk around the Met and I will not be penalized in any way for the spontaneous decision. If I don't make ADR in NYC, I have a whole city of options and the best places a lot of times I can walk right in and sit down. Not everything needs to be part of a schedule. Things that require a permit or to reserve a set performance time are one thing, but to make everything in a park like WDW have an advance reservation system is just going to cause issues. The people who reserve a time 6 months in advance will hog all the fastpasses and just clog the lines. Just like EvilQueen said they do at Halloween Horror Nights and at my local 6 Flags.

You are right there are always options available, just like at WDW. If MoMA is booked you can do other things. If Space Mountain is busy you can ride Buzz. But if you want SM, or tickets to the hit show on Friday night, you have to plan ahead.

Spontaneity doesn't mean doing anything you want anytime you want it means taking things as they come. If you don't have an ADR and Cali Grill is booked try The Yachtsmen's or Shulas, just like in NYC.

Finally, living in NYC you can experience things as they come because you can always come back, but if you take that once in a life time journey to Paris, I'll bet you'll make damn sure you have tickets to the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower before you leave.

 

[toystorymaniacs]

If anyone's curious, I will be booking my bathroom break at Epcot for December 29th at 1:24PM in the restrooms next to Spaceship Earth, 3rd stall from the left. And there better not be a wait!

:ROFLOL: How long will you be in there and will it be #1 or #2?

 

[stlbobby]

You have to admit that your perspective on ADR's is anecdotal at best. I'm not looking at a specific date, but nearly a decade of experiences since moving to Orlando. The reality is that perspective is also shared by anyone who for any reason is not staying at a Disney resort hotel. They could be staying with family locally instead of a Disney resort. This has the 'potential' to create two classes of guests and that is simply not a positive for the guest experience.

Suggesting that because I visit a few dozen times a year, I should have less of an experience is exactly the negative viewpoint that I'm concerned about.

I visit 3-4 times a year. I have an annual pass and I come in for off the cuff weekends. I have never had a problem getting in somewhere to eat on a whim. I'm not saying I can get anything I want whenever I want, but I can definitely get something I'll love. In fact not getting exactly what I wanted has lead to some of my greatest spontaneous adventures. It forced me to try new things.

You are correct that WDW creates a distinction between on-prperty and off-property guests. I think that is their plan and will be for a long time. That way it doesn't become strictly a money issue, where you can buy better service at the parks. Obviously in the resorts themselves there are perks for spending more, but once you get to the parks all on-property guests are equal.

I bet if this fastpass plan happens it will be tied to resort stays. That may irk a few locals and off-property guests, but Disney wants people in the hotels because that is where they make their money.

 

[Tom]

I bet if this fastpass plan happens it will be tied to resort stays. That may irk a few locals and off-property guests, but Disney wants people in the hotels because that is where they make their money.

I agree, for the same reasons you cite. And also because it will allow them to track your usage and prohibit abuse of the system (i.e. getting several fastpasses for the same time, etc).

 

[captainkidd]

Let's face it WDW is designed for vacationers and not locals. I don't think it will be as bad as you envision it and I also don't understand how you are unable to get reservations to Disney restaurants. I got day-of seating at 7:30 at Cali Grill during a trip two weeks before X-mas. I'm sure there are times and certain venues that can be hard to access, but the idea that all of Disney Dining is closed off and all due to the Dining plan seems a bit of an overstatement.

Some are possible, no doubt. Others are not. We tried to get into Ohana on 5 different nights of our recent trip, and every night was booked solid. Of course, we had already eaten there twice.:slurp:

 

[flynnibus]

And FORGET getting a walk up sitdown meal. The same could happen with FastPasses...without an advance FP you will be locked out of all attractions.

This is extreme hype which Disney would never do. This assumes they will give out ALL of their capacity ahead of time.. but of course they wouldn't do that. They don't even do that now with FP.

 

[the-reason14]

I understand Disney is constantly wanting to evolve and offer the best/easiest experience for their guests, but what's wrong with the way fast passes are handled now? Besides.......nothing, I can't think of anything because there is nothing wrong. If Disney really wants to improve guest satisfaction, then how about refurbing some current rides as well as adding some new ones. That'll make a lot of people happy.

 

[olinecoach61]

I don't know how they are going to roll this out but I can tell you my family was fortunate enough to get dream fast passes back in 2008. It was basically a fast pass to be used once at 8 different attractions in the magic kingdom. We had a blast! If they could somehow let that happen for everyone I think people would really enjoy it. The fast pass was good for the entire day so you could go at whatever pace you wanted and still be spontaneous.

 

[TinkerBelle8878]

So...worse case scenario...you buy a ticket to go to the Magic Kingdom on a whim. You get to the park and you will not be able to eat anywhere and you will not be able to go to any attraction. What did you just pay for?

An argument with Guest Services and if someone video's it, a lot of youtube hits?

This is my point though. I say get rid of all the 90 day and up reservations for dining and if it happens, fast pass. Make it week before. That's it. 7 days before your trip you can book. And there will only be a small number available. The rest should all be walk ups.

 

[CaptainShortty]

I understand Disney is constantly wanting to evolve and offer the best/easiest experience for their guests, but what's wrong with the way fast passes are handled now? Besides.......nothing, I can't think of anything because there is nothing wrong. If Disney really wants to improve guest satisfaction, then how about refurbing some current rides as well as adding some new ones. That'll make a lot of people happy.

I totally agree with this! I think that'd make a whole lot more people happy. Make the rides you have better and add a few new ones that are going to get us to really WANT to come back (aside from us nerds on here that will go back anyway. =P )

As far as the FP is concerned, I think what people are forgetting is that it's not going to directly impact the standby queue. It's still going to be there and you can use it whenever you want. What they really should do with the rides that have FP is design the load docks so they have two separate loading stations, one for FP and one for standby. They cars are both loaded at the same time and then alternate each car being put on the track. That way neither line has to be completely stopped for the other line to go through and the FP line is still always shorter because of the number of people admitted. The tracks will end at a single unloading dock and if they really want to, make it double wide so they can unload from both sides and then feed into their respective line's loading area. It does take more space and of course can't be used for many of the pre-existing rides but it would be great for those new additions, IMO. Just a thought....

 

[unkadug]

This is extreme hype which Disney would never do. This assumes they will give out ALL of their capacity ahead of time.. but of course they wouldn't do that. They don't even do that now with FP.

They do it with ADR....what makes you so sure the same will not happen in this scenario. :shrug:

 

[slappy magoo]

When you purchase admission media for any Disney park, a portion of that money goes to transportation, food and beverage, resorts, etc. Nothing is free at WDW. Everyone that buys a ticket to enter a WDW park is paying for the various “free” services. The entire WDW transportation system (boats, buses, monorail, etc.) is not free. The fastpass system is not free. ADR’s are not free. Whether or not you take advantage of those programs, you’re still paying for all those amenities when you buy any WDW admission media.

When you book a room through a travel agent, the travel agent gets a fee from Disney for that service. You can book the same room yourself and you’ll pay the same price. The fee that the travel agent receives is built into the room prices. The bottom line is that like it or not, you are paying a fee for ADR’s, fastpass and other services. Some people tend to take these services for granted and think it doesn’t cost them anything.

I apologize for not providing more detail the first time. :wave:

It's not the lack of detail that caused a problem. The inherent "logic" is so ridiculous you really ought to apologize to your parents for representing them on this planet. You may as well say Disney charges you for using the bathrooms, since their maintenance is also included in your ticket price. Ditto air conditioning and sitting on benches.

Hey, did you know Disney charges you for using the pool at your resort? It's true! It's just "hidden" in the resort fee, so the trick is to use the pools as much as possible, and then you're really sticking it to the man! 'Cause they're charging you the same per night whether you use the pools a lot or a little!


Feel free to file it all under "N" for "No Duh!"

You know who I really feel sorry for? People who DON'T make ADRs. Not because it's so hard to find a table without them, but because they're paying all that extra money for a service they didn't use, y'all! :wave:

 

[flynnibus]

What they really should do with the rides that have FP is design the load docks so they have two separate loading stations, one for FP and one for standby. They cars are both loaded at the same time and then alternate each car being put on the track. That way neither line has to be completely stopped for the other line to go through and the FP line is still always shorter because of the number of people admitted.

This wouldn't help wait times at all.. just fracture capacity and increase costs.

It would split capacity unevenly compared to the crowd demand (FP is less then half the demand, yet you dedicated half the ride capacity to it) and would require staffing a second load station even if the crowd demand wasn't there for both loading stations to operate.. you'd need it anytime you ran FP.

This doesn't help anything except that psychological crybaby effect of 'why is there line moving but not ours'. It doesn't actually speed up anything.

 

[flynnibus]

They do it with ADR....what makes you so sure the same will not happen in this scenario. :shrug:

Because they can't

They can't account for the situation when an attraction goes down and how to recover from those reservations that weren't able to be used. With no unreserved capacity available, they can't absorb deferred FP holders like they do today.

They can't give out all capacity because they guests are not all 'reservation' based customers - they had APs, day ticket holders, etc. They can't have the situation where they sell you a ticket and then there is NO possible way for you to enjoy the attraction. That is just ridiculous to claim disney 'might' do that.

If they gave out all their capacity ahead of time.. there'd be no capacity for standby OR Fastpass at the attraction itself.

It simply won't happen. It's fearmongering that ignores the reality of what Disney does today and can do operationally.

The idea of a reservation system does not infer booking out all available capacity.

 

[fosse76]

I've heard this rumor too and I believe it's a very credible one and Disney is moving in this direction. Personally I HATE the idea. I feel like it gives no spontanaity and randomness to your vacation. I hate that people have the innate need to plan every second of their vacation before they get there! ADRs are fine but this is getting crazy. Leave some things up to chance, seriously? I love the rope drop at Studios and getting to run to TSM. Sometimes waiting in line is part of the fun of an attraction, especially with the new interactive queues.

I've been thinking. Are we sure that the reserving of a FastPass isn't just the ability to USE FastPass while there? I think even the suits at Disney know that the reality of reserving a specific time for a specific ride at a specific park on a specific day 90 days in advance is at best going to be chaotic, operationally-speaking.

 

[CaptainShortty]

I've been thinking. Are we sure that the reserving of a FastPass isn't just the ability to USE FastPass while there? I think even the suits at Disney know that the reality of reserving a specific time for a specific ride at a specific park on a specific day 90 days in advance is at best going to be chaotic, operationally-speaking.

I don't think we really know what it is. The way Disney is making it seem in articles (I posted it in this thread somewhere) it makes it seem like you are going to reserve time for attractions and show similar to how you would make an ADR. That's just speculation of course since I don't think anyone on here actually knows (or if they do has piped up to talk about it). I would hate to think that Disney would start charging for FPs after it has been a free service for so long. But, you never know. :shrug:

 

[Clever Name]

It's not the lack of detail that caused a problem. The inherent "logic" is so ridiculous you really ought to apologize to your parents for representing them on this planet. You may as well say Disney charges you for using the bathrooms, since their maintenance is also included in your ticket price. Ditto air conditioning and sitting on benches.

Hey, did you know Disney charges you for using the pool at your resort? It's true! It's just "hidden" in the resort fee, so the trick is to use the pools as much as possible, and then you're really sticking it to the man! 'Cause they're charging you the same per night whether you use the pools a lot or a little!


Feel free to file it all under "N" for "No Duh!"

You know who I really feel sorry for? People who DON'T make ADRs. Not because it's so hard to find a table without them, but because they're paying all that extra money for a service they didn't use, y'all! :wave:

The profit centers and money allocations at WDW have changed over the years. Up until 1982, the Disney Company still had to pay a lease fee for the use of the monorails and the steam trains to the Disney family (i.e. “Retlaw”). Certain royalties are still deducted directly from admission media sales and these have changed over the years as well.

There was a time at WDW that admission media was separate from ride coupons. DTD has a balloon ride now that has a separate ride cost. It might be a viable option to offer admission media with only specific attractions included. Media scanning machines at each attraction would not be difficult to install.

I appreciate your humor. :wave:

 

[unkadug]

The idea of a reservation system does not infer booking out all available capacity.

But that is EXACTLY what they do with ADR's. So to say they wouldn't consider this is preposterous.

 

[flynnibus]

But that is EXACTLY what they do with ADR's. So to say they wouldn't consider this is preposterous.

And you ignored the rest of the message showing exactly why they can't. Feel free to keep predicting the doom and gloom, and if this feature comes to be, we'll come back to this thread and see how wrong you are. They can not, and will not allocate all available capacity to advanced 'reservations' for attractions.

 

[slappy magoo]

The profit centers and money allocations at WDW have changed over the years. Up until 1982, the Disney Company still had to pay a lease fee for the use of the monorails and the steam trains to the Disney family (i.e. “Retlaw”). Certain royalties are still deducted directly from admission media sales and these have changed over the years as well.

There was a time at WDW that admission media was separate from ride coupons. DTD has a balloon ride now that has a separate ride cost. It might be a viable option to offer admission media with only specific attractions included. Media scanning machines at each attraction would not be difficult to install.

I appreciate your humor. :wave:

And your ability to copy-and-paste worthless information that adds nothing to the discussion is unrivaled in all of WDW Magic Forum Land. Excelsior.