Purchase Fastpasses online Prior to visit

[MarkTwain]

I just wanted to take a step a back and comment on a few things.

First, the general response on WDWmagic seems to be completely unanimous: we pretty much all hate this idea. Most of the people here are either locals that occasionally enjoy a more spontaneous trip to the parks, or are people who visit often enough that we have a general idea on how to handle the parks on our own terms. So there's those two audiences that are against the idea.

That said, CaptainKidd makes a good point...

I agree with this. In fact, one major reason we're not going to WDW next summer is we were so exhausted this year from having to plan our trip like a CIA mission.

You change your mind. If you've got kids, plans change. They may want to go to the Magic Kingdom instead of Epcot one day. You may not be in the mood for Mexican food that you booked 6 months ago. Disney vacations, in order to do, see and eat what you want are becoming impossible without planning the majority of your trip in advance. And while planning is fun, it's becoming more of a pain, and less of a vacation.

Just about anyone with kids is going to have trouble with this new system as well. Some days, kids are unexpectedly tired and need a nap back at the hotel in the mid-afternoon; sometimes kids are on their way to the Indy Speedway from Peter Pan, and see Winnie the Pooh on the way and have a sudden and intense desire to ride it; sometimes Buzz Lightyear is out in Tomorrowland, and little Johnny didn't know Buzz was going to be out and absolutely HAS to meet him, even though we have a Space Mountain reservation in four minutes. Despite the best efforts on behalf of the parents, kids are often unpredictable, and parents with kids are likely to have trouble with this degree of micro-planning.

So with locals, occasional regulars, and just about any family with kids going to be struggling with this new system, that leads me to wonder... who on earth, in terms of a broad demographic, was it designed for?? I don't even see the kind of first-time, only-time visitors enjoying the stress that this will cause them, between all of the researching attractions they've never heard of, attempting to schedule rides with little idea of what they're like or how far apart they actually are, and then the actual execution of attempting to act on the schedule. Does Disney actually think the vast majority of people are going to enjoy this idea? Are they prepared to suddenly repeal a $1 billion+ system when a huge sum of guest enjoyment polls come back negative? I mean, they can ignore the fanbois when they complain about the Adventurer's Club or the Lights of Winter, but this just seems like a move that's bad for everybody.

I really don't get it. :shrug:

 

[disneyrcks]

We would hate this......I really hope this is not a possibility. We are DVC and will spur of the moment book a Disney trip for a month or two later. Even when we were not DVC we would still book our trips when we felt like we really wanted go (sometimes it didn't work out). Not having ADR's does not bother us as we will gladly pass on Disney's nicer restaurants (did them on honeymoon and don't feel need to do them again, not foodies). We currently do not have kids and I recognize that when we do, we will need to plan more. However, now we like to sleep in, do what we feel like when we get up and would HATE being chained to any sort of FP reservation. I appreciate those that love planning everything but it is not a good enough argument for rides having to be FP reserved a head of time.

 

[graphite1326]

Just took a survey for Disney asking many questions on Fastpass reservations prior to my visit....setting it up just like how making a reservation for dining. My question is two-part....what do you think about this move and does anyone have any more info on this?

--one of the questions asked---
"Assuming you could secure FASTPASS experience 90 days before arriving at the Disney Parks, when should Disney allow guests to begin booking?"
A.) 180 days
B.) 90 days
C.) No preferences

I can see it now. There is a tour guide somewhere in Brazil sitting in front of a computer securring, and using up all those fastpasses for their clients.

 

[jlevis]

We are regular visitors from Michigan, AP holders, most of the time just the two of us, who have timeshares in Orlando, and who, quite often, head to WDW on the spur of the moment. Our up coming trip was planned 60 days out. Imagine our chagrin if we discovered that all the fast passes were gone even before we got to the parks.

 

[unkadug]

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.

Until Disney announces HOW this will work...nobody knows what may happen. Unless you are a Disney plant on this forum, you do not know what could happen.

This is merely a discussion....nowhere have I stated that it WILL happen. Continue along with your pixie dust blinders on, if you must, but leave the discussion to the grown-ups.

 

[ddbowdoin]

I personally hate this... its another thing disney takes away from the masses and gives to those with more resources than the rest of us. Take a great, FREE SERVICE, and now add a premium on to it where the wealthiest visitors now get another perk over the rest of us. WDW is an expensive trip for a lot of families, especially when you see the family of 5 or 6 rolling around and you see them sharing food because of cost. Now, get back in the line pal... rich family is headed up front because they prepaid for all of their FP's before they came.

 

[WDWLOYAL1971]

I can see it now. There is a tour guide somewhere in Brazil sitting in front of a computer securring, and using up all those fastpasses for their clients.

What a nightmare.:fork:

 

[flynnibus]

Until Disney announces HOW this will work...nobody knows what may happen. Unless you are a Disney plant on this forum, you do not know what could happen.

Well we COULD get wiped out tomorrow by an asteroid ending all of earth... but we know it WON'T happen because we know it takes time for that and we have a horizon out which we can see. We use intelligence to predict the future based on what we know to eliminate the improbable events.

So yes, Disney COULD do this.. Disney COULD also shutdown tomorrow and liquidate the place. But neither is going to happen. Use some common sense instead of arguing 'COULD' that flies in the face of known practicalities.

 

[flynnibus]

Now, get back in the line pal... rich family is headed up front because they prepaid for all of their FP's before they came.

You mean like the VIP tours? Yeah, those 'rich' people sure have ruined it for the rest of us. Or how about those people who paid for resort stays, so they got in line before we were allowed into the park at all.

The world is always ending when the company starts offering premium services....

 

[SleepingMonk]

Pay-to-play FastPasses are coming folks, just a matter of time.

The sooner the better in my opinion.

 

[erasure fan1]

Those complaining about the lack of spontaneity are forgetting three things.

First, the parks are so much busier all-year-round now, moving people efficiently is a much higher priority than in the past.

Second, they are forgetting for the average visitor, not the fanatics here on this board, WDW is a once every few years or once in a lifetime vacation. For those people they hate waiting in the lines, especially with small children, and they want to "see it all". This will help on both accounts.

Finally, no one is forcing anyone to use ADR's, hotel reservations, or this possible new system. If spontaneity is your ultimate goal then don't use these systems and just go and have fun.

Now I dont have the world wide global satisfaction numbers of first time visitors to WDW using fastpass. But when talking to people at work, at the parks, family friends...(I know its just my small little world) most dont understand how to fully utilize the system. Add in the proposed reservation system and most new guests will have no clue how to take advantage of it. A lot of us who have been numerous times take for granted how much there is and how much you need to know to optimize your time. You see, I believe this would only help the more seasoned visitor and would exclude the 1st time or once every 10yr visitor, more than help them.

 

[Uncle Lupe]

Unless they tie these reservations to an individual person somehow (preferably their Package Reservation Number), it's going to be abused like the ADR system.

They'll need to throttle how many FPs can be ordered in advance, so that there are still plenty available locally. And they need to make sure that people aren't abusing the system or getting multiple FPs for the same time.

This will be a VERY cumbersome system to implement, and the way the rest of Disney's web assets work (extremely poorly), this is destined for failure.

Fastpass is already a huge perk, and to me, it's worth the extra footsteps to go get mine. Allowing people to sit on their couch and order their FPs is just pathetic. Sounds to me like those people probably NEED the extra footsteps in the parks, not another way to avoid moving.

I agree that they would have to put limits in the system or it will be abused. When they changed the ADR system look how many people posted that they made ADR's at the same time for different places on propose just in case plans changed. That caused a big fault in the system on top of Disney's clunky/complicated website. Limit it to one advance fastpass reservation per day of stay. Eliminate fastpass on onmi-mover style rides.

However, assuming that people who make a reservation for a ride are lazy or overweight just makes you sound obtuse.

 

[Clever Name]

It seems rather obvious that the proposal is to use both home computers and smart phones to allow for advance fastpasses. They would be tied to your admission media just like current fastpasses. You’d be paying for the convenience of skipping the fastpass machines. It improves the distribution. The other important aspect to this method is that it will help to stop the ebay auctions of fastpasses.

I see it as an improvement. :wave:

 

[KingdomofDreams]

My personal preference would be to simply have a number of "special" FP's coded into my park ticket/room card that would allow me to FP any ride that offers it, at any time I choose to use it during my visit. I would prefer not having to schedule anything and just tour the parks at my leisure. However, if Disney brain power can't come up with a system that works that way, I'd settle for being able to pre-schedule prior to my arrival.

If they intend to keep kiosks, I'd like to see them located in central locations throughout the parks with touchscreens that allow you to see all the FP rides/attractions, including current wait times and return times, so the guest can choose their desired FP from the list rather than having to circumvent the parks multiple times going to separate machines.

Whatever they ultimately decide, I hope they see the wisdom in getting rid of the current paper FP tickets. They need a system that eliminates, or at least greatly reduces abuse. They also need to enforce return windows. The more guests you allow to utilize the system, the more critical timing becomes. When you have people using invalid FP's from previous dates/times or using them outside the time window specified, it diminishes the benefits of the system for everyone, both FP and stand-by.

 

[Tom]

However, assuming that people who make a reservation for a ride are lazy or overweight just makes you sound obtuse.

Heh. Yeah.

 

[stlbobby]

First, the general response on WDWmagic seems to be completely unanimous: we pretty much all hate this idea. Most of the people here are either locals that occasionally enjoy a more spontaneous trip to the parks, or are people who visit often enough that we have a general idea on how to handle the parks on our own terms. So there's those two audiences that are against the idea.

Not true at all, as i stated in post #44. I love the idea and can not wait for implementation.

I personally hate this... its another thing disney takes away from the masses and gives to those with more resources than the rest of us. Take a great, FREE SERVICE, and now add a premium on to it where the wealthiest visitors now get another perk over the rest of us. WDW is an expensive trip for a lot of families, especially when you see the family of 5 or 6 rolling around and you see them sharing food because of cost. Now, get back in the line pal... rich family is headed up front because they prepaid for all of their FP's before they came.

No one knows if there will be an additional charge. I don't think there will be an additional charge for two reasons. One, Disney has seen how much resentment this has created in other parks. Two, they won't risk the backlash of charging for something that they've been giving away for free for years. But we won't know until the actual system is announced, if it is announced.

Now I dont have the world wide global satisfaction numbers of first time visitors to WDW using fastpass. But when talking to people at work, at the parks, family friends...(I know its just my small little world) most dont understand how to fully utilize the system. Add in the proposed reservation system and most new guests will have no clue how to take advantage of it. A lot of us who have been numerous times take for granted how much there is and how much you need to know to optimize your time. You see, I believe this would only help the more seasoned visitor and would exclude the 1st time or once every 10yr visitor, more than help them.

You're right many people don't understand the system, but many do, some use it without getting the most out of it. It is a sliding scale, but the people to whom the new system is targeted the hyper-planners will love it and learn it inside and out.

Finally, here's a question, if no one will be able to figure this out, then why is anyone worried about all the passes being used up?

 

[stlbobby]

Here's another thought. There are only ten FP attractions in MK (according to WDWMAGIC). There are 5 or 6 in each of the other parks. Even if all the FP's are gone when you get to the park there are tons of great attractions, shows, and events to experience. It's not like the entire park would be on the system.

 

[unkadug]

Well we COULD get wiped out tomorrow by an asteroid ending all of earth... but we know it WON'T happen because we know it takes time for that and we have a horizon out which we can see. We use intelligence to predict the future based on what we know to eliminate the improbable events.

So yes, Disney COULD do this.. Disney COULD also shutdown tomorrow and liquidate the place. But neither is going to happen. Use some common sense instead of arguing 'COULD' that flies in the face of known practicalities.

So much for having a discussion with you around.

Good day Ma'am.

 

[unkadug]

Here's another thought. There are only ten FP attractions in MK (according to WDWMAGIC). There are 5 or 6 in each of the other parks. Even if all the FP's are gone when you get to the park there are tons of great attractions, shows, and events to experience. It's not like the entire park would be on the system.

Good point.

 

[Tim_4]

It's not like the entire park would be on the system.

It's not?