Wired Feature "Disney's $1 Billion Bet on a Magical Wristband"

[englanddg]

Not true.

More people are being directed towards certain rides than under the old system. In the old system people would wait until their current FP is up/used and then go to the next attraction they want to ride and either grab the FP return time available for that ride or hop in the stand-by line. But now, because everyone plans three at a time, people take whatever is available during the time slot that they are in the park. People will book/use all three FP's, because why not?

Essentially, the new system ensures that more people are utilizing the FP system, hence an increase in stand-by queues that wouldn't normally see that foot-traffic.

The old system had two limiters. One was the return window (no different than the current system), the other was the FP issuance window (generally a half hour or so since the prior issuance). I would regularly walk around with two or three FPs because I actually read the ticket and was able to get another one before using the first one.

Again, I don't see how the fact that people book in advance has a dramatic impact on standby times without also assuming that standby times at other rides have decreased?

 

[DisneyOutsider]

The old system had two limiters. One was the return window (no different than the current system), the other was the FP issuance window (generally a half hour or so since the prior issuance). I would regularly walk around with two or three FPs because I actually read the ticket and was able to get another one before using the first one.

Again, I don't see how the fact that people book in advance has a dramatic impact on standby times without also assuming that standby times at other rides have decreased?

The trade-off, in theory, would be the lines at the E ticket attractions. A more evenly distributed crowd. I'm not claiming that stand-by queues have increased dramatically for these rides, but I do think there has been an increase.

Previously most people were not like you in utilizing their FP's. The current system makes it very easy for everyone to book a minimum of 3 FP's, allowing Disney to better dictate the flow of traffic.

 

[Jon81uk]

FP+ has not impacted wait times any more than (arguably) FP did. Magic Kingdom is welcoming nearly 2 million more visitors today than it was a scant 4 years ago and 3.5 million more people than it did 10 years ago. The lines felt shorter because they were shorter. There were less people visiting.

I think you quoted the wrong post! I was talking about why Fp+ allows more spontaneaty than old FP.

I agree with you completely on the reason standby is longer though, MK Is just too busy.

 

[sshindel]

I think you quoted the wrong post! I was talking about why Fp+ allows more spontaneaty than old FP.

I agree with you completely on the reason standby is longer though, MK Is just too busy.

Yup. You are correct. Must have mis-quoted!

 

[sshindel]

I think you quoted the wrong post! I was talking about why Fp+ allows more spontaneaty than old FP.

I agree with you completely on the reason standby is longer though, MK Is just too busy.

Meant to quote this one:

Because, thanks to FP+, the standby longs are a lot longer. Remember the days when the wait for HM was not that long? Well thanks to the addition of FP+ to that ride (and tons of other rides that don't need FP+ like POTC) those days are long gone. People that choose to not plan and use FP+ are basically being punished for it.

and respond with:

FP+ has not impacted wait times any more than (arguably) FP did. Magic Kingdom is welcoming nearly 2 million more visitors today than it was a scant 4 years ago and 3.5 million more people than it did 10 years ago. The lines felt shorter because they were shorter. There were less people visiting.

 

[dreamscometrue]

The MagicBands let you simply set an agenda and let everything else flow around what you’ve selected. “It lets people’s vacations unfold naturally,” Staggs says. “The ability to plan and personalize has given way to spontaneity.” And that feeling of ease, and whatever flows from it, just might make you more apt to come back.

Just speaking for our family. We've done 12 WDW vacations of a week or longer since March, 2007. They've all been great, but the most relaxing have been the past 3, with magic bands and FP+.

From our first experience with FP+ in 2013, when we arrived at 6pm at DHS and still got to do ToT, R'nRC and TSMM, to our most recent, where we could relax a few mornings for the first time ever, we've loved it! We got morning pool time, buffet breakfasts, golf, off site shopping-all the while knowing that we could do our faves when we got to the park. The spontaneity for us was not planning our mornings for the first time ever on a WDW trip. (We tend to visit when crowd levels are quite high). We'd wake up (maybe sleep in), and chat about what we'd like to do...golf, swim, shop, etc.? Gone were the days where we felt we had to get to a park before rope drop to do our beloved attractions. This completely changed our experience. Now visiting WDW allows us to really relax, truly feel like we're on vacation, and still do our favorite things. Best of both worlds for us.

 

[ABQ]

I've heard the "FP+ makes standby longer" statement before, and often, but I've never seen any data that backs that up. Anyone have some?

I know you've already had a few responses and gone back and forth a bit about this. And yes, Touring Plans data might be a good place, even if everything is sans attendance data. However, I think the toughest part about quantifying whether or not FP+ has increased wait times is that some attractions must have a tipping point in wait times. A virtual limit where guests simply won't standby regardless. notwithstanding new attractions like the 7DMT which some people having never ridden it ever, will wait 240 minutes. But others like Big Thunder Mountain may hit 60 minutes and guests simply won't bother, never did before FP+ and still won't now. Again, this is all theory, not necessarily my own take.
However, I will say from my own experience last November, wait times were not necessarily up higher than normal for the attractions I tend to look to, HM, Pirates, Splash...but they were up on things that never used to have long waits. Mermaid, Buzz, heck even the Peoplemover had a loooooong line. Only thing that didn't was the Tiki room. Thankfully I love the Tiki room!

 

[ford91exploder]

I totally see the Apple Watch integrating into WDW. From Apple Pay to opening doors at the Swalphin. A lot of it is already in place.

Never buying one, I use Citizen Eco-Drive chronometers which I literally never take off even when diving. I can't imagine having a watch which needs a daily recharge.

 

[dstrawn9889]

i only take off my fuelband to charge it, every 6 days or so, takes like less than an hour...

 

[ford91exploder]

i only take off my fuelband to charge it, every 6 days or so, takes like less than an hour...

That seems to be about average for fuelband, That said the fuelband is a fitness tracker which just happens to tell time, So I can see periodically removing it

 

[hpyhnt 1000]

Good article, if rather rosy on the overall experience of using MM+.

Another quote from the article, "It’s amazing how much friction Disney has engineered away", while this is true to a certain degree, when the system has an error it can also create way more friction than could have ever been possible before. The entire system has crashed several times already with no back up in place and countless people have had to spend much more time at GS or the front desk from problems that simply did not and could not have happened prior.

As obvious as it may seem, that really is the difference, I think, between having a positive/apathetic view of MM+ and a negative view. When the system works, it does work decently well and a lot of the stuff mentioned in the article can be true. Everything from your hotel key to FPs to dining information is all right there and accessed via the Magic Band. For people who believe in the system, it's proof of how great it can be. For those less inclined, hey at least the thing worked and didn't spoil your vacation.

But heaven forbid you get a glitchy band, or the system encounters a hiccup, because then odds are you are really in trouble. When the system goes wrong, it goes wrong. And it's not like the old system(s) where if FP went down, it didn't mean you also lost your reservation at Be Our Guest. With MM+ that could very well happen. And it also results in much higher periods of "lost time" trying to fix any issue. When you're only at WDW for a few days, losing hours of time because of a Disney IT failure isn't very MAGICal.

It is this element of the story that the Wired article was missing (along with the cost overruns, missed deadlines, and less than stellar roll out). Yes, if it all works it's pretty neat, but it hasn't always worked and can still be rather glitchy even today.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Never buying one, I use Citizen Eco-Drive chronometers which I literally never take off even when diving. I can't imagine having a watch which needs a daily recharge.

Yeah, that's a bit of a pain. At least the battery life is much longer than originally thought. Though I suppose that if you take your watch off at night, as I do - it's no biggie.

 

[ford91exploder]

Good article, if rather rosy on the overall experience of using MM+.



As obvious as it may seem, that really is the difference, I think, between having a positive/apathetic view of MM+ and a negative view. When the system works, it does work decently well and a lot of the stuff mentioned in the article can be true. Everything from your hotel key to FPs to dining information is all right there and accessed via the Magic Band. For people who believe in the system, it's proof of how great it can be. For those less inclined, hey at least the thing worked and didn't spoil your vacation.

But heaven forbid you get a glitchy band, or the system encounters a hiccup, because then odds are you are really in trouble. When the system goes wrong, it goes wrong. And it's not like the old system(s) where if FP went down, it didn't mean you also lost your reservation at Be Our Guest. With MM+ that could very well happen. And it also results in much higher periods of "lost time" trying to fix any issue. When you're only at WDW for a few days, losing hours of time because of a Disney IT failure isn't very MAGICal.

It is this element of the story that the Wired article was missing (along with the cost overruns, missed deadlines, and less than stellar roll out). Yes, if it all works it's pretty neat, but it hasn't always worked and can still be rather glitchy even today.

That's really the issue with the MB, When the system works it's great, When it FAILS it fails hard and there is often nothing GR can do to FIX the issues.

 

[plutoismyhero]

That's really the issue with the MB, When the system works it's great, When it FAILS it fails hard and there is often nothing GR can do to FIX the issues.

Ya I agree completely I feel the system in place is great for the big ticket rides and getting into your room, but as or right now not much else. Potential is very very good granted the ability to track you in a park for disney is way better. When we used them in a big group(10) I felt it to be a pain since we could only use 1-2 big ride fastpasses and could not get another one until we used those so if your times were not good then you kinda were out of luck IMO

 

[dreamscometrue]

I think that as much as I enjoy the magic bands, and FP+, this is also just the tip of the iceberg with respect to cool things that may come down the pipe. The potential is there for some pretty amazing stuff. I actually think Disney is ahead of the curve with this type of technology.

 

[TomHendricks]

That's really the issue with the MB, When the system works it's great, When it FAILS it fails hard and there is often nothing GR can do to FIX the issues.

But couldn't you say that of anything that fails? Hyperbole is not your friend.

 

[Mike C]

"You make people happier not by giving them more options but by stripping away as many as you can. The redesigned Disney World experience constrains choices by dispersing them, beginning long before the trip is under way."

That explains the logic here more than anything. However, yes it does create the feel of a need to hyper plan, and is anything but spontaneous. And if you have younger kids, these plans go right out the window if someone gets tired, or doesn't like the food.

 

[BrerJon]

I've heard the "FP+ makes standby longer" statement before, and often, but I've never seen any data that backs that up. Anyone have some?

Tons and tons of anecdotal evidence says so. Did Figment ever have a 20 minute line before Fast pass+? Did Pirates ever drop below 30 minutes? Was Living With The Land always a 20 minute wait, and Spaceship Earth 45?

Yes there are more guests, but attendance didn't MyMagically double the day the system went online.

But what did happen is most of the rides that have seen increases are the ones where they didn't even have a Fastpass line so *everyone* went in standby.

In the past a person might get a Fast pass for one big ride on average, whereas now Disney pushes them into getting three, even for ones that used to be walk ons.

So that person who might have in the past used a standby line now uses the new Fastpass line, which loads *faster* (the clue is in the name) so those in the standby line now have to wait for the other line to load first, as they don't load one standby for every fastpass rider, hence a slower experience than before.

 

[BrerJon]

A simpler example. A hypothetical ride that never used to have Fastpass, that could load 500 guests per hour.

In the past, if 500 guests were in front of you, the wait time would be 60 minutes.

Now, there are two lines. Let's say they have 250 people in each, and they load one standby guest for every three Fastpass riders. Now, you have to wait for 250 standby riders ahead of you and 750 Fastpass riders, so you now have to wait for 1000 people to be loaded, and the standby line is now twice as long.

Now no ride has doubled length and I'm just using big figures go make the point, but it's easy to see how lots of standby lines have increased by a good percentage.

 

[ford91exploder]

But couldn't you say that of anything that fails? Hyperbole is not your friend.

Because I was part of the initial 'testing' I have not been able to make a FP+ reservation since and no GR cannot do anything about it. I'd call that a HARD failure no hyperbole involved. So my only choice for rides at WDW is STANDBY, I have a premier passport (AP for both WDW and DL) and DVC and apparently the initial rollout did not take this into account and my account has been broken for FP+ ever since.

Don't forget the President's Day weekend crash where MM+ was down hard for the entire weekend.