Would it be better with no standby lines?

disneyflush

disneyflush

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Imagine getting 6 or 7 FP per day in advance in exchange for no standby line options. Everything had to be booked at least 30 days in advance (so it can be adequately staffed per 100% known demand). No same day guests anymore. Your entire day appointment-only, rides, food, shows, etc. A specific number of allotted tickets per ride, per day, and once they were booked up then that ride closes off to any additional guests that day. Spontaneity only seems to add frustration in massive wait times, unknown crowd levels by the day, confusion once inside the park and 'what ride should we do next?'-type arguments. So lets get rid of all that. From the moment you walk into the park until the minute you leave there is zero confusion, nothing to consider, perfectly staffed rides so lower wait times, lower crowds getting rid of same-day guests. You could still aimlessly wander around soaking it in but there wouldn't be a random ride at the end of the wandering. Disney would love to have the elimination of all spontaneity so they can manage everything optimally. I thing this would A TON of the current issues and challenges facing the theme parks.
 
Pepper's Ghost

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Is this the "unpopular opinions" thread starting over again?

Sorry, this is the worst idea I ever heard. Ummm, I'll use my 6 FPs at AK on FoP and so would many others locking out thousands from even trying the ride at all while on their trip. Awful idea. Who would book their travel 6 months ahead to save on airfare if they don't know if they'd be able to get on any of the popular rides, or better yet get locked out even 60 days in advance because a bunch of people on the East Coast locked up all the reservations before you even woke up on Day -60.

Then comes the black market. Selling FPs for people's first born, etc. This is just a horrendous idea. Just because you like FP+ doesn't mean everyone else has to. Just as many if not more hate FP+ than like it. In my opinion, FP+ is the cause of long lines, not the solution.

And why are you looking to save Disney money on staffing? Are their profit margins not large enough for you? I could give a rat's @$$ if they schedule one CM for every person who visits on a slow day. They'll be fine. They make plenty of cash with all their price increases, etc. No need to look out for their profit margins.

Sometimes I think people start threads like this because of pure boredom and want to watch the wreckage. Gaslight much?
 
RustySpork

RustySpork

Oscar Mayer Memer
What about...
  • No FP+ prior to entry, and no standby queue.
  • 3 FP+ upon badging into a park for the first time each day regardless of what time you enter.
    • Example: If you hop and come back you get 3 at the new park but you don't get 3 more for returning since you've already entered once.
  • 1 additional FP+ per hour via MDE for the remainder of the time the park is open and you are in the park.
 
Rosanne

Rosanne

Active Member
I went to Epcot on Wednesday. It was very nice. Only 10 min wait on the few rides they have except for Soaring which was 40 min. The evening fireworks show was very nice too. Stress free with no crowds pushing & shoving. Nothing like Magic Kingdom. I guess I will just focus on this park. I cant imagine paying $ 125 for a theme park and then have to "Make an appointment" to go on a ride. ugh.
 
Skibum1970

Skibum1970

Well-Known Member
What about making FP+ like Univeral Express but make FP+ capacity about 30% of total capacity? The only FP+ recipients would be resort guests and there would be no FP+ booking in advance of arrival. Then, one FP+ at a time.
 
Pepper's Ghost

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
Rosanne said:
I went to Epcot on Wednesday. It was very nice. Only 10 min wait on the few rides they have except for Soaring which was 40 min. The evening fireworks show was very nice too. Stress free with no crowds pushing & shoving. Nothing like Magic Kingdom. I guess I will just focus on this park. I cant imagine paying $ 125 for a theme park and then have to "Make an appointment" to go on a ride. ugh.
Click to expand...

This brings up an important point. What about super slow days where you can just about walk on many rides? Now I can't ride over and over because I have to wait for my reservation. Makes zero sense.
 
MaryJaneP

MaryJaneP

Well-Known Member
Interesting idea but it seems to us to be doomed to fail because WDW does not already fully staff rides even with only the FP+'s known and reserved ahead of time plus an assumption about the usual size of the standby line based upon years of data available. It could seem to be foolhardy to assume WDW would EVER fully staff anything.
 
Pepper's Ghost

Pepper's Ghost

Well-Known Member
RustySpork said:
If it's that slow they could always open the queue to everyone.
Click to expand...

Good point, but if the purpose is to staff more appropriately due to crowd size and line reduction, then they likely would under-staff to make up for the slow traffic which could result in ride closures. I foresee the same issue you see with airlines... "We only have 15 people on this flight, so let's cancel the flight and bump everyone to other flights". I can see them shutting down a ride and cancelling FPs due to reduced staffing and crowd size. I think this idea opens up many other issues.

I suggest going back to the old days... standby only. Without a FP line taking priority, the standby line would move so much faster just like it used to.

FP is just delayed line-cutting IMO. Come to the ride later, and we'll let you cut in front of all these other people. People love it because it gives them priority over others. It's a feeling of entitlement. I'm a bigger fan of first come because it treats everyone the same. I realize I'm probably in a distinct minority on this opinion, but it's just what I think.
 
T

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
TBH, they'd be better off gutting FP+ altogether and doing 100% stand-by before they did this. I think that the blend is the perfect option, but FP+ only just wouldn't work, especially if you're required to book so far out. I think that something like the Tapa at Volcano Bay could work. But only if you booked while you were at the park.
 
RustySpork

RustySpork

Oscar Mayer Memer
Trackmaster said:
TBH, they'd be better off gutting FP+ altogether and doing 100% stand-by before they did this. I think that the blend is the perfect option, but FP+ only just wouldn't work, especially if you're required to book so far out. I think that something like the Tapa at Volcano Bay could work. But only if you booked while you were at the park.
Click to expand...

Bring back the notion of FP runners! :joyfull:
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
Go to Volcano Bay at Universal and find out how their virtual queue only system works for you. I think it has improved but at opening there were reports of long waits to come back and ride things, therefore the things not on the system like lazy river etc were overwhelmed.
 
Dead2009

Dead2009

Horror Movie Guru
"Your entire day appointment-only, rides, food, shows, etc. A specific number of allotted tickets per ride, per day, and once they were booked up then that ride closes off to any additional guests that day."

I've seen some horrible ideas passed around on here before, but this one is up there. You're literally closing the parks around 5 PM every single day by doing this.
 
T

Trackmaster

Well-Known Member
Dead2009 said:
"Your entire day appointment-only, rides, food, shows, etc. A specific number of allotted tickets per ride, per day, and once they were booked up then that ride closes off to any additional guests that day."

I've seen some horrible ideas passed around on here before, but this one is up there. You're literally closing the parks around 5 PM every single day by doing this.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is essentially the mathematic problem with making it 100% reservation based with no stand-by. Disney can't perfectly predict 100% who will show up for their reservations -- especially when you don't pay any extra for booking for them and missing them (I guess you could charge for missed appointments or per reservation, but I don't think that would go over well). So you run the risk of running out of reservees or there being gaps in when people choose to come back. So your options are running empty trains, or making it so that people are always waiting in line anyway to make sure that the station is always full.

That's where stand-by comes in handy. You have select reservations for people who really want them, and it can help everybody out some, but you also have standby for the people who want extra production, or when people happen to see that a ride's demand is slow for some reason.

I also say that FP in general makes things more annoying and stops helping when the park starts getting dead. I remember going in the aftermath of the hurricane that never hit. The whole park was dead, but Slinky still had a 50 minute line because every available FP was taken. In reality, if everybody was just doing stand-by, Slinky probably would have been reasonable and no more than 15 minutes.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom