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Last September, I wrote an article discussing the recent enhancements to My Magic +. I focused that column specifically toward MagicBands and Fastpass+. They were new at the time and we were all learning how to use them. To an extent, we're still learning but, gradually, some things are becoming clear.
It seems that many people are developing a "love or hate" relationship with Fastpass+—as in, they love it or hate it. There doesn't seem to be many of us on the middle ground. Some people accuse Disney of fixing something that wasn't broken while others simply long for the days of yore—when the original paper Fastpass system was in place.
I now have two trips using the MagicBands and Fastpass+ under my belt so I thought it might be time to take a look at how things are working, what changes might be in the works and discuss some simple strategies for how best to use these new tools. Before we get started, let's look at one of the complaints, specifically the one accusing Disney of fixing something unbroken.
MagicBands. Photo by Steve Russo.
Don't Fix Something That Isn't Broken
In my opinion, the Fastpass system was broken. Oh, it worked fine allowing you to pick up the paper Fastpass for Soarin', do some other things while your "virtual self" waited until the appropriate time arose, and then allowed you to ride the attraction with a minimal wait via the Fastpass queue. Where this system became flawed was in the high popularity of a few of Walt Disney World's attractions: notably attractions like Soarin' and Toy Story Midway Mania. If you arrived at Disney's Hollywood Studios or Epcot in the afternoon, sometimes as early as mid to late morning, you'd find the Fastpasses for those attractions gone for the day or available for a time of day that was so late, you knew you'd no longer be there. Essentially, if you didn't arrive sometime around park opening or shortly thereafter, you had little or no chance of visiting those attractions the entire day.
To a lesser extent and depending upon the time of year, you could also toss in attractions like Test Track, Story Time with Belle, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain and several others. Unless you rode or picked up a Fastpass early in the day, the only chance of riding later would involve a lengthy queue.
How does the new Fastpass+ system address that issue? In most cases, it allows guests to reserve their Fastpass for those popular attractions in advance. Essentially, if you've pre-booked a Fastpass+ at Toy Story Midway Mania for 9:30 to 10:30, there's no need to be at Disney's Hollywood Studios precisely at park opening and powerwalk back to the attraction to ensure you're able to ride on this day.
Let's look at what Fastpass+ is, what it may become in the not-too-distant future, and come up with some Fastpass+ strategies that might work for you. Ready?
Note: The system is still in Test Mode as Disney learns, tweaks and expands its reach.
Walt Disney World Guest Types
Before we get too much further in discussing strategy, let's look at the types of guests that visit the Walt Disney World theme parks:
On-site guests
These are the folks visiting the parks and staying in one of Disney's resort hotels or the Fort Wilderness campgrounds. These lucky folks have been issued MagicBands and are allowed to make Fastpass+ reservations days, or weeks, in advance. This program began in test for just a few resorts but has gradually expanded to include all Walt Disney World, and Disney-owned, resorts.
Off-site guests
These are the folks visiting the parks and staying in any one of the non-Disney hotels, motels or resorts off property. Rolling out Fastpass+ via MagicBands is still in the future for these folks.
Locals
Let's use this category for people that are not staying at a hotel or motel but have traveled in to visit the parks for a day. The MagicBands have not been available to these folks yet but… Disney has announced a plan to bring in a number of local Annual Passholders on a test basis. This is viewed as the first step in making MagicBands available to non-Disney resort guests.
How Does Fastpass+ Work?
Think of Fastpass+ as an electronic version of the old Fastpass system. You used to get a slip of paper that was your authorization to return within a specific one-hour window and enter an attraction via the Fastpass queue. The Fastpass queue allows boarding after waiting a length of time usually a small fraction of the current Standby wait time.
The Fastpass+ reservation is linked, again electronically, to your unique and specific ID. That ID is contained within your MagicBand or, in the case of off-site guests or locals, your ticket media. Remember, both the MagicBand and newer ticket media contain an RFID transmitter. When you place either against one of the new Mickey-head readers, your ID is recognized. Any Fastpass+ reservations are also linked to your ID so you can be "validated" and allowed entry to a Fastpass queue. Got all that?
How Do I Make Fastpass+ Reservations?
How does the selection of Fastpass+ attractions and the linking occur? On-site guests are allowed to use the My Disney Experience website or smartphone app to link fellow travelers, resort reservations, Advanced Dining Reservations (ADRs), and so on. They can also customize and receive, in advance, MagicBands for their traveling party. They may then, interactively, select three Fastpass+ reservations per day, for a single park, for each day of their stay. All these items link to their system ID so each MagicBand links to the same information (ADRs, Fastpass+, and resort reservations).
Off-site guests and locals are, so far, not eligible for MagicBands, but they do have admission media. All newer admission media contain the same RFID technology as in the MagicBands, so these guests can still make FastPass+ reservations and link them to their media. The chief difference is that this must be done in the park, after arrival, at one of the many Fastpass+ kiosks set up in each theme park—no Fastpass+ reservations can be made before the guest arrives to the park. If you're apprehensive or fearful of using this new technology, there are multiple cast members at each kiosk to provide assistance and guidance.
Single Park Per Day
I'd like to re-emphasize one of the restrictions for the new Fastpass+ system. The most Fastpass+ reservations you may obtain in a single day is three—and they must all be in the same park. I asked, and was given this information, separately by multiple cast members. I asked each of them if there was any chance this would change in the future, and each of them told me it would not.
This is a significant restriction for a park hopper, like me. I tend to visit a park in the morning, take a mid-day break back at the resort, then hit a different park in the evening. While I was told this would not change, a part of me is suggesting it will—but somewhere down the road when the more important basic functions of these systems have been fine-tuned. Personally, I'd love to see the ability to make four Fastpass+ reservations per day, across two parks. Keep in mind, however, this is my speculation only—I could be completely wrong.
Touring Styles
The last item to define, before we start making some suggestions on strategy, is the different touring styles used by Walt Disney World guests:
- Early Risers – are always be at a park in time for park opening or "rope drop."
- Late Risers – prefer to sleep in a bit, enjoy breakfast at the resort and get to a park mid- to late-morning or, possibly, even early afternoon.
- Park Hoppers – typically visit more than one park in a given day. A common style is to visit one park in the morning, take a mid-day break for lunch, swimming, naps, etc. and then return to a second park in the late afternoon or early evening.
- Single Parkers – spend the entire day in a single theme park. These folks may be trying to "not waste daylight" by utilizing every minute a park is open or they could also be those that take the mid-day break—the difference being they would return to the same park.
I could be wrong, but I believe you can probably fit most, if not all, touring styles within those four areas. The categories will grow if we consider we might have combinations, such as an Early Riser Park Hopper or an Early Riser Single Parker. However, none of that will affect the strategies.
Strategies
These strategies avoid one potentially critical component: the time of year of the visit. Anyone familiar with Walt Disney World knows that crowds and attraction wait times go hand in hand. You might never see a 120-minute Standby queue for Soarin' in January or September, but you know that will be common during the most crowded times of year, including summer, Spring Break weeks, Christmas week, and so on. Adjust your strategy accordingly, based on the timing of your visit.
Early risers
You can probably visit a park's busier attractions upon arrival and minimize any waiting. For that reason, you should probably consider making Fastpass+ reservations for those more popular attractions for later in the day—either afternoon or evening depending on your touring style. If you like to ride favorites more than once, this will provide the opportunity to ride something like Toy Story Midway Mania with a minimal wait at rope drop and then, later in the day, at a time of your choosing, via the Fastpass queue.
Late risers
You'll lose a bit of flexibility but if you arrange for Fastpasses on the more popular attractions, you can leisurely enjoy your resort in the morning, arriving at a park well after opening, but relaxed in the knowledge that you've already secured your Fastpasses for Space, Splash, and Big Thunder. You would fill your time around those Fastpasses by visiting the park's less busy attractions.
Park hoppers
Park hoppers might want to consider making Fastpass+ reservations for the park they'll visit later in the day. It's during those periods when the Standby waits are likely the longest.
Single Parkers
There's no reason to complicate things at all. Simply take the advice given based on your proclivity to be an Early or Late Riser.
Tiered Attractions
One additional and very important thing to note is that Disney has begun placing attractions in different tiers solely for Fastpass+ purposes. So far, only Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios are affected, but the other parks could follow. With this tiered system, you are only allowed to select a single Fastpass+ from the top tier of a list of attractions and fill out the remaining two from all others. The top tiers currently include:
| Epcot | Disney's Hollywood Studios |
|---|---|
|
|
What this means is that you cannot get a Fastpass+ for Soarin' and Test Track on the same day. Ditto for Toy Story Midway Mania and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. For Early Risers, I'd suggest reserving one of the two in the 9:30 to 10:30 period and riding the other first thing using the Standby queue. Late Risers are rather stuck here. The only advice I could offer is to visit the park on a second day to Fastpass the one you may have missed earlier.
Summary
I hope I've provided a basic understanding of the new systems, along with a strategy that might work for you. I'm interested to hear from others that have used Fastpass+ to understand what strategies you employed. I'd also like any feedback on the touring styles I might have overlooked and how they might fit into the scheme.
Right now, we're all learning, including the folks at Walt Disney World that are tuning these systems. The goal is to provide the best possible touring experience for all attendees and I'm sure we'll be going through additional changes as we make our way there.
As always, thanks for reading.
Comments
Steve, you said: "In my opinion, the Fastpass system was broken. Oh, it worked fine allowing you to pick up the paper Fastpass for Soarin', do some other things while your "virtual self" waited until the appropriate time arose, and then allowed you to ride the attraction with a minimal wait via the Fastpass queue. Where this system became flawed was in the high popularity of a few of Walt Disney World's attractions: notably attractions like Soarin' and Toy Story Midway Mania. If you arrived at Disney's Hollywood Studios or Epcot in the afternoon, sometimes as early as mid to late morning, you'd find the Fastpasses for those attractions gone for the day or available for a time of day that was so late, you knew you'd no longer be there."
I think therein lies the problem. You're article approaches FP+ from the premise of the old system (I'll refer to it as FP-) being "broken", when many people, including myself, don't view it that way. Your stated reason for believing it's "broken", was that late arrivers (or maybe better said, non-early arrivers) might have difficulty obtaining FP- for popular rides, either at all or at times convenient to them. But here's the thing - that's a CHOICE that non-early arrivers make. Just like it's a CHOICE that early arrivers make. If you want to sleep in, eat breakfast, and arrive later in the morning or the afternoon to the park, fine - but that's your CHOICE. And as with any CHOICE, there are always consequences (some positive, some negative) to any given CHOICE. In this case, the CHOICE to arrive later than others carries the consequence that FP- tickets might be gone, or for times very late in the day, thus you may not be able to get them at all or at times convenient to you. Conversely, the CHOICE to arrive earlier than others, carries the consequence that FP- tickets will most likely be available AND for convenient times, thus maximizing one's ability to ride rides, especially headliners, and even more than once. Further, under FP-, I could pull as many FP- tickets as allowed based on that system's time constraints, AND could pull them at multiple parks should I make the CHOICE to park-hop, thus further maximizing my ability to ride rides. But, that was all based on a CHOICE I made to be at a park early, and not arrive later. I gave up the opportunity to sleep in and be leisurely, to be able to ride more, which was more important to me, thus my CHOICE. I worked hard to maximize the system. But here's the thing - EVERYONE had the opportunity to do what I did! Some, however (non-early arrivers, leisurely tourers, etc...) made the CHOICE not to. Which is fine. But as I said, that CHOICE has consequences.
You also said: "Essentially, if you didn't arrive sometime around park opening or shortly thereafter, you had little or no chance of visiting those attractions the entire day." That's not true at all. If one made the CHOICE to not arrive at opening or shortly thereafter, they still had every chance to visit the same attractions that I did - it just might require that they go through the normal line, rather than through the FP return line. It never meant they COULDN'T ride the ride - it just meant they would likely have to wait longer to ride it. Again, that's a consequence of a CHOICE that that particular tourer made, to not arrive as early as others. They still had the opportunity to arrive early, and not have to wait, like I did - but they made the CHOICE not to.
The issue I find with your article, Steve, is that it sets up problems that really didn't exist. They might have been inconveniences, but they were based on CHOICES that people made, according to how they wished to tour the parks. The opportunities were there, they just CHOSE to tour differently, and those CHOICES come with consequences. I gave up leisurely mornings and breakfasts, b/c I wanted something different. Everyone could have. That's not a "broken" system - it's a CHOICE.
I don't disagree with your premise - of course it's a choice. However, even if you choose to get to a park at opening you might find yourself in another park later in the day. As I mentioned, my touring style is up and to a park early but, after a mid-day break, we're usually in another park in the afternoon or evening. The new FP+ system allows to me make reservations for that second park, an option I did not have previously. There was really no opportunity to ride TSMM, or Soarin', etc. if you arrived in the early evening.
I sense you're objecting to my saying the old system was broke and for that, I apologize. I merely used what some (many?) folks were saying (If it's not broke, don't fix it) and turned it around. Was the old system broke? Of course not but, at least in my opinion, it could have worked better to accommodate more touring styles - mine included.
I also believe that we might be better served to not focus on the individual - you and me - but on park guests in total. I'd have to believe that one of Disney's objectives is to spread out the crowds among the attractions as much as possible. I think Fastpass+ and the system of tiering the attractions is a step in that direction.
I agree with HokieFan to a large extent (although maybe with a few less caps
)...everyone had the same opportunity under the old FP system to decide what was important to them, and to take maximum advantage of the system. I personally don't feel the system was "broken" either, and would have been in favor of keeping it over the current version.
However, I'll agree that there was certainly a "weakness" in the system when it came to the high popularity rides such as Soarin' and Toy Story Midway Mania, as you identified. A system where people get FP's in the morning that aren't good until late afternoon or evening, and can't get anything after noon, just isn't ideal. I don't agree that the same situation was in place for the other rides you mentioned, except at extremely high volume times of the year.
The problem I have is throwing away the entire old system which probably covered about 20-25 attractions to address this "weakness" in the system that existed at only two attractions. If there was a desire to fix the problem, why not simply allow people to book these two rides ahead of time (using some variant of the Fastpass + system), and keep the old system in place for everything else? This would have served the needs of all the different types of park visitors you mention far better than the FastPass + system. You'd have the ability to plan ahead for the really big attractions, but wouldn't lose the spontaneity of everything else. Instead we wind up with a system where Maelstrom is considered "Tier One" attraction!
One last comment - I will say that the one thing I do like about the FP+ system is the inclusion of major shows such as Fantasmic and Illuminations, and Character Greetings. These are additional examples of what I'd call "signature events" for park visitors that are worthy of planning ahead for. In the past, our family simply avoided many of these events because we didn't feel it was worth dealing with the wait necessary for good viewing of these events.
"The problem I have is throwing away the entire old system"
But... isn't the old system still intact? You can still walk into a park and secure Fastpasses for the attractions there. Admittedly, the logistics are a bit different - maybe even improved a bit?
I'm not necessarily focusing on you and me specifically, but rather groups of people. I'm not the only one who tours my way, just as you're not the only one who tours your way. We're each parts of populations that choose in similar fashion. Again, choosing to revamp the FP system wasn't b/c it was "broken", different groups just CHOSE to use the system differently, depending on their preferences. It's like the old saying - "you can't have your cake and eat it, too." If you wanted to be able to use the FP system at its maximum, you couldn't sleep in and take it leisurely - and that was something you (the general "you") knew you'd give up, if you CHOSE to do that. Conversely, if you wanted to be able to sleep in and take it leisurely, you couldn't use the FP system at its maximum - and that was something you (again, the general "you") knew you'd give up, if you CHOSE to do that. I keep highlighting the word CHOICE, b/c that's what it came down to. Opportunity has always been there - depending on what people's preferences were, and the old FP- system gave equal opportunity to all. Results, however, were entirely based on how people CHOSE to use the system. But isn't that how life is, too?
I think you hit the nail on the head when you reference Disney's objective. I don't think they changed from FP- to FP+ because something was "broken" - I think they did it b/c they have bigger plans in mind, and are trying to change behavior in the park by force. I don't believe it has anything to do with convenience, for anyone...
The old system is NOWHERE near intact. Can I still walk into a park and pull as many FP as I want each day, given the time constraints? Nope. Can I walk into 1 park in the morning and pull FP's, and then walk into a diff park in the evening and do the same? Nope. To say the old system is intact, just isn't correct. The logistics are most definitely different (and, at least from my perspective, and many others that I know, definitely NOT improved), and those logistical changes are such that they have certainly rendered the old system NOT intact.
Maybe it's the way that I tour but I was rarely able to get more than 2-3 Fastpasses in any given day. Given the constraints of being locked out, getting two in a morning was pretty good. Returning in the evening, I'd typically find the Fastpasses for the rides I wanted already gone for the day.
That said, I understand where you're coming from. If your touring style had you securing more than 3 in a day then the new system is a step down.
We had a very simple rule when touring the parks...if we didn't have a fastpass in hand, we were doing something wrong. We'd normally wind up with at least 6-8 Fastpasses per day, and more during full days in the park in reasonably quiet parts of the year when a FP wait might only be an hour or less. By collecting fastpasses for a major attraction in the area we were in, then riding the smaller attractions until our FP window opened, then getting another FP right before using the first one, we NEVER would wait more than about 10 minutes for any ride in the park (again, during the times of the year where it was no more than moderately busy), and could easily do all of the major attractions in a park in a day while doing so, sometimes even multiple times.
I don't think we were particularly unusual in our style of touring, and this change obviously will not be in our favor. I'd also probably argue that the change to FP+ will benefit very few people who actually knew the parks and understood how the old FP system worked - which is precisely why many of the Disney "pros" on these message boards are so upset about it. The real question is how it will be viewed by non-Disney veterans, for whom the FP system will be greatly simplified. Will they bother to do it and view it as a good thing, or will they just ignore the system, ridiculing the idea of planning in advance where they will be?
One aspect that might arise that would cause Disney to change the rule that all FP+ are to be for the same park on a given day is that many people would stop buying the Park Hopper upgrade for their tickets.. that would be a loss of revenue of about $60 per person, per trip (give or take).. I would be less likely to spend the extra on it if I didn't have a AP..
Who knows.. if/when the bean counters start seeing a drastic decline in a revenue stream (that essentially is free money for Disney), they may re-consider. I like your suggestion of 4 per day, 2 per park.
JMS1969, I agree with you - that's exactly how my family has always toured. I don't think we're alone in that respect, and as such, this FP+ system is a real, noticeable downgrade.
Yedliw, I agree. I have always bought the PH option, which for my family, is now 6 x $60. But to me, with FP+, that is no longer worth it, if I can't even get FP+ in the other park. The ability to switch parks is still there, but my incentive to do it has now greatly diminished, in my opinion. THat's a revenue stream that they'll lose from me, that I won't then use in the parks - it will simply be less money i'd spend there, overall. Probably not what they're after...
I totally agree with all of you, for my family the FP+ is a total downgrade and will cause us to ride less and wait in more lines. Last October we were able to use FP+ as well as the regular FP machines - yes that was a temporary thing while the two systems overlapped, but man was it nice while it lasted! For most people that used and understood the old FP system to it's full advantage this has to be a big downgrade.
I see the advantage of this new system when you are visiting two parks in the same day. You can make reservations for a ride in a park you plan on visiting in the afternoon without being there. However in California this is not needed at all. I can easily go between the two parks and pick up fast passes. I use fast pass constantly, between 6 to 10 times a day. When I get in the window of one ride, before I go I get another fast pass to another ride. I never wait longer thatn 20 minutes for any ride. Limiting me to 3 passes a day would make my day filled with waiting in lines. How is this better?
Although Disneyland is my home park, I have been to WDW enough times that I just don't think you can compare how the parks operate in one location to how it will operate in the other. I think these dissimilarities are probably one reason why they have not yet rolled out Fastpass+ in California.
Remember, at WDW, those guests who plan ahead already know whether they are going for dinner up to 6 months in advance. So getting a Fastpass for Toy Story Mania first thing that now conflicts with those plans is much more problematic. Knowing that my kids can get onto their favorite rides at predesignated times that don't conflict with dinner is a benefit.
Heavy Fastpass users will now have to change their styles, just like we did with the parks started enforcing the return times. That definitely cut into the number of fastpasses I was willing to get/use on a given day.
I thought I had read somewhere that you could change your FP+ reservations during your visit, i.e. if Splash for some reason has a 5 min wait and you used it for FP+, you walk to the kiosk and change it for another attraction (pending availability of course). I did not see that addressed in the original article. I agree with currence - Disneyland's heavy local day and AP holder mix would not work as guest models for the FP+ system. Unless, of course, they force the issue (won't THAT be a sight at City Hall).
There's another aspect to this discussion that's not getting a lot of attention, and I think it's significant. With the new system, ONSITE guests have the ability to pre-select their FastPass+ times at the parks in advance. This is clearly a benefit to guests who are staying on property, and makes staying off property less appealing because those guests will have an even harder time getting a FP at all.
For example, while everyone had a pretty even shot at getting Toy Story Mania FPs first thing in the morning at the Studios (provided they showed up, which isn't viable for some people's touring styles, but that's a personal preference). Now, all the Disney onsite guests have the chance to arrange their FPs for the ride, and well...there might just not be much of anything left over for those folks who don't stay onsite.
I dont blame Disney for upping the ante and making it 'better' for guests to stay on site, in addition to the Extra Magic Hours, package delivery service to the resorts, and complimentary airport transportation. I think being able to choose the FPs in advance is a huge plus for people's planning.
Disney has priced WDW options with a fine-toothed comb for the time vs. money perspective. Pay more and stay at a monorail resort because it's convenient and really nice. Pay a little less and stay at a moderate resort, but it's not quite as convenient. Pay less still at the value resorts, and you have fewer amenities but it's a very pleasant experience. But with this new system, if you decide to stay offsite, at a non-Disney hotel or a rental house, you might be spending less money than you would onsite, but you'll be spending a whole lot more time standing in lines, and that's a time vs. money aspect, at least in my thinking.
I am pleased that annual passholders are being considered in the next wave of FP+ technology because those loyal guests deserve to have that option.
Every objection I've read here about WDW would apply even more for DL/DCA:
1) Unlike WDW, DL/DCA are right next to each other. Therefore the "no park hopping" would feel even more restrictive.
2) This also means it's way easier to accumulate a lot of FP in DL/DCA due to the greater concentration of FP rides, in a short distance, making the 3 ride restriction a real downgrade.
3) The 2 rides that FP+ is supposed to "help" at WDW are Soarin' and Toy Story Mania. But at DCA, the former doesn't have long lines (maybe CA residents are unexcited about seeing pictures of California) and the latter doesn't use FP. So FP+ doesn't "solve" anything at DCA.
So I hope DL/DCA doesn't adopt FP+ unless they remove these restrictions completely. The only ride that could benefit is RSR, so if they did on-line reservations for that ride only, that would make sense.
Yes you can. When I was there in January, there was no line at Kali River, the CM at the gate blocked me from using my FP+ and told me to reschedule it for a different ride. You can re-schedule it as long as it isn't used, even if the window is past.
Again, this system is still in Test mode officially. It's been rolled out to resort guest firsts. As I mentioned in the article, testing has begun for local AP holders which is viewed as the first step in allowing non-resort guests use of the system.
And... I had one instance where an attraction that I had a Fastpass for went down. I received an email notifying me of that and offering that FP for a number of different attractions instead.
Good to see some like minded individuals on here! I was avoiding the topic in hopes of avoiding arguing with people who simply do things much differently.
Its been tiresome hearing people refer to us as "abusing the system". How exactly were we "abusing" anything if we were following the rules? There wasn't exactly a way to cheat...You could get another pass once your current window opened, or after 2 hours if it was way later in the day. Uh, those were the rules...
I can't speak for FP+ firsthand yet (at least for another couple weeks), but first impressions are that we will be standing in line a lot more and riding less.
On a positive note, I guess we will take in more of the stuff we used to skip and not ride the mountains, RRC, Everest quite as much--except for the single rider lines. Hopefully the single rider experience hasn't really been impacted--it shouldn't be.
One thing that I am glad the FP+ has fixed and that is the abuse that was used with the paper passes. People can't get them and hold them to use past the time or people getting them and giving them to someone else.
They fixed that a long time ago (enforcing in 2012 if I remember right) by not allowing them to be used past the window unless the ride had been down a significant part of the day.
If it had been down for an extended time, I think they would let you redeem any pass allowing it to be abused again. It helped control the lines somewhat (keeping late night FP lines from getting ridiculous).
Anyone seen how they are handling this now? I.e. if Splash is down for several hours (which isn't uncommon), do people that had FP+ have to choose something else or maybe get an alternate time to return?
My boyfriend and I are also tourers like JMS1969 and hokiefan. We are rope droppers who spend the great majority of our days riding attractions. When we were there 3 months ago testing FP+ I wondered why we seemed to be waiting in lines rather than experiencing attractions. FP+ was a definite downgrade for us and for the way we like to tour. I think we only used our park hopper option once during the whole week and we usually park hop every day. We are gonna try our trip in June withour park hoppers and I hope we have a little better time with FP+.
That is exactly what I'm looking forward to FP+ for.
Another axis of touring style that could be added here is intensity: do you having maximizing the rides down to an exact science, or are you a more casual, leisurely park explorer? My fiancee and I are definitely the latter... By in large, I hardly ever used FP's to begin with. It helps when you are able to go at lower attendance times of year so the lines are short anyways, but the only time I recall ever using FP's aggressively was at Tokyo Disneysea. I would grab an FP for Journey to the Center of the Earth as soon as I left the ride, and then hop on a couple attractions between rides (one of which was always 20,000 Leagues... I'm a Verne fan). But that was a case where I wanted to maximize those two attractions. The rest of the time, we like to take our time, explore, go at a genteel pace, and basically ride what's available with a reasonable wait.
However, for as leisurely as I get, one thing I cannot abide is waiting around doing nothing for a whole hour or more. FP+ will be a huge boon because then we can book fireworks, parades, shows, etc. Looking at the list in the article of the tiered attractions, we would totally be booking times for the Beauty and the Beast show and Illuminations. Something like Maelstrom, for example, would totally depend on when we winded our way around World Showcase and into Norway. There's no way for us to predict that one. In fact, I wonder a little if trying to FP+ some actual rides wouldn't be a bit of a bother given our touring style. It would probably come most handy in short intervals between other things when time has already been scheduled (i.e.: between dinner and the evening show).
In this sort of situation, FP+ comes across as a general gain. What concerns me about it is the effect of extending all the standby lines on every attraction... There might no longer be such a thing as a "reasonable wait." The interminable dullness of doing nothing for an hour also extends to waiting in lines.
Ahhh I've not been since Dec 2011 and it was not enforced at that time. I hope by the time I go in Nov that all the bugs have been worked out. I too do not like paying for Parkhoppers to only be able to use FP+ in one park per day.
2+ years...oh the humanity!
Yep, they would only let you slide by a few minutes unless it had been down. I'm sure Nick and I will provide plenty of feedback on our own experience...But there are sure to be plenty of growing pains over the coming months.
The good thing about transitioning to new technology is the ability to shape and grow as you go. I'm actually managing a new satellite product built in Germany that they are continually developing for us. There was some time there when I had 1 or more new versions of firmware every week. lol I installed uplinks for radio providers during the 'beta' test. Now, over a year later its actually really robust and solid. If we'd rolled it out and stopped shaping it, we might be out of clients.
But that really does bring up an important question...What happens currently if the ride is down during your window? Surely someone here has experienced this. Steve?
I think I mentioned this earlier in the thread...
In January, our 3rd Fastpass+ at the MK was for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We decided to leave the park before that time arrived. I was on a bus back to the resort when I received an email informing me that Monsters was down and I could use that FP on any of the "following attractions". Now, your next question would probably be "What attractions?" and I'm sorry to say I really didn't read the email that closely (we had left the MK) and have since deleted it. I do recall it being a list of 8-10 so I would assume it would be a list of the other FP attractions in the park.
Prior to Disney enforcing the strict return times, ANYONE could come back late, b/c the rule was basically completely overlooked by Disney - it was more of a suggestion, than a rule. That's not getting away with anything, or abusing anything, it's what was allowed by the company who issued the passes.
And how would giving passes to someone else be considered "abusing the system"? Not logical. Having "a" pass guaranteed that the holder of "that" pass could enter the FP line and ride the ride quicker, using "that" pass. The FP system didn't care whether it was person A, or person Z, who went through the line with the pass - the system just cared that WHOMEVER went through the FP return line, had "a" pass, whether issued to them, or given to them. You couldn't magically get MORE passes by giving them away - the 2 hour window to get a new one still applied.
Exactly. There are some people who FP+ may be nice for, especially if they weren't rope-droppers or didn't pull a lot of FP to begin with. For many others, myself (and evidently you and JMS1969, as well) included, it is a HUGE downgrade that will result in less rides ridden, less park-hopping, and more time in line. Even though the cost of the Disney trip may not have increased (though with their recent ticket increase, it has, unfortunately), the perceived "value" of the trip - knowing that I can do less with our time than previously, while still paying the same, or a bit more, money - makes it a real negative.
hokiefan33 - I couldn't agree with you more, well said!
Nicely put...and I hope the "powers that be" at Disney come to the same conclusion from this "test". While we all focus on the "experience" involved with FP and FP+, and that's certainly the most important part of the equation for us, the bottom line business fact is that more time spent in line means less time for Disney to make money from people walking around the park. In all of our responses, we have been emphasizing going on other attractions during time saved, but the reality is that the extra free time in the parks can be spent in many ways - several of which involve additional profit for Disney. It's hard to make money from someone standing in line! This was a large part of the motivation for Disney in putting the FP system in place to begin with, and it certainly will be a major driver that helps them decide where to go from here as FP+ evolves.
This might have been fixed by now, but back in October when we were there using MM+ and FP+ the thing that annoyed me significantly was that once you rode your first of three FP selections, you could NOT change the other two. They were locked in. Has this been changed? If not I think it's a huge bummer to not give the flexibility.
I did find that I felt we got through the attractions we did FP+ for even faster than we did on the old conventional system. I think it does a better job of keeping people honest about their return times
Though I did not experience WDW or DLR after the FP time window crack down took effect, so maybe this was already happening. But we used FP+ at the Epcot meet and greet character spot at Innoventions and were out of there having seen Goofy, Minnie and Mickey in under 15 minutes. That was impressive!!
Cool Runnings
Doc
I will be waiting to see how this works out since I normally stay at Shades of Green which is on-site but could be considered off-site:
"Off-site guests
These are the folks visiting the parks and staying in any one of the non-Disney hotels, motels or resorts off property. Rolling out Fastpass+ via MagicBands is still in the future for these folks."
So I wonder would Disney put in some type of FP reserve of FP tickets for folks who do not get magicbands ahead of time.
I am also one of those people who do not own or carry a smart phone or IPad or Ipad type of device so your email thingie FP does does not apply so its only a perk for those that do. The old FP system put everyone on the same playing field, we all had to go to FP machines to get them. Now some folks can schedule FP days ahead and and get emails when things go wrong while others are,, well in limbo so we'll see how this works out.
Perhaps this should be merged with the other FP+ MM+ Thread now...
I am looking forward to using the system. I will be there in May and staying on-site. On-site guests with long sought-after dining reservations can make FP+ reservations for the most popular rides in advance. This convenience ensures their well planned day goes without a hitch. I expect to be a late riser with a 5 year old. We may occasionally decide to use the pool and stay at the resort. So pre-planning the attractions and dining lessens the wait times and that makes the trip much more tolerable. The limitation of 3 attractions for FP+ per day is not an hinderance. In my situation, I don't expect to do everything in one trip. I will visit one park per day without park hopping. Since the Magic Kingdom has the most attractions, I will go there at least 2 or 3 times. I will likely hit the best attractions over time. Having 3 guarranteed attractions per day means I can plan my day in the mid-afternoon when the park is most crowded. Therefore, my dining reservations are not impacted and I can use my day efficiently.
Since I live in Southern California and can visit Disneyland quite easily, it is to my disappointment that I don't use Fastpass as much as I can despite the fact that I have locals' knowledge. Having to visit the machines for the tickets is a major hassle and sometimes I can't follow my plan as I imagined. Kids don't follow a script. To be free of visiting the kiosks until absolutely necessary is an advantage. I prefer to linger in the park attractions that are uncrowded. The kids just want to be in the playground for a very long time. When crowded, just stay there. However, if the popular rides can be pre-arranged, then it is best to forego the lines and immediate board the attractions.
The whole concept of any tool for planning my time before I'm actually in a park is contrary to how I visit the parks so FP+ is pretty useless to me (I rarely even used regular Fastpass). But it's probably something that once adjusted to, it will be hard to come back to it.
That said, I refuse to wear the band. So if they ever do something to its form factor that makes it awkward to keep in a pocket then I'll be vocal in my complaining.
The RFID on the other hand alone is cool for certain things like not taking your KTTW card out of you pocket/wallet to open your door when your hands are full (provided you can get it close enough to the reader).
Some of the other things such as tracking our movements with the longer range transmitter to determine patterns is a little creepy...If its used to determine traffic patterns, congestion areas, places for improvement...that might be good in the long run.
Makes you wonder if the NSA wants to build a database of where we like to eat, pee, etc. LOL You folks that spend too much time at the Haunted Mansion are going into a database of serial killers trying to fill your basement with 999 ghosts.
This thread is intended for discussion of the article in the original post.
I don't actually care if Disney (or almost anybody else) is tracking me. I just hate the visual of thousands of people are wearing the same bracelet like a bunch of cattle ear tagged and being lead to slaughter. Fortunately the holes in the band are sized so that I can roll is pretty small and keep it in a pocket (hands full door opening may be a convenience but doesn't really come up that often and I open doors requiring key cards dozens of times a day). Next time I may even just cut off the strap part of the band and see how that goes.
As for the FastPass part of it, I'm cool with never using FastPass (I'm also cool with never going on any rides if that is how the day ends up going). So if anybody else in my party wants to use FP+ on the fly and have me attached to what they can set up, cool. But if at any point I am told I have to be in Park X at time Y to ride attraction Z tomorrow I'm going to be an unhappy camper.
I remember when everyone leapt to Disney's defense when that Senator or whoever wanted the company to account for the invasion of privacy that these would entail. I'm sure if it was the government wanting to set everyone up with wristbands like these, there would be a hue and cry like none seen before.
I forget where it was, maybe even on here, but I read an article recently discussing how "privacy" has been commoditized. Rather than being inviolably sacred, it is now something we're willing to trade in exchange for goods and services. Which... I mean... yeah, I guess so, since I'm actually kinda' keen to try it out.
[QUOTE=Alex S.;1841730Fortunately the holes in the band are sized so that I can roll is pretty small and keep it in a pocket (hands full door opening may be a convenience but doesn't really come up that often and I open doors requiring key cards dozens of times a day). Next time I may even just cut off the strap part of the band and see how that goes.[/QUOTE]
Before you cut, I would look at this article that takes apart a Magic Band. I'm not sure how much you can cut down without affecting at least parts of the construction.
Well in a thread awhile back I had said how I wasn't happy about it being a wristband in the first place. Not so bothered about a RFID but I just absolutely hate anything around my wrists. I wear a pocket watch, and I probably wear short sleeve shirts 360 days out of the year even when its snowing here. I had heard or thought I had heard they were looking into something else to go along with the wrist bands for those of us not wanting one around my wrist. But like Alex said I guess I could just roll it up into a pocket or put it onto a lanyard.
Yeah, seeing various tear down articles is why I know I could do it (I was worried there might be an antenna or something that extended the entire length). I can cut it down far enough that it would be mostly flat in my pocket.
I hate stuff on my wrists too and a CM suggested I put the magic band on my belt loop. I just kept in in one of my cargo shorts' lower pockets. I only used it to gain access to my hotel room and the parks and for fastpass entry. I didn't use it for purchasing.
Have they stated that they were going to flat out eliminate the card style 'media' one day? It was my impression that the band was optional, but perhaps eventually it won't be an option (maybe part of the longer range tracking).
A coworker cut up his HID card at work so place it inside his cell case... It worked for a while, but either the chip got crushed or the antenna (power inductor actually) broke.
Now that I am back in the Reserves, I'm gonna have to carry 2 HID cards again. Total Costanza wallet!