FP+ Official Announcement

[angelmichelle]

A lot of this will still be going on through early 2014. Actually, there will still be FP stations throughout the park even when this is fully implemented. At least that is what we are being told.

I hope the kinks will be worked out...

 

[tjkraz]

This is some great speculating on this thread. Any new opinions based new information?

Certainly Disney will be looking to increase profits in certain areas. It seems a given that on-site resort guests will have better benefits than local passholders or off-site visitors. That alone could drive up hotel occupancy and allow Disney to increase its hotel pricing (lower discounts.)

But there's also a value-added aspect to it. Disney has never been afraid to innovate and a lot of this is geared toward providing guests with an experience they cannot get elsewhere.

Not every theme park enhancement will yield an immediate financial return. I doubt attendance or price increases were warranted after they added the Phineas & Ferb adventure game to Epcot or the interactive queues at Haunted Mansion, POTC and Big Thunder Mountain.

I work entry turnstiles and was told this Fall by one of my managers the ADDITIONAL cost to produce the RFID ticketing. Was really surprised at the amount. Actually, the new "touch pad" entries are probably going to have to have additional CM's due to the difficulty of "stopping" (no gating) guests when their tickets are not working correctly.

Just my $.02. Will be interesting to see how it all works when it reaches full implementation next year.

My comments that you quoted were directed toward the FastPass kiosks themselves. Every day tens-of-thousands...perhaps hundreds-of-thousands...of paper FP tickets are printed and disposed-of. Getting rid of those machines will undoubtedly save money in that regard.

But certainly there will be additional expenses in new areas.

As for theme park entry, each station may require increased staffing. But if each station moves guests through in a more efficient manner, fewer stations will be necessary.

 

[bcrook]

Certainly Disney will be looking to increase profits in certain areas. It seems a given that on-site resort guests will have better benefits than local passholders or off-site visitors. That alone could drive up hotel occupancy and allow Disney to increase its hotel pricing (lower discounts.)

But there's also a value-added aspect to it. Disney has never been afraid to innovate and a lot of this is geared toward providing guests with an experience they cannot get elsewhere.

Not every theme park enhancement will yield an immediate financial return. I doubt attendance or price increases were warranted after they added the Phineas & Ferb adventure game to Epcot or the interactive queues at Haunted Mansion, POTC and Big Thunder Mountain.

I can't see this as value added for the masses. If the end result is limiting numbers of FP, not allowing hopping and FP at both parks, and only allowing one FP per ride a day will ultimately be perceived as a loss of benefits.

I do see a small percentage who it will work well for - those don't use FP much. But those that rely on FP will be upset.

This whole thing needs to be looked at in conjunction with the app. It becomes fairly clear this is a marketing tool to reacquaint the public with the more subtle aspects and offerings of the wdw parks. Everything in the app looks awesome, I see rafiki is at planet watch at 3:30, we could that. Off kilter is playing in thirty minutes lets go. Everything looks fresh and exciting. I have been to wdw a lot, I am familiar with everything, but I am being swayed. Think of those millions of first timers! They might just follow those recommendations popping up on their phones.

It is fascinating.

 

[Weedy]

Here is something from the local news:


http://www.wesh.com/themeparks/disn...et/-/14183226/18033852/-/v01jy3z/-/index.html

 

[crazy4wdw]

Additional info on Disney Parks Blog:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2013/01/taking-the-disney-guest-experience-to-the-next-level/

 

[wdw71]

Think of those millions of first timers! They might just follow those recommendations popping up on their phones.

It is fascinating.

In other words it may just tell the experienced where not to go

 

[LaniesMom]

In other words it may just tell the experienced where not to go

Yes, let's hope all the newbies get sucked into the fascinating Stitch ride so the rest of us can take their place on one of the Mountains....

 

[Brook730]

I guess I am one of thoes that either way it does not matter much to me. My family only pulls maybe two FP a day and usually we can go with out any I don't do roller coasters and my DD is to small for them still anyways. so to me it would almost be better to reserve say TSM at 130 on a tuesday so my DH does not have to go running after RD to get them for us... But then again the flexibility will not be there. We don't normally park hop either but sometimes AK will just be to crowded to really enjoy it so we would hop over to MK or like during F&W we decided we had enough pushing thought the drunk collage kids so we went to HS for a while. Yes we don't do it often but if we wanted to we would just deal with the fact of not having FPs for that park. So yeah to me I guess it really does not matter much.

 

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another forum)

Reserved fastpass times (Fastpass Plus) does have a tendency to leave guests with isolated small chunks of time (typically just before the Fastpass return time) that Disney feels would be well spent in gift shops.

 

[mom2rtk]

(copied from another forum)

Reserved fastpass times (Fastpass Plus) does have a tendency to leave guests with isolated small chunks of time (typically just before the Fastpass return time) that Disney feels would be well spent in gift shops.

.......or perhaps it will leave guests with massive amounts of time...... previously reserved for days at Disney, now available to visit other destinations.

 

[krichie]

My comments that you quoted were directed toward the FastPass kiosks themselves. Every day tens-of-thousands...perhaps hundreds-of-thousands...of paper FP tickets are printed and disposed-of. Getting rid of those machines will undoubtedly save money in that regard.

This got me thinking, maybe Disney will make their smart phone app push reminders to guests' phones when their reservation for a ride, food, etc. is about to approach.

 

[mom2rtk]

This got me thinking, maybe Disney will make their smart phone app push reminders to guests' phones when their reservation for a ride, food, etc. is about to approach.

I really do think they'll try this, just like they'll try offers for extra FPs to move people out of the busiest parks into the less busy parks. But while I bring my smart phone along, I almost never notice when a text comes in. Disney is just too loud already. And I don't WANT to change my focus from the world around me to my phone. I have no intention of turning my ringer up, and sure hope others don't either.

 

[granmanh603]

I really do think they'll try this, just like they'll try offers for extra FPs to move people out of the busiest parks into the less busy parks. But while I bring my smart phone along, I almost never notice when a text comes in. Disney is just too loud already. And I don't WANT to change my focus from the world around me to my phone. I have no intention of turning my ringer up, and sure hope others don't either.

What about people with no smart phone and don't want a smart phone and do not care if they even take cell phone to park. Guess we do not matter
To be honest when I was down at Disney for 3 weeks in Oct,I was dismayed at the amount of parents at Disney with their faces glued to the phone while ignoring children. Some family vacation

 

[mom2rtk]

What about people with no smart phone and don't want a smart phone and do not care if they even take cell phone to park. Guess we do not matter
To be honest when I was down at Disney for 3 weeks in Oct,I was dismayed at the amount of parents at Disney with their faces glued to the phone while ignoring children. Some family vacation

They will have kiosks around the parks for you to make changes to your plans if needed. But can you imagine being in line behind a big group deciding what time to schedule a ride? So yes, I would consider that a disadvantage. Disney is clearly going all in with the smart phones.

 

[tjkraz]

To be honest when I was down at Disney for 3 weeks in Oct,I was dismayed at the amount of parents at Disney with their faces glued to the phone while ignoring children. Some family vacation

Yes, because if you witness an adult checking their phone during the 5 seconds you encounter them in a theme park, they MUST be a horrible parent, right?

What a naive generalization.

 

[seashoreCM]

I really do think they'll try this, just like they'll try offers for extra FPs to move people out of the busiest parks into the less busy parks.

It will take a lot of incentive*, possibly involving tangible (e.g. food) bonuses, to move people from one park to another park. When you get a text suggesting another park, it will be at least an hour before you are inside that other park, given you have to walk to the exit, wait for a bus, etc.

* Alternatively guaranteeing you that the crowd level once you get there is from your point of view "less than 7" or "less than 4" etc. Such could be accomplished by simulating open fastpass kiosks on the device that notified you of the park move even though the real fastpass kiosks (if any remain) show "sold out".

 

[brucerob62]

Yes, because if you witness an adult checking their phone during the 5 seconds you encounter them in a theme park, they MUST be a horrible parent, right?

What a naive generalization.

the problem is ..it isnt just a few seconds..most of the time ...sometimes severak minutes..whatever it is on that phone is not that important.

 

[tjkraz]

the problem is ..it isnt just a few seconds..most of the time ...sometimes severak minutes..whatever it is on that phone is not that important.

With all due respect, that's not your judgement to make.

I have been running my own business since my kids were 3 and 1 yrs old. I have a private office in my home. I'm here when the kids leave for school in the morning and when they step off the bus that afternoon.

Over the last 8 years I have spent FAR more quality time with my children than anyone who works a 40 hr/week job outside of the home.

The trade off is that I don't get to take "vacation time." I'm on call 24/7. That means taking the occasional phone call, monitoring emails and other minor duties anywhere from the Grand Canyon to Walt Disney World. All total, it's a few minutes of my day. And I can guarantee my children aren't moping around thinking "gee, I wish dad had time for us."

Other times I'm using the phone, tasks may include:
- Taking photos of our family.
- Posting photos to Facebook so that family members who are not on the trip can still share our adventures.
- Looking at the Hidden Mickey app as our family searches for the little buggers.
- Double-checking ADR times of our family meals.
- Checking ride wait times. (Please don't tell me I'd be a better father if I dragged my kids across the park to view the Standby board for Splash Mountain rather than looking on my smartphone.)

 

[raidermatt]

This is primarily a revenue driven initiative. Disney wouldn't be spending the kind of money they are if it weren't. Investors of course look at profits, but they also look hard at revenue, and they expect growth in that area regardless of what profits do. They know that you can't sustain growth with cost savings, but you can and must sustain it with revenue.

The end game of this initiative isn't entirely known to us of course, but the comparison being thrown around by many insiders is to a "cruise ship model". Meaning your ticket gets you a basic experience. Anything above and beyond that is going to be an upcharge.

The $1 billion+ question is what is going to define a basic experience? Along with that, how are they going to get more of our money? Will it be through ancillary streams, like hotel revenue (through more bookings and/or higher prices)? Will they charge for packages that include various numbers of "experiences"? Or will they simply assign prices to the various experiences, allowing you to swipe your magic bracelet and charge you credit card on the spot?

Whatever your opinion on that, keep in mind we are talking about a $1 billion+ investment. The corresponding revenue increases will need to be signifigant and they got burned on the original FP system by counting on how they thought guests would increase ancillary spending.

Me personally, I don't like where this is heading. A lot of what they have touted so far is primarily just a repackaging of things we already had access to (FPs, parade viewing spots). Or things very few of us were asking for (the ability to schedule a FP 6 months in advance).

Yes, there are some things that sound neat, like the ability to get a personalized experience on a ride. But it seems to be much more about finding ways to squeeze more $ out of us for things that are currently included. In other words, the cruise ship model. Redefine the basic experience so you can make more off of "extras".

 

[Dznefreek]

Over the last 8 years I have spent FAR more quality time with my children than anyone who works a 40 hr/week job outside of the home.

with all due respect that is pure conjecture on your part and quantity of time does not equal quality . . . .
You have no idea how people spend there time.