FP+ Capacity per Park Summary of Work so far 2/9/2013

[Rileygirl]

Awesome Point Mom2RTK, and I agree completely. I can survive dining or hotel problems, I am now a go with the flow' kinda person. But, it would be a serious lunch bag letdown if we could not possibley do our 'fav's - doubly more so for those that travel down less often.

(I should say, we are going every other year, and for less time, so we are not traveling down frequently, but because we have done Disney several times in the past, its easier to 'cut stuff out' and not be disappointed if we dont get to do something. I TOTALLY understand if you are not a frequent visitor how much more of a bummer this is - you should have seen my first visit to Disney, if there was a minute on the agenda I did not have filled in, I would have been in shock. The reality is, stuff got cut out on the trip, but we did tons, and I always had an 'option' of what to do in case we had to change plans)

The tech aspect has the potential to be amazing, or terrifying. Based on past Disney performances in the tech world, its no wonder we are shaking in our boots. We can hypothosize its going to be godawful, or its going to be a dream, but either way its just speculation. Its not until the cake is cut, will we figure out if we can enjoy it or not (and how many tiers it actually has! Haha)

I am cautiously optomistic that this system will work well for the average guest, and I am going to work my buns off to figure out how to make carrot juice out of the system for when we visit. Alls we need is some real time live reports from our dis friends, a little analysis, and we can be off to the races.

But take heart, we have been able to adjust to all the other changes we have seen in the last 20 years and are still doing Disney - we have learned to adapt and maximize. And so we will again - unless the product is so bad that we do not want to return. And, If it ends up being brilliantly bad for everyone, then Disney will have to change it. It might be a bumpy ride. I think Disney is just as concerned about this as we are. They dont want to piss off the ant farm, but they might sacrifice a few to make the majority happy. Just realisticlly speaking. But, we are smart ants. I think we can make the system work for us.

 

[Rileygirl]

That line cracks me up!

I think there is a lot to be optimistic about for the next 6-8 months. Rileygirl is on to an intriguing idea. The roll out could be very, very good for FP+ users until all the real changes hit later in the year.

How about that week after Christmas? Based on the images I saw last year, nothing will help that craziness. 4 hour waits at Test Track and other rides. If the rooms are filled and the parks are at capacity - What does FP+ do for those people. I guess at that time, Disney would truly try to use FP+ to spread a little magic. Saving fastpasses then and distributing to people "equally" would be advantageous for parks at capacity.

There would be a super shortage of FP during that week.[/QUOTE]

Well, that would be the most limiting factor, AK during the weeks of Christmas. And the number crunchers for the big D, (and we sorta did the same thing) said, we can guarentee 3, as long as their are tiers, and just about every attraction and experience goes on line. (Now, can you imagine the standby line at any 'b' attraction at this time of year, once this thing is fully operational? OUCH!) So, visit Disney during christmas, and its three attractions a day. Ohh. Not good. When I went to Disney at xmas a couple of years ago, we certainly did not do the volume of attractions we would normally do, but I specifically wanted to take in atmosphere, and some of the holiday events (that cost extra of course.) But even still, we did ride alot of things, even with the huge crowds. Because the crowds were not disperesed: they were clogging up lines for the big time majors, even early in the morning, but we could do the 'b's without horrendous waits. However, I dont think this will be the case anymore. if they get 80% of the people on this system in 3 years, - all attractions will be swamped, but none will be 4 hours bad. They will all be 1 to 2 hours, even HM or Jungle cruise, or tiki birds. Bleck. And, the crowds will be spread out between the four different parks, amking all waits marginally less, but if its 58 minutes or 65 minutes to take in HM at 9 am, then I still say bleck..

 

[Rileygirl]

Well, I was thinking about something today. I was at the mall, trying to find black dress pants for the boy for the cruise, and something hit me. Several stores at our little old local mall have closed down. A few new ones have opened. But, they all seem to be mobile phone stores. Gone are the days of kiosks, now they command bigger floor space. In our tiny mall, 8 stores are now mobile device stores. I would not say there would even be 50 stores altogether, maybe 40. Hmmm.

Then I was thinking about our trip to the big D. I am going to have to get some sort of package to cover our week trip down to the states, international fees are ridiculous. Something to at least cover texting, I would be scared to use data. Hmmm.

Then I was thinking - boy when that FP+ all comes to fruition, Im not going to want to depend on Disney's free wifi, it apparently sucks. What am I going to do then? I bet a lot of international travelers are going to feel that way. Hmmmmm.

Do you see where I am heading?

I wonder if along with those customizable magic wristbands, maybe the next big 'have to have' is a disposable Goofy phone. Works for a week or two. Cheap data package, bring it home as a souvineer. Maybe a goofy phone rental? Maybe its not a phone, just a data thing? Maybe this idea is goofy. How does the data work for Americans, is it expensive when you visit florida, or does it usually cover continental US? Mobile cell phone service is big bucks and big industry, one of the few that is actually gaining ground in these lean years I think... I wonder if Mickey has thought of this?

More cheese please, says the mouse.
(I'll take a job or a cut, Mr. Iger)

 

[DougEMG]

Well, I was thinking about something today. I was at the mall, trying to find black dress pants for the boy for the cruise, and something hit me. Several stores at our little old local mall have closed down. A few new ones have opened. But, they all seem to be mobile phone stores. Gone are the days of kiosks, now they command bigger floor space. In our tiny mall, 8 stores are now mobile device stores. I would not say there would even be 50 stores altogether, maybe 40. Hmmm.

Then I was thinking about our trip to the big D. I am going to have to get some sort of package to cover our week trip down to the states, international fees are ridiculous. Something to at least cover texting, I would be scared to use data. Hmmm.

Then I was thinking - boy when that FP+ all comes to fruition, Im not going to want to depend on Disney's free wifi, it apparently sucks. What am I going to do then? I bet a lot of international travelers are going to feel that way. Hmmmmm.

Do you see where I am heading?

I wonder if along with those customizable magic wristbands, maybe the next big 'have to have' is a disposable Goofy phone. Works for a week or two. Cheap data package, bring it home as a souvineer. Maybe a goofy phone rental? Maybe its not a phone, just a data thing? Maybe this idea is goofy. How does the data work for Americans, is it expensive when you visit florida, or does it usually cover continental US? Mobile cell phone service is big bucks and big industry, one of the few that is actually gaining ground in these lean years I think... I wonder if Mickey has thought of this?

More cheese please, says the mouse.
(I'll take a job or a cut, Mr. Iger)

Interesting idea with the phone.

As an international traveller (Canada) it isn't practical to use our smart phone in the US because of the high roaming charges. On our last trip, Dec 2012, we used our itouch when in the parks. When it worked it was great, but there were definitely a lot of times when we couldn't connect. As the parks got busier, the ability to connect decreased. So just when you want the connection the most to help plan what to do, we would lose our connection.

I'd certainly pay a couple of dollars a day to have a good solid data connection throughout the parks.

 

[ford91exploder]

I also agree on #3 however I think your figure is too low $10 is about right and that would increase revenue up to $365 million or so which would pay for NGE in about 3 years

I am trying to figure out how many total fastpass slots are a available for each park. Which leads to an interesting question of how they will be doled out by Disney.

Total FP+ needed per park per day based on the idea of 1 e-ticket FP+ and 2 other rides.

Magic Kingdom = 46,500 e-ticket FP+ and 93,000 other FP+
Hollywood Studios = 27,000 e-ticket FP+ and 54,000 other FP+
Animal Kingdom = 27,000 e-ticket FP+ and 54,000 other FP+
Epcot + 27,000 e-ticket FP+ and 54,000 other FP+

Total FP+ available from each park based on 60% FP+ distribution:
Magic Kingdom (14 hours) = 80,000 e-ticket and 128,000 other FP+
Hollywood Studios = (13 hours) = 42,500 e-ticket and 60,000 other FP+
Animal Kingdom (10 hours) = 37,800 e-ticket and 46,000 other FP+
Epcot (10 hours) = 40,800 e-ticket and 62,500 other FP+

Total Surplus e-ticket FP+ per day = 72,000
Total Surplus other FP+ per day = 41,000

Total surplus = 113,000 Fastpasses.

If Disney overbooks 10% for no-shows that would add 11,000 more and every morning extra magic hour adds more capacity. 125,000 extra FP a day on average.

How could those extra be "used"?

1. Surprise and Delight sent to people throughout the day.
2. Incentives for Deluxe guests.
3. They could be sold for $5.00 a pop (100,000 a day would equal $182,000,000 a year).
4. They could make them available for Free during the day first come first serve.

What they can't do is...
Add 1 more to everybody's pile. It really looks like 3 is the magic number. 4 would bust the system.

UNLESS - they build more rides!

 

[Rileygirl]

Im back from the house of the mouse, and the cruise (which by the way was AWESOME).

Barry, you are going to be disappointed in me. The second I stepped through the gates, I became a tourist instead of a data gatherer! Sorry, I have nothing useful to report at all, except that I could not see any rfid readers at the liberty boat or the hall of presidents. It could be that they will come on line one day, hahaha

Also, there was a huge number of suits in both the parks that we visited (studios and MK). They were congregating in the new interactive line ques and I tried to eavesdrop, but to no avail. I am not sure why, but both parks seemed empty first thing in the morning, so much so it reminded me of our visit in early september about 8 years ago. This trip, we rode ride BTMRR as a walk on at 10 in the morning (on an emh morning to boot), and that is without splash operating! Needless to say, we rode it until we got dizzy! The new interactive ques at BTMRR were roped off , and that is where the suits were. I saw the suits also at HM (we went through the graveyard, and that was fairly cool), and at the new mermaid attraction at MK.

On a personal note: as we dont visit WDW as often anymore, my impression of the new que areas at BTMRR, HM, VOTLM, Winnie the Pooh, well, I thought they were really outstanding. A frequent visitor would be bored after several trips through I am sure - but the AVERAGE Disney guest I think will be really impressed. Another thought: these ques could POSSIBLY, and I am just guessing here, they could already have some neat RFID technology ready to go, to bump up the experience several notches. I particularily thought that regarding HM and BTMRR, I was looking to see if I could find evidence. I have to say, I think they must have done it, or its a huge wasted opportunity for this technology. On TVOTLM it was a little strange, a lot of the interactive line que was at adult face level, and I saw parents constantly lifting up their children so they could see it, and I thought that this was VERY BAD planning.

(another side note: it appeared that everyone got sucked into the new part of fantasyland first thing in the morning, and may explain why the park was so dead in other areas. We visited this area around 10:30 (after making ourselves dizzy on BTMRR) and the line up for BOG was already 80 minutes long!! Why would people sacrifice some of the best touring time in the park, to stand in line for a counter service restaurant? for breakfast. Why? Especially if you could very wisely book it as a TS restaurant with a ressie time in the evening? It was hugely popular, as was ETWB (which was about 50 minutes at that time - so I think it was a really slow day in the park overall, I expected at least 1.5 hrs at this time on an EMH morning.)

Also, we visited Gaston's Tavern, and if you do happen to be on the dining plan (we were not), one of the very best snack credit uses is the huge warm sticky bun. its 3.99 (I would of expected it to cost over 5, its huge!). And yummy. Has to be the slowest line that we experienced in the park though, they were only serving snacks and coffee, hot chocoloate, and it took forever! The theming in the tavern is very fun though, and really I thought it was very well done. Then Gaston came out, and as reported, he is a fabulous character. I watched him interact with several people, and he is hysterical! Loved Him!

VOTLM was very well done, typical ride through kiddie ride, I have heard lots of complaints about it - but the only area that I thought it fell short was the Under the Sea room - its like they ran out of money to do the roof correctly, and you can see all the mechanics and machinery, and I have to wonder why?

We did the studios on the friday, and again, park was dead. I suspected that they still did not have an opening show anymore, so we arrived early and were at the head of the turnstyles. They started letting people in around 8:45- or 8:50, no rope drop, and we walked right on to TSM, and easily grabbed a fast pass for it as well. Did RnR 3 times as a walk on no problem, then went and rode ToT, walked back and did TSM with our FP, and then did star tours several times. Did Idol, all no waits. It was positively dreamy. We left around 2 after eating at prime time (service excellent, food has gone way down!), the crowds were building then. But seriously, it was SO easy to tour, and relaxing without the TSM stampede. Yes, the rides were operating before 9 am, because we arrived at Rnr before 9 am for our first go on. I am sure you guys all know this, but I thought I would mention it anyways. Might help someone out!

I think I will do a report on our cruise experience on the cruise line forum, but I will say, WOW- what a great time on the Fantasy! Awesome!

TTYL!
~A

 

[mom2rtk]

(another side note: it appeared that everyone got sucked into the new part of fantasyland first thing in the morning, and may explain why the park was so dead in other areas. We visited this area around 10:30 (after making ourselves dizzy on BTMRR) and the line up for BOG was already 80 minutes long!! Why would people sacrifice some of the best touring time in the park, to stand in line for a counter service restaurant? for breakfast. Why? Especially if you could very wisely book it as a TS restaurant with a ressie time in the evening? It was hugely popular, as was ETWB (which was about 50 minutes at that time - so I think it was a really slow day in the park overall, I expected at least 1.5 hrs at this time on an EMH morning.)

Sounds like you had an awesome trip!

I just wanted to comment on the BOG piece of this. I also think it's nuts to wait that long for lunch there, but sort of understand it. Not everyone can plan 180 days out, and if you wait much longer than that, you really cannot get an ADR there for dinner. It still books up VERY quickly.

Yet, BOG is really the crown jewel of the Fantasyland expanion (IMO). And there really just isn't much alternative if you miss out on an ADR.

 

[Rustyroo]

I still think the end goal, at some point, is to charge for fastpasses, charge for good spots at parades/fireworks, etc., on top of admission. Maybe they've got a way around it with this FP+, and/or market it as a perk (as mentioned). But how much more money would they bring in for charging nominal (and eventually not so nominal) fees for the popular rides/attractions?

 

[WDW1979]

But how much more money would they bring in for charging nominal (and eventually not so nominal) fees for the popular rides/attractions?

If that happens, and maybe it will, it sounds like a de facto return to a situation similar to the old ticket books I used in 1979 with a limited number of the coveted "E" tickets in each book, just without the physical ticket books and effectively a virtual/digital ride ticket book in its place, and with the incentive to buy more "ticket books" to get more "E" tickets.

 

[mom2rtk]

If that happens, and maybe it will, it sounds like a de facto return to a situation similar to the old ticket books I used in 1979 with a limited number of the coveted "E" tickets in each book, just without the physical ticket books and effectively a virtual/digital ride ticket book in its place, and incentive to buy more "ticket books" to get more "E" tickets.

....... while retaining "all access" pricing. Pretty genius from a sales perspective. But pretty sucky from a customer perspective.

 

[bcrook]

Im back from the house of the mouse, and the cruise (which by the way was AWESOME).

Barry, you are going to be disappointed in me. The second I stepped through the gates, I became a tourist instead of a data gatherer! Sorry, I have nothing useful to report at all, except that I could not see any rfid readers at the liberty boat or the hall of presidents. It could be that they will come on line one day, hahaha

Also, there was a huge number of suits in both the parks that we visited (studios and MK). They were congregating in the new interactive line ques and I tried to eavesdrop, but to no avail. I am not sure why, but both parks seemed empty first thing in the morning, so much so it reminded me of our visit in early september about 8 years ago. This trip, we rode ride BTMRR as a walk on at 10 in the morning (on an emh morning to boot), and that is without splash operating! Needless to say, we rode it until we got dizzy! The new interactive ques at BTMRR were roped off , and that is where the suits were. I saw the suits also at HM (we went through the graveyard, and that was fairly cool), and at the new mermaid attraction at MK.

On a personal note: as we dont visit WDW as often anymore, my impression of the new que areas at BTMRR, HM, VOTLM, Winnie the Pooh, well, I thought they were really outstanding. A frequent visitor would be bored after several trips through I am sure - but the AVERAGE Disney guest I think will be really impressed. Another thought: these ques could POSSIBLY, and I am just guessing here, they could already have some neat RFID technology ready to go, to bump up the experience several notches. I particularily thought that regarding HM and BTMRR, I was looking to see if I could find evidence. I have to say, I think they must have done it, or its a huge wasted opportunity for this technology. On TVOTLM it was a little strange, a lot of the interactive line que was at adult face level, and I saw parents constantly lifting up their children so they could see it, and I thought that this was VERY BAD planning.

(another side note: it appeared that everyone got sucked into the new part of fantasyland first thing in the morning, and may explain why the park was so dead in other areas. We visited this area around 10:30 (after making ourselves dizzy on BTMRR) and the line up for BOG was already 80 minutes long!! Why would people sacrifice some of the best touring time in the park, to stand in line for a counter service restaurant? for breakfast. Why? Especially if you could very wisely book it as a TS restaurant with a ressie time in the evening? It was hugely popular, as was ETWB (which was about 50 minutes at that time - so I think it was a really slow day in the park overall, I expected at least 1.5 hrs at this time on an EMH morning.)

Also, we visited Gaston's Tavern, and if you do happen to be on the dining plan (we were not), one of the very best snack credit uses is the huge warm sticky bun. its 3.99 (I would of expected it to cost over 5, its huge!). And yummy. Has to be the slowest line that we experienced in the park though, they were only serving snacks and coffee, hot chocoloate, and it took forever! The theming in the tavern is very fun though, and really I thought it was very well done. Then Gaston came out, and as reported, he is a fabulous character. I watched him interact with several people, and he is hysterical! Loved Him!

VOTLM was very well done, typical ride through kiddie ride, I have heard lots of complaints about it - but the only area that I thought it fell short was the Under the Sea room - its like they ran out of money to do the roof correctly, and you can see all the mechanics and machinery, and I have to wonder why?

We did the studios on the friday, and again, park was dead. I suspected that they still did not have an opening show anymore, so we arrived early and were at the head of the turnstyles. They started letting people in around 8:45- or 8:50, no rope drop, and we walked right on to TSM, and easily grabbed a fast pass for it as well. Did RnR 3 times as a walk on no problem, then went and rode ToT, walked back and did TSM with our FP, and then did star tours several times. Did Idol, all no waits. It was positively dreamy. We left around 2 after eating at prime time (service excellent, food has gone way down!), the crowds were building then. But seriously, it was SO easy to tour, and relaxing without the TSM stampede. Yes, the rides were operating before 9 am, because we arrived at Rnr before 9 am for our first go on. I am sure you guys all know this, but I thought I would mention it anyways. Might help someone out!

I think I will do a report on our cruise experience on the cruise line forum, but I will say, WOW- what a great time on the Fantasy! Awesome!

TTYL!
~A

I am glad you had fun! I am NOT disappointed that you didn't spend all your time figuring out ride capacity. I am very sad about the lack of FP+ at Hall f Presidents.

I do think interactive ride queues are totally Disney! I am also amazed at the pictures of the Rapunzel bathroom. Also disneyesque. Any drawbacks from these items are tied to the idea of avoiding adding new attractions and adding line queues instead. Which is what I am seeing with FP+.

I just got back from my trip to France, Monaco, and Italy!!! I was greeted with thirteen inches of snow covering everything.

 

[mom2rtk]

I just got back from my trip to France, Monaco, and Italy!!! I was greeted with thirteen inches of snow covering everything.

Welcome home to Missouri. I imagine it felt like you never left. We only had about 9". The kids were hoping for a snow day (especially my senior!) but no dice this time. We visited Rolla last weekend. I'm REALLY glad we didn't have to mess with all this white stuff on the drive home.

 

[bcrook]

We got our snow day! One day to recover. Went to San Remo, Italy for lunch. I had Pizza...it was as good Via Napoli.

 

[mom2rtk]

We got our snow day! One day to recover. Went to San Remo, Italy for lunch. I had Pizza...it was as good Via Napoli.

I better not tell my kids. They're feeling cheated already.

So was it almost as good as being in Epcot?

 

[bcrook]

This sounds like a little like your description RileyGirl.

From the magazine:

"Unlock your door with just a touch. Enter the parks without passing through a turnstile. Take photos without your camera. Pick up FastPasses without actually picking up Fastpasses... That "plus" means extending the service to an unprecedented lineup of attractions, shows, character meet-and-greets, parades and nighttime spectaculars, along with the equally unprecedented ability to reserve attractions and experiences - both in advance and on-the-go - without visiting a kiosk..."

It didn't say, "the magic starts as soon as you enter the WDW resort complex and continues even while waiting in line." But that will be the next round of publicity.

It does mention "sleekly designed wrist band".

This article seems a little premature based on the current status of the MM+ program. That suggests that Disney is a little behind.

 

[Robbi]

The bracelets look like Crocs for the wrist.
Charms = Jibbitz = stylin' Disney

 

[Rileygirl]

mom2rtk: Thanks for your imput on BOG. I have some older teens, and have not given enough time regarding the new princess area. I did not need to get into BOG so did not know its a hot commdity like Princesses at the castel in MK. Your comments help everyone.

Barry, my sister was traveling at the same time as yoiu,she said she got snow in paris, and the worst rain in spain. I should have told you that the 'griswalds' were going to europe. Hope that you had a good time. (the very best pizza we had was in naples italy, and they served it by the metre, and we had a blast there. omg the pizza was good.)

I really think that some of the changes coming are going to appeal to the mass population. Thats not on a whole 'us' but there is some potential there. Cant wait to see it.

Alison

 

[bcrook]

I better not tell my kids. They're feeling cheated already.

So was it almost as good as being in Epcot?

. The real France and Italy are a lot bigger! I do think that Epcot has captured the feel of Paris. I did not see much of the Epcot Italian Pavillion in San Remo. I guess I will have to go to Venice for that (except the aforementioned pizza).

 

[bcrook]

The bracelets look like Crocs for the wrist.
Charms = Jibbitz = stylin' Disney

Sleekly designed crocs for the wrist.

 

[Elle84UGA]

I've been really curious as to how this is going to work. Does anyone have any knowledge about when this technology is to be implemented in its entirety throughout the parks. I haven't found much info on it. Although we know now what our friends' groomsman was saying he couldn't talk about at their wedding a couple of years ago... It's definitely going to change a lot, and while I like everything about it so far (EXCEPT) the FP+ system, I guess my overall opinion is just going to have to wait. Hmm, we'll see!