FP+ line enforcement irregularity?

[LaidBackDad]

On my last trip to WDW I observed what appeared to be some irregularities in the enforcement of guest entering the FP+ line at some of the attractions. I was hesitant to bring this topic up because it probably has potential to be a touchy subject; but, I thought it may be worth discussing and maybe someone could shed some light on the subject. I hope any discussion remains civil.

My DD8 and I had FP+s scheduled for Space Mountain. When we arrived for our scheduled time the SB line was about a 110 minute wait. FP+ was busy also as there was a line of about 15 or 20 people at the first FP+ scanner. As luck would have it we got in line behind 2 black gentlemen who were probably in their early 20's. Both gentlemen were athletically built and and larger than the average man. Both of them had tattoos covering most visible areas of their bodies and their clothing and hair styles could best be described as having "urban" influence. When we got to the first scanner the 2 men didn't have magic bands so they held their admission card to the FP+ scanner. The scanner flashed blue for both of them and the cast member then looked at both men and waived them past the scanner into the line. My DD8 didn't line her MB up right on the scanner on her first try and it flashed blue. The cast member immediately jumped in front of her and helped her line up so it flashed green. When we got to the second FP+ scanner before getting on the ride the same thing happened. Both men scanned their tickets, the scanner flashed blue and the CM waived them through onto the ride without trying to help them figure out why their tickets were flashing blue.

Coincidentally, we happened to be in the FP+ line at BTMR later in the day with the same 2 guys and watched the same thing happen. They scanned their tickets, the scanner flashed blue, they got waived onto the ride without delay. After that, I started to wonder how many times they used the FP+ line without "getting the green light". I also didn't understand why the cast members kept waiving the men through the line without trying to figure out why their tickets weren't working properly. If this had happened once or twice I would have chalked it up to a cast member not paying attention; but, three times is pushing it. Plus, I know several of the times the cast member actually saw the scanner flash blue. All of that just makes me wonder if something else was involved and does this happen more often?

 

[CinderElsa]

I honestly don't understand the new FP+ system or anything like that, but I think your post could be offensive. What difference does the ethnicity of the people have to do with the situation you encountered. You just as easily could have said we were behind two people and XXX happened. You didn't need to be very specific in their appearance, for that I think this post is offensive and in poor taste. What happened with FP+ and the blue light will be interesting to see what others post about it. BUT I find your choice of description offensive as it has NOTHING to do with the blue light going off and them being waived through.

This exactly.

 

[LaidBackDad]

I honestly don't understand the new FP+ system or anything like that, but I think your post could be offensive. What difference does the ethnicity of the people have to do with the situation you encountered. You just as easily could have said we were behind two people and XXX happened. You didn't need to be very specific in their appearance, for that I think this post is offensive and in poor taste. What happened with FP+ and the blue light will be interesting to see what others post about it. BUT I find your choice of description offensive as it has NOTHING to do with the blue light going off and them being waived through.

The description is important because their appearance was relevant. I agree that in a perfect world it shouldn't matter. I tried to be as inoffensive as possible. For what it was worth, both men acted like perfect gentlemen the short amount of time I was around them. I don't think they did anything wrong. My point is why were the CM's treating these two men differently than everyone else.

 

[mamattorney]

DAS cards light the fast pass mickey head blue. Just a thought.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

The description is important because their appearance was relevant. I agree that in a perfect world it shouldn't matter. I tried to be as inoffensive as possible. For what it was worth, both men acted like perfect gentlemen the short amount of time I was around them. I don't think they did anything wrong. My point is why were the CM's treating these two men differently than everyone else.

And by including that physical description, your post implied that the CMs were scared of the big black guys. How is that not offensive?

Maybe they were CMs. Maybe they were famous. Maybe they were Bob Iger in disguise. Maybe they were secret shoppers sent to see if Disney discriminates against big black guys.

FWIW, I tend to think that there was maybe some sort of ticket issue that was noted on the screen. In the past, we've gotten the blue Mickey (because we were outside our FP+ window) and the first CM waved us through (for the record, none of us are big black men). But by overriding the system, when we got to the second checkpoint, the Mickey turned green and we didn't have to explain anything to the other CM. So the fact that these got a blue Mickey both times makes me think that there was a glitch that was noted manually instead of something nefarious going on.

 

[Alesia]

BUT I find your choice of description offensive as it has NOTHING to do with the blue light going off and them being waived through.

The point is that the OP thinks that their appearance had everything to do with why they were waived through.

Maybe it did and maybe it didn't. There could be all sorts of information that the OP wasn't privy to. People tend to assume that they have all of the information available when they don't.

I don't think the OP was guilty of racism so much as a lack of critical thinking (which is not to say that the two are always mutually exclusive.)

 

[Wedcot]

The description is important because their appearance was relevant. I agree that in a perfect world it shouldn't matter. I tried to be as inoffensive as possible. For what it was worth, both men acted like perfect gentlemen the short amount of time I was around them. I don't think they did anything wrong. My point is why were the CM's treating these two men differently than everyone else.

Yet another offensive reference. Why does their appearance have anything to do with how they act or why they were sent through. Famous, issues with tickets, etc. You don't know yet still think how they look and acted was why they got to go through.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

The point is that the OP thinks that their appearance had everything to do with why they were waived through.

Maybe it did and maybe it didn't. There could be all sorts of information that the OP wasn't privy to. People tend to assume that they have all of the information available when they don't.

I don't think the OP was guilty of racism so much as a lack of critical thinking.

I didn't say OP was racist, I just don't think the physical description (and a very descriptive one at that) needed to be brought into the post. He could have easily had said two men in front of us had a blue light and were sent through. Why does their physical description have anything to do with them being sent through. I'm sure OP didn't mean it to come off as offensive, but I take offense to the detailed description of the two men he described in such detail. OP has no clue as to why these men were sent through, what the CM's might have known, etc. It is actually none of his business, but when you post something that others might find offensive (and some of us do and some don't) you have to expect there to be some disagreement.

I'm not going to say anymore, but I think this is going to get really ugly fast. I don't agree with OP's post and think it could have been posted with out the description he gave being so detailed. Why should OP care that 2 people were sent through with a blue light.

 

[PrincessNelly]

The description is important because their appearance was relevant. I agree that in a perfect world it shouldn't matter. I tried to be as inoffensive as possible. For what it was worth, both men acted like perfect gentlemen the short amount of time I was around them. I don't think they did anything wrong. My point is why were the CM's treating these two men differently than everyone else.

Why does their appearance matter? Appearance has nothing to do with whether or not they were let through.
You have no idea what was showing on the screen that could have caused the CMs to waive them through. Especially if it happened at multiple rides. For all we know, they could have been CMs themselves that they let through because they all work for the same company or a glitch with their tickets.

 

[summerw]

I recommend taking down your post. Let's pretend a moment that your suspicions are correct, there's no way to know that. If you'd stood by a scanner for an hour and found this to be true of multiple groups of similar looking people, maybe we could say that the cm working the scanner had some bias, but even then. So the only racism we can confirm here would be yours. You can racially profile someone in the nicest tone possible, but you're just making unfounded accusations. Do yourself a favor and abandon this ship.

 

[bc7ate9]

We were at Epcot with my best friend and her daughter a couple weeks ago. They had 1-day passes which I had added to our account and copied all of our FP+ to. The daughter REALLY wanted a Magic Band so we gave her one of my husband's old ones. We told her she still had to use her card to get on the rides, but she was so excited about having the band on and getting to scan it that she never remembered to do that. Every time, either she or my husband got a blue Mickey at the FP scanners since the bands were clones. We had her card handy in case the CMs ever cared, but they never did - just saw the blue Mickey and waved us on.

I know it's not the same situation, but my point is that CMs probably know what they're doing and choose their battles based on the day, the situation, their moods...whatever. I think mentioning the guests' race in the original post was unnecessary and doesn't come across well.

 

[BarbieGal457]

I'm not going to say anymore, but I think this is going to get really ugly fast. I don't agree with OP's post and think it could have been posted with out the description he gave being so detailed. Why should OP care that 2 people were sent through with a blue light.

I agree. If someone gets waived through with a blue light, oh well. It does nothing to affect me or my trip, and like PPs have said there are myriad reasons why it could happen. So it's going to delay me like 30 seconds? Really not a big issue to us at all. We don't know the circumstances and we aren't line/FP police, so why even worry ourselves with it? If there was truly an issue with the light being blue, it's Disney's job to figure it out/remove the possible "line cheaters" (I hesitate to say that but can't think of a better choice to describe people trying to "get one over" on the FP system, so to speak) and not mine to give a thought about.

I also don't understand why the description was needed and think it was truly unnecessary, but that is all I will say in regards to that.

 

[wilkeliza]

Blue lights can be a ton of different things. If they were using physical cards and not magic bands they probably had some sort of issue but still had their FP showing up. The CM probably saw on their screen that they were okay to go through and just let them go. Your daughter was stopped because she had a magic band and it did not read. They had her fix what they could so they got the green light. There is no "fixing" the cards. I personally would just let it go because you have absolutely no clue why their card kept turning blue when they approached attractions. Only the CM knows why they made the decisions they did and I can guarantee you it probably wasn't because they didn't want to tell these guys no because had the guest done anything they would have had security there pretty quickly.

 

[HopperFan]

Are you assuming because they look as you describe that the CMs were waiving them through because they were scared of them or intimidated? If so I totally disagree. Hey, under many of those Disney costumes are LOTS of tattoos and if you see them in their street clothes they are often way hipper and urban than you could imagine ... which is exactly why there is a Disney Look they have to comply with. And that scanner comes with a whole lot of power - fear the blue!

I'll take the positive angle and think that their appearance stood out to you and therefore you recognized them at other attractions. The fact that it happened repeatedly tells me that their screen indicated something to the CM that you would not be aware of, that's all. No need to make anything more of it. When my DS scans, it sometimes turns blue - and yes it says something on the screen different from yours.

 

[Rheinhold]

I'm still lost as to what these guys race, build, attire, etc needed to be pointed out. Or am I reading the comment section for Instagram?

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

And by including that physical description, your post implied that the CMs were scared of the big black guys. How is that not offensive?

Is it possible that these guests are professional athletes and were receiving special preference due to their celebrity status?

 

[AP1209]

 

[WIcruizer]

I don't think FP+ is any different than FP in this regard. Usually they are very strict about the time window, but I have witnessed times when people were early/late (And I know because I heard them) and they were waived through. It's not the end of the world, but I feel like a schmuck when I go out of way to make it one time, and others are waived through if they're "close enough."

But what bothers me even more is the technique of "My MB hasn't been working all day" and they get waived through. Guess what? Direct them to guest services then to get that addressed. I witnessed several people using that trick, and it's aggravating.

 

[deidre74]

The description is important because their appearance was relevant. I agree that in a perfect world it shouldn't matter. I tried to be as inoffensive as possible. For what it was worth, both men acted like perfect gentlemen the short amount of time I was around them. I don't think they did anything wrong. My point is why were the CM's treating these two men differently than everyone else.

Would you have asked this question if they were 2 big tattoo'd white men?
There are any number of reasons why they were waived through but to make a point of describing them is of course going to get most peoples minds to go in the direction that they have and I am sure you knew this. I notice you didn't decribe the CMs in specific detail.

 

[WIcruizer]

Would you have asked this question if they were 2 big tattoo'd white men?

I don't want to speak for the OP, but I'm assuming only if they looked like they had an "urban influence."