Fast Pass Plus Episode...Are they kidding?

[monorailrabbit]

Originally Posted by doconeill

No one knows _exactly_ how it will work yet, since it hasn't started yet other than tests - and we know from what Disney _has_ posted it won't work exactly how it did in the tests (test allowed for use of regular FP as well - we know this will not be the case).

The reason why regular FP won't go away, at least in the short term, is it will take time to roll out MM+/FP+, and in the meantime everyone else needs to be able to get something. But once everyone _can_ use MM+/FP+, I'm expecting regular FP to go away. Some portion of FP+ might mimic FP to some extent, but that's a guess.

Oh I know... that's why I want this to roll out so people can use them and shower us with knowledge! Until then it's all circles and circles of speculation

[Friendly Frog]

I was selected as part of the fast pass test in December. The main thing that I didn't like about it was that it told you which rides you could select from each category. One of the categories did not contain anything that I cared to do.

[dansyr2514]

I'm a planner, so all the pre planning doesn't bother me. I live for if... Lol! Actually planning the trip is part of the fun for me.
As far as first timers not knowing about all the pre planning..... Well, we have that now with adr's and such. I also think since the program is new, there will probably be more info out about what is needed and when, than ever before.
I find it hard to believe that Disney will shut out any guest from getting fastpasses since the whole idea of a fastpasses is to free up a guest's time so they can spend more money.
Now as far as extra fastpasses for level of resort... I'm completely against this!!! You pay the price you do for the amenities of your resort.... Not for special treatment in the parks! I'm with Nikki .. We stay dvc generally. I wouldn't be able to afford staying deluxe if we didn't.
Honestly, I don't even use fastpasses all that much. But, if they create this " class system" it would offend me enough to just stay offsite. I can spend less at a 2 bedroom at Wyndham bonnet creek than all star resort... So if I'm basically going to get the same number of fastpasses, I'll stay in luxury and Disney will lose a resort customer.

[DVCJones]

All this talk about planning FP+ 60 days out has me worried. We leave in 52 days for WDW. Have they started this already? Should I be doing something now for FP+?

I have read that FP+ is not fully running, but what are the chances of it be up an running in April? The last thing I want is to find out once I get there that I should have planned something weeks ago.

BTW, we have 10 day hopper/no Exp. tickets from AAA. And stay DVC. Will that matter?

Thanks

[doconeill]

Originally Posted by DVCJones

All this talk about planning FP+ 60 days out has me worried. We leave in 52 days for WDW. Have they started this already? Should I be doing something now for FP+?

I have read that FP+ is not fully running, but what are the chances of it be up an running in April? The last thing I want is to find out once I get there that I should have planned something weeks ago.

BTW, we have 10 day hopper/no Exp. tickets from AAA. And stay DVC. Will that matter?

Thanks

When it starts, it will be all over the DISboards. There were some rumblings that they were finally ready to start the initial rollout test, but we're still waiting to hear if it has happened yet.

It is supposed to be rolled out on a resort-by-resort basis. There is no way to know which resorts will get it when right now - and whether it will be available to all guests or a subset for now. So even if it starts, you may not be part of the rollout. And during the rollout at least, you are supposed to be given the option of NOT taking part and using the old system (but that means no MagicBands).

The fact that you got a ticket through AAA should not matter right now. When guests who do not have packages are eligible, there will be a way to enter the barcode ID of the ticket in MyDisneyExperience website, which will then make FP+ choices available to you. We don't know exactly how or when this will work.

[DVCJones]

Thanks doconeil!!! I guess I will have to stay tuned to the Dis for updates.

I like the idea of having a choice to use the old FP system. I know how to use that to the fullest extent.

[smphbear]

We just got back. They need to settle the glitches with the RFID cards before this gets used on any larger scale. Our cards only got us in our room. They didn't work for entrance or charging. We found this out trying to get into AK. When I asked who could fix it, the lady of the gate said no one. I went to the concierge desk at our resort. The guy had to get a manager because he didn't know what was going on. They ended up issuing us new tickets. We saw others having issues with the cards. They need to get this fixed. They also need to beef up the in park wi fi if they are really thinking people will be able to use it to adjust on the fly. There were many times where you were connected, but it just didn't have any kind of speed. The room wi-fi was great.

[seashoreCM]

One problem with wifi is that it slows down when too many people are using it.

(copied from another forum) Here's a fair way to let Fastpass Plus guests get more fastpasses. Allow use of regular fastpass but use the lockout period. You know, the up to 2 hour delay between fastpasses. If you use FP+, then there is a lockout period equal to two hours times the number of FP+ selections you did make, from the time you enter the park. Say you entered at 10 AM. If you selected two FP+s your first regular FP will be available at 2 PM. (Maybe earlier if the FP+ rides you chose have shorter lockouts or the ride you want another FP for has a shorter lockout, but not earlier because the FP+ times you chose came sooner.)

Originally Posted by smphbear

We just got back. They need to settle the glitches with the RFID cards before this gets used on any larger scale. Our cards only got us in our room. They didn't work for entrance or charging. We found this out trying to get into AK. When I asked who could fix it, the lady of the gate said no one. I went to the concierge desk at our resort. The guy had to get a manager because he didn't know what was going on. They ended up issuing us new tickets. We saw others having issues with the cards. They need to get this fixed. They also need to beef up the in park wi fi if they are really thinking people will be able to use it to adjust on the fly. There were many times where you were connected, but it just didn't have any kind of speed. The room wi-fi was great.

So you had to go all the way back to your resort? Shoulda asked for more fastpasses from your resort concierge. At least three per person. On separate vouchers so if you had FP+ the extras would still work. Really, Guest Relations outside the turnstiles shoulda invented or conjured up something on the spot when you first got there. (PM me for a suggestion of what that might be.)

[roomthreeseventeen]

Originally Posted by smphbear

We just got back. They need to settle the glitches with the RFID cards before this gets used on any larger scale. Our cards only got us in our room. They didn't work for entrance or charging. We found this out trying to get into AK. When I asked who could fix it, the lady of the gate said no one. I went to the concierge desk at our resort. The guy had to get a manager because he didn't know what was going on. They ended up issuing us new tickets. We saw others having issues with the cards. They need to get this fixed. They also need to beef up the in park wi fi if they are really thinking people will be able to use it to adjust on the fly. There were many times where you were connected, but it just didn't have any kind of speed. The room wi-fi was great.

So you had to go all the way back to your resort? Man, I would be peeved.

[smphbear]

We did not let it interfere with Park Time. They do have these hand held scanners at the gate in case the RFID doesn't work, but you have to be pulled aside to get admitted.

We got in and went back to the hotel in between parks.

The FP+ part isn't active yet, but I have to say I am glad that it was not rolled out with us being in the early phase. I think there is still a fair amount to work out. I am also not sure that I am very excited about FP+. It just seems to make it harder to adjust on the fly. I am glad that it will be something I know more about before I am back at the world.

[Hunclemarco]

Just posted on the DIS in the updates section: http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2013/02/17/d...s-for-mymagic/

Guess this only adds to more speculation

[JimmyV]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

So because my family chooses to rent a 3-bedroom house in Kissimmee rather than cram ourselves into a 400 sq. ft. room at Grand Floridian (for 4 or 5 times the cost), we are not going to have the same access to rides in the parks. I'm not okay with that.

Of course you are not OK with that. But Disney is, and should be. Disney has to look at this as rewarding people who funnel their money to it instead of redirecting that money elsewhere. Not that this necessarily describes you, but a person who rents a property with a kitchen off-site, who eats breakfast at the condo, packs a picnic lunch, eats dinner back at the condo and buys their ticket from UT gives Disney nothing but the cost that UT paid for the park ticket, plus perhaps a parking fee. Basically $300 per person for a week. $1,200 for a family of four. A similar family who stays 7 nights at a Deluxe, buys their ticket from Disney, and eats most of their meals on property will spend upwards of $7,000 for their vacation. In the eyes of the corporation that is trying to realize as much profit as possible from each visiting family, is it wrong to offer an extra perk to the family spending that much? It isn't as if the off-site guest is having anything taken away. They just aren't getting the bonus. The bonus is an incentive for you to stay on site and spend more money. That's good business.

On an airplane, you could have no fewer than four types of passengers.

• The person who never flies on that airline, but got a great deal on a heavily discounted seat.
• The person who flies on that airline very often and spends thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars on tickets each year, but who also bought a heavily discounted ticket.
• The person who paid full fare for their ticket.
• The person who bought a first class ticket.

Each of these people is entitled to board the plane and each is entitled to arrive at the same final destination. But each of these people is going to have a different experience in terms of seat selection, free drinks, a meal, free luggage allowances, etc. To think otherwise is silly. And the person who stays off-site is entitled to gain admission to the park and is entitled to ride TSM, just as the Deluxe guest is. But there is little reason why their experience should be identical. The same logic would hold true for Deluxe vs. Value resorts, except the Value guest should still stand in better shoes than the off-site guest for the reasons stated. The Dining Plan has worked like this for years. During free dining, Deluxe guests get a bigger benefit than the Value guests, and this is indeed a benefit that transfers with the guest even as they move away from the resort. It carries with them to the parks. The big difference is that with the Dining Plan, Value guests have the option of paying to upgrade the experience, which is an option that I would love to see if indeed the FP+ system evolves in a way so as to allow Deluxe guests to have more passes. Everyone who stays on-site should be permitted to pay out of pocket to achieve that same result.

[ChrisFL]

Originally Posted by Hunclemarco

Just posted on the DIS in the updates section: http://blog.wdwinfo.com/2013/02/17/d...s-for-mymagic/

Guess this only adds to more speculation

My head hurts already and I've only read half of it.

I realize that a lot of this is proprietary calculation information from guest activities, etc. etc., but good luck to the CM's whose job it is to explain this stuff!!

[pdarrah]

Originally Posted by JimmyV

It isn't as if the off-site guest is having anything taken away. They just aren't getting the bonus. The bonus is an incentive for you to stay on site and spend more money. That's good business.

This is where we disagree. There is a very definite finite limit on the number of fastpasses available. If Deluxe guests get more, then there are fewer available for everyone else. ALL guests are paying the same admission to the park (well with some variation on 1-day vs multi-day costs per day) - if you want to go to the airplane analogy, if every single person on the plane is paying the same fare - is it OK for some guests to get drinks, but others don't get anything?

We don't know yet how they will implement FP+, but there does have to be a limit on the number available for a single ride, just as there is for regular FP now. Very popular rides like TSM or Soaring run out of FP very early in the day, however ANY guest has a chance at getting those FP. If Deluxe guests get extra FP+ that is a LOT of them - think how many rooms there are - and odds are most will go ahead and sign up for their full allotment even if they aren't sure they will use them "just in case" they do want to ride. That will be a LOT of FP for popular rides that are not available to anyone else. The more that are pre-assigned, the fewer that will be available for any kind of "day of" systems (either regular FP or some new version of FP+ that you can get in the park at a kiosk or something)

So, YES, the off-site, value or moderate guest would having something taken away - they would have a much lesser chance of getting that FP that they used to be able to get.

Dining is quite different - off site guests can still make a reservation and eat in a restaurant without a dining plan. As you said, during "free dining" a Value guest can choose to pay more and upgrade the plan. Those of us who dislike the dining plan are free to make reservations and dine in any restaurant we want.

[JimmyV]

Originally Posted by pdarrah

There is a very definite finite limit on the number of fastpasses available. If Deluxe guests get more, then there are fewer available for everyone else.

Not necessarily. Most people who have thought this through are concluding that the new allotment of 3 FP+ per day would be fewer FPs than they are used to, especially if one or more are for lower-tier attractions or events such as parades. If that turns out to be the case, then Disney has a lot of extra FP+s to play with, either through dissemination of same-day passes, or as incentives to specific customers. In other words, if on a typical day, guests use 10,000 FPs, but the new system doles out only 7,000 in advance, then giving Deluxe guests the other 3,000 doesn't result in fewer being availabe for non-Deluxe guests. We just have to wait and see how this plays out.

ALL guests are paying the same admission to the park (well with some variation on 1-day vs multi-day costs per day) - if you want to go to the airplane analogy, if every single person on the plane is paying the same fare - is it OK for some guests to get drinks, but others don't get anything?

But from the corporation's standpoint, is park admission price the primary factor to look at, or is it total income derived from the complete vacation package? Back to the airplane analogy. In a vacuum, if every passenger paid the same price for that specific flight, you would think that they should all be treated equally. But if you broaden your view, and see that 10 passengers, while having paid the same fare as you on that flight, also generated $10,000 of additional income from flights earlier in the year, shouldn't they be rewarded? Does that extra revenue count for nothing? In the narrow view, a particular individual could take 200 flights a year and aways pay the lowest fare, but the cumulative effect of all of those flights counts for nothing since that person is always paying the same as everyone else on each particular flight. Rewarding expenditure does not work that way. Perhaps Deluxe resort status should only count as one factor in deciding how to reward loyalty. Maybe total times visited and total dollars spent over that time should count as well. I'd love to see a system where a family that has spent $10,000 over years and years of "Value" visits rewarded over a Deluxe guest who is there for the first time. But in the end, dollars spent will and should matter to the corporation.

We don't know yet how they will implement FP+...

On this, we agree!