Mouse Expedition is the best!

[Mary09]

Since you can only get a FP every 2 hours, what does Brian do while you wait for your next window to open? Run to the other park and get one for you from there? Seems like he'd still have 90 mins. plus of down time. I guess he can serve multiple families at once, though.

I did the blanket thing for F! on Sat., for the first time ever. Mainly because I was tired of walking anyway so sitting there for 4 hours was fine with me. The roped area was probably full by 6pm or so? I didn't see any tarps.

I do prefer the WDW stadium for F! I got there 45 mins. before the show and picked my seat from an empty stadium. The show is better at DL, though, with the ships.

 

[dmband]

Time is money and IMO $50 to not have to sit for a few hrs to see a show is worth it
And I don't know what time of yr you guys have been to wdw but the times I typically go (busy season) you most def get blocked and redirected by people saving places in front of the castle and along the curbs.
at least people don't put out blankets, can you see a Brazilian tour group with their blankets

 

[DSNY4ever]

Interesting. But from a legal stand point, unless he has permission from Disney this is 100% NOT legal.

 

[rgnok]

Interesting. But from a legal stand point, unless he has permission from Disney this is 100% NOT legal.

Actually it would not be illegal. It would be a CIVIL matter. The service violates the terms of the entry ticket, which would give Disney the RIGHT to revoke the entry granted by the ticket (in other words, that would be the legal basis Disney would have for kicking him out of the park). But that is like violating the terms of any other contract, which, of course, is a civil matter, no a criminal matter. "100% not legal" implies a crime (since only crimes are illegal), and, again, this would be a civil issue, not a criminal issue.

By the way...I'm all for the service and will be using it. But no question it violates the ticket license.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Actually it would not be illegal. It would be a CIVIL matter. The service violates the terms of the entry ticket, which would give Disney the RIGHT to revoke the entry granted by the ticket (in other words, that would be the legal basis Disney would have for kicking him out of the park). But that is like violating the terms of any other contract, which, of course, is a civil matter, no a criminal matter. "100% not legal" implies a crime (since only crimes are illegal), and, again, this would be a civil issue, not a criminal issue.

By the way...I'm all for the service and will be using it. But no question it violates the ticket license.

Okay smartie pants, you know what I meant, haha I am sure this guy will be shut down eventually.

 

[rgnok]

Okay smartie pants, you know what I meant, haha I am sure this guy will be shut down eventually.

Not you, but a lot of people (even on other sites) question whether there is ANYTHING wrong with it, so I just had to tag along with your thoughts...not illegal, but 100% violation of Disney terms...

Me...I'm just hoping they keep going 'till after my next visit, so that I'll be able to speak first hand and know whether to be sad to see them go, or just not care

 

[coopersmom]

We just got back from a Disney trip where we used Mouse Expedition for FastPass running on an extremely busy Saturday (10/6.) By the way, there was no offer of, nor would I have accepted, any "line holding." We had great Fantastmic seats, got Fastpasses for all but two rides in both parks (and those only because they were down), and did 27 rides total, all without waiting more than 30 minutes for anything (and that was Jungle Cruise). And we did all this while also having a leisurely lunch and swim break midday. It was the most productive day, by far, we had in our week-long trip, including those that were far less crowded. While we rode non-FastPass rides, Brian went from park to park collecting FastPasses and periodically checking in with us. (We had already been in both parks when we met up with him at DCA on a non-EMH morning.)

As for Fantasmic seating ... Now that I've seen it at Disneyland, not only does Disney allow place-holding with blankets/tarps in the quite small lower area, they guard and defend them. Not letting people WITHOUT saved spots into the area at a certain point and removing people who aren't with the saved groups. When we arrived at about 8:15 PM, Brian and his girlfriend had, had the spot saved since before 6 PM and were front and center for the show and the following fireworks. We were amongst an entire field of people doing the exact same thing and there were many cases of 1 person holding a spot for a lot more folks (4-6 was most common), so it was hardly unusual. Plus, we still waited 45 minutes for the show to begin.

Frankly, I have zero problem with Brian's business model (which is kind of genius), but can't believe that Disneyland actually allows all this place-saving and holding, blocking off whole areas of the park to make it happen. Weird.

As for the "is it right?" argument ... If you think it's immoral to pay a FastPass runner or someone to save your spot, don't do it. I, personally, consider myself a very fair person and had zero problem with it. We broke no rules and I didn't feel we were "cheating" the system in any way, just using a third-party to get the most out of our day. Everything he did, we could have done ourselves, but it would have meant one member of our party missing out. That's where the payment comes in ... What Brian did for the day isn't exactly fun. For us, it was worth the cost to make our vacation more enjoyable.

We also did the dessert seating for Fantasmic on another day (my son had fallen asleep just as the show was starting the first time we saw it) and, in some ways, our view was better down below--for things like the pirate ship battle--and others I preferred the actual physical seat and raised viewing angle the dessert seating provided, even if we ate almost nothing from our boxes. (Though I did like them bringing us sodas and water.) We did not line up super early for this, though my husband did do it while my son and I rode pirates. We got front row on the far left side and returned to our seats a little bit later than the seats Brian saved.

I would highly recommend Mouse Expedition. Yes, it's all stuff you could do on your own, but having someone else to help out really made our life a lot easier. I'd use them again in a heartbeat.

 

[rgnok]

Coopersmom actually calls to mind the more serious point of my post above about the service not being illegal...I'm with her, in that I have no problem using the service. That's true even though I KNOW that the PROVIDER of the service is violating his ticket terms. My point was, that is a civil matter, and, if it ever came down to it, would be an issue between him and Disney. Now, if I believed that the provider was doing something ILLEGAL, I would never even consider using the service. For example, if he was offering $10 "admission" to the park and I showed up to meet him in DTD and he was leading me to some hole in the fence that he happens to know about and guiding me through that hole and into the main park area...ILLEGAL...trespassing...no gray area, and no way I would consider it. But, of course, that is not anything like what he's doing, and I still say good for him until Disney decides to put a stop to it!

 

[coopersmom]

While I agree that if Disney wants to shut something like this down, they certainly can. Honestly, I'd be shocked if Disney had a problem with it. Brian isn't selling anything other than his own time. "Technically," the people that run this or any other website, book, blog or podcast about Disney that use their annual pass to get in and do research, take pictures for, etc. for a commercial venture, are likely violating their fine print ticket terms. Anyone paid for their time while in Disneyland, would be "guilty" of the same thing Brian thing is. The people who put together the Touring Plans for the Unofficial Guide or any other non-Disney owned guidebook.

Brian isn't reselling anything Disney offers. He's just renting his time. He doesn't use his ticket to get you FastPasses--he uses yours, just as Disney prescribes--and uses his own ticket only to get himself, and himself alone, into each park ... Which is exactly what it's intended for and what he paid for when he bought the pass.

He's doing NOTHING even slightly shady. He's abiding by every Disney rule in place, while trying to get the most out of the system within their guidelines, based on personal experience and knowledge. The same thing that, let's face it, we are all doing here on these boards. Brian is just doing it for paying customers instead of family or friends. And, if I understand correctly, it started because he was doing the same thing for friends and family and they were, like, 'Wow, this is great. People would pay for this.'

What he does is no more "illegal" than any non-Disney tour guide. All those fabled Brazilian tour groups in Disney World have a "leader" ... Someone taking the group from ride to ride, show to show, and getting FastPasses. Which is EXACTLY what Brian does. And, guess what, Disney is well aware, and has ZERO problem with it.

I know zoology students who guide tours at the San Diego zoo. They don't work for the zoo. They simply love and know the zoo and have found a way to use that affinity to make a little extra money and share their knowledge. In return, the people that pay them get to see some things and hear some facts that your average zoo goer might not be able to manage. Is that also "illegal"?

I just don't get the outrage but, seriously, to each their own.

 

[Mary09]

I'm just curious what in the ticket agreement is violated.

Like I said, I've talked to people who sell very professional but home-made DVDs of shows in the parks, right on ebay, and they say Disney has no problem with it. I tend to believe them since it would be so easy for Disney to get ebay to prohibit those sales/listings.

I think Disney isn't crazy about the blanket brigade because they seem to have tried to avoid it for WOC, with the FPs and all. Then again, they could institute something similar for F! but haven't.

 

[rgnok]

I'm just curious what in the ticket agreement is violated.

I believe the line in the terms and conditions that would make this a violation is:

"Passports may not be used for commercial purposes "

Its found about midway through the "General" heading of the terms and conditions.

 

[mshrm]

Some of you people really crack me up. Just because y'all think your experts on EVERYTHING doesn't mean it's true. Stick with being helpfull and let Disney do its own policing.

Sounds like a great service and I'm glad I learned of it here. We go to DL every year at a cost of 10 grand for our gang and have yet to see fantasmic because no one will sit around for hours and I won't pay the 600 it would cost for the desert package. Heck I'd pay 50 to two people to hold our places since we're 10 and it would still be worth it.

Wow I had no clue about this service. I wonder are there other services that would make our trip great that I should know about? Someone mentioned gift baskets? I don't suppose there is a service where they will run around and pick .up meals for the family?

 

[Malcon10t]

Then again, they could institute something similar for F! but haven't.

Actually, they do with their VIP tours.

 

[pixiewings71]

Very interesting! It's appealing, particularly for F! The price for the dessert and seat for F! is outrageous, IMHO. Paying someone $50, instead of Disney over $200 for the dessert option (4 of us), seems like a dream come true. Especially since dd(9) and dh are gluten free - so the dessert box wouldn't work well for us.

I'm sure eventually Disney will find out about it and shut it down. And, truthfully, b/c it's something Disney could do themselves (picture CM FP runners!), and kinda' already does w. thefront of the line passes, and reserved seats for WOC and F!, they are completely within their rights to do so.

Great idea though. Wish I had a member in my party who didn't care about seeing or doing anything in the parks and was willing to hold places for the shows and parades for me!! For now, we'll waiting (im)patiently for our favorite shows, and hope people around us are polite and undestand that if you're there early you deserve the better view.

Just a quick fyi, if you have a gluten allergy Disney will give an alternate box to avoid possible issues. You simply have to let them know when you book it.

I've only been to WDW. This whole thread I've been thinking, "blankets? what?"

Good to know I should bring a blanket. I had no idea!

LOL I've been to DL quite a few times (see my signature) and I've never taken a blanket to save a seat for any show. You'll be fine. LOL

We just got back from a Disney trip where we used Mouse Expedition for FastPass running on an extremely busy Saturday (10/6.) By the way, there was no offer of, nor would I have accepted, any "line holding." We had great Fantastmic seats, got Fastpasses for all but two rides in both parks (and those only because they were down), and did 27 rides total, all without waiting more than 30 minutes for anything (and that was Jungle Cruise). And we did all this while also having a leisurely lunch and swim break midday. It was the most productive day, by far, we had in our week-long trip, including those that were far less crowded. While we rode non-FastPass rides, Brian went from park to park collecting FastPasses and periodically checking in with us. (We had already been in both parks when we met up with him at DCA on a non-EMH morning.)

As for Fantasmic seating ... Now that I've seen it at Disneyland, not only does Disney allow place-holding with blankets/tarps in the quite small lower area, they guard and defend them. Not letting people WITHOUT saved spots into the area at a certain point and removing people who aren't with the saved groups. When we arrived at about 8:15 PM, Brian and his girlfriend had, had the spot saved since before 6 PM and were front and center for the show and the following fireworks. We were amongst an entire field of people doing the exact same thing and there were many cases of 1 person holding a spot for a lot more folks (4-6 was most common), so it was hardly unusual. Plus, we still waited 45 minutes for the show to begin.

Frankly, I have zero problem with Brian's business model (which is kind of genius), but can't believe that Disneyland actually allows all this place-saving and holding, blocking off whole areas of the park to make it happen. Weird.

As for the "is it right?" argument ... If you think it's immoral to pay a FastPass runner or someone to save your spot, don't do it. I, personally, consider myself a very fair person and had zero problem with it. We broke no rules and I didn't feel we were "cheating" the system in any way, just using a third-party to get the most out of our day. Everything he did, we could have done ourselves, but it would have meant one member of our party missing out. That's where the payment comes in ... What Brian did for the day isn't exactly fun. For us, it was worth the cost to make our vacation more enjoyable.

We also did the dessert seating for Fantasmic on another day (my son had fallen asleep just as the show was starting the first time we saw it) and, in some ways, our view was better down below--for things like the pirate ship battle--and others I preferred the actual physical seat and raised viewing angle the dessert seating provided, even if we ate almost nothing from our boxes. (Though I did like them bringing us sodas and water.) We did not line up super early for this, though my husband did do it while my son and I rode pirates. We got front row on the far left side and returned to our seats a little bit later than the seats Brian saved.

I would highly recommend Mouse Expedition. Yes, it's all stuff you could do on your own, but having someone else to help out really made our life a lot easier. I'd use them again in a heartbeat.

But I can do all that by myself, and I have done it, and I've never ever ever waited more then 30-45 minutes for F! or fireworks. For WoC the longest I have waited was 45-60 minutes and we really didn't need to wait that long at all. So, this "service" isn't anything that I would find of value. Sure others might but I would not. I'm glad you did but I find this "sketchy" and wouldn't use it even if I wanted to.

I believe the line in the terms and conditions that would make this a violation is:

"Passports may not be used for commercial purposes "

Its found about midway through the "General" heading of the terms and conditions.

I'd rather give my kid something for being our FP runner then pay a random person who is likely violating terms of service. When he gets your FP do you give him your tickets? I mean, if you have 4 in your group and he's getting FPs for you and he's there with just his girlfriend then they can only get 2 FP......

 

[mouseymommy]

I haven't used his services yet, but from what I have read, you give him your ticket and gets a fastpass for you with your own ticket.

 

[coopersmom]

But I can do all that by myself, and I have done it, and I've never ever ever waited more then 30-45 minutes for F! or fireworks. For WoC the longest I have waited was 45-60 minutes and we really didn't need to wait that long at all. So, this "service" isn't anything that I would find of value. Sure others might but I would not. I'm glad you did but I find this "sketchy" and wouldn't use it even if I wanted to.

I'd rather give my kid something for being our FP runner then pay a random person who is likely violating terms of service. When he gets your FP do you give him your tickets? I mean, if you have 4 in your group and he's getting FPs for you and he's there with just his girlfriend then they can only get 2 FP......

I agree, you CAN do anything they did for us yourself--which is why I'm baffled by all the moral hand wringing here--it's just not fun.

When we were there, the Fantasmic lower area was closed off by the time we arrived back in the park to check in with Mouse Expeditions at about 7 PM. We spent an 1-1/2 hours using the FastPasses he'd collected earlier and then came back to the area and the spots he'd saved.

And, by the way, if you paid your child to hold spots or be the FastPass runner, you'd technically be doing the same thing Mouse Expeditions is (turning his entry ticket into a commercial venture) and it would be just as "sketchy" or as much of a technical terms-of-service violation. Don't get me wrong, I have zero issue with doing it, and don't think in a million years you'd ever (or should ever) get in trouble for it, just pointing out that prior knowledge/relationship with the person you're paying is really just semantics, so I don't see how one payment could be "right," and the other "wrong."

Oh and, yes, you do give him your tickets while you're in the park and doing other things and he gets the FastPasses for you, with your own tickets. That's probably the scariest part of the whole process, actually, handing those over.

Look, if Disney wants to shut this business down that is absolutely their right and I wouldn't try to circumvent that decision in any way, shape or form. Heck, just going to the new Disney World format of FastPass end time enforcement and eliminating seat-saving would make it worthless pretty quickly. But, as things currently stand, I have no qualms about what is being offered. I just don't see the unfairness.

 

[MommyLove]

While I agree that if Disney wants to shut something like this down, they certainly can. Honestly, I'd be shocked if Disney had a problem with it. Brian isn't selling anything other than his own time. "Technically," the people that run this or any other website, book, blog or podcast about Disney that use their annual pass to get in and do research, take pictures for, etc. for a commercial venture, are likely violating their fine print ticket terms. Anyone paid for their time while in Disneyland, would be "guilty" of the same thing Brian thing is. The people who put together the Touring Plans for the Unofficial Guide or any other non-Disney owned guidebook....

What he does is no more "illegal" than any non-Disney tour guide. All those fabled Brazilian tour groups in Disney World have a "leader" ... Someone taking the group from ride to ride, show to show, and getting FastPasses. Which is EXACTLY what Brian does. And, guess what, Disney is well aware, and has ZERO problem with it.

Great points and I have to agree.

 

[Nonsuch]

We just got back from a Disney trip where we used Mouse Expedition for FastPass running on an extremely busy Saturday (10/6.) By the way, there was no offer of, nor would I have accepted, any "line holding." We had great Fantastmic seats, got Fastpasses for all but two rides in both parks (and those only because they were down), and did 27 rides total, all without waiting more than 30 minutes for anything (and that was Jungle Cruise). And we did all this while also having a leisurely lunch and swim break midday. It was the most productive day, by far, we had in our week-long trip, including those that were far less crowded. While we rode non-FastPass rides, Brian went from park to park collecting FastPasses and periodically checking in with us.

October 6 was a very busy day with waits over an hour even for fast loaders like Pirates and Haunted Mansion
I was part of a Premium VIP tour on that day, and it seems you achieved almost the same benefits at a fraction of the cost.

I might try Mouse Expedition in December (if Disney ever announces details about Candlelight).

 

[pixiewings71]

I agree, you CAN do anything they did for us yourself--which is why I'm baffled by all the moral hand wringing here--it's just not fun.

When we were there, the Fantasmic lower area was closed off by the time we arrived back in the park to check in with Mouse Expeditions at about 7 PM. We spent an 1-1/2 hours using the FastPasses he'd collected earlier and then came back to the area and the spots he'd saved.

And, by the way, if you paid your child to hold spots or be the FastPass runner, you'd technically be doing the same thing Mouse Expeditions is (turning his entry ticket into a commercial venture) and it would be just as "sketchy" or as much of a technical terms-of-service violation. Don't get me wrong, I have zero issue with doing it, and don't think in a million years you'd ever (or should ever) get in trouble for it, just pointing out that prior knowledge/relationship with the person you're paying is really just semantics, so I don't see how one payment could be "right," and the other "wrong."

Oh and, yes, you do give him your tickets while you're in the park and doing other things and he gets the FastPasses for you, with your own tickets. That's probably the scariest part of the whole process, actually, handing those over.

Look, if Disney wants to shut this business down that is absolutely their right and I wouldn't try to circumvent that decision in any way, shape or form. Heck, just going to the new Disney World format of FastPass end time enforcement and eliminating seat-saving would make it worthless pretty quickly. But, as things currently stand, I have no qualms about what is being offered. I just don't see the unfairness.

Ah and here is where we disagree, I think it IS fun to do all that yourself. lol Except waiting for hours for shows, but again, we don't do that. I've been lucky enough to go a lot so we skip it if the crowd is huge. I also know of a few "hidden" places to watch so we can walk up about 30 minutes before and wait and have a great view of the show(s). However, if I was not able to go so much it would be a more valuable service. I understand why you did it, I just wouldn't do it.
As for paying my kid, I mean in the terms of dessert or a pin, not money. LOL Even if I did pay my kid for doing it it's not the same as paying someone else who is selling a service. Paying my kid is more like giving them an allowance, not paying for a service.
I can say there is absolutely 100% no way I would give this man my park tickets, to me that's just asking for trouble. Even with the new security measures (names printed on the tickets, signatures required, ID checks) I would not feel comfortable with that at all.
I understand it worked fine for your group and it seems like he's trustworthy as many seem to have used his services, but that's just not something I'd do.

 

[rsleleux]

Brian is honest and reliable! We followed his itinerary, and he offered to start our day out right by being our runner to get fast passes to RSR and SM! What a nice surprise when he met us with additional FPs to star tours and soaring! Having him as our fast past runner allowed my family to stay together and give my son the best birthday ever!!