***MyMagic+ & FastPass+ Official Information & FAQ Thread***

[corvair]

thanks i do have MDE
and do not see the fastpass+
i am going again in january so i guess i need to stay on top of this ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

amy

 

[csmommy]

I can see my past dining reservations from 2012 & at the bottom FastPass+ Experience.

 

[Rileygirl]

Well, so much of the work goes on behind the scenes, that just because the button is ineffectual now, or has issues, does not mean its not close to being solved. All they have to do is 'turn it on' when its ready. Thats pretty much instantaneous.

But, I totally agree that there seems so many errors and inconsistencies, and delays, they probably are having big time tech problems. It could be a while before anyone has to worry about it.

I have been pondering this though

Lots of money has been spent by Disney to get these magic bands going. As soon as they are implemented, its going to give them a savage return on funds, if RustyScrapper is right about the merchandise and food purchase thing. Right now, all Disney resort guests are able to use the RFID chip in their hotel key card to expedite spending (and support the casino chip mentality). Imagine then, when all park guests, on site or off site, are 'armed' (hehe) with magic bands. An immediate increase in revenues for the mouse.

I suspect that the tech staff is doing their all in order to get these suckers online and working. In fact, I have a mental image of the poor techies lined up like slaves on a viking ship at the oar, with the bean counters holding the whip.

We have discussed in the past that Disney will want to introduce this at a slower time of year, and that there will be some lead time, as people need to be able to book their fast pass in, well, advance. But, if the bean counters are running the show, and the premise that merchandising and food will be a significant increase in dollars for the mouse with magic bands, it could be that they just go live as soon as the tech people figure it.

I'm bored and just speculating.

Edited to add: They (disney) is already pretty far behind on their timeline. They were hoping for major testing to happen in Feb, and that fell through, and the only testing we have seen since is the little in April, and BOG I think. I think its way off the timeline. What about that bizarre press release last month Barry? Some exec talking like the product was there already. I seem to remember you commenting on it. Is it possible that they are more then a year away still? Or find out they cant do it all?

 

[mesaboy2]

I can see my past dining reservations from 2012 & at the bottom FastPass+ Experience.

Yay, I'm not alone!

 

[Fire14]

Several times. It may have something to do with my account, because my "past items" (reservations I had at one point or another) appear above the FP+ placeholder. The others who don't see FP+ I think also don't see any past items.

Exactly. "You don't seem to have any past reservations" in tiny print is all that is at the top of the screen.


We've to WDW many times, no past reservations show up and quite honestly I would be disturbed if they did! Nothing has ever been booked thru the website, always thru CRO and dining ressies this trip thru IPO. Dining ressies do show up in the proper spot. I have not 'linked' our current reservation, nor will I. I don't need the headache.

Yay, I'm not alone!

Just check my android phone Nothing under past ressie and I am positive they were there sun night.
Ipad shows a few of old dining res under past res and FP+ experience.

 

[csmommy]

Yay, I'm not alone!

Too bad we can't play with it.

Maybe being DVC plays into it.

 

[vleeth]

Guess I news to stay tuned to see what Sept brings.

 

[vleeth]

Need to, I need to stay tuned. Darn autocorrect.

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

I see the fp+ button as well. Not dvc so don't think that has anything to do with it! Weird!

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Edited to add: They (disney) is already pretty far behind on their timeline. They were hoping for major testing to happen in Feb, and that fell through, and the only testing we have seen since is the little in April, and BOG I think. I think its way off the timeline. What about that bizarre press release last month Barry? Some exec talking like the product was there already. I seem to remember you commenting on it. Is it possible that they are more then a year away still? Or find out they cant do it all?

FP+ is not, in and if itself, not the money maker so, IMHO, there is no reason, DISNEY, you cannot have touch to enter, touch to pay, etc and modify the darn FP machines to 'touch to FP'. Seems pretty darn logical to me.

 

[jar]

Going in mid-June and was really hoping to try FP+. Contrary to an earlier poster, I think it will make park hopping much easier, not harder since you can pre-reserve fastpasses for the 2nd park (as opposed to showing up at 3pm and finding all the good stuff gone for the day). Now have to change my plan -- I thought I could go to one park first thing in the morning without FP before lines get long and then get FP+ for the other park in the afternoon (for example,AK in morning then DHS because I don't want a full day there and want to see Fantasmic). But if we do DHS in afternoon, no chance of TSM so now we might have to skip it or find a morning to go to DHS. But if we pick a DHS morning just for TSM, then we don't get MK or EP during that prime time.

 

[bauer1168]

Thanks for the info you put together Andy! I have a couple of questions, don't think I've seen them on other threads so apologies if I've just missed them.

1. AP holders still get free parking at the theme parks don't they? If so, how will they be able to go through the cm at the parking lot entrance if they have the newly upgraded RFID from EPCOT or are using magic bands?
Will there be a stand with the Mickey logo just like outside the attractions with the FP+ tests, so they can swipe their RFID cards/magic bands?

2. As for resorts, and all the new features that will be implicated when this finally rolls out, will the Swan and Dolphin be included? I know they're not Disney resorts, but they get many benefits that guests at Disney resorts get, apart from DME.
Or will they not be included and stay the same way they are now (access to parks with EMH etc) ?

 

[bauer1168]

Thanks for starting this thread Andy. I was off the boards for Lent, and am still trying to get all caught up on the news!

I know nothing is set it stone, but wow July and early Aug. Seems like the height summer touring season is not the best idea for a roll out. But as you said, who knows if what they say today ends up being what happens tomorrow.

What has surprised me most about the information that has come out so far is the inability to reserve FP+ at more than one park if you have a park hopper ticket. As popular as that ticket option is (not to mention that APs allow for hopping as well), you think they would allow an extra reservation at another park or something to accommodate. Maybe it just isn't possible at this point.

Also curious if any knows if they will be allocating only a certain percentage of total FP+ available for the day to advance reservations? I don't recall seeing it being discussed in the threads I've read, but may have missed it, or more likely, it is an unknown. I can just imagine the large number of guests who show and purchase tickets at the park enter the park to find there are no FP+ available for the day for say BTMRR for instance being extremely disappointed in their Disney experience if there isn't something done to assure there are FP+ available on the day for all attractions. Or if you book something last minute (as I often do), and you run into the same scenario.

I'm guessing they will have a certain amount of same day FP+ slots available, as one of the things they've been pushing is the fact you can be in a park and change your FP+ times or attractions. Combine this with the possibility a certain amount of guests, who have slots for say, splash, then change to POTC, therefore opening up slots for splash

 

[bauer1168]

I'm curious how they will put FPs back into inventory from "those people who don't come and use their FP"? Won't the time-frame be past for those FPs? They can't take away your FPs before the end of your time frame, right?

And I don't see how they can reserve a large enough space for parade FP+s to accommodate everyone in the front, which is where they will want to be - I think you will find that people with parade FP+ will still claim their curbs early and wait, especially if they realize that the space is limited. I cannot imagine (for me) how awful it will feel if they start holding all of Main St for FP+ only - yuck! - and that is going to take a LOT of CMs to monitor.

I doubt all of Main St. would be reserved for FP+, I *think* during testing, it was around the hub. I went to DCA in March and got a FP for World Of Color, with a return time on it, to get a good view you had to be there pretty early to gain a good spot, guests were queuing up before they were let in. If you got there with your FP 10 mins before it started, you wouldn't have had a very good view.
I'm guessing if you FP+ the 3pm parade, and want to be at the front, there may be guests queuing up way before they are allowed in to ensure they get those spots. Could be wrong though, anyone here who did the parade during testing would be able to shed more light on it

 

[Rileygirl]

FP+ is not, in and if itself, not the money maker so, IMHO, there is no reason, DISNEY, you cannot have touch to enter, touch to pay, etc and modify the darn FP machines to 'touch to FP'. Seems pretty darn logical to me.

A big money maker will also be DATA, FORECASTING, CROWD CONTROL, CROWD DISPERSAL - all of which pre booked fast passes are needed. I thought originally that this would be the biggest money maker for Disney. But, merchandising and Food and Beverage could be equally as important.

I guess my point was, if they cant get the DATA aspect working for the fast pass system, will they still fire up the system just to make the F&B and Merch side making the money?

Just speculation.

 

[Fire14]

Thanks for the info you put together Andy! I have a couple of questions, don't think I've seen them on other threads so apologies if I've just missed them.

1. AP holders still get free parking at the theme parks don't they? If so, how will they be able to go through the cm at the parking lot entrance if they have the newly upgraded RFID from EPCOT or are using magic bands?
Will there be a stand with the Mickey logo just like outside the attractions with the FP+ tests, so they can swipe their RFID cards/magic bands?

THe new rfid AP's have colored stripe that tells cm if you get free parking or not. Once Magicbands come into play who knows maybe they will have something like sunpass readers at parking booths

 

[erionm]

1. AP holders still get free parking at the theme parks don't they? If so, how will they be able to go through the cm at the parking lot entrance if they have the newly upgraded RFID from EPCOT or are using magic bands?

THe new rfid AP's have colored stripe that tells cm if you get free parking or not.

Orange stripe = Parking
Black stripe = No parking

 

[tankin]

Ultimately, MyMagic+ is all about data folks. I was at a Disney Class last year and we were talking about it. Its the same philosophy as a frequent diner card or your discount card at a grocery store.

MagicBands make it easier for you to spend money and also track your spend (since you won't use a credit card).

FastPass+ makes it easy to spread out crowds and track crowd behavior. Its also the "Reward" for buying into the new system.

Touch to enter is also a reward for using the system but also lets Disney track exactly how you vacation.

Ultimately, they plan to use data mining techniques to figure out who are their "best" customers and reward that behavior with individual offers (like the post cards we all get now with individual codes). The difference is they are looking at your whole "spend" and giving you offers you might use.

Examples - A family might stay at the All-Stars but spend a ton of money on souvenirs. They would receive more offers to come back than the family who eats PB&J everyday and spends nothing.

Another example... Couple that spends a lot of time outside the parks in high revenue areas (think Spas and DTD) would receive offers to bring them down during low sales time.

Very big brother!

 

[wehavesix]

Yay, I'm not alone!

It's on mine too. So you are definitely not alone.

 

[monorailrabbit]

Well, so much of the work goes on behind the scenes, that just because the button is ineffectual now, or has issues, does not mean its not close to being solved. All they have to do is 'turn it on' when its ready. Thats pretty much instantaneous.

But, I totally agree that there seems so many errors and inconsistencies, and delays, they probably are having big time tech problems. It could be a while before anyone has to worry about it.

I have been pondering this though

Lots of money has been spent by Disney to get these magic bands going. As soon as they are implemented, its going to give them a savage return on funds, if RustyScrapper is right about the merchandise and food purchase thing. Right now, all Disney resort guests are able to use the RFID chip in their hotel key card to expedite spending (and support the casino chip mentality). Imagine then, when all park guests, on site or off site, are 'armed' (hehe) with magic bands. An immediate increase in revenues for the mouse.

I suspect that the tech staff is doing their all in order to get these suckers online and working. In fact, I have a mental image of the poor techies lined up like slaves on a viking ship at the oar, with the bean counters holding the whip.

We have discussed in the past that Disney will want to introduce this at a slower time of year, and that there will be some lead time, as people need to be able to book their fast pass in, well, advance. But, if the bean counters are running the show, and the premise that merchandising and food will be a significant increase in dollars for the mouse with magic bands, it could be that they just go live as soon as the tech people figure it.

I'm bored and just speculating.

Edited to add: They (disney) is already pretty far behind on their timeline. They were hoping for major testing to happen in Feb, and that fell through, and the only testing we have seen since is the little in April, and BOG I think. I think its way off the timeline. What about that bizarre press release last month Barry? Some exec talking like the product was there already. I seem to remember you commenting on it. Is it possible that they are more then a year away still? Or find out they cant do it all?

I must have missed this! Can someone elaborate please?