A little perspective on FP+

[Disney_Princess83]

The only place we ever heard the 20 per quarter for AP holders was a thread here. (I believe linked above) And since all discussion and said knowledge of it has ceased.

Disney has released no real information about the new system. All we know if mostly what people have reported through the "trial period" which is in no way a guarantee of what it will be like when it's actually happened. Almost all "information" about the new system is conjecture.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I think Disney not allowing FPs to be used after they have expired has prevented people from stockpiling them. They can not be used at any time after the start time anymore. And since FPs are only good on the day they are pulled, I find it hard to believe that there is a huge market of FPs being sold. Are there really that many people running around buyng FPs for their day instead of just heading to the park?? And besides, some of our FPs had to be used within an hour of bein pulled. How does anyone have time to pull those FPs, get them sold and the person that bought them get to the park to use them. I can't believe this is happening hundreds of time a day!! Another point is, I am a family 3, how can one person get enough FPs for the same ride for my family to ride all together for me to even buy?

 

[Mom2Destiny]

I'm excited to try the new system when we go in March.

 

[mom2rtk]

I'm glad to know that they care about me! But I'd swap the "care" for more FP's!

So would it be enough if you knew they cared....... AND gave you a pretty pink bracelet?

 

[meowmarie]

Did you guys know there is a whole market for buying fastpasses? I find it incredible that someone would pay money for them but there is. I don't know if the return time changed that system or not but for a while there were people making a ton of money for getting up early and going around and collecting fastpasses and then selling them. So I like that this system will hopefully take that away. So yes, there is a whole lot of people out there who do stockpile fastapsses. This might actually level the playing field. I do see that there is probably going to be a perk for people staying on property. It is a huge incentive for Disney to get people to property and to not have them leave for anything.

But there were ways of doing this without all the pre-planning and 3 ride/show a day limits. Just put the fast passes on our "magic band" instead of printing them. Don't want us running around the park? Make each fastpass bank be able to access all the rides, or even all the rides in that section. This complete overhaul seems unnecessary to me but I guess we'll see how it shakes out. The limits seem unfair, especially since they're the ones that got us used to this current system to begin with. More fair limits would be like 5 fast passes a day, no restrictions on "big ticket rides," and if you want us to be able to pre-reserve one parade or show a day I could get behind that if it doesn't come out of my ride allotment. If you want to get people off doing the same ride over and over then instead of limiting the number of big ticket rides how about not letting them get more than 3 fastpasses for the same ride in a day or something. Not great but better than 1 big ticket ride for the whole day?! Original point was there was just so many ways to go about this and I am confused by their choices, but it's here to stay for the time being. Hang on kids, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

So would it be enough if you knew they cared....... AND gave you a pretty pink bracelet?

It would have to be a VERY pretty pink bracelet! and maybe an extra FP or 2....

 

[mom2rtk]

It would have to be a VERY pretty pink bracelet! and maybe an extra FP or 2....

Oh, you people and your fastpasses! Can't you just let Disney save them for other people????? Just be happy that others will be riding those E-ticket rides. Can't we all just be happy WATCHING other people ride?

 

[Superspectral]

I did have one image in my head....
Instead of gathering my family's tickets and keeping them in my pocket to be the FP runner, I may find myself collecting and then marching through the park with a handful of bracelets to get FP+s from the kiosk...

MagicBand holders are expected to use MyMagic+ and their smartphones and/or web app to pre-book and/or change their FP+.

The big wildcard is that Disney has not really explained how the traditional FP system will change or even if beyond the transition period it will be continued; and how it will work in the RFID era. It seems reasonable to speculate that any and all FP, whether traditional or FP+ return, will be verified by RFID swipe.

At the moment, it seems as if Disney statements are MagicBand<=>MyMagic+<=>FP+ ; if you use FP+ you have opted out of traditional FP if it exists.

If traditional FP exists, it is not clear where and/or how you get them in the new system. I think MagicBand users can go to any kiosk, if they do not have a smart phone, and change their FP+. Maybe, if traditional FP exists, you can go to any kiosk to get a FP, maybe you have to go to only the attraction kiosk. This is just not clear. So maybe you'd need to take your non MagicBand RFID stack of cards at ropedrop just like today to go get your FP times.

It seems reasonable in the early stages of FP+ that it could coexist with FP (not the least of reasons is not all disney resort guests will have access to MagicBands). It is hard not to be suspicious that when FP+ because universally available to off-site guests too (offsite buying a MagicBand for a premium, similar to the Universal Front of the Line Pass), that the traditional FP system goes away and all you have is FP+ and standby. Furthermore, I'd speculate that you'd have to pre-purchase MagicBands, committing to using them several weeks in advance on exact dates, and that availability might run out for certain periods. The point is you can reserve 60 days in advance. They don't have too much utility bought the day of attendance.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Oh, you people and your fastpasses! Can't you just let Disney save them for other people????? Just be happy that others will be riding those E-ticket rides. Can't we all just be happy WATCHING other people ride?

If that's the case, there had better be a matching pretty pink tiara that goes with that pretty pink bracelet!

 

[dadddio]

I saw nothing wrong with the old fast pass system, where everyone had the same chance to get to rope drop and get the FPs they wanted.

Of course you didn't see anything wrong with the old system, neither did I. That's because you and I were both people who took full advantage of the old system. It's all the people who didn't get their 'share' of FPs because they couldn't/wouldn't/didn't take full advanatage of the system who saw something wrong with it. Since that group is likely bigger than our group and may even spend more per visit than we do, tptb made changes to maximize average satisfaction.

... The limits seem unfair, especially since they're the ones that got us used to this current system to begin with.

'Fair' is a very funny term. The old system was certainly 'fair' in that everyone had the same ability to get loads of FPs and as long as most people didn't take full advantage of this, then we could still get lots of FPs. The larger the number of people who did take advantage the more the rest of the people got dissatisfied because their average waits got longer as our got shorter. Still, the old way was 'fair', even if it did result in greater dissatisfaction in a large percentage of guests.

Of course, the new way is also 'fair'. It takes away some of our ability to maximize FPs, but it is fair.

I get your point that they set up the system that allowed us to maximize FPs and now they are changing the system to limit that very ability. I guess that this is Robo's fix of the fix. So be it.

More fair limits would be like 5 fast passes a day, no restrictions on "big ticket rides," and if you want us to be able to pre-reserve one parade or show a day I could get behind that if it doesn't come out of my ride allotment. If you want to get people off doing the same ride over and over then instead of limiting the number of big ticket rides how about not letting them get more than 3 fastpasses for the same ride in a day or something. Not great but better than 1 big ticket ride for the whole day?! Original point was there was just so many ways to go about this and I am confused by their choices, but it's here to stay for the time being. Hang on kids, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

A couple thoughts:

1. As far as I can tell, no official statement has suggested that we will only be allowed to receive one FP for an e-ticket ride per day.
2. They also haven't told us how many total FP+s we'll receive per day. A limit of three scheduled in advance has been mentioned, but there hasn't been mention of how many total will be available.
3. I don't see how allowing three FPs per day would solve the problem. Limiting them to one per day spreads them out to three times as many people resulting in reduced standby times.

 

[ArielRae]

When is this new booking the FPs ahead of time supposed to start?

Our trip is Feb 9th-14th should we be booking FPs now?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

When is this new booking the FPs ahead of time supposed to start?

Our trip is Feb 9th-14th should we be booking FPs now?

It's not bookable yet... stay tuned. There will be a bazillion threads on this board once it goes live.

 

[meowmarie]

I don't see how allowing three FPs per day would solve the problem. Limiting them to one per day spreads them out to three times as many people resulting in reduced standby times.

It just seems like it's just going to average out and not change much. Maybe I want to ride Space Mountain over and over but you want to ride Splash Mountain over and over, and the next person wants to ride Dumbo over and over. So instead of us riding our favorite rides over and over we just get spread out and each ride them all, does the over all load change? I dunno, I guess we'll see

 

[siskaren]

It's not bookable yet... stay tuned. There will be a bazillion threads on this board once it goes live.

You mean as opposed to now?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

You mean as opposed to now?

touche!

I mean there will be a bazillion thread titles of "I booked FP+ today!" "I used FP+ today!" etc

 

[mom2rtk]

It just seems like it's just going to average out and not change much. Maybe I want to ride Space Mountain over and over but you want to ride Splash Mountain over and over, and the next person wants to ride Dumbo over and over. So instead of us riding our favorite rides over and over we just get spread out and each ride them all, does the over all load change? I dunno, I guess we'll see

BINGO!

So instead of having 3 guests filled with magic and satisfaction at getting to experience their favorite ride several times, you'll get 3 guests mildly happy with their experience.

My daughter would give up 3 rides on TSMM for 3 on ToT. Yet that won't be an option.

 

[mom2rtk]

You mean as opposed to now?

Believe it or not..... yep. So maybe 10 bazillion instead of one cool bazillion.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Don't be silly, we all know the real end of the world arrives when Starbucks enters Main St.

I do have many questions, especially regarding AP Holders. I'm not going to panic yet either.

I'm with you! Not time to go insane just yet!

We are AP holders, DVC members, and stay onsite: do we get one allotment?? Two?? Three?? I vote for three...

 

[Miss Peach]

I see this as a return to the original way Disneyland worked. Until they were forced by local competition (Magic Mountain, primarily, and Knotts) to switch to an all access entry ticket, Disneyland used a ticket book system.

You could buy entry to the Park only (for non ride enthusiasts) or a ticket book entry.

One had a finite amount of tickets to each of the ride categories. Once used, you were done... UNLESS you purchased more at the ticket booths scattered throughout the park.

A tiered system, if you will. Those with more money had a "better" experience. Rode more rides, had less restrictions on their day.

When I met my husband I was dazzled by the discovery that in his family they purchased more tickets throughout their day, as needed! Wow! The decadent luxury of it all!

I think that Disney is trying to take us back to this, using a modern system.

I will be interested to see how it rolls out in WDW before it hits us at DL.

But since I do not think that worry is preparation, I am not going to worry about it!

 

[ArielRae]

Thanks for letting me know it has not begun yet.