All FP machines to be removed from Animal Kingdom by next week and....

[wisblue]

Have you ever tried it and see what position you get if you wait 5 minutes? 15 minutes? An hour?

Yes, there have been times when I haven't been able to get the boarding position immediately at the 24 hour mark. And, I've always gotten on the plane and always arrived at the destination at the same time as the people who paid for preferred boarding positions. So, while I try to get the best boarding position possible if I'm around, it doesn't ruin my day if I don't get a great one.

In that regard, the boarding position analogy is a good one for me. It's a small part of the overall trip, just like getting or not getting a FP for a specific ride is a small part of my overall day at WDW. If I don't get one, I will adapt, just like I would if a ride I intended to go on went down while I was there.

 

[Mad Hattered]

As long as we're into the math, what percentage of guests book their packages through travel agents?

Whatever the percentage is, whether its 2% or 15%, that is a percentage that will take away from what was traditionally available when the parks opened.

I believe the math would heavily favor the chance that foreign tourists use a TA more than in the US. The foreign attendance was up 7% last year. Math.

 

[clsteve]

As long as we're into the math, what percentage of guests book their packages through travel agents?

Large enough that there are, literally hundreds of TA's dedicated to Disney

Large enough that Disney brings brings many hundreds of TA's to WDW for expense paid "training" each year.

Combine that with the fact that upwards of 75% of foreign visitors utilize TA's (Disney seems to be doing pretty well with overseas, right now).

If it wasn't a statistically significant number, Disney wouldn't spend so much time wining, dining, training and incenting TA's, would they.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Large enough that there are, literally hundreds of TA's dedicated to Disney

Large enough that Disney brings brings many hundreds of TA's to WDW for expense paid "training" each year.

Combine that with the fact that upwards of 75% of foreign visitors utilize TA's (Disney seems to be doing pretty well with overseas, right now).

If it wasn't a statistically significant number, Disney wouldn't spend so much time wining, dining, training and incenting TA's, would they.

Not to mention (well, I guess I will) that when Potter's Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express opens in June there will be a huge influx of foreign tourists flooding the Orlando market. We all "know" that they add days at Disney because of the "When in Rome" syndrome that somehow naturally occurs. Guess what? I mean, it's not like Disney ever gets crowded in the summer.

 

[clsteve]

Not to mention (well, I guess I will) that when Potter's Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express opens in June there will be a huge influx of foreign tourists flooding the Orlando market. We all "know" that they add days at Disney because of the "When in Rome" syndrome that somehow naturally occurs. Guess what? I mean, it's like Disney ever gets crowded in the summer.

When you add in the TA's, the Reservation CM's, Disney's autoselect feature for FP+ reservations (and they seem to make it hard NOT to select what they want you to select), on top of the fact every bonus in Disney Marketing will be tied to the the success of advance FP reservations ('cause, that's just how it works with new campaigns) people are going to reserve these things.....

 

[Mad Hattered]

When you add in the TA's, the Reservation CM's, Disney's autoselect feature for FP+ reservations (and they seem to make it hard NOT to select what they want you to select), on top of the fact every bonus in Disney Marketing will be tied to the the success of advance FP reservations ('cause, that's just how it works with new campaigns) people are going to reserve these things.....

You have earned a GIANT pencil.

 

[wordwitt]

I prefer PFFFFT.

For the record, I was kidding. Not being a jerk. I really think we need to see how things shake out before we make dismal predictions, but I do appreciate the fact that people are skeptical of the changes. Change is hard enough, but WDW's roll-out hasn't been super suave. Count me among the (minority) who thinks things will be okay in the long run, though.

 

[wisblue]

When all is said and done, I simply don't care enough to get that tied up in knots over this.

If the doomsday scenario that you all are painting comes to pass, that means:

1. I will only be able to get FP+ reservations for popular attractions if I'm on the computer the second that they become available. And, even then, I may only be able to choose "B" level attractions.

2. Because of the scarcity of FP+ for popular attractions, thousands of guests who would otherwise dribble into the park as the day goes along will swarm the gates at least an hour before the stated opening time to fight for standby spots at the top attractions. Even if they were otherwise unable to get out of bed in time, their travel agents will call them at least two hours before they have to get up, and each 10 minutes after, to make sure they get to the park on time.

3. Because of this swarm of early arrivals, standby lines for the most popular attractions will reach 2 hours within 5 minutes of opening. Meanwhile, because of all of the FP+ reservations at lesser attractions, standby lines for those attractions will be at least an hour long all day. Even attractions without FPs will have waits of at least an hour because all of the people who couldn't get FP+ reservations for their favorite attractions will have nowhere else to go.

4. Even if I am fortunate enough to get a FP+ reservation for a popular attraction, the delays created by scanning magic bands will mean that it will take at least an hour to get through the FP line to actually get on the ride.

When I actually see evidence of these things happening, I will probably reconsider whether or not I want to visit WDW anymore. I could think about saving up my DVC points to use on a cruise or trips to Aulani, Hilton Head, and Vero Beach.

In the meantime, I will just keep an eye on what is happening and enjoy my trips just like I always have. We already take plenty of trips that don't involve Florida and WDW, and I'm sure we will find other things to do.

Good night all.

 

[clsteve]

You have earned a GIANT pencil.

I need to upsize my pocket protector

 

[wisblue]

When you add in the TA's, the Reservation CM's, Disney's autoselect feature for FP+ reservations (and they seem to make it hard NOT to select what they want you to select), on top of the fact every bonus in Disney Marketing will be tied to the the success of advance FP reservations ('cause, that's just how it works with new campaigns) people are going to reserve these things.....

Have you ever tried the Fast Picks feature?

When I have tried it, they have never selected Soarin, Test Track, TSMM, or RNRC. Maybe it was just chance, but it gave me the impression that if you don't pick yourself, they aren't going to give you the things that are most in demand.

Edit: Just for amusement, I just tried to make FP+ selections for January 30, clearly not a real busy day. When I selected Fast Picks for DHS, 2 of the 4 options gave me Fantasmic, and the other 2 gave me Beauty and the Beast as my Tier 1 attraction.

When I tried Epcot, it did give me Soarin for all 4 spots.

When I selected for myself, everything was available.

 

[Shaden]

You have earned a GIANT pencil.

Hey I brought up the TA's thing that started that downward spiral, and I got no Pencil !?!?!?

 

[Mad Hattered]

Have you ever tried the Fast Picks feature?

When I have tried it, they have never selected Soarin, Test Track, TSMM, or RNRC. Maybe it was just chance, but it gave me the impression that if you don't pick yourself, they aren't going to give you the things that are most in demand.

The foreign market is very aware of what is what in terms of attractions in Orlando. The boom started in 2010. They will be returning in force next summer. I'm pretty sure they are smart enough to know the difference between Test Track and COP. I think they will do the math for themselves.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Hey I brought up the TA's thing that started that downward spiral, and I got no Pencil !?!?!?

I apologize, Shaden. My bad.

Now, can we not bicker back and forth about who has the biggest pencil?

 

[Shaden]

Hahahahaha.

 

[Mad Hattered]

For the record, I was kidding. Not being a jerk. I really think we need to see how things shake out before we make dismal predictions, but I do appreciate the fact that people are skeptical of the changes. Change is hard enough, but WDW's roll-out hasn't been super suave. Count me among the (minority) who thinks things will be okay in the long run, though.

It's all good. I was just giving Shaden some crap. Had I remembered that I had previously given him crap then I would have given him the bigger pencil. It wasn't directed at you.

The "hater list" specifically called out 10 people here. Well, honestly it was only 9, because one of them was supposedly me as well. I hate fuzzy math. So it boils down to the fact that I wouldn't call anyone in the majority here.

 

[Silock]

When all is said and done, I simply don't care enough to get that tied up in knots over this.

I'll grant you that you aren't tied up in knots like some of us are (I'm definitely knotted), but you have like 100 posts in this thread. I think you care a little more than you are admitting here

I know your points here are greatly exaggerated to make a point, but I'll try to address what I believe you're really getting at.

1. I will only be able to get FP+ reservations for popular attractions if I'm on the computer the second that they become available. And, even then, I may only be able to choose "B" level attractions.

That's not exactly it. What is more likely is that the "good" times are going to be gone. Late afternoon/evening times will be gone before anything else, leaving little to no slots to switch to if you really need to.

2. Because of the scarcity of FP+ for popular attractions, thousands of guests who would otherwise dribble into the park as the day goes along will swarm the gates at least an hour before the stated opening time to fight for standby spots at the top attractions.

No, but there is no doubt that the advantage of rope dropping will be diminished.

3. Even attractions without FPs will have waits of at least an hour because all of the people who couldn't get FP+ reservations for their favorite attractions will have nowhere else to go.

Not an hour, but rides that used to have little to no wait will be pushed to moderate. If it happens to 3 rides, you are looking at an extra hour of time in line per day. Or, the loss of an hour in the parks, however you want to look at it.

The thing is, all of these are little things that add up to be big changes. On the face of it, just one of these things in isolation isn't so bad. But we're looking at less of an advantage of rope dropping combined with increased wait times for attractions that had small wait times before. So, that, in effect, compresses the day. Add in to that there's less flexibility and opportunity to FP rides later in the day, and you're looking at a very different experience.

None of this is going to keep me from going on my planned trip in February, because I'm not expecting huge crowds, so hopefully, I wouldn't need FP+, anyway. But I am concerned about going at other times of the year, and I can especially see how it will impact those that don't travel at the absolute lowest crowd times. I feel very badly for them!

 

[magicbob]

Goodnight Tozer.

If that's really your name!

Of course, as I pointed out earlier, the difference now will be that travel agents will be able to go on at 60 days out, and book FPs for their clients ... and they will. Even if the clients don't use the FPs, though, if someone actually GIVES them a schedule and says "go" chances are a lot more ARE going to use them.
We wont just be competing with the average first time Disney newb. We will be in the pool with the Travel agent with 300 Clients going for a Spring break vacation, going online at 60 days and starting to scoop up all the FP+s for their clients.

And if the "clueless" end up wasting their FP+ reservation, that was a FP+ that someone else would have liked to have. If someone gets the last available slot for the ride I want, I'm stuck in a 60+ minute standby line. If they don't show up for their reservation, the standby line will be maybe 30 seconds faster than it would have been. But if I had been able to get that reservation instead, I could have been doing other things during that hour or so instead of standing in line. So the argument that the standby line will move faster is of little consolation because I otherwise wouldn't have had to stand in that line.

The "hater list" specifically called out 10 people here. Well, honestly it was only 9, because one of them was supposedly me as well. I hate fuzzy math. So it boils down to the fact that I wouldn't call anyone in the majority here.

There's a list? Gee, I wonder if I made the cut? If not, I guess I need to try harder to foment doom and gloom!

 

[baileybrad]

Don't mind me.

I'll just be here for awhile.

Call if anything happens.

Please make mine a hot chocolate......a double please.

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

The foreign market is very aware of what is what in terms of attractions in Orlando. The boom started in 2010. They will be returning in force next summer. I'm pretty sure they are smart enough to know the difference between Test Track and COP. I think they will do the math for themselves.

Yeah, COP is a much more interesting attraction.

 

[baileybrad]

You were maybe only off by a few days, delmar.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/mymag...ning-next-week-at-disney's-animal-kingdom.htm

Disney's plan to take keep guests planning and spending just took a hit with this decision. Our family was on the fenced about burning a day on our unexpiring 10 day tickets on the 12/23. We will just avoid any parks and have a wonderful lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.

What Disney is doing is beyond deceitful.