All The New Developments

[Mad Hattered]

People get so wrapped up into this ish, and forget what a WDW VACATION is all about.

Phones?

 

[Angel Ariel]

Well... Yeah. The rides and the experience of walking through Disney is an illusion. I don't care that the CMs don't like the new MM+. I am not a CM. If I were I would care. They can be grumpy all they like inside but if on the outside they're still making my day magical that's what I see. So the MM+ experience has been tough to implement for the CMs. Sorry. But I'm not the one implementing it. I'm enjoying the fruits of their labor. And it's working for me.

the things that are bugging CMs aren't just affecting CMs, though. for example, the issues with the RFID entry. I'm sure there's more to it than what guests experience, but what I experienced at Epcot in March was all of the turnstiles going down and being delayed entry to the park by 30-45 mins because of it. CMs were hand marking every ticket to show entry. That's *got* to be frustrating for CMs, but it was also highly frustrating for us as half of our party was already inside Epcot and we were trying to meet up with them to ride TT. I never did get to ride it on that trip.

it is my concern when the glitches with the program impact my vacation.

 

[BayouMickey]

Phones?

and apps!

 

[UNCFanatik]

As I said in another thread..we went in March and had plenty of spontaneity on our trip. We ended up canceling a few ADRs because we decided to spend our time elsewhere, we pulled FP as we came to a ride and felt it necessary, etc.

I think it's a bit misleading to say that there's no spontaneity in a WDW trip. There can be, as things stand right now. I have legitimate concerns about the over-planning direction that Disney is pushing onto guests. Someone else in the thread stated that Disney is giving guests what they wanted, yet for years people have always come to me pretty stressed out when they realize that they need to make ADRs for certain experiences so far in advance (like CRT). I can't imagine how stressed out they'd be at the idea of scheduling ride times 2 months ahead.

I would say that even the act of pulling FPs in the past is not true spontaneity. You are making an "appointment" to return later.

I wouldnt say there is no spontaneity at all in a Disney trip but it is very limited especially during the busiest times of the year if someone really wants to have a great experience. There has to be some sort of planning even what time to eat or general order of rides or what time a particular show or event starts.

I get that people are stressed about the thought of planning attractions 60 days out and can break out their slide ruler and abacus to formulate a calculus equation to prove that there is no way their will be enough capacity for FP+s in advance and to have same day options.

I am just in the wait and see camp to see how all this fleshes out in the end and how Disney executes and adjusts along the way.

 

[TDC Nala]

My great experience is different from someone else's - I just spent 4 days at WDW and I didn't go on a single ride. Nor did I try to. I also didn't visit any park other than Epcot (was outside DHS to get a bus a couple of times). And it was a great experience.

So I'm waiting and seeing - I may not need that kind of planning, nor care if I have it.

 

[luvmy3]

I would say that even the act of pulling FPs in the past is not true spontaneity. You are making an "appointment" to return later.

I wouldnt say there is no spontaneity at all in a Disney trip but it is very limited especially during the busiest times of the year if someone really wants to have a great experience. There has to be some sort of planning even what time to eat or general order of rides or what time a particular show or event starts.

But that is just your opinion, most likely based on how you vacation. For some of us, we dont need to plan a ton in order to have a great experience. Sure I know what I'd like to do when I get there, and I do have a few ADRs due to the fact that I know I wanted to eat at 2 certain restaurants. I know of a few CS places I'd like t try, but who knows if we'll make it to them. We arent following a touring plan, we arent going to rush in at RD and run across the parks to get our FPs for this that and the other. I have no idea what rides we should even ride first, second, third, etc. We'll probably sleep late everyday, or maybe not. We'll stroll in whenever and decide what to do then, and we will have a great experience because that is how we like to vacation, even at someplace like WDW. I guess its all in what you consider planning, to me knowing where I'm going to eat 3 times over the course of my week, and knowing what rides I'd like to ride don't equate to much planning at all and equals a whole lot of spontaneity on my trip.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I would say that even the act of pulling FPs in the past is not true spontaneity. You are making an "appointment" to return later.

I wouldnt say there is no spontaneity at all in a Disney trip but it is very limited especially during the busiest times of the year if someone really wants to have a great experience. There has to be some sort of planning even what time to eat or general order of rides or what time a particular show or event starts.

I don't see things that happen that day as planning...planning as has been talked about here has, IMO, been referring to planning *ahead*. Once I'm in the park, yes, I'll form an idea of what we're doing. we don't wander aimlessly. But there's a *huge* difference between making decisions the day of, when you're *in* the park (seeing the weather, seeing how your kids are currently acting, seeing what the crowds and flow truly are, etc), and making those same decisions 60 days in advance.

Those decisions the day of are based on what you're seeing and experiencing at that moment. 60 days in advance, those decisions are pretty much completely arbitrary as any number of things can change between then and arriving at the park.

I get that people are stressed about the thought of planning attractions 60 days out and can break out their slide ruler and abacus to formulate a calculus equation to prove that there is no way their will be enough capacity for FP+s in advance and to have same day options.

Just as there is no way to prove there will not be enough capacity for same day FP+, there is also no way to prove that there will be. Both are assumptions.

 

[saquin]

Dipping my toes cautiously into the "planners" vs. "non-planners" waters...

I just wanted to throw my perspective out there as a "non-planner" who is looking forward to FP+.

I usually go on mother-daughter trips with my 72 year old mom. She's a young 72 but still her feet get tired with long days of walking and we don't love rushing around, etc.

We make no ADRs, no table service meals at all, really. We're very easygoing and like to just graze and grab counter service meals as we wander (sometimes even having an ice cream sundae for lunch )

The only thing I really plan is to avoid whatever the busiest park is each day.

We like to stay in the Epcot resorts (usually Beach Club) because we like to wander into Epcot every evening.

The two rides she really loves are TSMM and Soarin'. Both are a problem for us, with the current system.

For TSMM we either have to get there at rope drop, put on our running shoes and fight the crowds (which we do not like to do on our relaxing vacation. We hate the long lines at entry, and the crush of people, to get there for rope drop, and we also like to sleep in past 7:30 or 8am sometimes) or end up with a fastpass return time that is so much later in the day that we'd have to spend hours in a park that doesn't hold much appeal for us beyond a couple of attractions (leaving the park and returning later for the FP time is not an option. Too much traveling back and forth).

Getting on Soarin' with our touring method is also a struggle. We only go into Epcot in the evening. (We only stay at WDW for 4 nights so like to go to one park in the morning, and then Epcot in the evening. We like a park in the evening that we don't have to wait on a long bus line to leave. Walking back to the Beach Club at night from Epcot is ideal for us). By the time we wander into Epcot, fastpasses are usually gone for the day. So our only option is waiting on an hour-long line or skipping it.

FP+ would allow me to look at the busy days, book TSMM for a day we plan to go to HS, and book Soarin' for a couple of our evenings. I'd probably make a few more FP+ reservations since we're allowed up to 3 but those are the only ones that are really important to us.

No, it would not mean we're planning our days down to the minute, no I'm not an obsessive planner, but the ability to make those reservations would allow us to actually have the more relaxed, spontaneous, "go with the flow" vacation we prefer.

 

[jerivera]

Is anyone here really surprised?

I mean, is it really a surprise to anyone that a major company, out to make money, is doing things like introducing major system changes too fast, rushing everything, stressing their employees out, cutting corners, not listening to low level employees, likely having cross-departmental battles, and having managers doing incredibly dumb things just to defend their turf?

That's like describing any other Fortune 500 company out there.

I work at another Fortune 500 company, and it's the same stuff there. We bear with it, because it's a job. We produce a product, and folk consume it. Regardless of what we think of the company (you do not want to know what I think of mine!!!), that side of the house is never seen by the external customers, who happily continue doing business with us.

I guess what I'm getting at is, Disney is a corporation. They do what they do very well, otherwise none of us would be here on Disboards looking up info on Disney. There is always going to be ugly stuff going on behind the scenes. But they generally do an excellent job of keeping it just that, behind the scenes. And what they do not only does it impact their bottom line, usually positively, but it's usually loved by us, the customer, as folk who have actually used the new FP+/MB system can attest to.

Something tells me if I dug deep enough on the Boards, I'd find folk complaining like crazy about FP- when it first went in (if Disboards was around back then anyway).

So folk, let Disney work out the bugs. It will work out. It may not work out that well for the employees, which sucks mightily (as it does for anyone who works at a company like this... and believe me I can empathize, which is why I NEED my week at Disney), but what matters to us is the end result. And I'm guessing, based on actual users, that the end result will be good.

 

[Angel Ariel]

No, it would not mean we're planning our days down to the minute, no I'm not an obsessive planner, but the ability to make those reservations would allow us to actually have the more relaxed, spontaneous, "go with the flow" vacation we prefer.

This is assuming you can pre book those at your 60 day mark. I'm not making the assumption that you won't be able to, but I'm not going to make the assumption I will be able to either. After my experience trying to get BoG at 180 days, it would not surprise me to find myself unable to prebook a FP+ for soarin or tsmm.

 

[Vertical]

the things that are bugging CMs aren't just affecting CMs, though. for example, the issues with the RFID entry. I'm sure there's more to it than what guests experience, but what I experienced at Epcot in March was all of the turnstiles going down and being delayed entry to the park by 30-45 mins because of it. CMs were hand marking every ticket to show entry. That's *got* to be frustrating for CMs, but it was also highly frustrating for us as half of our party was already inside Epcot and we were trying to meet up with them to ride TT. I never did get to ride it on that trip.

it is my concern when the glitches with the program impact my vacation.

Yes, absolutely. But there's a risk of breakdown of the current system as well. Yeah the new changes introduce new risks but ... 'Stuff' happens.

If its simply bad experience after bad experience and problem after problem for everyone involved then it won't last.

As to the PP who provided links to other forums where other people are griping, I meant forums in general, not just DIS. That's what Internet forums are good for.

 

[Redcon1]

I was just there July 17th-23rd. WiFi worked fine both in park and in resort. Website has never crashed for me...either on desktop at home or on app on iPhone while on vacation.
Not to discredit those who have had trouble, but I just never have had any trouble. And I've taken three Disney vacations since February, so I've been on the websites and app a lot.

I was there July 15th-19th and Wi-Fi was ok at the resort but HORRIBLE in the parks. And if I had to choose, I'd would prefer the more reliable Wi-Fi for the parks.

 

[Vertical]

Is anyone here really surprised?

I mean, is it really a surprise to anyone that a major company, out to make money, is doing things like introducing major system changes too fast, rushing everything, stressing their employees out, cutting corners, not listening to low level employees, likely having cross-departmental battles, and having managers doing incredibly dumb things just to defend their turf?

That's like describing any other Fortune 500 company out there.

I work at another Fortune 500 company, and it's the same stuff there. We bear with it, because it's a job. We produce a product, and folk consume it. Regardless of what we think of the company (you do not want to know what I think of mine!!!), that side of the house is never seen by the external customers, who happily continue doing business with us.

I guess what I'm getting at is, Disney is a corporation. They do what they do very well, otherwise none of us would be here on Disboards looking up info on Disney. There is always going to be ugly stuff going on behind the scenes. But they generally do an excellent job of keeping it just that, behind the scenes. And what they do not only does it impact their bottom line, usually positively, but it's usually loved by us, the customer, as folk who have actually used the new FP+/MB system can attest to.

Something tells me if I dug deep enough on the Boards, I'd find folk complaining like crazy about FP- when it first went in (if Disboards was around back then anyway).

So folk, let Disney work out the bugs. It will work out. It may not work out that well for the employees, which sucks mightily (as it does for anyone who works at a company like this... and believe me I can empathize, which is why I NEED my week at Disney), but what matters to us is the end result. And I'm guessing, based on actual users, that the end result will be good.

BINGO. Just what I was getting at. I also work at a fortune 100 company and its the same internal garbage. Rushed implementations, unrealistic expectations, etc etc

But the company continues to be a huge success.

 

[juliebug1997]

BINGO. Just what I was getting at. I also work at a fortune 100 company and its the same internal garbage. Rushed implementations, unrealistic expectations, etc etc

But the company continues to be a huge success.

My husband doesn't work for a Fortune 100 (but one of their subsidiaries, yes) and this method meant we are not on vacation this week. They have to be done with an implementation that started two years ago two months from today. They used third tier vendors to help and underfunded the whole project.

 

[Vertical]

My husband doesn't work for a Fortune 100 (but one of their subsidiaries, yes) and this method meant we are not on vacation this week. They have to be done with an implementation that started two years ago two months from today. They used third tier vendors to help and underfunded the whole project.

Sounds painfully familiar. sorry you had to miss vacation

 

[mcd2745]

When we were at Disney in July, we noticed and questioned some of these things you mention, especially the security... We talked to multiple CMs throughout our stay (at the parks, resorts, etc.). Most seemed wary at the very least about all these changes. This made us realize the lack of communication because the people who are seeing these things day in and day out, who may have excellent ideas, are not being consulted about these major changes.

That's how just about every large corporation in America operates. Management doesn't like to let the peasants into the party for fear of being upstaged and made to look completely expendable.




As for MM+/FP+/MDE....I'm going to take a wait and see approach. I think the general ideas behind it are sound and have promise, but yeah, I'm concerned about Disney's implementation and execution from a technical standpoint. That said, there does tend to be a little too much of "the sky is falling!!!" here on the DIS.

 

[verlee]

I get the Corporation thing. They need to make money thing. I get it.

But here is the difference..... I believe that Disney is popular because of their customer service. They are known for it. People write books about it. It is studied. I don't go to Disney for the rides. I can go to other closer and cheaper parks for rides. I go to Disney because of how the parks and the CM's make me feel. It is their customer service or "the Disney bubble" that brings me back.

As for FP+....I know I am part of a test. I know they are doing just that, "testing" the product. However, I should be able to call and find out what I am getting into, right? What are the rules? What are my options? I am getting different answers every day. That is not good service. Me having to find out my options on a discussion board is not good service.

The problem is not is FP+ good or not good and it is not am I a super planner or not. The problem is Disney is not in control of the information. They should know at the very least how this testing is going to be run. Right?

 

[mcd2745]

Is anyone here really surprised?

I mean, is it really a surprise to anyone that a major company, out to make money, is doing things like introducing major system changes too fast, rushing everything, stressing their employees out, cutting corners, not listening to low level employees, likely having cross-departmental battles, and having managers doing incredibly dumb things just to defend their turf?

That's like describing any other Fortune 500 company out there.

I work at another Fortune 500 company, and it's the same stuff there. We bear with it, because it's a job. We produce a product, and folk consume it. Regardless of what we think of the company (you do not want to know what I think of mine!!!), that side of the house is never seen by the external customers, who happily continue doing business with us.

I guess what I'm getting at is, Disney is a corporation. They do what they do very well, otherwise none of us would be here on Disboards looking up info on Disney. There is always going to be ugly stuff going on behind the scenes. But they generally do an excellent job of keeping it just that, behind the scenes. And what they do not only does it impact their bottom line, usually positively, but it's usually loved by us, the customer, as folk who have actually used the new FP+/MB system can attest to.

Something tells me if I dug deep enough on the Boards, I'd find folk complaining like crazy about FP- when it first went in (if Disboards was around back then anyway).

So folk, let Disney work out the bugs. It will work out. It may not work out that well for the employees, which sucks mightily (as it does for anyone who works at a company like this... and believe me I can empathize, which is why I NEED my week at Disney), but what matters to us is the end result. And I'm guessing, based on actual users, that the end result will be good.

BINGO. Just what I was getting at. I also work at a fortune 100 company and its the same internal garbage. Rushed implementations, unrealistic expectations, etc etc

But the company continues to be a huge success.

My husband doesn't work for a Fortune 100 (but one of their subsidiaries, yes) and this method meant we are not on vacation this week. They have to be done with an implementation that started two years ago two months from today. They used third tier vendors to help and underfunded the whole project.

That's how just about every large corporation in America operates. Management doesn't like to let the peasants into the party for fear of being upstaged and made to look completely expendable.

Should we start a support group?

 

[Mkrop]

They are planning to convert significant space in HS to Star Wars Land and significant space in AK to Avatarland. No, I am not interested in hearing about how people don't like that idea or didn't like Avatar, etc... I never saw it, but though it looked cool and would make an interesting backdrop for a new ride/restaurant/night show in AK or whatever they do.



My point was what would increase MY satisfaction, not Disney's profit. My quality of trip would go up if there were less visitors and no free dining.



FP+ is going to be a perk. Disney is having it as an incentive for you to guarantee a park day (rather than going to Sea World or staying at the resort, etc...) Everyone is acting like FP+ will be the only way to ride anything!!
If you had TSMM as a FP+ on a Wed. at 11:00am, and you have a sick kid, you would be able to do the following:
A. Try to switch to a later TSMM time
B. Go to HS at rope drop the next day and get a regular FP when everyone is feeling better
C. Not ride TSMM

Basically, FP+ is just giving you a 3rd option where none existed before. As of today, you really only have options B and C.

Why are people complaining about an additional perk?

I think you are going with the assumption there will be FPs available that day, and I dont see that happening

A I might not be able to do if all the FP+ are gone for that day.
B Once again you are assuming that regular FP will be available. And even if it is, I am now committed to these other parks bc of the FP+s that I made.
C. Why am I going to pay all that money to go somewhere and not be able to ride my family's favorite ride


I pay the money and own DVC bc I like(d) how Disney handled their lines, we have been to other parks like Hershey for example, and while we like them we always say how we wish they had FP. We went to WDW preFP and I thought I would never get my DH back there, he agreed bc at the time we had a 4 year old. He fell in love with the place bc of FP, he doesnt want to go somewhere when you have to wait in long lines bc we cant get a FP+ at 60 days or bc we cant switch it because of weather or sickness.

So people making the suggestion that there is always the SB line is frustrating.

When they first mentioned FP+ I thought it would be great bc I thought you could book some ahead of time and then pull addl ones after you rode. This way if something came up I would not be shut out of riding the rides, and maybe there would be the opportunity to switch if one of the kids got sick. None of this seems to be the way I originally saw it playing it out.

 

[Planogirl]

Should we start a support group?

If you do please let me join. My company has caused us tons of extra work because of their new ideas that don't work.