All The New Developments

[Cheshire Figment]

Where IS Cheshire, by the way? It's like he started this thread and then disappeared. Or did I miss a post somewhere? I've been trying to keep up, but all the FP+ threads are running together ...

I have been reading every post, but just did not see much reason to chime in further. I am still following lots of other related posts.

I think you pretty much did

I understand frustration with an employer; I think most of us have been there.
But I'm not sure venting to your employer's patrons on a fan board is the right way to do things.

If WDW guests have first hand experiences with FP+ and NextGen, and those experiences are bad, so be it... that's how the cookie should crumble. It's just a bit too early to be calling the time of death before the system has even gotten off the ground.

And frankly, it doesn't matter to me if a system is making the life of a CM a bit more complicated during the transition. I'm sure original FP was a burden and caused confusion, requiring CMs to deal with the technical issues, Guest questions and problems, etc. But if a system turns out to be better for the guests, that's what matters. We're the ones paying the money. Time will tell if is actually better, but I don't need anyone else to tell me to hate it before it's even fully implemented.

I hope I'm not coming off as sounding harsh. That's not my intent. I'm just a little put off by the feeling that this is the airing of dirty laundry in a battle of inter-company politics, mixed with a heavy dose of personal feelings about one's employer, rather than an objective discussion of any actual issues experienced during the testing of this new technology.

I'm not posting this as an employee. I am posting it as a long-time Disney fan and collector.

Just for information, I do not need to work for Disney; I am a retired high-level Federal employee and my Disney income, last year, was less than 5% of my total income. I spend more at WDW than I earn there, but the discounts are nice.

First off, he says that he is starting this thread to: Not sure how you can say that there is "not much factual information" in the post?

Thank you for your post, and your analysis of mine.

I said "a fair amount of speculation" not "not much factual information" and the following is speculation:

1. Nobody knows when everything will fully work, but my guess may be some time in 2015
2. Very few people know what they are testing for. Fewer people know what test results are and what they will test for next.(how would he know this information. he is speculating on who knows what and how many people are in the know)
3.How will these retailer be able to keep inventory control?
4. There are lots of Security problems (matter of opinion and speculation. Lack of knowledge of what the security department may be aware of or has in the works)
5. I do have a feeling that within a couple of years we will be back to having turnstiles, but they will accept RFID as well as magnetic stripes and bar codes.
6. For EMH they will have to put Touch Points at every attraction which is open so they can tell if a person is legitimate. Or will they go back to wristbands?

1. May be speculation. However I was one of a team of fewer than ten people that took three years to put a brand-new Central Accounting System into the Federal Court System. And this included going from two systems which did not talk to each other into one, changing all codes into a double-entry system, and training staff from all Federal Courts into the use of the new system. Since everything changed we had to have both a clean changeover date as well as continuity to pay prior obligations.

3. Current inventory of the authorized resellers has entitlements printed on the tickets. RFID Cards (and Magic Bands) do not have this information. I was asking a question and not speculating.

4. After we rolled out our new Accounting System, I was The Security Officer for the Central Accounting System of the Federal Courts for 13 years until I retired. I was also on the Court Headquarters Security Administration Team. I think I know quite a bit about Security and one thing is not to discuss procedures publicly. As an observer I can see what the problems are but I will not publicly discuss them.

5. This would be a way of solving problems. I'm expressing an opinion and not speculating.

6. Again, this will be a way of solving problems . I'm expressing an opinion and not speculating.

 

[WisconsinDad]

Voicing concerns is not the same thing as "getting all haired up." most of the people here give me the impression of voicing concerns, not "the world is ending" like others have been implying.

There may be unintended consequences to just "voicing concerns" though. Many people (myself included) act and make trip planning decisions based on things they read on the DIS. I've read on many threads about folks opting out of the Aug testing and I'm wondering if these threads have impacted their decisions.

I am a part of the Aug testing and if the only information I received about MM+ was the official correspondence i received from Disney, I would have nothing but a positive outlook on the upcoming test (I still have a positive outlook and am looking forward to it; just sayin'),

 

[preemiemama]

Neither a guest's viewpoint from one test, nor a CM's viewpoint from multiple tests will determine how i feel about MM+. I am withholding complete judgment until I experience it myself. Until then, I have concerns. Concerns I am willing to wait to see how they play out, but concerns nonetheless.

If a CM, though, were to respond with positive interactions regarding MM+ i would take that into account with my own concerns and be open minded about what they had to say.

I agree completely. I will make up my own mind, but like to hear others' opinions and viewpoints as I continue to form an opinion.

Cheshire Figment- thank you for your insight.

 

[Violet Parr]

I adore Disney CMs. I've had almost exclusively wonderful experiences with them. But they are just like us, and often times are not privy to any more information than we are. They can't necessarily predict the future any better than we can just because they are a CM.

I'm just speaking generally here, by the way, not necessarily in the OP's case. I've seen it in other avenues of life, where an employee who has an agenda will vent to "end users" of a product. You have to wonder who they're doing it for - for the benefit of actually informing the consumer and helping them to understand, or if they just need to get things off their chest about their employer or coworkers.

I guess I just question whether this is the right venue to voice these types of things. If a CM is here to answer questions or help the public understand what potential issues they might encounter when using their Magicbands, that's one thing. When they are here to seemingly give us "The best explanation of the whole mess" and then "[/rant]" - describing the "behind the scenes" frustrations of other Disney employees... I don't know. Imagine a frustrated Apple employee going on an iPod fan forum and trashing the development headaches he's experienced with Apple's newest product. Or a baseball player going on a fan forum of his team and talking about how poorly the manager is running the team.

Agreed. It does seem to be skirting a line.

 

[Simba77]

I'm not posting this as an employee. I am posting it as a long-time Disney fan and collector.

Just for information, I do not need to work for Disney; I am a retired high-level Federal employee and my Disney income, last year, was less than 5% of my total income. I spend more at WDW than I earn there, but the discounts are nice.

EDIT: I mis-read your post.

I'm not sure what relevance it has that you do not "need" to work for Disney. If anything, it makes your posts even more dubious in terms of your goal.

I don't think an employee of a company has the luxury to also post as a "fan." Just because you spend more there than you make isn't really the issue.

 

[UNCFanatik]

Thank you for the clarification, and I wholeheartedly apologize. Your situation is a far different situation that I had been led to believe. I had seen numerous mentions that you were a CM and naturally assumed (wrongly) that meant you were currently a CM.

Is he not a current CM? I am speculating here but I think he is a current CM.

 

[Simba77]

Is he not a current CM? I am speculating here but I think he is a current CM.

Yes, I updated my post to clarify

 

[Rileygirl]

Poor CF!
First a women, and now not even a CM!

Come on now, Cheshire, that has got to make you smile!

CF is one of the best, most accurate, and intelligent posters on these disboards. His information on tickets, rules, regulations, and applications is top notch, a serious asset for the disboards.

I understand he is a current CM, but is just making the point that his post is as a Disney fan person on a public forum, (correct me if I am wrong.)

I think his disclaimer at the very first post was to let us understand, he is posting as a regular user, and not as the CM. And why should he not post as a Disney Fan? He has all but stated that this is his personal opinion, and not Disney fact. And, given his previous history as one of the best and intelligent posters on all these boards (IMHO), I am going to listen to what he says.

But I am also going to factor in that he is a front line CM, where a lot of the nonsense of trying to make the concepts into reality, really takes a beating on these people.

There is no question in my mind that this concept is over the top brilliant, and the potential applications of this technology mind boggling. However, the application and execution of the idea may actually sink the whole thing. Or its going to be a helluv a ride in the next year or two.

Certainly timing could not be WORSE for Disney. Universal is rising up strong, playing old school - and rumour has it that Disney money for the new attractions on the agenda (avatar and star wars) is being sucked out by NextGen overages.

I keep hearing that theme song from jaws in the back of my head..... its going to be veryyyy interesting times we live in.....

 

[Simba77]

Poor CF!
First a women, and now not even a CM!

Come on now, Cheshire, that has got to make you smile!

CF is one of the best, most accurate, and intelligent posters on these disboards. His information on tickets, rules, regulations, and applications is top notch, a serious asset for the disboards.

That may be well and true. That's fine. With that in mind, this OP of this thread was nothing like that at all. I'm afraid I don't follow the forums enough to know who everyone is, so I have to go on what I see at the time.

I understand he is a current CM, but is just making the point that his post is as a Disney fan person on a public forum, (correct me if I am wrong.)

Disney would not feel the same way about this. You can't just take your CM hat off when you please; the same is true of almost any employee of almost any company. If the moderators and administrators want to open this site to be a soapbox for disgruntled CMs, that's their choice - but I'm not sure what that does to contribute to the forum community as a whole. Informing is one thing, corporate politics and rants on a fan forum is something completely different in my eyes.

And I'm also not sure how I feel about it.

 

[hakepb]

Overall, CF has used his financial background and CM knowledge to help guests understand and get the most value from their ticket purchases.

We now know the new system reduces some value of using WDW tickets at DL...but CF seems to have a bigger concern, and that is troubling.

 

[Rileygirl]

This is an open and public forum. I dont give a tinkers dam what Disney thinks. Why do you?

I will say I always found it interesting the CF could post the detailed and important information regarding tickets as openly as he does, knowing (or at least understanding) that Disney severly frowns on this practice. And, over the course of the years, CF has disclosed enough of his own personal information so that if Disney wanted too, they could easily shut him down and fire him.

(an amusing thought just crossed my mind CF - perhaps because you are so well aqauinted with federal justice system may be the very reason you have been able to do what you have been doing on the disboards.)

Your opinion, Simba77, that CF does not contribute to the forum community is hysterical, in my opinion.

But hey, we are different people with different opinions, and this is a public forum where we may express them. Why you think CF should not have the same priviledge is a little confusing to me. Why would any intelligent disboarder want to shut down one of the best posters, in a position to see daily what is happening at disney, at a level most of us will never know.

If CF's posts bother you, then use the ignore button. Maybe use the ignore button for me too.

I know I wont press the ignore button on you though, because I enjoy reading opposing view points, sometimes they make me change my mind. They make me think. I have not made up my mind on this new system, and probably wont until if and when its completely operational. But I really hate to see people try a muzzel a possible excellent source of information.

 

[WDSearcher]

I know what FP+ is... What is MM+...saw this in a few posts.

"My Magic +"

 

[Cyrano]

Folks please keep this thread back on topic .

Discussions about posters should be via Private Message and not on the boards.
Thank you

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

This thread is an absolute train wreck.

Carry on.

 

[Cyrano]

This thread is an absolute train wreck.

Carry on.

I would advise not

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I know that management people where I work have seen the Everything About WDW Tickets sticky because I have given them copies.

There have been two types of comments from them. One is that I do know the dividing line between public and private information. The other is that they would prefer if I used less "first person" (such as I and we) in my posts.

And also I have had some PMs from some Disney Store employees letting me know the sticky is used at some of the stores for training CMs there.

 

[MichiganDVC]

I know that management people where I work have seen the Everything About WDW Tickets sticky because I have given them copies.

There have been two types of comments from them. One is that I do know the dividing line between public and private information. The other is that they would prefer if I used less "first person" (such as I and we) in my posts.

And also I have had some PMs from some Disney Store employees letting me know the sticky is used at some of the stores for training CMs there.

Again, your knowledge about information you've provided to this site about tickets has always been greatly appreciated and has never been questioned, I don't think.

 

[MichiganDVC]

I have new info on FP+ !!

Well, no actually I don't. I have an opinion, based on the information that has been released.

1. FP+ is an extra perk. There will be a few slots open to people who have reservations two months in advance. This will not drain the entire FP pool.

2. There are several reasons for FP+ in my opinion:
A. So Disney can figure out park attendance, crowds at attractions and QS restaurants and habits of it's visitors in advance. So it can, yes, make more profit...AND create a better experience for the guest.

B. Allow people to get that one coveted FP without having to do the running of the bulls (TSMM, I'm looking at you.) I think they understand that a huge amount of their guests are "first-time visitors." I saw a lot of those pins on my July trip. These people have no clue. Some have never heard of FP, some know about FP but don't know how to use it, and some know how to use it but don't know when or how to get a FP. Disney doesn't want them to miss out on half the rides because they show up at 11am (after their very expensive character breakfast...) and spend an hour confused as heck! I am an experienced Disney traveler, but sometimes I have trouble finding the FP kiosk for a particular ride. And I know what I'm looking for!!
So, Disney figures that these clueless first-timers, on the same page where they book their resort and meals (because they can figure that much out,) they can book a ride or two. "Hey, my co-worker said TSMM was really cool and we must do it, but it is very busy so I should get a FP for it. Oh look....this MDE website has a section for Fast passes. Oh, there's a slot open at 7pm. Perfect! We will go to Animal Kingdom that morning, early dinner at the resort, and spend that evening at Hollywood studios..."
This is a dream scenario for a first-timer or someone who doesn't go a lot. It might be stifling to the experienced visitor, or the über planner, at first until we find the loopholes or make the necessary adjustments. But I think this system will provide a better experience to the masses.

C. "Encourage" people to guarantee a park day on most days of their WDW/WDW-area vacation. If your family doesn't have a FP+ scheduled, you might decide not to go to a park at all that day. You might decide to go to Sea World or outlet malls or stay at the resort and swim. Disney doesn't make their money if you choose those things. But if they can get you in the park with a guaranteed time for a ride or two, you will visit a park and you will buy their popcorn, their Mickey ice cream bars, their hot dogs, etc... So FP+ is forcing you to attend a park.

3. FP+ is optional. There will still be FPs available to day-of visitors. Yes, this might mean that you have to get there at rope drop, but this is already true for TSMM. So if you choose not to use FP+, you're back to your original touring plan. I really don't see Disney having FPs available ONLY to those who can and do reserve 60 days out.
If they do, I see them scaling back the total number of FPs available, thereby reducing wait times.

4. Best case scenario: (puts on rose-colored glasses, joins gaggle...)
I will get my 3 FP+s for Epcot: Test track, Maelstrom, and Illuminations. They will be for 3pm, 5pm, and 9pm. I go to HS at rope drop that morning to get some rides in, or sleep in and go to the pool that morning/afternoon. I will eat lunch and then head to Test Track for my 3pm. Then I will check out stand-by lines for SE, Nemo, etc... If it is a busy day, I might wait for 20 minutes for one or two rides and save the rest for later.
At 5pm, I will make my way to the WS. I will ride Maelstrom at 5pm, then head to my dinner reservation at Via Napoli for 5:30. After that I will tour WS and/or head back to FW to take advantage of smaller SB lines before my Illuminations FP time.
If I missed something near and dear to my heart at Epcot today, I will return another morning to take advantage of RD crowds and smaller lines. And will have FP+ reservations at a different park that night.

If this is how it is going to work, someone explain to me why this is "so scary," "something to be worried about," or any of the other choice phrases people have used to describe this....???

 

[Vertical]

I'm a "very high up technical expert" too and although I could bore you to death with problems our applications suffer from and tell endless stories about the impending doom for our application, I couldn't tell you the first thing about what front end users experience is. IT people can be completely insulated from the actual end product and since we only deal with solving problems that's all we know.

 

[mesaboy2]

It isn't the concepts that "scare" me, it's the implementation and execution that I have reservations about. Those have been detailed, beat to death, detailed again, and beat to death again in many other threads by many posters.

We will all find out together.