AP's to get 20 FP+ per quarter

[jahber]

I don't think they care if you visit the parks. They only care if you buy the AP.

The entire point of this thread is the supposition that AP holders would indeed be limited to 5 days worth of FP+ reservations per quarter.

The further supposition is that there will be short period of time when you could hold out with your paper AP but very soon would be required to convert to RFID (and therefore FP+ only).

Yes. Exactly. Which is the reason this thread is causing me to hesitate to renew. It just doesn't make sense to me that everyone but AP holders would have access to FPs on a given park day. That's all. But Disney had done things that don't make sense to me before.

But if it does happen, I'll be the last holdout for converting my paper tickets. I'm old school like that. I still read paper books, for crying out loud

 

[DVC4US]

Not really crazy about the FP+ system and what we have heard so far.

We are PAP holders and DVC members who always stay on property and generally take trips of about 10 days 2-3 times a year. If we only get the 20 FP+ per quarter for being an AP holder then that would mean half of our trip we would not be able to use FP. It will be interesting to see if we get to use FP+ every day we stay on property. And is this going to be based on the property you stay at?

Once they make the switch to all FP+ it will leave no room for spontaneity. We often figure out which park we want to visit the night before or that morning. So if I book FP+ 6 months out then we have to go into a specific park or forfeit our fastpasses. I already get strange looks when I tell people I have to make dinning reservations 6 months out. I’m sure we will make it work whatever it turns out to be, but for right now I truly don’t like it.

Here is the nightmare I’m looking at if they get rid of the old FP system before June.

DD is getting married at Disney in June. Just between the wedding party, family, and close friends we have at least 50 people booked in DVC rooms at the Boardwalk. Plus we have another 10 people booked at Shades of Green, and this does not include the guests booked elsewhere on property. Some of us have APs, some will have Armed Forces tickets, and some MYW tickets. But some of the MYW tickets might not be purchased until they get to Disney.

With the old FP system we could all meet in MK and if a fastpass was available for BTMRR then we could pull one and all ride together when it came available.

With FP+ hopefully staying on property will get us a certain number of fastpasses(don’t know how Disney will handle those staying at Shades of Green) but that also means I will have to link all of these reservations to my Disney account and hope I can go online and book a fastpass time for all of us. Don’t know if Disney will even let us book that many fastpasses – maybe they will have something like group dinning. If this can't be done then we are relegated to the stand-by line and not able to use FP as a group. Try explaining this to someone who has never visited Disney. This is just becoming more and more of a nightmare.

I know I will have to wait until this comes online and really see what happens, but I truly hope the old FP system stays around through June at least.

 

[bjakmom]

I have not heard anything about FP+ that sounds enticing to me except mayb booking a FP for a headliner a little later in the day - but the trade-offs for this sound possibly dreadful.
And if Disney is expecting me to book certain days and times for rides months in advance (YUCK!!!) then I realize another problem for my family. My last three trips have started out just myself and DGrD and, as the trip approached, our villa has filled with other family members who want to come. Mayb this situation is unique to me, but I'm assuming I will have to book my rooms for maximum occupancy and make FP+s for maximum people in advance. Otherwise, I would not be able to tour/use FP with DH, DS or DDs who may decide to join us a few months out. Yikes!!
And we often meet and spend a day or two at the parks with Florida family and friends while we are there - so this completely rules out using FPs on those days?? What are they thinking??
We have actually put buying more DVC points on hold until we figure out how they are going to run this. If touring goes back to the old days with no FP access and basically riding standby all day (especially as crowd levels increase year to year), our trips to WDW will DRASTICALLY decrease - no thanks - been there, done that. Oh please, Disney, do this one right.

 

[macraven]

These are the things we are waiting to find out. It's also noted that once you go RFID there will be no option of getting regular Fastpasses at all. It's FP plus or standby. And eventually everyone will be going RFID because the park gates will be converted and you will need the RFID to get into the parks. The speculation (Disney hasn't announced) is that there will be no scanners for paper tickets.

Then Disney will eventually say "nopes.. you cant get into the park without the RFID ticket." Very likely when the switch to wristbands as tickets is made.

I've been reading this thread since it started.
I know this thread is a discussion of the fast pass +, but other topics have also come up in this thread.

What the two quotes above state, it makes me wonder how paper tickets are going to be used.


I stay onsite.
I buy my tickets from UT and have quite a few to last me for about 3 different trips.

Right now I have 2 sets of the 10 day ticket hoppers, non expiration.
Also have one set of 10 day basic tickets that are non expiring also.
30 tickets for the parks.

I have enough tickets left for trips in 2013 and 14.

I am wondering how disney will be able to add some of my non expiring tickets to a RFID card if they go paperless.........

 

[Robo]

I've been reading this thread since it started.
I know this thread is a discussion of the fast pass +, but other topics have also come up in this thread.

What the two quotes above state, it makes me wonder how paper tickets are going to be used.


I stay onsite.
I buy my tickets from UT and have quite a few to last me for about 3 different trips.

Right now I have 2 sets of the 10 day ticket hoppers, non expiration.
Also have one set of 10 day basic tickets that are non expiring also.
30 tickets for the parks.

I have enough tickets left for trips in 2013 and 14.

I am wondering how disney will be able to add some of my non expiring tickets to a RFID card if they go paperless.........

They can trade them for RFID tix easily

 

[Tigger1]

What about guest not staying on Disney property that are not annual pass holders, will they no longer be able to get fastpass in the future?

 

[Robo]

What about guest not staying on Disney property that are not annual pass holders, will they no longer be able to get fastpass in the future?

Nobody knows.

FP+ might be avilable for free or for a price.

Time will tell.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

Well, so far, it has been "free" to those staying in WDW resorts...

~Of course, Disney was conducting a test, so far there is nothing to suggest that there will any kind costs associated with the basic aspects of fastpass+. We'll see.

Don't forget that attractions that did not previously have FP but are getting FP+ will not distribute "old style FP" ever. They are not going to install new machines or anything to allow people to get FP for them - only FP+ through the reservation system.

Since they're FP+ they will get people using the system and slowing down the standby line... so if you want any hope f riding those attractions during busy periods you'll need to convert.

Not to mention, once they change all the entry gates to the RFID you have to convert your ticket type and at that point.. so much for the old FP system.

Disney is not going to let this linger and be a drawn out process.

~Wow! I can't wait for FP+, so the sooner the better for me! But, for other guests who have no desire to use something like FP+, this seems pretty radical.

~I don't know, I really struggle with this. I just can't imagine Disney saying to their guests, "use it or get lost", that's exactly what this sounds like. That's so harsh and so "unDisney!" I definitely can see Disney phasing out the regular fastpass, but I was thinking it would be sometime over the next decade, or at the minimum -- 5 years -- to at least, give people time to adjust, I think that's fair. But, we'll see!

I honestly think this could work well, but not in its current speculative form. At this point it's crowd control from the D/E rides to the A/B/C rides, but it doesn't allow a family that plans well to ride every E ride in the park at least once in one day (without waiting in long standby lines), and that will cause ridiculous backlash as soon as a family with teens upgrades their ticket to a bracelet and is not allowed to use the current FP (I feel sorry for guest services on that day...).

In my case, I'll try it out in May if it's up. But I'll have a 2 & 4 year old, and the 4 year old is afraid of the dark - we'll be lucky if we can get him on BTMRR, and besides that, May is a slow time, so in general I don't have to worry about long standby lines. It'll work out well for me, because I can jump on and get my Toy Story, Peter Pan, and Barnstormer FP's along with the Parade viewing ahead of time, and not have to worry about missing those rides because the FP return happens to be at naptime (Parade starts right after nap ends, so no time to wait for a good spot there). I think I'm about the only person it'll work out well for, though.

~No way, you are definitely not the only person! FP+ will work out very well for me (and others), too! Now that regular fastpass time windows are enforced, they've lost a considerable amount of value to me. It looks like the regular fastpass will be around for a minute, it's just not going to disappear right away (I think). I'm guessing FP+ will be ready in late 2013 or early 2014. I'm also going to speculate that Disney will need at least a full year to iron out all the kinks with the new FP+ system, so I don't see them removing regular fastpass before 2015, and even this seems a little extreme to me, but we'll see!

 

[CanadianGuy]

To quote Hollywood legend Bette Davis...

WHAT A MESS.

And a billion dollar one at that....

 

[Robo]

To quote Hollywood legend Bette Davis...

WHAT A MESS.

And a billion dollar one at that....

On a primarily Disney CM-oriented website, there have been threads discussing that Disney has even
spent far more than the long-ago-announced one billion dollars
(as in, closer to double that) attempting to make this project work. (No, I'm not kidding.)

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

The main problem for us if we like to park hop. A morning in DHS , an afternoon maybe in MK but we decide on the day sometimes that moment. On occasion DW and I play 'park roulette' lol we go to the resort bus stop and go to the park for whatever bus arrives first. We would historically then just go in each park getting any FP they might have for that day. Quite often we get lucky. If not we don't worry. I don't like the thought of if FP is removed completely not having the park hop option with FP+

Also it depends on EMH as we tend to avoid that park later that day as its very busy. If you booked your FP+ before this information was released you might have made different choices or will disney start to change the order of EMH depending on FP+ bookings...

The mind boggles!

 

[CanadianGuy]

On a primarily Disney CM-oriented website, there have been threads discussing that Disney has even
spent far more than the long-ago-announced one billion dollars
(as in, closer to double that) attempting to make this project work. (No, I'm not kidding.)

Doesn't surprise me. You see there's a very complicated formula.

The greater the investment in soft 'improvement features' like this ... the less likely it is to be accepted by the end consumer.

The history of modern consumerism is littered with "improved" ideas like FP+ .. New Coke, Crystal Pepsi, The Saturn EV-1, Smell-O-Vision ...

Hey.. what do FP+ and Smell-O-Vision have in common? They both stink! (groan)

Ok, so it wasn't complicated, I lied.

My prediction is that when this finally gets sorted out for the last time, we'll have RFID entrance, purchasing etc. But that the FP+ is an abysmal failure.

It was one thing to try and get me to decide where I wanna eat six months in advance (something I have steadfastly refused to do).

Forcing / cajoling / pushing / encouraging me to choose which park and which attraction on which day sixty days (or six months) before my trip?

I have no interest in that. None. Zero. Zilch. Less than zero. A negative amount of interest.

In short? Never gonna happen. Ever.

This *may* be the thing that finally gets me to take that long delayed trip to Universal. #NotJoking #ForRealz

 

[Laketravis]

FP+ not only gives Disney the ability to micro-balance attraction demand, it gives them the ability to micro-balance park attendance.

When we participated in testing, we had to choose our FP's for a park on particular days for that park - and not all days of the week were presented as options. In fact, IIRC, the days we could choose for MK or HS were not EMH days even though we were staying on site.

This all gives Disney an incredible spectrum of fine-tuning.

With a combination of all of the elements - increased pricing with little to no discounts (have you priced out a 2013 stay yet?), crowd and line control thru advanced technology, strict limits on how many attraction resources can be consumed per day per guest per park..........I'm really looking forward to what may be the ultimate unintended (or intended?) consequence of much lower crowd levels and therefore no need for FP's to begin with.

 

[skater]

On a primarily Disney CM-oriented website, there have been threads discussing that Disney has even
spent far more than the long-ago-announced one billion dollars
(as in, closer to double that) attempting to make this project work. (No, I'm not kidding.)

Ugh. That means we're even more stuck with it.

 

[Robo]

Forcing / cajoling / pushing / encouraging me to choose which park and which attraction on which day sixty days (or six months) before my trip?

I have no interest in that. None. Zero. Zilch. Less than zero. A negative amount of interest.

You and I and (A LOT of others on this site) know the history of how Disney posts their hours on the calendars.

They make a preliminary schedule of hours and events about 6.5 months in advance of each new month on the horizon.
They post that.

But THEN...

Disney makes CHANGES in those hours and events... nearly always within the
LAST 30 DAYS before the actual dates.
They do this
every.
single.
month.

Soooooooooooooooo...

If you've already made your FP+ park choice at the 60-day mark,
you then won't be able to easily adapt to any calendar changes
that come in the ensuing time before your trip.

Disney makes changes at will.
Guests won't be able to adapt to those changes.

More unintended consequences.
More FIXES needed.
More corporate research dollars required.

Fabulous!

 

[SaraJayne]

You and I and (A LOT of others on this site) know the history of how Disney posts their hours on the calendars.

They make a preliminary schedule of hours and events about 6.5 months in advance of each new month on the horizon.
They post that.

But THEN...

Disney makes CHANGES in those hours and events... nearly always within the
LAST 30 DAYS before the actual dates.
They do this
every.
single.
month.

Soooooooooooooooo...

If you've already made your FP+ park choice at the 60-day mark,
you then won't be able to easily adapt to any calendar changes
that come in the ensuing time before your trip.

Disney makes changes at will.
Guests won't be able to adapt to those changes.

More unintended consequences.
More FIXES needed.
More corporate research dollars required.

Fabulous!

Sounds *just* like a place I want to spend thousands of dollars, no?

 

[larryz]

~I don't know, I really struggle with this. I just can't imagine Disney saying to their guests, "use it or get lost", that's exactly what this sounds like. That's so harsh and so "unDisney!" I definitely can see Disney phasing out the regular fastpass, but I was thinking it would be sometime over the next decade, or at the minimum -- 5 years -- to at least, give people time to adjust, I think that's fair. But, we'll see!

In my experience as a system administrator charged with a forklift upgrade between two entirely different networks, I tried to be the nice guy and give people a transition period of over a month to switch over.

At the 20-day point, I did a stat analysis and informal survey, and only 10% of the users had even logged in to the new system.

It quickly became obvious that the only way to get people to use the new system was to turn the old system off.

People hate change...that's just human nature. And Disney can't afford to support two FP technologies and systems indefinitely -- it costs people, bandwidth and paper supplies for the old FPs. I'd recommend, if I were doing it, to just cut over when the FP+ system's ready.

(How did I fix my issue? I gave them all 5 more days to move their stuff over and then did a hard uninstall of their workstations over the weekend.)

 

[larryz]

You and I and (A LOT of others on this site) know the history of how Disney posts their hours on the calendars.

They make a preliminary schedule of hours and events about 6.5 months in advance of each new month on the horizon.
They post that.

But THEN...

Disney makes CHANGES in those hours and events... nearly always within the
LAST 30 DAYS before the actual dates.
They do this
every.
single.
month.

Soooooooooooooooo...

If you've already made your FP+ park choice at the 60-day mark,
you then won't be able to easily adapt to any calendar changes
that come in the ensuing time before your trip.

Disney makes changes at will.
Guests won't be able to adapt to those changes.

More unintended consequences.
More FIXES needed.
More corporate research dollars required.

Fabulous!

Well, they did say they were spending more than a billion dollars on the upgrade, right...?

 

[CanadianGuy]

You and I and (A LOT of others on this site) know the history of how Disney posts their hours on the calendars.

But THEN...

Disney makes CHANGES...
every.
single.
month.

Soooooooooooooooo...Fabulous!

Yup. Just look at January hours. They most recently changed (and some very significant changes that impacted my trip Jan 4 to 10 --- on December 14th.

And I'd hazard a guess they probably aren't done yet. Seriously. Still watching.

 

[SaraJayne]

Well, they did say they were spending more than a billion dollars on the upgrade, right...?

If anyone wants to know how well Disney "upgrades" things, all they have to do is read this thread.