BIG change to FP+ today

[cfw213]

Seriously? Last I heard FP+ didn't have a reserved section anymore, how long ago did this happen?

I was there on Tuesday night & FP+ did NOT have a reserved section. Major waste of a FP. I would assume this situation with the dinner package is a non-issue now.

 

[Vickmeys]

I wouldn't be happy being a guinea pig during my vacation unless some other perk was thrown my way. Paying lots of money to test a buggy system with the possibility of it ruining said vacation. No Thanks

I agree!!

But, unfortunately I already have plane tickets, and am leaving in a few days.

Wishing everyone the best of luck with their trip.

 

[robpa]

Sorry, hope it works out for you

 

[Planogirl]

I think so.

But their biggest score is getting people to go to their minor attractions and better utilizing their existing infrastructure without engaging in an arms race with universal.

The itinerary feature on the app is deceptively good at this.

But, you can only fool them once with the old Stave Church trick.

Why would they want people to go to bad rides? There are some good minor attractions but there are also some awful rides which might just make people wonder about their vacation choice.

 

[famy27]

Honestly, there is no way around tiers. Think about this way. The reason there was enough fastpasses for you and I to get both soarin and test track is because people like Jade don't show up until 4:00 when they are gone. Now everyone will book them in advance. People waiting until 4 and people at rope drop.

The problem really is the lack of headliners. That can't be fixed very easily. They are trying to sell priority seating for illuminations, maelstrom, and character meets as headliners. It just doesn't work. Eventually they are going to add quick service fastpass+ options to skip lines with food. They are trying to find creative ways to absorb those fastpasses. Epcot, AK, and, DHS just doesn't have the rides. Although DHS might be the next best behind MK. Fantasmic could absorb a lot. You might not get into the show without one.

I just don't know. Nobody would like more headliners more than I would. But I think you'd have the same issue. Everyone would want to ride the new, latest and greatest ride. I shudder to think what will happen when 7DMT opens. You'll probably be limited to riding it once every six months, even with APs or multiple onsite stays (note: exaggeration for effect)

I would think Disney would know what its ride capacity is and how many people use FPs each day. The fact that Soarin' and TT are popular should not come as a surprise. Did they just think that people would be so excited to get a FP for Journey or Character Spot that they wouldn't want to go to Soarin' anymore? I would love to pull back the curtain and see what the capacity for each ride is, how many FPs and FP+s are allotted per day, and how many are actually utilized. The numbers would be very interesting.

If Disney had this tiered idea in mind from the beginning (which seems plausible, since some of the very earliest testers got tiered rides), I wonder why they didn't roll out the widespread test with the tiers. To roll it out with being able to choose any ride and then scale it back to only one headliner is a big downgrade. Most people don't like having a feature "taken away," so I don't know why they ever made picking any three an option if that wasn't part of the master plan.

The tiered system is a really tough sell for me. I just don't see how Disney can offer this as an enhancement. Under the old, free (and awesome) FP system, you could gather as many FPs per day as time permitted. You might only get one for TSMM, but for most other rides you could get two or more. You could certainly get more than three per day, and you could get them in multiple parks each day. I was willing to trade some of that for the chance to sleep in and pre-plan some days. It was fantastic to get to EPCOT at 6:00 on a Friday night the day we arrived at WDW and to be able to ride all the headliners.

But now, to give up the awesomeness of paper FP and trade it for the chance to ride only one "big" ride and at only one park and to have to go at RD to have any hope of avoiding a two-hour wait after spending ridiculous amounts of money to stay onsite? No thanks, Disney. When developing this new tiered FP+ system, "You chose...poorly." And I chose poorly when I bought that AP.

 

[robpa]

I just don't know. Nobody would like more headliners more than I would. But I think you'd have the same issue. Everyone would want to ride the new, latest and greatest ride. I shudder to think what will happen when 7DMT opens. You'll probably be limited to riding it once every six months, even with APs or multiple onsite stays (note: exaggeration for effect)

I would think Disney would know what its ride capacity is and how many people use FPs each day. The fact that Soarin' and TT are popular should not come as a surprise. Did they just think that people would be so excited to get a FP for Journey or Character Spot that they wouldn't want to go to Soarin' anymore? I would love to pull back the curtain and see what the capacity for each ride is, how many FPs and FP+s are allotted per day, and how many are actually utilized. The numbers would be very interesting.

If Disney had this tiered idea in mind from the beginning (which seems plausible, since some of the very earliest testers got tiered rides), I wonder why they didn't roll out the widespread test with the tiers. To roll it out with being able to choose any ride and then scale it back to only one headliner is a big downgrade. Most people don't like having a feature "taken away," so I don't know why they ever made picking any three an option if that wasn't part of the master plan.

The tiered system is a really tough sell for me. I just don't see how Disney can offer this as an enhancement. Under the old, free (and awesome) FP system, you could gather as many FPs per day as time permitted. You might only get one for TSMM, but for most other rides you could get two or more. You could certainly get more than three per day, and you could get them in multiple parks each day. I was willing to trade some of that for the chance to sleep in and pre-plan some days. It was fantastic to get to EPCOT at 6:00 on a Friday night the day we arrived at WDW and to be able to ride all the headliners.

But now, to give up the awesomeness of paper FP and trade it for the chance to ride only one "big" ride and at only one park and to have to go at RD to have any hope of avoiding a two-hour wait after spending ridiculous amounts of money to stay onsite? No thanks, Disney. When developing this new tiered FP+ system, "You chose...poorly." And I chose poorly when I bought that AP.

I think they did the relatively safe part of their testing when the parks would be most crowded as to not scare off potential guests(at least those in the know) Then rolled out the real meat and potatoes part of the testing during the perceived downtime. They sprang the tiered part on late enough so that the Nov/Dec crowd would have already booked and been to hard to turn back. That is my theory.

 

[bcrook]

I just don't know. Nobody would like more headliners more than I would. But I think you'd have the same issue. Everyone would want to ride the new, latest and greatest ride. I shudder to think what will happen when 7DMT opens. You'll probably be limited to riding it once every six months, even with APs or multiple onsite stays (note: exaggeration for effect)

I would think Disney would know what its ride capacity is and how many people use FPs each day. The fact that Soarin' and TT are popular should not come as a surprise. Did they just think that people would be so excited to get a FP for Journey or Character Spot that they wouldn't want to go to Soarin' anymore? I would love to pull back the curtain and see what the capacity for each ride is, how many FPs and FP+s are allotted per day, and how many are actually utilized. The numbers would be very interesting.

If Disney had this tiered idea in mind from the beginning (which seems plausible, since some of the very earliest testers got tiered rides), I wonder why they didn't roll out the widespread test with the tiers. To roll it out with being able to choose any ride and then scale it back to only one headliner is a big downgrade. Most people don't like having a feature "taken away," so I don't know why they ever made picking any three an option if that wasn't part of the master plan.

The tiered system is a really tough sell for me. I just don't see how Disney can offer this as an enhancement. Under the old, free (and awesome) FP system, you could gather as many FPs per day as time permitted. You might only get one for TSMM, but for most other rides you could get two or more. You could certainly get more than three per day, and you could get them in multiple parks each day. I was willing to trade some of that for the chance to sleep in and pre-plan some days. It was fantastic to get to EPCOT at 6:00 on a Friday night the day we arrived at WDW and to be able to ride all the headliners.

But now, to give up the awesomeness of paper FP and trade it for the chance to ride only one "big" ride and at only one park and to have to go at RD to have any hope of avoiding a two-hour wait after spending ridiculous amounts of money to stay onsite? No thanks, Disney. When developing this new tiered FP+ system, "You chose...poorly." And I chose poorly when I bought that AP.

It's more about getting everyone locked in. If only 40% of tourists used fastpass before and now 80% use it...that will result in shortages. Disney is expecting shortages and off site guests aren't playing yet.

You can google ride capacity for soarin and test track and get on very reasonable numbers.

Best guess 1600 people per hour Soarin in theory, 1200 for test track if it is running. 27000 average attendance at Epcot. You can play with the numbers. Or look at this stuff some of us put together.

 

[HUNGTE]

.

 

[Ellwood970]

My hope is that fewer people book trips and they are forced to lower the rates for the hotels or offer more discounts.

 

[bcrook]

My hope is that fewer people book trips and they are forced to lower the rates for the hotels or offer more discounts.

Wait until the advertising blitz occurs. When Disney actually starts marketing this it is going to light up the attendance. They have a lot to highlight.

It will take a long time for the spin to die down., by then pandora will be started and the mine train will be open, and downtown Disney will be revealed, and concept art of new Pixar rides will be discussed, and Star Wars cantina will be preparing to open for Star Wars weekend. The animal kingdom will have a new nighttime show.

Look for prices to soar.

 

[chicagoshannon]

This actually makes me really happy! I will be there during tis test without FP+. We might actually have a chance to get a FP now.

 

[AmyB2006]

"this whole thing" isn't about FP+. "This whole thing" is about MM+ and RFID technology. Most people don't have an issue with that. They are taking issue with *how* FP+ is being implemented using that technology.

Disney does not have to restrict FPs to 3/day in one park only in order to use the MM+ technology. They could have the MagicBands and RFID technology use the same restrictions as current FP if they wanted to, and it wouldn't be "scrapping the whole thing." Those are software/programming changes, not infrastructure changes, and *are* capable of being changed without having to "scrap the whole thing."

You're saying use the current FP system the way it's been for years using the new technology?

 

[clsteve]

I think they did the relatively safe part of their testing when the parks would be most crowded as to not scare off potential guests(at least those in the know) Then rolled out the real meat and potatoes part of the testing during the perceived downtime. They sprang the tiered part on late enough so that the Nov/Dec crowd would have already booked and been to hard to turn back. That is my theory.

This:
They're testing throughput- gearing up for the holidays and beyond.

That's also why the most important data we're going to see for much of our speculation is the delta between FP Legacy pull times on the tiered vs. non-tiered dates during the holidays. It will give us a good look into the future as to availability and potential roll-out to off-site and AP. Especially when cross-referenced against standby times (current and historical).

 

[robpa]

This:
They're testing throughput- gearing up for the holidays and beyond.

That's also why the most important data we're going to see for much of our speculation is the delta between FP Legacy pull times on the tiered vs. non-tiered dates during the holidays. It will give us a good look into the future as to availability and potential roll-out to off-site and AP. Especially when cross-referenced against standby times (current and historical).

I just don't think they have any other choice than to tier it in parks with 3 or less headliners. If guests thought it was tough to get fastpass for some of them before anyone without the ability to pre-book rides will more than likely be shut out of @ least 1 possibly 2 depending on time of year they go.

 

[clsteve]

I just don't think they have any other choice than to tier it in parks with 3 or less headliners. If guests thought it was tough to get fastpass for some of them before anyone without the ability to pre-book rides will more than likely be shut out of @ least 1 possibly 2 depending on time of year they go.

The tiers seem to be given, since they're testing it at a peak time. I was talking about getting insight into how they will be managing throughput as well as same day availability vs. reserved availability.

It could be incredibly informative,

 

[TreeSapp]

If Disney had this tiered idea in mind from the beginning (which seems plausible, since some of the very earliest testers got tiered rides), I wonder why they didn't roll out the widespread test with the tiers. To roll it out with being able to choose any ride and then scale it back to only one headliner is a big downgrade. Most people don't like having a feature "taken away," so I don't know why they ever made picking any three an option if that wasn't part of the master plan.

My best guess is they took the tiers away to see how many guests really do grab 2-3 headliners per day. Rather than just assuming they need to be limited to only one.

I know if I couldn't get 'the right timeframe' for my FP+ headliners, I'd probably choose different rides and risk FP- or standby.

Like at AK if EE and Dinosaur were more than an hour,or at most 2, apart I would rather risk standby for Dinosaur (or single rider EE) than have to truck back and forth across the park 2 or 3 times just to hit a reservation window for a 3minute ride.

 

[robpa]

The tiers seem to be given, since they're testing it at a peak time. I was talking about getting insight into how they will be managing throughput as well as same day availability vs. reserved availability.

It could be incredibly informative,

Indeed

 

[lugnut33]

Like I posted yesterday, the boots on the ground report that people are not complaining about the tiered system at Epcot, so it's here to stay and it will spread.

 

[stickeymouse]

Just to clarify, those of us who selected our FP+ before the switch to the tiered system do not need to change our selections, correct? Looking at MDE, it does not appear that they dropped any of our FP+, but want to make sure that is really the case. Also, does anybody know if, by trying to change a FP+, it will force you to pick from the tiers?

 

[DizneyLizzy]

Just to clarify, those of us who selected our FP+ before the switch to the tiered system do not need to change our selections, correct? Looking at MDE, it does not appear that they dropped any of our FP+, but want to make sure that is really the case. Also, does anybody know if, by trying to change a FP+, it will force you to pick from the tiers?

Nope, and I wouldn't risk trying to change any FP+ just in case it forces you into the tiers. I also printed out my FP+ selections as a back up plan, and did a screen shot on my phone.