Big news on Fastpass+ from Disney

[FireDancer]

Gmail = apples. MM+ = oranges.

True. NextGen (of which MM+ is a small part) is much more complicated. Remember, only a very small portion of the NextGen project is customer facing.

 

[Redcon1]

Only because Disney is making it more complicated that it should have been.

 

[summermac]

They didn't seriously tier MK did they? Your Space/BTM comment has me wondering.

But, anyway, this made me laugh!

 

[clsteve]

True. NextGen (of which MM+ is a small part) is much more complicated. Remember, only a very small portion of the NextGen project is customer facing.

OP is on MM+/FP+, not NextGen....

 

[Ariel on Land]

Oh how I would love for you to email that back to them!!!!

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

Love it. Thanks for the laugh (and sharing it in a truthful manner)

 

[sethschroeder]

Stopped reading after (so we can make more money).

Do we need a whine about Disney part of the board?

 

[morethananyonex]

Your title had me going, OP! I thought a miracle had happened and something about FP+ had changed before we leave this weekend. You're lucky the commentary was funny

Stopped reading after (so we can make more money).

Do we need a whine about Disney part of the board?

If we get one, it should have a section for whining about DIS members too.

 

[JanaDee]

Stopped reading after (so we can make more money).

Do we need a whine about Disney part of the board?

Sure, but then all the complaining about complaining goes there, too.

See what I did there?

 

[Angel Ariel]

True. NextGen (of which MM+ is a small part) is much more complicated. Remember, only a very small portion of the NextGen project is customer facing.

Which is all the more reason that it's a bit ridiculous that it's such a difficult system for customers to use. It's a very small portion of the overall project, but it's the most important part *to get right*. All of these vactioners who have spent hours trying to get tech issues resolved? That's hardly good word of mouth for Disney.

Heck, even in Disney's own promo (the new one on Food Network last week), the family was going through a FP+ line and talking about how it "worked perfectly" for them - and the close up they showed of the mickey head was blue, not green! They didn't even put the effort forth into their own marketing/promo to make sure it at least showed the tech working right.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Heck, even in Disney's own promo (the new one on Food Network last week), the family was going through a FP+ line and talking about how it "worked perfectly" for them - and the close up they showed of the mickey head was blue, not green! They didn't even put the effort forth into their own marketing/promo to make sure it at least showed the tech working right.

That's hilarious.

I saw they moved the castle down to the other side of Main Street in one of the promos.

 

[Angel Ariel]

That's hilarious.

I saw they moved the castle down to the other side of Main Street in one of the promos.

What!? lol, i missed that one

 

[clsteve]

Which is all the more reason that it's a bit ridiculous that it's such a difficult system for customers to use. It's a very small portion of the overall project, but it's the most important part *to get right*. All of these vactioners who have spent hours trying to get tech issues resolved? That's hardly good word of mouth for Disney.

Heck, even in Disney's own promo (the new one on Food Network last week), the family was going through a FP+ line and talking about how it "worked perfectly" for them - and the close up they showed of the mickey head was blue, not green! They didn't even put the effort forth into their own marketing/promo to make sure it at least showed the tech working right.

And, it doesn't do any good to perpetuate the "marketing spin" that this is still in "test". It is in production. 100% of Disney on-site guests are using MB's for room entry, Park entry and as their POS device (when not using cash or CC). 100% of Disney Guests are using MDE as their connectivity to Disney (or their TA is). FP+ (and it's full infrastructure of Mickey Heads, wifi, app, and kiosks) is dealing with the 100's of thousands of in-Park guests each and every day.

Will they continue to fix bugs and optimize for performance? Of course. Will they/can they change how they utilize the options they have code complete and in production (like change FP+ allocations, allow FP reservations across Parks, etc.)? Whenever they decide they want to. But, this "cake is baked", as they say.

 

[ucfknight]

They didn't seriously tier MK did they? Your Space/BTM comment has me wondering.

But, anyway, this made me laugh!

No... they did not tier Magic Kingdom.
At least not yet. Hopefully they never do.

 

[lugnut33]

I expect testing to last at least a year which isn't all that long for a product of this size. As a comparison, Gmail was in testing (aka beta) for 5 years, 3 months, and 6 days.

How much was G-mail charging?

 

[Mad Hattered]

And, it doesn't do any good to perpetuate the "marketing spin" that this is still in "test". It is in production. 100% of Disney on-site guests are using MB's for room entry, Park entry and as their POS device (when not using cash or CC). 100% of Disney Guests are using MDE as their connectivity to Disney (or their TA is). FP+ (and it's full infrastructure of Mickey Heads, wifi, app, and kiosks) is dealing with the 100's of thousands of in-Park guests each and every day.

Will they continue to fix bugs and optimize for performance? Of course. Will they/can they change how they utilize the options they have code complete and in production (like change FP+ allocations, allow FP reservations across Parks, etc.)? Whenever they decide they want to. But, this "cake is baked", as they say.

That part can be read two ways.

And thanks for the laugh, SOA. Good stuff.

 

[FireDancer]

Which is all the more reason that it's a bit ridiculous that it's such a difficult system for customers to use. It's a very small portion of the overall project, but it's the most important part *to get right*. All of these vactioners who have spent hours trying to get tech issues resolved? That's hardly good word of mouth for Disney.

Heck, even in Disney's own promo (the new one on Food Network last week), the family was going through a FP+ line and talking about how it "worked perfectly" for them - and the close up they showed of the mickey head was blue, not green! They didn't even put the effort forth into their own marketing/promo to make sure it at least showed the tech working right.

I find it pretty easy to use personally and have had no technical issues so far. Of course that could change.

These systems are complex. I have managed a lot of I.T. projects and they are difficult. Mine are much smaller then NextGen and we still have a lot of tweaking to do months and even years after roll-out. I look at this entire project from a project manager's prospective and from that perspectives it is still in an early phase of deployment. That is true even if it is deployed for 100% of park-goers.

The time to judge this entire project is 5 or 10 years down the road, not now or even this time next year.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

The commercial I keep seeing says "the best part of a Disney vacation just may be staying at a Disney resort"

Is that double speak for "you better enjoy your resort because you will be riding less rides and find longer lines this year"?

Heck, I thought the best part of a Disney vacation were the PARKS. Silly me!!!

 

[Praying Colonel]

No... they did not tier Magic Kingdom.
At least not yet. Hopefully they never do.

Having only 3 FP+s for at least 6 high-demand, high-wait attractions (Space, Splash, BTMRR, Peter Pan, ETWB and the upcoming Mine Coaster) accomplishes the same thing as tiering. It's guaranteeing you'll be riding those other 3 attractions standby. Ride rationing at its finest.

 

[Disneychick75]

You all are funny. Thanks sonofanarchy for the thread! Please send it to Disney guest relations. They probably need a laugh too.