Can Disney admit that FP+ and MDE are a fail?

[JimmyV]

I am truly not picking on you, but someone please let me know exactly beyond FP plus and booking things far out and apps for smart phones. What more will this 1 to 1.5 billion dollar expense do for the consumer? What mind blowing technology is still coming? Anyone? I mean with that price tag shouldn't it be better than sliced bread.

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

 

[flicx]

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

Yes, I actually agree with most of what you are saying. So many on these boards are speaking as if there is something big that we aren't seeing yet to come. I just wanted to know if that's true and if there was something I missed. If Disney wants to roll out the PR plans go right ahead, as a smart consumer I am gonna see it for what it is. So far, I am far from impressed. It looks to me, with emphasis on to me, like one of the biggest money wastes in Disney World history. To think what 1 to 1.5 billion could have done to the parks is mind blowing. However if Disney feels they can spin it as positive and feel they can make a ton more money while doing it whatever! I just think there are a lot of people who will see through it.

 

[larryz]

No, no. He's resting. He's probably pining for the fjords.

Also, regarding FP+, I wish to register a complaint. Sorry, we're closing for lunch


My complaint is that you can only have three. "Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less. Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shalt be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the third number, be reached" then you have useth all your FP+s.

Standard IQ. tests gave the following results. The penguins scored badly when compared with primitive human sub-groups like the bushmen of the Kalahari but better than Disney executives. The Disney executives' surprisingly high total here can be explained away as being within the ordinary limits of statistical error.

Everything in Disney can be related to a Monty Python skit.

No, no, no -- you missed it.

If you listen very carefully as you whoosh by, the Yeti is singing "I am the Walrus"...

 

[larryz]

That is pretty sad. They gave you two fast passes for something that generally doesn't even need a fast pass!

But -- did I miss something, or did they just start allowing multiple FP+ on the same ride in the same day?

 

[OldSpiceGuy]

I honestly think FP+ is a way to cover the fact that EPCOT, DHS, and AK just don't have all that many rides. When you have that many guests with roughly two to three marquee rides in each park a system like FP+ makes sense.

 

[PeterPanic]

Actually no. They only need a 1 night reservation to select FP's for every day on their ticket. But offsite guests will soon be able to reserve FP's anyways.

Still sounds a lot like paying for a FP doesn't it? If what you say is true, I would be surprised if that little loop hole isn't filled in before they go 100% live unless they just like the one night additional resort room rent.

 

[bcrook]

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

I will have to bookmark this post. You have done an excellent job explaining why this didn't come from a customer service standpoint. Collateral benefits. I like that.

I am looking forward to the upcoming massive p.r. Campaign.

 

[crostorfer]

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

One of the most thoughtful, insightful, and well spoken responses I've seen so far. Bravo.

 

[Laketravis]

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

I nominate Jimmy to be President of the FP Haters Club.

 

[Elinor Dashwood]

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

Yes!!!!

 

[redrosesix]

Look at it this way. Everything that Disney has done is for its benefit. Now the mission is to convince guests that it is for theirs. Magic Bands? Seriously? Was any guest's vacation impaired by the use of KTTK? Did anyone cancel a trip because they would have to pay for purchases with a CC or room key card? To the extent that the use of sweaty plastic bands is an improvement, it certainly was not one that anybody asked for or that public sentiment demanded. No one ever filled out a comment card or dropped a note in a suggestion box and asked for the implementation of a plastic band as a replacement for cash, credit cards and room keys. This is not to say that people won't enjoy or appreciate MBs. But don't think for a minute that guests' appreciation was a bigger motivatior than Disney's ability to track your movement and purchase patterns.

FP+? Again, this is for them, not you. Take a wild guess as to how many people suggested to Disney that the FP system could be greatly improved if guests were prohibited from getting FPs to both TT and Soarin' on the same day. Guess how many people suggested to Disney that 3 FP per day with tiering of attractions would enhance their vacation. I'm thinking if a round number. "0". So you won't be seeing any concrete benefits from this investment that are designed specifically for your benefit. At best you will see things that benefit Disney and that have the collateral effect of benefitting you. Like MB. This is not to say that any of this is bad or sinister. It's business. Just don't hold your breath waiting for any of this investment to be rolled out with you in mind. Instead, expect massive p.r. campaigns designed to convince you that this actually is the purpose.

That is pretty sad. They gave you two fast passes for something that generally doesn't even need a fast pass! The really sad part is for about a third of what they spent on this glorious new system they could have kept fast pass- and stuck in three new head liners at epcot. Win, win in my book. You get to pull the fast passes you want,everyone gets three new headliners in a park that soarly needs a few new rides!

ikr -- and what's even worse is I didn't even want one of them in the first place, but I had to pick 3.

But -- did I miss something, or did they just start allowing multiple FP+ on the same ride in the same day?

we don't know what happened but it's still there and I can't fix it til we get to the resort.

I honestly think FP+ is a way to cover the fact that EPCOT, DHS, and AK just don't have all that many rides. When you have that many guests with roughly two to three marquee rides in each park a system like FP+ makes sense.

me too -- because it would have cost more than $500 m (the original budget) to do would be necessary to fix it by building new attractions.

Still sounds a lot like paying for a FP doesn't it? If what you say is true, I would be surprised if that little loop hole isn't filled in before they go 100% live unless they just like the one night additional resort room rent.

And then there are the people who plan to buy 2 sets of tickets so they'll get 6 fp's for each day. It's amazing what you learn on these boards.

I nominate Jimmy to be President of the FP Haters Club.

I second the nomination. Even though I'm not technically in the club yet. I'll let you know in 3 days.

 

[fla4fun]

Still sounds a lot like paying for a FP doesn't it? If what you say is true, I would be surprised if that little loop hole isn't filled in before they go 100% live unless they just like the one night additional resort room rent.

Perhaps they will do what they've been doing with passholders. Those of us who have stayed on property have been able to make FP+ in advance, but only 7 days at a time. So if a person is here for two or three weeks, staying off property to save money (understandable) then it could be that if they book one night, they can book up to 7 days of FP+, but then they will have to use a day for another one to open up. Just a guess on my part.

It was a bit of a challenge, since my trips aren't always 60 days or more apart, to spread out FP+ days. At some point I'm hoping that the staying on property will override the AP restriction so that if I have two ten day trips six weeks apart, I will be able to schedule FP+ for all 20 days. So far that hasn't been the case for me, but I know they aren't finished setting all the parameters yet. I don't use FP+ every day anyway, so for the most part I've been able to work around the limitations OK.

My guess as far as what the guest complaints were, is that people complained that the FP ran out too early in the day, so this is Disney's way of trying to spread the wealth. The people who weren't able to get FP before because they ran out will be happy, and the people who maxed out the system won't be so happy.

 

[dfb]

Although, the technology makes that possible, I think, I truly doubt that Disney would find that worthwhile. The paranoia that people are connecting with MM+ is almost laughable. The idea that MM+ is primarily the FP system is also laughable. It is so much more then that and with a little unbiased thought it can be seen just how much it will benefit Disney to forge ahead with this plan. And it isn't just increased revenue, but, many aspects will help manage people and expense in a more solid fashion. Considering the colossal amount of money already invested, it is doubtful that Disney will be considering dropping the whole thing because some find it "unhandy" or not inline with their personal touring practices.

My feeling is that you can write to Disney expressing your approval or disapproval and if they are well thought out, and not filled with irrational customer venom, I'm sure they will look at it and either agree or disagree based on what they expected to get out of the program. Until it starts to show up in less money coming in on a daily basis, public protests will have little affect, in my opinion!

The main point I was trying to make is, if you don't like your experience then tell Disney about it.

WDW.Guest.Communications@disneyworld.com

I would like some of these issues resolved before my 2015 trip. Thank You!!

If 3 FP+ doesn't work for you, then let Disney know! If the rubber wrist band gets in your way when you wipe your butt, then let Disney know! Keep it simple, comments don't have to be a paranoia enriched, biased tirade. Everybody already knows that feedback alone won't effect a change but it does help!!

Yaking on these forums will not effect a change! But people's comments do alert the rest of us to potential issues that may impact our trips. Take the given info, apply appropriate filter and go on. They don't need some jack leg analyzing every comment and telling them how right or wrong they are.

We all know MM+ is more than just FP+
We all know MM+ isn't going away, at least anytime soon!

The only thing laughable is, we don't need some Disney genius to tell us how right or wrong we are!!

Love ya! Mean it!!

PS - By the way, I do find this humorous but I don't like putting LOL or Hahaha after comments!!

 

[larryz]

I am looking forward to the upcoming massive p.r. Campaign.

I think it started with the Jeff Mauro Family Disney Vacation special.

 

[bcrook]

I think it started with the Jeff Mauro Family Disney Vacation special.

I think you are right.

 

[Cookie Princess]

I wish they'd use the technology to have the bands work like old FP. No pre-booking. Just walk to the ride, look at the time, tap if you want the FP. Sure, eliminate paper, use your new technology, but work it the old way.

I 100% agree with this! As a family who always had more than 3 FPs in a day this seems like a big take away for us.

We are planning a trip in April, is the new FP+ mandatory for onsite guests, or is it still being tested?

 

[bcrook]

I 100% agree with this! As a family who always had more than 3 FPs in a day this seems like a big take away for us.

We are planning a trip in April, is the new FP+ mandatory for onsite guests, or is it still being tested?

There is FP+ or standby. You get to choose.

 

[blingbowsparkles]

I have not had the opportunity to try it yet but I am looking forward to testing it out this summer. I am sure we will miss this old fast pass system but things change and I don't think Disney ever guaranteed the old system to last forever. My question is so many say their system is a failure and wondering what facts they have to prove this statement. What are the numbers saying ? Is Disney losing money hand over fist with this new system ?

 

[bcrook]

I have not had the opportunity to try it yet but I am looking forward to testing it out this summer. I am sure we will miss this old fast pass system but things change and I don't think Disney ever guaranteed the old system to last forever. My question is so many say their system is a failure and wondering what facts they have to prove this statement. What are the numbers saying ? Is Disney losing money hand over fist with this new system ?

It's too early to tell. People have vacations planned for over a year, and most of those people don't have a clue what is going to happen to them. It will be interesting to see how next year looks after people get a taste of dealing with guest relations to fix a myriad of problems. Guest relations is a very popular place right now.

If it takes another year to iron out the bugs, what would two years of substantial problems do to their trips in the future?

There will be hundreds of thousand of off site guests show up for spring break and their ability to get FP will be hampered by on site guests booking up everything, dealing with kiosks, and tiers are going to be a rude awakening for on site and off site guests not in the know.

While a large percentage will love it, that doesn't help much- because they were going to love their trip anyway. It is the large group who was expecting to love their trip and walk away frustrated who dictate how successful this will be.

Even if FP+ is good for people! it isn't really something in itself that would attract new guests. Well, maybe after the magic band commercials start to hit the airwaves, but not right now.

The mine train will do much more to bring guests to the park than the silly bracelets.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have not had the opportunity to try it yet but I am looking forward to testing it out this summer. I am sure we will miss this old fast pass system but things change and I don't think Disney ever guaranteed the old system to last forever. My question is so many say their system is a failure and wondering what facts they have to prove this statement. What are the numbers saying ? Is Disney losing money hand over fist with this new system ?

Would you really expect an unsuccessful system to show itself in the numbers at this point? Most people book trips long in advance. Legacy FP machines were covered just a few weeks ago. Up to that point, it was fastpasspalooza for many people. Lots of folks want to try the new system once before bidding farewell to a long loved family vacation destination.

If any figure is of interest to me, it's number of bounceback offers booked compared to a year prior, from mid-January forward.