Disney's Legacy FastPass Failure

[morethananyonex]

This thread is because one ride had a backup at its fastpass legacy kiosks? ONE ride?

TSMM has been a problem since it was built and that isn't likely to change. We waited a bit there, that is true, but we never waited anywhere else.

Yeah, apparently legacy FP was a failure because this happened at one ride, but FP+ is a smashing success because there are back ups at many rides, longer wait times at some, and technlogy based issues to boot. Sound logic. But hey, WE CAN RIDE TSMM AND SLEEP IN!!

 

[OtherScott]

Disney can't get the system to function correctly most of the time now...talking about throwing things like this into the IT mix? Disney's IT dept is not something that inspires confidence in being able to pull off complicated endeavors (part of my concerns with MM+/FP+ in the first place)

Disney has over 1/2 of it's guests trying to access the system day-of for all FP selections. Once all are able to prebook, the load will be spread out over not just a greater period of time but greater amount of resources (support).

 

[snoopy352]

I completely agree FP+ has improved the situation for TSMM somewhat. Previously, you had to go to RD, grab a FP-, ride standby with a relatively short wait, and then come back to use your FP- at the designated time to ride again.

Now, you reserve the time you want in advance, go to RD, ride SB with a relatively short wait, and then come back to use your FP+ at the time you selected. That is a slight improvement.

But don't forget that it came at the expense of now not being able to get other tier 1 FPs that you would have been able to get in the past. So instead of also having short waits at other headliners, you have no choice but to ride SB for those.

you sure about that?

 

[mom2rtk]

Rope drop would be fine under that scenario!

Well, as long as you were there in front of the huge pile up caused by people trying to book ressies on their IPad while driving into the parking lot........

My concern is that once they start letting you get additional FPs, but make you wait until your others have been used, people will be inclined to schedule them as early in the day as possible.

 

[clsteve]

My concern is that once they start letting you get additional FPs, but make you wait until your others have been used, people will be inclined to schedule them as early in the day as possible.

Most definitely. And nothing has shown that MDE, the app and the Wi-Fi are designed or optimized for continual, real-time access in the Parks. Having a large percentage of guests continually accessing for changes and new ressies would be an IT nightmare.

 

[mom2rtk]

Most definitely. And nothing has shown that MDE, the app and the Wi-Fi are designed or optimized for continual, real-time access in the Parks. Having a large percentage of guests continually accessing for changes and new ressies would be an IT nightmare.

I agree that would be beyond what Disney IT seems capable of.

 

[MrInfinity]

My concern is that once they start letting you get additional FPs, but make you wait until your others have been used, people will be inclined to schedule them as early in the day as possible.

Yes that's definitely a challenge. Where Dis has extra FPs to give is in that early morning hour. I would hate to see ppl pulling 9am FPs to get a 4th in the evening when they didn't need a FP at 9am.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Disney has over 1/2 of it's guests trying to access the system day-of for all FP selections. Once all are able to prebook, the load will be spread out over not just a greater period of time but greater amount of resources (support).

You'll have to forgive me if I don't hold my breath waiting for all the tech issues to resolve. Bad WiFi and cell reception has been an issue in the parks for years, and while it may be moderately better now, its still not great. And those 2 things are pretty necessary components for the app to work...and that's not even going into the glitchy app itself...

 

[NickyKnack]

This is my confusion. You say you could not get more fast passes unless you inserted multiple tickets. Do you mean current plastic tickets purchased for that day? or just tickets (old plastic park tickets)?

I have no problem with people riding a popular ride 2 times if they had to wait the allotted time to get the new fast pass. I am just confused as to whether people were able to get really crafty under the old system and ride many times and go back to back?

I know people were able to do it when they were introducing the new system in November and people were pulling crazy number sod tickets. Really just trying to understand. I quoted a person who said if they were industrious they could get more than one ticket from the fast pass, I thought they meant in waiting in that one line? Am I misunderstanding?

I do know of one way to pull at least 2 fast passes for the same attraction. Or at least I did under FP- because I used it all the time on Dinosaur. My traveling party consisted of 2 people, me and my wife. My wife was not comfortable riding Dinosaur - but she would do everything else, so that was the only ride we didn't do together. When I grabbed my FP for Dinosaur, I used her ticket to grab a second one for myself as well, thus allowing me to ride twice. Since after that we both had to wait the full allotment of time before we could pick up our next Fps I wouldn't really call that an abuse of the system. Our party was "entitled" to two FP for that time period, and that's what I got.

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Here is the Legacy FastPass distribution line on one of the slowest days of the year. You have to stand in a long line to get the FastPass and then return later to wait in line again. What is so special about this????? Do folks really want to go back to this????? I, for one.....do not. This happened to me at other rides too and I don't miss it!!!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqNZcBgWSxs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qs_l2-Vqo0M

I have NEVER had to stand in a line to get a FP-, so it is not the norm for slow season. I do not go during busy season, but you said this is "the slowest day of the year".

 

[jade1]

It shows 9:11 is a 10:50 return, then 11:10 at 9:14, so it's using 20 minutes every 3 minutes.

 

[OtherScott]

My concern is that once they start letting you get additional FPs, but make you wait until your others have been used, people will be inclined to schedule them as early in the day as possible.

Now you're concerned about people getting to parks early?

 

[OtherScott]

You'll have to forgive me if I don't hold my breath waiting for all the tech issues to resolve. Bad WiFi and cell reception has been an issue in the parks for years, and while it may be moderately better now, its still not great. And those 2 things are pretty necessary components for the app to work...and that's not even going into the glitchy app itself...

They either will or they won't.

 

[Angel Ariel]

They either will or they won't.

Their IT history doesn't exactly give me confidence that they will.

 

[glamdring269]

I knew without looking the example was going to be Toy Story Midway Mania, which has a singular problem no distribution system is going to be able to fix but has somehow become the poster child for NextGen. It will only be addressed when new major attractions are introduced to Hollywood Studios. The same attraction doesn't have this problem in California where it's not in a park starving for family attractions.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I knew without looking the example was going to be Toy Story Midway Mania, which has a singular problem no distribution system is going to be able to fix but has somehow become the poster child for NextGen. It will only be addressed when new major attractions are introduced to Hollywood Studios. The same attraction doesn't have this problem in California where it's not in a park starving for family attractions.

I mean no offense really. But this is what I have been saying was part of the problem with the old system and that there was many people who had there ways of getting more that the intended number of fast passes. As someone who would accidentally put my DH's ticket in on occasion (he would join us later in the park) I ALWAYS got the "Not a Valid Fastpass"

I received responses from people who are against the new fast pass system saying that this is not the case and there was no abuse of the old system. But then I see people making comments like this one.

Use is not abuse. When double dipping was allowed by WDW I couldn't even call it abuse. Disney makes the rules.

I rarely used fast passes in the past. But when I would go on Toy story Midway Mania and I would over hear multiple people taking about how many times they had been on the ride that day and their scores I knew they were getting more fast passes then was intended. I saw people turn right around after exiting the door and going back in. I did not understand it.

Before they enforced the return times a few years ago, that was possible buy how did you KNOW it was more than the intended amount?

It all really confuses me because I did not know all the ins and outs of the old system. I do really like the fact that the new system has more of an equality to it built in.

I really liked my experience with the new fast pass and it made our stay much more enjoyable. Count me as confused, also, if you never used FP- much how do you know FP+ is better?

This is my confusion. You say you could not get more fast passes unless you inserted multiple tickets. Do you mean current plastic tickets purchased for that day? or just tickets (old plastic park tickets)?

I have no problem with people riding a popular ride 2 times if they had to wait the allotted time to get the new fast pass. I am just confused as to whether people were able to get really crafty under the old system and ride many times and go back to back? If anyone was that crafty it would have been all over the disboards/interent. I've never heard of such a thing.

I know people were able to do it when they were introducing the new system in November and people were pulling crazy number sod tickets. Really just trying to understand. I quoted a person who said if they were industrious they could get more than one ticket from the fast pass, I thought they meant in waiting in that one line? Am I misunderstanding? Yes, you are misunderstanding. There was no way to put in even a valid ticket if it hadn't been used at the gate. The only way to get multiple fast passes was to go to the machine multiple times a day.

This wasn't a FP- problem/failure. This was, and still is, a TSMM and a DHS problem/failure. FP+ didn't add additional tracks to the ride. FP+ didn't build additional family friendly headliners at DHS. Those are the two solutions to the problem. All FP+ did was move that line online, while adding a whole bunch of restrictions to the people waiting in the line.

Yes! TSMM and dinner at BD are the two only reasons we go to DHS. The line at RD (when they actually had a rope drop) was so bad I wouldn't even bother to go some years. When they had a more orderly entrance we started to go back.

Incorrect, part of the solution was to limit each person to 1 tier 1 ride. Opening up more TSMM FP+ times to other people. It also limited you to 1 park per day (at this point) thus people choosing to FP+ MK while still going to HS in the morning for instance.... While I understand both those solutions would have help with the overall ride wait issue this is the direction Disney decided to move.

One person said they get irritated by people saying they abused the old system... Well I get sick of people just ragging on FP+ just to rag on it instead of giving constructive feedback. "If you complain enough they will change it." False, if you give them corrective feedback of how you want the system changed they will change it. I would bet almost anything that FP+ is not going anywhere for the next 20 years.

You are right. They have too much money invested in this for it to go anywhere. I also have a ton of money invested in this vacation. Unfortunately, everything was booked before I knew about tiering and limits. When someone else pays for my vacation, I will worry about it being fair. When I am paying I don't want limits.

So what???? Would you rather stand in line 30 mins for a FP- AT the park or keep hitting refresh for 5 mins on your couch?

How about checking multiple times daily for the Parades and fireworks FP+ to come out?

Again the current state of MDE is not what the end result should be. You should enter at 11:59 and by 12:05 have your FP+ picked and submitted. There should be no endless errors or just days of downtime we see now.

Also to those point out the FP+ kiosk... That will not be an issue for long once everyone off-site starts booking online 30 days out. You will still have a few lines but that will mostly be for people who are really out of the loop going to Disney likely for the first time with FP+ in place.

Online booking will just increase the chance of the more popular rides being gone at 30 days out.

Finally to everyone complaining about tiers and all the other things. Tiers are in place because MORE people are actually using FP+ now (likely over using to capacity). I also don't see a connection between FP+ = less happy people with their trips. IF Disney can work out the kinks in the technical system and start managing the FP+ allotment better you will see happiness go up.

Those "more" people don't pay for my vacation.

To throw back the 1+1=2 back at you
If people were getting 4/5/6/7/8/9 FP- in a day that means 1/2/3 people were not using ANY FP-. If there person for the first time ever uses FP+ on their next trip it likely will be a revelation that is just amazing to "skip" the line....

My math is simple I am paying for X + 3FP+ Higher SB times. while before I was paying for X+YFP- Higher SB times with y being more than 3.

Well, I've never stood in line anywhere close to 30 minutes to get TSMM FP, but anyways, I'd rather get the FP from my couch before the trip all else being equal. BUT I'd rather wait in the line at the park if it doesn't restrict me to 3 total FP per day in one park, and if tiers did not have to be put in place. Again, you'd be hard pressed to find a FP- supporter who thought there was nothing wrong with TSMM. The thing is, most of us recognize that it's a TSMM problem, and this issue did not exist at the majority of the other attractions across all 4 parks. I would rather deal with a situation like this at one attraction (that cannot be resolved until more desirable capacity is added to DHS) and take all the other good stuff that FP- brought. Just like for many people benefits outweigh the downsides of FP+, the benefits of FP- outweighed the downsides for many of us too.

Tiers exist because Epcot and DHS don't have enough desirable rides to go around. In order for Disney to keep enough "inventory" for people to lock themselves into their DHS days, tiers are a necessity. I dislike tiers, but I do understand why they are there which leads to me viewing them as the aspect of FP+ least likely to change, at least for a good 5-10 more years.

I would have rather WDW put the money into attractions like Universal did.

This thread is because one ride had a backup at its fastpass legacy kiosks? ONE ride?

TSMM has been a problem since it was built and that isn't likely to change. We waited a bit there, that is true, but we never waited anywhere else.

My thoughts exactly. On slow days TSMM, EE, and Space might be the only FP- to run out completely. Crowd levels of 1-2 everything was a walk on so the point would be moot.

Yeah, apparently legacy FP was a failure because this happened at one ride, but FP+ is a smashing success because there are back ups at many rides, longer wait times at some, and technlogy based issues to boot. Sound logic. But hey, WE CAN RIDE TSMM AND SLEEP IN!!

I can sleep in at luxury hotels for 1/2 of what WDW chargers.

Now you're concerned about people getting to parks early?

Yep. Higher SB lines at opening because now FP+ starts at 9AM instead of at 9:40.

 

[OtherScott]

Yep. Higher SB lines at opening because now FP+ starts at 9AM instead of at 9:40.

"Get yer lazy bones outta bed" used to be the hollow advice offered to those who complained about getting aced out...

Now that they might actually follow it? "Concerning"

 

[jfelcie]

I think that I might like Fastpass +. Last June after riding TSM we got fastpasses for later. The return time was so late that we were already back at the BWV pool. There were 6 of us so teenage grandson went back to ride 7 times and got some very high scores. He will hate the new system! I never even got to ride Soarin as the fastpasses were all gone.

 

[Shaden]

"Get yer lazy bones outta bed" used to be the hollow advice offered to those who complained about getting aced out...

Now that they might actually follow it? "Concerning"

I agree, of course the alternate is also true. Many of the people (though not all) who extoll FP+ because it allows them to "sleep in and still get TSMM" then point out that "FP+ is just as good as FP- because you can still do as much by getting up at RD and then using for FPs for later in the day." Some of them even add in a "like we did" ....

 

[MaryKatesMom]

"Get yer lazy bones outta bed" used to be the hollow advice offered to those who complained about getting aced out...

Now that they might actually follow it? "Concerning"

What? You are deliberately missing the point.

SB lines at RD and through the day are going up. Where FP lines started at 9:40 they now start at 9.