Just what you wanted - another thread on FP+. (But let's face it, a guaranteed way to get your thread read is to say you have some information.)
On Monday, I got the following from a long-time WDI staffer who participates in a different online community, and who has been involved at the deepest levels of designing how the new MM+ system will be designed, deployed, tested, and, eventually, fully implemented. Not just someone who's been given a fact sheet to respond to phone calls and emails. I have no reason to believe she's blowing smoke or saying anything just to cover her own bases.
Originally Posted by AdmiralBoom
The old FP "system" will be going away. Taking its place is the new FP+
"system". The only change being made is in the electronics and how the
"system" ties into the guest database. The usage "rules" have not
changed and for the most part, won't change.
Yes, we are in trial runs of several new ways to exploit the newer and
better electronics. Yes, some of these trials have limits (like 3
advance passes per park per day, no park hopping). These limits are
based on actual guest usage patterns. These are trial runs and meant to
help us understand how the general guest uses the FP - while at the same
time making sure we don't get in the way of other guests, using the
older methods.
The premise is that we can take some <percentage> of the FPs available
in the parks and turn them over to the vacation planners, to be used as
a perk for pre-planning one's stay (and/or for staying on property). The
goal is to minimize the impact of doing that to the already successful,
current program.
In the end, one will still be able to walk into a park and get FPs, just
like we can today. In the end, using pre-arranged FPs will only affect
one's usage in that one park (park hopping allowed). In the end there
will be ways to cancel and rearrange <some> pre-arranged FPs, to go
along with one's change in plans.
The FP is not a reservation. It does not hold up other guests or
contribute to attraction loading unless it is used. The new "system"
allows us to dynamically modify an attraction's loading pattern, right
up to the last second. This will take some getting used to (for us) but
it in no way means that we want to change the rules.
BTW, we don't expect pre-arranged FPs to be a major item. Studies have
shown us that the majority of our guests don't want to pre-plan their
vacations to that level. On the other hand, and for a while, it might
seem different, as we test out all the new capabilities of the system
(and by "system" I mean the whole new core operations system, not just
the FP part of it).
This may change a few perspectives. (Then again, probably not . . . ) Remember that all the references to "we" and "us" means the park operations folks, not the DISboarders or the general public.
One of the big takeaways I see here is that some of the differences between the tests and the full rollout are reflective of the knowledge that a limited test is different from a full deployment. The tests are designed to address particular questions that need to be answered before full deployment, and that may best be done by having the system operate differently in some ways than is intended for the final version.
Also, the last paragraph is particularly interesting. Remember that Disney surveys and focus-groups *everything*.
Sure, it still leaves a number of questions unanswered. But her intent wasn't to comprehensively preview what FP+ is going to be.
OK, enthusiasts and skeptics alike, have at it!