double dipping on fp is gone

[lugnut33]

Did you get a chance to observe how things were at the kiosks while you were there? Were they being utilized, how were the lines, did people seem to be flowing at a decent rate? I'm curious if you think these will be a bottleneck...

I didn't actively seek them out, however the ones I did see in the parks were completely dead. Maybe the ones near the park entrances were busier? I have a relative who walks around the MK with an iPad helping people with FP+ issues. According to her she is staying busy.

I do know guest relations was swamped every time I walked by.

 

[lugnut33]

Definitely - how are they at Park open vs. later and do they need staffed with a CM to guide the technology challenged. As more and more come on-line, how the kiosks are managed and distributed will be interesting to watch.

You just better hope you don't get behind the guy who is the Brazilian tour group leader.

 

[clsteve]

You just better hope you don't get behind the guy who is the Brazilian tour group leader.

 

[Violet Parr]

Has anyone considered the possibility that there will be NO FP access for offsite guests apart from AP holders? It seems to me that the effort is aimed at bringing and keeping dollars on Disney property. It would be much more effective to make FP a perk for those staying onsite only (+AP holders) than to nickel and dime individual rides. Pay-per-ride doesn't solve the problem of ride capacity.

Eliminating FP for offsite guests will force people to either purchase annual passes or stay onsite, bringing in (and keeping) far more cash on Disney property than a pay-per-ride system. OR, offsite guests purchase fastpass access for a lump sum. (See lnk.) Individually-priced fastpasses by the ride would be far more complicated.

http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets/front-of-line-pass/

We did the GAD, GAD thing a few years back, which was clearly a very early test of a tiered FP system. I think tiers are here to stay, and staying onsite will give additional perks. Once FP- is gone (and offsite guests have no access) then FP+ capacity increases dramatically, and possibly expands to 4 or 5 per day. They don't have a lot to lose this way, as Universal only offers a fastpass-like perk to those who stay onsite or those who are wiling to pay a hefty price for it.

Just my thoughts!

VP

 

[Violet Parr]

Also this explains why they haven't done any offsite testing, because in this scenario, offsiters aren't getting FP+.

VP

Has anyone considered the possibility that there will be NO FP access for offsite guests apart from AP holders? It seems to me that the effort is aimed at bringing and keeping dollars on Disney property. It would be much more effective to make FP a perk for those staying onsite only (+AP holders) than to nickel and dime individual rides. Pay-per-ride doesn't solve the problem of ride capacity.

Eliminating FP for offsite guests will force people to either purchase annual passes or stay onsite, bringing in (and keeping) far more cash on Disney property than a pay-per-ride system. OR, offsite guests purchase fastpass access for a lump sum. (See lnk.) Individually-priced fastpasses by the ride would be far more complicated.

http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets/front-of-line-pass/

We did the GAD, GAD thing a few years back, which was clearly a very early test of a tiered FP system. I think tiers are here to stay, and staying onsite will give additional perks. Once FP- is gone (and offsite guests have no access) then FP+ capacity increases dramatically, and possibly expands to 4 or 5 per day. They don't have a lot to lose this way, as Universal only offers a fastpass-like perk to those who stay onsite or those who are wiling to pay a hefty price for it.

Just my thoughts!

VP

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Has anyone considered the possibility that there will be NO FP access for offsite guests apart from AP holders? It seems to me that the effort is aimed at bringing and keeping dollars on Disney property. It would be much more effective to make FP a perk for those staying onsite only (+AP holders) than to nickel and dime individual rides. Pay-per-ride doesn't solve the problem of ride capacity.

I don't think so. Disney's hotels tend to run at 85%+ capacity year round. They're not doing this to drive guests to the hotels...Disney is already already quite successful at filling rooms. Even if they increased the average to 90% or 95%, that's just a small incremental increase over what they already achieve and it's not going to have a substantial affect on the bottom line. I don't think it makes any sense for them to alienate their offsite guests completely by totally shutting them out of FP when offsite guests account for more than 50% of park attendees, and they simply don't have the room capacity to bring substantially more guests on property. As far as I know, there are no plans in the works for any new large hotels that would signal that they want more resort guests. We have the Polynesian DVC, but by all accounts, it's going to be relatively small.

Offsite guests will always have access to FP+. I'm just not sure what that's going to look like. I'm leaning toward there will be no prebooking option and same-day will be the only possibility for offsiters, but we'll seee.

 

[Violet Parr]

I don't think so. Disney's hotels tend to run at 85%+ capacity year round. They're not doing this to drive guests to the hotels...Disney is already already quite successful at filling rooms. Even if they increased the average to 90% or 95%, that's just a small incremental increase over what they already achieve and it's not going to have a substantial affect on the bottom line. I don't think it makes any sense for them to alienate their offsite guests completely by totally shutting them out of FP when offsite guests account for more than 50% of park attendees, and they simply don't have the room capacity to bring substantially more guests on property. As far as I know, there are no plans in the works for any new large hotels that would signal that they want more resort guests. We have the Polynesian DVC, but by all accounts, it's going to be relatively small.

Offsite guests will always have access to FP+. I'm just not sure what that's going to look like. I'm leaning toward there will be no prebooking option and same-day will be the only possibility for offsiters, but we'll seee.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out!

VP

 

[lugnut33]

Once FP- is gone (and offsite guests have no access) then FP+ capacity increases dramatically, and possibly expands to 4 or 5 per day.

Just my thoughts!

VP

It really doesn't increase because all they are doing is pulling the fastpasses that are currently being used in the legacy system and giving them to FP+. There won't be more fastpasses given out in a day, just that they will all be done electronically.

Keep in mind that switching over to all electronic fastpasses will actually slow down the lines, especially out in front of the rides. It's a given that it takes longer to read the magic bands than it does to look at paper fastpasses.

 

[maddiebee]

I don't think so. Disney's hotels tend to run at 85%+ capacity year round. They're not doing this to drive guests to the hotels...Disney is already already quite successful at filling rooms. Even if they increased the average to 90% or 95%, that's just a small incremental increase over what they already achieve and it's not going to have a substantial affect on the bottom line. I don't think it makes any sense for them to alienate their offsite guests completely by totally shutting them out of FP when offsite guests account for more than 50% of park attendees, and they simply don't have the room capacity to bring substantially more guests on property. As far as I know, there are no plans in the works for any new large hotels that would signal that they want more resort guests. We have the Polynesian DVC, but by all accounts, it's going to be relatively small.

Offsite guests will always have access to FP+. I'm just not sure what that's going to look like. I'm leaning toward there will be no prebooking option and same-day will be the only possibility for offsiters, but we'll seee.

Disney keeps saying that one of the main reasons for FP+ is to make sure that people are locking in their plans to be at Disney. I think this ends up making offering FP+ offsite guests more important because if they aren't trying to get them into the hotels, they are at least trying to commit those guests to staying in the park all day, eating their and buying their souvenirs there, as opposed to all the places they can stop along the way.

 

[Vidia2]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned. Won't there be fewer fastpasses available, in either format, because so many more people will know about them now?

 

[ArwenMarie]

I've seen occupancy numbers more around 80%. I've also seen that their deluxe resorts run no where near even 80% over the course of yearly average. Just stuff I have read, not sure if it's true.

Regardless, I do think there is an incentive for them to try to use this to increase occupancy and increase the level of resort.

Even if they increase the occupancy rate by 10%, that's an increase of about 1,000,000 room-nights per year. Using an average of $200 a night, that would mean an increase in revenue of $200 million a year. If you increase the average to $250 a night to account for extra purchases because of being onsite, it's up to $275 million a year extra in revenue.

Anyway, just examples, but I think that if they can use FP, a previously "free" service, to increase occupancy/resort-level, they will.

Even if they only use it to maintain their current occupancy rates, the savings from not having to give free dining/room discounts could make it worth it.

 

[Rags]

Yes, old room-only keys and APs can each pull FP-. I confirmed this first-hand on our trip a few days ago.

So my undercover tourist hard plastic tickets won't work?

 

[Vidia2]

Has anyone considered the possibility that there will be NO FP access for offsite guests apart from AP holders? It seems to me that the effort is aimed at bringing and keeping dollars on Disney property.

This would make on-site rooms much more in-demand and they could do away with free dining and the other special offers and still fill up the rooms. They may only have a certain amount of rooms but they could make them more profitable this way. They've probably been working on a way to get rid of free dining since they started it.

Editing to say never mind. You already said it!

 

[jade1]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned. Won't there be fewer fastpasses available, in either format, because so many more people will know about them now?

Nope, same number either way. They could change the percentage allowed in the FP+ group though. And any new headliners would add to the pool.

 

[Vidia2]

Nope, same number either way. They could change the percentage allowed in the FP+ group though. And any new headliners would add to the pool.

I guess I should have said "fewer available to those of us who've already been using them" with more being used by those who would never know about them if they weren't now being marketed as a perk of the MB.

 

[jiminyfan]

We were linked with MBs and had hard APs and were able to get FP- in the parks over Thanksgiving.

 

[jade1]

I guess I should have said "fewer available to those of us who've already been using them" with more being used by those who would never know about them if they weren't now being marketed as a perk of the MB.

Most likely FP's would be enjoyed by more people yes.

 

[Denise W]

I just returned from Animal Kingdom using FP+. After riding EE i used my UT tyvek pass to pull a FP- to see if it would work. It did. At that time standby was 15 minutes and FP return was 4:25.

Denise

 

[Racemom17]

Our last day of our trip was the 4th. We had magic bands and park tickets. Tickets were not linked to the band. We were able to use the band at Epcot and Magic Kingdom and could also pull hard tickets....so they were still working two days ago.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Has anyone considered the possibility that there will be NO FP access for offsite guests apart from AP holders? It seems to me that the effort is aimed at bringing and keeping dollars on Disney property. It would be much more effective to make FP a perk for those staying onsite only (+AP holders) than to nickel and dime individual rides. Pay-per-ride doesn't solve the problem of ride capacity.

Eliminating FP for offsite guests will force people to either purchase annual passes or stay onsite, bringing in (and keeping) far more cash on Disney property than a pay-per-ride system. OR, offsite guests purchase fastpass access for a lump sum. (See lnk.) Individually-priced fastpasses by the ride would be far more complicated.

http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets/front-of-line-pass/

We did the GAD, GAD thing a few years back, which was clearly a very early test of a tiered FP system. I think tiers are here to stay, and staying onsite will give additional perks. Once FP- is gone (and offsite guests have no access) then FP+ capacity increases dramatically, and possibly expands to 4 or 5 per day. They don't have a lot to lose this way, as Universal only offers a fastpass-like perk to those who stay onsite or those who are wiling to pay a hefty price for it.

Just my thoughts!

VP

Disney has already specfically stated that fp+ is tied to theme park admission, and all will have access.