Fast Pass Plus Changes ....

[Shaden]

Not sure if this has been posted ... been too busy at the parks the last two weeks to follow everything .... but, an interesting morning I have had already.

I was fervently trying to change TS fp this morning at park opening and couldn't find any times. So after checking with 3 CMS and 2 guest relations folks at different fp+ kiosks ....

They are no longer holding back FPs for day of .... according to them they stopped a couple weeks ago

I'm addition.... throughout the parks they have signs up with FP availability. Attractions are listed as 'available' or 'limited' ... again confirmed from 2 guest relations people 'limited' actually means they are all gone but some might be added back if people cancel or skip or what have you.

Just thought I'd share since this is pretty important info.


Though again ... these are just CMs bad GR CMs .... so take it for what it's worth ... but it seems pretty legit with multiple conformation points

 

[Mad Hattered]

Thanks for the update, Shaden! I hope they reverse that trend because it defeats the purpose of letting us super users take advantage of the system like we surely would have.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Hope that's just bad info. Seems like a ridiculous idea not to hold some for same day.

 

[JimmyV]

They are no longer holding back FPs for day of .... according to them they stopped a couple weeks ago

I figured as much. I have always been skeptical of the idea that they were holding them back, but didn't want to get into a debate with people who swore that they "knew" that this was being done. Again, just look at the FP+ mission statement. Disney wants to "lock you in" and get you excited about coming to WDW. At some point, people are going to get disappointed when they cannot get the FP that they want, or at the time they want. That is inevitable. So the question is, given the mission statement, who should you disappoint...the person trying to make FP+ reservations from home who might cancel their vacation if they are getting shut out; or the person who is already in the park, has already paid for their room and ticket, and who cannot get a refund? All signs point to making the maximin number of FPs available to early planners and leaving people already in the parks to fight over the scraps.

 

[JimmyV]

Seems like a ridiculous idea not to hold some for same day.

It would be even more ridiculous for Disney to limit the number of FPs such that a person trying to book 46 days in advance (before the refundable cancellation window closes) cannot get what they want. Which is worse for Disney?

• Let's go to Customer Service to complain that we cannot get a second TSMM FP now that we are in the park.

or

• We aren't getting any good FPs 50 days in advance, so let's cancel our reservations and go to Universal instead.

Disney wants you to do three things with FP+.

1. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation
2. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation
3. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation

 

[lugnut33]

We had confirmation about Disney holding back up to 40% of FP+ by TheHub (who supposedly is a CM in the know). Now we have confirmation that the practice has stopped. If it's true that it has stopped, good luck to all you people who wanted to sleep in on your vacation.

 

[Shaden]

We had confirmation about Disney holding back up to 40% of FP+ by TheHub (who supposedly is a CM in the know). Now we have confirmation that the practice has stopped. If it's true that it has stopped, good luck to all you people who wanted to sleep in on your vacation.

Yes if the Hub could come in on this ... would be great.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I figured as much. I have always been skeptical of the idea that they were holding them back, but didn't want to get into a debate with people who swore that they "knew" that this was being done. Again, just look at the FP+ mission statement. Disney wants to "lock you in" and get you excited about coming to WDW. At some point, people are going to get disappointed when they cannot get the FP that they want, or at the time they want. That is inevitable. So the question is, given the mission statement, who should you disappoint...the person trying to make FP+ reservations from home who might cancel their vacation if they are getting shut out; or the person who is already in the park, has already paid for their room and ticket, and who cannot get a refund? All signs point to making the maximin number of FPs available to early planners and leaving people already in the parks to fight over the scraps.

I agree. I could see no real benefit for Disney to hold back for day of. And after all, Disney made this whole new FP+ system to benefit Disney and not the guest, even if some do see a benefit.

 

[MightyGitis]

I am a little sad they aren't holding some for day of. Not particularly for me but for my sister who lives in Orlando and has an AP. Means if she decided to go on her day off tomorrow she basically had no hope of getting certain FP+. (Unlike with legacy where she could decide spur of the moment to go to a park and still get FPs)

I guess it makes sense. This whole system seems to be in place so that they know where the crowds will be days in advance.

It also makes the rolling 4th pass a little less useful. If they held some back for day of you would be more likely to have something to grab after you've used your initial 3 passes.

Though I definitely like that they have boards posting what sort of FPs are still available.

 

[OtherScott]

We had confirmation about Disney holding back up to 40% of FP+ by TheHub (who supposedly is a CM in the know). Now we have confirmation that the practice has stopped. If it's true that it has stopped, good luck to all you people who wanted to sleep in on your vacation.

This struck me as nonsense, in the strictest sense of the word.

That said, I think many had different definitions of what "hold back" meant. The system will "hold back" in the sense that it will intelligently weight the choices presented to you at a given time (based on HAL 9000's algorithm), but it did not "hold back" or "reserve" a % of FP slots for day-of distribution (outside of what may be necessary to re-issue).

If anything, with increased data leading to better modeling, Disney will intelligently overbook attractions.

 

[PlutoMars]

Keep in mind, all this is speculation and hasnt been confirmed.

It is amazing people will discount what CMs say until it agrees with their narrative.

 

[OtherScott]

I am a little sad they aren't holding some for day of. Not particularly for me but for my sister who lives in Orlando and has an AP. Means if she decided to go on her day off tomorrow she basically had no hope of getting certain FP+. (Unlike with legacy where she could decide spur of the moment to go to a park and still get FPs)

I guess it makes sense. This whole system seems to be in place so that they know where the crowds will be days in advance.

It also makes the rolling 4th pass a little less useful. If they held some back for day of you would be more likely to have something to grab after you've used your initial 3 passes.

Though I definitely like that they have boards posting what sort of FPs are still available.

If hold back was occurring, we would have expected to see reports of people being aced out of prime attractions during last minute booking. Hasn't happened. Worst we've seen is limited availability to re-schedule to more optimal time.

Your sister will likely get the attractions she wants (forget 7DMT and A&E), but maybe not at the exact times she wants.

 

[OtherScott]

It would be even more ridiculous for Disney to limit the number of FPs such that a person trying to book 46 days in advance (before the refundable cancellation window closes) cannot get what they want. Which is worse for Disney?

• Let's go to Customer Service to complain that we cannot get a second TSMM FP now that we are in the park.

or

• We aren't getting any good FPs 50 days in advance, so let's cancel our reservations and go to Universal instead.

Disney wants you to do three things with FP+.

1. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation
2. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation
3. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation

Yep.

 

[ArwenMarie]

This would make sense to me since every customer is on prebooking for FP+ now.

I think it's a good thing personally, I think it would just add one more layer of crazy to the whole thing.

I also like the idea of having signs up so you don't waste time at the kiosks looking for 4ths.

Thanks for reporting on this!

 

[ArwenMarie]

I figured as much. I have always been skeptical of the idea that they were holding them back, but didn't want to get into a debate with people who swore that they "knew" that this was being done. Again, just look at the FP+ mission statement. Disney wants to "lock you in" and get you excited about coming to WDW. At some point, people are going to get disappointed when they cannot get the FP that they want, or at the time they want. That is inevitable. So the question is, given the mission statement, who should you disappoint...the person trying to make FP+ reservations from home who might cancel their vacation if they are getting shut out; or the person who is already in the park, has already paid for their room and ticket, and who cannot get a refund? All signs point to making the maximin number of FPs available to early planners and leaving people already in the parks to fight over the scraps.

Exactly. Using A&E as the example, why would they hold any back for that? If people can't get that prebooked, they could very well cancel their vacations or visits. And I'm sure Mine Train will fall into the same category although hopefully not as bad.

 

[robinb]

All signs point to making the maximin number of FPs available to early planners and leaving people already in the parks to fight over the scraps.

Yet another reason to have FP+. It contributes to the "I got mine and I don't give a hoot that you didn't get yours" attitude of the uber-planner.

 

[heyitsmejosh]

It would be even more ridiculous for Disney to limit the number of FPs such that a person trying to book 46 days in advance (before the refundable cancellation window closes) cannot get what they want. Which is worse for Disney?

• Let's go to Customer Service to complain that we cannot get a second TSMM FP now that we are in the park.

or

• We aren't getting any good FPs 50 days in advance, so let's cancel our reservations and go to Universal instead.

Disney wants you to do three things with FP+.

1. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation
2. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation
3. Maximize your pre-bookings, locking you in to your vacation

they have to hold some back because if they are all gone the morning of you are going to get the piss off Florida residents/passholders who don't book trips to Disney world that far out.

 

[JimmyV]

they have to hold some back because if they are all gone the morning of you are going to get the piss off Florida residents/passholders who don't book trips to Disney world that far out.

You're making a huge assumption here that Disney cares about that demographic. Disney cares about FL residents who buy APs. And those folks can pre-book. Disney could not care less about FL residents who do not buy APs and who wake up in the morning and decide to go to a park. Not one bit.

 

[countryblonde314]

I am wondering how this works with the new fastpass system where after you have used your 3 fastpass for that day you can go to an in park kiosk and add more but only 1 at a time for the same day. I have talked to many cast member and even my friend that works down there in the park and this new system rolled in a couple of weeks ago. So this new system you are talking about doesn't seem to make since. This seems like its incorrect information that you were given.

 

[PlutoMars]

You're making a huge assumption here that Disney cares about that demographic. Disney cares about FL residents who buy APs. And those folks can pre-book. Disney could not care less about FL residents who do not buy APs and who wake up in the morning and decide to go to a park. Not one bit.

You are making assumptions as well.