Fast Pass Plus wasn't THAT bad…. a lot of hype for how awful it was

[luvsJack]

So you are saying that we happen to hit every attraction for 12 hours before they updated the time? ok.

I didn't say it was fabricated at least not on purpose. I said it was wrong. When the CMs are correcting it on every single attraction then something isn't right.

Of course it can change. But I highly doubt that we got there after the huge surge of people running into the attraction or running out of the line every single time.

In past trips we have encountered seeing a posted time and looking at the line to know that it wasn't right, but not on every single attraction all day long and not to the point the CMs were automatically correcting every single one. On some attractions it was laughable--30 minutes and no line! or 10 minutes and the line was in the walkway.

 

[Laketravis]

So you are saying that we happen to hit every attraction for 12 hours before they updated the time? ok.

I didn't say it was fabricated at least not on purpose. I said it was wrong. When the CMs are correcting it on every single attraction then something isn't right.

Of course it can change. But I highly doubt that we got there after the huge surge of people running into the attraction or running out of the line every single time.

In past trips we have encountered seeing a posted time and looking at the line to know that it wasn't right, but not on every single attraction all day long and not to the point the CMs were automatically correcting every single one. On some attractions it was laughable--30 minutes and no line! or 10 minutes and the line was in the walkway.

I tbink we could both be right. I'm saying that the moment they sample the wait time is the most accurate read and the accuracy then degrades over time by increasing or decreasing; you are suggesting they are never correct and can be longer or shorter than whatthe posted time Iis which was the last sample.

.

 

[luvsJack]

I tbink we could both be right. I'm saying that the moment they sample the wait time is the most accurate read and the accuracy then degrades over time by increasing or decreasing; you are suggesting they are never correct and can be longer or shorter than whatthe posted time Iis which was the last sample.

.

No, no. I am just saying they were wrong when we were there. Actually they started out accurate and then were all wrong (the accuracy lasted about an hour) and stayed wrong the rest of the day. I would never suggest that anything is going on there right now, because I don't have a clue. I can only say what was happening the 3 days we were there.

So, yes, we are both probably correct in what is happening or happened during our time there.

 

[Laketravis]

I don't think the posted wait time is simply the last sampled red card.

It definitely isn't that when the parks first open and the line is building quickly.

I also thought that when some websites were reporting actual and posted times, the actual time was the last reported red card.

They take two samples. One for SB and the other for FP. The posted wait time is the derivative of the SB sample. The 'Actual' as erroneously labeled by some websites was the last sampled time. The field did not distinguish if that was the FP or SB read and tbat data field was not made available thru the API and is perhaps why Disney removed the last sampled field from the API.

.

 

[Laketravis]

At TGMR now. App said 25, posted wait time said 25, entered line at 6:07. Let's see how long it really takes.

.

 

[Laketravis]

Just entered building at 20 min mark. Posted and app times both just increased to 30.

.

 

[Mickey&Mouse]

Lake, I feel like one among many living vicariously through you right now LOL! I think it's awesome that you're posting on the Dis while at the parks keeping everyone up-to-date on wait times etc. I hope you and your family are having a magical trip!! Can't wait to read the full trip report when you get back, too!

 

[wisblue]

They take two samples. One for SB and the other for FP. The posted wait time is the derivative of the SB sample. The 'Actual' as erroneously labeled by some websites was the last sampled time. The field did not distinguish if that was the FP or SB read and tbat data field was not made available thru the API and is perhaps why Disney removed the last sampled field from the API.

.

Are you saying this because you KNOW that it works this way, or is this just your theory?

I know that they give red cards to people in both the standby and FP lines, but I'm not convinced that those actual wait times were based simply on whichever card came in last. If that were true, the reported actual times would have fluctuated more wildly than they did, especially for the rides with the longest waits. I don't ever think I saw a ride like 7DMT with a posted wait time of 90 minutes and an actual time of 10-15 minutes or less, which would be typical of the FP line. But, it was common for the actual wait to be somewhat shorter than the posted wait (like actual wait of 60 and posted wait of 90), and yet the posted wait never went lower than 90. Using a red card given out an hour or more earlier would be an inherently inaccurate way to set a posted wait. Guests want to have an idea how long they can expect to wait if they get in line now, not how long they would have waited if they got in line 90 minutes ago.

It is also not unusual for some rides, like Under the Sea, to have a posted wait time of 20 minutes from park opening to a few hours later even though the ride is a virtual walk on the whole time.

My opinion, based on observation over many years of visits, is that the posted time is something of a best guess based on observation by CMs at the ride of the number of people in line with some input from the red cards. I also think they intentionally estimate on the high side so that the actual wait will be shorter than the posted wait a lot more often than it is longer. If that isn't the case, we have been exceptionally lucky over the years to have our actual waits be shorter than the posted wait at least 10 times more often than the other way around. And sometimes those differences have been significant, like a posted 20 minute wait and virtual walk on.

I thought that sites like EasyWDW and the disney wait times site stopped reporting actual waits because Disney cut off their access to the red card data, not because the data was inaccurate. Maybe the Dis poster who ran the wait times site can weigh in on that.

 

[Laketravis]

In big room at 6:38. App time just increased to 35. Can't see what posted is.

.

 

[Laketravis]

Wis, I have the developers white paper. It provides the specs for the API with a description of each call and return.

.

 

[wisblue]

Wis, I have the developers white paper. It provides the specs for the API with a description of each call and return.

.

You'll have to explain what that means and how it relates to setting posted wait times.

 

[Laketravis]

Got in ride car at 6:46. Total wait time 39 minutes when posted and app both said 25.

Our ST FP expires at 7:30. I'm sure we'll make it but I can see how that could be stressful.

.

 

[NuJoy]

Touring plans has an interactive WDW Lines app my husband uses to check against the wait time posted at rides. Users, like my husband, record real time waits to the app by using a stopwatch-like function. You click start as you enter the line and click stop when you get on the ride.

 

[Laketravis]

RnRC at 140 minutes standby. We've got FP's so there's no way I'm going to test THAT.

.

 

[Laketravis]

I thought that sites like EasyWDW and the disney wait times site stopped reporting actual waits because Disney cut off their access to the red card data, not because the data was inaccurate. Maybe the Dis poster who ran the wait times site can weigh in on that.

It's been explained in other threads that WDC removed that field from the API. Speculation isbecause it wasn't accompanied by the flag that indicated if the value was attributed to a SB sample or an FP sample.

Developers are bound by both NDA's and CA's which limit how much info can be divulged.

 

[Mad Hattered]

RnRC at 140 minutes standby. We've got FP's so there's no way I'm going to test THAT.

.

Oh, come on Lake! Take one for the team!

 

[Laketravis]

Last night was a good example of why I like certain aspects of FP. After 1/2 price appetizers and drink specials at Bahama Breeze on 192, we went back to the condo to change and headed to HS at 5:45.

Condo to HS gate took all of 8 minutes. Parked at Music 55, boarded tram, walked thru gates and got in SB line at TGMR at 6:07, just 22 minutes after leaving the condo.

Had FP's for Star Tours from 6:30 to 7:30, then ToT from 7:30 to 8:30, then RnRC from 8:30 to 9:30. Left park after riding RnRC at 8:30 and got back to condo at 9:10.


.

 

[Robo]

Last night was a good example of why I like certain aspects of FP. After 1/2 price appetizers and drink specials at Bahama Breeze on 192, we went back to the condo to change and headed to HS at 5:45.

Condo to HS gate took all of 8 minutes. Parked at Music 55, boarded tram, walked thru gates and got in SB line at TGMR at 6:07, just 22 minutes after leaving the condo.

Had FP's for Star Tours from 6:30 to 7:30, then ToT from 7:30 to 8:30, then RnRC from 8:30 to 9:30. Left park after riding RnRC at 8:30 and got back to condo at 9:10.

Disney certainly made a lot of money off of YOU last night!

 

[amandals2007]

I think this depends a lot on the time of year (and overall crowd levels) and how early you're willing to get to the parks or how late you're willing to stay. Not to mention what you consider a "good ride".

We have had very good luck doing a lot of good rides without having FP's in advance because of entering the parks on a CM Gate Pass. A lot, but not all, of that success is a function of getting to the parks early but, of course, that has always been true.

Here is a link to a brief trip report of mine describing a 4 day trip in early November (the weekend of the Wine and Dine Half Marathon):

http://www.disboards.com/threads/spontaneity-is-not-dead-a-barebones-trip-report.3359156/

This also includes my suggestions on how to make a trip with FP+ as unstructured as possible while still experiencing a lot of the parks' major attractions.

i will be reading your thread! thank you! and when i say good rides, i mean the headliners, like at MK we wanna to the mountains, pirates and the little mermaid. Epcot we wanna do soarin, test track, spaceship earth. animal kingdom we wanna do everest, finding nemo, and lion king show. and hollywood studios we wanna do rock n roller coaster, tower of terror, great movie ride and mermaid show. we are going sept 10-21, think we can do those things on the fly if we change our mind?

 

[wisblue]

i will be reading your thread! thank you! and when i say good rides, i mean the headliners, like at MK we wanna to the mountains, pirates and the little mermaid. Epcot we wanna do soarin, test track, spaceship earth. animal kingdom we wanna do everest, finding nemo, and lion king show. and hollywood studios we wanna do rock n roller coaster, tower of terror, great movie ride and mermaid show. we are going sept 10-21, think we can do those things on the fly if we change our mind?

If you look at my summary, you will see that we did all of those things and more in the 4 days we were there without having any FPs in advance, except for maybe the Little Mermaid (I don't remember if we did it that trip) which doesn't usually have lines that long anyway. We took advantage of AM EMH on 3 of the 4 days and single rider lines at TT and EE.

If anything, early September should be less busy than that weekend in November. With more than a full week at the resort you shouldn't have any trouble doing everything you want, including a lot of your favorites multiple times. We didn't do it on that trip because my wife is not a big fan of most of the coaster rides, but usually in 4 full days we can do even more rides by combining rope drop with late afternoon and early evening FPs and sometimes a midday break thrown in. On that trip we generally did other things in the evenings (Food and Wine, Osborne Lights, Boardwalk, Cirque de Soleil), so we really didn't make optimum use of FP. You should be able to make better use of FPs even if you pick them the night before or in the morning before you leave for the park instead of getting them at the park like we had to.