Fast Passes shut down

[LilyWDW]

You know if you are unhappy about the way Disney chooses to run their business than do not go back. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

Then maybe the line would only be 39 mins long...

I still just think the arguments are ridicules. Especially "the times guide said..." stuff. I mean:

-"the times guide said..." there would be fireworks tonight, but due to weather conditions it wasn't safe or the launchers were malfunctioning and it would not be safe.

-"the times guide said..." that princess Tiana would be meeting every half hour, however the heat is higher today then expected, so she requires more breaks then usual.

I guess I am just a bit more relaxed and go with the flow then some people. Sure it stinks and someone will be sad... but things happen that are out of our control. How one deals with it is an indicator as to ones outlook on things.

 

[dqpowell]

But as I also said, there could have been technical problems and they were unable to get it working. Can't perform miracles, even at Disney.

True enough, but in that case I think they should have just said so. "We're sorry, the fastpass system is having technical difficulties for Kali today."

I'm curious as to how any touring plans deal with variables like Fastpass availability. It is a FACT that Fastpass is NOT always available at some attractions.

The touring plans deal with this by having the guest make a decision. Usually something like, "if fastpass is unavailable, do A if you still really want to ride it, or do B if it's okay to skip." "A" might be to wait until just before park closing for that attraction, or it might be some other strategy. But it does mean that sometimes you have to deal with a long wait.

And to be clear, I know it isn't Disney's concern if a touring plan doesn't work out because of a change they made. I only mentioned point 3 as an explanation of why some folks would consider 40 minutes a long wait.

I think there is a general "what's the big deal" attitude. How can having to wait 20-30 extra minutes for 1 ride you REALLY want to do ruin a whole vacation?

No, obviously it shouldn't ruin anybody's whole vacation, or even their day at Animal Kingdom. It's an annoyance, given the particulars the OP described. Hopefully they didn't let it ruin the day for them.

David

 

[dqpowell]

I still just think the arguments are ridicules. Especially "the times guide said..." stuff. I mean:

-"the times guide said..." there would be fireworks tonight, but due to weather conditions it wasn't safe or the launchers were malfunctioning and it would not be safe.

You're missing an important distinction. First, the Times Guide is what they hand out to people waiting to get in that's supposed to be a guide to what's going on that day. They're saying, "This is what you can do and when you can do it TODAY."

Second, you're equating stuff beyond Disney's control (weather) with stuff well within their control (turning on the fastpass machines or not). It seems likely this was well within their control.

David

 

[goin' again!]

I think what this all comes down to is a person's response to being thrown a curveball in the middle of their planned day. Personally, It may have annoyed me that the FP machines were not working, but I would have chosen to do something else. If I did choose to wait 40 min for the ride I would NOT blame anyone other than myself. I (and OP) did not have to wait in that line. As PPs have said there are 100 other things to do at AK. It's all a matter of how you react to the situation.

As for giving Disney a free pass...I don't think that there is ever a day where 100% of guests are 100% happy with what happens at the park. Disney does an amazing job at providing a magical vacation which is why we continue to go there. Perhaps not turning on the FP macines was not a great decision, but what about the other 3 million things that did happen correctly that day?

Perhaps some deep breathing exercises are called for.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

And BTW, they have cut staff. Dramatically. Going from 60 hours a week to 32 is absolutely a shock to the system. And that's full timers. Part timers are lucky to get hours right now, as they are only obligated to have 2 shifts every 2 weeks. If closing a fastpass machine for a day gets a part timer another 6 hours during September I am all for that.

good point.


Thanks for the clarification Tiger. I think we're mostly in agreement.


Um, Tender Donkey, you are simply incorrect. WDW DOES dramatically increase and decrease what I call 'soft attractions' like character meet and greets based on crowd levels. Maybe you've never been during busy times, or never noticed because much of it is nearly seamless. Hard posted character greets like Meals are kept fairly constsnt - but the unadvertised roaming characters increase and decrease all the time. On Main St, for example, sometimes they have three characters and sometimes it's ten. Oftne there's some postin now about when to expect characters in various locations, but for many years that information was not regularly given out to guests. (unless they specifically asked) As others have said, most attractions can increase or decrease cars/boats/vehicles based on crowd levels and staffing. Disney frequently adds park hours at the last minute (or relatively). They do a pretty good job of NOT decreasing hours because they set it up that way (unless weather is an issue), but changes DO happen. They also add last minute Fantasmic! showings (say a few days in advance - smoetimes they add a show THAT day!)

They also tweak the prices constantly. They add discounts and surcharges all the time. Thy constantly change menus (adding and subtracting expensive menu items like seafood, steak sizes), reduce merchandise prices, remove merchandise that's not selling, add 'freebie items (SPend $40, get a free tote)...and so forth.

What you get at WDw is CONSTSNTLY changing. hoestly, it's one of the things I like about WDW. And yet....at the same time....they've kept the train, HM, and many other attractions much the same as they were in my childhood many years ago.

 

[Tiger926]

good point.


Thanks for the clarification Tiger. I think we're mostly in agreement.


Um, Tender Donkey, you are simply incorrect. WDW DOES dramatically increase and decrease what I call 'soft attractions' like character meet and greets based on crowd levels. Maybe you've never been during busy times, or never noticed because much of it is nearly seamless. Hard posted character greets like Meals are kept fairly constsnt - but the unadvertised roaming characters increase and decrease all the time. On Main St, for example, sometimes they have three characters and sometimes it's ten. Oftne there's some postin now about when to expect characters in various locations, but for many years that information was not regularly given out to guests. (unless they specifically asked) As others have said, most attractions can increase or decrease cars/boats/vehicles based on crowd levels and staffing. Disney frequently adds park hours at the last minute (or relatively). They do a pretty good job of NOT decreasing hours because they set it up that way (unless weather is an issue), but changes DO happen. They also add last minute Fantasmic! showings (say a few days in advance - smoetimes they add a show THAT day!)

They also tweak the prices constantly. They add discounts and surcharges all the time. Thy constantly change menus (adding and subtracting expensive menu items like seafood, steak sizes), reduce merchandise prices, remove merchandise that's not selling, add 'freebie items (SPend $40, get a free tote)...and so forth.

What you get at WDw is CONSTSNTLY changing. hoestly, it's one of the things I like about WDW. And yet....at the same time....they've kept the train, HM, and many other attractions much the same as they were in my childhood many years ago.

Not to mention that it's fairly common during peak times, for Disney to increase park hours before your very eyes. We've gone into MK at 9:00 am and the sign said closed at 11:00 pm. After a few hours, we leave for a break as crowds are getting busy. When we come back after lunch, the closing time has now been increased to 12:00 or 1:00 am. Why? Because crowd patterns are high, and Disney is adjusting the hours to suit guests. Just like your character example - they add them according to what the crowd patterns are dictating. Now of course, this is a positive for guests, so I don't see people complaining about that. But, it's the same concept as FPs, IMHO. If the park is really slow, then you don't need to offer FPs, as you can then move that CM to another better suited area. It's rare that you walk right onto a ride, even with a FP. Usually there is a few minute wait, by the time you get in, so if you guests are waiting only a few minutes more for standby, I hardly see the need for a FP either.

Tiger

 

[okeydokey]

You know if you are unhappy about the way Disney chooses to run their business than do not go back. PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

How ridiculous.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

If you are looking at Touringplans/Lines, they base stuff mostly on predictions (albeit very accurate ones), so if the Fastpass line was not actually in operation, the info could be incorrect.

You can also look at real live data inputed from users and I highly doubt 15-20
different people throughout the day were intentionally entering FP was open when it wasn't. Also the wait time and FP estimates are updated when confirmed information regarding FP being out or closed is sent in.

FWIW in May on some very very HOT days KRR FP was not open when we were there (memorial day weekend and it was certainly not as slow as OP was saying), last week Primeval Whirl FP was not running either day we were at AK. As others have mentioned it is up to the attraction manager which days it runs.

 

[doconeill]

You can also look at real live data inputed from users and I highly doubt 15-20
different people throughout the day were intentionally entering FP was open when it wasn't. Also the wait time and FP estimates are updated when confirmed information regarding FP being out or closed is sent in.

Assuming there is user input at all...and do we know that Lines said that FP was open on that day?

 

[Tiger926]

You can also look at real live data inputed from users and I highly doubt 15-20
different people throughout the day were intentionally entering FP was open when it wasn't. Also the wait time and FP estimates are updated when confirmed information regarding FP being out or closed is sent in.

FWIW in May on some very very HOT days KRR FP was not open when we were there (memorial day weekend and it was certainly not as slow as OP was saying), last week Primeval Whirl FP was not running either day we were at AK. As others have mentioned it is up to the attraction manager which days it runs.

Yup, as I said above - last month on July 4th, KRR was not distributing FPs at all - we walked by many times, and the waits were only 5-10 mins for standby, so no need for FPs at all. We were stunned to see basically walk on for KRR several times throughout the day, but not that stunned, as the crowds were very low. But even so, July 4th is a peak day, and they had the FP machine closed for it.

Tiger

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Assuming there is user input at all...and do we know that Lines said that FP was open on that day?

It was, thats why I posted my original post and said I checked wait time app. FP were open and reported throughout the day by multiple users.

ETA: I was looking at Everest as the OP's post indicate both were closed, I didn't bother to check KRR as it is closed alot of the time and is no big deal IMO.

 

[TenderDonkey]

good point.


Thanks for the clarification Tiger. I think we're mostly in agreement.


Um, Tender Donkey, you are simply incorrect. WDW DOES dramatically increase and decrease what I call 'soft attractions' like character meet and greets based on crowd levels. Maybe you've never been during busy times, or never noticed because much of it is nearly seamless. Hard posted character greets like Meals are kept fairly constsnt - but the unadvertised roaming characters increase and decrease all the time. On Main St, for example, sometimes they have three characters and sometimes it's ten. Oftne there's some postin now about when to expect characters in various locations, but for many years that information was not regularly given out to guests. (unless they specifically asked) As others have said, most attractions can increase or decrease cars/boats/vehicles based on crowd levels and staffing. Disney frequently adds park hours at the last minute (or relatively). They do a pretty good job of NOT decreasing hours because they set it up that way (unless weather is an issue), but changes DO happen. They also add last minute Fantasmic! showings (say a few days in advance - smoetimes they add a show THAT day!)

They also tweak the prices constantly. They add discounts and surcharges all the time. Thy constantly change menus (adding and subtracting expensive menu items like seafood, steak sizes), reduce merchandise prices, remove merchandise that's not selling, add 'freebie items (SPend $40, get a free tote)...and so forth.

What you get at WDw is CONSTSNTLY changing. hoestly, it's one of the things I like about WDW. And yet....at the same time....they've kept the train, HM, and many other attractions much the same as they were in my childhood many years ago.

UMMM if you read my post you will see I said the same exact thing. My point was that if you are going to scale back than the price should reflect that. My example is we went to Garden Grill for dinner in February. It is advertised as:

The Garden Grill Restaurant

The Garden Grill Restaurant is a rotating restaurant in the Future World area at Epcot theme park with Character Dining featuring Chip 'n' Dale. It offers traditional American dinner with all-you-care-to-eat family favorites.
Location: Epcot
Price: $$ ($15 to $35.99 per person)*
Cuisine: American
Dinner: 4:00PM- 8:00PM (includes Characters- Chip and Dale, Mickey Mouse, Pluto)
Dine Plan: View Dining Plan Information

On this day there was no Mickey and no Pluto. It was a slow period, the restaurant was near empty and for cost purposes those characters were not there. Is it fair? They scaled back as labor was most likely high. But we still had to pay the $36 per person. Now they were covered by the “characters may change” disclaimer. But we essentially went there for four characters and only saw two. It didn’t ruin our trip and my kids weren’t devastated, I just think you should deliver what you advertise or adjust your price.

 

[doconeill]

It was, thats why I posted my original post and said I checked wait time app. FP were open and reported throughout the day by multiple users.

ETA: I was looking at Everest as the OP's post indicate both were closed, I didn't bother to check KRR as it is closed alot of the time and is no big deal IMO.

Depends how you read the OP - I'm not sure EE had closed FPs. If KRR had the GAD FP kiosk open, so would EE - but EE was not called out there. So I've been under the assumption that it was ONLY KRR, and nothing in any subsequent posts indicates that EE was also affected.

 

[Tiger926]

UMMM if you read my post you will see I said the same exact thing. My point was that if you are going to scale back than the price should reflect that. My example is we went to Garden Grill for dinner in February. It is advertised as:

The Garden Grill Restaurant

The Garden Grill Restaurant is a rotating restaurant in the Future World area at Epcot theme park with Character Dining featuring Chip 'n' Dale. It offers traditional American dinner with all-you-care-to-eat family favorites.
Location: Epcot
Price: $$ ($15 to $35.99 per person)*
Cuisine: American
Dinner: 4:00PM- 8:00PM (includes Characters- Chip and Dale, Mickey Mouse, Pluto)
Dine Plan: View Dining Plan Information

On this day there was no Mickey and no Pluto. It was a slow period, the restaurant was near empty and for cost purposes those characters were not there. Is it fair? They scaled back as labor was most likely high. But we still had to pay the $36 per person. Now they were covered by the “characters may change” disclaimer. But we essentially went there for four characters and only saw two. It didn’t ruin our trip and my kids weren’t devastated, I just think you should deliver what you advertise or adjust your price.

Interesting...how do you know this was the reason? I have eaten at GG probably 8 times, and there have been times where we were the only family in the restaurant, as we've gone several times right when it opened. I remember one time that the restaurant remained empty except for one other family for a good hour - this was when they still had lunch. The restaurant was very slow, yet all characters were in attendance? They hung out at our table for huge amounts of time, and it was great! On a related note, we stopped going to GG (last month was the first time back in over 2 years), because 3 visits in a row, the restaurant rotation was broken. It really didn't have an effect on us at all during our stay, but with bad service and yucky food (they have improved the menu again), we didn't go back for awhile, as there were too many mishaps.

I'm not sure you can prove that there were no characters because the restaurant was slow though? I would be a bit disappointed too, but what would you suggest? You keep suggesting that Disney refund guests money. So, by the same token, when Disney adds extra characters, or adds 2 hours of operating time to the park, are you going to pay them extra for doing so? I think I know the answer to that question...

You bring up an interesting point about character meals. I've eaten at every character meal on property more times than I can count, and we've always had all characters in attendance. We've been very lucky, I guess.

Tiger

 

[khertz]

I'm not sure you can prove that there were no characters because the restaurant was slow though? I would be a bit disappointed too, but what would you suggest? You keep suggesting that Disney refund guests money. So, by the same token, when Disney adds extra characters, or adds 2 hours of operating time to the park, are you going to pay them extra for doing so? I think I know the answer to that question...

Excellent point!!

 

[TenderDonkey]

I'm not sure you can prove that there were no characters because the restaurant was slow though? I would be a bit disappointed too, but what would you suggest? You keep suggesting that Disney refund guests money. So, by the same token, when Disney adds extra characters, or adds 2 hours of operating time to the park, are you going to pay them extra for doing so? I think I know the answer to that question...

You bring up an interesting point about character meals. I've eaten at every character meal on property more times than I can count, and we've always had all characters in attendance. We've been very lucky, I guess. Tiger

All I ever stated was deliver what you advertise. If you advertise 4 characters deliver 4. If you say FP is part of my ticket have FP available.

 

[wtccheermom]

How ridiculous.

Why is it that ridiculous? If you are unhappy about how they run their business than do not support them financially. I cannot believe all of this over fast pass machines and a 40 minute wait. it all goes back to that sense of entailment that is running rampant in our society.

 

[TenderDonkey]

Why is it that ridiculous? If you are unhappy about how they run their business than do not support them financially. I cannot believe all of this over fast pass machines and a 40 minute wait. it all goes back to that sense of entailment that is running rampant in our society.

I think you need to look up entitlement. People PAID to enter the park. No where did the OP state that he/she felt like they should go to the front of the line, refill their old mug, swim in another pool, etc...They, like I would be, were upset that FP were turned off to low crowd levels.

 

[wtccheermom]

I think you need to look up entitlement. People PAID to enter the park. No where did the OP state that he/she felt like they should go to the front of the line, refill their old mug, swim in another pool, etc...They, like I would be, were upset that FP were turned off to low crowd levels.

FP is nothing more than an extra offered for free by Disney so get over it and move on and enjoy your vacation!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Tender Donkey I perhaps slightly misread what you were saying a few pages back, but only slightly. My main point is that Disney is constantly modifying their product - and many prices - and it is best that they do it. WE're kind of saying two different things.

Disney does charge more at different times of year. OP - incidentally - is going during one of the least expensive times to go. She's at bargain season WDW.

Ticket prices are widely advertised and thus remain relativley constant. Food prices are in constant flux; rarely do people notice the individual small differences. Disney is not alone. Many businesses use this stretegy. Advertise only part of the cost of a complex service. But we want ticket prices to remain constant.

I'll agree that at a certain point, it is appropriate for guests to politely speak up. I have done so on a good number of trips. I'll agree that YOUR example of only two characters at the character meal was legitmate grounds to speak up and politely say, "Hey, this doesn't seem right."

But I disagree with your less broad example of changing prices every time Disney makes small modifications to park content. The price would have to adjust every day. Either that, or Disney would lose much flexibility.

Let's say, on slow days Disney did keep just as many character greets, etc. as on Christmas week. There would be LOTS of empty boats on attractions, etc. I would find that very creepy.

This is simple supply and demand. Disney keeps the illusion of high demand when the crowds diminsh. We actually WANT that appearance - to a point.

We were at MK in early 2002. It was just wrong to see WDW that empty when it 'should' have been full. Supply was too high. Suddenly it seemed WDW was not a goo dplace to be. Emptiness contributed to that image.

I know WDW is creating an illusion of demand. I WANT that illusion. I support Disney fostering that illusion. The alternative in 2002 was not good.