Fastpass Enforcement coming?

[DisGirl1971]

Disneyland has always had a different level of FP use...it seems the mentality over it seems to be different for some reason. And I remember one of the past heads of DLR despised it. Perhaps it just doesn't work as well there. So they are probably waiting to see how all the FP-related NextGen stuff works at WDW (more parks, attractions, on-site guests with longer stays) before considering how they'd implement at DLR.

Yep, I agree

 

[eliza61]

You know what I really wanted more of in my Disney vacation...

standing around, staring at numbers ticking by on a marquee!

I am SOOOOOO glad that Disney listened to my feedback.

What I'm envisioning is harrowing games of FP chicken.

You know that most people like to have lunch around noon, so the FPs that return between 12-1 pm are not going to be very popular.

In order to get a FP with a return time of 1:30, I'm going to have to stand around (with my fellow lunatics) and wait for some chump to come by, grab a fastpass and flip the board forward.

I'm going to have to stare down my fellow guests waiting for a reasonable FP time, going back and forth- "you first" "No, be my guest" "Well, I insist, you take the FP".

This is going to be awesome!

LOL Seriously doubt it.
First, I think the people here on the dis for the main part are the uber planners and we are an extremely small % of the daily visitor.

I think the average joe or jane will walk up to the fp machine get the pass and simply go about their merry way. Then when it's time for lunch they will decide whether or not to eat or use their fp if the return time is during those hours. What is the probability of say 50 guest at one time being at the Soarin kiosk and actually knowing the rules of fast pass? I'd bet pretty much the same odds as me hitting the 310 million dollar power ball this Saturday.


So let's go with your noon lunch time scenerio and TSM. first and foremost, HS only has what 4 or 5 sit down ts restaurants, so between noon and 1pm what is the max number of folks who are eating? Most of the rest of the gang are counter servicing it so they can easily either eat and go or simply do the attraction. So if they have a noon to 1 return time, and they get at TSM at noon, lunch is pushed back at the max 20 minutes (the rides is only about 7 minutes long). If they decide to do lunch first and are doing a counter service, that can easily be manipulated to get to the ride within that 75 minutes. I know it's not ideal and every one hates rushes, I'm just saying I doubt that its going to cause major disruptions to peoples meal times.

Also by now most people here on the dis know how to play the fp game, especially with TSM and Soarin'. I dare say, except for the newbie most know exactly how to manipulate the TSM ride.

Really, really doubt there will be any games of "chicken" going on.

 

[Wadecool]

I was just trying to start a fight. But you didn't rise to the bait. DAMN YOU.

I'm your huckleberry.

 

[KellyNY]

It just hit me, yes I know, I must be slow, but how many ADRs a regular person actually has per day? Most, none, some have one, esp if you are on DP. Very rarely more then that. So technically there is only one time a day when your(general you) ADR may be in conflict with only one ride a day, and you cannot work it out, really?

 

[mattsdragon]

Psst...he forgot strollers/wheelchairs/ECVs and GACs

I think I saw something about strollers or wheelchairs in here, and I know GAC's and batroom breaks were mentioned.

However, special needs children and sellf entitlement issues are still available.

As is the companion restrooms.

As always, I shall remain vigilant.

 

[nytimez]

I'm your huckleberry.

I see your early 1990s Val Kilmer and raise you one current Val Kilmer:

 

[Reddog1134]

I see your early 1990s Val Kilmer and raise you one current Val Kilmer:

Don't hurt your back "raising" that one.

 

[Sammie]

It just hit me, yes I know, I must be slow, but how many ADRs a regular person actually has per day? Most, none, some have one, esp if you are on DP. Very rarely more then that. So technically there is only one time a day when your(general you) ADR may be in conflict with only one ride a day, and you cannot work it out, really?

Totally agree and I am sure most everyone can make it work if they want to. Problem is they don't want to.

If they truly are that disorganized I am surprised they don't miss their flight home.

We have always used our FP during the allotted time, had adrs too, never late for them and had a wonderful time.

 

[Princess Sleepy]

OK, I have an example of how this is messing up my plans.

We are doing a four-day weekend to include doing the Expedition Everest Challenge. So, one day for each park and I have had it planned for several months. On our departure day we are doing Epcot and I have arranged a Segway tour at 9:30 am and an ADR for lunch at Chefs de France at 12:00. I had planned to arrive at RD, get a FP for Soarin' then do our tour and come back and ride after lunch. If I get a FP at RD, though, it will certainly expire before I am done with the Segway tour. If I wait until after the tour to get the FP, it will most likely not be good until after we have to leave the park. So I am left with several options, cancel my $100 tour, cancel my TS ADR, spend an hour waiting in line, thereby leaving me no time for last minute shopping or buying at WS, or skipping Soarin' altogether which would diminish my WDW experience.

It might be possible to schedule around all those things, but it wasn't when I hit my 180 day mark. It is frustrating, since I am bringing a first-timer with me and was looking forward to giving her the full Disney experience.

Do you think we would have time to ride right at RD and still make it to a 9:30 Segway tour?

 

[CandleontheWater]

Totally agree and I am sure most everyone can make it work if they want to. Problem is they don't want to.

If they truly are that disorganized I am surprised they don't miss their flight home.

We have always used our FP during the allotted time, had adrs too, never late for them and had a wonderful time.

d@mn right I don't want to! Personally I think calculating wait times, ride times, ADR times, and whatever else is way too much math and a poor use of my vacation time.

I vacation to get away from rigid deadlines and clock watching, I guess other people don't feel the same.

 

[MELSMICE]

OK, I have an example of how this is messing up my plans.

We are doing a four-day weekend to include doing the Expedition Everest Challenge. So, one day for each park and I have had it planned for several months. On our departure day we are doing Epcot and I have arranged a Segway tour at 9:30 am and an ADR for lunch at Chefs de France at 12:00. I had planned to arrive at RD, get a FP for Soarin' then do our tour and come back and ride after lunch. If I get a FP at RD, though, it will certainly expire before I am done with the Segway tour. If I wait until after the tour to get the FP, it will most likely not be good until after we have to leave the park. So I am left with several options, cancel my $100 tour, cancel my TS ADR, spend an hour waiting in line, thereby leaving me no time for last minute shopping or buying at WS, or skipping Soarin' altogether which would diminish my WDW experience.

It might be possible to schedule around all those things, but it wasn't when I hit my 180 day mark. It is frustrating, since I am bringing a first-timer with me and was looking forward to giving her the full Disney experience.

Do you think we would have time to ride right at RD and still make it to a 9:30 Segway tour?

How long is the Segway tour? Depending on your FP return time you may be able to ride it after your tour then go to lunch.

 

[scion5220]

d@mn right I don't want to! Personally I think calculating wait times, ride times, ADR times, and whatever else is way too much math and a poor use of my vacation time.

I vacation to get away from rigid deadlines and clock watching, I guess other people don't feel the same.

Makes you wonder how we all had a good time before FastPass existed, huh?

Not speaking to you personally, but it really seems that people are most upset because the advantage they had figured out over the run-of-the-mill guest is now being taken away. If EVERY person through the gate had figured this out these same people would also be mad about that for some reason.

 

[MELSMICE]

The disappointment in this change for me is that it makes park touring so rigid.

We'll still get FP's when we go to the parks & if we use them, we use them, if not, no big deal. I've been there, done that with every attraction & I know I'll be back again.

It just makes it less "casual" & more rigid for us & I would think a little stressful for those uber planners out there!

It certainly won't ruin our trips, but it will change them a bit I think.

I would be interested in knowing the reason behind the change. Is it because of inefficiency in getting guests through? Are they trying to give out more FP's, trying to give out less? What was the problem with the current system & why are they changing it? I'm assuming there must be a reason. It's always seemed OK whenever we are there.

 

[scion5220]

The disappointment in this change for me is that it makes park touring so rigid.

We'll still get FP's when we go to the parks & if we use them, we use them, if not, no big deal. I've been there, done that with every attraction & I know I'll be back again.

It just makes it less "casual" & more rigid for us & I would think a little stressful for those uber planners out there!

It certainly won't ruin our trips, but it will change them a bit I think.

I would be interested in knowing the reason behind the change. Is it because of inefficiency in getting guests through? Are they trying to give out more FP's, trying to give out less? What was the problem with the current system & why are they changing it? I'm assuming there must be a reason. It's always seemed OK whenever we are there.

I really think it's part of getting people ready for the new system where ride times will be somewhat "reserved."

 

[doconeill]

Makes you wonder how we all had a good time before FastPass existed, huh?

I don't know about fun, stuck outside in the July sun for 2.5 hours waiting to get on Splash Mountain on our very first trip...

Back then, it could have taken 2-3 days to do everything you wanted in a park. Now I can either hit up most everything in a single day, maybe another half day, or I can just take it EASY and enjoy the little things more...

Not speaking to you personally, but it really seems that people are most upset because the advantage they had figured out over the run-of-the-mill guest is now being taken away. If EVERY person through the gate had figured this out these same people would also be mad about that for some reason.

If that was my attitude, I probably wouldn't have a web page on it, or tell other people, etc.

Even though a LOT of people here know about it, plenty still seem to use them on time most of the time, because they want to ride SOONER than later. Those "collectors" are still a subset of this audience.

Hmmm...not sure we've ever had a poll thread on this subject...I think I'll go start one.

 

[MELSMICE]

Makes you wonder how we all had a good time before FastPass existed, huh?

Not speaking to you personally, but it really seems that people are most upset because the advantage they had figured out over the run-of-the-mill guest is now being taken away. If EVERY person through the gate had figured this out these same people would also be mad about that for some reason.

I know for us it wasn't something we figured out. It was told to us many years ago by a CM when we realized we had arrived for an attraction past our FP time.

In fact, just a few weeks ago while there in December we were talking with a CM & I said we had to get going so we could use our FP's. She said, "Oh, don't worry, you can use them any time after your return time." I told her I did know that.

I really think it's part of getting people ready for the new system where ride times will be somewhat "reserved."

Honestly, this I will really "balk" at. We're probably not the norm (although I know there are others like us) but we don't have any plans or expectations on our trips. We hang at the pool all day, decide where we'll be going for dinner & then if we're heading to a park. We get there, see what attractions don't have long wait times & ride those things, or get FP's if any are available. I've been to the MK numerous times & have not ridden on one attraction.

The last thing I want to do is plan what I'll be doing before I even leave my house. Having a plan where my rides are "reserved" before I even arrive doesn't sound anything like the vacation I've come to enjoy at WDW.

 

[coopersmom]

You know what I really wanted more of in my Disney vacation...

standing around, staring at numbers ticking by on a marquee!

I am SOOOOOO glad that Disney listened to my feedback.

What I'm envisioning is harrowing games of FP chicken.

You know that most people like to have lunch around noon, so the FPs that return between 12-1 pm are not going to be very popular.

In order to get a FP with a return time of 1:30, I'm going to have to stand around (with my fellow lunatics) and wait for some chump to come by, grab a fastpass and flip the board forward.

I'm going to have to stare down my fellow guests waiting for a reasonable FP time, going back and forth- "you first" "No, be my guest" "Well, I insist, you take the FP".

This is going to be awesome!

Well said.

Look, I'm an uber-planner. On our most recent trip I put together, and relentlessly refined and re-edited, a themed day-by-day color-coded planner and info packet that made my friends and family question whether I needed serious professional help and even I have no desire to have my vacation so structured I have to decide not only what parks I'm gonna be in and where I'm gonna eat, but what I'm gonna ride six months (or whatever it becomes) in advance.

For me, Disney World, while delightful in many respects, is already at the razor's edge where planning and expectation collide with stress and nitpicking.

Having read the Unofficial Guide prior to my initial family trip, and reading here, I knew FastPasses could be used anytime after their start and I used them that way. Very, very useful and convenient.

Honestly, take away the ability to use FastPasses anytime after the start period and they are close to useless for me, because I would rarely have a desire to hang out in that area of the park waiting for my time to pop up, or waste time scurrying to the various FastPass locales looking for a return time that does fit my schedule. And FastPasses were one of the things that made Disney do-able and fun for me and my family and made us want to return, perhaps even on an annual basis after only coming three or four times in my life up to 2010--something we are no longer considering

This, like the inability to cancel dining reservations on the fly, is just one more step from Disney that makes my vacation more rigid and potentially stressful, which is not something I'm looking for in my incredibly expensive leisure expenditures.

We took our first family Disney trip in December 2010 and I was aghast at the level of planning required, but, in some ways, I also enjoyed the organizing. (I'm Type-A that way.) We stayed deluxe, club level and spent a bundle, but even between that 2010 trip and since our most recent stay in September 2011 (again, deluxe, club-level), enough has changed that would effect my enjoyment, that we question when we will go back. We likely will, at some point, but not this year and almost certainly not next either. This is one more thing on the list that makes it less appealing for Disney to get my $$$.

Now, I'm not one for confrontation, and, like I said, I'm not actually planning on returning that soon, but add me to the list of guests who would majorly ticked if this isn't applied consistently. (As I suspect it won't be, given Disney's history.) If my FastPass is no good because I missed my window, the same better hold true for the blowhard that screams at the Cast Member manning the return line. I'm still not gonna engage in that kind of behavior, but I will be privately quite irked that acting out gets what you want and it will definitely effect my opinion of Disney World, and how much fun I had, and by default if I feel like I'm coming back.

Now, just as the Disney dining charge would be much easier to take if it penalized only no-shows (cancel anytime, or, say, an hour in advance, prior to your ADR time and you're not charged a fee), this FastPass enforcement/policy/whatever-you-want-to-call-it change would be easier to take, and cause far less uproar and inconvenience, if it came with an expanded FastPass return window, 2-3 hours instead of 1.

I'm guessing this will result in a lot more FastPasses going unused and therefore give the IMPRESSION, at least initially, that the lines are moving more swiftly, etc. Of course, I also have no doubt that Disney, after doing some initial testing, will adjust the number of FastPasses issued to compensate for that percentage, so that the actual use cases are the same, or even greater, than we see now, so I'd expect any initial line lull to be temporary.

No one knows what the next generation of a FastPass-like system will be, though I think we have heard consistent enough rumors to believe it will be fairly signficantly restructured. That a "better" version of FastPass will soon be available for pay, either a separate ticket charge or as a benefit with higher-priced accommodations. It is all speculation at this point, but since an enterprise as large as Disney World doesn't do radical change well, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the reservation system that is being discussed is something along the lines of a current FastPass use case. With people "reserving" a FastPass for a ride, online and printed out at their hotels, so they can get in the FastPass line at any time during the day, or after a certain time, with no end time, as they are already used to. Obviously, that's just a guess, and it could be something far better, or worse, but that would certainly make sense and be reasonably easy to implement.

The guess that FastPass return lines will now be automated is also quite possible (probable?) but given how many cast members I see staffing the automatic FastPass machines already, I'm not sure how much of a "savings" Disney would actually see from such an idea.

Whatever happens, it makes sense that this new end time enforcement is either because it's required by whatever system is soon to come online or because the one-hour window limit will make the new system look like an even better "deal." Best guess is that it's a little bit of both.

 

[scion5220]

I don't know about fun, stuck outside in the July sun for 2.5 hours waiting to get on Splash Mountain on our very first trip...

Back then, it could have taken 2-3 days to do everything you wanted in a park. Now I can either hit up most everything in a single day, maybe another half day, or I can just take it EASY and enjoy the little things more...



If that was my attitude, I probably wouldn't have a web page on it, or tell other people, etc.

Even though a LOT of people here know about it, plenty still seem to use them on time most of the time, because they want to ride SOONER than later. Those "collectors" are still a subset of this audience.Hmmm...not sure we've ever had a poll thread on this subject...I think I'll go start one.

And the "collectors" are the ones that seem to be the most upset about this change. I don't think Disney ever intended for someone to be able to hit everything in a park in one day.

 

[KellyNY]

d@mn right I don't want to! Personally I think calculating wait times, ride times, ADR times, and whatever else is way too much math and a poor use of my vacation time.

I vacation to get away from rigid deadlines and clock watching, I guess other people don't feel the same.

If it was as difficult as you think parks would be empty. Majority using FP on time and there is not much math here, not enough to say that you are wasting your vacation time. FPs were never FOTL passes. Using them late was a loop people found in a system, nothing else. People just found a way to get advantage over those who came to park later as all FP were gone but people did not use them on time and showed up when others were in stand by lines, backing it up maybe just a little bit but it did wasted someones else vacation time.

 

[doconeill]

OK, I set up a poll on how people typcally used FPs under the OLD policy:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2876051