FASTPASS to be used for Super Soap Autographs

[wdhatter]

I just found in our online "Eyes and Ears" and article that says FASTPASS will be used during Super Soap Weekend for autographs with the stars. Read the article below. It is reprinted from that article because I do not know how to set up a link to it.

Rumor for the future is that we (Disney) wants to use FASTPASS for Character autographs as well. I wonder if this is going to be used as a test for that.




Date: 11/06/2003

Disney's FASTPASS service, developed to reduce wait times for popular Disney theme park attractions, will help facilitate all "on location" autograph sessions at this year's ABC Super Soap Weekend from Nov. 8-9 at the Disney-MGM Studios.
This system will allow Guests to secure a Disney's FASTPASS return time for a designated autograph session, thus allowing Guests to experience other ABC Super Soap Weekend activities instead of waiting in line for a session to begin.

In order to get a Disney's FASTPASS ticket:


Each member of a party must insert his or her theme park ticket into the Disney's FASTPASS station or kiosk for the celebrity they wish to meet.

If Disney's FASTPASS tickets still are available, the Guest will receive a Disney's FASTPASS ticket with a return time for that celebrity's autograph session.

To receive an autograph, the Guest must show up at the autograph location at the time designated on his or her Disney's FASTPASS ticket.

A Disney's FASTPASS ticket is required for each autograph.
There will be three Disney's FASTPASS ticket distribution areas, one for each of the three ABC shows.


"All My Children" -- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Play It!

"One Life To Live" -- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular

"General Hospital" -- Star Tours
There's no limit to the number of Disney's FASTPASS tickets Guests can get, however there's a capacity limit for each autograph session. Distribution of Disney's FASTPASS tickets will begin when the park opens, and the tickets are valid for autograph sessions that same day only. Tickets will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Once all Disney's FASTPASS tickets are distributed for a particular star, a limited number of standby tickets will be made available. Standby tickets don't guarantee an autograph. Standby ticket holders will be admitted to a session only if there's time remaining in a session after all Disney's FASTPASS ticket holders have received their autographs.

"Since the Disney's FASTPASS service allows Guests to see and experience the most popular Disney attractions, the Disney-MGM Studios is offering the service for Guests to see the most popular 'attractions' at ABC Super Soap Weekend - the stars of ABC Daytime," said Special Events Manager Sharon Springsteen. "Just as Disney's FASTPASS service allows Guests to save time and experience more of the Disney theme parks instead of standing in attraction lines, this service will offer Guests the opportunity to experience more that ABC Super Soap Weekend has to offer."

 

[Sarangel]

There's no limit to the number of Disney's FASTPASS tickets Guests can get

Maybe it's just me, but I have visions of guests lining up *hours* before things start, in the hopes of securing as many of these FASTPasses as they can get. I'd like to believe that that won't be the case, but the cynic in me assumes the worst.

Sarangel

 

[Zasha]

It was a terrible system!!! Very unfair for those of us who don't arrive when the gates open. The fast pass system (in this case) left me disappointed.

 

[Poohbear123]

Lots of complaints of this system. Hope its not available next year. The lines were at least 100 feet long.

 

[Speed Weasel]

We did Super Soap in 03 (with the FastPass) and 02 (without the FastPass). Both had their issues!

Under the get in line methodology of 02, people complained of spending their whole day in line, there were some very serious mob scenes (and people with bad manners), and many people did not get any autographs.

In 03, you had monster lines in the first hours, if you did not get there early there were no more FPs, and generally could not get more than two or three FPs per day (and depending on where in line you were at the start of the day, the FPs may not be the for star that you really wanted).

The fact is that this is a very popular event! Assume 100 signings per autograph session (some did upto 150) and two sessions per day for two days equals each star doing 400-600 signings. How many THOUSANDS of people were there? It is a matter of supply and demand.

Disney got hammered in surveys regarding the 02 methodology, and people seem to be complaining about the 03 methods...so what is the answer to 10,000 plus people wanting one of the 400-600 autographs?

On the plus side, they had a better supply of the headshots than in 02!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If people are so fanatical, they would probably be willing to pay a nominal amount (let's say not more than $5.00) to be guaranteed a personal autograph from a particular star (or maybe $5.00 each for more than one).

There would be a Disney-run web site showing what stars would be available on which days. Anyone who was planning to attend and wanting autographs would sign up at the web site, including Credit Card information. They would click on check boxes for the autographs they want. The cutoff for registration would be a few days prior to the event.

The registrations from the web site would be fed into Disney's Random Selection Process (RSP) which has been used successfully at Pin and other events. There will be a output for each person stating which star(s) and at what day and time they will be able to get the autograph. Admission cards and a schedule for each person would be printed, as well as an e-mail schedule sent to the person.

The credit card would be charged, non-refundable, for whatever the fee is times the number of autographs. People would be able to pick up their envelopes with the admission cards at a central location starting the day before the event.

Using this method there would be no crush of people in a mad dash to get to FastPass machines, and no long lines for autographs. There would, of course, also be standby lines for each star in the event there was nobody with a card waiting.