Fastpass Weirdness

[KLondon]

Hey all - just got back from a Dec 17-26 visit to the World and, for the most part, we had a great time. But we had really puzzling experience with a Fastpass. Maybe someone here has some insights?

Here's the scoop: We were Animal Kingdom one fine day and had a hankering to see 'Finding Nemo - The Musical'. Since it's super-popular, we elected to go the Fastpass route courtesy of the 'centralized Fastpass depot' at AK. There was a CM handing out the FPs and I was not required to have my park pass scanned.

It was midday, and the FPs we got were for the 6:30pm show. The CM explained that we'd need to show up at the theater sometime between 6pm and 6:15pm (as was written on our FPs).

We kind of planned out the rest of our day at AK based on our Nemo FPs - no problems there. We showed up at the theater in the specified window (closer to 6:15pm than 6pm) and were met by a CM who would not let us in! She was very polite and cheerful in letting us know that the theater was already full. I showed her our FPs, but that did not matter. She repeated that it was a VERY popular show and they were full to capacity. When I asked about the value of having a FP, she smiled and said nothing useful.

I've been to DisneyWorld many, many times - and I cannot recall ever having such an experience. While this was not serious enough to make me seek out Disney management, it was frustrating insofar as (1) we planned our afternoon around the FP return time and (2) it's just a bad Customer experience.

So.... anyone ever encountered this kind of thing before?

 

[WEDWDW]

Hey all - just got back from a Dec 17-26 visit to the World and, for the most part, we had a great time. But we had really puzzling experience with a Fastpass. Maybe someone here has some insights?

Here's the scoop: We were Animal Kingdom one fine day and had a hankering to see 'Finding Nemo - The Musical'. Since it's super-popular, we elected to go the Fastpass route courtesy of the 'centralized Fastpass depot' at AK. There was a CM handing out the FPs and I was not required to have my park pass scanned.

It was midday, and the FPs we got were for the 6:30pm show. The CM explained that we'd need to show up at the theater sometime between 6pm and 6:15pm (as was written on our FPs).

We kind of planned out the rest of our day at AK based on our Nemo FPs - no problems there. We showed up at the theater in the specified window (closer to 6:15pm than 6pm) and were met by a CM who would not let us in! She was very polite and cheerful in letting us know that the theater was already full. I showed her our FPs, but that did not matter. She repeated that it was a VERY popular show and they were full to capacity. When I asked about the value of having a FP, she smiled and said nothing useful.

I've been to DisneyWorld many, many times - and I cannot recall ever having such an experience. While this was not serious enough to make me seek out Disney management, it was frustrating insofar as (1) we planned our afternoon around the FP return time and (2) it's just a bad Customer experience.

So.... anyone ever encountered this kind of thing before?

The centralized FASTPASS for the DAK shows is new,so they obviously haven't got everything "worked out".

Since you were within the "window",you DEFINITELY should have been allowed in.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Hey all - just got back from a Dec 17-26 visit to the World and, for the most part, we had a great time. But we had really puzzling experience with a Fastpass. Maybe someone here has some insights?

Here's the scoop: We were Animal Kingdom one fine day and had a hankering to see 'Finding Nemo - The Musical'. Since it's super-popular, we elected to go the Fastpass route courtesy of the 'centralized Fastpass depot' at AK. There was a CM handing out the FPs and I was not required to have my park pass scanned.

It was midday, and the FPs we got were for the 6:30pm show. The CM explained that we'd need to show up at the theater sometime between 6pm and 6:15pm (as was written on our FPs).

We kind of planned out the rest of our day at AK based on our Nemo FPs - no problems there. We showed up at the theater in the specified window (closer to 6:15pm than 6pm) and were met by a CM who would not let us in! She was very polite and cheerful in letting us know that the theater was already full. I showed her our FPs, but that did not matter. She repeated that it was a VERY popular show and they were full to capacity. When I asked about the value of having a FP, she smiled and said nothing useful.

I've been to DisneyWorld many, many times - and I cannot recall ever having such an experience. While this was not serious enough to make me seek out Disney management, it was frustrating insofar as (1) we planned our afternoon around the FP return time and (2) it's just a bad Customer experience.

So.... anyone ever encountered this kind of thing before?

I am so sorry-that must've been so frustrating for your family! Especially since you planned the entire day around that one event. I can't believe that show was filled to capacity-there is quite a bit of seating there!

 

[worm761]

I would email Disney a friendly little note to let them know of your experience. It is great that they are trying it but if they don't know that the system is broken then they can't fix it. Customer feedback is always a good thing.

 

[DisneyDadof3]

I can't believe that show was filled to capacity-there is quite a bit of seating there!

I seen the show 4 or 5 times and it has always been standing room only in the back. This includes visits in the June and then the week before Christmas and the week after.

 

[pugluver31902]

Unfortunatly that does sound right to me. A fastpass gets you to the front of the line, but if its already full they can't let you in. Its not a ticket to see the show, its a ticket to line jump. But since you got there after the line started entering, they had already allowed allowed the maximum number of people in. So even if you jumped to the front of the line, the line was already closed. Hope that helps.

 

[WEDWDW]

Unfortunatly that does sound right to me. A fastpass gets you to the front of the line, but if its already full they can't let you in. Its not a ticket to see the show, its a ticket to line jump. But since you got there after the line started entering, they had already allowed allowed the maximum number of people in. So even if you jumped to the front of the line, the line was already closed. Hope that helps.

FASTPASSES for shows are different than attractions that operate "continuously".

There are a limited number of show performances per day.There would be no reason to have a FASTPASS for a show if you weren't GUARANTEED entrance for THAT show(as long as you are WITHIN the window.

 

[maroo]

It sounds like the first CM should have told the family that they needed to be there earlier...Because they open the doors about 30 minutes before - and once the doors are open, especially that busy week, the theater will fill up quickly.

Or they should have reserved VIP seating for the event for those few that got FastPasses.

AND they should have realized there would be a problem and given a FP to any attraction to those that showed up during the window but were not allowed to see the show.

 

[KLondon]

Unfortunatly that does sound right to me. A fastpass gets you to the front of the line, but if its already full they can't let you in. Its not a ticket to see the show, its a ticket to line jump. But since you got there after the line started entering, they had already allowed allowed the maximum number of people in. So even if you jumped to the front of the line, the line was already closed. Hope that helps.

That's kind of the perspective I had, too - and that's the problem with offering FP to a 'finite capacity' attraction such as Nemo.

The right answer (I think) is to offer a percentage of seats allocated to FP. For example, a 100-seat theater would allocate 50 FPs for a show. Once those 50 FPs were handed out - no more FPs for that show. Those FPs would then have to be redeemed in the FP time window specificed. Once that time window expires, then you let in the Stand-By folks.

This would make sure that FPs were useful in the same way they are useful for 'continuous capacity' attractions like Dinosaur, etc. But it also ensures that ambitious folks in the Stand-By line have an opportunity to get into the show.

 

[WEDWDW]

That's kind of the perspective I had, too - and that's the problem with offering FP to a 'finite capacity' attraction such as Nemo.

The right answer (I think) is to offer a percentage of seats allocated to FP. For example, a 100-seat theater would allocate 50 FPs for a show. Once those 50 FPs were handed out - no more FPs for that show. Those FPs would then have to be redeemed in the FP time window specificed. Once that time window expires, then you let in the Stand-By folks.

This would make sure that FPs were useful in the same way they are useful for 'continuous capacity' attractions like Dinosaur, etc. But it also ensures that ambitious folks in the Stand-By line have an opportunity to get into the show.

That is EXACTLY the way "Show FASTPASSES" are supposed to be implemented

Since the DAK centralized FASTPASS for shows is new,they obviously haven't implemented the process correctly.

 

[christa112]

I personally think the shows should be 1st come 1st serve.

 

[photobob]

It sounds like the first CM should have told the family that they needed to be there earlier...Because they open the doors about 30 minutes before - and once the doors are open, especially that busy week, the theater will fill up quickly.

I agree, that is where the problem came from.

 

[Robo]

I personally think the shows should be 1st come 1st serve.

That has been the case with "show attractions" for over a year at WDW.
WDW stopped issuing FP's (on a daily basis) for the show attractions in the fall of 2008.

If they just started handing them out at Nemo, it's likely an experiment.
An experiment that FAILED, at least for the performance that the OP
tried to attend.

 

[WEDWDW]

I agree, that is where the problem came from.

With a Show FASTPASS Guests are supposed to be GUARANTEED admission to THAT show as lomg as they are WITHIN the FASTPASS window.If not there would be no purpose for a Show FASTPASS.Show FASTPASSES are handled differently than continuous attraction FASTPASSES.

 

[Geoff_M]

I think it's worth mentioning in an e-mail to WDW management. It appears to be a flaw in the way they've implemented the FPs for the shows. I agree that the way that it works now is that the FPs don't guarantee you a seat and only let you get in the front of the show queue. But once the theater is full, it's full. I think the problem could be addressed if they simply shift the end the of FP window to the time that the doors open instead of when they've already been seating people for 15 minutes. The other option would be to rope off a seperate FP section and then let "standby" people into remaining seating once the FP window closes.

 

[Geoff_M]

If they just started handing them out at Nemo, it's likely an experiment.
An experiment that FAILED, at least for the performance that the OP
tried to attend.

They were using them for ALL of the AK stage shows when we were there last week. There were about two machines set up for each show in the same area (near the entrance to ITTBAB). In addition to the FPs for Nemo, the machine also gave me bonus FPs for FOTLK later in the day.

 

[floridascgirl]

This situation reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Jerry has a reservation for a rental car, but when he arrives, all the cars are gone. Do you know the one? It was a funny episode, but certainly not funny here if you had your whole day planned around the show.

 

[KLondon]

Thanks for all the great feedback, everyone! I think I will dash off a quick email to Disney to let them know about our experience. Like they say: if you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

By no means did this ruin our day, but it was an aggravation. To recover from this, we forced ourselves to eat too much at Yak&Yeti's before one more spin on Expedition Everest.

 

[vicki_c]

WHAT centralized FastPass for Animal Kingdom shows?

This is the first I've heard of this. Anyone else have any insight into that?

oops - just saw Geoff's post - I missed page 2 of the thread! They probably won't be doing it when we go in late January, because it's not so crowded then.

 

[swilshire]

Maybe this explains the reserved section we saw when we attended Nemo yesterday. My husband ask about the section and the CM said the seats were reserved "for now". A little closer to the show, they were opened up. They were pretty good seats, though off to one side, and some people came down from up higher to grab them. They also used them for what I thought were the last standby guests to be admitted.

Sheila