FP+ and Hopping (need guinea pigs!)

[morethananyonex]

Silly question maybe, can the kiosks actually scan or read MB? I've never seen the cards (or the kiosks) so I don't know how they differ.

 

[Shaden]

OK, I'm back. Here's how today went:

1 - Start the day at the Studios, and use two of my three reservations

2 - Hop to Epcot at around 2:30 in the afternoon. Tried to get more FP reservations **using the app**. No go.

3 - Hop to MK a little after 5 pm. Went to **a kiosk** at around 6:30 and tapped my card. And I was offered a pretty good selection of FP+ options. The top-level stuff - Wishes, ETWB and Space - were sold out, but I think everything else was available, including Big Thunder. The mistake I made here was that I didn't follow through and try to actually confirm these passes. But the system definitely did offer them to me.

So in summary - it appears that same-day, in-park FP+ is available in addition to the pre-reserved passes. But only at the in-park kiosks, not via the app.

I can think of two questions that remain:

a - Would it have worked if I had made my in-park requests at the same park where I had made the first three reservations?

b - What if my reservations were for the afternoon/evening, and I tried to make my in-park requests in the morning?

That's encouraging! I'm guessing you didn't try the kiosk at EP?

Thanks for posting back.

SERIOUSLY .... we need more testing of this !!!

If this were the case, I could totally get behind FP+ ...

And people say I am negative ... ????

 

[Coach81]

OK, I'm back. Here's how today went:

1 - Start the day at the Studios, and use two of my three reservations

2 - Hop to Epcot at around 2:30 in the afternoon. Tried to get more FP reservations **using the app**. No go.

3 - Hop to MK a little after 5 pm. Went to **a kiosk** at around 6:30 and tapped my card. And I was offered a pretty good selection of FP+ options. The top-level stuff - Wishes, ETWB and Space - were sold out, but I think everything else was available, including Big Thunder. The mistake I made here was that I didn't follow through and try to actually confirm these passes. But the system definitely did offer them to me.

So in summary - it appears that same-day, in-park FP+ is available in addition to the pre-reserved passes. But only at the in-park kiosks, not via the app.

I can think of two questions that remain:

a - Would it have worked if I had made my in-park requests at the same park where I had made the first three reservations?

b - What if my reservations were for the afternoon/evening, and I tried to make my in-park requests in the morning?

Good work, Cigar.. and thanks!!! Great questions also...

 

[wisblue]

It seems that the ideal test would be an offsite guest with an RFID ticket but no magic band who uses that ticket to get FP+ at MK or DAK and then goes to the other park and tries to use the same ticket to both enter the park and get FP+ reservations.

If that works it would definitely lead to a new round of debate about "fairness" because offsite guests would have the advantage of getting FPs at 2 parks, but the disadvantage of not being able to get FP+ in advance.

Personally, I'd rather have the 3 in advance to use in the afternoon or evening instead of wondering what I could get when I arrive at the second park. But, I can see how others might prefer it the other way around.

Regardless, I suspect this is a temporary situation as the transition continues at an increasingly rapid pace.

If you are trying to read between the lines, you could speculate that allowing FP+ reservations in 2 parks, combined with the recent addition of direct bus service between the parks, is a way for Disney to encourage park hopping (and the extra cost of tickets involved) to further tie guests to the resort.

My ideal (realistic) scenario based on how we like to tour would be a system that allows FP+ reservations in one park in advance and then same day reservations in a second park on arrival if you have a hopper ticket. That would allow making PM reservations at one park and same day reservations at the first park of the day when availability would likely be better. Well, actually, ideal would be being able to get reservations at 2 parks in advance, but I don't see how capacity would allow that.

Just a theory.

 

[Krissy562]

If you are trying to read between the lines, you could speculate that allowing FP+ reservations in 2 parks, combined with the recent addition of direct bus service between the parks, is a way for Disney to encourage park hopping (and the extra cost of tickets involved) to further tie guests to the resort.

My ideal (realistic) scenario based on how we like to tour would be a system that allows FP+ reservations in one park in advance and then same day reservations in a second park on arrival if you have a hopper ticket. That would allow making PM reservations at one park and same day reservations at the first park of the day when availability would likely be better. Well, actually, ideal would be being able to get reservations at 2 parks in advance, but I don't see how capacity would allow that.

Just a theory.

Since the stated purpose of the entire MDE was to have the ability to react to, and even more importantly control crowd behavior, this seems very likely. I can absolutely see them offering a second round of FP+ at a select second (less crowded) park to draw guests away from a park that is slammed. How great would that be? You're in the MK, it's packed, and you get notification that you have 3 new FP+ available if you hop to AK. I totally see that happening - and actually working really well. There are actually AK busses waiting at the bus stop to whisk you over there because they know they have just offered X guests the option of moving, and will have need.

 

[mom2rtk]

Since the stated purpose of the entire MDE was to have the ability to react to, and even more importantly control crowd behavior, this seems very likely. I can absolutely see them offering a second round of FP+ at a select second (less crowded) park to draw guests away from a park that is slammed. How great would that be? You're in the MK, it's packed, and you get notification that you have 3 new FP+ available if you hop to AK. I totally see that happening - and actually working really well. There are actually AK busses waiting at the bus stop to whisk you over there because they know they have just offered X guests the option of moving, and will have need.

Spot on. I absolutely believe this is the very sort of thing they have in mind with this system.

Don't forget all those "surprise and delight" fastpasses that were discussed early on. I think recent months have been about 1) getting us off of unlimited FP so Disney could reclaim the extras as currency and 2) getting the mechanism right. (They're still working on that. )

So I'm sure many will be excited about all the "surprise and delight" headed our way. But it just ticks me off because I used to be able to choose where to find my own "surprise and delight".

 

[pilferk]

OK, I'm back. Here's how today went:

1 - Start the day at the Studios, and use two of my three reservations

2 - Hop to Epcot at around 2:30 in the afternoon. Tried to get more FP reservations **using the app**. No go.

3 - Hop to MK a little after 5 pm. Went to **a kiosk** at around 6:30 and tapped my card. And I was offered a pretty good selection of FP+ options. The top-level stuff - Wishes, ETWB and Space - were sold out, but I think everything else was available, including Big Thunder. The mistake I made here was that I didn't follow through and try to actually confirm these passes. But the system definitely did offer them to me.

So in summary - it appears that same-day, in-park FP+ is available in addition to the pre-reserved passes. But only at the in-park kiosks, not via the app.

I can think of two questions that remain:

a - Would it have worked if I had made my in-park requests at the same park where I had made the first three reservations?

b - What if my reservations were for the afternoon/evening, and I tried to make my in-park requests in the morning?

Question 3:

What if you had used all 3 at your first park.

Because it didn't work for us going from AK to MK yesterday. We used all 3 FP's at AK in the am. We scanned our MB's (and again, maybe that's the other difference) at MK and got nothing. That was at about 2 PM.

We are DVC members with 6 day hoppers. No AP's.

 

[pilferk]

Even posing as an off-site guest, you'd need to proffer a ticket, and at that point the system knows you're the same person who had made reservations earlier.

Using an entirely separate ticket, not tied to your MDEx, would work, but probably more expensive than it's worth.

I think that's the way it's SUPPOSED to work.

But right now, I'm not sure it's the way it IS working.

The link between the parks, with tickets, might not be working quite right for this.

The link between parks, using MB's, does. When I scan my MB, no matter what park I'm in, it "knows" my pre-books.

 

[wisblue]

Question 3:

What if you had used all 3 at your first park.

Because it didn't work for us going from AK to MK yesterday. We used all 3 FP's at AK in the am. We scanned our MB's (and again, maybe that's the other difference) at MK and got nothing. That was at about 2 PM.

We are DVC members with 6 day hoppers. No AP's.

I suspect that is the big variable.

The ability to get FP+ is linked to a park ticket, and your park ticket (linked to your MB) has already been used to make advance FP+ reservations.

The question is whether the system would recognize that a ticket that is not linked to a MB has already been used to get FPs at another park. I can't see any reason why the system couldn't do that, but it's possible that it doesn't, maybe intentionally.

 

[morethananyonex]

Question 3:

What if you had used all 3 at your first park.

Because it didn't work for us going from AK to MK yesterday. We used all 3 FP's at AK in the am. We scanned our MB's (and again, maybe that's the other difference) at MK and got nothing. That was at about 2 PM.

We are DVC members with 6 day hoppers. No AP's.

Well that's disappointing . Your situation is much closer to ours, looking like we are stuck with our 3 after all.

Thanks for the report.

 

[pilferk]

I'd test it again...but we are not hopping again this trip. Only 2 days in the parks left. A night at Epcot tonight, and power open to close at mk tomorrow.

 

[rrali33tt]

When I was in Disney in September they were testing buses from Animal Kingdom DIRECTLY to Downtown Disney ( I took it there). I don't know if this is still happening. But I think it is just as likely they send you emails about discounts to go shopping there if the park is crowded instead of offering you fast passes at a less crowded park OR the more likely reason they did this was because AK closes early and they can help you on your way to spend more money lol

I really think to make guests the happiest they should do ALL four things.
(1) They should send you "bonus" fast passes when you arrive in a park. Like a little pixie dust..."welcome to the magic kingdom - here is a bonus BOG FP lunch, or reserved spot for the parade". it would be an easy thing to reserve a certain % to spread pixie dust around.
(2) at a 2nd park they should allow you to make day of FP+ ressies taking from what is available when you arrive
(3) They should send you fast pass availability for another park when the park you are currently visiting is crowded
(4) They should send you shopping coupons and suggest other activities with a discount (splitsville, la nouba etc.)

 

[doconeill]

Neither of the above - it was the RFID KTTW card that some resorts are still giving out in addition to the Magic Bands. I don't remember if the card I tapped was the one I got a few days ago at AK Lodge, or the one I got last September at French Quarter. Both are still active, and both are equivalent for in-park purposes. (I have been doing a lot of different experiments this week - hence carrying three bands and four cards around on most days.)

It is a pretty safe bet that I would have had just as much success had I tapped my band instead of my card. The bands and the cards are supposed to be functionally equivalent for most purposes. And I assume they will remain so even after all resorts have ceased giving out new cards.

OK...I think key here is which KTTW card it was. The one for the current stay should be associated with the resort stay/MDX account. The old ones, at least for me since MDX started, are also associated with my account, but we know they got traditional FPs independently. I wonder if those are somehow also still active but somehow independent?

I think that should be an easy fix for IT as well...

 

[Krissy562]

As much as I think this will ultimately be cool, it's also feeling a little creepy - like WE are the tributes in the Disney Hunger Games and the Gamemakers are moving things around in the giant WDW Dome. The possibilities are absolutely endless.
As for the AP aberration, I'm assuming that as soon as people report loopholes, there are IT whizzes standing by to slam them shut.

 

[Shaden]

Since the stated purpose of the entire MDE was to have the ability to react to, and even more importantly control crowd behavior, this seems very likely. I can absolutely see them offering a second round of FP+ at a select second (less crowded) park to draw guests away from a park that is slammed. How great would that be? You're in the MK, it's packed, and you get notification that you have 3 new FP+ available if you hop to AK. I totally see that happening - and actually working really well. There are actually AK busses waiting at the bus stop to whisk you over there because they know they have just offered X guests the option of moving, and will have need.

This sounds awesome, and certainly part of the power of this new system .... however with one caveat ....

I wouldn't really like it if it played out this way, because there would be no way to plan around it. This new system requires a ton of planning around unknown variables, like weather, crowds, moods, sickness, kids, etc. That can totally mess up your schedule. BUT, you have to take your chances, lock in to your park, pick your FP+s and go .... if it was only "possible" that you would be able to use FP+ in another park afterwards, that adds another unknown variable to the mix, and would actually complicate our planning even more ...

Do you go to the red park that day, book your FP in the morning, and then hang around and HOPE you are going to get FPs in another mystery park in the afternoon ? Or do you go to the low crowd park, hoping to have a great day use your 3 FPs but generally deal with smaller SB lines, only to have a horde of people show up from the busy park with their new 3 FP+ in hand to screw up all the SB lines and leave you hanging ???

I would much rather a more transparent system, that yes, you have 3FP+ pre booked, after they are gone, you can book another 3FP (or however many) from a Kiosk in the park (or at any park) ...

 

[mummabear]

I agree...and this is one area where I would almost give US the upper hand. At least for the few rides we experienced, the RS place was indoors, as part of the line near the front. We were allowed to bring DD in line with us, and when we reached that point we separated...the rider continued on in the line, while the waiting parent waited with DD. There were movies playing, it was air conditioned...when the first rider came back, it was only a few more minutes for the second to ride and then we were on our way.

Yes, we were in line for quite a long time for some rides (Forbidden Journey being the one I'm thinking of most) - but we were able to wait in line together. That's very much preferable to having to spend so much time apart on a family vacation.

For us personally we hated US RS System and decided not to go back again until the kids were tall enough. We had 2 young kids waiting for a significant amount of time (with no reward for them at the end) in a closet. On top of that if you had one asleep in the stroller you couldn't use it...

 

[Angel Ariel]

For us personally we hated US RS System and decided not to go back again until the kids were tall enough. We had 2 young kids waiting for a significant amount of time (with no reward for them at the end) in a closet. On top of that if you had one asleep in the stroller you couldn't use it...

I understand where you are coming from, and may feel the same way when Dd is older. Right now she doesn't understand the waiting..she gets antsy like any toddler would, but she doesn't understand there being something at the of the wait,.so as ling.as we interact with her and keep her occupied, it doesn't matter where we are. (The napping part could be an issue now, but when we were at US when she was 8 months, I wore her in a beco Gemini, so she could have slept on me.)

 

[doconeill]

I understand where you are coming from, and may feel the same way when Dd is older. Right now she doesn't understand the waiting..she gets antsy like any toddler would, but she doesn't understand there being something at the of the wait,.so as ling.as we interact with her and keep her occupied, it doesn't matter where we are. (The napping part could be an issue now, but when we were at US when she was 8 months, I wore her in a beco Gemini, so she could have slept on me.)

But that is where I think WDW's Rider Switch Pass is best...you don't have to wait at all. You can take the child somewhere else, on to another ride that they CAN ride or get food, or shop, while you "wait". You can return to the ride any time later that day and use the pass.

Although the total wait time may be shorter at Universal between each parent riding, you can't do anything but wait (with whatever entertainment they might provide...)

We tried to do the swap once at Dueling Dragons...first it seemed like the CMs thought we were asking for gold...then they botched it and had to wait another ride cycle because they forgot I was waiting...

 

[Angel Ariel]

But that is where I think WDW's Rider Switch Pass is best...you don't have to wait at all. You can take the child somewhere else, on to another ride that they CAN ride or get food, or shop, while you "wait". You can return to the ride any time later that day and use the pass.

Although the total wait time may be shorter at Universal between each parent riding, you can't do anything but wait (with whatever entertainment they might provide...)

We tried to do the swap once at Dueling Dragons...first it seemed like the CMs thought we were asking for gold...then they botched it and had to wait another ride cycle because they forgot I was waiting...

And I agree with the bolded, at least I did when FP- was in the picture. My earlier point was that, with FP+, I'm not so sure.

If we FP+ DD's rides, so we don't have her in a long line, then we have to ride SB for DH and I to ride the mtns. With FP- that wasn't an issue, b/c we could FP her rides AND our rides. If we ride SB for the mountains, and it's just DH, DD and I, then we're looking at (in busy season) easily an hour apart as a family just for DH and I to ride just one ride....an hour for the SB person to wait in the SB line, and then the extra few mins for the RS. To do all 3 mountains in a busy season could easily mean 3 hours apart...maybe I'm just weird or something, but I don't want to spend that much time away from my DD at Disney. Yes, we could just not do adult rides...but as I said before, we go to Disney for us too (moreso for us at DD's age than her). We shouldn't have to lose out on what we love just because we have a child with us and we don't want to spend hours apart (especially considering we didn't used to have to...)

Yes, the waiting parent can take DD on other rides while the riding parent waits SB...but then, that's still not experiencing things as a family on a family vacation. The next time we take DD to WDW, it might as well be her first trip all over again in terms of what she'll be able to do and what she'll remember. I don't want to miss her first ride on Dumbo (well, it will seem like the first to her anyway) because I'm riding Space Mtn...but I do also want to be able to ride space Mtn. We didn't have to make those choices with FP-.

IF we FP+ the mtns for us, then we have DD in long lines for her rides (like PP, etc) during busy season.

Is this an issue when SB lines are 20 mins or less? no. But it is definitely an issue if you're there during a busier time of year, like the spring break season we were there for in march 2013.

 

[Coach81]

Any updates to this forum recently???