FP+ is Live! Magic Bands in the park!

[DeeSanDisneyFan]

Since this thread is mostly speculation I thought I'd share some crazy thoughts I had:
I was thinking of something that the MagicBands could do besides pre-booked FPs while thinking about having the RFID readers at rides most on this board would never dream of wasting a FP on and thought this: it would be interesting if IN ADDITION TO FPs the MagicBand would allow you to scan at a ride for the Stand-by line but instead of waiting in the line it would just keep track of the current stand-by time and you could walk around, shop, eat, see a show/parade, etc. while waiting for your stand-by time to come up (i.e. if the wait for HM was 40 min you would wait 40 min just not inside the line and you COULD NOT GET ANOTHER STAND-BY SCAN for an attraction OR RIDE ANOTHER ATTRACTION unless you already had a pre-booked FP until that 40 min is up.) When the time comes up you just go to the stand-by line (with a smaller window than FP, say 15 min rather than an hour) and walk through the Stand-by line like the FP line. But that being said it doesn't make sense for them to have spent so much making interactive queues.
This is just me running ideas through my head. Fire away!
Hahaha!

 

[magicbob]

it would be interesting if IN ADDITION TO FPs the MagicBand would allow you to scan at a ride for the Stand-by line but instead of waiting in the line it would just keep track of the current stand-by time and you could walk around, shop, eat, see a show/parade, etc. while waiting for your stand-by time to come up

That kind of describes the current FP system (except that it is only available for certain, not all, attractions).

There has been some speculation that interactive areas (i.e., queue-less queues) such as Dumbo will become the norm. I think it's a little far fetched to think that they will do away with lines altogether in favor of a system where EVERYONE just pulls a ticket and returns at their designated time, but it's not impossible since that is the concept for FP anyway.

I think there will always be a standby line option because if no one has reservations for a certain time, they still want to be able to have guests on the attraction.

 

[Starr W.]

We have heard so many comments from people in the standby line while we are using the FP line.

"Must be nice to be able to afford that."
"Oh they can bypass lines because they're staying at the expensive resorts."
"Hmm guess they're VIP's or something."

People already don't understand the FP system, despite that it's clearly outlined on the Park Maps and CM's around that you can ask about it.

heard and seen that also. Plus my sister's neighbor got into a huge arguement with me about ADR's. She was taking her daughter's family for NYE and telling me if you were staying at a Value hotel you weren't allowed to make ADR's, that's just for you DVC members and Deluxe hotel guests.

 

[Squidgyness]

heard and seen that also. Plus my sister's neighbor got into a huge arguement with me about ADR's. She was taking her daughter's family for NYE and telling me if you were staying at a Value hotel you weren't allowed to make ADR's, that's just for you DVC members and Deluxe hotel guests.

I didn't know off-site guests could make ADR's till last year. I've been five times. Seriously, we were no disney novices but things can just slip by if you don't use them, we never used ADR's you see.

If people don't seek out and encounter things or have them advertised in their faces they often won't use them, and even advertising is limited in effect as current ignorance shows. LIke you said most people on seeing the fastpass line seem to assume it isn't free, it isn't available to day trippers from off-site, and some that it isn't even available to certain on site.

They'll need a huge "ITS FREE AND ANYONE CAN USE IT AND YOU CAN BOOK BEFORE YOU ENTER THE PARKS NOW BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT AND ONLY FOR CERTAIN TIMES AND ATTRACTIONS BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THEM AT A KIOSK OR ON YOUR PHONE IF THE WIFI ALLOWS IT, ITS KIND OF SPOTTY APPARENTLY AND THE APP SOMETIMES WON'T WORK FOR SOME PEOPLE BUT OTHERS HAVE NO ISSUES. (Terms and conditions apply.)" sign by the sounds of it.

 

[mom2rtk]

"ITS FREE AND ANYONE CAN USE IT AND YOU CAN BOOK BEFORE YOU ENTER THE PARKS NOW BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT AND ONLY FOR CERTAIN TIMES AND ATTRACTIONS BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THEM AT A KIOSK OR ON YOUR PHONE IF THE WIFI ALLOWS IT, ITS KIND OF SPOTTY APPARENTLY AND THE APP SOMETIMES WON'T WORK FOR SOME PEOPLE BUT OTHERS HAVE NO ISSUES. (Terms and conditions apply.)" sign by the sounds of it.

Hey, that's kind of catchy. I hope Disney marketing gives you credit if they use it in their commercials.

 

[doconeill]

Then you heard him say it was new information, that it was a source he trusted and, very emphatically I might add, that you could not get FP's at a second park .

FYI, I re-listened to the podcast...I don't believe he said that it was new information, but that he trusted the source. Unfortunately, it was just basically saying what we know for sure, just that it was all there was - which as I mentioned could still be true.

One mistake, he implied that you had a choice between using the old or new system (as long as the old system exists, which he says will go a way "in a couple years") with a MagicBand. But that does not appear to be true at this time, because 1) you can't get a FP with a MagicBand currently; and 2) The posted T&C basically says that if you switch to the RFID system, you can only use FP+ (of course, they didn't seem to be planning on giving out all-RFID cards this early...)

 

[Disney_Princess83]

They'll need a huge "ITS FREE AND ANYONE CAN USE IT AND YOU CAN BOOK BEFORE YOU ENTER THE PARKS NOW BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT AND ONLY FOR CERTAIN TIMES AND ATTRACTIONS BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THEM AT A KIOSK OR ON YOUR PHONE IF THE WIFI ALLOWS IT, ITS KIND OF SPOTTY APPARENTLY AND THE APP SOMETIMES WON'T WORK FOR SOME PEOPLE BUT OTHERS HAVE NO ISSUES. (Terms and conditions apply.)" sign by the sounds of it.

 

[Missyrose]

Since this thread is mostly speculation I thought I'd share some crazy thoughts I had:
I was thinking of something that the MagicBands could do besides pre-booked FPs while thinking about having the RFID readers at rides most on this board would never dream of wasting a FP on and thought this: it would be interesting if IN ADDITION TO FPs the MagicBand would allow you to scan at a ride for the Stand-by line but instead of waiting in the line it would just keep track of the current stand-by time and you could walk around, shop, eat, see a show/parade, etc. while waiting for your stand-by time to come up (i.e. if the wait for HM was 40 min you would wait 40 min just not inside the line and you COULD NOT GET ANOTHER STAND-BY SCAN for an attraction OR RIDE ANOTHER ATTRACTION unless you already had a pre-booked FP until that 40 min is up.) When the time comes up you just go to the stand-by line (with a smaller window than FP, say 15 min rather than an hour) and walk through the Stand-by line like the FP line. But that being said it doesn't make sense for them to have spent so much making interactive queues.
This is just me running ideas through my head. Fire away!
Hahaha!

That kind of describes the current FP system (except that it is only available for certain, not all, attractions).

There has been some speculation that interactive areas (i.e., queue-less queues) such as Dumbo will become the norm. I think it's a little far fetched to think that they will do away with lines altogether in favor of a system where EVERYONE just pulls a ticket and returns at their designated time, but it's not impossible since that is the concept for FP anyway.

I think there will always be a standby line option because if no one has reservations for a certain time, they still want to be able to have guests on the attraction.

This was a thought I had early on when the new system was first "announced." But a solid counterargument someone made to me was "Why would Disney invest all that money in adding interactive queues to so many of its attractions only to then go to a queueless, appointment-based system."

I thought it was a compelling argument anyway.

 

[doggydoc]

What is the point of YOUR posts? All you ever do is complain about people discussing FP+ and attempt to incite argument. It's a DISCUSSION board. Do you have anything constructive to add? If you do, I haven't seen it yet.

This is the absolute last time I waste any of my time responding to your cut-and-paste patronizing "I'm so smart" posts.

Excellent, because the only time I find myself wading through the tripe is when someone quotes it. That particular IGNORE boat sailed long ago.

 

[doconeill]

This was a thought I had early on when the new system was first "announced." But a solid counterargument someone made to me was "Why would Disney invest all that money in adding interactive queues to so many of its attractions only to then go to a queueless, appointment-based system."

I thought it was a compelling argument anyway.

It could be that _some_ attractions will have the interactive queue, and _some_ will offer a virtual queue.

Remember, they tested the virtual queue system at RNRC a few times. Hasn't been seen since though. Part of the problem was that you couldn't wander off too far - you had a very short return window, and I'm not sure having a longer window would keep things flowing smoothly. And they needed to provide something for the guests to do since they were still virtually trapped - might as well entertain them in a regular queue anyways.


I actually proposed a similar standby wait time mechanism in one of the great GAC debate threads as an alternative to (real or perceived) front of the line GAC access, that wouldn't require splitting parties up. But you also had to have some way of preventing them from utilizing another attraction to keep it fair. If you are in the queue, virtually or not, you can't be in another queue.

 

[Squidgyness]

Excellent, because the only time I find myself wading through the tripe is when someone quotes it. That particular IGNORE boat sailed long ago.

Figured it out, thank goodness.

 

[mesaboy2]

It could be that _some_ attractions will have the interactive queue, and _some_ will offer a virtual queue.

Remember, they tested the virtual queue system at RNRC a few times. Hasn't been seen since though. Part of the problem was that you couldn't wander off too far - you had a very short return window, and I'm not sure having a longer window would keep things flowing smoothly. And they needed to provide something for the guests to do since they were still virtually trapped - might as well entertain them in a regular queue anyways.


I actually proposed a similar standby wait time mechanism in one of the great GAC debate threads as an alternative to (real or perceived) front of the line GAC access, that wouldn't require splitting parties up. But you also had to have some way of preventing them from utilizing another attraction to keep it fair. If you are in the queue, virtually or not, you can't be in another queue.

I believe that RnRC test was just a precursor to the current Dumbo queue system. Unsure if there will be more queues like this in the future or not.

 

[goherdibg]

Let's play the "It's Not Fair" game.

"It's Not Fair" that guests who show up early in the morning to a park get the best chance at coveted FastPasses.
The coveted FP's will all go quickly that day.

But, some guests can't get up early. "It's Not Fair."

How our kids feel as the go to sleep determines if we get up early or not. We have been to RD many times and skipped it many times. I didn't realize people really complain about others taking the FP's by getting up early.

If Disney really wanted to address it then they should not open the FP machines until noon. In a way this makes sense on most days as the lines don't really get long until mid-day anyway.

 

[g-dad66]

In hopes of this thread not getting closed down like nearly all previous FP+ threads, I am forcing myself to do an IGNORE also amd attempt to keep the conversation on topic....

Here's a speculation I think I have expressed before. I think MDE will "suggest" certain attractions at certain times for FP+, and all the novice uninformed guest will have to do is a simple click or two (maybe one "accept" per day?). And voila! he/she has now easily chosen his/her 3 FP+s per day.

This is how the "average" guest will "learn" to use FP+, and how Disney will steer him/her toward less busy attractions at less busy times.

 

[Squidgyness]

In hopes of this thread not getting closed down like nearly all previous FP+ threads, I am forcing myself to do an IGNORE also amd attempt to keep the conversation on topic....

Here's a speculation I think I have expressed before. I think MDE will "suggest" certain attractions at certain times for FP+, and all the novice uninformed guest will have to do is a simple click or two (maybe one "accept" per day?). And voila! he/she has now easily chosen his/her 3 FP+s per day.

This is how the "average" guest will "learn" to use FP+, and how Disney will steer him/her toward less busy attractions at less busy times.

Makes sense, I've heard talk of suggested passes for people who aren't experienced. Will this be really useful to those guests though?

Could go one of two ways.

1) Disney suggests guests get fastpasses for the main busy rides. Disney happy to an extent and guest happy.

2) Disney suggests guests get fastpasses for the lesser used rides in order to spread the crowds out, especially if main headliners are heavily fastpassed already. Disney very happy as wait times for headliners stay reasonable and those people queue less, guest not so much when they realise they didnt really need a fastpass anyway for that particular ride, and it was only suggested because no one else wanted it so it was available, and to steer people away from the headliners.

 

[g-dad66]

guest not so much when they realise they didnt really need a fastpass anyway for that particular ride,

Yes, some will figure this out and then do better research for their next WDW trip.

But the folks who could never figure out the current FP system are probably not going to figure this out either. Many will be happy that they were simply able to "beat the lines."

 

[doggydoc]

FYI, I re-listened to the podcast...I don't believe he said that it was new information, but that he trusted the source. Unfortunately, it was just basically saying what we know for sure, just that it was all there was - which as I mentioned could still be true.

One mistake, he implied that you had a choice between using the old or new system (as long as the old system exists, which he says will go a way "in a couple years") with a MagicBand. But that does not appear to be true at this time, because 1) you can't get a FP with a MagicBand currently; and 2) The posted T&C basically says that if you switch to the RFID system, you can only use FP+ (of course, they didn't seem to be planning on giving out all-RFID cards this early...)

I'm actually not overly interested in debating this, so I will make a couple final points and also suggest you listen at least one more time.

1) The information was part of the NEWS section of the video. I suppose it could have been simply a restatement of known information but that is not how it was presented.

2) At 30:51 he states "we are just getting information about FP+"

3) At 31:23 he very clearly states that once you choose to go Magic Band you can NOT use the regular FP system. Specifically it was stated that once you get a Magic Band you can not use regular FP.

 

[Squidgyness]

Yes, some will figure this out and then do better research for their next WDW trip.

But the folks who could never figure out the current FP system are probably not going to figure this out either. Many will be happy that they were simply able to "beat the lines."

True. I suppose this could actually help to limit the impact of pre booked FP's on my trips, coupled with the fact I don't do peter pan, dumbo, its a small world or any of those types of ride.

Might not affect wait times too bad, probably will even them out, so 40 mins for a headliner and 20 for another ride instead of 50/10. Crowd control via thought suggestion... hmm.

 

[bwang123]

I'm actually not overly interested in debating this, so I will make a couple final points and also suggest you listen at least one more time.

1) The information was part of the NEWS section of the video. I suppose it could have been simply a restatement of known information but that is not how it was presented.

2) At 30:51 he states "we are just getting information about FP+"

3) At 31:23 he very clearly states that once you choose to go Magic Band you can NOT use the regular FP system. Specifically it was stated that once you get a Magic Band you can not use regular FP.

that makes sense because you can not insert a magic band into the current fast pass systems.

what this doesn't say is once the old fast pass system is phased out will these kiosks function in a similar way as the old.

that is the unanswered question.

 

[Robo]

I believe that RnRC test was just a precursor to the current Dumbo queue system. Unsure if there will be more queues like this in the future or not.

Yes.

From the first time the new Dumbo location was described with its "no-line" queue waiting area, many discussed that queue as the fruition of the NextGen queue tested at R'n'RC.

In fact, that Dumbo unique no-line queue (inside the large new tent building) generated so much discussion that it was a major surprise to discover that Dumbo ALSO featured a conventional FP line.

I have to think that the inclusion of the FP line was to accommodate the coming of FP+.