FP+ Mysteries

[PrincessWithABlaster]

So we had a late morning arrival at AK on an EMH day and by 11ish most of the FPs for the day were gone. It was rather busy and felt crowded. But we had afternoon showers and the park cleared out so that by the time we finished dinner at 7 it was very light. 5 - 20 mins for most rides. The interesting thing was I could have gotten FPs for anything other than the Safari pretty much immediately. And I can't help wondering why. Were people being courteous and cancelling their FPs as they left rolleyes1 yeah I don't really believe that - I'm sure some did but probably a lot of people just let them expire)? Did Disney up their capacity and therefore FP availability during the day because it was busy and then had an abundance when it slowed down? Or do you think they could have some algorithm that starts upping the FP availability for a ride as the wait time drops? The benefit there would be that the ride has the capacity to allow it and you'll have people going home and talking about how awesome it was that they got 42 FPs in one day and FP+ is so awesome. But I didn't see this happen on any other days and we didn't really have another evening that was quite that slow so I don't know.

The other thing I'd love to know is how MDE handles all the simultaneous requests to modify FPs. Unlike dining where I've had it happen that I go to grab the perfect ADR only to have it not really available when I get through the process, the app never denied me an FP it showed me (I never tried waiting several minutes to see what would happen though). So does everyone looking at the same time get shown different options that are held until they either pick one or hit a time threshold? Or do they tolerate a certain amount of over booking? I'm usually in the camp throwing shade at Disney IT but when you think of how many peopke are trying to do the same thing at the same time, it's actually pretty impressive that MDE works as well as it does.

 

[Accident]

anyone who actually knows the answer isn't going to say anything but i'll be more than happy to speculate on what I think it going on as I've been watching it close...

I think the mymagic+ system is starting to get more and more dialed in where they know standby tolerance for wait times, they know when they can inject more, they probably can detect when people are leaving and try to reduce how many are leaving if it's a long line situation. It's getting more and more rare that a long ride stoppage requires them to close standby to recover from all the fastpasses backing up so I think to a degree, they are better with how many fastpasses to put out to keep peopel happy and less complaint calls during planning

Also something interesting is when it starts to get mega crowded, the fastpass line also starts to reach out of the ride also. The opposite is also true, when the crowds are lower, the fastpass lines seem to remain much shorter. I also hear less and less complaints where people didn't think crowds weren't manageable..

It took some time but I just think it all comes down to the system is old enough that there was time to try all different ideas and they've hit the magic number of what is considered reasonable lines for the average visitor. so now they can sprinkle fastpasses the same day which was a huge spontaneous and local complaint of the system.

 

[loutoo]

other thing I'd love to know is how MDE handles all the simultaneous requests to modify FPs. Unlike dining where I've had it happen that I go to grab the perfect ADR only to have it not really available when I get through the process, the app never denied me an FP it showed me

Yes, it true that when you are selecting or modifying FP+ the system places the times you are seeing on a temporary hold until you move away from that screen. This is why, if you don't see the time or attractions you are looking for, it is always a good idea to refresh a few times, because the data changes quickly as all of those times are continually held and released.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Yeah, @Accident, that would be my guess too. I didn't really think about the case where the FP line is longer than they'd like. But they could definitely put FPs on hold and if people drop there's, not make them available for other people to pick up. It's all pretty easy coding based on thresholds I would think.

We went last year less than a month after the 4th FP from your phone went live and it felt like there were not many FPs available at all. But this trip was much better, maybe because they've matured the system. Or maybe because people have figured out the tips and tricks and I was able to make use of them.

EDIT: And now that I think about it, we were twice handed red timing cards in FP lines so they're collecting that data even if they're not posting it. Disney is neck deep in Big Data.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

Yes, it true that when you are selecting or modifying FP+ the system places the times you are seeing on a temporary hold until you move away from that screen. This is why, if you don't see the time or attractions you are looking for, it is always a good idea to refresh a few times, because the data changes quickly as all of those times are continually held and released.

This system makes getting exactly what you want a time consuming challenge, but I was eventually able to get everything at exactly the right time for my upcoming trip.

It is annoying when one fastpass ends at 11 and the next thing you want to ride only has availability for 11:30. I had to go back in and get an 11:15 and then eventually modify to the next FP beginning at 11. Had to do this for every ride and every day of fastpasses, but eventually made it work like I wanted.

That could be part of my addiction to Disney. It is a game and a challenge for me. I have to work the system, but it is a thrill when I get everything from tours to ADRs to fastpasses and show times to fall into place.

 

[Lesley Wake]

anyone who actually knows the answer isn't going to say anything but i'll be more than happy to speculate on what I think it going on as I've been watching it close...

I think the mymagic+ system is starting to get more and more dialed in where they know standby tolerance for wait times, they know when they can inject more, they probably can detect when people are leaving and try to reduce how many are leaving if it's a long line situation. It's getting more and more rare that a long ride stoppage requires them to close standby to recover from all the fastpasses backing up so I think to a degree, they are better with how many fastpasses to put out to keep peopel happy and less complaint calls during planning

Also something interesting is when it starts to get mega crowded, the fastpass line also starts to reach out of the ride also. The opposite is also true, when the crowds are lower, the fastpass lines seem to remain much shorter. I also hear less and less complaints where people didn't think crowds weren't manageable..

It took some time but I just think it all comes down to the system is old enough that there was time to try all different ideas and they've hit the magic number of what is considered reasonable lines for the average visitor. so now they can sprinkle fastpasses the same day which was a huge spontaneous and local complaint of the system.

The robots are taking over!!!

 

[AngiTN]

I'd guess that folks do what we do.
We plan Park A in advance and then once there, in the thick of things, decide to hit up Park B instead so we move our FP to B, opening up our A FP for someone else to get. I do this most every day in the morning.
I suspect it's not that unusual

 

[soniam]

I've actually had an FP+ disappear from under me like an ADR. It was when the connection, both wifi and data, was slow in the parks though, so I had assumed someone else's connection was faster and they got it. It was also in 2014 I think.

 

[AngiTN]

I've actually had an FP+ disappear from under me like an ADR. It was when the connection, both wifi and data, was slow in the parks though, so I had assumed someone else's connection was faster and they got it. It was also in 2014 I think.

This was a common problem in that time. Thankfully these issues seem to have been corrected