FP+ observation

[Frozen2014]

Personally, I don't understand how people in their right minds would wait 2 hours or more for a picture with a character, but people do it. Different strokes.

Think it would depend on the importance to the actual person. A certain child may really want to meet someone and so the wait is worth it.
For me, I would wait for Haunted Mansion, but another ride, I wouldn't bother and watch the wait times to see if they go down.

 

[mom2rtk]

Hopefully you didn't get stuck on it for an hour like my daughter and I did on our last visit 8 years ago.

I love that ride and all (the holiday version)...... but an hour would be too much even for my taste. Although I would gladly stand for an hour out front watching the marching dolls, castle projections and lights. Do it at the same time the Christmas parade is going by and it's pure Christmas magic.

 

[robinb]

Well, I did just last Saturday night. But it was totally worth it.

Did I mention it was the holiday version at DLR?

I'm totally jealous! I love the IASW and HM overlays at DLR.

 

[IWannaBuildASnowman]

Yep, some people may have still had FPs to use or whatnot. But I am fairly certain most folks just did not clue in to check the FP availability. Worked out great for me

 

[robinb]

Just back in between Peter Pan and philharmagic. And yes, there was a line for the FP kiosks that looked really daunting - probably 40 people. But that had a lot of groups, and there are loads of kiosks so we were through in 5 minutes. I also checked the Fp line before I went and saw one bored attendant so I figured the odds were pretty good

I do wish there were more kiosks around the park though, or God forbid, let you do it on your device.

This is really good to know that the line moves fast!

 

[JanaDee]

This is really good to know that the line moves fast!

Whether the line moves fast or not all depends on the people in front of you. In our experience, the kiosk lines were very slow (20+ mins). You can wait longer in the kiosk line than you would in a regular SB line at an attraction.

 

[Laketravis]

I'm glad you have to go to the kiosks for 4+ FPs and can't use the app because if everybody could use the app I think the number of available FPs would go waaaaaay down. Just my personal opinion

If memory serves there are only a total of 12 kiosks in all of MK at just three separate locations that if you aren't already aware of can be difficult to find. There is no permanent signage and they tend to be tucked under and to the side of alcoves in the shadows, and there is no reader board or any other indication of what is currently still available and for what times. Gee - there are web pages that show that info, why can't Disney do it at the point of distribution?

I don't think that was an oversight by Disney; I think you are correct that if there weren't a few speed bumps installed to throttle additional distribution then FP's for even minor attractions (which is typically all that is left after noon) would quickly run out as well.

 

[Laketravis]

While this was at HS, it's typical of kiosk locations at all parks.

Were it not for the temporary sign, one might mistake that as a line for the restrooms.

We also assume that some people standing in a standby line are ignorant of FP. That might be true but I suspect there are others who have decided that the time required to get to a kiosk, wait in line, work thru the limited selections available, and make their way back to an attraction for a single FP might actually take longer than a posted Wait time for that attraction to begin with.

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[Seeker615]

My thought is maybe people don't want to walk to a kiosk and wait in a line to get a pass and then go back in wait in a line again.

If I am near a ride and the line is 30 minutes or less I would probably just wait in line rather then look for a kiosk and stand in line and then go back.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Unless you go to the kiosk for your fourth FP, there is no way to even know what times are available or if any times are available. Isn't that the way it works?

We never got a fourth FP because there was always a 20 minute+ wait at the kiosks last time we went.

in addition to people who are ignorant of how FP+ works, there are people who schedule their FPs for later. That could include people who make their reservations for their second park of the day (like us) and people who have FPs for Wishes or MSEP. Also, a lot of guests are already holding their 4th+ FP for something else and are not eligible to get another one at that time.

Whether the line moves fast or not all depends on the people in front of you. In our experience, the kiosk lines were very slow (20+ mins). You can wait longer in the kiosk line than you would in a regular SB line at an attraction.

If memory serves there are only a total of 12 kiosks in all of MK at just three separate locations that if you aren't already aware of can be difficult to find. There is no permanent signage and they tend to be tucked under and to the side of alcoves in the shadows.

I don't think that was an oversight by Disney; I think you are correct that if there weren't a few speed bumps installed to throttle additional distribution then FP's for even minor attractions (which is typically all that is left after noon) would quickly run out as well.

Getting a 4th FP+ was always a wait.

 

[wisblue]

Think it would depend on the importance to the actual person. A certain child may really want to meet someone and so the wait is worth it.
For me, I would wait for Haunted Mansion, but another ride, I wouldn't bother and watch the wait times to see if they go down.

Of course, and that's the point. Different people have different interests and priorities. Just because I wouldn't do something doesn't mean that someone else shouldn't. I very rarely am willing to wait more than 30 minutes for a ride I've done many times before. But, if I'm at Disneyland or Universal where I don't visit as often I'm going to be willing to wait longer for something I have never done before.

 

[wisblue]

On our last visit to WDW in early November there were at least 4 FP+ locations at MK (Stitch, Philharmagic, Jungle Cruise, and breezeway near Liberty Square). While I didn't count kiosks, there were also CMs with iPads assisting at each location we used.

The lines did not take anywhere near as long as we thought they might because a lot of the line is taken by groups. At the Stitch location the line was snaking around and I asked a CM how long it would take, and she said about 5 minutes. I was skeptical, but, sure enough, in less than 5 minutes I was talking to a CM with an iPad and had FPs for BTMRR with a return time about 90 minutes out that we could use between the parade and dinner. Well worth the wait.

I agree that being able to see what is available at what times would help, and I'm sure that the actual waits vary. But, I wouldn't be too scared off by how long a line looks. I think it's worth a wait of a couple of minutes to see how the line is moving.

 

[wisblue]

My thought is maybe people don't want to walk to a kiosk and wait in a line to get a pass and then go back in wait in a line again.

If I am near a ride and the line is 30 minutes or less I would probably just wait in line rather then look for a kiosk and stand in line and then go back.

I agree with that. If I had a specific attraction in mind and the posted wait is 30 minutes or less, I would just get in the standby line. There is a good chance that the actual wait would be less than the posted time anyway.

 

[Laketravis]

Adding the ability to schedule additional FP's to an already existing app would substantially reduce the need and the labor costs of having multiple CM's with iPads at kiosk locations to process overflow; it could also reduce the potentially negative visual impression and guest frustration of lines to avoid lines. Yet the decision so far has been to not add this self-provisioning feature.

Disney knows that they are doing.

 

[ghtx]

Last night around 6, we went to it's a small world. 40 minute wait. ***! I walked over to the kiosk and got a FP for it for 5 minutes away. Given it was so late, I cannot imagine that people were all still waiting to use their 3 selections. Do most people just not use FP+? Do people like lines? We only wait in a line at pooh or dumbo cause that's fun.

The same thing would occasionally happen with the old paper FPs.

 

[JanaDee]

Adding the ability to schedule additional FP's to an already existing app would substantially reduce the need and the labor costs of having multiple CM's with iPads at kiosk locations to process overflow; it could also reduce the potentially negative visual impression and guest frustration of lines to avoid lines. Yet the decision so far has been to not add this self-provisioning feature.

Disney knows that they are doing.

It could also cause the whole system to go down in flames...

 

[Laketravis]

The same thing would occasionally happen with the old paper FPs.

There was no such thing as paper FP's for It's A Small World.

 

[ghtx]

The same thing would occasionally happen with the old paper FPs.

There was no such thing as paper FP's for It's A Small World.

Right, but I meant for other attractions that had paper FPs (i.e. the FP return time would sometimes be shorter than the posted SB wait time). I took advantage of this in January (right before they took away all the paper FPs) at Star Tours, where the paper FP return times were immediate and the SB posted waits were 10-15 minutes (probably actual wait times were closer to 5 minutes, but we did save some time by stopping by the FP machines). We rode it 4 times in a row using paper FPs.

 

[Laketravis]

Right, but I meant for other attractions that had paper FPs (i.e. the FP return time would sometimes be shorter than the posted SB wait time). I took advantage of this in January (right before they took away all the paper FPs) at Star Tours, where the paper FP return times were immediate and the SB posted waits were 10-15 minutes (probably actual wait times were closer to 5 minutes, but we did save some time by stopping by the FP machines). We rode it 4 times in a row using paper FPs.

Ah, gotchya.

Star Tours is a great example of how this can work in the opposite since both queues run side-by-side; many times we would enter the FP side at the same time someone entered the SB side and they would end up in front of us simply because we had to stop at the second reader station. That's a good example of information gained from experience that would contribute to a decision not to try to get an FP at all.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Adding the ability to schedule additional FP's to an already existing app would substantially reduce the need and the labor costs of having multiple CM's with iPads at kiosk locations to process overflow; it could also reduce the potentially negative visual impression and guest frustration of lines to avoid lines. Yet the decision so far has been to not add this self-provisioning feature.

Disney knows that they are doing.

The kiosks are no longer iPad's rather they are solid free standing do-it-yourself with CM's manning more than one kiosk. If you know what your doing you can breeze through yourself. The CM's only help people who look like they need it.

The more crowded it is the less a FP+ availability was so it would take a little longer.

I would much rather you step up to a kiosk and have them tell me what is available so I could pick. Instead I have to keep searching.

Want TT? Sorry not available.
OK, how about Maelstrom? Oops we have a ADR then.
SE? Only available late, so no 5th one if we pick them.
LWTL it is! Ton's available however, we just waited 20 minutes to avoid the 10 min line. LOL.

ETA I think there is also something about the APP not being able to tell you are actually in the park making the 4th FP+ Can you imagine the chaos if you could make a 4th FP+ from everywhere? The system knows you came in but not whether you left the park.