FP + What we know and what we want to know

[GreenCntryGirl]

You're exactly the type of sucker - I mean, "guest" - they want

(I'm TEASING!)

Yup. I am. Still will hate the 3 FP+ *if* that's what comes about. Don't see me changing my mind on that one.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Hi again. I hope this doesn't sound confrontational because it really isn't designed to do that. But I started this thread so that people who use FP in a way that maximizes their ride experience can figure out the new system and plan accordingly. We aren't delinquents because we (and especially my teens) like to ride Splash Mountain 2-3 times a day. And this is a good place for like minds to get together.

We are looking at how this will affect us. As doconeill said we may represent .1% or 10% but there are lot of us out there. If you aren't interested in this problem, I don't understand why you continue to post. Not snarky at all, I just don't understand.

I am absolutely positive this new mymagic+ is going to make millions of people of happy! ABSOLUTELY positive. BUT that doesn't mean that my park experience will not be diminished.

I need the opportunity to discuss this with people. Please let me have that opportunity.

Goodness. I hope you're not suggesting that my sharing my 2 cents is denying you the opportunity to discuss this with people...

I'm interested in how this will affect my family's trip as well -- whether we represent 0.1% or 10%. My response about DISers not being a representative sample is a pretty uncontroversial statement - or should be, statistically speaking.

And my post was in response to others discussing how this may affect Disney's bottom line -- do you intend to call all of them out as well for not having a laser-like focus on only how this will affect their own touring?

And going back one final time to the idea of those with positive things to say - or more generally those who disagree with the DIS masses - on DIS sometimes holding back: "If you aren't interested in this problem, I don't understand why you continue to post." For many, I would suspect that just stating afterwards that you are not being snarky might not be enough to keep them sharing their contrary (in this case Disney-positive) thoughts.

I am grateful - as I've said multiple times - that you started this thread. And don't worry -- I don't usually post this much. My free time is about to dry up, and I'll go back to staying out of these "conversations" and just looking for real information.

 

[finedice]

You may or may not be right. My point is that we will know this once implemented - not now. And it is still the case that the DIS is not a representative sample upon which we can drawn any conclusions.

I know I never said "insignificant" -- but I will stand by it not being statistically significant to base conclusions upon.

I totally agree that we don't have enough info right now. I simply worry, because our trip is upcoming, and it stands to reason that it will be affected in some way. I certainly hold out hope that it is in a positive way. However, I can't help feeling that there will be growing pains for my family either in learning the new system, or in our touring if we choose not to opt in.

After the three extended trips we have made in the last several years, I was finally figuring out how to truly find some relaxation at WDW, while still being able to do everything we wanted to within the system. I booked this upcoming trip with that confidence. We were seriously considering other vacation spots, but chose to go with WDW this year with that comfort of understanding how to really enjoy the parks AND find enough time to relax some. Yet now that feeling is fading. I feel like we will be much more at the mercy of the crowd calendar than ever before.

We go to WDW for the E-tickets. Everything else is gravy. Delicious gravy, but still just a time filler between return time slots. I would never think to make reservations to view the parade, Wishes, or get a seat at Indiana Jones. Are there really any return customers that would waste a FP on Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular? Maybe, but not us...

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

While it is hard to judge whether or not a big enough portion of the base is stirred up, the fact that there is such a strong reaction from those that are on this board indicates something about this issue. Does anybody really think people such as Robo/Doconeill/bcrook are knee-jerk, reactionary types? So it seems that we should all be able to agree that this is a legit issue for some people.

So, then move on to Rosanne's post a few posts back (apparently I don't know how to handle muliple quotes in one post). I think she put her finger on the risk that Disney is exposing itself to. While those expressing disappointment in this change may be a small portion of even its loyal base of customers, many have influence beyond our own family. Within the past couple years, I have consulted at least 3 families in my neighborhood about Disney, as well as family members. Who knows...maybe they all would have gone anyway, but guess how our next conversations about Disney are going to go?

And while I'm sure that there are base loyalists who like the change and are keeping quiet (or not on the DIS), there are also base loyalist who aren't on the board who don't like it. Case in point...my co-worker, who reads DIS but never posts. He and his wife have been even bigger ambassadors with friends, neighbors, and family (his mom has 17 siblings). They are now re-thinking their fall plans.

As I wrote in a brilliantly written post about, oh, 60 pages ago, this all comes down to a numbers game. Disney has obviously made the calculation that they'll attract more people than they repel. And if I were a betting man I'd say they are probably right. But as an actuary who evaluates risk, I'm just saying that, in my opinion, they are exposing themselves to more risk than they realize.

Wrt: risk assessment, I agree that there is risk involved. We don't know enough to say that they are exposing themselves to MORE risk than THEY REALIZE. We would need to be privy to internal management decision-making to know this... and by definition, we would need some results to draw this conclusion, actually. Risk assessment wrt initiatives like this is far from an exact science! It may be a risk that they have calculated very well -- as well as they can at this stage. We don't know.

But for many of the folks on this thread, it's ALL about now. They have trips looming and important decisions to make.

Yup. So do I. One in Feb and one in Oct. That doesn't mean that I can draw conclusions based upon reactions on here.

 

[doconeill]

It's funny about the knee-jerk comment - I'm so far from it. My problem is that I am, by nature, a troubleshooter. It's what I do. I'm an IT consultant. I mainly work with systems, but I'm sometimes brought in on networking issues where although I'm not necessarily familiar with the equipment, I know how networks generally work and since I'm NOT intimately familiar with what was done, I provide the "outside the box" insight and ideas.

So when there is some sort of system I use - like Fastpass or FastPass+ - I need to analyze it. Statistically, functionally, etc.

I have NO DOUBT that FastPass+ will benefit a great many guests - should the choose to use it. One of the big questions is will there be greater utilization by those who did not understand Fastpass, chose not to use Fastpass, or simply were unable to utilize Fastpass. That will determine its success, and how much impact those who utilized Fastpass fully will feel.

And I also have no doubt that it will be "quite a success" when the Disney spinmasters finish with it regardless. I don't think FP+ will go away, no matter what - but if it isn't utilized as expected, it will evolve into something different that may work no better or worse than regular Fastpass did, but it will be called a success.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I totally agree that we don't have enough info right now. I simply worry, because our trip is upcoming, and it stands to reason that it will be affected in some way. I certainly hold out hope that it is in a positive way. However, I can't help feeling that there will be growing pains for my family either in learning the new system, or in our touring if we choose not to opt in.

After the three extended trips we have made in the last several years, I was finally figuring out how to truly find some relaxation at WDW, while still being able to do everything we wanted to within the system. I booked this upcoming trip with that confidence. We were seriously considering other vacation spots, but chose to go with WDW this year with that comfort of understanding how to really enjoy the parks AND find enough time to relax some. Yet now that feeling is fading. I feel like we will be much more at the mercy of the crowd calendar than ever before.

We go to WDW for the E-tickets. Everything else is gravy. Delicious gravy, but still just a time filler between return time slots. I would never think to make reservations to view the parade, Wishes, or get a seat at Indiana Jones. Are there really any return customers that would waste a FP on Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular? Maybe, but not us...

I'm with you in this. My trip in Feb is a big '?' at best. I have an AP, my sister booked her tickets with the room through runDisney. I have NO IDEA exactly what method we'll each be using to enter the park (maybe different methods, RFID vs. turnstile?). No idea if we'll have FP+, but probably not... right? Then there's the Oct trip... for that one with the whole family, I'm assuming they'll have worked out the AP stuff and we'll know what we're dealing with -- but will we like it? I don't know.

I am just keeping an open mind and giving Disney the benefit of the doubt based on their track record (as I see it). And am certainly not going to get rattled by some of the more wild speculation on here, or get gloomy over the more negative assumptions and suppositions.

Disney still equals magic for us... I WOULD like it to be magic with a TAD more info at this stage, though... ...

 

[finedice]

For many, I would suspect that just stating afterwards that you are not being snarky might not be enough to keep them sharing their contrary (in this case Disney-positive) thoughts.

I am grateful - as I've said multiple times - that you started this thread. And don't worry -- I don't usually post this much. My free time is about to dry up, and I'll go back to staying out of these "conversations" and just looking for real information.

I for one, don't want you to go away. I am here to read everyone's opinion and perspective

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

It's funny about the knee-jerk comment - I'm so far from it. My problem is that I am, by nature, a troubleshooter. It's what I do. I'm an IT consultant. I mainly work with systems, but I'm sometimes brought in on networking issues where although I'm not necessarily familiar with the equipment, I know how networks generally work and since I'm NOT intimately familiar with what was done, I provide the "outside the box" insight and ideas.

So when there is some sort of system I use - like Fastpass or FastPass+ - I need to analyze it. Statistically, functionally, etc.

I have NO DOUBT that FastPass+ will benefit a great many guests - should the choose to use it. One of the big questions is will there be greater utilization by those who did not understand Fastpass, chose not to use Fastpass, or simply were unable to utilize Fastpass. That will determine its success, and how much impact those who utilized Fastpass fully will feel.

And I also have no doubt that it will be "quite a success" when the Disney spinmasters finish with it regardless. I don't think FP+ will go away, no matter what - but if it isn't utilized as expected, it will evolve into something different that may work no better or worse than regular Fastpass did, but it will be called a success.

As I said before, I am typically the "realist" in the group. I naturally put projects/ideas/proposals through their paces -- shake them to see what might break -- look for the weakness so that they can be beefed up. But I think that last part's the key: so they can be beefed up -- not so that it can go down in flames. I'm not suggesting that you want them to go down in flames -- but the tone in some posts on here sure sounds like that to me.

Based on Disney's track record (in my book), I'd expect them to pull feedback from ALL CORNERS of its customer base, and ultimately end up with what works best for most -- not ALL -- that's impossible. Selfishly, of course I hope that it shakes out in a way in which I am one of the ones it works out for -- just like anyone else on here!!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I for one, don't want you to go away. I am here to read everyone's opinion and perspective

Thanks!

 

[doconeill]

NO ONE should go away from this thread just because there are people who don't agree with them. The point is to figure out what we know, what we don't, and with what we do know how it will affect them. It will affect everyone differently.

 

[finedice]

I am just keeping an open mind and giving Disney the benefit of the doubt based on their track record (as I see it). And am certainly not going to get rattled by some of the more wild speculation on here, or get gloomy over the more negative assumptions and suppositions.

Disney still equals magic for us... I WOULD like it to be magic with a TAD more info at this stage, though... ...

Well, there we get to the bottom of the whole issue; either Disney has prematurely made announcements (because they haven't completely figured out the rules yet), or the vague nature of the announcements and lack of detail is because the conjecture is probably right on target and they know there will be some unhappiness. In the interest of informing their guests that have and will book trips for this spring and are dealing with the unknown, I certainly hope they tell us more about how it works prior to checking in and being on the spot to make a decision. Waiting for the first set of reports to come back from guests likely puts me past my 45 day mark.

 

[SaraJayne]

I've enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on FP+...even those that don't agree with me. By putting different perspectives out there, it may help me see a positive difference to FP+.

I'm not anywhere near that, yet, but I do appreciate most everyone chiming in.

I have a trip coming up in a couple months and I am really worried about how FP+ will impact our trip, if it has gone live by then (and I am assuming it will be, seeing as it has started rolling out already).

 

[Robo]

I have a trip coming up in a couple months and I am really worried about how FP+ will impact our trip, if it has gone live by then (and I am assuming it will be,


seeing as it has started rolling out already).

Rolling out?

 

[SaraJayne]

Rolling out?

Sorry, I should have clarified that by saying "according to mousemerf".

 

[Robo]

Sorry, I should have clarified that by saying "according to mousemerf".

Oh yeah, it's mouseRmerf, BTW.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Well, there we get to the bottom of the whole issue; either Disney has prematurely made announcements (because they haven't completely figured out the rules yet), or the vague nature of the announcements and lack of detail is because the conjecture is probably right on target and they know there will be some unhappiness. In the interest of informing their guests that have and will book trips for this spring and are dealing with the unknown, I certainly hope they tell us more about how it works prior to checking in and being on the spot to make a decision. Waiting for the first set of reports to come back from guests likely puts me past my 45 day mark.

I don't think Disney has done anything "wrong" in their rollout/communication so far. It seems pretty typical to me, so far, of any company's major new initiative marketing/rollout.

I just ALWAYS want as much info as I can possibly have -- whether that's really reasonable or not! I'm a data junky - if I could PivotTable this WHOLE thing I'd be in heaven!!! LOL!

The stuff with my Feb trip (which passes, which park entry method, different from my sister?, etc.)... Would I LIKE to know now? You bet! Do I NEED to in order for things to work out just fine and for us to have a great trip (at least me... I don't have to actually RUN the half-marathon! Lol), I'd say no.

 

[Majik9]

I don't think Disney has done anything "wrong" in their rollout/communication so far. It seems pretty typical to me, so far, of any company's major new initiative marketing/rollout.

I just ALWAYS want as much info as I can possibly have -- whether that's really reasonable or not! I'm a data junky - if I could PivotTable this WHOLE thing I'd be in heaven!!! LOL!

The stuff with my Feb trip (which passes, which park entry method, different from my sister?, etc.)... Would I LIKE to know now? You bet! Do I NEED to in order for things to work out just fine and for us to have a great trip (at least me... I don't have to actually RUN the half-marathon! Lol), I'd say no.

GL to your sister in the Princess half. My family will be there days after the half and on Tuesday I will be registering for the DLR half.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

GL to your sister in the Princess half. My family will be there days after the half and on Tuesday I will be registering for the DLR half.

Thanks! I'll pass that along! And GL to you, too on the DLR half!! I admire you guys... I'm more in the "run to get to TSMM if I HAVE to" than "run a half marathon" category... LOL!

 

[Missyrose]

Well, there we get to the bottom of the whole issue; either Disney has prematurely made announcements (because they haven't completely figured out the rules yet), or the vague nature of the announcements and lack of detail is because the conjecture is probably right on target and they know there will be some unhappiness. In the interest of informing their guests that have and will book trips for this spring and are dealing with the unknown, I certainly hope they tell us more about how it works prior to checking in and being on the spot to make a decision. Waiting for the first set of reports to come back from guests likely puts me past my 45 day mark.

I don't know when your trip is, but if it's in March or April, you have the option of dropping back to just a room-only reservation (which you can cancel much closer to the trip) and add tickets back once you're satisfied you have all the info you need about the new system.

 

[SaraJayne]

Oh yeah, it's mouseRmerf, BTW.

Oops, you're right. For some reason, my eyes don't see the "r".