FP + What we know and what we want to know

[doconeill]

I think somewhere either in this thread or another I read that Disney will "track" your movements as you move through the parks inorder to "enhance" your expierence.

From the FCC filing, which also goes in line with the privacy FAQ, the MagicBands contain an RF transmitter that at least works over a short distance (not sure the exact distance) that could be received by stations. They haven't said exactly what it would be used for, but given past ideas floated around, they can provide customized experiences within attractions, etc.

They could also do a variety of other things based on your position in the park.

Is it the general consensus that it would still be okay to use tickets from Undercover Tourist once FP+ begins? My trip is in April and budget wise, I really wanted to wait to buy my tickets---but theoretically I may have a 60 day window opening in February. If FP+ is up and running and there is no FP-, I really don't want to miss out on scheduling FP's. I know Disney can do whatever they want and I'm not arguing that. But I'm not super psyched to be spending thousands of dollars to be Disney's last minute guinea pig and that is what it is feeling like at this point.

In theory (which at this point is pure speculation that happens to be rooted in the small bits of info Disney has actually doled out). You *should8 be able to link tickets to your account once you physically have them in hand. They'll have a barcode that you could enter into Disney's system. But since Disney hasn't announced how this will work, we can only guess.

Disney has pretty much said that it is a feature you get with admission (so it's not complete speculation), so they will need to accommodate it somehow. We just haven't seen how it will work yet.

Another thing we don't know is when those guests with 3rd-party tickets will be able to participate. Until then, we are expecting regular FP to at least be available for those guests.

 

[bcrook]

Whether true or not, the idea of the FP+ starting TODAY is interesting. If true, I wonder if there are any DISers who will be a part of the "flagged" group and opt to use the new FP+? I'd love to hear back from them if/when they do!

I know I'm in the minority, but we REALLY want to use FP+ for our upcoming trip in March. We are staying at the CR and have 6 day convention tickets purchased and assigned to our room. And we're using ME, so I hope we'll get "flagged". The ONLY worrisome thought to me was that guests were being flagged and offered the FP+ option at check in. For me, I'd rather be able to make that decision ahead of time and take the time to see what FP+ return times were available.

Maybe we'll hear some sort of update or announcement tomorrow??? One can hope...

These early rounds of FP+ should be a good time to try it. There won't be hundreds of thousands of people competing for the advanced slots yet. I don't think you are in the minority. This will be appealing for a lot of people.

And during off peak times, it could be amazing! If standby lines are short and you can plan those three special FP a day. It is very appealing. During peak times - I don't know.

You have "convention tickets" I wonder where they fit in the scheme of the "certain paperless tickets".

 

[bcrook]

From the FCC filing, which also goes in line with the privacy FAQ, the MagicBands contain an RF transmitter that at least works over a short distance (not sure the exact distance) that could be received by stations. They haven't said exactly what it would be used for, but given past ideas floated around, they can provide customized experiences within attractions, etc.

They could also do a variety of other things based on your position in the park.

This is from the FAQs:

"When you touch your RF Device to touch points located throughout the Disney parks and Resort hotels, your location is determined based on your interaction with the RF Device reader. In addition, if your RF Device comes within proximity of one of the readers located throughout our Disney parks and Resort hotels that automatically recognize RF Devices, we are able to determine that your are near that reader. The readers that automatically recognize RF Devices may not be visible to you."

 

[bcrook]

I still think they need these readers in Universal's parking lot! Then your phone lights up with lots of free offers and FP+ plus start pouring out of your phone like hitting the jackpot on a slot machine!

 

[doconeill]

This is from the FAQs:

"When you touch your RF Device to touch points located throughout the Disney parks and Resort hotels, your location is determined based on your interaction with the RF Device reader. In addition, if your RF Device comes within proximity of one of the readers located throughout our Disney parks and Resort hotels that automatically recognize RF Devices, we are able to determine that your are near that reader. The readers that automatically recognize RF Devices may not be visible to you."

Right...they aren't saying what for, just that it will happen, and you won't even know it.

 

[mousermerf]

Unless they change their minds, APs are supposed to switch to bands..

And then the issue of discounts and parking for free/not comes up. Only some APs have free parking and i dont think anyone expects to have to scan their wrist while driving into the parking lot. Maybe that will be the solution, but i moreso expect there to be some visual clue like different band design or colors just for APs.

But if you do that, it limits APs from buying the upgraded bands.. Maybe it's a jibbitz for the band that marks it as an AP? That be weird..

 

[Missyrose]

Unless they change their minds, APs are supposed to switch to bands..

And then the issue of discounts and parking for free/not comes up. Only some APs have free parking and i dont think anyone expects to have to scan their wrist while driving into the parking lot. Maybe that will be the solution, but i moreso expect there to be some visual clue like different band design or colors just for APs.

But if you do that, it limits APs from buying the upgraded bands.. Maybe it's a jibbitz for the band that marks it as an AP? That be weird..

This could actually explain why APs now have an across-the-board 10 percent merchandise discount instead of the tiers. So it will be easier to flag a band as AP vs. having to differentiate between the different AP levels.

 

[doconeill]

Unless they change their minds, APs are supposed to switch to bands..

And then the issue of discounts and parking for free/not comes up. Only some APs have free parking and i dont think anyone expects to have to scan their wrist while driving into the parking lot. Maybe that will be the solution, but i moreso expect there to be some visual clue like different band design or colors just for APs.

But if you do that, it limits APs from buying the upgraded bands.. Maybe it's a jibbitz for the band that marks it as an AP? That be weird..

The T&C at this point states that you'll have to hold on to the paper AP to use for those purposes, at least until they figure away around it.

Discounts should be automatic via scan, if they did it right. Then again, we've already had the discussion about the point-of-sale systems and scanning

Parking is definitely a bit more of an issue. I suppose it could be done with a hand scanner - but then it's who in the car has the AP with the free parking...it isn't always the driver.

 

[bcrook]

The T&C at this point states that you'll have to hold on to the paper AP to use for those purposes, at least until they figure away around it.

Discounts should be automatic via scan, if they did it right. Then again, we've already had the discussion about the point-of-sale systems and scanning

Parking is definitely a bit more of an issue. I suppose it could be done with a hand scanner - but then it's who in the car has the AP with the free parking...it isn't always the driver.

That is interesting too. How many AP or DVC owners forget to ask for their discounts on merchandise or food. If it calculates it automatically that would be a substantial loss of revenue - or would the good will overwhelm that loss?

What we know about FP+ and What we still want to know really is intricately tied to MyMagic+ isn't it...

 

[Robo]

Unless they change their minds...

And, THAT is the whole deal in a nutshell.

All of this "they will do X and Y" has no bearing if...

- they change their minds...

And, that may or may not happen regarding every single thing that has been discussed.

That's all I'm going to say about it.










Unless I change my mind.

 

[doconeill]

That is interesting too. How many AP or DVC owners forget to ask for their discounts on merchandise or food. If it calculates it automatically that would be a substantial loss of revenue - or would the good will overwhelm that loss?

If they intentionally work it that way, I think it is deceptive.

I usually ask, "What gets me what discount here?" Between DVC, AP, and TIW, which I have at various times, it's hard to keep track of what gets what where...much rather have it automatic, both for myself and the CM who has to figure it out.

Speaking of which, I wonder when TIW will get tied to MagicBands

What we know about FP+ and What we still want to know really is intricately tied to MyMagic+ isn't it...

Pretty much. FP+ is just one aspect - but it's going to be their biggest selling point.

 

[DizDragonfly]

Speaking of which, I wonder when TIW will get tied to MagicBands

I was just thinking the same thing.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I don't really buy that last line. Disney may have seen revenue go up but park attendance is said to be down or flat. That has the potential to be disastrous, to the parks not Disney on the whole, if it continues.

You mean if park attendance continues to decline? It's really a price x volume issue, obviously. So that all depends...

And does it qualify as a trend, given length of time declining, current macroeconomic environment, etc.? I haven't looked at it closely recently.

My opinion is that parks sbu is too important to Disney's cross-marketing. I'd expect them to make adjustments before park attendance dropped so low as to be "disastrous" to the fate of the sbu and their bottom line.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I was just thinking the same thing.

I was wondering that too! So wait, I forgot one last time... guess we're DVC + AP + TIW + D23 + Disney VISA + stay onsite + a partridge in a pear tree!

Come on... that's gotta' mean a gazillion FP+, right?!?!

 

[DizDragonfly]

I was wondering that too! So wait, I forgot one last time... guess we're DVC + AP + TIW + D23 + Disney VISA + stay onsite + a partridge in a pear tree!

Come on... that's gotta' mean a gazillion FP+, right?!?!

You nailed it! If we got extra FP+s for every Disney card in our wallets, we'd be golden!

 

[bcrook]

You nailed it! If we got extra FP+s for every Disney card in our wallets, we'd be golden!

Now that would make for a magical trip. And sell some DVC units too! I could get into that.

 

[linzbear]

Unless they change their minds, APs are supposed to switch to bands..

And then the issue of discounts and parking for free/not comes up. Only some APs have free parking and i dont think anyone expects to have to scan their wrist while driving into the parking lot. Maybe that will be the solution, but i moreso expect there to be some visual clue like different band design or colors just for APs.

But if you do that, it limits APs from buying the upgraded bands.. Maybe it's a jibbitz for the band that marks it as an AP? That be weird..

Oh, that's easy enough. There are 3 chips in the bands. One of them is almost exactly like toll transponders. Actually it wouldn't surprise me if they did away with the paper passes and used the band's transmitter for everyone. I'm sure there's some abuse of parking - all you need is to get an extra print out and pass it to your friend.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

You nailed it! If we got extra FP+s for every Disney card in our wallets, we'd be golden!

Absolutely! Ok... let's start a petition...

Now remember: this would involve linking EVERYTHING Disney onto that now-truly-Magic Band! I'd do it for more FP+... I don't have to link my mortgage account or 401(k) to it, though, right?!?

 

[Robbi]

If this has been asked, please forgive me.
Should Disney limit FPs to a certain number per day that can only be used in one park, won't that make hopping less attractive? Seems they would lose money from people getting only the base passes. They'll already lose some AP buyers, including me, at least until we see how it works and they get any glitches fixed.

 

[DizDragonfly]

Absolutely! Ok... let's start a petition...

Now remember: this would involve linking EVERYTHING Disney onto that now-truly-Magic Band! I'd do it for more FP+... I don't have to link my mortgage account or 401(k) to it, though, right?!?

I don't know about you, but those accounts of mine are already indirectly linked with Disney.