FP + What we know and what we want to know

[Majik9]

I do not see how you can make that assumption and project what you would do onto others.

I would use the FP+ right away at a headliner to avoid the SB line that builds at RD and then I would hit some other less popular attractions.

I think it all depends on the park on whether as many people will still be there at RD. i could see less people at HS and Epcot because of this but not at the other parks.

Admittedly this is just IMHO of what most would do, there will always be outliers and those that fall outside the standard deviation . Also, it is not a projection of what I would do, as what I would do is take another FP+ option instead of a first thing headliner.

My opinion is based upon my time as a park cast member, having many friends who were/are also park cast members, my observations as a yearly pass holder for 6 years and my education in behavioral science. I could be wrong.... then again I may end up being right...

 

[Sammie]

No one needed "inside information". Fastpass was publicly advertised by Disney. Yet there were those who didn't understand it, couldn't understand it, couldn't use it.

There are plenty of web sites, guide books, etc. that explain it, how to utilize it best, etc. Yet some guests didn't avail themselves of that information. Didn't ask, either.

And no one here was part of a secret cabal trying to keep Fastpass a secret. Nor ways to maximize it's use. We were here helping people.

So to keep claiming that people needed to be members of the Super-Secret Fastpass Cabal in order to use it is disingenuous.

And all the new system does is shift the audience who can take the most advantage of it. Instead of Rope Droppers, it's those who can get online up to 60 days in advance, can navigate the Disney web site without it breaking on them, get all their information input correctly, and make those FP+ reservations. The audience may get shifted around a bit, but there will still be plenty who will not understand it, not be able to use it, and now, according to a previous post by you, may be completely excluded from it.

How would one know for sure if guests did not understand it or avail themselves to available resources or was it a case of they never got a chance because the passes were gone.

Disney would know based on guest feedback.

I will gladly book something 60 days out over getting there at opening and rushing all over the park. Which is the reason we gave up even trying to use Fastpass and yes every time we were surveyed and asked did we use Fastpass, we replied no, and why, due to the passes being gone when we arrived.

As to not knowing how to use the new program I don't see Disney letting that happen. I think there will be a wealth of available info available to all that book a trip with them.

 

[bjakmom]

And.. you forget what WDW was like prior to all-access ride tickets. You comment from your reference point and consider that the baseline. It is not.

Guest limited in what they could do, by way of ticket books, resulted in short lines at most attraction and no "rushing" to be first in line anywhere.

Let me clarify - I am referring to E tickets rides only as a way to denote 'the big rides most of us come to disneyworld to ride', not the old E ticket system - which I will date myself by saying I do remember as a young teen - but not the system I raised my kids going to WDW under - the stampedes and crazy RD lines were absolutely under the "all-access" system. It was so bad that for many, many years Disney opened the parks an hour early every day (before the days of EMH). It was an unpublished, unannounced "secret" tool ( like 4 PM entry on ticketed party nights) that disney used to stagger guest entry in order to avoid the crazy stampede to the E ticket rides at RD and was known only to those who planned and read the books - I'm talking even before the days of the DIS so there weren't that many of us LOL - and before the days of FP.

 

[DougEMG]

When Universal built the Harry Potter stuff my daughter said we had to go back there and we did. I of course want to see the new Transformer ride and we're all looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter stuff being completed. So it seems like Universal believes that new rides is what brings people to the parks. New rides is definitely what attracts me.

So is anyone saying I want to go to Disney because this new FP+ stuff sounds so cool? I know people want to go to DL to see CarsLand!

If the first time guest is the most important guest because they spend the most money on their first visit, what motivates them to visit. A TV ad showing the Harry Potter castle and ride or a bracelet on their wrist?

I really wish that Disney had saved their billion dollars and was building a Star Wars land in DHS. Bet that would have spread guest out more and reduced the wait times at Soaring and TSM.

 

[Majik9]

I think anyone who thinks limiting FP distribution to "possibly" (as they did in testing) 1 E ticket ride per day and thinks it may lead to a kinder gentler WDW, was probably not there during the years before FP when RD was a running, trampling, TSMM-type affair every day in every park - even in every land in MK - even before they ever had opening shows. I feel that's one thing FP had a calming effect on - at least you knew you could make your way to the FP machine and ride an E ticket ride at some point without a long line - in the old days the line was always HUUUUGE immediately - no one was heading for the FP line and walking away.

I agree. Maybe I am old (still years from 40, is that old??) but the prefast pass days were a mess! I can't believe that more DIS folks don't recall and/or remember that. So FP+ will still be a massive improvement on that.

 

[bcrook]

I am not DVC, AP, or ABC123. The last time I was at WDW was just after EPCOT opened. I remember E tickets. Last fall I started planning our trip for this June. We are spending more money on this trip than we ever have. None of my family has been before.

Ive spent money on guide books, hours poring over websites, including this one, trying to plan a trip that would reduce wait times and incorporate everyone' s must dos. The way this trip goes impacts any decisions on future trips. It' s not just experienced DISers who can see issues with what Disney HAS told us so far.

If I am locked out of rides because I am unwilling to put in the effort, shame on me. If I am locked out of rides because of arbitrary limits placed on my family by Disney, then shame on them.

I am sure it will be a magical vacation, but my kids might not understand why we can' t do all of the rides because of the 2 hour standby lines. Or why we go on IASW but not SM. They have added a new level of stress to this whole planning.

I know nobody knows, but what are the odds other noobs will even research and know to take the effort to schedule FP+. I think there is a good chance they won' t.


Lynne

Thanks for sharing your story. Bravo to you for doing the research! You can still make this work. By June things should be much more clear. Everything I know right now is on page one. But to address your last point. I do think there will be a high success rate at getting the message out. Once they get your email, they can walk you through the process. And they have a slick system called FastPicks ready to go to help get people on the rides. I think mousermerf is correct - there will be more FP available for Disney to distribute how they see fit. So, if someone doesn't really know how to do all this, Disney plans out your four days for you - sprinkling a Toy Story Midway Mania ride here and a Kilimanjaro Safari there. Once on site, customers can log into their pre-selected choices and rearrange them. But, Disney will have provided them a reasonably good plan to fall back on. Throw in a talking Sea Gull and their own personalized Its A small World experience and they will be singing Zippity Doo Dah!

OF COURSE this all assumes that the technical issues of the app (and all of its forms - android, windows, iOS, etc) and the webpage, and the computer system all end up working. Which eventually that has to be ironed out.

 

[Robbi]

The guests who are going to not benefit from this change are the minority. The majority of guests will benefit.

How is that not good for guests? Again, seeing past the end of one's own nose.. whatever happened to caring about other people?

Are you Bob Iger?

When Universal built the Harry Potter stuff my daughter said we had to go back there and we did. I of course want to see the new Transformer ride and we're all looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter stuff being completed. So it seems like Universal believes that new rides is what brings people to the parks. New rides is definitely what attracts me.

So is anyone saying I want to go to Disney because this new FP+ stuff sounds so cool? I know people want to go to DL to see CarsLand!

If the first time guest is the most important guest because they spend the most money on their first visit, what motivates them to visit. A TV ad showing the Harry Potter castle and ride or a bracelet on their wrist?

I really wish that Disney had saved their billion dollars and was building a Star Wars land in DHS. Bet that would have spread guest out more and reduced the wait times at Soaring and TSM.

Absolutely, somehow I cannot imagine my sons when they were younger jumping up and down because they were excited to wear a bracelet. They more than likely would have said, "No way, we're not going. Bracelets are for girls."

 

[g-dad66]

I really wish that Disney had saved their billion dollars and was building a Star Wars land in DHS. Bet that would have spread guest out more and reduced the wait times at Soaring and TSM.

Here I go OT again, but I have often wondered, What if Disney built a second Soarin and a second TSM? Would doubling the capacity of those two rides have solved the problem of demand exceeding supply, consequently improving guest satisfaction?

It seems ironic that incredibly popular rides appear to be a cause of guest dissatisfaction.

 

[doggydoc]

When Universal built the Harry Potter stuff my daughter said we had to go back there and we did. I of course want to see the new Transformer ride and we're all looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter stuff being completed. So it seems like Universal believes that new rides is what brings people to the parks. New rides is definitely what attracts me.

So is anyone saying I want to go to Disney because this new FP+ stuff sounds so cool?

If the first time guest is the most important guest because they spend the most money on their first visit, what motivates them to visit. A TV ad showing the Harry Potter castle and ride or a bracelet on their wrist?

I really wish that Disney had saved their billion dollars and was building a Star Wars land in DHS. Bet that would have spread guest out more and reduced the wait times at Soaring and TSM.

I actually think the wristband and RFID additions will be an experience enhancement, and as others have stated the data mining has the potential for some really interesting additions. It's the proposed FP+ constrictions that I don't understand. This thing has the potential to be the greatest experience enhancement from Disney since FP- was introduced. If I was able to schedule 3 FP+'s in advance and then have a paperless phone driven system to use day of in park I would be jumping up and down. I might even be able to deal with 3 FP's period, but not with tiering, and not with being limited to 1 park. My DD and I don't ride rides over and over, but we do like to ride all the headliners. You really can't ride THAT many times even with the present FP system. If you stay for 10 hours and get a FP every 2 (optimistic) that's 5 per day, a very long day. Split those between more than 1 ride and that's not more than 2-3 rides per ride per person per 10 hour day. That is not excessive. I do think if they go forward with this in the manner described here Universal is going to eat them alive with commercials promoting the new Transformer ride, Harry Potter and the fact that on-site guests get UNLIMITED Express pass.

This also brings up another point, people not staying on-site at Universal have to wait in line... a LOT or pay extra for a lame version of FP-. Despite this, and having only 2 parks to distribute guests, their attendance is growing by leaps and bounds. Why are they not having these "super-user" issues?

 

[bcrook]

When Universal built the Harry Potter stuff my daughter said we had to go back there and we did. I of course want to see the new Transformer ride and we're all looking forward to seeing the new Harry Potter stuff being completed. So it seems like Universal believes that new rides is what brings people to the parks. New rides is definitely what attracts me.

So is anyone saying I want to go to Disney because this new FP+ stuff sounds so cool? I know people want to go to DL to see CarsLand!

If the first time guest is the most important guest because they spend the most money on their first visit, what motivates them to visit. A TV ad showing the Harry Potter castle and ride or a bracelet on their wrist?

I really wish that Disney had saved their billion dollars and was building a Star Wars land in DHS. Bet that would have spread guest out more and reduced the wait times at Soaring and TSM.

Your scenario sounds great to me...but this is what is at work here...Its about moving culture.

From the news release picked up by major newspapers:

"Aside from benefiting Disney’s bottom line, the initiative could alter the global theme parks business. Disney is not the first vacation company to use wristbands equipped with radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips. Great Wolf Resorts, an operator of 11 water parks in North America, has been using them since 2006. But Disney’s global parks operation, which has an estimated 121.4 million admissions a year and generates $12.9 billion in revenue, is so huge that it can greatly influence consumer behavior.

“When Disney makes a move, it moves the culture,” said Steve Brown, chief operating officer for Lo-Q, a British company that provides line management and ticketing systems for theme parks and zoos."

 

[bcrook]

Here I go OT again, but I have often wondered, What if Disney built a second Soarin and a second TSM? Would doubling the capacity of those two rides have solved the problem of demand exceeding supply, consequently improving guest satisfaction?

It seems ironic that incredibly popular rides appear to be a cause of guest dissatisfaction.

Oh the irony!

This also brings up another point, people not staying on-site at Universal have to wait in line... a LOT or pay extra for a lame version of FP-. Despite this, and having only 2 parks to distribute guests, their attendance is growing by leaps and bounds. Why are they not having these "super-user" issues?

I wonder if Universal is sitting over there hitting themselves in the head saying "We are spending 1.5 billion dollars on Potter London, Transformers, and a host of new improvements, and Disney is transforming the industry by adding magicbands." The sad thing is it might be true. It will take years before Universal recoups the money, and they have to hope it has a lasting power.

I am a librarian/teacher at a middle school of 600 kids. I polled my students recently and less than 15% had read the Harry Potter books and a large percent hasn't seen the movies. I have no idea if that trend holds up elsewhere. The kids at my school are all readers too, we have very high circulation rates in the library. It is off topic and meaningless - but I thought interesting. Sorry about the detour.

 

[bjakmom]

I agree. Maybe I am old (still years from 40, is that old??) but the prefast pass days were a mess! I can't believe that more DIS folks don't recall and/or remember that. So FP+ will still be a massive improvement on that.

No, if you are still years from 40, you are not old! Just sayin!

 

[Robbi]

Oh the irony!



I wonder if Universal is sitting over there hitting themselves in the head saying "We are spending 1.5 billion dollars on Potter London, Transformers, and a host of new improvements, and Disney is transforming the industry by adding magicbands." The sad thing is it might be true. It will take years before Universal recoups the money, and they have to hope it has a lasting power.

I am a librarian/teacher at a middle school of 600 kids. I polled my students recently and less than 15% had read the Harry Potter books and a large percent hasn't seen the movies. I have no idea if that trend holds up elsewhere. The kids at my school are all readers too, we have very high circulation rates in the library. It is off topic and meaningless - but I thought interesting. Sorry about the detour.

That is the case at your school. At the schools here, the school's libraries had to order several additional copies because the books were so in demand. Your school may be more of the exception as evidenced by the burgeoning numbers of Universal's guests.

 

[g-dad66]

No, if you are still years from 40, you are not old! Just sayin!

That's good to hear -- because I am 30 years away from 40.

 

[GreenCntryGirl]

I agree. Maybe I am old (still years from 40, is that old??) but the prefast pass days were a mess! I can't believe that more DIS folks don't recall and/or remember that. So FP+ will still be a massive improvement on that.

I was just thinking about this. I had an amazing trip pre-FP by utilizing The Unofficial Guide. Saw everything we wanted to see, rode everything we wanted to ride, had time at the resort every day for relaxing. We ate one table service meal a day and did walk-ins once at ESPN and at Trail's End. It was completely stress free.

 

[Planogirl]

The guests who are going to not benefit from this change are the minority. The majority of guests will benefit.

How is that not good for guests? Again, seeing past the end of one's own nose.. whatever happened to caring about other people?

Your answers are all over the place. How exactly will this benefit the majority of people? I'm sincerely curious.

This also brings up another point, people not staying on-site at Universal have to wait in line... a LOT or pay extra for a lame version of FP-. Despite this, and having only 2 parks to distribute guests, their attendance is growing by leaps and bounds. Why are they not having these "super-user" issues?

We've never bought an express pass at Universal and we usually stay offsite. We do avoid Spring Break and holidays though. The express pass is nice but not necessary most of the time. I'm not so sure about the headliners at Disney though.

 

[bcrook]

That is the case at your school. At the schools here, the school's libraries had to order several additional copies because the books were so in demand. Your school may be more of the exception as evidenced by the burgeoning numbers of Universal's guests.

I wasn't trying to do anything other than mention something I noticed. Nothing more. I was surprised. And even though the kids at my school haven't read the books - they know the park is building more and want to visit. Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything. I am a big fan of WWoHP! Can't wait for the extension. The attendance percent gain at Islands of Adventure is phenomenal.

 

[Robbi]

I wasn't trying to do anything other than mention something I noticed. Nothing more. I was surprised. And even though the kids at my school haven't read the books - they know the park is building more and want to visit. Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything. I am a big fan of WWoHP! Can't wait for the extension. The attendance percent gain at Islands of Adventure is phenomenal.

No problem, I'm sorry to have misinterpreted your post.

We can't wait for the Hogwarts Express to go operational!!!

 

[Coyotesweat]

Dating myself a bit, but I remember E tickets, when my mom would only allow us one or maybe two higher priced e-ticket attractions, and some more cheaper ones. I got very fond of some of the cheaper rides, and they are still some of my favorites. I rode the train a lot. I kind of like the new-fangled one admission price lets you ride any combination of rides you like; the only barrier to riding the e-ticket rides is your willingness to stand in the lines or get FP. When Space Mountain DL was an E-ticket ride, you paid more to ride it AND waited longer than for the cheaper rides!!

Katie (will do whatever FP system is available...)

 

[DonaldnDaisy5]

I am wondering how this will work with travel agent booked trips? We just booked for November with our agent and I haven't asked her yet since it all seema so up in the air yet...but in the past i could not see my reaervation on the Disney site or talk to representatives from Sianey about trip once we booked with an agent, does anyone know anything about that?