FP + What we know and what we want to know

[dadddio]

But if the intent really is to help stop people from taking day trips to US, Sea World, Legoland etc how many FP+ will we get? If I have a 10 day trip booked with WDW, but only a 7 day ticket linked, will they give me the ability to make FP+ for all 10 days, or just 7?

I think that it is a leap to say that the only purpose of FP+ is to stop people from taking day trips to other parks. Adding benefits will hopefully drive people to Disney, but Disney has never really seemed to get stressed over people spending a day at Universal (even before they got Marvel money for those visits).

That being said, why would they allow you to book FPs for more days than you have tickets for? That would tie up FPs that could be used by people who would actually use them.

OK, I didn't realize they were doing it resort by resort. So, if I am understanding this correctly, only guests of the Beach Club pick their FP's early? Everyone else does it the old way?

I think that magic bands are going live at Beach Club first, but I'm not sure that FP+ is.

So, does this mean I won't get the FP+ if I don't have my tickets purchased yet? But, what if I have my 10 day non expiring tickets that I have used on some trips that have some plusses on them that I purchased from UT.
Would this be ok and would I still have my option, do you think, for FP+?

Thank you.

You could link those old paper tickets to your profile and then take advantage of FP+.

 

[kagmypts]

I did not read through all 60+ pages of responses so I apologize if this has been addressed. What is happening with the regular FP system? In the short term it appears as though one can either choose FP+ or utilize the current FP in the park. Am I reading that correctly?

In the long-term, I am sure the entire FP system will change. Any thoughts on this?

 

[doconeill]

I did not read through all 60+ pages of responses so I apologize if this has been addressed. What is happening with the regular FP system? In the short term it appears as though one can either choose FP+ or utilize the current FP in the park. Am I reading that correctly?

In the long-term, I am sure the entire FP system will change. Any thoughts on this?

It is not 100% certain, but it is believed once FP+ is available to all guests, it will become the only system available.

 

[bigAWL]

Rumor is starting February with guests at the Beach Club.

I thought I saw Boardwalk as the rumored first resort. Can anyone say where this information is coming from?

 

[mbrou24]

When this thing does come fully online, I will also not be happy if we are truly limited to only three selections per day. That would equal me potentially spending more time in line and less time spending money.

Even with FP return time now being enforced, if I were in MK from opening to close I could easily secure more than three sets of FPs for use over the course of 12+ hours.

I think it will be more than three fp+ per day. They said "3 in advance" but haven't said that you can use more in the parks day of. I think people will be allowed to use 3 in advance to set up then use the magic band to set up a fp+ return time will in the park(or use te app as well). Just my thoughts

 

[BeccaG]

So a bit off topic, but related to managing your group's "stuff". I am, planning to take care of everyone's fast passes. But a hitch in my giddy up dawned on me. I read, on the WDW website (I think) that I could add up to five tickets for friends. Im in a group of 12 plus an infant. Will at least one other person need to set up an account and add tickets for me to get fast passes? Will we both have to get fast passes for each of those in our group whose tickets we added?

I guess this is another question for the front page, unless it's already there "can I schedule fast passes for everyone in mt group or just those whose virtual tickets I entered?"

BTW, as of Sunday I could see where to add virtual tickets, now I've either forgotten where that was or the last update took it down for now.... Anyone?

 

[mom2rtk]

I think it will be more than three fp+ per day. They said "3 in advance" but haven't said that you can use more in the parks day of. I think people will be allowed to use 3 in advance to set up then use the magic band to set up a fp+ return time will in the park(or use te app as well). Just my thoughts

I sure hope you're right. But I just really think the easier it is to get a fastpass (as in from your phone instead of running across the park), the more people will max out this benefit. If more people are getting more FPs than ever before, something has to give.

 

[doconeill]

I think it will be more than three fp+ per day. They said "3 in advance" but haven't said that you can use more in the parks day of. I think people will be allowed to use 3 in advance to set up then use the magic band to set up a fp+ return time will in the park(or use te app as well). Just my thoughts

There could be...but then the question is - what is left over that you can get in the park?

 

[mbrou24]

There could be...but then the question is - what is left over that you can get in the park?

It would work the same way. Isn't the purpose of fast pass in general to make the wait less than stand by? So there could be a 10-15 wait in fast pass, it's better than 70 minutes. I think that the purpose of this is to phase out regular fast pass, so what we will see is a split in the number of fast passes between the regular system and the fp+ system. Over time that ratio will change from say 50-50 to 75-25 and so on in favor of fp+ system. That's what I think is going to happen, again I am just speculating

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I think that it is a leap to say that the only purpose of FP+ is to stop people from taking day trips to other parks. Adding benefits will hopefully drive people to Disney, but Disney has never really seemed to get stressed over people spending a day at Universal (even before they got Marvel money for those visits).

That being said, why would they allow you to book FPs for more days than you have tickets for? That would tie up FPs that could be used by people who would actually use them.

I agree that this is probably more wishful thinking on my part, but an unknown question for me nonetheless.

Also, I know we keep saying that the magic bands will be mailed to folks ahead of time, but I really don't see WDW spending the postage $$ on this. Surely this would cost more than mailing luggage tags and travel vouchers. Perhaps if you choose a custom band, you will get it in advance, but for the regular "included" bands (as part of a MYW package) will probably just be given at check-in

Just my 2 cents

 

[kagmypts]

It is not 100% certain, but it is believed once FP+ is available to all guests, it will become the only system available.

This makes perfect sense to me.

In the short term and during the roll out, I hope that they keep the current FP system running as it is in the parks. We went to Disney last year after they started enforcing the FP return times, and the FP system worked awesome for our family! We were there at rope drop every day, and we were able to ride so much before the lines got long. As soon as it started getting crowded, we used our FPs (one was at the very end of the assigned time and the other was at the very beginning of its assigned time - we could double up because our first FP return time so was only an hour or so in the future). We ate lunch, and then rode a few rides before heading home for our afternoon break! We loved visiting Disney this way, and I hope that we can continue to do it that way!

 

[bigAWL]

So a bit off topic, but related to managing your group's "stuff". I am, planning to take care of everyone's fast passes. But a hitch in my giddy up dawned on me. I read, on the WDW website (I think) that I could add up to five tickets for friends. Im in a group of 12 plus an infant. Will at least one other person need to set up an account and add tickets for me to get fast passes? Will we both have to get fast passes for each of those in our group whose tickets we added?

I guess this is another question for the front page, unless it's already there "can I schedule fast passes for everyone in mt group or just those whose virtual tickets I entered?"

BTW, as of Sunday I could see where to add virtual tickets, now I've either forgotten where that was or the last update took it down for now.... Anyone?

My interpratation of the five ticket rule was that you could link up to five tickets for each member of your group. This could be useful for those with non-expiring tickets. I have non-expired water park fun and more tickets. All the park days are used, but I still have multiple water park days left. I need to buy new park tickets for my next trip, but I still want to be able to use the old non-expired tickets as well. I admit that my intreptation may not be correct.

My guess is that each person must have a ticket linked to their profile in order to reserve FP+ experiences for them.

I've seen in my main profile that I could add an "affiliation" to my account. My DVC member ID is already there, but if I were an AP holder I could add that too. It asks for the barcode number from the AP ticket. Not sure if this in effect turns that AP into a virtual ticket or not. I do not see that option for other members of my group who do not have actual accounts set up.

 

[mbrou24]

I agree that this is probably more wishful thinking on my part, but an unknown question for me nonetheless.

Also, I know we keep saying that the magic bands will be mailed to folks ahead of time, but I really don't see WDW spending the postage $$ on this. Surely this would cost more than mailing luggage tags and travel vouchers. Perhaps if you choose a custom band, you will get it in advance, but for the regular "included" bands (as part of a MYW package) will probably just be given at check-in

Just my 2 cents

They already spend postage mailing the vacation itinerary. Wouldn't they just include the bands with it? Similar to luggage tags

 

[doconeill]

It would work the same way. Isn't the purpose of fast pass in general to make the wait less than stand by? So there could be a 10-15 wait in fast pass, it's better than 70 minutes. I think that the purpose of this is to phase out regular fast pass, so what we will see is a split in the number of fast passes between the regular system and the fp+ system. Over time that ratio will change from say 50-50 to 75-25 and so on in favor of fp+ system. That's what I think is going to happen, again I am just speculating

Right, but if they can be reserved in advance, you might find that all of the TSM and Soarin' FP+ slots have been taken before anyone got to the park, leaving none. There is no definitive word that any will be held for day-of use.

That's still one of the big questions.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

There could be...but then the question is - what is left over that you can get in the park?

In the beginning as people first adjust to the system, probably enough. But as more and more people use it (and/or learn how to use it) I am sure the leftovers will be few and far between (especially for headliners).

I am sure there will still be a ton of off-site folks who don't use it, simply because they don't go to the wdw.com site . Plus the grandparents of the world who still call over the phone to make all their reservations (resort, dining and otherwise) simply because the don't have a computer or don't understand (or don't want to understand). Plus the casual day visitor who also might not know about it otherwise.

Over time, I expect more and more people will use it (especially if Disney markets the heck out of it outside of just wdw.com, which I suspect they will). But I am still not convinced that this will be an immediate, drastic change. (Or at least I am not convinced right now since I have had a week or so to think about it and let all the info soak in)

Again, JMO, YMMV

 

[aprincessatlast]

Sorry if this question has been asked as this thread is very long.
When is it speculated that this will begin to start?
I realize no one knows for sure but the peeps on here are good at guessing and are usually close.

 

[mbrou24]

Right, but if they can be reserved in advance, you might find that all of the TSM and Soarin' FP+ slots have been taken before anyone got to the park, leaving none. There is no definitive word that any will be held for day-of use.

That's still one of the big questions.

Exactly. That's why I'm only speculating. And that is also why I think they restrict advance fp+ booking to three. That way there's always a chance of in park fp+ but for guests not to bank on that being the case

 

[Cinderumbrella]

They already spend postage mailing the vacation itinerary. Wouldn't they just include the bands with it? Similar to luggage tags

I admit not to know much about bulk mailing, and its cost, but I suspect that 5 of these bands would weigh more than 5 luggage tags, thus increasing the postage fee.

 

[mbrou24]

I admit not to know much about bulk mailing, and its cost, but I suspect that 5 of these bands would weigh more than 5 luggage tags, thus increasing the postage fee.

Oh of course. I'm just saying they already mail is vacation packages so the increased postage won't be really high

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Oh of course. I'm just saying they already mail is vacation packages so the increased postage won't be really high

Right, but they still need someone to get the band, link it to the MDE account and then mail it. That costs $$ in hourly wages too. No reason it can't be done at check in by the CM who is already serving the guest.

Again, I could be WAY off of this, but I still think custom bands will come early and the "included" bands will be issued at check in.