FP + What we know and what we want to know

[bigAWL]

I would expect that if it isn't available at SSR, you wouldn't be "encouraged" to link your ticket...

I think the specific "encouragement" being discussed was the seemingly aggressive transition of entry turnstiles to RF scanning stations.

My take on that transition is that they may be planning to roll this out faster than many of us think. It may start with the Boardwalk (based on rumor that seems to have started with Jim Hill Media), but who's to say that the other resorts won't be activated all at once right after that?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I think the specific "encouragement" being discussed was the seemingly aggressive transition of entry turnstiles to RF scanning stations.

My take on that transition is that they may be planning to roll this out faster than many of us think. It may start with the Boardwalk (based on rumor that seems to have started with Jim Hill Media), but who's to say that the other resorts won't be activated all at once right after that?

I am hoping that they won't roll it out further until all the kinks experienced in the rumored BWI initial roll out are fixed. But if it goes relatively smoothly there, then I am assuming they will roll it out quickly to the other resorts as well.

 

[DVC4US]

I would expect that if it isn't available at SSR, you wouldn't be "encouraged" to link your ticket...

You would hope. But this still presents a problem.

If they have changed over 2/3 of the entrances at MK to RFID leaving only 1/3 to be used by paper ticket holders, can you imagine the lines just for entrance into the park.

Example:
Let's say by June they have only rolled out the FP+ to a couple of hotels so everyone else(including off-site guests) have to use paper tickets for entrance then you could possibility have an hour wait or more just to enter the park.

Robo - we need more fixes to fix the fixes!

 

[brucerob62]

i would think they would roll out to all resorts at once for fp plus. its not right that some can use fp plus and some have to do it the regular way?..confusing to me

 

[DVC4US]

I think the specific "encouragement" being discussed was the seemingly aggressive transition of entry turnstiles to RF scanning stations.

My take on that transition is that they may be planning to roll this out faster than many of us think. It may start with the Boardwalk (based on rumor that seems to have started with Jim Hill Media), but who's to say that the other resorts won't be activated all at once right after that?

Yep, it seems like it might be coming faster than we all expected.


Ugh...looks like I need to start adding a profile for all 120 guests we have coming for DD's wedding to my account just in case we might want to get a FP+ for some of those guests. This is not going to be fun!

 

[grimgrningghost]

We have several 1 day tickets we bought a while back to get free dining while having APs. We were planning to bring those and upgrade them to MYW tickets when we arrived. Do you think we will just be out of luck scheduling our FP+ ahead of time or will they start allowing upgrades over the phone?

 

[dadddio]

(It's also believed by some that the new system is going to allow for an increase in the number of FPs available per attraction.)

That would make Standby and FP+ much longer for that ride.

For the purposes of that post, FP = FPs and FP+s. Further, this would be after FP+ was completely up and running. It is reasonable to believe that 'FP' will no longer exist at that point, since everyone will be using tickets that will not work in FP machines. Finally, it is also reasonable to conclude that until traditional FPs go away, FP+ and FP will come out of the same pool.

 

[dadddio]

My biggest fear with FP+ is that all of the normal FP will run out quicker than they do now. I really try to do as much as I can on our trips and have a blast riding the rides multiple times.

I am really worried that now I wont get to ride some of the etickets more than once. If I use FP+, then I am forced to use standby the rest of the day. But if I dont use FP+, how will I know how many regular FP's are allotted to the etickets that day!

I was also thinking too: do most people use more than 3 standard FP's a day? I know we do! So you think NextGen would be a downgrade for more people.

Here's hoping wdw knows what there doing! Guess I just need to have some faith, trust, and pixie dust.

I think that it might serve us to remember that FP+ is not going to reduce the number of total fast passes available. In fact, it will greatly increase the number of fast passes since it is expanding the rides/activities/experiences that will be fastpassable. At worst, the total number of fast passes available per attraction should stay exactly the same. This means that there will be absolutely no change in the number of people who use the standby line or the number of people who use the FP line.

 

[HM]

We have several 1 day tickets we bought a while back to get free dining while having APs. We were planning to bring those and upgrade them to MYW tickets when we arrived. Do you think we will just be out of luck scheduling our FP+ ahead of time or will they start allowing upgrades over the phone?

You realize you'll only be able to use one 1-day ticket per upgrade (per person) right?

 

[grimgrningghost]

You realize you'll only be able to use one 1-day ticket per upgrade (per person) right?

Yes but it will reduce our ticket cost each by the cost of a one day ticket which is not an insignificant amount.

 

[dadddio]

So will that text also offer to waive your $10 PP fee for missing an in-park ADR that day?

It might. Alternatively, maybe they would only send that particular offer to people without ADRs.

And I totally agree. I don't like to feel manipulated. And I think this could get dangerously close.

I'm having trouble imagining why this 'manipulation' would anger me since I am free to decline the offer and continue on my planned day or take the offer and enjoy the less busy park and FPs.

Besides. Who needs 5 FPs at Epcot if you can't duplicate rides. I would really only need 2. Especially if crowds were so low at the park that they were trying to lure people in.

From the scenario posted, it seems that they would be trying to push people away from a capacity crowd, not lure people to an empty park. Many would see this type of manipulation as a perq.

I equate it to driving to MK on NYE. It's hard to miss the electronic boards warning that MK is approaching capacity and that you should go to Epcot, instead.

 

[mom2rtk]

It might. Alternatively, maybe they would only send that particular offer to people without ADRs.

I'm having trouble imagining why this 'manipulation' would anger me since I am free to decline the offer and continue on my planned day or take the offer and enjoy the less busy park and FPs.
From the scenario posted, it seems that they would be trying to push people away from a capacity crowd, not lure people to an empty park. Many would see this type of manipulation as a perq.

I equate it to driving to MK on NYE. It's hard to miss the electronic boards warning that MK is approaching capacity and that you should go to Epcot, instead.

Yeah, the waiving of the $10 fee was really more tongue in cheek. Disney would not want to do anything to leave a table empty. It's more than the $10 PP at stake. It's the payment for the meal.

It's really a fine line between manipulating and "helping" or providing a perk. We won't know which it is until it rolls out. And even then, I imagine there will be no consensus on this.

And I'm not sure why you felt the need to insert the word "anger" here. I didn't say it would anger me. Just that I would not like it. I worked in marketing and advertising for many years, so maybe I'm just more sensitive to this than most.

 

[dadddio]

From the revised post #1:

Things verified from other sites:

* good summary from Computerworld. Covers wristbands, security, and future. Nick Franklin V.P. Next Gen Technology confirms:
- 3 FP+ for each day

The article doesn't state that there will be a 3 FP+ limit. It states that if you don't select FP+s, the system will offer you three FP+ 'FastPicks'. The article takes no position on the total number of FP+s chosen in advance (reported in other articles as three) or whether additional FP+s could be chosen in the park.

 

[doconeill]

From the revised post #1:
The article doesn't state that there will be a 3 FP+ limit. It states that if you don't select FP+s, the system will offer you three FP+ 'FastPicks'. The article takes no position on the total number of FP+s chosen in advance (reported in other articles as three) or whether additional FP+s could be chosen in the park.

In the video embedded in the article, Nick Frankin says, and I quote: "We're going to let guests select up to three that they want to set for each day..."

Nick Frankin is in charge of all this. I'd believe what he says over Tom Staggs

 

[addicted2dizney]

sorry if this has been covered but the thread is so long. How do you know if you are eligible to try the FP+? How have people been notified? just want to be sure I'm not missing something.
Thanks in advance

 

[mom2rtk]

I think that it might serve us to remember that FP+ is not going to reduce the number of total fast passes available. In fact, it will greatly increase the number of fast passes since it is expanding the rides/activities/experiences that will be fastpassable. At worst, the total number of fast passes available per attraction should stay exactly the same. This means that there will be absolutely no change in the number of people who use the standby line or the number of people who use the FP line.

1) The number of FP's issued on a given ride on a given day probably won't change. But nobody knows how the mix of preplanned Fps and same day Fps will change things. In fact, I imagine it will take some fine tuning over time to find the balance generating the least number of complaints.

2) Yes, there will be FPs on many things that didn't have them before. But apart from the parade/fireworks viewing....... it will be for attractions that didn't have FP because they didn't NEED fastpass.

3) So yes, the standby line SHOULD remain unaffected. On rides that previously had FP. But for attractions that previously had no FP? It will definitely make a change. BIG difference for me in the standby line for ETWB when they were running their test.

 

[dadddio]

Online Check-in also already includes a place to enter a phone number to receive your room number via text message.

So here's the entirety of my speculation on this:
MagicBands will either a) be sent out early, b)ultimately be designed to last through more than one visit, or c) some combination.

I'll add two more possible options:

d) available from any guest services location, anywhere,
e) upgrade bands available from any on-site gift shop. Buy one, pull up your profile and enter your new magic band number.

Here is a problem I see with "encouragement" to register(based on the info we have now): this is just an example

We are going on a trip in June and staying at SSR. FP+ has not been rolled out yet at SSR but I am "encouraged" to link my tickets to my RFID card(or MagicBand) for faster entrance into the parks. So now that I have linked my tickets to the RFID program, I am no longer able to use FP-. If FP+ is not available at SSR yet and I can no longer use FP- this means I am relegated to stand-by only.

Does anyone else see this happening or is it just me thinking of all the bad possibilities?

I think that people confuse FP+ with a magic band's ability to unlock a hotel room door.

And I'm not sure why you felt the need to insert the word "anger" here.

No where in that post did I attribute any 'anger' to you.

In the video embedded in the article, Nick Frankin says, and I quote: "We're going to let guests select up to three that they want to set for each day..."

That wuote fits right in with what was reported elsewhere regarding scheduling FP+s in advance.

1) The number of FP's issued on a given ride on a given day probably won't change. But nobody knows whether how the mix of preplanned Fps and same day Fps will change things. In fact, I imagine it will take some fine tuning over time to find the balance generating the least number of complaints.

As to the number of people in the FP line, it won't change anything. It is likely to mean that a few additional people get to use the FP line for TSMM because I'm not hogging three FPs for myself, but I'm not seeing how that fact does anything but increase overall guest satisfaction.

 

[mom2rtk]

As to the number of people in the FP line, it won't change anything. It is likely to mean that a few additional people get to use the FP line for TSMM because I'm not hogging three FPs for myself, but I'm not seeing how that fact does anything but increase overall guest satisfaction.

The complaints I am expecting to see are from the people trying to GET a fastpass in the first place. Not enough online in advance to satisfy everyone, not enough same day to satisfy those folks.

I expect the folks going standby will have roughly the same experience with TSMM as they did before.

It's possible there could be less folks at rope drop to ride standby because they already scheduled in advance.

It's also possible there could be more folks at rope drop because standby is the only way to ride more than once.

Lots of ways this could go. That's what I mean about it needing fine tuning.

 

[Circus181920]

If I choose not to use FP+ and just do regular FP, do you think that the # of regular FP's per ride per day will be less because of all the FP+ already scheduled?

TIA

 

[doconeill]

If I choose not to use FP+ and just do regular FP, do you think that the # of regular FP's per ride per day will be less because of all the FP+ already scheduled?

TIA

Yes. They can't just add FP+ to the existing number of Fastpasses issued.

As this is rolled out, It'd expect fewer and fewer regular Fastpasses to be available.