Guest Test of Magic Bands (Official Notice)

[doggydoc]

All this conjecture and no one knows how the system is even going to work yet. You think a company of disneys caliber is going to spend billions on something that would even have a chance of not improving guest scarification and therefore return and word of mouth guests? You're crazy.

Big corporations never make billion dollar blunders?

The Edsel, New Coke, Mars not allowing M&M's to be featured in ET, the list is infinite.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Big corporations never make billion dollar blunders?

The Edsel, New Coke, Mars not allowing M&M's to be featured in ET, the list is infinite.

And all of these companies either reversed out of their blunder or have moved on to continue to create other customer-pleasing products. Good point.

 

[rastuso]

Basic math tells you that they aren't going to book every seat for every train of every ride for that day. That would be stupid. So of course they are going to only release a certain number to "planners" because disney is all about guest service and if a bunch of guests are unable to get fast passes and are forced to skip the e tickets then it would cut their business off at the knees. Disney is excellent but we know a lot of guests come mostly to ride their favorites. All this conjecture and no one knows how the system is even going to work yet. You think a company of disneys caliber is going to spend billions on something that would even have a chance of not improving guest scarification and therefore return and word of mouth guests? You're crazy.

Basic math also says that if you give everybody 3 FP+s, there are only really enough to go around at the MK. The other parks are going to have massive problems. Maybe you can get an FP+ for the TSMM standby line? It lets you cut in front of 25 people.

And even the MK will fall well short during most of the year. The mountains can service at best 5000 people an hour total at FP+ being 80% of the queue. For a 12 hour day, they will have a total of 60,000 Mountain FP+. That's barely enough for each visitor to have ONE FP for ONE mountain of their choosing.

The math goes horribly wrong from there.

How many billions did Disney spend on DCA, before Carsland opened? And even with CL open, is DCA what you would expect from a $2+ billion park? I would think you could build a clone of DisneySeas for that, and buy a better quality coaster for Indy.

Companies make billion dollar mistakes all the time. It doesn't matter, those in charge get rich regardless.

Jason

 

[doconeill]

And even the MK will fall well short during most of the year. The mountains can service at best 5000 people an hour total at FP+ being 80% of the queue. For a 12 hour day, they will have a total of 60,000 Mountain FP+. That's barely enough for each visitor to have ONE FP for ONE mountain of their choosing.

I'm pretty sure that the mountains get nowhere near 5000/hour. I think they are really lucky if they hit 2000/hour...I think the OHRC at Splash is somewhere around 1800 IIRC.

I think Haunted Mansion has the highest OHRC, and that's in the area of 3000 I think.

 

[racinjunkie]

How many billions did Disney spend on DCA, before Carsland opened? And even with CL open, is DCA what you would expect from a $2+ billion park? I would think you could build a clone of DisneySeas for that, and buy a better quality coaster for Indy.

We LOVED DCA and we were there before Carsland! Having ToT, TSMM, Soarin and California Screamin in the same park for us was perfection. Not to mention that huge awesome Mickey ferris wheel and the proximity to DLR. I had no idea that it was considered any kind of a flop...

 

[dayvewc]

And even the MK will fall well short during most of the year. The mountains can service at best 5000 people an hour total at FP+ being 80% of the queue. For a 12 hour day, they will have a total of 60,000 Mountain FP+. That's barely enough for each visitor to have ONE FP for ONE mountain of their choosing.

I'm pretty sure that the mountains get nowhere near 5000/hour. I think they are really lucky if they hit 2000/hour...I think the OHRC at Splash is somewhere around 1800 IIRC.

I think Haunted Mansion has the highest OHRC, and that's in the area of 3000 I think.

I could be misreading it, but I think Jason was saying that combined, the mountains only service about 5000 per hour (at 80% capacity). If Splash, Space, and Thunder each hit 2000/hour then 80% would be 1600 for a total of 4800/hour among the three.

 

[Redcon1]

I agree.

I just don't think they have PLANNED for this.
No indication of hard copy print-outs of FP times.

Maybe that will happen (likely will be needed,) but it might be just another
FIX, to FIX the previous FIX.

(They COULD offer cute little "note pad" sheets that you could WRITE on with your times.
I know that's old-fashioned in the extreme, but guests without smart-phones (etc) may be still be used to paper and pen/pencil.

Maybe the machines should include an option to print, like an ATM that has an option to print your transaction receipt. It won't automatically print a FP+, but you can choose to do so if needed.

It would also be nice to have the capability to scan you magic band and have your current FP+ times pop up and again, with the option to print, so you won't a need to set your phone to receive notifications. This could also help those without phones.

 

[doconeill]

I could be misreading it, but I think Jason was saying that combined, the mountains only service about 5000 per hour (at 80% capacity). If Splash, Space, and Thunder each hit 2000/hour then 80% would be 1600 for a total of 4800/hour among the three.

Oops, yes...that does look like what he meant.

 

[doggydoc]

And all of these companies either reversed out of their blunder or have moved on to continue to create other customer-pleasing products. Good point.

The really frustrating thing is IF this does turn into a debacle for Disney it could have been easily avoided. DD and I visited universal last year, a few months ago I was invited via e-mail to take a survey about the new Harry Potter expansion. It was extremely detailed, took about 30 minutes to complete. It went through every possible scenario for how the new connection between IOA and Studios could work and had me rate them by preference. Example pay for 1 park get to ride the train round trip for free, pay x amount more for both parks and get to ride either way all day, pay x dollars get to ride the train both ways ONCE etc.

Why wasn't anyone asked if 3 FP's in 1 park were a deal breaker?

I can only surmise that either:

1) there will be same day FP's available and all this will be the greatest thing since the Dole Whip

2) Disney, as was put forth in the earliest days of these FP+ threads, is unconcerned about losing long-time repeat business

or 3) the same people that came up with the Test Track singers is in charge of this whole thing.

What I can't get past is why all the secrecy? Come out and say 3 FP+ 1 park/day only and be done with it. Or even better belay our fears by letting us know there will be same day FP's and you can get them even if you park hop. My fear is that they know the former will be met, initially at least, with a great deal of perturbation and they want to delay that as long as possible.

 

[WillAustin]

And all of these companies either reversed out of their blunder or have moved on to continue to create other customer-pleasing products. Good point.

It would still be a shame for anyone whose vacation costing them thousands of dollars got caught in such a blunder, whether the company ultimately reversed it or not.

 

[bwang123]

The really frustrating thing is IF this does turn into a debacle for Disney it could have been easily avoided. DD and I visited universal last year, a few months ago I was invited via e-mail to take a survey about the new Harry Potter expansion. It was extremely detailed, took about 30 minutes to complete. It went through every possible scenario for how the new connection between IOA and Studios could work and had me rate them by preference. Example pay for 1 park get to ride the train round trip for free, pay x amount more for both parks and get to ride either way all day, pay x dollars get to ride the train both ways ONCE etc.

Why wasn't anyone asked if 3 FP's in 1 park were a deal breaker?

they are asking people ... they are currently doing tests with study groups/surveys of the people doing the testing.

 

[mom2rtk]

or 3) the same people that came up with the Test Track singers is in charge of this whole thing.

 

[Redcon1]

The really frustrating thing is IF this does turn into a debacle for Disney it could have been easily avoided. DD and I visited universal last year, a few months ago I was invited via e-mail to take a survey about the new Harry Potter expansion. It was extremely detailed, took about 30 minutes to complete. It went through every possible scenario for how the new connection between IOA and Studios could work and had me rate them by preference. Example pay for 1 park get to ride the train round trip for free, pay x amount more for both parks and get to ride either way all day, pay x dollars get to ride the train both ways ONCE etc.

Why wasn't anyone asked if 3 FP's in 1 park were a deal breaker?

I can only surmise that either:

1) there will be same day FP's available and all this will be the greatest thing since the Dole Whip2) Disney, as was put forth in the earliest days of these FP+ threads, is unconcerned about losing long-time repeat business

or 3) the same people that came up with the Test Track singers is in charge of this whole thing.

What I can't get past is why all the secrecy? Come out and say 3 FP+ 1 park/day only and be done with it. Or even better belay our fears by letting us know there will be same day FP's and you can get them even if you park hop. My fear is that they know the former will be met, initially at least, with a great deal of perturbation and they want to delay that as long as possible.

When I first heard about FP+, this is what I thought the scenario would be...able to schedule up to 3 FP+ ahead of time, but still be able to pick up day-of FP's as well.

And maybe I'm slow on the uptake, but I still can't figure the monetary advantage for Disney is with this implementation. I got it when the original FP system was put into effect and pretty easy to figure out: Taking people out of attraction lines and into shops and restaurants to spend more money.
Yet, I don't see FP+ increasing that shopping/dining time. The results are the same, just with a different delivery method, same day vs. pre-selection of FPs.

The only advantage I see for Disney is some headlines about how tech-savvy the company is. But for over a billion dollars, you'd expect more than just some friendly headlines and some "goodwill" from guests.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Why wasn't anyone asked if 3 FP's in 1 park were a deal breaker?
...
What I can't get past is why all the secrecy?

I assume questions like this are being asked during testing if they haven't been in surveys before -- it would only make sense.

And I wouldn't call it secrecy -- I'd call it nothing-being-set-in-stone-because-they're-still-testing.

It would still be a shame for anyone whose vacation costing them thousands of dollars got caught in such a blunder, whether the company ultimately reversed it or not.

Agreed. But we are far from having evidence to predict this yet.

And no company is perfect, but it often sounds on here as though Disney has either nefarious motives or a death wish as an organization -- neither of which is supported by the company's long history.

 

[rastuso]

And no company is perfect, but it often sounds on here as though Disney has either nefarious motives or a death wish as an organization -- neither of which is supported by the company's long history.

It also many times sounds like Disney will never make a mistake, and there is no doubt FP+ will be an ultimate improvement.

The original FP was only an improvement because there remained many visitors ignorant to it that allowed others to exploit the system. And basically everyone on this board was getting more FPs than they should have, because of those people that under utilized it, or simply didn't use it.

FP+ will get rid of that. You'll only be getting your fair share of FPs from now on.

You're welcome.

Jason

 

[doggydoc]

they are asking people ... they are currently doing tests with study groups/surveys of the people doing the testing.

Wouldn't it have been helpful to have some of the information we assume is being gleaned now, BEFORE billion dollar decisions were made and begun to be implemented?

I assume questions like this are being asked during testing if they haven't been in surveys before -- it would only make sense.

While that would seem a reasonable assumption we just don't know. We have had reports that during the initial test last fall the question of whether FP+ would have been as well received if regular FP was not an option WAS NOT asked.

And I wouldn't call it secrecy -- I'd call it nothing-being-set-in-stone-because-they're-still-testing.

Agreed. But we are far from having evidence to predict this yet.

And no company is perfect, but it often sounds on here as though Disney has either nefarious motives or a death wish as an organization -- neither of which is supported by the company's long history.

I think nefarious is a little strong however Disney has made decisions based solely on profit before and this could easily be one of them. The lack of evidence is what leads to assumptions and tends to create distrust. As for nothing-being-set-in-stone, the basic parameters of the system had to be in place before any implementation could have begun.

If the delay is in part due to a scramble to compensate for the backlash on the proposed FP limits then I would again say Disney dropped the ball by not gathering info before deciding on system implementation.

 

[Robo]

The original FP was only an improvement because there remained many visitors ignorant to it that allowed others to exploit the system. And basically everyone on this board was getting more FPs than they should have, because of those people that under utilized it, or simply didn't use it.

FP+ will get rid of that. You'll only be getting your fair share of FPs from now on.

You're welcome.

Jason

Anyone who has seen TSM, Soarin', Space Mtn., Safari and Exp. Everest at opening time through about 2PM can attest that this info is flawed.

 

[whatsarahsaid]

Question for the testers: Is one of the questions you're asked whether you would like the FP+ system if you weren't allowed to use the legacy system at the same time?

Yes...we were asked that and we said we would be less favorable towards the FP+ if they got rid of the legacy system or some incarnation of it. I told them in an ideal world that we would get an allotment of FP+ to book before trip but still have the capability to grab day of FP. I also mentioned this was a sentiment shared by MANY people on this message board.

 

[doggydoc]

Yes...we were asked that and we said we would be less favorable towards the FP+ if they got rid of the legacy system or some incarnation of it. I told them in an ideal world that we would get an allotment of FP+ to book before trip but still have the capability to grab day of FP. I also mentioned this was a sentiment shared by MANY people on this message board.

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time for the survey and representing the views of many here. The fact that the question was at least asked (finally!) gives me hope.

 

[whatsarahsaid]

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time for the survey and representing the views of many here. The fact that the question was at least asked (finally!) gives me hope.

I made sure to make that a HUGE point in the focus group. And the moderator asked me to elaborate several times. It really seemed to me that he was listening to my concerns and valued the feedback.