Heard some FP kiosks were uncovered in MK today

[finedice]

Can anyone verify?

 

[Wandering Oaken]

They have been uncovered for several days. Nothing more about them. Not active but they are turned on.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/paid-fp-options-coming-soon-to-wdw.3739005/page-215#post-63108001

 

[finedice]

Woohoo!

 

[snowwhite84]

Yahooooooo!!!!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Yay! Can I hope that the old FP system will be available for my trip in July?

 

[Wandering Oaken]

Yay! Can I hope that the old FP system will be available for my trip in July?

Just a guess on my part but I would say it's not likely. I bet they don't have anything available for fastpass whether it's free or paid until sometime in August. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[cakebaker]

Just a guess on my part but I would say it's not likely. I bet they don't have anything available for fastpass whether it's free or paid until sometime in August. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope you're wrong too! It would make a huge difference in what we are able to do on our trip and really, it's sort of a tipping point as to whether we go at all.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

I hope you're wrong too! It would make a huge difference in what we are able to do on our trip and really, it's sort of a tipping point as to whether we go at all.

I understand. I can book our trip right now but I'm not doing it until I find out about fastpass. If they don't bring it back free then we're staying off property and I'll save money. If they bring it back and it's free we'll stay on property for the benefit of being able to book our fast passes 60/180 days out.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

Another thing I don't understand about the fastpass kiosks is why are they uncovering them? I understand installing them in anticipation of an upcoming release of FP+ but why uncover them? Installing new ones and uncovering all of the pre-existing ones makes it seem as though they're getting ready to announce something any day now.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Another thing I don't understand about the fastpass kiosks is why are they uncovering them? I understand installing them in anticipation of an upcoming release of FP+ but why uncover them? Installing new ones and uncovering all of the pre-existing ones makes it seem as though they're getting ready to announce something any day now.

My hope? They just announce one day they are available when people are already in the park.

Call me crazy I just think they will allow it to be there and allow people to book who are already at the park or have reservation and trips are within 30 days. Just a dumb guess

Just don’t see the point of uncovering them if they don’t plan to allow them to be used ASAP. Not 30-60 days from now

 

[Evita_W]

Yay! Can I hope that the old FP system will be available for my trip in July?

My guess is fp+ is dead and there will be a replacement mid July to end of August.

 

[Evita_W]

My hope? They just announce one day they are available when people are already in the park.

Call me crazy I just think they will allow it to be there and allow people to book who are already at the park or have reservation and trips are within 30 days. Just a dumb guess

Just don’t see the point of uncovering them if they don’t plan to allow them to be used ASAP. Not 30-60 days from now

Considering I seriously suspect they will work more like old paper FP with Disneyland's Maxpass than FP+, I can see this happening.

 

[wdw&sonny]

Which kiosks are these? The old paper ones, or the FP+ kiosks to schedule a FP digitally?

 

[cakebaker]

Which kiosks are these? The old paper ones, or the FP+ kiosks to schedule a FP digitally?

They are the FP+ kiosks. There’s no way they’re going back to the old system. Paper fp was not working and that’s why they changed to FP+. Some may not like FP+, but it was doing exactly what Disney wanted. It didn’t stop because it was bad and there’s no reason to not bring it back. That’s just wishful thinking for those who never liked it to start with.

 

[gap2368]

Which kiosks are these? The old paper ones, or the FP+ kiosks to schedule a FP digitally?

FP+ ones

 

[Wandering Oaken]

They are the FP+ kiosks. There’s no way they’re going back to the old system. It was not working and that’s why they changed. Some may not like FP+, but it was doing exactly what Disney wanted. It didn’t stop because it was bad and there’s no reason to not bring it back. That’s just wishful thinking for those who never liked it to start with.

Why do you say that it wasn't working?

And they didn't change anything. They just suspended it. There wasn't a problem that suddenly caused TDO to shut down FP+.

 

[Evita_W]

They are the FP+ kiosks. There’s no way they’re going back to the old system. It was not working and that’s why they changed. Some may not like FP+, but it was doing exactly what Disney wanted. It didn’t stop because it was bad and there’s no reason to not bring it back. That’s just wishful thinking for those who never liked it to start with.

No, I think it will be similar to the old system, day of only and unless you pay for the ability to book from your phone (Maxpass), you will have to go to the kiosks that are closest to the attraction you want a FP for. I say it will be something like this for a few reasons:
1. They are installing A LOT more kiosks in many of the locations, some as many as 20 extra kiosks.

2. We know Disney wants to monetize everything they can right now and this is an easy way to do so and provide what many will see as value since Maxpass also includes Photopass.

3. Outside of these boards A LOT of people complain about having to book FPs in advance with FP+, for the average guest it is problematic and according to several guest relations CMs that DH has spoken with prior to COVID was among the top 3 complaints they were getting. Again, we need to remember that those of us on the boards are the outliers, bit the average guest.

4. It would create a unified system on both coasts and make things easier for Disney to manage. This of us on these boards understand that both coasts are different, but Disney has been demonstrating lately that they just don't get this. I could even see this expanding to all parks world wide except Tokyo since Disney doesn't own or operate that park.

5. I suspect that whatever new membership program Disney comes up with to replace APs at Disneyland will replace APs at all of their parks, again, except Tokyo. I would imagine that some of the benefits will tie into a new FP (likely Maxpass) setup.

6. Chapek said that the shutdowns provided an opportunity to reimagine everything from AP programs to Entertainment to FP and FP+. I can't imagine him specifically mentioning FP if there aren't going to be some changes on the horizon.

I could certainly be wrong, but I would honestly be extremely surprised to see FP+ come back as it was, it created longer standby wait times, didn't get people spending money while waiting for return times and caused a lot of complaints from a lot of guests (only Disney really knows if it is most guests).

 

[cakebaker]

Why do you say that it wasn't working?

And they didn't change anything. They just suspended it. There wasn't a problem that suddenly caused TDO to shut down FP+.

Perhaps I wasn't clear- I meant the old FP system wasn't working. People had learned how to game it and it was just failing. That's why we got FP+. I'll make my post more clear, it is confusing.

 

[Evita_W]

Perhaps I wasn't clear- I meant the old FP system wasn't working. People had learned how to game it and it was just failing. That's why we got FP+. I'll make my post more clear, it is confusing.

But FP+ wasn't working either, which is why Disneyland never got it and instead got Maxpass, it helped solve a lot of the old issues and added a revenue stream to the service and eliminated the issues the average guest was having with FP+.

 

[cakebaker]

it created longer standby wait time

It didn't and there have been plenty of testing that went on to prove it, especially for headliners. It does slightly increase waits for secondary rides, but that's because more people were grabbing FP's for them and since the waits for secondaries was not usually long, any increase is significant. Thing is, get a FP and you don't care what the standby line is. Longer lines for rides that you don't get a fp for can be ridden early in the mornings or late at night when waits are short regardless. You just have to know how to maximize your time and FP for secondary rides is not neccessary. It was working just fine, some people just didn't like it. People who are unhappy are much more likely to be vocal than those that are satisfied. I'd tell you that most people loved FP but I have no idea, just as you don't as to how many didn't.

The bottom line is the only reason FP+ stopped was Covid. It wasn't flawed and there's no reason not to have it return in it's original form.