Just back from a week at WDW! Got some definite opinions/observations

[jalaine]

Right. It's almost like saying "1 doesn't exist anymore the way we remember 1 existing." Which then would mean that 10 is way more busy than we remember. But that can't be right because eventually they close down entrance to the park, so 10 never actually changes.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I feel that as the days go by that I will add a little bit here and there as I remember more. I'm also not much of a picture taker, so I looked through the meager few that I had and figured there had to be a good reason I took the few I did.

One more addition right now:

- My sister bought me a WDW Dole Whip T-shirt online a couple years ago and I wore it to MK the first day. I don't know where she got it or if it is WDW official, but I got lots of comments. I asked at the Dole Whip stand if I could get a discount for my shirt, and the CMs loved it so much they gave me a super sized 2x Dole Whip! It was great.

EDIT:

Pictured: NOT Dole Whip.

LOVE the shirt! And it's definitely Disney official My husband got the same one at the Poly about a year ago…they had a women's one too, but not in my size. Went back in January this year and Poly gift shop had zero of either of them. Thanks for your mini TR!

 

[surferdave]

Right. It's almost like saying "1 doesn't exist anymore the way we remember 1 existing." Which then would mean that 10 is way more busy than we remember. But that can't be right because eventually they close down entrance to the park, so 10 never actually changes.

Actually it has changed, if WDW execs reports to stockholders & board are to be believed. They credited MM+ with allowing them to cram so many more (I think it was in the thousands) people in the Magic Kingdom over Christmas or New Years.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

Actually it has changed, if WDW execs reports to stockholders & board are to be believed. They credited MM+ with allowing them to cram so many more (I think it was in the thousands) people in the Magic Kingdom over Christmas or New Years.

I do remember reading that article. I think it was 3,000 over the Christmas holiday. I don't understand tho. I mean MM+ can' change fire marshal capacity rules. I thought at first it meant turnover maybe. But recently read a similar article and they made it sound like more folks were actually in the park.

OP - thanks for the informative and hilarious report. I like your humor and love the Dole Whip shirt. Now I'm on a mission.

 

[AngiTN]

I do remember reading that article. I think it was 3,000 over the Christmas holiday. I don't understand tho. I mean MM+ can' change fire marshal capacity rules. I thought at first it meant turnover maybe. But recently read a similar article and they made it sound like more folks were actually in the park.

OP - thanks for the informative and hilarious report. I like your humor and love the Dole Whip shirt. Now I'm on a mission.

Maybe Disney sit their own limit that is lower than the Fire Marshall limit? If so, then they can raise it, as long as it doesn't surprise the legal limit

 

[surferdave]

I do remember reading that article. I think it was 3,000 over the Christmas holiday. I don't understand tho. I mean MM+ can' change fire marshal capacity rules. I thought at first it meant turnover maybe. But recently read a similar article and they made it sound like more folks were actually in the park.

OP - thanks for the informative and hilarious report. I like your humor and love the Dole Whip shirt. Now I'm on a mission.

They can't cram more people in a particular building than fire capacity, but I think they can cram as many people into outdoor areas and buildings that were previously under capacity as they please. It's a matter of encouraging guests to fill spaces they weren't filling before. Based on the new paradigm where people are thrilled to get a Fastpass for It's Tough to be a Bug or Carousel of Progress, I would say they've pulled that off.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

They can't cram more people in a particular building than fire capacity, but I think they can cram as many people into outdoor areas and buildings that were previously under capacity as they please. It's a matter of encouraging guests to fill spaces they weren't filling before. Based on the new paradigm where people are thrilled to get a Fastpass for It's Tough to be a Bug or Carousel of Progress, I would say they've pulled that off.

LIKE BUTTON.

Testify, SurferDave!

 

[practicallyperfect77]

They can't cram more people in a particular building than fire capacity, but I think they can cram as many people into outdoor areas and buildings that were previously under capacity as they please. It's a matter of encouraging guests to fill spaces they weren't filling before. Based on the new paradigm where people are thrilled to get a Fastpass for It's Tough to be a Bug or Carousel of Progress, I would say they've pulled that off.

OK...totally see what you're saying. And yeah....def pulled something off. I'm stoked I can get a FP+ for Stitch now.

 

[johde]

They can't cram more people in a particular building than fire capacity, but I think they can cram as many people into outdoor areas and buildings that were previously under capacity as they please. It's a matter of encouraging guests to fill spaces they weren't filling before. Based on the new paradigm where people are thrilled to get a Fastpass for It's Tough to be a Bug or Carousel of Progress, I would say they've pulled that off.

Taking a "slightly" less downbeat approach. Part of the issues with capacity in the parks involves the bottlenecks in the parks. With FP- you needed to travel to a given location twice. Once to collect the FP and once to ride. During the holidays, the FP return time is most likely going to be several hours in the future. So, that means traveling into and out of an area of the park twice. Since, with FP+ you only need to go to an area once, because you can prebook at home and book at any Kiosk in the park, there won't be as much crisscrossing the park and less traffic through the "pinch points"

An example where MM+ hasn't helped is Main St. around parade time. During Christmas to New Years that's a very common time to have a short term phased closing. Not because the entire park is full but because Main St. is full.

Prior to the parade, Disney CM try to make sure there's a traffic of people flowing. If Main St. get so full of people waiting to watch the parade the traffic can't flow, they can't let additional people into the park until after the parade is over.

Likewise, on NYE at EPCOT, the had two lanes for "traffic" taped the entire way around world showcase. CM were stationed every 30 feet telling guests where to be to travel clockwise or counter clockwise around World Showcase. And that that area was not for standing around. If you wanted to just stand, you needed to move off to the side.

 

[bladiator]

So would you say fastpass + and standby were about an equal wait on some of the less popular rides ?

Probably couldn't say they are the same wait for most. Star Tours was just the most blatantly obvious issue. If the FP line had gone all the way to the top and then they just started pointing people towards the simulators, then it would be a better FP experience. If it comes down to whether or not you can walk faster than someone in the adjoining lane, then it isn't. And it also has a little bit to do with how the CM at the end of the FP line allows people to get into line. From the threads I read early on about FP+, the CMs were letting ALL FP holders in before any of the SB, probably so that FP felt like you were getting the benefit you were expecting. It seems that they've eased off that a LOT now, and it feels a lot more like the old way of filtering FP and SB in together. So sometimes, they'll see you coming in the FP line, and they'll hold the SB line until you get in. Other times, the CMs will just flood SB through until you get right up to the readers. In those cases, the FP line doesn't feel nearly as beneficial.

Another thing I heard a lot that drove me crazy:

"Please fill in all available space! It will help us speed up the process of getting on the ride."

*ahem* -- NO IT WON'T! No one likes squeezing into tight places with people that they don't know. I always do it because I don't really care what people think when I'm right next to them (being 6'7", I'm never face to face with anyone ... I'm usually bellybutton to face). But when the queue line is a LINE and not a big empty room, there's no reason to squeeze in except to give the appearance to the line behind you that they are still moving and not in fact, standing in one place.

I get the psychology behind constantly moving, but please don't tell me that it will make things go faster because a big amoeba of people heading towards a slot that will only allow one person through it is NOT better than a good old fashioned LINE. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Star Tours!)

 

[thebutlerdidit]

I was there 5/8 - 5/13. I loved FP+. The longest wait we had was probably 7 - 8 minutes. Because of a longer lunch we were 10 minutes late for a FP+. I didn't know it then, but you have a 15" leeway. We left Liberty Square at1:15 and were able to do Pooh and Peter Pan ( 2cnd FP +) and we're done by 1:40. No complaints!

 

[surferdave]

Taking a "slightly" less downbeat approach. Part of the issues with capacity in the parks involves the bottlenecks in the parks. With FP- you needed to travel to a given location twice. Once to collect the FP and once to ride. During the holidays, the FP return time is most likely going to be several hours in the future. So, that means traveling into and out of an area of the park twice. Since, with FP+ you only need to go to an area once, because you can prebook at home and book at any Kiosk in the park, there won't be as much crisscrossing the park and less traffic through the "pinch points"

An example where MM+ hasn't helped is Main St. around parade time. During Christmas to New Years that's a very common time to have a short term phased closing. Not because the entire park is full but because Main St. is full.

Prior to the parade, Disney CM try to make sure there's a traffic of people flowing. If Main St. get so full of people waiting to watch the parade the traffic can't flow, they can't let additional people into the park until after the parade is over.

Likewise, on NYE at EPCOT, the had two lanes for "traffic" taped the entire way around world showcase. CM were stationed every 30 feet telling guests where to be to travel clockwise or counter clockwise around World Showcase. And that that area was not for standing around. If you wanted to just stand, you needed to move off to the side.

They claimed that legacy Fastpass was greatly under utilized. It doesn't make sense to say that and then claim that FP- solves all the traffic problems it created.

 

[maryj11]

Probably couldn't say they are the same wait for most. Star Tours was just the most blatantly obvious issue. If the FP line had gone all the way to the top and then they just started pointing people towards the simulators, then it would be a better FP experience. If it comes down to whether or not you can walk faster than someone in the adjoining lane, then it isn't. And it also has a little bit to do with how the CM at the end of the FP line allows people to get into line. From the threads I read early on about FP+, the CMs were letting ALL FP holders in before any of the SB, probably so that FP felt like you were getting the benefit you were expecting. It seems that they've eased off that a LOT now, and it feels a lot more like the old way of filtering FP and SB in together. So sometimes, they'll see you coming in the FP line, and they'll hold the SB line until you get in. Other times, the CMs will just flood SB through until you get right up to the readers. In those cases, the FP line doesn't feel nearly as beneficial.

Another thing I heard a lot that drove me crazy:

"Please fill in all available space! It will help us speed up the process of getting on the ride."

*ahem* -- NO IT WON'T! No one likes squeezing into tight places with people that they don't know. I always do it because I don't really care what people think when I'm right next to them (being 6'7", I'm never face to face with anyone ... I'm usually bellybutton to face). But when the queue line is a LINE and not a big empty room, there's no reason to squeeze in except to give the appearance to the line behind you that they are still moving and not in fact, standing in one place.

I get the psychology behind constantly moving, but please don't tell me that it will make things go faster because a big amoeba of people heading towards a slot that will only allow one person through it is NOT better than a good old fashioned LINE. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Star Tours!)

That would be annoying them wanting everyone to cram in like sardines

 

[Bishoparc]

Thanks for the report! There is definitely some room left for improvement with the FastPass+ system. We had some issues this past weekend. We ended up having additional people come with us so I attempted to copy over our reservations to theirs from the mobile app. While it said "success", it ended up creating several separate reservations and messed our times up. With regards to the lines, we ended up not riding Test Track Friday night because the FastPass line was out the door and I just didn't feel like standing in line (even though I'm sure it was quite less of a line than the standby line.) Overall, it's a good system and I'm sure they'll make improvements as they find all the bugs.