MaxPass / Digital Fastpass - Discussion Thread

[wenrob]

It would seriously be awful for them to debut this system next week with no notice. We arrive on Wednesday next week with our first park day being Thursday. There are 7 people in our group. MaxPass would add up and we would need time to save and decide if it was worth spending money on. I feel like it would be in bad taste to just throw it out there without any prep for people who have already had trips booked for that time months ago.

Well someone is always going to have a trip booked no matter when it comes out. Don't panic. You don't have to buy Max Pass. What do you think is going to happen to your trip if it comes out when you're there? Max Pass is subject to the same rules as regular FP. I highly doubt locals will be into it and a large portion of Disneyland visitors are probably unaware of it. Those of us aware of every little thing happening in the parks are just a small portion. Most people just go without putting too much thought into it. You're trip will be fine, don't get yourself worked up over it.

 

[Khokhonutt]

It would seriously be awful for them to debut this system next week with no notice. We arrive on Wednesday next week with our first park day being Thursday. There are 7 people in our group. MaxPass would add up and we would need time to save and decide if it was worth spending money on. I feel like it would be in bad taste to just throw it out there without any prep for people who have already had trips booked for that time months ago.

2 things.

1. Mice Chat are also the folks who predicted this starting June 1st. I'm sure if you fling enough poo against the wall, it will stick eventually, just sayin'...

2. Here's my two cents, based on our experience the last week in June. Granted we already had a photo package purchased, so my interest in MaxPass at the time would have strictly been for getting FastPasses. That said, I had heard it was close, so I kept an eye out and was specifically interested in where I'd actually be able to utilize the internet to book rides. In my observation, they're going to have to significantly upgrade network connectivity to get any value out of a paid service for booking FastPasses.

I have Verizon, so your mileage may vary if you have another carrier, and I generally had decent internet while I was in the parks. That said, there were quite a few areas where either network saturation or dead spots kept me from accessing the Disneyland app. For many rides, I had zero connectivity while in the ride queue, which is where I'd imagine you would want the ability to book a FP most. I did watch for Disney wifi availability as well. It was very spotty AND it's an open, unsecure network which is personally a deal breaker for me. I'd rather see them secure the wifi and have you use your ticket as a password, or something to that effect. I realize that is just me being an IT guy. I know most folks will willy nilly connect to any free wifi to save on data because they don't know the risks. That said, even if you were willing to use their network, it wasn't very available. Maybe they're working on that, who knows, but given what I saw there would be zero value in MaxPass for me.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

... I have Verizon, so your mileage may vary if you have another carrier, and I generally had decent internet while I was in the parks. That said, there were quite a few areas where either network saturation or dead spots kept me from accessing the Disneyland app. For many rides, I had zero connectivity while in the ride queue, which is where I'd imagine you would want the ability to book a FP most. I did watch for Disney wifi availability as well. It was very spotty AND it's an open, unsecure network which is personally a deal breaker for me. I'd rather see them secure the wifi and have you use your ticket as a password, or something to that effect. I realize that is just me being an IT guy. I know most folks will willy nilly connect to any free wifi to save on data because they don't know the risks. That said, even if you were willing to use their network, it wasn't very available. Maybe they're working on that, who knows, but given what I saw there would be zero value in MaxPass for me.

Bingo! The husband of a friend of ours used to work with the telecommunication system in the parks (and does he have stories to tell...). He was rolling his eyes at the idea of MP as it currently stands. He advised me to stick with my own carrier until Disney can prove they can secure their wifi.

ETA: And I'm not sure how much value there is in MP for us. We already have free PP with our APs. And we actually like walking to get FPs. The extra exercise means extra treats. I could see using it if we were entertaining guests who only had one day in the parks. The price wouldn't be such a burden for just one day.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

You all raise good points and I will subside my initial panic. We also have already purchased a photo package so there is not much value in the system even if it is available during our trip. At least 3 adults in my group are young and able bodied to walk to collect fastpasses. And network connectivity is definitely an issue. We have AT&T service. Can anyone attest to its reliability in the parks? Phones constantly working hard to stay connected also drain in the battery area really quickly so it would be good to know what we will be up against.

 

[Wahlee]

I'm on AT&T and usually have pretty good connectivity in the parks, except in ride queues that are deep in buildings (think Indy, Space Mountain, Soarin'). Connectivity did go down during things like parades and fireworks, where there were a lot of people stuck waiting with nothing to do and trying to access the internet.

 

[STLstone]

You all raise good points and I will subside my initial panic. We also have already purchased a photo package so there is not much value in the system even if it is available during our trip. At least 3 adults in my group are young and able bodied to walk to collect fastpasses. And network connectivity is definitely an issue. We have AT&T service. Can anyone attest to its reliability in the parks? Phones constantly working hard to stay connected also drain in the battery area really quickly so it would be good to know what we will be up against.

This is probably just anecdotal evidence, but... I have AT&T. I was there 3 years ago. I'm somewhat of a smartphone addict, so I was most likely using it more than the average person, and I don't remember being unable to get a signal at any point while I was there.

 

[disneydadazut2]

So, let me ask some clarifying questions:

1. MaxPass will provide the ability to get FastPasses via phone, BUT there will still be booths available to collect FastPasses for free?

2. MaxPass will still enforce (via Park WiFi) the rule that one cannot get a FastPass until your ticket has been scanned for that park, correct?

3. I can upgrade to MaxPass on my Disneyland App during the day if I wanted to?

Thanks everyone... we arrive on Monday. What a crappy time (for me) to kick this mess off as I have young kids without phones/Disneyland Apps.

 

[Linkura]

WDWNT is now claiming it starts next week as well (they're claiming "on or around" the 19th), for what it's worth. No other info.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So, let me ask some clarifying questions:

1. MaxPass will provide the ability to get FastPasses via phone, BUT there will still be booths available to collect FastPasses for free?

2. MaxPass will still enforce (via Park WiFi) the rule that one cannot get a FastPass until your ticket has been scanned for that park, correct?

3. I can upgrade to MaxPass on my Disneyland App during the day if I wanted to?

Thanks everyone... we arrive on Monday. What a crappy time (for me) to kick this mess off as I have young kids without phones/Disneyland Apps.

1. Yes
2. This is unknown
3. Yes

You can link all the tickets on one phone, so it shouldn't matter that they don't have phones.

 

[disneydadazut2]

You can link all the tickets on one phone, so it shouldn't matter that they don't have phones.

Very Nice... Thank You!

 

[Stefne]

We will be in the parks starting on July 22. I really wish they would pick a date, announce it, and stick with it so we will know one way or another if this will be an option for our trip. I was planning to purchase photopass but do not want to pull the trigger on that if we will get the same benefit from maxpass.

 

[robert_j]

When I was in the parks last week I was consistently amazed at the people who would line up for a 60 minute wait with instant Fast Passes available at the gate. I think many people just will not use the FP system no matter what, so the introduction of MaxPass will have less of an impact than you would think.

 

[Davin_Felth]

When I was in the parks last week I was consistently amazed at the people who would line up for a 60 minute wait with instant Fast Passes available at the gate. I think many people just will not use the FP system no matter what, so the introduction of MaxPass will have less of an impact than you would think.

Three's also the possibility that a lot of people were in a two hour wait period to get a fast pass since they grabbed one for a higher demand ride. So standing in a 60 minute wait was what they decided to do to burn time until their next fast pass availability.

 

[robert_j]

Maybe, but then not a lot of rides had two hour waits. So unless everyone in the park was waiting on Space, I am skeptical.

 

[mom2rtk]

I saw one report that mentioned DLR having trouble getting people to understand the FP system. Apparently many APs are blacked out right now so the parks are full of non-regulars. Maybe that's why they went with the instant FPs, in an effort to motivate more usage.

 

[Wahlee]

I saw one report that mentioned DLR having trouble getting people to understand the FP system. Apparently many APs are blacked out right now so the parks are full of non-regulars. Maybe that's why they went with the instant FPs, in an effort to motivate more usage.

I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain to people in lines, or just outside of rides, how FP works. At least once per trip, and oftentimes to people who have visited DLR before. Most think it's an extra perk you have to pay for, or is only available to onsite guests.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

You all raise good points and I will subside my initial panic. We also have already purchased a photo package so there is not much value in the system even if it is available during our trip. At least 3 adults in my group are young and able bodied to walk to collect fastpasses. And network connectivity is definitely an issue. We have AT&T service. Can anyone attest to its reliability in the parks? Phones constantly working hard to stay connected also drain in the battery area really quickly so it would be good to know what we will be up against.

Between my wife and I we have three AT&T iPhones and we've never had a problem with calls or texts, but have had data issues.

 

[mom2rtk]

Most think it's an extra perk you have to pay for, or is only available to onsite guests.

Well, soon enough they'll be at least partially right.

 

[Lesley Wake]

1. Mice Chat are also the folks who predicted this starting June 1st. I'm sure if you fling enough poo against the wall, it will stick eventually, just sayin'...

Yeah, that "rumor" story is so full of false items it's pretty funny. I know people at WDI and so many items Micechat has mentioned in that story are just plain wrong! (I don't actually have specifics as the WDI people try to be as clandestine as possible but because I read the rumors here I can read between the lines of what they say)

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain to people in lines, or just outside of rides, how FP works. At least once per trip, and oftentimes to people who have visited DLR before. Most think it's an extra perk you have to pay for, or is only available to onsite guests.

Or how many people have refused (with horror and/or dismay) when we have offered them unused FPs. We've had parents snatch them away from their teens and throw them on the ground. LOL. Like the parents think we're trying to lure their kids into the dark underworld of DL. How many years has FP been around and some people just refuse to learn about it...