MDE/FP+ Poll Results

JimmyV

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On yesterday's Podcast, Pete revealed the results of the poll posted on FB regarding the opinions of MDE and FP+, and he expressed "surprise" over the "big minority" of people who say that they "do not like" the new system. The actual poll results were (with rounding):
  • 51% said they liked it
  • 39% said that it "could be good but it needs work"
  • 10% said they hated it

As with all poll results and statistics, the results are subject to varying interpretations which the cynics will call "spin". I am not in any way suggesting that Pete engaged in "spin" to advance an agenda, but I will submit that there is at least one other way to view these results. While he views these results as being indicative of the fact that the vast majority of people like MDE/FP+ and that the Boards are peppered with the complaints of a vocal minority, a different view would be that when Disney spends billions of dollars on a game-changing initiative and only half the people say they like it, there is a problem.

A second, and more important read of these results is derived from the way the poll was presented--with a middle option as a choice. I don't think it is fair to assume that the 39% of people who said that "it could be good but needs changes" are people who fall into the "like it" camp. Indeed, anyone who reads these Boards regularly has noted that I have, on occasion (;)) voiced a criticism or two.....yet I voted for the middle option. Why? Because it is the truth. But here is where things get dicey. There are two types of "it could be good if they make some changes". The first is: The changes are obvious and Disney will no doubt make them, and when they do, I will be squarely in the "like it" camp; and then there is the: If I were head mouse for a day, I would make a number of changes that would cause me to like the system, but I really don't see those changes coming, so I fear that I am stuck with the current system. Even if you believe the latter, then the middle poll option becomes the truthful response, and that is certainly how I voted. For example, I would like MDE/FP+ if they reverted back to a system whereby all guests are allowed to book FP+ on the same day. FP- was a feature that was tethered to the fact that you bought an admission ticket. It was not tethered to where you stayed. While Disney has every right to reward people for staying on site with a perk, I personally don't like that feature and would like to see a change whereby FP+ is linked to park admission only. If they made that change, I could be swayed over to the "like" side. But that change isn't coming. Also, I would like to see the booking window retracted to something far less than 60 days. I think that asking people to micro-manage their days so far in advance is silly and adds unneeded stress. Why not book 14 days in advance? Do that, and I could move over to the "like it" column. But that change isn't coming. I could go on, but you get the point. One can vote for the "It could be good with changes" option yet still feel that the system in its current iteration is deficient. To lump that 39% into the "like it" group, (or, at a minimum, siphon them out of the "hate it" group) may be overly optimistic. If the middle option had been removed, perhaps the poll results would have been more revealing.

The third issue I see is with the wording of the poll itself. On one end of the spectrum you have "like". On the other end, "hate". They do not balance one another. I hate genocidal African war lords who murder entire villages. I hate mayonnaise. A ride allocation system in an amusement park? Hatred doesn't come into play, making it hard to pick that option. I would submit that a more precise picture could be painted if only two options had been presented with them being:

Assume that MDE/FP+ exists in its final form with no changes on the horizon. Would you say...
  • I am impressed. All things considered, MDE/FP+ has had a materially positive impact on my planning and/or my visits.
  • I am not impressed. All things considered, MDE/FP+ has not positively impacted my planning and/or visits in any material way.


If the 39% move over to the "impressed" column, then Pete is right and Bitter Town is inhabited by a small but vocal minority. But if the 39% move over to the "not impressed" column, then perhaps Bitter Town should be renamed "Disappointed-ville" and we would have to concede that its population is quite large. I don't know which would happen, and it is entirely possible that Pete's interpretation of the data is spot on. I simply submit that there is another possibility.
 
What was the total number of respondents?

49% of customers not rating your services as "acceptable" or better without caveat would be a real issue for any company, and would fail KPI standards for any customer survey.
 
They are also only polling people who have self selected as Disney fans, then self-selected again as intense enough fans to watch a podcast and/or follow a Disney fan group on facebook :P
 

They are also only polling people who have self selected as Disney fans, then self-selected again as intense enough fans to watch a podcast and/or follow a Disney fan group on facebook :P

This is true, but I don't think that it skews the results. The people who post here also fit that description and there is plenty of dissent.
 
This is true, but I don't think that it skews the results. The people who post here also fit that description and there is plenty of dissent.

Plenty of dissent sure, but representative of the general population, one way or another ? I wouldn't think so.
 
How does the sayings go? Lies, damn lies and statistics?

I'd be ok if Disney interpreted this as "promising, but requires further investigation" but depending on a person's stake in the results I could easily see someone calling these results a barely qualified success.

I guess I'm a waffler - I like the wording of your new survey questions, but of course a reader will notice that one of those is the "good" choice and one the "bad". In the original, I'd have said "could be good but needs work" and although I am not a FP *lover*, in your new wording, my honest answer has to be that it had a materially positive impact on my trip (also materially negative impacts, though in terms of pre-trip stress, but that's not represented). Interesting.
 
Plenty of dissent sure, but representative of the general population, one way or another ? I wouldn't think so.

That is absolutely true. This cannot be considered to be a scientific poll designed to adduce the views of the general population. But I guess what I was driving at more than the scientific nature of the results was Pete's shock at how many posts he sees on the Boards complaining about FP+ compared to how few people voted that they hated it. He looks at the results and concludes that the negative posts are highly disproportionate as compared to the general approval of FP+. And if it is true that only 10% of people are disappointed with the system, then he is absolutely right. But until we drill down and figure out what the other 39% were thinking, (and whether those 39% add to the negative chatter here), then we don't really have a complete picture. If those 39% are part of the negative chorus, then the number of negative posts shouldn't be surprising.
 
I think I need a third choice in the new poll: "it had a materially positive impact, but equally material negative impacts and not enough positive to outweigh my perception of what else could have been done with the investment of time and resources". . . Have you gotten bored of me and quit the survey yet? ;)
 
That is absolutely true. This cannot be considered to be a scientific poll designed to adduce the views of the general population. But I guess what I was driving at more than the scientific nature of the results was Pete's shock at how many posts he sees on the Boards complaining about FP+ compared to how few people voted that they hated it. He looks at the results and concludes that the negative posts are highly disproportionate as compared to the general approval of FP+. And if it is true that only 10% of people are disappointed with the system, then he is absolutely right. But until we drill down and figure out what the other 39% were thinking, (and whether those 39% add to the negative chatter here), then we don't really have a complete picture. If those 39% are part of the negative chorus, then the number of negative posts shouldn't be surprising.

While Pete might be shocked, is he also the one who some podcast listeners have indicated would cut short any negative discussion about MDE/FP by other podcasters? Would he be shocked at the results of the same poll of the podcast members themselves?
 
I like the wording of your new survey questions, but of course a reader will notice that one of those is the "good" choice and one the "bad". In the original, I'd have said "could be good but needs work" and although I am not a FP *lover*, in your new wording, my honest answer has to be that it had a materially positive impact on my trip (also materially negative impacts, though in terms of pre-trip stress, but that's not represented). Interesting.

Fair point. I just edited the wording. Better?
 
I think I need a third choice in the new poll: "it had a materially positive impact, but equally material negative impacts and not enough positive to outweigh my perception of what else could have been done with the investment of time and resources". . . Have you gotten bored of me and quit the survey yet? ;)

I'll concede that no wording can be perfect, and I wasn't intending to take the Podcast crew to task for poor wording. To the contrary, their wording is certainly one way to ask the questions. We just have to be careful how we view the results.

While Pete might be shocked, is he also the one who some podcast listeners have indicated would cut short any negative discussion about MDE/FP by other podcasters? Would he be shocked at the results of the same poll of the podcast members themselves?
I did not personally witness (if listening to a podcast is "witnessing") Pete cut short any discussions, so I cast no blame and will not go there. But I was a bit surprised at how none of the other Podcast crew chimed in to reiterate their views, and seemed to jump on the "the 10% are whiners" bandwagon, especially given that a week earlier, several of them had harsh words for MED/FP+.
 
"Over thirteen hundred responses" according to the Podcast.

Plenty of dissent sure, but representative of the general population, one way or another ? I wouldn't think so.

Certainly makes me wonder WHO they surveyed, WHAT they asked, and exactly what was qualified as an "experience" that was overwhelmingly rated excellent when Iger claimed in the just-released 2014 Stockholder Report that:

"Almost 10 million guests have sported our MagicBands, unlocking a new level of convenience and having more fun in the parks, and they overwhelmingly say the experience is “excellent.”"
 
Come on you put any poll results on the disboards... if it concluded that most guests hated FP+, you'd go... See? It's bad. When it's good, you go.... They must be spinning this. Others said 2 years ago that attendance would drop because of FP+. Now 2 years later attendance is roaring... and now it's... well, we don't know if it's because of FP+, maybe more people are just going for other reasons.

Bottom line is, MOST guests are "content to happy" with FP+. Yes, there is a sliver of the population with a legit gripe, because they were the few users of FP- before, and it really helped them way more than most other guests. This is a known fact. But for most guests, the new FP+ gets them more fast passes than they used to.

As to "49% being good". Come on. This is a functional tool, not a sensational-type item. Like... if you surveyed people about a table. Do 99.99% of the guests review it? No. A leg breaks for ONE person, he posts a review, and the reviews speak 100% about table legs breaking. But really, most of the guests just put things on it, it's fine, if they were to rate it it would be "fine". Not great, magical, delightful or anything.

This is the same thing. It's a tool, you charge your purchases to it, it gets you on some rides. Did it work? Yes. Did you skip the 3 lines? Yes. Great. It worked fine, and it gets most users on more rides than they used to. That's why you're seeing 90% "content or better". You're not interested in those who are thrilled by a functional tool like a drill or a queuing system.

FP+ is just more successful than those who don't like it are simply willing to give it credit for. It worked, it was a success, it did not kill Disney World, and the takeaway is it's only going to grow from here. Disneyland, here it comes. :confused3 If you like FP-, go to DL now.

This is just a tool to take what we used to do in an old fashioned way, and move it to our phones. If you were to ask me about my bank app... depositing checks. I've completely cut out going to the bank now. Would I rate their app as thrilling? Does it make me happier to use it? Of course not. It's a bank. It works, it deposits the checks. It glitches once in a while, but in general it works, and it does save me time overall. Nuff said.
 
Bottom line is, MOST guests are "content to happy" with FP+.

I guess this is the question that I am raising. Your statement might be true, given that 51% in an unscientific poll voted that they like it. But my question is, is it fair to place the 39% who voted for the middle response in that category? The conclusion that you draw becomes so much more profound when the numbers are 90%-10%. (And that seemed to be what Pete was suggesting.) But if the middle 39% do not, as of this moment, count themselves as being "content to happy", then the results would be 51%-49%. Were that the case, your statement that MOST guests are "content to happy" remains true (by a single percentage point). But the results would not paint a particularly rosy picture. I'll admit that I don't know where the 39% land. (I only know that I was one of the 39% and I cannot throw myself into the "content to happy" camp just yet). Can you similarly admit that you don't know where the 39% land either?

Also, as noted in the previous podcast, the clients of Dreams Unlimited who have travel agents booking their visits for them seem to be far more "confused" than "content" or "happy" and it is a fair guess that these people and others like them (who comprise numbers far greater than super fans) did not vote in the poll. So where is the overall support for the "MOST" conclusion?
 
I'll concede that no wording can be perfect, and I wasn't intending to take the Podcast crew to task for poor wording. To the contrary, their wording is certainly one way to ask the questions. We just have to be careful how we view the results.


I did not personally witness (if listening to a podcast is "witnessing") Pete cut short any discussions, so I cast no blame and will not go there. But I was a bit surprised at how none of the other Podcast crew chimed in to reiterate their views, and seemed to jump on the "the 10% are whiners" bandwagon, especially given that a week earlier, several of them had harsh words for MED/FP+.

There were some different people on the show this week.
 
Come on you put any poll results on the disboards... if it concluded that most guests hated FP+, you'd go... See? It's bad. When it's good, you go.... They must be spinning this. Others said 2 years ago that attendance would drop because of FP+. Now 2 years later attendance is roaring... and now it's... well, we don't know if it's because of FP+, maybe more people are just going for other reasons.

Bottom line is, MOST guests are "content to happy" with FP+. Yes, there is a sliver of the population with a legit gripe, because they were the few users of FP- before, and it really helped them way more than most other guests. This is a known fact. But for most guests, the new FP+ gets them more fast passes than they used to.

As to "49% being good". Come on. This is a functional tool, not a sensational-type item. Like... if you surveyed people about a table. Do 99.99% of the guests review it? No. A leg breaks for ONE person, he posts a review, and the reviews speak 100% about table legs breaking. But really, most of the guests just put things on it, it's fine, if they were to rate it it would be "fine". Not great, magical, delightful or anything.

This is the same thing. It's a tool, you charge your purchases to it, it gets you on some rides. Did it work? Yes. Did you skip the 3 lines? Yes. Great. It worked fine, and it gets most users on more rides than they used to. That's why you're seeing 90% "content or better". You're not interested in those who are thrilled by a functional tool like a drill or a queuing system.

FP+ is just more successful than those who don't like it are simply willing to give it credit for. It worked, it was a success, it did not kill Disney World, and the takeaway is it's only going to grow from here. Disneyland, here it comes. :confused3 If you like FP-, go to DL now.

This is just a tool to take what we used to do in an old fashioned way, and move it to our phones. If you were to ask me about my bank app... depositing checks. I've completely cut out going to the bank now. Would I rate their app as thrilling? Does it make me happier to use it? Of course not. It's a bank. It works, it deposits the checks. It glitches once in a while, but in general it works, and it does save me time overall. Nuff said.

:thumbsup2 well said!
 
I guess this is the question that I am raising. Your statement might be true, given that 51% in an unscientific poll voted that they like it. But my question is, is it fair to place the 39% who voted for the middle response in that category?

Yes it is. For success of a functional tool, one should be interested in "performs its intended job or better". You said you were able to make it work for you. Sure there are things you'd change if you were in charge. This poll does not really care what you'd change if you were in charge. You, like most people, are in the "yes, it works fine, it could be better, it could be worse, but overall, it's fine -- it does what it was designed to do" category. If 90% are in this group, that's fine. It's like... blowers in the bathrooms. If they just "work" and are clean, they're fine. Disney doesn't care if you particularly "like" them. You could put 100 different blowers in a selection and 100 guests would all pick different ones they like. So everyone liking one in particular is just not realistic. However, everyone agreeing that... well, this may not have been my first choice, and I might have done this or that differently, but in the end it gets the job done... that's the goal.

Right? There is NO system conceivable that would please every guest.

But you compare this to FP-, where only 10% of the guests even used it... and with most now using FP+, 49% giving it a definite like, 39% giving it a "it's livable" nod, and only 10% disliking it... which will be the 10% that got the most out of FP-... that's about what I'd expect to see.
 
I can't believe a comparison is being made to bathroom blowers.

The "experience" being rated is a 100% consumer discretionary purchase. A rather large purchase. In any other context the results would be cause for extreme concern. If only 51% of McDonald's customers rated their meal as "acceptable", if only 51% of airline passengers rated their flight as "acceptable", if only 51% of new vehicle owners rated their vehicle as "acceptable", there wouldn't be any confusion as to the significance.
 














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