New way to get FPs depending on where you stay?

[LilGMom]

Has anyone seen this? www.jimhillmedia.com - Scroll down to the articles and read the first one that talks about the Fastpasses.

I wonder how that will work with DVCers staying on points. I know it is still inthe very early stages and WDW has things to work out with this possible FP thing

 

[salmoneous]

Has anyone seen this? www.jimhillmedia.com - Scroll down to the articles and read the first one that talks about the Fastpasses.

Note the source - Jim Hill. His reliability is somewhere between bus drivers and monorail captains.

I think the first time Jim and the Unofficial Guide guy started talking about fastpass patents was 2004 or so. So far, none of the options they've discussed have applied. Personally, I don't think any of these changes will be put into place.

 

[KelNottAt]

Personally, I don't think any of these changes will be put into place.

Aww, don't say that. I think it sounds cool. And I'd hope DVC members and guests get the same FP treatment as deluxe resort guests.

 

[Chester's Mum]

So I guess if you don't have a cell phone, or you don't want to pay your cell phone supplier $20 (? Canada) for the long distance call, you can't get a fast pass? That would be really bad for me. It takes away from the awesome customer service at Disney, and that's the main thing that's kept me going year after year.

 

[highoctane]

Can someone post the Basics, I am at work and that site is blocked.

 

[childsplay]

Basically the article is saying that in the patent Disney submitted they reserved the right to allocate FP to guests based on which resort they stayed at and that as part of the technology you would be able to select FP's for the times and attractions in the park you intended to visit the next day from the TV in your room (that would be hooked up to their central computer system). Which would download the information to your cell phone and allert you as your FP times approached that day. You could even just use your cell phone to show the attendant checking fastpasses.
All of this is just pure speculation and "what if's"...its pretty standard operating procedure with patents to cover as many uses and possible applications as possible, so I wouldn't get tooo excited right now, as others have pointed out.
Hope that helps a little.

 

[Ratpack]

As DVC members, we will have to pay $95 to get fastpasses!!

Actually, there a couple threads on the theme park section about this. One poster did note that Disney has applied for numerous patents regarding FP just so no one can duplicate it or they will not have to pay someone else for what they "might" want to do. Most likely this is just another idea they have had and are just getting the patent on it. We'll see if it actually comes into play in the future.

 

[JimMIA]

I think this is actually pretty old news. Hill must have just picked up on it, or the patent application he mentions is a refinement of one they did a year or two ago.

I remember seeing threads on this quite a while back. Most of the speculation at that time was that Disney was trying to come up with a response to Universal's Front of the Line program. Or maybe they were inspired by the success of FOL and were developing another incentive for staying onsite...in addition to DME, free parking, DDP, etc. If they didn't charge for it, this would be a pretty nice inducement to stay onsite.

It seems like it would be a pretty simple thing to put X number of FastPasses on a room key at checkin, and then have the guest swipe the key to enter the FP line. Of course, it seemed like a pretty simple thing to put DDP credits on the cards, too...

I wonder what a room key with FPs good until midnight of checkout day would go for?

 

[LilGMom]

Note the source - Jim Hill. His reliability is somewhere between bus drivers and monorail captains.

I think the first time Jim and the Unofficial Guide guy started talking about fastpass patents was 2004 or so. So far, none of the options they've discussed have applied. Personally, I don't think any of these changes will be put into place.

Ok. I don't know Jim Hill from a hill of beans rotfl2 and I was curious about this since like a PP said there are a few threads in the Theme Parks & Attractions section about this. It'll be interesting to see if anything comes of it.

 

[JimMIA]

I just noticed another thread over on the DVC Planning board. When I went to it, the thread was started in May 2005.

Save that old tie -- it'll be back in a few years from now!