No more Stanby line for A&E?

[wn01aa]

I think the idea of a paper FP with a half hour return window with a half hour wait is an excellent idea for this meet and greet!

Make sure you get there in the first 30 minutes of park opening or your return time will either be late at night (or sold out and SOL).

 

[Disneylover99]

That all sounds wonderful. Then you get to the part where if you don't get one by the time they run out you don't see them at all. That is less awesome.

I guess I just don't see how lining up in the middle of the day for 2 or 3 hours could be awesome for anyone.

 

[wn01aa]

Not picking on anyone. But we all HAVE to stop calling these tickets, Fastpasses/FP. They aren't and overloading the term has and will cause confusion. They are not Fastpasses. They are I don't know "Standby Return Tickets?"

Standby+ or they will call one line Fastpass and the other Fastpass+.

 

[mesaboy2]

Not picking on anyone.

But we all HAVE to stop calling these tickets, Fastpasses/FP. They aren't and overloading the term has and will cause confusion.

They are not Fastpasses. They are I don't know "Standby Return Tickets?"

That's next on my list, right after I curb my use of initialisms.

And you mean: further confusion.

 

[ArwenMarie]

JTA is a pain in the neck, and believe me, you can have a kid as obsessed with that as Frozen.

That being said, I like the the way they have JTA set up. You get there and you know if you got a spot or not and can move on with the rest of your day if you didn't get one.

Maybe people will come to see these standby return tickets for this meet and greet the same way. I would prefer to just know but I would never wait more than an hour for a meet and greet (or a ride) anyway.

 

[lovethattink]

Time to uncover those old FP- legacy machines that are collecting dust and get them back into action. You need to scan your magicband or RFID card to get a ticket and will have to wait till you use it or wait a certain time before getting another ticket.

Uncover?! Most of them are GONE.

 

[Disneylover99]

Make sure you get there in the first 30 minutes of park opening or you return time will either by late at night (or sold out an SOL).

If this meet and greet is such an important priority, then people should be there in the first 30 minutes of park opening.

 

[mesaboy2]

I guess I just don't see how lining up in the middle of the day for 2 or 3 hours could be awesome for anyone.

Who's call is that to make? I know for a fact it's not mine.

 

[AngiTN]

JTA has set show times and I think that in and of itself implies some kind of capacity limit. M&Gs are continuous attractions that I think implies that if you get in line during the hours they meet, you can meet them. In that respect, M&Gs are no different than traditional attractions--the things we call rides.

If the Times Guide says A&E will meet from 9:00a to 12:00a, does that not suggest I can saunter up at any point in the day and not be turned away completely? Would the TG even say it that way anymore? I dunno....

Some are non-stop but some do have times just like JTA. A&E isn't one of them so I do see your point in the difference but some M&G appear in the program just like JTA. And folks are turned away from their lines.

I guess my point is, when people are used to things working that way, they survive when turned away. If this change takes place it will be a matter of conditioning people of thinking of the M&G in different terms.

 

[mesaboy2]

If this meet and greet is such an important priority, then people should be there in the first 30 minutes of park opening.

But they meet all day long. Everyone, including the late sleepers should have the same chance. It's all about equality, no?

 

[wn01aa]

Uncover?! Most of them are GONE.

Hopefully they are in storage somewhere to wheel out.

 

[clsteve]

Standby+ or they will call one line Fastpass and the other Fastpass+.

Standby +

Survey says... Winner! IMHO (sorry for the acronym )

 

[Aurora0427]

It's just the first day of a test.

Yeah, I know. It's still kind of ridiculous that they'll just hand out however many return tickets to one person just based on how many they ask for. Sucks for the people who just happen to be at the parks on the test days who can't get one.

 

[mesaboy2]

Some are non-stop but some do have times just like JTA. A&E isn't one of them so I do see your point in the difference but some M&G appear in the program just like JTA. And folks are turned away from their lines.

I guess my point is, when people are used to things working that way, they survive when turned away. If this change takes place it will be a matter of conditioning people of thinking of the M&G in different terms.

Everyone will survive, certainly. Most of those turned away will also have the phrase "that well and truly sucks" going through their head.

The current expectation, and rightly so, of a M&G with listed windows (not specific times) is that you can show up during that window and meet the characters. Now in reality that is not always the case, especially with the sometimes short 30-minute windows that some more popular characters appear within. So we have a CM at the end of the line denoting that it's closed.

A&E is changing the game entirely, isn't it? (That's a rhetorical question, btw.)

 

[mesaboy2]

Yeah, I know. It's still kind of ridiculous that they'll just hand out however many return tickets to one person just based on how many they ask for. Sucks for the people who just happen to be at the parks on the test days who can't get one.

Yep, I agree. Don't worry, they'll tweak it a little so it just sucks less.

 

[AndreaA]

But they meet all day long. Everyone, including the late sleepers should have the same chance. It's all about equality, no?

Agreed, and the other thing is that the waits often are NOT 3+ hours. Josh (easywdw) has mentioned seeing waits around 60-90min. Now that's more than I would wait, but it's not an astronomical amount of time and such waits are pretty common in the summer for SM, SplashMtn, and I'm sure SDMT.

 

[Emilyswish]

Is there any update on how the test is going today?

 

[faithtrustpixie]

Good one!

I do have a FP+ for them and we're set too. I'm honestly trying to find a way to be outraged for those that don't but mostly, I think the change is positive. I know that people should be free to stand in line for 3 hours if they want to but eh, things are what they are and if you get there and you can't then in my mind it's no different than getting to HS and finding you can't do JTA. Not once you drop the "it's always been that way" mind set.

We had better be doing both. While this trip is a surprise for DGD she's already said she wants to do JTA again when we got back. We had the misfortune of going to Disney in March 2013, when the temps dropped in to the upper 40's during the day and freezing at night. The weather was bitter cold on our HS day. She didn't enjoy her JTA at all, with the shivering and all.

Brrr! Talk about Frozen at JTA! I hope you have better weather this time. I get that about the positive change and I agree -- but it's much easier to have perspective on the big picture when you have your FP+ for something your little one wants to do. Sadly, my "we may or may not" see Anna and Elsa attitude was wrecked by Disney Channel and now DD8 wants to meet them very much. (I had breast cancer this year and she has been brave and a very good sport. This trip is our "mom survived cancer" celebration.) I know every single person has a special reason for their trip -- just wanted to add that because my usual "You get what you get" lifestyle is a little shaken up when it comes to a little girl who cheerfully hung around with a bald mom all year. As such, DH told her he would wait in line and make that happen for her. Now I think that may not work.

If I knew in advance, I would have told her right away that she may not be able to meet them. Now I have to let her know and I hate that. Will it ruin our trip? Heck no, but we are (sorry to say this) paying big bucks and this seems like a bummer.

Of course, I must add how lucky we all are to have this as a "problem" but we all just want fun things for our kids. Have a great day everyone

 

[Mommymarie]

Sorry, but in this case I think parents should be teaching their kids a little something about selflessness and generosity and taking their fair share. I would certainly feel like utter crap if I grabbed 4 passes knowing I already had a decent FP+ time and then saw some poor little girls crying because they were ten minutes too late.

If Disney wanted people to be able to do the same attraction multiple times, they'd have FP+ set up to allow it. Much as I dislike FP+, the whole point is to try to equalize the experience for guests - no one gets to hoard rides/M&Gs/attractions at the expense of someone else who doesn't get to do anything.

My thoughts exactly....parents are free to make decisions for their children...but sharing is a universal concept. If this was a traditional m&g feel free to hop in the standby line as many times as you want if that is what your kids like...but in this case there are limited numbers!

 

[River Country]

But they meet all day long. Everyone, including the late sleepers should have the same chance. It's all about equality, no?

Yeah it is about equality but not everyone has the same chance... I think Disney got it right here with FP+....If I am staying on WDW property I can book 60 days out....of not then 30 days out with valid park admission linked to MDE...so I was up on my 60 day mark and got my A&E and SDMT

So if I am paying a premium to stay at a WDW resort I get a perk....isn't it the same with dining 180+10 to snag the reservations I want????

The late sleepers have more of a chance by reserving FP+ later in the day...don't we all remember TSM and running at RD to get a FP- and then get in line so we can do it twice??? I know I am not alone here, but if you were a late sleeper there was no way you were getting a FP- for TSM or Soarin or TT because they were gone sometimes by 10AM for THE WHOLE DAY!!!!! so you can now wait on line for 2 hours.

This in theory sounds like a good idea