Non-resort guests can not reserve FP+ early

[mefordis]

I have a feeling in about a year WDW will take a hit. There will be a big marketing push, they will fill the parks (as they are now), then when people find out they spent all of this money and cannot ride anything, they will not return. They will also spread the word to their friends and family that it's too expensive, the parks are too crowded and lines are too long.

Look for a decline in park admission in 2015/2016. That would be the time to plan your trip, I guess.

 

[mom2rtk]

I have a feeling in about a year WDW will take a hit. There will be a big marketing push, they will fill the parks (as they are now), then when people find out they spent all of this money and cannot ride anything, they will not return. They will also spread the word to their friends and family that it's too expensive, the parks are too crowded and lines are too long.

Look for a decline in park admission in 2015/2016. That would be the time to plan your trip, I guess.

I would LOVE to see their bounceback booking rate right now compared to a year ago.

 

[Networth]

I have read Sklar's book and they have had many more successes than failures. Comparing MM+ to New Coke is apples to oranges. Coke changed their entire product, WDW would have to throw away Mickey according to that comparison. I have my gripes with the system I think tiering is ridiculous, and they need to figure out hopping. But I also think they are ahead of the curve on this one.

New guest will love this, once in a life timers as well, and most of the regulars will continue to visit. The potential for this system is almost sickening, what some companies spend trying to figure out what their customer want, Disney will have sitting in their lap. The food you eat, the resort you frequent, the amount of people you travel with, how long you stay, what park you like, what rides you like, do you shop, where, when, how much etc.

Obviously no one can see the future but I am putting my money where my mouth is by increasing my holdings in Disney Corp. As someone else mentioned they are one of the few companies in the world that have branding that's almost impossible to tarnish.

 

[mefordis]

Well, I personally am going to sit back and see how it all unfolds. Until then, Universal will be the theme park that gets my money. I'm anxious to see the updated WWoHP and to skip the lines!

I have read Sklar's book and they have had many more successes than failures. Comparing MM+ to New Coke is apples to oranges. Coke changed their entire product, WDW would have to throw away Mickey according to that comparison. I have my gripes with the system I think tiering is ridiculous, and they need to figure out hopping. But I also think they are ahead of the curve on this one.

New guest will love this, once in a life timers as well, and most of the regulars will continue to visit. The potential for this system is almost sickening, what some companies spend trying to figure out what their customer want, Disney will have sitting in their lap. The food you eat, the resort you frequent, the amount of people you travel with, how long you stay, what park you like, what rides you like, do you shop, where, when, how much etc.

Obviously no one can see the future but I am putting my money where my mouth is by increasing my holdings in Disney Corp. As someone else mentioned they are one of the few companies in the world that have branding that's almost impossible to tarnish.

 

[Brian Noble]

Are you implying that it's not possible for Disney or any other company to make a mistake if they did their research and came to a certain conclusion?

Of course they make mistakes. (See: Luminaria). But, for every mistake, you can point to many many more wild successes. And, even the mistakes are things they learn from to make things better. (See: World of Color....or, DCA generally.)

 

[Laketravis]

I have read Sklar's book and they have had many more successes than failures. Comparing MM+ to New Coke is apples to oranges. Coke changed their entire product, WDW would have to throw away Mickey according to that comparison. I have my gripes with the system I think tiering is ridiculous, and they need to figure out hopping. But I also think they are ahead of the curve on this one.

New guest will love this, once in a life timers as well, and most of the regulars will continue to visit. The potential for this system is almost sickening, what some companies spend trying to figure out what their customer want, Disney will have sitting in their lap. The food you eat, the resort you frequent, the amount of people you travel with, how long you stay, what park you like, what rides you like, do you shop, where, when, how much etc.

Obviously no one can see the future but I am putting my money where my mouth is by increasing my holdings in Disney Corp. As someone else mentioned they are one of the few companies in the world that have branding that's almost impossible to tarnish.

Just some friendly advice but you might want to hold off a bit on that - current P/E is pretty high, they are coming off a year of 55% returns and, well......buy low, sell high and all.

 

[Robo]

Of course they make mistakes. (See: Luminaria). But, for every mistake, you can point to many many more wild successes. And, even the mistakes are things they learn from to make things better. (See: World of Color....or, DCA generally.)

So, in which category is FP+?

That's what we're discussing.

What would the discussions on the boards have been like after seeing "Light Magic" roll across Disneyland?

 

[Brian Noble]

You and I have already had this conversation. Only time will tell, but it is likely that they know what they are doing, because they do much more often than not. LuminAria and Light Magic are how old now? In the meantime plenty of good things have happened.

Foolproof? Of course not. But, if you're a betting man, you play the odds.

 

[Robo]

You and I have already had this conversation. Only time will tell, but it is likely that they know what they are doing, because they do much more often than not. LuminAria and Light Magic are how old now? In the meantime plenty of good things have happened.

Foolproof? Of course not. But, if you're a betting man, you play the odds.

The reason we've had a conversation about this, is that we are all continuing to have a conversation about THIS.

I think they've created an inferior, disappointing system.
Can it be improved?
It looks like it would have to be.

The discussion will continue.

 

[dayvewc]

I'll bite.

I think too many people are getting hung up on the FP+ and not realizing, or not thinking about, the fact that there is so much more to the whole plan. That I am simply aware of, it includes the Magic Bands, updated/redesigned website (MDE), modified PhotoPass, resort reservation linkage, dining linkage, credit/debit card linkage (tap-to-pay), Fast Pass +, and digital tickets. And that's just the parts that I know of and may use.

In with all this, there is a wealth of data being created for Disney to use to customize discounts, promotions, contacts, interactions, etc.

From what I see, a big push to include the FP+ is to provide incentives to the guests to use the MB's and provide the data mine for Disney to utilize/exploit.

FP+ may have almost been an afterthought of "Hey, we can do all this really cool tracking and gather all this information IF we can get the guests to agree to RFID tracking. What can we do to make all the guests want to opt in to the system?" Which would account for some of the portions of it that were not completely (apparently) thought through. (Headliner capacity vs. attendance and offsite roll-out jumps out for starters).

Just my $0.02.

 

[Networth]

Just some friendly advice but you might want to hold off a bit on that - current P/E is pretty high, they are coming off a year of 55% returns and, well......buy low, sell high and all.

I guess I should of been more specific, I had my portfolio acquire more of their stock back in Jan 2013. Was still at a high but was before the entire market rallied and become bull this year. Again no crystal ball but when I first heard about "Nextgen" and was told what it would be able to do. (From a collection perspective) I personally agreed with Disney that it is the future. Of course this is coming from a financial view only as a guest I am not fully satisfied with the system, and sorry for semi hijacking the thread OP.

 

[TLSnell1981]

The reason we've had a conversation about this, is that we are all continuing to have a conversation about THIS.

I think they've created an inferior, disappointing system.
Can it be improved?
It looks like it would have to be.

The discussion will continue.

A $1,000,000,000 mistake. IMO I really expected better from Disney. This "wait, until we figure it out...everyone will like it" crap isn't Magical.

 

[dayvewc]

A $1,000,000,000 mistake. IMO I really expected better from Disney. This "wait, until we figure it out...everyone will like it" crap isn't Magical.

I agree, the "wait until we figure it out" is not very fun, but I don't think it was a $1B mistake. Just that the part that most directly impacts the park experience was not fully thought out. Yes, that part is causing problems, and yes the IT involved is complicated and creating other issues, but a total mistake - no.

I am curious how much of the pricetag is directly related to the FP+ portion as opposed to all the other things.

 

[Mkrop]

I have read Sklar's book and they have had many more successes than failures. Comparing MM+ to New Coke is apples to oranges. Coke changed their entire product, WDW would have to throw away Mickey according to that comparison. I have my gripes with the system I think tiering is ridiculous, and they need to figure out hopping. But I also think they are ahead of the curve on this one.

New guest will love this, once in a life timers as well, and most of the regulars will continue to visit. The potential for this system is almost sickening, what some companies spend trying to figure out what their customer want, Disney will have sitting in their lap. The food you eat, the resort you frequent, the amount of people you travel with, how long you stay, what park you like, what rides you like, do you shop, where, when, how much etc.
Obviously no one can see the future but I am putting my money where my mouth is by increasing my holdings in Disney Corp. As someone else mentioned they are one of the few companies in the world that have branding that's almost impossible to tarnish.

I agree with you on this aspect, I think the data that this generates for WDW will be invaluable but they need to do that in a way without alienating their guests. Most of what I read, no one per se has a problem with the MB portion, very convient. It is the FP+ portion that needs help big time, you said it yourself the tiering is not a good thing. I think this project has potential but I think the FP+ implementation is the pits. And when you are going through it NOW, it doesnt help to know what the product WILL be.

I have a friend who called me the other night. Going with her family of 5 first time during Presidents week. She had a lot of questions. One of the things she mentioned to me is she read in a guidebook that you could get 6 FPs, and now she can only get 3 in 1 park. I said yes that change came with the MBs and FP+s. She said well isnt that kinda of a downgrade, I said yes it was. She is still thrilled to be going, but she as a newbie could see the change might not have been for the best from what it was before.

She also told me they were not going to AK since it was just a glorified zoo and they go all the time to the Phila zoo. I tried to talk her into going, it is now a maybe on her to do list. I have had several people and I have read it here, should I bother with AK. Seems to me WDW still cant get the right marketing out on that park.

Of course they make mistakes. (See: Luminaria). But, for every mistake, you can point to many many more wild successes. And, even the mistakes are things they learn from to make things better. (See: World of Color....or, DCA generally.)

Well that means that this could still be a mistake. And maybe this end product can be a great tool for the company AND the guest if they LISTEN to customer feedback during this testing. Good and BAD!

Networth, I am still curious about your thoughts about this no longer being a first come first serve product (FP+) just in a different timeframe, 60 days vs morning of. And how this is more fair than before. Bc I just see the fight for the FP+ moving from one timeframe to another.

 

[xie]

The reason we've had a conversation about this, is that we are all continuing to have a conversation about THIS.

I think they've created an inferior, disappointing system.
Can it be improved?
It looks like it would have to be.

The discussion will continue.

Short of shutting down the program entirely, I don't think there's any direction that the MyMagic+ can possibly go other than up. It can't get much worse than it is right now in terms of quality (technical issues surrounding almost every aspect) and policy (tiering, only 3, no park hopping FPs, etc.).

The primary questions I have are how long will it take to fix all the technical problems, and how much guest relations damage will be done before crow is eaten and policy is changed.

 

[Mkrop]

Short of shutting down the program entirely, I don't think there's any direction that the MyMagic+ can possibly go other than up. It can't get much worse than it is right now in terms of quality (technical issues surrounding almost every aspect) and policy (tiering, only 3, no park hopping FPs, etc.).

The primary questions I have are how long will it take to fix all the technical problems, and how much guest relations damage will be done before crow is eaten and policy is changed.

Oh they wont eat crow, they will keep saying it was only a test

 

[Laketravis]

Most of the companies I've seen that collected huge amounts of data from their customers in order to get closer to them ended up alienating them.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I agree with you on this aspect, I think the data that this generates for WDW will be invaluable but they need to do that in a way without alienating their guests. Most of what I read, no one per se has a problem with the MB portion, very convenient.

I have a friend who called me the other night. Going with her family of 5 first time during Presidents week. She had a lot of questions. One of the things she mentioned to me is she read in a guidebook that you could get 6 FPs, and now she can only get 3 in 1 park. I said yes that change came with the MBs and FP+s. She said well isnt that kinda of a downgrade, I said yes it was. She is still thrilled to be going, but she as a newbie could see the change might not have been for the best from what it was before.

There are people who are opposed to any tracking device and/or nervous about wearing their information on their wrist. I'm not opposed to wearing a MB, but I do feel uncomfortable whenever see the evidence of tracking and I'm not thrilled that every company wants me to sign up for their rewards program to target advertisements. OTOH, I don't think it's going to make the vast majority of people turn away from Disney and it's going to increase their profits in the long run.

But, they are on shakier ground with FP+ because fewer and fewer people are booking vacations without some kind of research, and unhappy customers have so many public venues to air their complaints. I have a friend who is currently devoting her considerable energy to spreading the word throughout the internet that a particular company has poor customer service. When I had a truly terrible travel experience, I was more subdued and only wrote a scathing review on tripadvisor. I have also convinced someone to visit Disney based on one positive "status" on facebook. She loved her trip because of fastpass and she is reluctant to book a longer trip after hearing about FP+.

I don't think it's FP+ alone that could significantly hurt Disney's image in the long run. It's a combination --long lines and no effort to deal with ride-capacity issues at Epcot and DHS, technology glitches, cranky CMs who are unable to provide good customer service, poor food and merchandise, poor choices in new attraction development, and increased competition for vacation money.

This makes me sad, because for years I have always cited Disney as an example of a company that realized that making the customer happy = higher profits. When people were discussing how horrible it was that a local theme park was selling front of the line passes, I proudly contrasted that to my wonderful Disney, where everyone was treated like they were special when they entered the gates.

 

[Robo]

Most of the companies I've seen that collected huge amounts of data from their customers in order to get closer to them ended up alienating them.

Yup.

How many times have you had to put a company name in the SPAM FILTER due to incessant emails from them with unsolicited "special offers?"

I'd like to be informed when something IS "important" to learn from Company X, but they just
can't resist blanket emails extolling every "25 cents off special" on high-dollar services.

 

[FireDancer]

I have a feeling in about a year WDW will take a hit. There will be a big marketing push, they will fill the parks (as they are now), then when people find out they spent all of this money and cannot ride anything, they will not return. They will also spread the word to their friends and family that it's too expensive, the parks are too crowded and lines are too long.

Look for a decline in park admission in 2015/2016. That would be the time to plan your trip, I guess.

There was a time when there was no choice by to ride standby and people still went to Disney, waited in line, and returned.

One of the mistakes being made is comparing Disney with only FP+ to Disney with legacy FP. The better comparison is comparing Disney with only FP+ to Disney with no FP what so ever. I would bet money that is the comparison being made at Disney corporate when assessing the system and designing how it will work.

Legacy FastPass was always going to be temporary, I knew that the first time I used it so I didn't get too used to it or make it an integral part of my touring. Disney was the crack dealer that gave everyone their first hit for free and it is a pretty successful strategy.

People resist change but eventually "the new way" becomes "the way it is" and things continue along.