Now That FP(4+) Can Be Booked On A Mobile Device...

[JimmyV]

What are people's first-hand experiences with availability and strategies? When the reports of the "upgrade" first came out, terms like "game changer" were being tossed around? Has the game changed? For the better? For the worse? Any new strategies that should be considered? Josh seems to suggest that availability is next to nil now that more and more people are learning to use the system and the system is so much easier to use without the reliance on kiosks. What are the boots on the ground experiencing? Thanks.

(Note to the Mods...yes, I know that this thread mentions Fast Passes. But it isn't a "How To", or a "How Do I", or a "Can Someone Teach Me" thread. It is intended to be a Strategies thread, so I dropped the thread here. I'd like to keep it here, but of course, you guys get the last word.)

 

[MaryKatesMom]

At this time I can only travel during peak season including summer. When FP+ first came out I spent the year diligently hunting down the kiosks (which were always moving around) and then when they found permanent home I would go immediately to the kiosks to book the 4th one. Sometimes right after 11 AM, the soonest time possible with a 9AM opening so I never had any success getting a decent 4th FP+ when the barrier to get them was much higher. In fact, I posted a thread about it in 2014 along the line of "4th FP+ is just a Mirage"

So when I heard the announcement that you can book the 4th FP+ on the app I actually laughed and said to the DH "What 4th FP+?"

It might be available during lower crowd levels but peak season I didn't even waste my time this year.

 

[Nebraska_Disney]

I was there in early March, just last month, and had to use kiosks for 4+ FP+'s. At MK, we had the most success and were able to get FP+'s for our 4th-8th FP+'s for : Splash, Peter Pan, Buzz, BTMRR on multiple occasions. Even when the parks were at a "9", we were able to get things we wanted to ride on. You were not going to get Space or 7DMT too often, but we were happy with it. Now, being able to do this via the MDE app, that just makes me not have to find the kiosks and/or wait when I do.

No, it is not like it was with the paper FP system, but I also like the ability to get FP's for rides that used to shut me out back in the day of paper, especially when I park hop.

 

[preemiemama]

I agree with PP as far as most parks in the summer- there is not much of value later in the day for FP+. MK would be the exception- we found some available to us in the evenings. I have seen a few people say that if you keep looking there are some to be found. IMHO it beats having to hunt for a kiosk... I would not count on anything tough to get being available, but you may get a couple decent ones by looking.

 

[momof2n2]

Kenny had it on yesterday's blog. Or was it Monday? Either way - he wrote it up well.

Guess not everyone thought this was strategy-related??

 

[JimmyV]

Kenny had it on yesterday's blog. Or was it Monday? Either way - he wrote it up well.

Guess not everyone thought this was strategy-related??

I'll try t hunt that down. Thanks! (Sometimes work gets in the way of trying to keep up with all of this!).

Edit to add:
Here it is...
http://www.kennythepirate.com/2016/04/11/pros-and-cons-of-the-4th-fastpass-from-your-mobile-device/

 

[Sevey13]

What are people's first-hand experiences with availability and strategies? When the reports of the "upgrade" first came out, terms like "game changer" were being tossed around? Has the game changed? For the better? For the worse? Any new strategies that should be considered? Josh seems to suggest that availability is next to nil now that more and more people are learning to use the system and the system is so much easier to use without the reliance on kiosks. What are the boots on the ground experiencing? Thanks.

(Note to the Mods...yes, I know that this thread mentions Fast Passes. But it isn't a "How To", or a "How Do I", or a "Can Someone Teach Me" thread. It is intended to be a Strategies thread, so I dropped the thread here. I'd like to keep it here, but of course, you guys get the last word.)

On this flip side, the easier it is for people to switch the more important being able to access FP on the fly is. A family decides to dump their PP pass for SM. Now those four PP passes are up for grabs.

 

[mom2rtk]

On this flip side, the easier it is for people to switch the more important being able to access FP on the fly is. A family decides to dump their PP pass for SM. Now those four PP passes are up for grabs.

Yeah, and while I didn't mind being a FP runner, I really don't want to have to be glued to my phone all day hoping the FP gods smile upon me.

 

[JimmyV]

Yeah, and while I didn't mind being a FP runner, I really don't want to have to be glued to my phone all day hoping the FP gods smile upon me.

Agree. Not sure there is a sufficient return on investment on hitting

every five minutes while on vacation with my family. Besides. My battery would be dead by mid-afternoon.

 

[Boski]

If you take these new changes and combine it with more and more people seeming to use the "loophole" to walk into the park and go right to a kiosk to book 3 additional FPs on their dummy accounts, 4th FPS are going to be hard to come by.

What I think Disney is going to do once this really takes off is start closing down the kiosks to help prevent people from booking to dummy accounts. Maybe it will get down to 1 kiosk for those who do not have the app where they will verify park admission with the MBs.

 

[JimmyV]

OK. Next question for the group. If it becomes readily apparent that FP4+ is difficult/impossible/frustrating to achieve, does this open the door for a paid 4th FP in the future? If you know that you won't be able to get a meaningful FP4 in the park, will Disney try to sell you a FP4 at the time of your advanced booking window? Seems as if any valued commodity is being monetized these days. This one seems like a no brainer.

 

[mom2rtk]

If you take these new changes and combine it with more and more people seeming to use the "loophole" to walk into the park and go right to a kiosk to book 3 additional FPs on their dummy accounts, 4th FPS are going to be hard to come by.

What I think Disney is going to do once this really takes off is start closing down the kiosks to help prevent people from booking to dummy accounts. Maybe it will get down to 1 kiosk for those who do not have the app where they will verify park admission with the MBs.

I expect that saving on kiosk staffing costs is one of the reasons they moved forward with the 4th FP by phone right now.

 

[mom2rtk]

OK. Next question for the group. If it becomes readily apparent that FP4+ is difficult/impossible/frustrating to achieve, does this open the door for a paid 4th FP in the future? If you know that you won't be able to get a meaningful FP4 in the park, will Disney try to sell you a FP4 at the time of your advanced booking window? Seems as if any valued commodity is being monetized these days. This one seems like a no brainer.

If 4th FPs are hard to get, that's because they don't have the capacity. And that's exactly why I don't see them selling any.

 

[JimmyV]

If 4th FPs are hard to get, that's because they don't have the capacity. And that's exactly why I don't see them selling any.

Except that the availability doesn't really dry up until just days before you arrive (in most instances), and perhaps 20 days in advance for the more popular attractions. Which means that from days 60-31, on site guests would still be able to buy a decent number of FP4s if they were for sale. Of course, this also means that off site guests would be s.o.l., (giving them added incentive to spend $150 for three extra hours in the park).

 

[mom2rtk]

Except that the availability doesn't really dry up until just days before you arrive (in most instances), and perhaps 20 days in advance for the more popular attractions. Which means that from days 60-31, on site guests would still be able to buy a decent number of FP4s if they were for sale. Of course, this also means that off site guests would be s.o.l., (giving them added incentive to spend $150 for three extra hours in the park).

I get that. But I still think (in spite of the upselling binge they've been on lately) that they do want to keep a few spots back for people buying tickets at the gate. Nothing would shock me though.

 

[Sevey13]

Yeah, and while I didn't mind being a FP runner, I really don't want to have to be glued to my phone all day hoping the FP gods smile upon me.

Alright. Well, to take your analogy further, hitting refresh on your phone all day trying to get fastpasses would be the same as being a Fastpass runner back in the day who, after every attraction, would bolt across the park to the old machines to see if magically some FPs had shown up. You're only glued to your phone if you want to be. When I go, it's only if we decide we want to change for some reason that the phone comes out.

 

[mom2rtk]

Alright. Well, to take your analogy further, hitting refresh on your phone all day trying to get fastpasses would be the same as being a Fastpass runner back in the day who, after every attraction, would bolt across the park to the old machines to see if magically some FPs had shown up. You're only glued to your phone if you want to be. When I go, it's only if we decide we want to change for some reason that the phone comes out.

It's not about hitting a button on your phone. To me it's about the constant mental distraction. I did occasionally make a FP "run" in the past, but mostly we picked up what was in the area, then rode secondary attractions until our time came open, so not all that much running really. And to me it was worth it since nearly every FP I wanted was still available through most of the day. Soarin and TSMM would be gone much sooner, but those were really the exceptions.

 

[Sevey13]

It's not about hitting a button on your phone. To me it's about the constant mental distraction. I did occasionally make a FP "run" in the past, but mostly we picked up what was in the area, then rode secondary attractions until our time came open, so not all that much running really. And to me it was worth it since nearly every FP I wanted was still available through most of the day. Soarin and TSMM would be gone much sooner, but those were really the exceptions.

Ok. I'm on the same page as you now. It's more about the knowing the thing in your pocket might have a better FP than anything? If so, yeah. That can be super annoying! The eternal carrot on the stick...

 

[Mikie]

Besides. My battery would be dead by mid-afternoon.

Imagine the demand for Disney-styled external battery packs!

I saw a thread where a poster reported success with much hopping and getting top-tier 4th, 5th, 6th from his phone (I think it was RnR x2 plus an EE?). Sounds like he hit refresh 100+ times, though.

If that were to be the new normal, I think it compares pretty evenly to legacy FP. Then, you could choose to use a runner (with varying levels of actual running and park-crossing) or, like me, be satisfied with the 2-3 we got conveniently and let the die-hards do the running. Today, you can choose to do the constant refresh dance or, like me probably, be satisfied with the 3 you get conveniently and let the die-hards do the clicking.

 

[Mikie]

OK. Next question for the group. If it becomes readily apparent that FP4+ is difficult/impossible/frustrating to achieve, does this open the door for a paid 4th FP in the future? If you know that you won't be able to get a meaningful FP4 in the park, will Disney try to sell you a FP4 at the time of your advanced booking window? Seems as if any valued commodity is being monetized these days. This one seems like a no brainer.

Does seem like a no-brainer, but not sure how this would affect off-site guests (late FP availability) and as has often been mentioned here, off site guests are more numerous than onsite and crucial to park success. If it's a blind "grab bag" style where you'd first have to pay and then see what your newly acquired slot offers, I can't imagine it being successful. People would be furious to pay only to find Teacups, shows, and Figment as their only choices. If you get to see availability before purchasing and there's little to be had, people simply won't pay. Closing the dummy MB loophole would help at least somewhat.