Our interesting FP+ experience

[ManyMinnie]

Another IT fail on Disney's part.

There is no way something like that should have been live in the testing stages.

Oh wait ~ this is Disney IT we're talking about.

 

[JimmyV]

How was this making anything "right"?

Well, you had a family that, through no fault of their own, entered the park with the reasonable expectation that they were in possession of legitimate FP+s which would enable them to skip lines at three major attractions. Disney, recognizing the error on their part, could have said: "Sorry. The system is not operational. Not sure how this happened, but, no FP for you!" Instead, they said: "Sorry for the inconvenience. Since you believed that you had FP+s for these attractions due to an error on our end, we are going to make sure that you receive exactly what you thought you had in the first place. Here you go. FPs to use at your discretion." A fix that costs Disney nothing. I would say that they "made it right".

 

[mom2rtk]

Another IT fail on Disney's part.

There is no way something like that should have been live in the testing stages.

Oh wait ~ this is Disney IT we're talking about.

My thoughts exactly. You can't let something like that go live even for a moment when you're as big as Disney.

Not surprising though.

 

[mm1971]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. We'll be there in August. Hopefully it is working then and we can see how it is working.

 

[UNCFanatik]

Well, you had a family that, through no fault of their own, entered the park with the reasonable expectation that they were in possession of legitimate FP+s which would enable them to skip lines at three major attractions. Disney, recognizing the error on their part, could have said: "Sorry. The system is not operational. Not sure how this happened, but, no FP for you!" Instead, they said: "Sorry for the inconvenience. Since you believed that you had FP+s for these attractions due to an error on our end, we are going to make sure that you receive exactly what you thought you had in the first place. Here you go. FPs to use at your discretion." A fix that costs Disney nothing. I would say that they "made it right".

The OP has been a member of the DIS since 2011. In her reported discussion with CMs, she demonstrated a knowledge of how FP+ were purported to work. Did the OP really think that the FP+ was fully operational and that they would be able to pull FP+?

I could buy your position more if a guest that had zero idea of FP+ went and was able to do this.

The OP wasnt inconvenienced in any way. There was no "making it right" necessary.

 

[WMorganS]

Thank you for sharing.

They made it right by giving you the fast passes... another reason I love Disney! Always willing to make things right and magical!

Remember to send an email or something when a CM is extra helpful. IMO, expressions of gratitude help make any job worthwhile, and for CM's it goes in their file. Note: I'm NOT a CM ;-)

 

[mcd2745]

The four different options: A,B,C & D gave us different scenarios of return times. Option A gave us pretty quick return times to the attractions. The others were staggered out differently. I didn't look at them too closely as we were on our way in to the park but it seemed like the options varied and could work if you had, for example, dining reservations that you were trying to work around. I wish I would have taken screen shots of the different options on my phone but didn't think of it at the time.

The other interesting thing was there were attractions listed that do not currently have fast pass such as Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Journey Into Imagination and you had the option of choosing from some of these attractions as well.

So you couldn't select the specific return time individually for each attraction? That's the big takeaway for me (that plus you were able to select two E-tickets).

 

[mom2rtk]

So you couldn't select the specific return time individually for each attraction? That's the big takeaway for me (that plus you were able to select two E-tickets).

If I remember correctly, when I helped my friend with her test selections in December, she took what they offered, then was able to refine the time for just one of the selections. I think.

 

[Waddler]

Interesting! If the app had allowed me to make FP+ reservations, I would've tried, too. Why not? I would've surmised that WDW was doing a "soft opening" of the system.

I'm glad they gave you fastpasses as compensation for your time.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would've surmised that WDW was doing a "soft opening" of the system.

I'm glad they gave you fastpasses as compensation for your time.

Seems a reasonable conclusion for anyone reading these boards the last few months.

 

[JimmyV]

Did the OP really think that the FP+ was fully operational and that they would be able to pull FP+?

We are not in a position to know this, and certainly, Disney was in no position to make this call. Last time I checked, CMs at Guest Realtions don't ask you for your disboards "join date" or the number of posts you have.

The OP wasnt inconvenienced in any way. There was no "making it right" necessary.

Again, we do not know this, and the CM certainly cannot know this. There is the doctrine of detrimental reliance to account for. If the OP altered their arrival time, their ADRs, or in any way planned around the fact that they were not going to have to wait an hour or more for TT and/or Soarin', then they relied to their detriment on the belief that they were going to use FP+s for these attractions. Put yourself in the CMs postion. What would s/he do if relief had been denied and the OP then complained that had they known that the FP+s that appeared on their i-Phones and which had been procured through Disney's website were not going to be honored, then they would have arrived at RD to beat the crowds. But now, learning for the first time that the FP+s were not going to be honored, they are stuck having to face 75+ minute waits, all because Disney made a mistake. Would you want to be that "magical" CM telling the OP: "Sorry. You relied on a fiction. You should have known better than to think that a FP+ that loaded seamlessly onto your i-Phone was NOT part of a beta test, was not part of the fully operational system, and was not real in any way"? Sorry. But for a system that is still shrouded in mystery and sketchy information, there is no way for a CM to presume so much of a guest. I don't even think this is a close call. Make-up FPs was the way to go.

 

[UNCFanatik]

We are not in a position to know this, and certainly, Disney was in no position to make this call. Last time I checked, CMs at Guest Realtions don't ask you for your disboards "join date" or the number of posts you have.

It is not about what the CM knew, it was about the OP having some knowledge that the FP+ system had not been rolled out yet because of reading about it on the DIS. I can certainly understand the OP's curiosity and trip to guest services to inquire about the system though.

Again, we do not know this, and the CM certainly cannot know this. There is the doctrine of detrimental reliance to account for. If the OP altered their arrival time, their ADRs, or in any way planned around the fact that they were not going to have to wait an hour or more for TT and/or Soarin', then they relied to their detriment on the belief that they were going to use FP+s for these attractions. Put yourself in the CMs postion. What would s/he do if relief had been denied and the OP then complained that had they known that the FP+s that appeared on their i-Phones and which had been procured through Disney's website were not going to be honored, then they would have arrived at RD to beat the crowds. But now, learning for the first time that the FP+s were not going to be honored, they are stuck having to face 75+ minute waits, all because Disney made a mistake. Would you want to be that "magical" CM telling the OP: "Sorry. You relied on a fiction. You should have known better than to think that a FP+ that loaded seamlessly onto your i-Phone was NOT part of a beta test, was not part of the fully operational system, and was not real in any way"? Sorry. But for a system that is still shrouded in mystery and sketchy information, there is no way for a CM to presume so much of a guest. I don't even think this is a close call. Make-up FPs was the way to go.

The CM did not give the FPs, the IT person did.

Again, I would buy and support your argument if a person had zero previous knowledge about the whole FP+ system going in.

If I were playing around with the app on my IPhone and I was somehow able to reserve FP+, I wouldnt automatically assume that the system was fully functional or in some sort of "soft opening" mode. I would think that it was a glitch at this stage and I would definitely check it out before altering my plans in any way. AND, when I went to Guest Services and they confirmed my suspicions then I would not feel in any way that Disney some how needed to make me whole.

I can see it now, everyone will be trying to do this now and getting upset if they dont get the same treatment for any future startup glitches with the system.

 

[g-dad66]

OP: Thanks for the first-hand report!

Hopefully this thread won't go the way of other FP+ threads, so...

Trying to keep the discussion on target (learning about your FP+ experience), am I understanding correctly that each of your time choices (A, B, C, D) listed a specific FP time tied to each of the attractions you had selected? For example, Option A might have said something like:
10:00-11:00 Test Track
12:00-1:00 Soarin
2:00-3:00 Seas with Nemo and Friends

The reason I ask is because I'm thinking that in some situations, a different order of rides might be preferred (maybe a family wanting to check out how a young child does on the Seas before trying Soarin and Test Track).

Sounds like you weren't able to pick the order of the attractions within each Option, correct?

(I realize that what they are testing may not be the way it will work when it is live, but still interested in learning all I can before our trip in 2 weeks.)

 

[JimmyV]

The CM did not give the FPs, the IT person did.

The IT person is a CM.

If I were playing around with the app on my IPhone and I was somehow able to reserve FP+, I wouldnt automatically assume that the system was fully functional or in some sort of "soft opening" mode. I would think that it was a glitch at this stage...

Perhaps you would. I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. I would assume that it was a beta test.

I can see it now, everyone will be trying to do this now and getting upset if they dont get the same treatment for any future startup glitches with the system.

The chances of this glitch repeating itself seem minimal.
This is WDW, the land of magic (some of it for a limited time ). Faced with the option of

a) telling a guest that they were unreasonable in assuming that FP+s that loaded seamlessly onto their phone could possibly have been on the up-and-up, or
b) handing them a wad of no-cost FPs,

the choice was easy. People have been handed discretionary FPs fof far less. Again, this isn't even a close call.

 

[dadddio]

The OP has been a member of the DIS since 2011. In her reported discussion with CMs, she demonstrated a knowledge of how FP+ were purported to work. Did the OP really think that the FP+ was fully operational and that they would be able to pull FP+?

I could buy your position more if a guest that had zero idea of FP+ went and was able to do this.

The OP wasnt inconvenienced in any way. There was no "making it right" necessary.

If you believe that, then you should be doubly impressed that they gave the OP the FPs.

 

[UNCFanatik]

If you believe that, then you should be doubly impressed that they gave the OP the FPs.

I am impressed as a matter of customer service but do not think there was anything that warranted an inconvenience or Disney having to make things "right"

 

[UNCFanatik]

Perhaps you would. I wouldn't jump to that conclusion. I would assume that it was a beta test.

And if you were to assume it was a beta test, would you also assume they would have picked the beta testers and you werent one of them?

The chances of this glitch repeating itself seem minimal.
This is WDW, the land of magic (some of it for a limited time ). Faced with the option of

a) telling a guest that they were unreasonable in assuming that FP+s that loaded seamlessly onto their phone could possibly have been on the up-and-up, or
b) handing them a wad of no-cost FPs,

the choice was easy. People have been handed discretionary FPs fof far less. Again, this isn't even a close call.

Again, you are basing this all off a person who would have ZERO knowledge of the FP+ system which I would agree with your argument completely. But this wasnt the case with the OP.

 

[jimim]

How was this making anything "right"?

and you cant make any firm conclusions from this one instance to say how the FP+ will work when it is fully rolled out and operational

Holy crap. It was nice that the cast member was helpful and spread some happiness for this family. He made things right by answering their questions.

I don't think anyone else is saying this is concrete info but it does paint a somewhat nice picture of what things will look like.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[grimley1968]

Thanks for posting this, OP. It is indeed nice to read a real-life, objective account of how FP+ will possibly work. I am intrigued by the multiple choices of return time windows.

I agree with (some) others that it was very nice of the CM to give the standard FPs to the OP, just to make sure that no expectations were dashed, though the OP did not indicate (IMO) any undue expectations. Very easy thing for the CM to do, yet makes for happy guests, in a very unique situation not of their own making.

 

[UNCFanatik]

Holy crap. It was nice that the cast member was helpful and spread some happiness for this family. He made things right by answering their questions.

I don't think anyone else is saying this is concrete info but it does paint a somewhat nice picture of what things will look like.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

The irony is lost on people who are saying how incompetent Disney IT is and then trying to think they any specifics about the FP+ system correct.

Too funny