Lake Buena Vista-July 18--Disney sources have confirmed that sweeping changes are being announced over the reservation network that could affect the average Disney guest.
"We have heard a number of guest requests for enhancements, and we are proud to announce that some of them will be added to our guests' magical experiences," explained Ekim Rensie, market director for the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
"Our guests like FastPass, our unique attraction reservation system, and have asked us to expand it. Our guests like character dinners and the nightime spectacle that is dining in the World Showcase after hours, and have asked to expand both programs. We are happy to announce both."
Rensie confirmed that two major changes will happen. First, FastPass itself will be expanded to include the parks, eliminating the need for individual passes for each attraction, and saving the companies billions on cast member hourly wages to man the FastPass stations.
The new system, slated to begin operation April 1, 2004, will require some form of ticket media to enter the park, but instead of directly entering, each guest can head to the soon-to-be-redesigned Ticket, Transportation Center and Gift Shop (TTC-GS), where the media will be entered into a large bank of FastPass dispensers titled with each park's identity. The guest will then be given a FastPass reservation for that park for the same day. As many as four resevations can be held at any one time.
"No more waiting in lines for attractions," crowed Rensie. "Now, the guest will be given a reservation, say for 8:30 a.m. at the Magic Kingdom. They will be given unlimited use of the park with no lines for that 8:30-9:20 period, and then can proceed to their next FastPass destination."
Rensie noted that this change comes directly as a response to guest complaints that the walkways in the Animal Kingdom are too crowded. "One solution tossed around was to build out two more sections of the park alleviating traffic in the more crowded areas, but we believe that our new FastPass system will do a better job of dispersing guests throughout the Animal Kingdom."
The second will allow diners to enter the World Showcase after night falls to experience dining at each of the Epcot restaurants without purchasing a ticket media, provided that they show a receipt for $50 or more in plush purchased from any one of the 1,983 conveniently located giftshops and portable vending carts spread throughout the World. "The aggregate of the purchases per person are used, not one individual purchase, although we do remind our guests that the larger the purchase, the larger the Magic," said Rensie. "We will even provide valet parking at the International Gateway for only $12 per vehicle for our special night time visitors."
Rensie noted that the resort is hard at work attempting to correct the very few problems noted by guests in recent visits. "We have heard that portions at the fast-food establishments are a bit too large, and so some of our guests may have noticed that we have tried our best to correct the situation while maintaining the same price and value for our guests."
Rensie urged guests to continue to request enhancements such as the new FastPass media, the new smaller sizes for fast food, and hinted that something may be even in the works to eliminate the problem of crowded areas around the popular parade routes. "While I am not at liberty to disclose the entire plan, I can tell you that FastPass would work beautifully for parade routes, character encounters, our popular musical and theater acts spread out in the parks, and even our restrooms and water fountains," said Rensie with a twinkle in his eye.
