Reason For FASTPASS+?

[WEDWDW]

I saw this Thread at wdwmagic and have not seen this info anywhere else.

Does anyone have any more info about this lecture?

I found it very interesting.

Thanks.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...ngly-negative-responses-from-families.862052/

 

[bauer1168]

I saw this Thread at wdwmagic and have not seen this info anywhere else.

Does anyone have any more info about this lecture?

I found it very interesting.

Thanks.
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/fastpass-a-solution-to-overwhelmingly-negative-responses-from-families.862052/

Interesting read, thanks for sharing!

 

[Robo]

I find the discussion posted following the article to be more interesting.

 

[hollygolitely93]

That reads as an exaggeration to me. I have no doubt a survey revealed stress from FP...we felt it our first visit as DH was the runner and we overran and half time unsure exactly where FP machine was.... Not really knowing which rides really back up...and the whole zig zag of parks, pressure to get there early for TSMM...

But I seriously doubt the survey was root reason for project....

I would venture other motivating factors included....

1) opportunity with technology...they needed RFID for data mining and I am sure they explored all ways to positively take advantage of system.

2). Competition from universal front of line system...and need to provide more compelling reason to stay on property.

3). Desire to decrease waits in line to increase satisfaction scores and increase time in stores/snack shops

 

[mattsdragon]

I agree with Robo, the comments were more interesting than the article. For the record, I think the "terrifying experience" argument was a bit of a load of male bovine fecal matter, but I understand the rationale behind it. FP was more for marketing and getting people out of lines where they don't spend money, into lines where they do spend money. And FP^PI is only an extension adding some bells and whistles that is, thusfar, only creating more panic and anger.

In the end, it will be implemented, it won't be smooth, people will complain, fights will break out in the parks an online, people will adapt, things will get smooth, and then Disney will change, and the cycle will repeat.

Life isn't an easy trip, but if you learn how to ride the waves, it can be lots of fun.

 

[LaurenT]

Most terrifying experience of their lives! Wow!
I might believe that one person said that...but an overwhelming number? That's just silly.....

 

[Robo]

Most terrifying experience of their lives! Wow!
I might believe that one person said that...but an overwhelming number? That's just silly.....

Let me guess that they formulated a question in one of their ubiquitous "guest polls" (that mostly get answered by Grandpas because they're the only ones sitting on a bench and willing to take the time to answer a poll while at WDW.)

Tell us (please pick the best answer from the following- )

Q: Do you consider FastPasses:

A- Something that should be required for every ride, every day?
B- Something that should cost $20 each, and sold in booklets of 10?
C- Something to be available only to guests staying at the Grand Floridian Concierge Level?
D- The most terrifying experience of your life?

 

[bauer1168]

I find the discussion posted following the article to be more interesting.

Agreed!

I still think if there are people out there who don't know what FP is, don't know it's free or how to use it, think Universal and Disney are the same thing, I don't see how this will make it easier for them (maybe its just me).
We all at one point had to sit down and look at FP and what it was exactly and do our research, some people don't. I don't see how My Magic will make it different, we will all have to read up on My Magic+ and how it works etc. If some didn't do it for regular FP, I don't see this being any different. But again, maybe it's just me and I'm missing something?

 

[DebbieB]

That reads as an exaggeration to me. I have no doubt a survey revealed stress from FP...we felt it our first visit as DH was the runner and we overran and half time unsure exactly where FP machine was.... Not really knowing which rides really back up...and the whole zig zag of parks, pressure to get there early for TSMM...

But I seriously doubt the survey was root reason for project....

I would venture other motivating factors included....

1) opportunity with technology...they needed RFID for data mining and I am sure they explored all ways to positively take advantage of system.

2). Competition from universal front of line system...and need to provide more compelling reason to stay on property.

3). Desire to decrease waits in line to increase satisfaction scores and increase time in stores/snack shops

This is what I want to hear more about. So far none of the rumors leaked indicated anything about additional fastpasses for staying on property or staying at more expensive rooms on property. The last I heard was 3 per person per day.

I think it's a good idea, I'm not a rope drop person. I like to be able to schedule certain times of the day. For example, if I wanted to do Soarin in the evening, I could schedule it rather than try to figure out when the evening times would come out of the machine and get there to pickup one.

 

[hollygolitely93]

This is what I want to hear more about. So far none of the rumors leaked indicated anything about additional fastpasses for staying on property or staying at more expensive rooms on property. The last I heard was 3 per person per day.

I think it's a good idea, I'm not a rope drop person. I like to be able to schedule certain times of the day. For example, if I wanted to do Soarin in the evening, I could schedule it rather than try to figure out when the evening times would come out of the machine and get there to pickup one.

If I was to put money on this I would say additional perks with FP+ will be coming for resort guests...and I bet one is you can reserve your times further out...giving most of those coveted afternoon FPs to resort guests...I hope additional FPs are part of it as well!

 

[ChloesDaddy]

If the premise posed by the person quoted in the article is correct, that the biggest stress was splitting up the family in the crowded park, then wouldn't it have made more sense to start out simpler by just adding the ability to reserve FPs using smart phones to the current system? Maybe that would make more sense regardless of whether or not the premise is valid.

 

[seashoreCM]

Reduce paper waste.

Address the oft-asked question, "Why can't I get a ride time of my choice instead of a seemingly arbitrary time posted above the kiosks?" But with a fiendish motive: to allow inaccuracies in planning or movements to result in short blocks of time milling around the ride with little usefulness other than going into a nearby gift shop.

Show off new technology. Why Orlando International Airport let alone all airports did not adopt Fastpass at security 12 years ago (they looked at it) I still don't understand. Patent royalties to Disney?

******

Did someone say that getting rid of Fastpass (regular and plus) altogether and letting everyone wait in line the old fashioned way would make things less stressful? I remember the pre-Fastpass days at Magic Kingdom when at rope drop there would be two big bull runs, one to Space Mountain and the other to Splash Mountain. So predictable that one guide book (Corey Sandler's Econoguide?) said that if you took the Walt Disney Railroad from the park entrance, you would beat the crowd to Splash Mountain.

Even without Fastpass, planning has been / would be a terrifying experience. Companies like Tour Guide Mike can still work out strategies for you. There is still that one good answer (Corey Sandler said it too), go when everyone else does not go.

IMHO off site guests should receive the same park privileges during public operating hours as Disney's resort guests. Including walking up to and utilizing a facility at that resort or telephoning a call center for that purpose, or using a separate mechanism with like results set up to improve logistics regarding off site guests.

 

[3girls4me05]

Or have Fast Pass machines set up all over the place. At that one machine you could get FP for three rides rather than running all over the park. Course there would have to be plenty of machines and in plenty of locations. A benefit for a resort guest would be there would be machines at their resorts to get those Fast Passes before they even got there. I just don't like the whole "get them months ahead of time" piece of Fast Pass Plus. I also don't like the 3 a day limit.

 

[Wood Nymph]

I think that if the new FP+ system would allow people to still be able to get additional FP's, then it would be a great system. We have been to WDW at least 25 times since 1973, so am familiar with how the parks run. We were there last month with our daughter's family, which included the grandchildren, age 3 and 5. It would have been great to have three fast passes each reserved ahead of time. We never got to TSM. I stood waiting outside of RnR for about 1/2 hour waiting for the fast pass return time to change to a time that was after the stunt show we wanted to see, while everyone else did Muppets 3D. My son-in-law and grandson waited an hour to go on Space Mountain. And we waited almost an hour for the Little Mermaid ride (which was not worth it, IMO). And we never did Soarin' because we wanted to do Test Track and didn't want to wait in long lines.

I think the article posted in the first post of this thread is pretty much right on the money when it comes to the experiences of families traveling with young children. It may not be the most terrifying experience of their lives, an exaggeration to make a point most likely, but a family will often skip a ride because waiting in a long line with young kids is just not worth it. And then they might question the value of a trip that they spent $5,000 on when they can't ride a few favorite rides. Or they may decide that it is too much of a hassle to go to WDW with young kids, so they postpone the next trip for a few years.

I'm in the over fifty category, I've gone on the rides many times over the last 40 years, so they aren't as important to me now. I don't need to ride Test Track five times a day. But I would like to ride it once or twice without spending two hours trying to do it.

Disney is trying to appeal to the families who spend thousands of dollars to travel to WDW. This could be a plus that will work out in their favor if it means a more equitable ride experience for more guests. We'll have to wait and see.

Although I do question the wisdom of bringing out the new system if they haven't gotten their website and apps to work properly yet.

Just my opinion.

 

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another post)
There is an excellent way to let Fastpass + users use regular Fastpass.
There is already a delay up to 2 hours between fetches of regular Fastpass.
We can impose the delay on Fastpass + guests, for example if you reserved two Fastplus + times then there is a delay of four hours after entering the park and then you can pull regular Fastpasses.

Some rides (varies by day) have a lesser delay for example Princess Meet & Greet has a 1 hour delay so the total delay imposed on Fastpass + guests would be calculated accordingly.

 

[FortForever]

Most terrifying experience of their lives! Wow!
I might believe that one person said that...but an overwhelming number? That's just silly.....

Haven't read the link yet, but based on this I know it will be entertaining.

If true, those people must lead some cushy lives! LOL


ETA: I don't believe people really said that unless it was presented to them in a joking manner.




Sent from my SCH-S950C using DISBoards

 

[mom2rtk]

Yeah. Cuz the one way to take the terror out of something is to turn it over to Disney IT!

 

[hoosll]

A WDW trip costs a lot of money and the majority of people arrive unfamiliar with the parks, the rides, the restaurants, transportation, etc.

To a certain extent this is good for Disney: survival of the fittest means that those who are prepared will enjoy the experience as they step around the "weak" who stand mid-sidewalk staring at their guidemap ... BUT, it is bad for Disney as word-of-mouth and social media from people who had a poor experience can keep people from coming at all and returning for another try thereby spending more money.

Disney has left the "education" part of the experience to authors and travel agents and blogs. They are trying to do a better job by building a "my experience" website that will encourage visitors to learn about the rides and restaurants in advance AND make reservations to try them. I think Disney needs offer more/better planning tools or even partner with more authors and bloggers to spread the knowledge.

If Disney really wanted to make the experience better then all fast pass kiosks would be able to access any ride with fast pass in the park and give you a choice for the ride and time you want. It sounds like they are moving that way with new centarlly located kiosks and the app. Placing limits on the number of fast passes rather than using time limits is what people are complaining about most, also the people who park hop with the new system.

It has been our experience since they started enforcing fastpass return that we can only manage about 3 fast passes per park visit because my time is spent crossing the park to get a fast pass hopefully at a time that works. At least, using the app allowed us to estimate the return time for fast passes we might want to get ... sometimes we just skipped that ride altogether.

For me, it is the inconvenient location of the fast pass machines that is the problem, why do we have to walk all the way to the attraction (most of which are at the farthest reaches of the parks) to discover that the return time is inconvenient or get my "paper" return ticket for 90 minutes from now. My worst fear is that we will be charged for Fastpass+

 

[larryz]

I find the discussion posted following the article to be more interesting.

Wow. They're really nasty over there...

 

[DizzneyDi]

While I agree that "most terrifying" is a ridiculous overstatement, there's no doubt in my mind that WDW is daunting for first time vacationers. If they don't do their homework before their first trip they'll be like a family group I encountered back in December. We were all on the bus headed back to AoA, and I overheard the parents explaining to the kids that the park was closing at 7:00 so they'd be having dinner and spending the rest of the night at the resort. The actuality is that the park was not only open until 9 but it was EMH night so they had basically cheated themselves out of 5 additional hours of park time. I'm pretty sure that they had read someplace that FW usually closes at 7, and in the midst of all the details about the parks that somehow stuck in their heads. Of course we all know from experience that they should have picked up a time schedule or looked at the ones in their check-in folder, but that's a whole other part of the problem. There is a heck of a lot of info to sift through, both before your first trip and after you actually arrive. Fastpass as it exists now allows an overwhelmed newbie family to plan their day one ride at a time. Fastpass+ I think is intended to help that same family plan their whole day.

Notice I haven't mentioned whether I think FP+ will actually help those poor terrified people. I also haven't said that I think it will be a positive benefit to those of us who have worked out our own touring plans over the course of multiple trips. But I sort of get the reasoning behind it thanks to that article.