Some FP+ Info

[interstate70s]

And I hope ..... your vacation is filled with great joy!

Thanks! I 'm sure it will be

 

[alhurricane]

So is this likely to be in place by late May? Or is everything still speculation at this point? Have to say it seems a bit intimidating for the first time visitor.

 

[mikegood2]

So is this likely to be in place by late May? Or is everything still speculation at this point? Have to say it seems a bit intimidating for the first time visitor.

Still speculation at this point, but it will likely be in use at-least partially. At that time both plans will likely be in effect. We go in Mid-June, my second visit, so I was at least comfortable with the traditional FP. At this point I'm less concerned with what it will be and more concerned about not knowing.

 

[bcrook]

So is this likely to be in place by late May? Or is everything still speculation at this point? Have to say it seems a bit intimidating for the first time visitor.

The Disney Brass introduced a flurry of information on January 7, and then disappeared. With the exception of when Iger reappeared to take some shots at Congress.

We have no idea when anything will start. I would think the app would have to work first. And...that...is...a...mess!

When the first people book their first FP+, there will be lots of information then.

 

[bcrook]

Still speculation at this point, but it will likely be in use at-least partially. At that time both plans will likely be in effect. We go in Mid-June, my second visit, so I was at least comfortable with the traditional FP. At this point I'm less concerned with what it will be and more concerned about not knowing.

My group will be down there at Kidani the second week of June. Smart money might still be on regular fastpass at that time, if people can resist the allure of magicband interaction. No matter what, I think people will second guess themselves. I wasn't planning on going into the Disney parks in June, but maybe I should do some recon for the big FW trip in October.

 

[andyman8]

Latest rumors indicate that EMH may be gutted starting this September, which would explain why the park hours for Sept. have not been released yet. I think this would be just another result of FP+.

 

[mesaboy2]

Latest rumors indicate that EMH may be gutted starting this September, which would explain why the park hours for Sept. have not been released yet. I think this would be just another result of FP+.

What, we didn't have enough panic on here?

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I was reading Disney's patent applications today for the My Magic+ system (they recently published so are available to the public on uspto.gov), and they were fascinating and insightful. The patent applications don't necessarily mean that's how things will be for sure, but I think it does offer some insight into what's intended. The system described was very dynamic, allowing for changes to be made on the fly, and would make automatic changes if you missed an "appointment" (their generic term for any reservation you made in the system, whether for a ride, dining, a show, parade, fireworks, etc.). It also specifically says that system anticipates allowing a specified number of appointments to be made ahead of time, and additional appointments to be made while in the parks, depending on crowd levels and a variety of other factors. Interesting, it also stated that guests may be allowed onto a ride early if they show up at a ride and data indicates that it wasn't as crowded as they had anticipated.

The patents stated the that goal of the technology was to decrease wait times in order to improve guest satisfaction, allow guests to tour in a more leisurely fashion, but also to decrease congestion in the walkways of the parks. That's what I found to be the most interesting...they're anticipating that this system will essentially guide a guest along a certain path in the park to minimize congestion and thus minimize frustration by the guest. It really reminded me of the Disneyland Adventures game for the Kinect, where you follow the pixie dust trail (or whatever it is) through the park. Heh.

Anyway, my hope is that the system works how it's described in the patents, because it sounds awesome. Considering, though, how Disney can't even get its act together on its website and ADR systems, I'm not going to hold my breath!

 

[Sammie]

What, we didn't have enough panic on here?

Exactly, I am not believing anything, until it has happened daily for over a month.

 

[mummabear]

You're never going to convince me that there are enough FP slots to allow everyone to prebook 4 slots, then have access to same day in the park FPs and also allow APs to prebook 4 per day any day of the year they might want to go. (If that were me, I'd book a bunch in advance just on the off chance I might want to go. Or maybe every weekend, just to keep my options open).

This will definitely be interesting to watch unfold.

Maybe there will be some sort of penalty if FP+'s are being regularly booked and going unused.

 

[mummabear]

Latest rumors indicate that EMH may be gutted starting this September, which would explain why the park hours for Sept. have not been released yet. I think this would be just another result of FP+.

then I hope they are planning on giving extra FP+ to onsite guests as a replacement perk....

 

[jtowntoflorida]

Maybe there will be some sort of penalty if FP+'s are being regularly booked and going unused.

The patents indicated that the "penalty" would be the inability to make more "appointments." So if you're a well-behaved guest that makes all of your appointment times or cancels the ones you know you won't use, you get rewarded with more appointments while in the parks.

Like I said, the patents were fascinating. Not sure if reality will live up to the idea, but at least it's what they were envisioning when they set out on this journey.

 

[mcd2745]

The patents stated the that goal of the technology was to decrease wait times in order to improve guest satisfaction, allow guests to tour in a more leisurely fashion, but also to decrease congestion in the walkways of the parks. That's what I found to be the most interesting...they're anticipating that this system will essentially guide a guest along a certain path in the park to minimize congestion and thus minimize frustration by the guest. It really reminded me of the Disneyland Adventures game for the Kinect, where you follow the pixie dust trail (or whatever it is) through the park. Heh.

Anyone else think that those two things are completely in conflict with one another? If everyone's wait times are reduced and they are spending less time in lines...walkways will be more crowded.

I initially had hoped that FP+ would be "up & running" for our April
trip, but not anymore. I'll be glad to let others be the guinea pigs.

 

[mcd2745]

What, we didn't have enough panic on here?

so true. i can see that becoming the next "outrage thread".

 

[andyman8]

Just to encourage further panic (a specialty of mine), I'll run some good ol' FP+ numbers.

The amount of guests per day at MK each day averages out to about 48,000 guests (obviously that number increases during busier times of the year and decreases during slower times). To ease this math, let's assume all 48,000 guests arrive at rope drop and leave at park close and that each guest gets four FP+s for the day.

That would be 48,000 x 4 which would 192,000 needed FP+ slots. Now, let's assume that MK is open from 9am to 9pm (so 12 hours), so now we take the 192,000 and divide it by twelve to get 16,000, so 16,000 FP+ slots are needed per hour.

With the current FP system, there are twelve possible windows each hour 00, :05, :10, :15, :20, :25, :30, :35, :40, :45, :50, :55; occasionally, there will be more but on a day when MK has 45,000 guests, you won't see that happen). Anyways, the 16,000 needed slots in a given hour would then be divided by the 12 possible slots leading to 1,334 (rounding up from 1,333.333) FP+s needing to be distributed of a given slot, park-wide.

Now, here's where the math gets very messy and even more assumptions are made (not like we already haven't made enough). It's obvious, due to demand and capacity differences, Disney won't distribute the same number of FP+s at each attraction (we're going to take parade/firework viewing out of this to simplify things so assume no one chooses the FP+ fireworks/parade viewing options). However, if they were to do that they'd distribute 89 (rounding up from 88.9333) FP+s for one particular slot, because 1,334 divided by 15 (the amount of FP+ attractions at MK during tests) would be 88.9333 and thus would be rounded up to 89.

Taking it further, let's say Disney wanted to increase the amount of FP+s available during a given slot up to 100 (so increasing the amount distributed by 11) for Peter Pan, Space, and Thunder, they'd then have to take away 11 FP+s from less-popular attractions bringing the amount of those available down to 78 per slot. Here's the catch, though: Disney has to take those FP+s away from attractions in the same category or tier, so they can't just take them away from Pirates or PhilharMagic, they need to take those away from Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Town Square Theater: Meet the Disney Princesses, and Splash Mountain (the last one could be optional as they only need to decrease three). Something similar could be done in the second tier.

Interesting, but a lot of math.

 

[LaurenT]

This is what we are all wishing for!
However in terms and con. Limited to 4 per day..
We just don't know if that 4 pre-booked ones or 4 total!

Most people are going for 4 TOTAL! Just based on what info has been released.

This is awful for most of us advanced planners, b/c we can easily get between 6-8 FP per day.. Based on crowds and park hours..

Now on the other hand, if we can book 4 and then go to the park and still get more FPs
That would be wonderful.. It would not punish people who get up for RD and do the work a ahead of time..
I think it would also keep those standby lines from getting so long..

I'll disagree with four total being awful for planners ( and, trust me, I am a planner).
I know it sounds bad ( and I do think you'll be able to get four ahead and then whatever you can manage on the day of), but think about how a day could go....
I was just in Epcot. I went to Soarin for fp and sent sister and DD for TT. The plan was then to ride TT and pull a FP at 9:40 (when Soarin fp opened) and then go ride Soarin. After that that we'd have to just watch return times and try to gauge where we are do that I could get back over to TT for a fp that would be convenient for our day.
With 4 FP+, I'd be at the turnstile. We'd all go ride TT together and then Soarin, both standby.
Then we can calmly do the rest of FW. If you can't have more than 1 fp for each ride, then maybe I'd have a FP for 11 am for Spaceship Earth (always a line at 11, so I never ride till the afternoon). Maybe a FP for Mission Space, never have to worry about finding a 40 min wait and have to come back for it.
Then, when we're done with WS, we can head back through FW and use the FPs we reserved for evening rides at Soarin and TT.
No more FP running and we still get everything done, with our favorites twice.

 

[DisneyFive]

This is what we are all wishing for!
However in terms and con. Limited to 4 per day..
We just don't know if that 4 pre-booked ones or 4 total!

Most people are going for 4 TOTAL! Just based on what info has been released.

This is awful for most of us advanced planners, b/c we can easily get between 6-8 FP per day.. Based on crowds and park hours..

Now on the other hand, if we can book 4 and then go to the park and still get more FPs
That would be wonderful.. It would not punish people who get up for RD and do the work a ahead of time..
I think it would also keep those standby lines from getting so long..

Agree 100%. During the slower times that we go, even 4 FP's is not all that many. We used 4 FP+'s on the day that we got to use the new FP+ system this past Sept and also grabbed at least 3 more regular FP's for other attractions that day.

Latest rumors indicate that EMH may be gutted starting this September, which would explain why the park hours for Sept. have not been released yet. I think this would be just another result of FP+.

When do Sept park hours normally come out? I didn't think they were usually out this early in the year anyway.

Dan

 

[mesaboy2]

Agree 100%. During the slower times that we go, even 4 FP's is not all that many. We used 4 FP+'s on the day that we got to use the new FP+ system this past Sept and also grabbed at least 3 more regular FP's for other attractions that day.

When do Sept park hours normally come out? I didn't think they were usually out this early in the year anyway.

Dan

A first cut at park hours is usually released about 6.5 months out.

 

[jpolak]

So when is all of this supposed to go in place? We are going to WDW the end of August and I AP vouchers that I will need to change into some type of ticket. Will the booking system be tied to your resort reservation or in my case my AP(which really doesn't exisit yet)?

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I'll disagree with four total being awful for planners ( and, trust me, I am a planner).
I know it sounds bad ( and I do think you'll be able to get four ahead and then whatever you can manage on the day of), but think about how a day could go....
I was just in Epcot. I went to Soarin for fp and sent sister and DD for TT. The plan was then to ride TT and pull a FP at 9:40 (when Soarin fp opened) and then go ride Soarin. After that that we'd have to just watch return times and try to gauge where we are do that I could get back over to TT for a fp that would be convenient for our day.
With 4 FP+, I'd be at the turnstile. We'd all go ride TT together and then Soarin, both standby.
Then we can calmly do the rest of FW. If you can't have more than 1 fp for each ride, then maybe I'd have a FP for 11 am for Spaceship Earth (always a line at 11, so I never ride till the afternoon). Maybe a FP for Mission Space, never have to worry about finding a 40 min wait and have to come back for it.
Then, when we're done with WS, we can head back through FW and use the FPs we reserved for evening rides at Soarin and TT.
No more FP running and we still get everything done, with our favorites twice.

But the rumor is that you would only be able to get 1 e-ticket ride so you would have to pick between TT and Soarin'. And I think most of feel that Epcot would not be too bad with this limit but MK with this limit would not be a great thing. I just wondering how many day of FP+'s would be left if everyone will be allowed 4 in advance. Our family is always there for rope drop and most always close the park down without ever leaving. In MK we use many more FP's than 4 and more than one for my DS's favorite of Splash. I do not like the idea that Disney is saying that the only way my DS can ride Splash more than once is to use the standby line. If this is what really happens in the end then our tickets are losing value in our eyes because it will take longer for us to ride Splash for a second time using the standby line meaning I will have less time for other rides. Before the new system, the amount of time I spent in the park determined how much I was able to ride. Any way I look at the new system, I will be riding less that I have in the past. It feels a bit like I am being forced to share my wealth of doing the work to be there at rope drop and spending the day there. I actually feel this new system will have our family spending less time in the parks instead of more.

Our family is hoping for the best and are in a wait and see mode at this point. It doesn't sound great for us but who knows...we may be surprised.