State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[cakebaker]

be open minded about it....example, Everest line was out the queue and up the walk way, it said it was a 30 minute wait, i started a stop watch because i didnt believe it. I stopped my stopwatch when we got on at like 31 minutes.

Except that the days review of hours shows it hitting 120 minutes several times during the day.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

No, it is an objective fact that FastPass (and any other line-skip paradigm) works better the less people have it. There is no "seeming" involved here. When lots of people have and use FastPass, the expected wait times in the FastPass queue go up, reducing the value proposition for everyone involved. When few people have FastPass, the wait times in the FastPass queue decrease, and the value proposition goes up accordingly.

Remember, everyone gets on the same ride in the end; Disney cannot simply add more mine trains to boost ride capacity and therefore there is an absolute limit of how many people can ride. If there are 100 people in the FastPass queue, then depending on what percentage of the train is reserved for FastPass, the 100th person in that queue is looking at a wait of 5 trains at minimum and possibly as many as 10. By contrast, if there are only 10 people in the FastPass queue, all ten can get on the next train, no problem.

I'm not a super huge fan of thrill rides, so I don't really have a horse in this race. But it's important to establish the fact that "FastPass is better when less people use FastPass and gets worse when more people do" is a fact.

Sure.

 

[jade1]

But it's important to establish the fact that "FastPass is better when less people use FastPass and gets worse when more people do" is a fact.

And it's important to establish the fact that having only Deluxe/DVC attend EEMH, is better than allowing Mod/Valu to attend as well which would make the experience worse, that is also a fact.

 

[monstermash23]

Just installed the MDE update and it still has the dead link to “make FastPass+ selections” so it seems there is still some reference in there.

And just a thought, but the “new” code related to FastPass that we saw added several updates ago referenced bundles or different types of FastPasses, which is part of what led to the speculation about paid or upgraded options.

If they’ve stripped that out, but left reference to the old FastPass+, it could be exactly as Remy has posted previously: they’re looking to reactivate old FastPass+ while they continue a 90+ day assessment of the new system. Stripping it out of the app might confirm that it has failed live testing for the time being so it is not needed in MDE right now.

This!

But the fuidity of this situation is also what’s making me (and prob most who are following closely) much more anxious then would be typical. They can turn on fastpass+ relatively soon, but if they don’t then it’s because they decided to write off anyone that is going to Disney (that cares about having this) between now and when they CAN launch the new system.

Seeing all these developments through Remy, the writing on the wall says FP+ will be the implemented stopgap solution. But the when is killing anyone with an upcoming trip, including me. Very frustrating.

 

[thegash35]

No, it is an objective fact that FastPass (and any other line-skip paradigm) works better the less people have it. There is no "seeming" involved here. When lots of people have and use FastPass, the expected wait times in the FastPass queue go up, reducing the value proposition for everyone involved. When few people have FastPass, the wait times in the FastPass queue decrease, and the value proposition goes up accordingly.

Remember, everyone gets on the same ride in the end; Disney cannot simply add more mine trains to boost ride capacity and therefore there is an absolute limit of how many people can ride. If there are 100 people in the FastPass queue, then depending on what percentage of the train is reserved for FastPass, the 100th person in that queue is looking at a wait of 5 trains at minimum and possibly as many as 10. By contrast, if there are only 10 people in the FastPass queue, all ten can get on the next train, no problem.

I'm not a super huge fan of thrill rides, so I don't really have a horse in this race. But it's important to establish the fact that "FastPass is better when less people use FastPass and gets worse when more people do" is a fact.

The inverse of your example is also true. The more people in the Fastpass line, then the longer the standby waits are, which is where the majority of the people spend their time parks - waiting on standby lines. The old version of FP+ helped people wait less for three attractions while jamming up standby lines across the park for the rest of the day. Forget about adding a fourth (or more) FP after using the original three - for all the must-do attractions there were never additional Fastpasses to select anyway.

Disney has acknowledged that standby waits are a problem and that it negatively impacts people's park experience. Nothing they have tried has worked - including raising prices beyond what the average American family can afford without going into a significant amount of debt in order to visit. Despite this, attendance has continued to skyrocket.

I believe that eventually WDW will be almost all virtual queues, where riders select which attractions they want to ride in a day and are given times via their app to come to the queue for the rides they selected that day. Essentially, Disney's in-house version of Touring Plans fully integrated into the MDE experience. This will probably be a very much segmented system where say, on site deluxe can make the most amount of virtual ride reservations the farthest in advance, etc. etc. This could have an (un)intended side effect of also lowering attendance, because people who can only afford to stay in value resorts may decide that Disney is no longer a place they want to spend their money. Disney has made clear they want to keep the theme park reservation system, so I can't see why they wouldn't further granulize this to attractions.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Forget about adding a fourth (or more) FP after using the original three - for all the must-do attractions there were never additional Fastpasses to select anyway.

That sentence couldn't be more untrue. We've gotten FOP, SDD, SDMT, etc as additional FPs countless times. Easily.

 

[thegash35]

That sentence couldn't be more untrue. We've gotten FOP, SDD, SDMT, etc as additional FPs countless times. Easily.

I'm in a group of five, we travel in July/August and there is nothing ever available except for crap like Philharmagic which you don't need one for anyway.

 

[Iowamomof4]

12:30 at Epcot (I'm in central time, so add an hour to the time on my screenshot) on a Thursday with no festival running. 75 minutes for Soarin'? This is not a happy situation.

 

[orangecuse]

No one should be waiting 40 minutes for Nemo. Thats insane!

 

[Heather07438]

This!

But the fuidity of this situation is also what’s making me (and prob most who are following closely) much more anxious then would be typical. They can turn on fastpass+ relatively soon, but if they don’t then it’s because they decided to write off anyone that is going to Disney (that cares about having this) between now and when they CAN launch the new system.

Seeing all these developments through Remy, the writing on the wall says FP+ will be the implemented stopgap solution. But the when is killing anyone with an upcoming trip, including me. Very frustrating.

It’d be wonderful to know! For sure.

Our dining window is opening mid July for an onsite Sept 12-17 trip. Mid July also sounds when WDW plans to possibly make big changes. DVC IT is shutting down for over 2 days July 18 & 19 (may or may not be related). Rider Swap rumored to change July 17. The timing sounds possible due to recent testing. Could their decision be unveiled third week of July?

I get the feeling we might still be out luck if the 60 day FP window remains in effect and FP doesn’t go live until around Sept 20th. Pure speculation tho. But maybe they could alter the 60 day window into something that allows FP to start on the ground sooner. The system would melt if they opened FP for 60 days of guests all on the same day. So many complications.

 

[Iowamomof4]

I see there's a line of storms coming through, so that could be having some effect somehow, although TT is still up (for now).

 

[luv2cheer92]

I'm in a group of five, we travel in July/August and there is nothing ever available except for crap like Philharmagic which you don't need one for anyway.

I'm usually in a group of 4, sometimes 3. The busier it is, the easier it is to get the good stuff.

 

[rainyvegandisney]

Disney has acknowledged that standby waits are a problem and that it negatively impacts people's park experience. Nothing they have tried has worked - including raising prices beyond what the average American family can afford without going into a significant amount of debt in order to visit. Despite this, attendance has continued to skyrocket.

Oh come on, you can't actually believe that. Nobody forces them to oversell tickets. They will happily pack 100,000 people into their parks, while their rides can go through less than 3000 people an hour.

 

[monstermash23]

It’d be wonderful to know! For sure.

Our dining window is opening mid July for an onsite Sept 12-17 trip. Mid July also sounds when WDW plans to possibly make big changes. DVC IT is shutting down for over 2 days July 18 & 19 (may or may not be related). Rider Swap rumored to change July 17. The timing sounds possible due to recent testing. Could their decision be unveiled third week of July?

I get the feeling we might still be out luck if the 60 day FP window remains in effect and FP doesn’t go live until around Sept 20th. Pure speculation tho. But maybe they could alter the 60 day window into something that allows FP to start on the ground sooner. The system would melt if they opened FP for 60 days of guests all on the same day. So many complications.

Our trip is third week of July so I hope sooner lol.

But regarding the 60 day window, I think some window will open. But there’s no way they will re-launch fastpass+ and then tell everyone that for the next month or two you are SOL because they implemented the long window again, imo. If they announce Fp+ coming back, I expect people to be able to book within days later of the announcement. The system, from what I’ve read, was built to handle the capacity. But when you really think about it, the same amount of people will be booking at the same time whether there is a lengthy booking window or not.

You sound like you may be in good shape fpr FP+, you def have a better shot then my trip coming up. Fingers crossed though for both of us.

 

[cakebaker]

Our trip is third week of July so I hope sooner lol.

Maybe we'll see each other in line! I'm beginning to think it's just not happening, that they are actually going to let people stand in hours long lines without doing a thing about it.

 

[onelove8187]

That sentence couldn't be more untrue. We've gotten FOP, SDD, SDMT, etc as additional FPs countless times. Easily.

right... omg how is it possible that so many assume this.

 

[onelove8187]

No one should be waiting 40 minutes for Nemo. Thats insane!

but.. but... fastpass makes lines long...

 

[Heather07438]

Disney has acknowledged that standby waits are a problem and that it negatively impacts people's park experience. Nothing they have tried has worked - including raising prices beyond what the average American family can afford without going into a significant amount of debt in order to visit. Despite this, attendance has continued to skyrocket.

One thing that has a Huge impact on wait times and the feel of park crowds is operating hours. Of course it costs more money to have EP open for 12 hours and MK for 16. But that is one very direct way WDW can spread the crowds.

More rides as well. HS is a much more pleasant park to tackle since they added 2 new lands. Everybody isn’t vying for the same 3 rides anymore.

 

[Heather07438]

Our trip is third week of July so I hope sooner lol.

But regarding the 60 day window, I think some window will open. But there’s no way they will re-launch fastpass+ and then tell everyone that for the next month or two you are SOL because they implemented the long window again, imo. If they announce Fp+ coming back, I expect people to be able to book within days later of the announcement. The system, from what I’ve read, was built to handle the capacity. But when you really think about it, the same amount of people will be booking at the same time whether there is a lengthy booking window or not.

You sound like you may be in good shape fpr FP+, you def have a better shot then my trip coming up. Fingers crossed though for both of us.

Yes That would be great. Goodluck!

 

[Heather07438]

Maybe we'll see each other in line! I'm beginning to think it's just not happening, that they are actually going to let people stand in hours long lines without doing a thing about it.

That would stink. Sorry.
At least with FP we don’t have to stand on long lines for every ride.