Staying offsite and just booked advance FP+ for next week!

[Shaden]

Ok wait... If offsiters get to book in advance, they'll be booking the same fp's they would have booked day of. Or was everyone thinking offsiters were coming into the parks, taking a look at the kiosks and saying"nah, I'll pass. I don't want to use fp+"

While I think there are going to be issues I'm thinking we've already seen most of the impact.

But does anybody else feel like a mouse in a maze?

2 Things ....

1) This assumes everyone who went into the parks, and saw the kiosks still waited to book. I imagine many didn't, but might book online.

2) IF they still hold back some for day of, that means MANY more people are going to be booking out of a smaller pool. Meaning they will be gone, fast. Leaving other people to HOPE for day of, which, many people will not be willing to I think, and even if they were, would cause major negative feedback.

Alternatively, they release those day ofs, and allow people to prebook the whole pile ... in which case, better book at 60 ... else everything might just be gone. ....

 

[ArwenMarie]

Ok wait... If offsiters get to book in advance, they'll be booking the same fp's they would have booked day of. Or was everyone thinking offsiters were coming into the parks, taking a look at the kiosks and saying"nah, I'll pass. I don't want to use fp+"

While I think there are going to be issues I'm thinking we've already seen most of the impact.

But does anybody else feel like a mouse in a maze?

That's true. Since we know they were holding back a lot of FPs for day-of, they'll just throw those into the 60-day bucket now. I don't think the impact on onsite will be as negative as it might seem at first glance.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I have no idea how Disney will manage this once it goes out of test mode for off-site guests. It seems that anyone with an MDE account and a ticket will be able to "plan" a vacation in MDE and pre-book FP+, whether they really plan to go at that time or not. With the number of tickets out there, this could get out of hand quickly.

 

[bdb23]

So it appears this is hitting off-siters around the 1 week mark from their ADRs. Does that seem right for the folks who've gotten the e-mail?

 

[velvetsqueeze]

So it appears this is hitting off-siters around the 1 week mark from their ADRs. Does that seem right for the folks who've gotten the e-mail?

Not sure if it's the one week mark or they just started on 3/1. I saw one offsite guest that received the same email I received, and she won't be there until 3/12.

Any offsite guests out there that received the email but aren't going until after the 14th?

 

[KatieCharlotte]

Mine always have. Three times out of three when i planned a stay and then had to cancel or reschedule. If they didn't why wouldn't every person book a room, then book ADRs and then cancel the room if they were going to stay off site. That would buy them an extra 10 days head start on hard to get ADRs.

So, if you call and cancel the first several days of a room reservation, do your ADRs for later in the trip disappear? I've never tried to get an in-demand ADR so I'd never thought about the implications before, but with FP+ being 60+ and 7DMT about to open .... In my state, to get campsite reservations 180+ days out, people book weeks at a time and then cancel what they don't want for $18, which means constantly checking for cancelations, like a campsite is an BOG ADR.

At least non-AP offsiters will be limited by the number of days on their tickets, so even if they change their mind about when they're traveling, they will have to release the FP+ they have booked in order to book them on different days. Clearly, there has to be a quarterly limit for offsite AP holders.

I am totally in favor of offsite guests being able to prebook, but if they stop holding back FP+ for day-of booking, doesn't that mean even less ability to make last minute changes?

 

[lizabu]

So it appears this is hitting off-siters around the 1 week mark from their ADRs. Does that seem right for the folks who've gotten the e-mail?

I got the email on Monday and it was referencing the BOG ADR I have for March 12. It said I had to link everything by March 6 and they would send me an email on March 7. I logged on to MDE and clicked on FP+. I've tried it before and it didn't do anything but this time it let me start selecting FP+. We have an ADR tomorrow at CP so maybe it's recognizing ADRs for next week and not this week.

 

[bdb23]

Thanks. Our first ADR is on 3/23 so it looks like we'd have some time before possibly being selected. Everything has been linked for months so I'm crossing my fingers.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I have no idea how Disney will manage this once it goes out of test mode for off-site guests. It seems that anyone with an MDE account and a ticket will be able to "plan" a vacation in MDE and pre-book FP+, whether they really plan to go at that time or not. With the number of tickets out there, this could get out of hand quickly.

Yeah, but what's the incentive for someone to do this? And you could say the same about APs as well.

 

[JimmyV]

I didn't experience any waits at "kiosks" . . because they weren't really Kiosks just CM with Ipads helping you. The busier it was, the more staff they added.

Which is exactly why I have always suspected that off site guests would get full pre-booking access and that the kiosks were going to be used for making same day changes. The system is simply not sustainable if it requires a drain on so much of the labor force. Disney did not implement this new high-tech system just so that it could employ 100 CMs per park to walk around with i-Pads. Technology is supposed to cut labor costs, not increase them.

Ok wait... If offsiters get to book in advance, they'll be booking the same fp's they would have booked day of. Or was everyone thinking offsiters were coming into the parks, taking a look at the kiosks and saying"nah, I'll pass. I don't want to use fp+"

While I think there are going to be issues I'm thinking we've already seen most of the impact.

First, I do think that people were deterred from using kiosks/CMs due to the length of time it was taking to get to the front of the line (on busy days). "Hmmm. I can wait an hour to get a FP so that I can skip a 70 minute wait at Soarin', and get two additional FPs that I don't need, or I can just go to Soarin' and hope that the 70 minute posted wait is actually 60 minutes or less." Disney keeps telling us that fewer than half of its guests used FP-. Assuming that is true, I have to believe that a heavy percentage of forner "non-users" who were "day of" guests similarly did not use FP+ because of the inconvenience of doing so. No way to know for sure, but the logic is there.

Finally, yes, we have seen the impact already in the net result. What will change is the pushing back of the date of that impact, which, when publicized, may cause it to come under a microscope and get a tiny bit worse. In this thread alone there are reports of people getting shut out of FPs for things like TSM and ETWB. (I know we did, as to the latter). So people will now be extra vigilant in getting their FPs early, and the popular ones are assured of running out (unless the system holds some back for a later, trickled release.)

 

[JimmyV]

It seems that anyone with an MDE account and a ticket will be able to "plan" a vacation in MDE and pre-book FP+, whether they really plan to go at that time or not. With the number of tickets out there, this could get out of hand quickly.

Yeah, but what's the incentive for someone to do this? And you could say the same about APs as well.

Re-sale.

• Set up strawman MDE account.
• Buy a 6 day park pass.
• Book some popular ADRs.
• Get Early FP+ access and book some popular attractions.
• Go to Ebay or Craig's List and sell the "package" at a profit to someone who was otherwise getting shut out of good attractions, or who simply did not want to go through all this trouble of planning a Disney vacation.
• Put the hard plastic tickets in the mail and once the buyer uses them the first time with their finger scan, they are "theirs" for good. No charging privileges on the plastic cards, so no risk to the seller.

 

[mom2rtk]

Which is exactly why I have always suspected that off site guests would get full pre-booking access and that the kiosks were going to be used for making same day changes. The system is simply not sustainable if it requires a drain on so much of the labor force. Disney did not implement this new high-tech system just so that it could employ 100 CMs per park to walk around with i-Pads. Technology is supposed to cut labor costs, not increase them.

Yep. That. I have never doubted for a moment that off-site guests would get full access to MDE for advance booking of some sort.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Re-sale.

• Set up strawman MDE account.
• Buy a 6 day park pass.
• Book some popular ADRs.
• Get Early FP+ access and book some popular attractions.
• Go to Ebay or Craig's List and sell the "package" at a profit to someone who was otherwise getting shut out of good attractions, or who simply did not want to go through all this trouble of planning a Disney vacation.
• Put the hard plastic tickets in the mail and once the buyer uses them the first time with their finger scan, they are "theirs" for good. No charging privileges on the plastic cards, so no risk to the seller.

Okay. But why would Disney care if people do this?

 

[JimmyV]

Okay. But why would Disney care if people do this?

I'm not sure they would. Sounds to me like what a good Travel Agent would do for a customer. I could see UT selling park passes that now come "pre-loaded" with FP+. The question was posed whether allowing off site people to pre-book might cause phantom FPs to be booked that the "booker" did not intend to use, and I think the answer to that is "yes". But I'm not sure Disney could stop it, and I'm not sure they would care.

 

[2Tiggies]

Okay. But why would Disney care if people do this?

I would hope they would care. Setting up a false MDE account for the purpose of making money out of the system isn't exactly flying above board. Furthermore, there is no limit to how many fake accounts a person could set up for this purpose. This would only serve to put further strain on an already stressed system. People are already willing to book a throwaway room that they aren't going to use just to get access to the system. People are desperate. And I think their feeling is, for the most part justified, particularly those not staying onsite. So if they will pay for a throwaway room I think many will jump at the opportunity to pay for a ready made Privilege Package.

 

[ThisIsMyName]

I think they need a lot of CM as it's not super easy to figure out how to book/change times, etc so CM really speed up the process. We never any real wait at "kiosks" but the parks had decent crowds. They were also heavily promoting the use of FP+. . .they handed you a flyer about the program when you entered the park and encouraged you to reveiw it/select your 3 rides while on the ferry to MK.

I think they ran out of Toy Story and Belle in the morning because of all the prebooking where with old FP we would have gotten one at 9:30am.

I'm sure the "tests" are helping them start getting the % of people who abandon the FP+ and for which rides. . .we abandonned many FP because we just couldn't make it to that park of the park in time. . but were much more likely to skip a FP+ for Pooh or Buzz than say meeting Rapunzel or Toy Story (if we could have even gotten one).

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

I would hope they would care. Setting up a false MDE account for the purpose of making money out of the system isn't exactly flying above board. Furthermore, there is no limit to how many fake accounts a person could set up for this purpose. This would only serve to put further strain on an already stressed system. People are already willing to book a throwaway room that they aren't going to use just to get access to the system. People are desperate. And I think their feeling is, for the most part justified, particularly those not staying onsite. So if they will pay for a throwaway room I think many will jump at the opportunity to pay for a ready made Privilege Package.

But the thing is, Disney still gets what they want. Someone locked into their park for the day. The new system has nothing to do with making a better experience for the guest. It is about Disney's bottom line and locking guest into their parks. Once the tickets are bought, Disney has the money. I don't think they even care if the actual FP+ is used. They have the money for the ticket.

 

[2Tiggies]

But the thing is, Disney still gets what they want. Someone locked into their park for the day. The new system has nothing to do with making a better experience for the guest. It is about Disney's bottom line and locking guest into their parks. Once the tickets are bought, Disney has the money. I don't think they even care if the actual FP+ is used. They have the money for the ticket.

Oh I am not arguing with that. I was looking at it from the perspective of people making money out of Disney. I mean you're not allowed to re-sell your tickets. Is that not similar?

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

Oh I am not arguing with that. I was looking at it from the perspective of people making money out of Disney. I mean you're not allowed to re-sell your tickets. Is that not similar?

Well, you aren't allowed to re-sell your ticket that you have already used but what are the rules for a unused ticket. If you buy a ticket and then aren't able to go and never have or never will use the ticket, can you not sell it for the same cost to someone?

 

[lugnut33]

I do not like where this whole FP+ thingy is going, and I have not since we took our trip last November. I'm trying to stay positive, but what I knew would happen is happening. You're going to have to lock yourself in to a park and rides 60 days in advance if you want to experience the main attractions. Or you'll need to get to the park at least an hour before opening to gain good position.