This just in from Disney Parks blog!

[clsteve]

Haters gonna hate!

Actually this sums it up perfectly, CL! But I bet the PR team is wishing they hadn't used the word "kiosk" in that statement. Why can't they just figure out how to get the anti-lock brakes AND the airbag to both work consistently?

Job security....

 

[Mad Hattered]

Job security....

But doesn't that eventually just run up the cost? If all the data they collected on anti-lock brakes and airbags over the last 5-6 years were accurate then wouldn't you think they could have designed a car that worked right the first time?

I'm pretty sure this is why they redesigned Test Track. I think they thought Tron was going to be bigger than it was.

 

[Shaden]

But doesn't that eventually just run up the cost? If all the data they collected on anti-lock brakes and airbags over the last 5-6 years were accurate then wouldn't you think they could have designed a car that worked right the first time?

I'm pretty sure this is why they redesigned Test Track. I think they thought Tron was going to be bigger than it was.

Hahahaha OMG Mad ... I have actually had the SAME bloody though while riding TT !!!!

Brilliant !

 

[dissupermom]

can someone explain to me, in easy terms I can understand, how FP+ stops park hopping?
I see it like this:
with FP- I get to park #1 at RD and ride what there is to do. then I get to park #2 and by the time I get to the rides that I want FP for, they are gone. it didn't stop me from PH.
with FP+ I get to park #1 at RD and ride what I want to ride. then I hop to park #2 and use my FP on my desired rides.
in both scenarios I can still park hop. with FP+ I can have a better chance at afternoon/evening attractions with little chance of being left out because they are not all gone.
I'm glad that we can now use FP+ with park hopping. I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to ride stuff. after all, this is vacation, right?

 

[Mad Hattered]

Hahahaha OMG Mad ... I have actually had the SAME bloody though while riding TT !!!!

Brilliant !

 

[2Tiggies]

can someone explain to me, in easy terms I can understand, how FP+ stops park hopping?
I see it like this:
with FP- I get to park #1 at RD and ride what there is to do. then I get to park #2 and by the time I get to the rides that I want FP for, they are gone. it didn't stop me from PH.
with FP+ I get to park #1 at RD and ride what I want to ride. then I hop to park #2 and use my FP on my desired rides.
in both scenarios I can still park hop. with FP+ I can have a better chance at afternoon/evening attractions with little chance of being left out because they are not all gone.
I'm glad that we can now use FP+ with park hopping. I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to ride stuff. after all, this is vacation, right?

The above is all very well if RD is still as worthwhile as it has been to this point. Since the implementation of FP+ lines have started to form far earlier in the first hour than they did before, with FP+ slots being made available from park opening. If all 3 FP's have to be used before you can obtain the next one, then it would make sense to me that we are going to see an uptick in the number of people arriving at the park for RD. More people at RD means less gets done. It remains to be seen what proportion of guests are going to adapt their touring styles to arrive earlier than they used to. If there is a significant increase in arrivals at the beginning of the day, it is fair to say that Rope Drop is not going to have the same benefits as it has up until now.

While I agree with your statement if guests don't change their touring strategies as described above, I do believe that we can expect to see a change in the distribution of crowds in relation to time of day.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

can someone explain to me, in easy terms I can understand, how FP+ stops park hopping?
I see it like this:
with FP- I get to park #1 at RD and ride what there is to do. then I get to park #2 and by the time I get to the rides that I want FP for, they are gone. it didn't stop me from PH.
with FP+ I get to park #1 at RD and ride what I want to ride. then I hop to park #2 and use my FP on my desired rides.
in both scenarios I can still park hop. with FP+ I can have a better chance at afternoon/evening attractions with little chance of being left out because they are not all gone.
I'm glad that we can now use FP+ with park hopping. I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to ride stuff. after all, this is vacation, right?

Because SB lines in the AM will have risen dramatically making RD much more difficult.

I am not saying someone thinks all those things I just have seen those common themes as of late as the negatives. So what is your issue with disney right now? Or are you fine?

Also I don't mean to offend anyone but most things disney can do won't appease people that are upset, look at this board when they give out a chance at more FP+ people automatically assume there won't ever be FPs left.

The main topics of contention by people upset with disney that I have seen:
More rides take money and time to build
Lower prices would just mean they make less on ever increasing crowd numbers
Going back to FP- is not an option most likely because of the cost of FP+

Why do you think longer SB lines are OK? That seems to be the major complaint of FP+

Understandable, vacations shouldn't have you on edge. I might get a little more nervous the week before our trip but at this point the "testing" is changing things all the time so I feel like worrying won't do much good and as long as the gates open likely I will find a way to have a good time.

Some of us have both short term trips coming up and ones months from now. If you trip begins in less than two weeks, it is very stressful to keep checking every day to see if something changed.

Also, it is way overly simplistic to simply divide people into two groups. I like getting a couple of FP+ in advance while my experience over many years and trips tells me RD will no longer be the same and much more crowded.

No I occasionally got a bunch in a day also. My family doesn't have a "touring plan" we just have fun ! Firm believer that when it's not busy you could get 8-10 in a day.BUT did you really have to? When it was busy (like spring break) it was very hard to do same because the crowds would eat up the time.



Spring break still = BIG crowds FP- or FP+ doesn't matter

Yes and no. Prior to using a touring website I struggled through a few trips. Then I came to the boards, educated myself and the first trip using the advice of seasoned travelers was so absolutely marvelous I was hooked.

There WAS a way to manage peak travel and still avoid long SB lines. I invested a lot of time learning about WDW, and as you can see, there is only more to learn.

Well, I don't know what to tell ya. We have gone Easter week many times, Thanksgiving and mid December.......with rd we were able to pull many fps with fp- and were able to ride the headliners 2 and 3 times.

This next trip we get 3. That's a major difference.

Now say in 2 months one can hit rd and pull 4 or 5 FPs. Sounds great! At first. Everyone agrees more people are using fp now. But there are only so many fps a headliner can give out. Am I going to be able to pull 2 fps for Splash? Or will there be no repeats? Will only figment and Captain EO be left at Epcot by the time 1pm rolls around and we've used our 3rd FP?

These are the things I need to know before I get all excited about this announcement. So far, it just seems like a great marketing tool for disney. I don't mean to be a downer, I'm just practical. I'm not complaining because I don't have those answers yet. This could be the best thing since sliced bread.

Yep. Right there with you. Traveling at peak was at least manageable. Now, I am not so sure.

 

[lovin diz]

I am finally catching up. But my concern is something that happend to us in November. We were in DHS, and something came up and we were going to miss our afternoon FP+ time for Toy Story. I went in to change the time and all of the FP+ for toy story were gone. There were no available fp+'s except for one for Fantasmic.

So disney is now going to allow more FP+-->for what rides?? The ones where there should be no line at all?? I think this is something to Make things look better..It sounds great...More fast passes...but until they get more rides things will not get any better..

 

[2Tiggies]

So disney is now going to allow more FP+-->for what rides?? The ones where there should be no line at all?? I think this is something to Make things look better..It sounds great...More fast passes...but until they get more rides things will not get any better..

This is the emerging concern of many. Actually some spotted it immediately. It took a bit longer for it to settle into my little mind, but it's a valid concern IMO and the more time I've had to digest this information and listen to others on here, the more I'm wondering if this is just superficial damage control rather than a solution.

 

[ConnieB]

But doesn't that eventually just run up the cost? If all the data they collected on anti-lock brakes and airbags over the last 5-6 years were accurate then wouldn't you think they could have designed a car that worked right the first time?

I'm pretty sure this is why they redesigned Test Track. I think they thought Tron was going to be bigger than it was.

Forget Tron/Test Track....how about an entire LAND about a Avatar? Sheesh...if they're needing a new land, how about something that actually has a large following....like their relatively new purchase of Star Wars....considering how insane Star Wars Weekends are, can you imagine a land of all SW rides, characters, dining, parades.......heck I'm guessing that MK might no longer be the one that closes down during major holidays, lol. But Avatar? Those better be some absolutely freakingly good rides to make anyone even go in.

 

[sethschroeder]

Personally I don't think this really has any effect on rope drop. The strategy always was to get there at rope drop, even the last month people were saying its MORE imperative than ever with FP+.

The large majority either don't care or don't plan the trip the way people on this board plan.

The biggest effect will be that more FP+ are being used earlier but the QTY of the people won't miraculously change. People actually still might show up later as their first FP+ aren't until 2/3/4 for instance since all the morning times are taken by the hardcore planning groups.

 

[crostorfer]

Personally I don't think this really has any effect on rope drop. The strategy always was to get there at rope drop, even the last month people were saying its MORE imperative than ever with FP+. The large majority either don't care or don't plan the trip the way people on this board plan. The biggest effect will be that more FP+ are being used earlier but the QTY of the people won't miraculously change. People actually still might show up later as their first FP+ aren't until 2/3/4 for instance since all the morning times are taken by the hardcore planning groups.

I thought the biggest benefit to all of this, as repeated loudly and constantly by the Pro-FP+ crowd, was that you didn't have to wake up early and rush to the park anymore? I thought everyone was excited to sleep in? Now, we're back to rope drop being essential for everyone, and suddenly people are happy to get up for rope drop again? I'm confused.

 

[Cals dad]

My wife received a survey from Disney a month ago asking her opinion on 3 different plans to expand Fastpass+. This was one of the options. They were much more detailed in the survey, however. This plan was stated that your next fastpass would not be tiered, and you could make the next selection from phone app or kiosk. Who knows if they are going with the exact plan in the survey, but it sounds pretty close to it now.

I don't know how they would make it only work from kiosks, though. Don't they just bring up the MDE website? What's the difference between what you view at the kiosks, and what you view on your app?

 

[OtherScott]

Hah!

But you've got to hand it to them-- what a brilliant move they made today.

It does nothing to change the base issue of not enough capacity. But, like Andyman, Will, Shaden and others have said- at first glance, it's a positive for a lot of touring strategies.

For Disney, a huge Marketing win: “Only Three…!!??” is now out of the conversation. They've taken the main argument away from many of us who were most impacted by the new strategy! For the mainstream press, analysts and casual Disney Fans, this argument now becomes just a lot of background noise and complaining.

On the flip side of that, getting up early is now back in vogue! Those who want to sleep in and do the Parks later also don’t have an argument- if you want more (or more good ones), go earlier and make earlier FP reservations! (funny how it all comes back to that, again)....

The devil's in the details, but they've bought time- a lot of time, and can now say “Don’t worry, we’ll listen and fix it” for just about forever- whether this is true, or this change was always part of the Plan, or it's a scramble because of bad design and planning.

Andyman said it: win, win for the Mouse and some touring styles. But, a big "hmmm, how's that going to work?" for others

It's almost as if it were by design.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Personally I don't think this really has any effect on rope drop. The strategy always was to get there at rope drop, even the last month people were saying its MORE imperative than ever with FP+.

The large majority either don't care or don't plan the trip the way people on this board plan.

The biggest effect will be that more FP+ are being used earlier but the QTY of the people won't miraculously change. People actually still might show up later as their first FP+ aren't until 2/3/4 for instance since all the morning times are taken by the hardcore planning groups.

When FP+ was announced many posters touted how wonderful it was to get FP+ for afternoon and now AM would be even more empty. But with AM FP+ beginning at opening instead of 40 minutes AFTER opening I was skeptical it wouldn't be that simple.

Then longer SB lines were reported.

Then longer SB lines started earlier in the AM.

Now it seem you can't get a fourth FP+ until after you use the first 3. However, I am skeptical of what will be available later in the day, especially now that everyone is in the pre-book pool.

So two variables have changed.
1) More pre-books
2) Earlier FP+ are now more attractive.

I USED to be more imperative to be at RD, until yesterday's announcement.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I thought the biggest benefit to all of this, as repeated loudly and constantly by the Pro-FP+ crowd, was that you didn't have to wake up early and rush to the park anymore? I thought everyone was excited to sleep in? Now, we're back to rope drop being essential for everyone, and suddenly people are happy to get up for rope drop again? I'm confused.

The other big positive spin on FP+ is how wonderful it is to change on the "fly".

If Legacy FP ran out by 11 AM on TSMM. How is that going improve availability?

Add a 4th FP+ will further limit what is available later in the day.

Funny, I did Peoplemover my first trip 13 times in a row while my toddler napped. I think that's all I'll be doing my day in MK next trip.

 

[glamdring269]

can someone explain to me, in easy terms I can understand, how FP+ stops park hopping?
I see it like this:
with FP- I get to park #1 at RD and ride what there is to do. then I get to park #2 and by the time I get to the rides that I want FP for, they are gone. it didn't stop me from PH.

Could be the time of year but I never have this problem in October. Sure rides like TSMM and Soarin' are likely out if you hop in the late afternoon/early evening. But I never really had issues pulling FP for pretty much anything in MK.

This is why I think we will just have to schedule all of our FP+ for later in the day and hope RD works out well. That is of course unless this potential change to get additional FP+ after using the initial 3 actually provides some benefit. In that case RD may be even more effective than pre-FP+.

 

[WillAustin]

Now, we're back to rope drop being essential for everyone, and suddenly people are happy to get up for rope drop again? I'm confused.

Depends on who it is. This now gives the rope droppers the potential to have more FPs if they make the effort while still guaranteeing late arrivals their reserved FPs. For rope droppers, the potential of more than three is better, and for others, three is better than zero.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

I am finally catching up. But my concern is something that happend to us in November. We were in DHS, and something came up and we were going to miss our afternoon FP+ time for Toy Story. I went in to change the time and all of the FP+ for toy story were gone. There were no available fp+'s except for one for Fantasmic.

So disney is now going to allow more FP+-->for what rides?? The ones where there should be no line at all?? I think this is something to Make things look better..It sounds great...More fast passes...but until they get more rides things will not get any better..

This is the emerging concern of many. Actually some spotted it immediately. It took a bit longer for it to settle into my little mind, but it's a valid concern IMO and the more time I've had to digest this information and listen to others on here, the more I'm wondering if this is just superficial damage control rather than a solution.

Yep. I had a hard time picking the second tier for EPCOT.

Does anyone think Soarin' will be available for 1 PM during peak?

Figment? Captain EO? I've already seen them several times.

MK is the only park I could ride everything (except character meeting) multiple times.

I rearranged my schedule (again). I am now planning on 3 and out each park.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Depends on who it is. This now gives the rope droppers the potential to have more FPs if they make the effort while still guaranteeing late arrivals their reserved FPs. For rope droppers, the potential of more than three is better, and for others, three is better than zero.

More FP's of what? Rides that previously were walk-on?