TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[AmyB2006]

I've been visiting WDW since nearly the beginning. My first trip was in 1976. You way it's been like this for 20 years. To that I'd say yes and no. In my opinion, there was a key change 10 years ago that changed the equation at WDW and led us where we are today. Disney started actively starting pushing for volume of customers at the expense of margins. 2001-2001 saw the aftermath of 9/11. Then in 2004, hurricanes Charley and Frances ripped across Orlando. Disney's attendance was hurting. January 1 2005, Disney introduced MYW tickets.

Dec. 31, 2004, a 1 day ticket cost $54.75 and a 5 day park hopper cost $249 (4.5x the 1 day price) The 4 day park hopper cost $219 (4x the 1 day price). 6 and 7 day tickets were only available as park hopper plus tickets that included the water parks.

On January 1, 2005, a 1 day base ticket Jumped to $59.75. But you could now get a 10 park hopper (that expired in 14 days) for $232(3.6* a 1 day price). That's less money than the 5 day ticket the year before. Disney was "penalizing" you for taking a short trip and strongly encouraging you to take a long single trip.

That next fall saw a variety of specials to encourage people to book during hurricane season. "Free Dining", 7 days for the price of 3 on hotels, tickets, and Dining, were just a couple of them.

If you look before and after than time, you can see a change in the numbers and quality of attractions added to the parks.

1992 Splash Mountain
1994 Tower of Terror
1995 Extra Terrorestrial Alien Encounter
1996 Barn Stormer
1998 Buzz Light Year, Fantasmic, Animal Kingdom Park
1999 Test Track, Winnie the Pooh, Rock n Roller Coaster, Journey into Your Imagination, Kali River Rapids
2002 Journey into Imagination W/ Figment
2003 Mission Space, Mickey's Philharmagic, Wishes
2004 Stiches Great Escape, Turtle Talk with Crush,

MYW Introduced Attractions during first couple of years already being constructed.
2005 Soarin', Lights Motors Action
2006 Expedition Everest, Seas with Nemo and Friends, Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure

2007 Monster Inc laugh floor. Grand Fiesta Tour w/ Three Caballeros, Jedi Training Academy, Finding Nemo the Musical
2008 Toy Story Midway Mania
2009 Sum of all Thrills,
2010 Captain EO returns
2011 Mickey at town Square, Disney Jr live
2012 Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Bell, Storybook Circus, Agent P world Showcase
2013 Princess Fairytale Hall
2014 Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Looking at the attractions before and after that date, you can see a big difference. People who who frequent the the table service restaurant talk about the simpler menus and closer tables since free dining has been around.

Of course the trouble is the strategy that saved them after 9/11 and the hurricanes is coming around to bite them now that the economy is starting to improve slowly. They have theme parks at record attendance that haven't had major expansions in several years (outside of NFL at the MK now). And because most of the expansion has been in hotels and DVC they still have massive numbers of rooms to fill every night.

I think what we are seeing now from New Fantasy Land to FP+ is an attempt at a "quick fix" to allow ever increasing attendance into the park.

Excellent analysis.

 

[AmyB2006]

I am only referring to one specific one that was posted about here, where screenshots were posted, and was a hot topic specifically because of its lack of negative options. I think it was around march 2014 or so? Before the 4th fp+ option

I'm not and never have been claiming that it is something Disney routinely does.

Ooooh ok. I thought someone else was referring to polls or surveys that Disney does and that they were skewing the results in their favor.

 

[vacationer1954]

Sorry taking down negative feedback and fixing the results of polls is not good business.

Yes, it is. It is just like painting over graffiti on your billboard, as I mentioned before. This is basic marketing. Marketing may not be what you like but it is good business.

 

[cakebaker]

The one argument or alternative I always see on here coming from those who like the new FP system is you don't have to use it and you can always use the standby line. Well wouldn't that also apply to the old FP system also. Meaning if you hopped to another park and the fastpasses were gone you could just get in the standby line.

Very true- works both ways. I just don't recall there being any uproar about it when it was just fp.

And that is just one feature of fp+ I like- the ability to schedule fp's to a time I like rather than what the machine gave me.

 

[cakebaker]

Ooooh ok. I thought someone else was referring to polls or surveys that Disney does and that they were skewing the results in their favor.

They were- there are some people who believe Disney skews their polling and data to get the results they want.

Personally, I find the notion ridiculous.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Ooooh ok. I thought someone else was referring to polls or surveys that Disney does and that they were skewing the results in their favor.

They may be, I don't know. Since I was one referencing a poll with no negative options, I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't referencing all of their surveys

 

[Planogirl]

Am I the only person who never gets surveys? I guess that they don't want to get an earful from me.

 

[KCSherri]

Yes, it is. It is just like painting over graffiti on your billboard, as I mentioned before. This is basic marketing. Marketing may not be what you like but it is good business.

I have to disagree with this….

I am a social media manager for a very large non-profit company here in the United States.

We use various social media sites for our company (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc). The term, "social", itself, is defined as having INTERACTION.

The largest social media site, Facebook, is set up to allow comments on your page - or not. (I, as the manager of our FB page, can turn "off" the comments). By turning on the comments, we, as managers, assume that we will be having a DIALOGUE with our customers. We do NOT erase negative comments on our FB page…we will address the issue, and deal with it so that we are an "open" page.

WDW, by eliminating negative comments, is not having a dialogue with their customers, at all. They are basically saying, "Your comments are not important to us…unless they're positive." That is NOT a good message to send to their customers.

A billboard is not considered social media. Therefore, I do not look at a billboard in the same way at all as a Facebook page.

Just my opinion...

 

[cakebaker]

Am I the only person who never gets surveys? I guess that they don't want to get an earful from me.

We only get them after an on site stay or if we get stopped by one of the survey people in the park. Both happened this last trip so my daughter got 1 and I got 1 as well.

 

[Jennasis]

I have to disagree with this….

I am a social media manager for a very large non-profit company here in the United States.

We use various social media sites for our company (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc). The term, "social", itself, is defined as having INTERACTION.

The largest social media site, Facebook, is set up to allow comments on your page - or not. (I, as the manager of our FB page, can turn "off" the comments). By turning on the comments, we, as managers, assume that we will be having a DIALOGUE with our customers. We do NOT erase negative comments on our FB page…we will address the issue, and deal with it so that we are an "open" page.

WDW, by eliminating negative comments, is not having a dialogue with their customers, at all. They are basically saying, "Your comments are not important to us…unless they're positive." That is NOT a good message to send to their customers.

A billboard is not considered social media. Therefore, we do not look at in the same way at all as a Facebook page.

Just my opinion...

This. That's how I run my business's social media pages including Facebook.

 

[cakebaker]

WDW, by eliminating negative comments, is not having a dialogue with their customers, at all. They are basically saying, "Your comments are not important to us…unless they're positive." That is NOT a good message to send to their customers.

But you're assuming, based on just a couple of unverifiable reports that they are doing this. Right now, there are many negative comments on their FB page. If they do this as a rule, why are those comments there?

 

[SColling007]

I am a long time viewer of the DIS Unplugged podcasts, but this is my first post to the boards. I watched and listened to Pete's comments about the FastPass + testing at Toy Story Mainia! last week, and have been reading some of the comments since testing has ended, and I have to say that I believe the criticism is a little unwarranted.

I am in full agreement that if this is fully implemented it would be a bad thing. But coming from the technology testing industry I sort of understand the process. Disney has a responsibility to fully test to capacity the nearly 1.5 billion that it has cost to implement FastPass + and the technology that comes with it.

Everyone has to remember that this is a test. In order to do their due diligence they have to test every aspect of the technology, both to see what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately the only way to really test if something like this would work is to test it on one of the most popular rides during normal business hours, for more than just one day. Disney doesn't have a test environment for this so it means that it WILL impact the guest experience. A test at a less popular ride, or even during slower times, will not give a true benchmark of the metrics that they are trying to capture. Once Disney has concluded the test, they will gather all of the data including wait times, ride capacity, and guest experience and will be able to tell what aspects worked, what didn't, and if it is a viable solution. For all we know from the outside, Disney had to rule this out in order to be able to request funds to add or change something else (say and additional TSM track).

I tend to give Disney the benefit of the doubt when they are just testing things. I am old enough to remember the tests for the Legacy FastPass system, and I remember that people hated that too.

 

[cakebaker]

 

[Angel Ariel]

I have to disagree with this….

I am a social media manager for a very large non-profit company here in the United States.

We use various social media sites for our company (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc). The term, "social", itself, is defined as having INTERACTION.

The largest social media site, Facebook, is set up to allow comments on your page - or not. (I, as the manager of our FB page, can turn "off" the comments). By turning on the comments, we, as managers, assume that we will be having a DIALOGUE with our customers. We do NOT erase negative comments on our FB page…we will address the issue, and deal with it so that we are an "open" page.

WDW, by eliminating negative comments, is not having a dialogue with their customers, at all. They are basically saying, "Your comments are not important to us…unless they're positive." That is NOT a good message to send to their customers.

A billboard is not considered social media. Therefore, I do not look at a billboard in the same way at all as a Facebook page.

Just my opinion...

Thank you for the professional outlook on social media. This is how I see business social media pages as well. As a customer, I truly appreciate it when I make a comment on a business' FB page, and the business takes the time to respond to the concern/comment.

I think Disney is exceptional in their responses to e-mails/phone calls - the interactions I've had with Guest Services CMs have been wonderful. I do think they could handle social media - both FB and their own blog - differently without too much more work on their part.

I'm certainly not suggesting they respond to every single comment, just to be clear, but an outlook more like the one quoted here would not be bad for them, I don't think.

 

[Cyrano]

Hi SColling007. Danny, Brian and Reid welcome you to the TPAS DIS board

We are a friendly and knowledgeable bunch here so please join in on any other thread or if you have a number of questions then just start a new thread

If you have not had a look yet the DIS posting guidelines can be found here.

I have merged your post on to the TSM test thread so that we can keep all the comments and observations in the one thread.

Hope you will stay around TPAS

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

But you're assuming, based on just a couple of unverifiable reports that they are doing this. Right now, there are many negative comments on their FB page. If they do this as a rule, why are those comments there?

Disney isn't deleting them all but I've had one deleted. I posted the pic of the TSMM sign that said they had reached capacity. About an hour later, that post was gone.

 

[KCSherri]

But you're assuming, based on just a couple of unverifiable reports that they are doing this. Right now, there are many negative comments on their FB page. If they do this as a rule, why are those comments there?

I am not assuming anything. I saw it happen with my own eyes.

My entire day is spent on social media - the nature of my job. (Lucky me, huh?!) If I'm not managing my own company's sites, I'm researching other companies' sites - to see how they're handling complaints, to see what they're posting, to get inspiration, etc.

It was becoming very obvious, after studying the WDW Facebook page over several weeks, that negative comments were being erased.

As to why they may not be doing it now, who knows?? Maybe they told their Social Media Manager to knock it off….maybe they were overwhelmed with too many negative comments and couldn't keep up…maybe their SM Manager is on vacation (and where DO Disney employees go on vacation, btw? To Walt Disney World??!!)...

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

We were there when on October 9th with fastpasses that had been made 6 weeks in advance and due to the "testing" we waited right at 30 minutes for our ride. I didn't mind as the queue was interesting enough to keep the young one busy and the older one entertained.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I am a long time viewer of the DIS Unplugged podcasts, but this is my first post to the boards. I watched and listened to Pete's comments about the FastPass + testing at Toy Story Mainia! last week, and have been reading some of the comments since testing has ended, and I have to say that I believe the criticism is a little unwarranted.

I am in full agreement that if this is fully implemented it would be a bad thing. But coming from the technology testing industry I sort of understand the process. Disney has a responsibility to fully test to capacity the nearly 1.5 billion that it has cost to implement FastPass + and the technology that comes with it.

Everyone has to remember that this is a test. In order to do their due diligence they have to test every aspect of the technology, both to see what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately the only way to really test if something like this would work is to test it on one of the most popular rides during normal business hours, for more than just one day. Disney doesn't have a test environment for this so it means that it WILL impact the guest experience. A test at a less popular ride, or even during slower times, will not give a true benchmark of the metrics that they are trying to capture. Once Disney has concluded the test, they will gather all of the data including wait times, ride capacity, and guest experience and will be able to tell what aspects worked, what didn't, and if it is a viable solution. For all we know from the outside, Disney had to rule this out in order to be able to request funds to add or change something else (say and additional TSM track).

I tend to give Disney the benefit of the doubt when they are just testing things. I am old enough to remember the tests for the Legacy FastPass system, and I remember that people hated that too.

I think everyone in this thread understands that Disney needs to test things. The majority of the criticism is not from running the test itself, but from not giving any notice of the test to its guests - in effect, blindsiding them.

Does it matter to me, personally? no, I wasn't there. But I feel for the people who were on their once in a lifetime trip who were turned away from TSMM. If Disney had made them aware of what was happening, maybe they could have rearranged plans so that they wouldn't be shut out of riding completely.

Yes, I know, Disney doesn't guarantee riding anything and there are shut downs and refurbs all the time...but this situation is different than a ride malfunction or a refurbishment or a weather shut down. In those situations *no one* is getting to ride. In this situation, the family that didn't have a FP+ was still watching others get to ride while being told they cannot. If Disney had made them aware of the testing, maybe that family could have been riding.

 

[Planogirl]

I am a long time viewer of the DIS Unplugged podcasts, but this is my first post to the boards. I watched and listened to Pete's comments about the FastPass + testing at Toy Story Mainia! last week, and have been reading some of the comments since testing has ended, and I have to say that I believe the criticism is a little unwarranted.

I am in full agreement that if this is fully implemented it would be a bad thing. But coming from the technology testing industry I sort of understand the process. Disney has a responsibility to fully test to capacity the nearly 1.5 billion that it has cost to implement FastPass + and the technology that comes with it.

Everyone has to remember that this is a test. In order to do their due diligence they have to test every aspect of the technology, both to see what works and what doesn't. Unfortunately the only way to really test if something like this would work is to test it on one of the most popular rides during normal business hours, for more than just one day. Disney doesn't have a test environment for this so it means that it WILL impact the guest experience. A test at a less popular ride, or even during slower times, will not give a true benchmark of the metrics that they are trying to capture. Once Disney has concluded the test, they will gather all of the data including wait times, ride capacity, and guest experience and will be able to tell what aspects worked, what didn't, and if it is a viable solution. For all we know from the outside, Disney had to rule this out in order to be able to request funds to add or change something else (say and additional TSM track).

I tend to give Disney the benefit of the doubt when they are just testing things. I am old enough to remember the tests for the Legacy FastPass system, and I remember that people hated that too.

I think that some of the fuss is coming from worry that Disney will implement some form of this. Maybe they won't but until their motives are clear, some of us will likely fret.

Also, I can understand how annoying this test would be for a visitor. Depending on desire to plan every detail, a surprise test like this can really throw off a schedule. Plus some feel that they are paying for a service and should receive that service and not some version of a test. Some people seem to see the ability to wait for a ride as a part of that service too.