*** Updated to add spring break Data*** New Data, FP+ impacting wait times, discuss

[NavyDad]

I completely agree with you on that. I'm not sure how successful they'll be moving toward the virtual queue for everything because I don't think it fits for everyone.

Almost 60% of Americans have smart phones compared to about 10% 5 years ago. Imagine what that number will be 5 years from now.

Humans adapt to technology at an astounding pace. Companies that inovate thrive - companies that do not die on the vine.

5 years ago the majority of people walked into a video store to rent movies. Now Blockbuster is bankrupt and we stream movies from Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.

When you scan a can of peas at the self scanner at Walmart a factory in California puts a new case on the truck to ship to that store within hours.

I see the virtual queue coming very soon and our kids laughing about how we used to stand in line or have to run to get paper tickets to ride a ride.

 

[Mac4life30]

it isn't just standby lines that are longer, fast pass return lines are longer too.

Yep the TTM return last month was past the entrance for the Pirates of the Caribbean movie show.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I fully agree with your last statement. It is a very reasonable conclusion that the current setup is going to be changed further. Two months in they basically just have a system framework in place. They need to work the bugs out of technology and then tweaks to quanity, priority and time ranges should be implemented to make the system better.

However, people who think they will go back to paper machines and everything will be back to the way it was are living in a pipe dream.

Like a PP said, the end game is probably a completely virtual queueing system where you never spend more than 5 minutes in a line. That is much more likely to happen before we see all paper system again IMO.

Never more than 5 minutes??

That's about as likely as me building a time machine to go use Legacy FPs again...

 

[DividedSky]

I know this is "out there" and not a very popular philosophy these days.......... but how about "first come, first served"?

So no fp at all?

Show up, get in line, and whoever went in the line first, goes first.

Pretty sure the cry’s will only grow louder

 

[practicallyperfect77]

What about the guy who slept until noon and then *****es because they switched from the breakfast to lunch buffet before he got there?

How this all turned into a food fight is beyond me. At least no one has brought up chicken wings yet.

All I know is when I show up to my local buffet at 10:30am on a Sunday morning I don't expect there to be bacon left. If I want bacon, I gotta get there earlier. Ya snooze, ya lose. And now I want bacon. Back to the topic at hand though, I'm really interested to see how the lines play out the next month with spring break and easter. I hope some of the vets go and figure out the best strategy before my next trip too. I need to learn from the best.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Almost 60% of Americans have smart phones compared to about 10% 5 years ago. Imagine what that number will be 5 years from now.

Humans adapt to technology at an astounding pace. Companies that inovate thrive - companies that do not die on the vine.

5 years ago the majority of people walked into a video store to rent movies. Now Blockbuster is bankrupt and we stream movies from Netflix, Amazon and iTunes.

When you scan a can of peas at the self scanner at Walmart a factory in California puts a new case on the truck to ship to that store within hours.

I see the virtual queue coming very soon and our kids laughing about how we used to stand in line or have to run to get paper tickets to ride a ride.

Whatever you're smoking to get such visions, I want some.

These are theme parks. The innovation we want to see are in cutting edge rides and attractions (which Universal has been doing for years). It's in better ride experiences, and plussing. It's not in a new way to enter the park or to enter a (now much slower) FP line.

 

[practicallyperfect77]

So no fp at all?

Show up, get in line, and whoever went in the line first, goes first.

Pretty sure the cry’s will only grow louder

Maybe not....at least there wouldn't be long standby for TT right at park opening.

 

[DividedSky]

Whatever you're smoking to get such visions, I want some.

These are theme parks. The innovation we want to see are in cutting edge rides and attractions (which Universal has been doing for years). It's in better ride experiences, and plussing. It's not in a new way to enter the park or to enter a (now much slower) FP line.

implying someone else is on drugs is pathetic.

 

[bwang123]

And after their trip is over, they might say "to heck with Disney, next time we're going to X", and Disney has lost their business forever. Now multiply that effect by the number of people who will be alienated by this crappy new system.

what about the people that visited once, did not know about FP-, waited in lines and never came back? now take those same type of people but instead FP+ is in place and they utilize it. They got to ride 3 rides with practically no waits. Maybe that will make them come back another time when they wouldn't have in scenario one.

 

[Owlpost23]

You make a great point!

The goal is for people to spend less time in line for the reason you stated. When they are not in line for a ride they can spend more money.

Someone else mentioned that part of the reasoning behind booking FP ahead of time is that people can spend more time other places spending money but still know that they have a FP for their favorite ride later that day.

Good points

Appreciate the compliment!

 

[Davey Jones II]

implying someone else is on drugs is pathetic.

Obviously that's not what I'm saying. It's a figure of speech. An expression. You always take everything literally?

It means he is wildly speculating, while showing an inordinate amount of faith and trust in technology, as if technology hasn't screwed us up countless times in the past.

What we've seen so far is that this new system is a failure when it comes to the guest experience, and very likely even Disney's almighty bottom line. That's what I'm going on.

He also shows a tremendous faith in Disney, with a cozy assumption that the company will find some miracle solution to this debacle, one aimed solely at maximizing the guest experience rather than maximizing their profits. The very fact that they adopted this thing, rather than devote the money to much-needed improvements to park infrustructure, shows where the company's priorities are. They believed that this would improve their profits, so they proceeded to force it down our collective throats.

I don't subscribe to blind faith.

 

[johde]

You are right. Rest assured that I did not spend more than the time it took me to type the post plotting out that hypothetical day for fear that some might think that I was stuffing too much straw into my hypothetical family. It was an "off-the-top-of-my-head" plan that sounded about right for a normal family not using a computer efficiency model. When I make actual plans, I usually do better.

Of course you picked EPCOT, a park that has 2 attractions with long lines (Soarin' and TT); 2 attractions with moderate lines (MS and Maelstrom);a bunch of attractions with capacity coming out their ears and all the attractions are miles apart from each other. I see EPCOT as being the easiest park for the casual visitor that doesn't repeat attractions to benefit from FP+ planning their day to avoid crisscrossing the park. They need to bite the bullet and wait in a "long" standby line for either Soarin' or TT. But in general that's the only "long line" all day. It is also the park I've decided isn't worth using FP+ at if I have Park Hoppers and the one park per day rule is still in place. I think with arriving at RD (or using EMH) I can do everything I want
to at EPCOT and use those FP+ at a different park where they are more valuable to me.

Even though the ride landscape is similar, DHS is smaller geographically so "crossing" the park isn't as long, so I don't think you'd get the same results. The MK has so many more "good" FP options it's tough to compare.

I haven't used FP+ and I'm still on the fence about it. I've had day's at Disney in the past where I thought FP+ would have been better, days in the past where FP+ would have been worse, and even those rare days where it's so empty that neither one would have mattered.

 

[Mad Hattered]

You make a great point!

The goal is for people to spend less time in line for the reason you stated. When they are not in line for a ride they can spend more money.

Someone else mentioned that part of the reasoning behind booking FP ahead of time is that people can spend more time other places spending money but still know that they have a FP for their favorite ride later that day.

Good points

You mean like Universal Studios?

 

[FLchick415]

Obviously that's not what I'm saying. It's a figure of speech. An expression. You always take everything literally? It means he is wildly speculating, while showing an inordinate amount of faith and trust in technology, as if technology hasn't screwed us up countless times in the past. What we've seen so far is that this new system is a failure when it comes to the guest experience, and very likely even Disney's almighty bottom line. That's what I'm going on. He also shows a tremendous faith in Disney, with a cozy assumption that the company will find some miracle solution to this debacle, one aimed solely at maximizing the guest experience rather than maximizing their profits. The very fact that they adopted this thing, rather than devote the money to much-needed improvements to park infrustructure, shows where the company's priorities are. They believed that this would improve their profits, so they proceeded to force it down our collective throats. I don't subscribe to blind faith.

The system hasn't been a failure for everyone though. For me it's just fine, but I'm local. There are people that like it though, and knowing that, the system is not a failure.

 

[Davey Jones II]

what about the people that visited once, did not know about FP-, waited in lines and never came back? now take those same type of people but instead FP+ is in place and they utilize it. They got to ride 3 rides with practically no waits. Maybe that will make them come back another time when they wouldn't have in scenario one.

Practically no waits? This whole thread is about the longer waits caused by FP+. And what about the rides which used to be a walk on, and now have long waits?

Another issue is that many formally loyal, long time repeat visitors are now thinking of going to Universal, or Vegas, or many other destinations they once dismissed in favor of Disney. I have read countless posts which have stated that.

The fact is that repeat business is a huge part of the theme park industry. If they lose us, they're in trouble.

 

[NavyDad]

Whatever you're smoking to get such visions, I want some.

These are theme parks. The innovation we want to see are in cutting edge rides and attractions (which Universal has been doing for years). It's in better ride experiences, and plussing. It's not in a new way to enter the park or to enter a (now much slower) FP line.

Serious questions to get an idea on perspective:

1. What decade were you born in?

2. Do you stream movies?

3. Do you have a smartphone? If so what do you use it for?

I love Universal and what they are doing with their rides.

I think you are seriously underestimating how technology effects the way Americans like to consume and access entertainment.

Like I said - just trying to get an idea on your perspective.

 

[DividedSky]

Practically no waits? This whole thread is about the longer waits caused by FP+. And what about the rides which used to be a walk on, and now have long waits?

Another issue is that many formally loyal, long time repeat visitors are now thinking of going to Universal, or Vegas, or many other destinations they once dismissed in favor of Disney. I have read countless posts which have stated that.

The fact is that repeat business is a huge part of the theme park industry. If they lose us, they're in trouble.

so we know the overall attendance numbers? rides that malfunctioned?

NOPE. all we know is what the reported wait times are.

those with an agenda are using their agenda to decide why something happened, but since we don't know attendance figures, ride malfunction figures, etc, etc, we can't possibly know how much impact fp+ had on reported wait times.

 

[Davey Jones II]

The system hasn't been a failure for everyone though. For me it's just fine, but I'm local. There are people that like it though, and knowing that, the system is not a failure.

Some may like it. But a system that increases overall wait times, because it just slows down the lines, is a disaster (at least for us tourists, who have a limited amount of time to do what we want before going back home!).

Good lord, we're talking about an artificial reduction in ride capacity, just because people are standing around waiting for the damn system to allow movement in the line!

 

[Davey Jones II]

Serious questions to get an idea on perspective:

1. What decade were you born in?

2. Do you stream movies?

3. Do you have a smartphone? If so what do you use it for?

I love Universal and what they are doing with their rides.

I think you are seriously underestimating how technology effects the way Americans like to consume and access entertainment.

Like I said - just trying to get an idea on your perspective.

Thanks for the irrelevant questions, which have exactly zilch to do with the subject at hand.

 

[FLchick415]

Some may like it. But a system that increases overall wait times, because it just slows down the lines, is a disaster (at least for us tourists, who have a limited amount of time to do what we want before going back home!). Good lord, we're talking about an artificial reduction in ride capacity, just because people are standing around waiting for the damn system to allow movement in the line!

I'm not denying that it's worse for some. I totally understand how it would be and I've always had that stance. However, you can't say the whole system is a failure if it works for some people and the way they tour the parks.