Updates to MyMagic+ coming soon ***Official April 10, post #102 page 6***

[GillianP1301]

This is exciting! I love FP+ and have since the get go even when so many others were moaning about it, but the one thing I have always said would make it perfect to me, is the ability to do 4th+ via the app. So I do really hope this rumour is true and that the rumoured spring rollout is also true because I would love to take advantage during my August trip.

 

[tlmadden73]

So do we think that this will make the 4th Fast Passes harder to come by since almost everyone will be trying to utilize them now? Will you be lucky to find a 4th Fast Pass for Small World at 9:50 PM?

I also worry about the system itself .. this will increase the usage of MDE a lot at the park .. hopefully the parks WIFI and the system can keep up with the strain.

Or will the majority of casual guests just not bother?

I was able to utilize 6 fast passes (using Kiosks) on my first FP+ trip to MK .. on my trips to the other parks I didn't need to get a 4th FP (just based on the pace of my group). On my second trip to MK (due to an afternoon break due to a rainstorm and low lines in the evening) I never needed to make more than just a 4th Fast Pass.

I will like the convenience of booking that 4th Fast Pass while waiting outside a bathroom without having to walk halfway across the park!

 

[GillianP1301]

Already saw this on another thread but so excited that I'll post it again! This was inevitable, I had hoped it would've happened a year ago, but other than that I'm thrilled!

This is exciting! I love FP+ and have since the get go even when so many others were moaning about it, but the one thing I have always said would make it perfect to me, is the ability to do 4th+ via the app. So I do really hope this rumour is true and that the rumoured spring rollout is also true because I would love to take advantage during my August trip.

 

[ffugitive]

That is huge.


2) It gives big advantage to those who schedule their first three fast passes earlier in the day. The sooner you get done with your first three the sooner you can grab a 4th (and 5th and 6th).
3) There will be less Fast Passes available late in the day or ones immediately available.

But I think the selections for the 4th, 5th and 6th fast passes will be A LOT slimmer pickings now (especially at the smaller parks) since most everyone will be doing this now (since everyone has been thinking you COULD be doing this and surprised when you couldn't).

All very true. So many people just did not bother with a 4th fastpass because of the hassle - now everyone will be on it.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think the change is great! But I do believe it may impact super-planners' touring approach. Such People already consider not only what FPs do they want, but exactly when to optimize line avoidance AND availability of 4th+. This may sway more people to do early FPs to be ready for a quick grab at a 4th. I know, I personally didn't bother looking for kiosks because they sometimes appeared to have long waits and sometimes weren't conveniently located to me. For sure, I'm a user who didn't look for 4th+ and certainly would now with the ease of using the app. That surely must affect availability.

This ..

I think you'll see higher demand for those early morning/afternoon Fast Passes, just so the "super tourers" can get that 4th Fast Pass sooner than later (now with ease).
I know on my trips I always planned my Fast Passes so my last one was done by 12:00-1:00 so I could make that 4th at lunch. (The downside to that is that the first fast pass of the day was usually wasted as there wasn't really a long line that early), but that did give me a lot of flexibility in the afternoon when making the 4th (or more).

You will also see standby lines in the afternoon and evenings go up as more people just grab fast passes "just because they can" ..

I know I didn't go out of my way getting a 4th (or more) Fast Pass just because of the inconveniene of leaving my group to stand in line at a Kiosk. But being able to do this in seconds at a phone while waiting for my wife to use the bathroom? Sure .. I'll grab a Fast Pass for whatever is close (time wise) . Aladdin, Dumbo, Small World . I won't even care. Even if the standby line isn't very traditionally long.

 

[tlmadden73]

All very true. So many people just did not bother with a 4th fastpass because of the hassle - now everyone will be on it.

Exactly ..

It sounds exciting NOW, but I liked how we couldn't make 4th fast passes from the phone. It made things available.

Now? I think more people will be frustrated at the longer standby lines (as tons of people just grab fourth fast passes for things they never would before like Aladdin or Barnstormer ... just because they easily can on their phone) and the lack of availability of things they used to be able to get 4th fast passes for (Haunted Mansion, any of the mountains, etc. etc. etc.)

 

[sretav]

This may also be why rumours/evidence of Wishes and Illuminations Fastpasses ending have been circulating. Or not.

If they want to make it easier to book 4th, 5th, 6th, etc Fastpasses by adding it to MDE, anyone wanting night time show Fastpasses wouldn't be able to take advantage of it until after the shows. By then, not a lot of people need a FP and they'd probably all be gone anyway.

 

[Mikie]

This ..

I think you'll see higher demand for those early morning/afternoon Fast Passes, just so the "super tourers" can get that 4th Fast Pass sooner than later (now with ease).
I know on my trips I always planned my Fast Passes so my last one was done by 12:00-1:00 so I could make that 4th at lunch. (The downside to that is that the first fast pass of the day was usually wasted as there wasn't really a long line that early), but that did give me a lot of flexibility in the afternoon when making the 4th (or more).

You will also see standby lines in the afternoon and evenings go up as more people just grab fast passes "just because they can" ..

I know I didn't go out of my way getting a 4th (or more) Fast Pass just because of the inconveniene of leaving my group to stand in line at a Kiosk. But being able to do this in seconds at a phone while waiting for my wife to use the bathroom? Sure .. I'll grab a Fast Pass for whatever is close (time wise) . Aladdin, Dumbo, Small World . I won't even care. Even if the standby line isn't very traditionally long.

I can only hope that IF I stick with my "usual" style of making late morning through mid-afternoon FPs, then pre-booking of the "later" ones will be easier. Flip side - I think it could make early day FPs very scarce. Of course, I keep forgetting such things work on an assumption of knowledgeable travelers. Perhaps the effect will be minimal because the uninformed visitor is (according to most DIS theories) by far more numerous than the planners.

 

[hopemax]

3) There will be less Fast Passes available late in the day or ones immediately available.

Bingo.

Remember, anything that makes it easier for your family, makes it easier for the 40,000 other people in the park. And there's not enough capacity to go around.

 

[mcd2745]

So I'm thinking we should also be able to make the additional FP+ selections for any of the parks--even if we are at a different park, yes?

I haven't seen anything that suggests this will be the case.

 

[capegirl]

This ..

I think you'll see higher demand for those early morning/afternoon Fast Passes, just so the "super tourers" can get that 4th Fast Pass sooner than later (now with ease).
I know on my trips I always planned my Fast Passes so my last one was done by 12:00-1:00 so I could make that 4th at lunch. (The downside to that is that the first fast pass of the day was usually wasted as there wasn't really a long line that early), but that did give me a lot of flexibility in the afternoon when making the 4th (or more).

You will also see standby lines in the afternoon and evenings go up as more people just grab fast passes "just because they can" ..

I know I didn't go out of my way getting a 4th (or more) Fast Pass just because of the inconveniene of leaving my group to stand in line at a Kiosk. But being able to do this in seconds at a phone while waiting for my wife to use the bathroom? Sure .. I'll grab a Fast Pass for whatever is close (time wise) . Aladdin, Dumbo, Small World . I won't even care. Even if the standby line isn't very traditionally long.

Same here. We did not go near those kiosks on our last trip. At least we can grab additional FPs without waiting in the kiosk lines. We always do RD, and head to the most important attractions early, so we will also be happy with whatever FPs we can get.

 

[GreatLakes]

That is huge.

I always wondering why they didn't do it (the technology was there) .I just figured that either they felt the strain on the wifi infrastructure woudl be too great or they didn't allow the 4th Fast Pass via MDE to "control" it and create a bottleneck (another line) to help spread out the crowds and ration out those 4th Fast Passes. Now those will be gobbled up fairly early in the day.

I suspect it was for two reasons. First, you want to make changes to these large enterprise systems slowly and after you have fully tested the business model you are enforcing with them. Second, I think it was to ration the FP+ and slow the use of the 4th pass while they were modeling the effect releasing them into MDE would have.

I wonder if you will be able to book your 4th fast pass for a different park?

I wonder if they will allow you only to reserve a 4th FP+ in a different park after you are already in that park. If they are controlling the roll out of 4th FP+ as they have in the past I could see this being phased in as well:

Phase 1: MDE can only reserve a 4th FP+ in the same park as the first 3.
Phase 2: MDE can only reserve a 4th FP+ in a second park after the MB that you are linking the FP+ to has entered that park.
Phase 3: MDE can reserve a 4th FP+ in a second park no matter where you do it from.

We will see. It is a really exciting system to watch grow.

 

[tlmadden73]

I can only hope that IF I stick with my "usual" style of making late morning through mid-afternoon FPs, then pre-booking of the "later" ones will be easier. Flip side - I think it could make early day FPs very scarce. Of course, I keep forgetting such things work on an assumption of knowledgeable travelers. Perhaps the effect will be minimal because the uninformed visitor is (according to most DIS theories) by far more numerous than the planners.

True .. but MDE quickly makes an "uniformed" visitor quickly informed and makes it easy to make that fourth fast pass. It isn't that hard. I went last summer with an first time visitor .. and they quickly picked up on the use of MDE and making fast passes and ADRs with it and easily changed schedules and moved things around.

If it isn't heavily ADVERTISED that you can make a fourth (or more) fast pass when your first three are used, then most people may simply not try, but eventually that app will just make it too easy for even the uniformed guest.

I think you'll definitely see a massive increase in the scheduling of fourth Fast Passes.
I could easily see (especially at the non-MK parks) all the fast passes gobbled up for ALL attractions before the end of the afternoon.

 

[tlmadden73]

I wonder if this new change will close the loophole that allows you to bring in Magic bands (from a separate MDE account) to make 3 more Fast Passes per day.

I can't believe that the system allows you to use Magic Bands in a park if the band wasn't scanned at the front gate.

 

[Jcon]

That would require both systems to be linked and I don't believe they are.

 

[tlmadden73]

This may also be why rumours/evidence of Wishes and Illuminations Fastpasses ending have been circulating. Or not.

If they want to make it easier to book 4th, 5th, 6th, etc Fastpasses by adding it to MDE, anyone wanting night time show Fastpasses wouldn't be able to take advantage of it until after the shows. By then, not a lot of people need a FP and they'd probably all be gone anyway.

That's great if that rumor is true. You shouldn't be "punished" if you choose to get a FP for a night show but never being able to get a 4th Fast Pass compared to someone who schedules three Fast Passes before noon.

I would think though that the MAIN reason they would ditch fastpasses for the night shows though would be so the only way to get "preferred" seating for them would be to pay for it via some dinner package.

 

[disBEAST]

Creepier than you realize if it's like the plan explained to me years ago .................

Maybe I'll change my MDE profile to "Mr. Yakimoto".

 

[keepswimming76]

Booking up fast pass with your phone will certainly be nice, but I also wish the first 3 could be used in more than one park. We are rope droppers and sometimes want to be out of the park within two to three hours of open.

 

[amg35]

I think the interaction part with the use of Magic Bands sounds awesome! Won't creep me out if a ride knows my name or where I'm from, I love it! (little bits of magic....)

 

[hedberg1661]

This is fantastic news. Love the idea of "fixing" the app to allow for additional FP+s.

StoryMaker is really interesting. I can see how this could be leveraged in future/newer rides however, I wonder how feasible it would be to retrofit a ride just for this? Still a great concept...even for meet and greets.