Declining by Degrees: Scorecard

[Cheshire Cat]

There's lots of fun reading going on in this forum . I'm also a big Fast Pass hater.

The fact of the matter is, if everyone knew how to use FP, it would not benefit anyone

Bingo.

I've never heard the arguement about guests not knowing how to use the system. This is a new arguement that makes perfect sense to me and makes me hate fast pass even more.

Families spend much time planning their WDW vacations, then arrive at the place and because of Fast Pass are forced to be continuously planning their next move while they're on vacation. Essentially, a WDW visitor is continuously planning from months before the vacation until their departure from it. There is no vacation. (At least IMO. Once you're on vacation, it should be free of planning. When I'm on vacation, I just want to set a few goals and then wing it. )

Gone are the days when you could just go to the park and wait your turn to ride a ride. Now people are always rushing around trying to find the fastest way to ride everything. Is that magic? It's unfair to the people who just want to stroll the park leisurely and be able to ride the rides when they come to them. Now we all have to use Fast Pass whether we want to or not.

Nowadays, the more popular rides and even Nemo stays open until 9:00.

I like the way this is worded "even Nemo" .

[meticulus9]

One more note on FP.

Are you aware that Disney has filed patents for technology that will allow them to keep track of how much each guest has spent during their trip? The patent explains that this technology could be used to reward bigger spenders with more FPs. Or to schedule FPs a day in advance from their hotel rooms. It would also limit the number of FPs available to everyone else.

It will be interesting to see what the reaction is if Disney decides to follow through on this plan. They have already tested it in the parks.

im ok with that. last time i checked disney was in the business of making money.

[meticulus9]

i agree with how important planning is. Having a good plan is essential. Otherwise you wait in lines.

Somepeople like to get up late in their vacation, touring Dinsey is def tough to do when that happens, but possible. Check out unofficial guides! If thats what they want to do, its their v acation, yes maybe the FP they get for splash will say 5pm (when they arrive @ noon), but its gives an FP and they can wait for other attractions.

[DisBeamer]

Gone are the days when you could just go to the park and wait your turn to ride a ride. Now people are always rushing around trying to find the fastest way to ride everything. Is that magic? It's unfair to the people who just want to stroll the park leisurely and be able to ride the rides when they come to them. Now we all have to use Fast Pass whether we want to or not.

Exactly. This is ones of the things that fries me most about FastPass (and the freakin' dining plan. Don't get me started on the dining plan...). "When we get into the park, we have to run to get FPs for Soarin' before they're all gone, then we'll go wait for Mission:Space while Timmy goes to get FPs for Test Track and then comes back in line" blah blah blah. Whatever. I'll be getting a frozen margarita.

It's a 'false problem' too; one that was created by the introduction of FastPass itself. The bottlenecking and extremely slow lines you get in a lot of standby lines now is a product of people returning in clumps at FastPass times, especially on non-continuous loading rides. Grar.

I'm still divided on the argument that FastPass is unfair because it favors people who've planned ahead. You don't need an actual guide book to understand FastPass; all you have to do is pick up a park map and actually look at it. On the other hand, people obviously don't do that or else everyone would understand the stupid thing. I think the onus is really on Disney to make the passing along of information more effective. They're making the effort (see also: tv ads, park map, etc), but apparently the message is not getting through. People paid a lot to get into the park; I really think the failure to communicate is on Disney to fix. Of course my preferred fix would be dumping the system entirely but that's never gonna happen.

Nowadays, the more popular rides and even Nemo stays open until 9:00.

I like the way this is worded "even Nemo" .

That ride had such a long line when I went on it. And ... just for no reason. I need to find the line where I get those 5 minutes of my life back. I'll wait in that one next time.

[packwingfn]

Things are dusty that shouldn't be. Only the Haunted Mansion is allowed to look dusty. Everything else is laziness. Look at the scrims on Carousel of Progress, or the mural on the loading dock of Maelstrom, or the cobwebs that are still on every lantern around World Showcase for simple examples of how dust builds up. These problems have to be detected on the most local level. Managers have to ride their own rides and walk their beats with a critical eye. And I hope someone lowers the boom if the job isn't being done right. Again, this problem is all but universal at every ride.

The dusty world showcase lanterns!!! I had to clean those once in awhile. It was bascially a night when they had extra custodians, they would assign us to clean those after the park closed from 1030pm-1am. I guess it used to be done by third shift but now it's done by second shift. We would wear goggles, and a face mask to protect us from the dust/cobwebs.

Now there was one night where they were letting the extra people go home early and I was offered to go home early but I stayed because I wanted to clean those lanterns! However I was the ONLY one who stayed so I couldn't do them all. The areas that were the worst was Morocco, Canada (lagoon side), and International Gateway. I felt so bad on how bad the show looked...and it's sad because there are alot of people who don't care

[tmptnr]

some good points but I will be going back soon

[lebeau]

Things are dusty that shouldn't be. Only the Haunted Mansion is allowed to look dusty. Everything else is laziness. Look at the scrims on Carousel of Progress, or the mural on the loading dock of Maelstrom, or the cobwebs that are still on every lantern around World Showcase for simple examples of how dust builds up. These problems have to be detected on the most local level. Managers have to ride their own rides and walk their beats with a critical eye. And I hope someone lowers the boom if the job isn't being done right. Again, this problem is all but universal at every ride.

The dusty world showcase lanterns!!! I had to clean those once in awhile. It was bascially a night when they had extra custodians, they would assign us to clean those after the park closed from 1030pm-1am. I guess it used to be done by third shift but now it's done by second shift. We would wear goggles, and a face mask to protect us from the dust/cobwebs.

Now there was one night where they were letting the extra people go home early and I was offered to go home early but I stayed because I wanted to clean those lanterns! However I was the ONLY one who stayed so I couldn't do them all. The areas that were the worst was Morocco, Canada (lagoon side), and International Gateway. I felt so bad on how bad the show looked...and it's sad because there are alot of people who don't care

Kudos to you! Disney needs more people like you.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Keep up the good work! Hopefully, others will follow your example.

[lebeau]

some good points but I will be going back soon

Kevin's not trying to discourage anyone from going.

I've got my next trip booked for September. It will be our first time at the MNSSHP and I am very excited. We will be brining along my wife's parents who have never been to WDW before. So, that will be fun for them as well.

While I agree with many of Kevin's points, they aren't going to get in the way of a great vacation!

[WVParkfan]

Some very good points in the article, and very thought provoking. He certainly did his homework by taking pictures and pointing out specific things.

However, count me as one person who thinks FastPass is a good idea. With the way it is set-up, you can't have a full day worth of FP's, so it's not like there are "haves and have-nots."

[cccmouse]

It is nice to see someone putting in writing the things that others have been thinking for quite a while. Disney has been the best at what they do not because of a hundred big things but because of a thousand little things that they do. As the small things go away, the entire experience is diminished a little bit at a time.

[Cheshire Cat]

It's a 'false problem' too; one that was created by the introduction of FastPass itself. The bottlenecking and extremely slow lines you get in a lot of standby lines now is a product of people returning in clumps at FastPass times, especially on non-continuous loading rides. Grar.

I think this is what many fastpass lovers don't understand and it drives me bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S )

[lebeau]

It's a 'false problem' too; one that was created by the introduction of FastPass itself. The bottlenecking and extremely slow lines you get in a lot of standby lines now is a product of people returning in clumps at FastPass times, especially on non-continuous loading rides. Grar.

I think this is what many fastpass lovers don't understand and it drives me bananas (B-A-N-A-N-A-S )

Yep. Sometimes I feel very much like a broken record. I keep explaining that FP doesn't create any capacity. And then the very next post will be "I like FP because it makes lines shorter" or something like that.

Equally frustrtaing are the people who feel that everyone should be a Disney expert and if they are not, tough luck.

FP doesn't fix problems. If anything, it creates them!