Fastpass+

[Wizzard419]

They probably can't do anything about it without screwing up the population of passes. If they leave the full number of normal FPs per day untouched (making any claimed by the early reservations come from the day's tally) then return windows will climb faster. If they leave the early reservations as their own independent pool, the wait times in the FP line will climb as well, which was already a problem for some attractions.

If they try to enforce some form of a hard limit on AP holders it will p*** them off since they will be given less access than regular guests.

[jderoche5]

With the AP prices being so high now this perk should be included for them from the start. The only problem I see is on those day where over crowding is a problem and entrance to the parks are limited to resort guest too for periods of time.

[Wizzard419]

How do they handle that at WDW? At DLR when it is packed people staying off site are the first to be restricted, the AP holders and on site are the last.

[Amy]

How do they handle that at WDW? At DLR when it is packed people staying off site are the first to be restricted, the AP holders and on site are the last.

The same ~ here is a nice list from chipandco.com

Phase 1 Park Closing
Guests with ‘Magic Your Way’ base tickets or a ’1-Day 1-Park Ticket’, guests without an admission ticket, and Cast Members using Main Gate & Silver Passes will be turned around at the parking lot booths.

Phase 2 Park Closing
Admission is limited to:
Disney Resort Guests (including the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, and guests arriving by bus from the Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels)
Annual and Premium Annual Passholders
Guests with Hopper tickets coming from another park
Guests re-entering the park
Guests with dining reservations
Magic Kingdom guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or The Pirates League
Guests using Walt Disney World Resort Transportation

Phase 3 Park Closing
Admission is limited to:
Disney Resort Guests (including the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, and guests arriving by bus from the Hotel Plaza Boulevard hotels)
Annual and Premium Annual Passholders
Guests with dining reservations
Magic Kingdom guests with reservations for Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique or The Pirates League

Phase 4 Park Closing
Closed to all guests

[theBIGyowski]

alright...here is my take on it having been there last week...

FP+ is available to every person that is in a given park on a given day. So...you are in MK...you can make FP+ reservations for MK. It is similar to the previous system if you are not staying in a Disney resort...you get your FPs in the park that day. This time around you use kiosks placed strategically throughout the parks instead of going to the rides themselves. Your park tickets now have RFID chips in them that allow you to do this.

If you are staying onsite...you will have a MB. You can either get one in advance...or you can get one when you check in. If you get one in advance...you have access to the My Disney Experience site and app. Doing this gives you the ability to make your FP+ reservations in advance as well. DW and I purchased our park passes from a third party site...which saved us about $30 compared to buying from Disney. Once these passes came in the mail we linked them to our MBs via the MDE site. After doing this we were able to select our FP+ options. Right now you can only make reservations in one park per day...which kind of stinks if you plan on hopping...but really not all that bad as you can still ride certain things in certain parks with minimal wait. We linked our passes to our MBs only a few days prior to our trip...and were still able to get FP+ reservations for what we wanted at the times we wanted.

Since we went in January...there were thousands of Brazilians in the parks. These Brazilians made up about 60% of guests in the parks...and probably 95% of people using the FP+ kiosks...so those kiosks were crowded throughout the day. If you are not staying onsite...the kiosks are your only way to make and change FP+ reservations...as opposed to the MDE app available to guests staying onsite. It does screw over AP holders who are not staying onsite during their trip...but I have a feeling this will change. The best case scenario right now would probably be to allow AP holders to make FP+ reservations in advance but with certain blackout dates. As far as the average guest who is staying offsite...I don't see any changes at all.

[jderoche5]

This is going to be a cluster for a while. I can just feel it!

[Wizzard419]

That is a little weird that guests not staying on-site are not permitted to use the app at this time. Probably just not ready for that load yet, but it is odd.

The one issue that is going to be prevalent I suspect is ample wifi, as some people are reporting it is a heavy app and many people are on limited data plans, they may swap to wifi only in the parks (international visitors will have to unless they want to pay a fortune to use the app on their phones).

[theBIGyowski]

The Wi-Fi was fairly decent last week. There were a few times I lost a connection...but they were few and far between. Now...I could totally see bandwidth issues during peak seasons...but those can be avoided using current technology.

One major reason the app is exclusive to onsite guests is that everything for your vacation hinges on your stay in their resort. Like it or not...this is the way things are moving. Disney will continue to cater to onsite guests first...then to AP holders...then to everyone else. If you are an AP holder staying onsite...then even better for you. I did get to hear one couple in front of me at a store complaining about the MBs...as they are DVC members but did not have their card with them...and their MBs have nothing on them that says they are DVC members the way the old Keys to the Kingdom cards did. I believe it may be the same thing for AP holders in regards to discounts on dining et al.

[Wizzard419]

Note this is only probably going to be at WDW since DLR guest demos are different.

Probably a big reason they are leaning heavy on the app/planning months out, is that it makes logistics more reliable for them when planning staff, food, ride closures, etc. Great for when times are slow, so there is little waste, even better for when times are unexpectedly busy as they can prevent shortages.

[theBIGyowski]

Yep...it's all about gathering data. Once you have the data you can use it strategically to help you project for the future.

Really and truly...FastPass+ is going to be an overall good thing at WDW. Why? Because it is the only real way to implement what FP was originally intended to do which was limit how long people stand in the standby lines. Having everything done digitally removes the need for CMs to decide if they want to enforce the return windows...as they can just say "look, the Mickey is lit up red and won't let you through". The reason FP wasn't working was because everyone could just rack them up and use them at the end of the day...making the FP return lines over an hour at certain attractions. It was also nice knowing I didn't have to use FP for certain attractions because the standby lines wouldn't be quite as long...and guests wouldn't even be rushing to that attraction to get a paper FP either.

Sure, Disney will be working out the kinks over the next few months, but I think this move will be a good one for everyone. Like I said before...all it did to us on our trip was prevent us from riding certain things 3-5 times like we used to.

[Wizzard419]

The only drawback to that enforcement is that it becomes more expensive to run the system since you need more meat puppets, and each one gets a tablet that connects to either local wifi or the cell network. If they are holding apples, then odds are they also paid full retail price (if the LAUSD had to pay full price for their ipads for all the students, Disney's small order would too).

Some of the features they were talking about at TED sound cool but I think the creep factor might kill some of them shortly after implementation, such as characters calling you by name, people noting personal info about you that you did not necessarily give to the individual, your purchase history being used in other conversations, and the big one, the issue with the system identifying children.

[theBIGyowski]

They actually didn't have CMs with iPads at the FP returns. I was surprised to see just the normal CM there next to the readers. If there was an issue...the guest could go find a CM with an iPad or go to the nearest kiosk...which is where most of the iPad CMs were located anyway.

Now...the hard part will be if something goes wrong with a particular attraction's FP+ readers or whatnot...you'd have to put CMs there with iPads...but that's not all that difficult. Space Mountain was closed for "technical difficulties" during our FP+ return window...and we decided to take the chance that it would open back up soon before our window was over...and thankfully it did. I'm not sure what the protocol would have been for people who missed their chance...if they would get that FP+ reservation back or not.

[Wizzard419]

How would having the staff with the ipads there do anything though (in the event of a tech issue)? Do they have the ability (and a reader, since I am not sure if iOS supports any RF readers right now) to look up passes, or would they just be like the existing readers where it only gives a go/no-go?

[theBIGyowski]

There were CMs with iPads at every single "turnstile" at the park entrances dealing with problems people were having. For example...DW had issues with the finger scanner every single time we entered a park...so there was a CM there to reset her MB each time. Whatever system they were using was super fast and made it much easier to keep people flowing in. I assume the app on the iPads gives the CM the ability to do whatever they needed to do...and I also assume those CMs have a little more authority than the ones standing at the front line of the entrance.

The best thing about the MBs was probably for dining...as every CM had access to an iPhone with the RFID reader attached...making it easier to pay and kept the CM from taking your credit card or room key card.

[theBIGyowski]

Oh...and by Tech issue...I meant a problem with the readers themselves...not the system. So...the readers at Space Mountain not functioning properly...just have a few CMs with iPads stand there to scan folks in.