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Thread: That's My Opinion: Fastpass+ Strategies

  1. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by jms1969 View Post
    One last comment - I will say that the one thing I do like about the FP+ system is the inclusion of major shows such as Fantasmic and Illuminations, and Character Greetings. These are additional examples of what I'd call "signature events" for park visitors that are worthy of planning ahead for. In the past, our family simply avoided many of these events because we didn't feel it was worth dealing with the wait necessary for good viewing of these events.
    That is exactly what I'm looking forward to FP+ for.

    Another axis of touring style that could be added here is intensity: do you having maximizing the rides down to an exact science, or are you a more casual, leisurely park explorer? My fiancee and I are definitely the latter... By in large, I hardly ever used FP's to begin with. It helps when you are able to go at lower attendance times of year so the lines are short anyways, but the only time I recall ever using FP's aggressively was at Tokyo Disneysea. I would grab an FP for Journey to the Center of the Earth as soon as I left the ride, and then hop on a couple attractions between rides (one of which was always 20,000 Leagues... I'm a Verne fan). But that was a case where I wanted to maximize those two attractions. The rest of the time, we like to take our time, explore, go at a genteel pace, and basically ride what's available with a reasonable wait.

    However, for as leisurely as I get, one thing I cannot abide is waiting around doing nothing for a whole hour or more. FP+ will be a huge boon because then we can book fireworks, parades, shows, etc. Looking at the list in the article of the tiered attractions, we would totally be booking times for the Beauty and the Beast show and Illuminations. Something like Maelstrom, for example, would totally depend on when we winded our way around World Showcase and into Norway. There's no way for us to predict that one. In fact, I wonder a little if trying to FP+ some actual rides wouldn't be a bit of a bother given our touring style. It would probably come most handy in short intervals between other things when time has already been scheduled (i.e.: between dinner and the evening show).

    In this sort of situation, FP+ comes across as a general gain. What concerns me about it is the effect of extending all the standby lines on every attraction... There might no longer be such a thing as a "reasonable wait." The interminable dullness of doing nothing for an hour also extends to waiting in lines.

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  3. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by josephbandrews View Post
    They fixed that a long time ago (enforcing in 2012 if I remember right) by not allowing them to be used past the window unless the ride had been down a significant part of the day.
    If it had been down for an extended time, I think they would let you redeem any pass allowing it to be abused again. It helped control the lines somewhat (keeping late night FP lines from getting ridiculous).

    Anyone seen how they are handling this now? I.e. if Splash is down for several hours (which isn't uncommon), do people that had FP+ have to choose something else or maybe get an alternate time to return?
    Ahhh I've not been since Dec 2011 and it was not enforced at that time. I hope by the time I go in Nov that all the bugs have been worked out. I too do not like paying for Parkhoppers to only be able to use FP+ in one park per day.
    WDW 2008 off-site, WDW 2010 Polynesian (Club), WDW Polynesian Dec 15-21 2011 (Club), WDW WL Nov 20-Nov 27 2014

  4. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Tater View Post
    Ahhh I've not been since Dec 2011 and it was not enforced at that time. I hope by the time I go in Nov that all the bugs have been worked out. I too do not like paying for Parkhoppers to only be able to use FP+ in one park per day.
    2+ years...oh the humanity! Yep, they would only let you slide by a few minutes unless it had been down. I'm sure Nick and I will provide plenty of feedback on our own experience...But there are sure to be plenty of growing pains over the coming months.
    The good thing about transitioning to new technology is the ability to shape and grow as you go. I'm actually managing a new satellite product built in Germany that they are continually developing for us. There was some time there when I had 1 or more new versions of firmware every week. lol I installed uplinks for radio providers during the 'beta' test. Now, over a year later its actually really robust and solid. If we'd rolled it out and stopped shaping it, we might be out of clients.

    But that really does bring up an important question...What happens currently if the ride is down during your window? Surely someone here has experienced this. Steve?
    Joey

  5. #29
    Registered User srusso100's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by josephbandrews View Post

    But that really does bring up an important question...What happens currently if the ride is down during your window? Surely someone here has experienced this. Steve?
    I think I mentioned this earlier in the thread...

    In January, our 3rd Fastpass+ at the MK was for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. We decided to leave the park before that time arrived. I was on a bus back to the resort when I received an email informing me that Monsters was down and I could use that FP on any of the "following attractions". Now, your next question would probably be "What attractions?" and I'm sorry to say I really didn't read the email that closely (we had left the MK) and have since deleted it. I do recall it being a list of 8-10 so I would assume it would be a list of the other FP attractions in the park.
    Steve

  6. #30
    Quote Originally Posted by Tater View Post
    One thing that I am glad the FP+ has fixed and that is the abuse that was used with the paper passes. People can't get them and hold them to use past the time or people getting them and giving them to someone else.
    Prior to Disney enforcing the strict return times, ANYONE could come back late, b/c the rule was basically completely overlooked by Disney - it was more of a suggestion, than a rule. That's not getting away with anything, or abusing anything, it's what was allowed by the company who issued the passes.

    And how would giving passes to someone else be considered "abusing the system"? Not logical. Having "a" pass guaranteed that the holder of "that" pass could enter the FP line and ride the ride quicker, using "that" pass. The FP system didn't care whether it was person A, or person Z, who went through the line with the pass - the system just cared that WHOMEVER went through the FP return line, had "a" pass, whether issued to them, or given to them. You couldn't magically get MORE passes by giving them away - the 2 hour window to get a new one still applied.

  7. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by carolinakid View Post
    My boyfriend and I are also tourers like JMS1969 and hokiefan. We are rope droppers who spend the great majority of our days riding attractions. When we were there 3 months ago testing FP+ I wondered why we seemed to be waiting in lines rather than experiencing attractions. FP+ was a definite downgrade for us and for the way we like to tour. I think we only used our park hopper option once during the whole week and we usually park hop every day. We are gonna try our trip in June withour park hoppers and I hope we have a little better time with FP+.
    Exactly. There are some people who FP+ may be nice for, especially if they weren't rope-droppers or didn't pull a lot of FP to begin with. For many others, myself (and evidently you and JMS1969, as well) included, it is a HUGE downgrade that will result in less rides ridden, less park-hopping, and more time in line. Even though the cost of the Disney trip may not have increased (though with their recent ticket increase, it has, unfortunately), the perceived "value" of the trip - knowing that I can do less with our time than previously, while still paying the same, or a bit more, money - makes it a real negative.

  8. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by hokiefan33 View Post
    Exactly. There are some people who FP+ may be nice for, especially if they weren't rope-droppers or didn't pull a lot of FP to begin with. For many others, myself (and evidently you and JMS1969, as well) included, it is a HUGE downgrade that will result in less rides ridden, less park-hopping, and more time in line. Even though the cost of the Disney trip may not have increased (though with their recent ticket increase, it has, unfortunately), the perceived "value" of the trip - knowing that I can do less with our time than previously, while still paying the same, or a bit more, money - makes it a real negative.
    hokiefan33 - I couldn't agree with you more, well said!

  9. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by hokiefan33 View Post
    Exactly. There are some people who FP+ may be nice for, especially if they weren't rope-droppers or didn't pull a lot of FP to begin with. For many others, myself (and evidently you and JMS1969, as well) included, it is a HUGE downgrade that will result in less rides ridden, less park-hopping, and more time in line. Even though the cost of the Disney trip may not have increased (though with their recent ticket increase, it has, unfortunately), the perceived "value" of the trip - knowing that I can do less with our time than previously, while still paying the same, or a bit more, money - makes it a real negative.
    Nicely put...and I hope the "powers that be" at Disney come to the same conclusion from this "test". While we all focus on the "experience" involved with FP and FP+, and that's certainly the most important part of the equation for us, the bottom line business fact is that more time spent in line means less time for Disney to make money from people walking around the park. In all of our responses, we have been emphasizing going on other attractions during time saved, but the reality is that the extra free time in the parks can be spent in many ways - several of which involve additional profit for Disney. It's hard to make money from someone standing in line! This was a large part of the motivation for Disney in putting the FP system in place to begin with, and it certainly will be a major driver that helps them decide where to go from here as FP+ evolves.

  10. #34
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    This might have been fixed by now, but back in October when we were there using MM+ and FP+ the thing that annoyed me significantly was that once you rode your first of three FP selections, you could NOT change the other two. They were locked in. Has this been changed? If not I think it's a huge bummer to not give the flexibility.

    I did find that I felt we got through the attractions we did FP+ for even faster than we did on the old conventional system. I think it does a better job of keeping people honest about their return times

    Though I did not experience WDW or DLR after the FP time window crack down took effect, so maybe this was already happening. But we used FP+ at the Epcot meet and greet character spot at Innoventions and were out of there having seen Goofy, Minnie and Mickey in under 15 minutes. That was impressive!!

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  11. #35
    Out of this world for Disney DwarfPlanet's Avatar
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    I will be waiting to see how this works out since I normally stay at Shades of Green which is on-site but could be considered off-site:

    "Off-site guests
    These are the folks visiting the parks and staying in any one of the non-Disney hotels, motels or resorts off property. Rolling out Fastpass+ via MagicBands is still in the future for these folks."

    So I wonder would Disney put in some type of FP reserve of FP tickets for folks who do not get magicbands ahead of time.

    I am also one of those people who do not own or carry a smart phone or IPad or Ipad type of device so your email thingie FP does does not apply so its only a perk for those that do. The old FP system put everyone on the same playing field, we all had to go to FP machines to get them. Now some folks can schedule FP days ahead and and get emails when things go wrong while others are,, well in limbo so we'll see how this works out.

    "Although we think it's DOPEY that Pluto has been downgraded to a dwarf planet, which has made some people GRUMPY and others just SLEEPY, we are not BASHFUL in saying we would be HAPPY if Disney's Pluto would join us as an 8th dwarf. We think this is just what the DOC ordered and is nothing to SNEEZE at."

  12. #36

    Perhaps this should be merged with the other FP+ MM+ Thread now...

    Joey

  13. #37

    I am looking forward to using the system. I will be there in May and staying on-site. On-site guests with long sought-after dining reservations can make FP+ reservations for the most popular rides in advance. This convenience ensures their well planned day goes without a hitch. I expect to be a late riser with a 5 year old. We may occasionally decide to use the pool and stay at the resort. So pre-planning the attractions and dining lessens the wait times and that makes the trip much more tolerable. The limitation of 3 attractions for FP+ per day is not an hinderance. In my situation, I don't expect to do everything in one trip. I will visit one park per day without park hopping. Since the Magic Kingdom has the most attractions, I will go there at least 2 or 3 times. I will likely hit the best attractions over time. Having 3 guarranteed attractions per day means I can plan my day in the mid-afternoon when the park is most crowded. Therefore, my dining reservations are not impacted and I can use my day efficiently.

    Since I live in Southern California and can visit Disneyland quite easily, it is to my disappointment that I don't use Fastpass as much as I can despite the fact that I have locals' knowledge. Having to visit the machines for the tickets is a major hassle and sometimes I can't follow my plan as I imagined. Kids don't follow a script. To be free of visiting the kiosks until absolutely necessary is an advantage. I prefer to linger in the park attractions that are uncrowded. The kids just want to be in the playground for a very long time. When crowded, just stay there. However, if the popular rides can be pre-arranged, then it is best to forego the lines and immediate board the attractions.


  14. #38
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    The whole concept of any tool for planning my time before I'm actually in a park is contrary to how I visit the parks so FP+ is pretty useless to me (I rarely even used regular Fastpass). But it's probably something that once adjusted to, it will be hard to come back to it.

    That said, I refuse to wear the band. So if they ever do something to its form factor that makes it awkward to keep in a pocket then I'll be vocal in my complaining.


  15. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Alex S. View Post
    The whole concept of any tool for planning my time before I'm actually in a park is contrary to how I visit the parks so FP+ is pretty useless to me (I rarely even used regular Fastpass). But it's probably something that once adjusted to, it will be hard to come back to it.

    That said, I refuse to wear the band. So if they ever do something to its form factor that makes it awkward to keep in a pocket then I'll be vocal in my complaining.
    The RFID on the other hand alone is cool for certain things like not taking your KTTW card out of you pocket/wallet to open your door when your hands are full (provided you can get it close enough to the reader).
    Some of the other things such as tracking our movements with the longer range transmitter to determine patterns is a little creepy...If its used to determine traffic patterns, congestion areas, places for improvement...that might be good in the long run.
    Makes you wonder if the NSA wants to build a database of where we like to eat, pee, etc. LOL You folks that spend too much time at the Haunted Mansion are going into a database of serial killers trying to fill your basement with 999 ghosts.
    Joey

  16. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by josephbandrews View Post
    Perhaps this should be merged with the other FP+ MM+ Thread now...
    This thread is intended for discussion of the article in the original post.

  17. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by josephbandrews
    Makes you wonder if the NSA wants to build a database of where we like to eat, pee, etc. LOL You folks that spend too much time at the Haunted Mansion are going into a database of serial killers trying to fill your basement with 999 ghosts.
    I don't actually care if Disney (or almost anybody else) is tracking me. I just hate the visual of thousands of people are wearing the same bracelet like a bunch of cattle ear tagged and being lead to slaughter. Fortunately the holes in the band are sized so that I can roll is pretty small and keep it in a pocket (hands full door opening may be a convenience but doesn't really come up that often and I open doors requiring key cards dozens of times a day). Next time I may even just cut off the strap part of the band and see how that goes.

    As for the FastPass part of it, I'm cool with never using FastPass (I'm also cool with never going on any rides if that is how the day ends up going). So if anybody else in my party wants to use FP+ on the fly and have me attached to what they can set up, cool. But if at any point I am told I have to be in Park X at time Y to ride attraction Z tomorrow I'm going to be an unhappy camper.

  18. #42
    Quote Originally Posted by josephbandrews View Post
    Makes you wonder if the NSA wants to build a database of where we like to eat, pee, etc. LOL You folks that spend too much time at the Haunted Mansion are going into a database of serial killers trying to fill your basement with 999 ghosts.
    I remember when everyone leapt to Disney's defense when that Senator or whoever wanted the company to account for the invasion of privacy that these would entail. I'm sure if it was the government wanting to set everyone up with wristbands like these, there would be a hue and cry like none seen before.

    I forget where it was, maybe even on here, but I read an article recently discussing how "privacy" has been commoditized. Rather than being inviolably sacred, it is now something we're willing to trade in exchange for goods and services. Which... I mean... yeah, I guess so, since I'm actually kinda' keen to try it out.

  19. #43

    [QUOTE=Alex S.;1841730Fortunately the holes in the band are sized so that I can roll is pretty small and keep it in a pocket (hands full door opening may be a convenience but doesn't really come up that often and I open doors requiring key cards dozens of times a day). Next time I may even just cut off the strap part of the band and see how that goes.[/QUOTE]

    Before you cut, I would look at this article that takes apart a Magic Band. I'm not sure how much you can cut down without affecting at least parts of the construction.


  20. #44
    Out of this world for Disney DwarfPlanet's Avatar
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    Well in a thread awhile back I had said how I wasn't happy about it being a wristband in the first place. Not so bothered about a RFID but I just absolutely hate anything around my wrists. I wear a pocket watch, and I probably wear short sleeve shirts 360 days out of the year even when its snowing here. I had heard or thought I had heard they were looking into something else to go along with the wrist bands for those of us not wanting one around my wrist. But like Alex said I guess I could just roll it up into a pocket or put it onto a lanyard.

    "Although we think it's DOPEY that Pluto has been downgraded to a dwarf planet, which has made some people GRUMPY and others just SLEEPY, we are not BASHFUL in saying we would be HAPPY if Disney's Pluto would join us as an 8th dwarf. We think this is just what the DOC ordered and is nothing to SNEEZE at."

  21. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by currence View Post
    Before you cut, I would look at this article that takes apart a Magic Band. I'm not sure how much you can cut down without affecting at least parts of the construction.
    Yeah, seeing various tear down articles is why I know I could do it (I was worried there might be an antenna or something that extended the entire length). I can cut it down far enough that it would be mostly flat in my pocket.

  22. #46
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    I hate stuff on my wrists too and a CM suggested I put the magic band on my belt loop. I just kept in in one of my cargo shorts' lower pockets. I only used it to gain access to my hotel room and the parks and for fastpass entry. I didn't use it for purchasing.

    John

  23. #47

    Have they stated that they were going to flat out eliminate the card style 'media' one day? It was my impression that the band was optional, but perhaps eventually it won't be an option (maybe part of the longer range tracking).

    A coworker cut up his HID card at work so place it inside his cell case... It worked for a while, but either the chip got crushed or the antenna (power inductor actually) broke.
    Now that I am back in the Reserves, I'm gonna have to carry 2 HID cards again. Total Costanza wallet!

    Joey

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