www.themeparkinsider.com: Few recent changes at the Walt Disney World Resort have divided fans more than Fastpass+. A vocal group believes the changes to the original FastPass program have diminished the guest experience. Others trust Disney and praise the ability to reserve their attractions in advance. I'll admit to being more in the first category. I visited the parks in the ‘80s and ‘90s growing up, so having only standby lines doesn't seem outlandish.
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Wow, the author of this article really went into some serious detail analyzing the FastPass+ System. Maybe because I'm not a huge theme park goer I am not that familiar with all the considerations around actually getting into the attractions, but it seems like an awful lot of planning and strategizing for what is supposed to just be a day of fun. Don't get me wrong, I understand that there is incentive to get the most for your money, especially for an expensive theme park ticket, but reserving rides up to 60 days in advance seems like an extreme proposition. Yet, I guess the demand is clearly there since Disney has rolled out this system and it is clearly in use. I suppose it would be somewhat heretical to suggest that Disney revert back to a system without first class and second class visitors. One line for everybody. That being said, I can understand why Disney has implemented the FastPass+ system and have no illusions about them returning to a purely egalitarian queuing system.
These bands are quite possibility the biggest risk that Disney has taken with their parks in a long time. Personally, I'm going to miss the paper FastPass system. As an individual with no small children, you can bet me and my friends "gamed the system," racking up tickets and riding coasters one after the other. However, we weren't always that lucky. Did we have to wait two hours to go on the Animal Kingdom Safari? Yep. And it was the worst, especially because it was the only thing we actually wanted to do that day. Looking at the new system though, I wonder about the flexibility of the Fast Passes. Can you transfer them from day to day? What happens if someone gets sick on Tuesday and you have to spend a day at the hotel before you can hit the parks again? Does your meet-up with Mickey get transferred to an entirely different day? While this system is a huge step forward for Disney and the way theme parks operate, I feel that we're missing the experience. Disney isn't just Space Mountain and Soarin'. It's the rides in between, and if Disney can't figure out a way to apply the efficiency to the smaller rides, then it's going to become an area of land with a couple big-ticket rides.
Fastpass+ seems to be a stage manager’s best friend for a Disney vacation. I have not gone on a vacation like this in awhile, but I know for a fact that when my family and I went to Disney, we did not Fastpass or organize our trip past the “this ride is closer” technique and the “but we have to go on Haunted Mansion” request from my older siblings. Planning out a vacation like this so many days in advance seems crazy to me, especially with the high demand that the rides have in parks this big. The author also mentions nothing about the price you have to pay to get this advanced planning pass, and I’m sure it’s not cheap. I feel like these enhancements do help the overall scheme of the park, but also take away from the unorganized enjoyment of vacations and impulse. Having an amusement park on a schedule still seems a little crazy to me, despite the efficiency benefits.
Alright, let's be clear: order and planning are very important things in my life. I don't usually go into things saying "I'm just gonna wing this one." Vacation, though, (and Disney in particular) is an exception to that rule. I absolutely do not like feeling as though there's somewhere I have to be at a certain time when I want to relax and choose what I want to do as it comes up. That's not to say that I won't be conscious of the amount of money I've spent on that day and the fact that I would like to get what it's worth, it's just that I keep picturing dragging my family around to make certain attractions for the time we booked it on my SmartPhone. It just takes all the magic away. Especially for children, I think. When a child goes to Disney World, one of the most amazing things is that he or she is free to explore a world of magic and fun and excitement with no restrictions. There aren't rules and boundaries at Disney the way there are everywhere else. I think that by setting these time limitations, Disney is taking away from "the happiest place on earth" and adding a very stressful element that I'm sure is going to add some tension to the parental side of things, no doubt spreading to the children involved. I just wish that there were no money tricks, and that we could all just wait in line for the same opportunity to be a little kid without the worry of "Will I be able to make it to that side of the park by 4:30?"
My biggest concern with this is how natural this feels, why does this not work. I believe there is fun in being spontaneous, our work and our responsibilities fill our calendars, they are the ones that we plan our schedule around. I feel like using systems like this, such as planning days in advance, puts work back into fun. Although it might seem like a good plan to schedule days in advance (because you are thinking of the lines), isn't there some magic in spending time with your family? the anticipation of the ride and the question of what do i get to go on next? I think in terms of preplanning we should preplan to be spontaneous. Themed entertainment designers around the world are making queue areas so much more immersive and less like a line out in the heat. I feel like if there is an obligation to have fun then is that really fun?
I've been to Disney World in Florida more times than I can count, and have just recently moved to Orlando and visited Disney recently after the new Fastpass+ and Magic Band overhaul. I can definitely see the benefits behind the whole upgrade, for instance being able to manage the crowds more efficiently as demand goes up for space in the park and space is not necessarily expanding to meet this rise in demand. I noticed a lot more crowd management in general, with people dressed in glowing clothing directing people around so that everyone would move a lot quicker. However, I really think the new Fastpass system cuts out a large portion of the Disney consumer base. For instance, because my family has lived in Florida our whole lives, we often would decide to go to Disney even the day before. With the new Fastpass system, it's likely that people travelling from out of state have already booked all the Fastpass times, and we would have to miss out on all of those rides because we would be unable to get Fastpasses and the lines would simply be too long to wait in the normal ones.
I think to improve they should definitely consider cutting out some of the medium-popularity rides, because I also experienced a similar situation in which I had to wait upwards of 45 minutes to get on the Haunted Mansion ride, where I can't remember waiting more than 15 minutes for that ride at any point in my life, even in the busiest midst of summer.
It seems that there is a lot of divide on this issue, whether to or not to reserve a 15 minute ride 30 or 60 days in advance. I’m sure some people love it, and that they think it’s awesome and they know exactly what they’ll get out of their experience. I’m also sure that some people think that it’ll take the fun out of it for everyone else who isn’t that neurotic. As for me, I’m a little confused as to exactly how the system impacts those who chose not to participate in it, which it must. It either has to knock the regular riders who see a line and wait on it until it’s their turn to ride the ride, the regular fastpass users who will grab the tickets for the rides they think they want to go on that morning, or some combination of the two. When my family enjoyed Disney theme parks, which was quite a few years ago, we enjoyed the ability to have until the day of to think about what we wanted to ride, and then decide that morning and plan out the day loosely in that manor, and my only fear from this system is that families won’t be able to do that. You’ll have to plan out your trip a month or two in advance, to the T, and if you didn’t you’d have to suffer with a subpar experience. I’m disappointed in this, but I guess it doesn’t really matter since Disney won’t change their policy unless they can get some financial gain from that policy shift.
Okay, so I've only been to Disney World once, and when I was there I went with seasoned veterans who knew all the ins and outs of the park; what rides to go to early, and what rides to wait on, so my trip was less than stressful. Seeing these new online Fastpass+ upgrades makes me a bit stressed out already. If you go to Disney with a small child, or an easily distracted adult (me) planning your trips that far in advance would not seem to be the best decision. I know children well enough that if they are walking through disney world and they see a ride that you may have not considered in your detailed schedule, they are going to throw a fit until they get to go on that ride. Basically I think that its to hard to quantify and meticulously schedule something as flexible and unpredictable as a small child's vacation schedule. Although it's a good concept, I don't think it's going to be particularly effective.
I think there are definitely some positive aspects and some negative aspects to the new Fastpass+ system. It is very convenient to book your trip 60 days in advance if you have a family and want to get in all of the attractions in your time at Disney. You do not have to wake up super early to make sure you are the first ones on line or are able to get the Fastpass tickets right away. The downside to the Fastpass+ is mainly for the people that do not plan their trips 60 days in advance. Many people who live close by or who want to be spontaneous, decide to go to Disney that day or maybe the day before. With all of the people booking their trips and rides 60 days in advance, there is a very small chance that they will be able to get a Fastpass+ and get on all of the rides they want to. They will have to wait in the standby lines, when they could have picked up Fastpass tickets for certain rides in the past.
I can see the major downfalls in the Fastpass+ with people who live really close to Disney and want to go visit the park sporadically with perhaps only a few days notice because they have season tickets. With the new Fastpass+, this means that all the good rides would have been sold out by the time a season ticket holder would want to go. Now this person has to wait in all the lines and watch as empty ride after empty ride goes by because a Fastpass+ person was late, most likely due to another Fastpass ride going late. Everything is starting to hinge on everything else. I think Disney was trying too hard with this new Fastpass+ and instead made the lines longer. However, I can definitely see how this would be a logical step for Disney to try with the fastpass, it just turns out that it didn't work. Now they know it isn't that great and will hopefully move onto something new and better.
That was a pretty interesting article about what’s happening at Disney for crowd control. The last time I was at Disneyland, I went with my uncle who had been doing research for a New York Times article about the appeals of Disney parks to people who go without kids. What was great about that was we each got special fastpasses that worked for any ride all day long, so we didn’t need to worry about scheduling our day and gaming the system. I really liked the old system though, and I’m not sure how I feel about how technology dependent this new one is. It’s great that there’s now a way to be able to manage your entire trip at once, but micromanaging it down to the rides seems a bit excessive. Also, although it may be more convenient and less stressful because you have the day planned out, I think it can end up being more stressful trying to stick to a schedule at a place like Disney. What if you want to go on a ride again that you didn’t plan on, or what if you walk by an attraction that has a really short line, but you can’t go because there’s no room in your preplanned schedule. Also, I don’t like the idea of every ride having a fastpass. What was nice about the rides that had 15-0 minute waits and no fastpasses was that you had something to do while you waited for your fastpass window. Even with the new system, which is here to stay, I think it would be wise for them to not have it apply to minor rides
I went to Disney World during New Years 2011. It was the busiest place I believe I have ever seen. When they have to shut three parks down due to capacity, you know you better get used to crowds quickly. They had their fastpass system working at the time, but you just scanned your ticket, and then came back later. We were able to get into the parks early so we could ride the rides we wanted with little wait time, and then take advantage and ride them again later on. For me though, the fastpass + program would definitely make things a little redundant. Now you’re planning your trip out to the extreme. There is no planning the day before or so when you want to go. Now you have to plan it out a month in advanced. This system to me seems like a deterrent from going there during peak times of the season, and until they get the kinks of the system worked out, I’m going to avoid amusement parks for a little while, unless it’s Six Flags, because I like the rides a bit more.
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