FP+ Official Announcement

[angelmichelle]

Originally Posted by 11290

A lot of this will still be going on through early 2014. Actually, there will still be FP stations throughout the park even when this is fully implemented. At least that is what we are being told.

I hope the kinks will be worked out...

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by bcrook

This is some great speculating on this thread. Any new opinions based new information?

Certainly Disney will be looking to increase profits in certain areas. It seems a given that on-site resort guests will have better benefits than local passholders or off-site visitors. That alone could drive up hotel occupancy and allow Disney to increase its hotel pricing (lower discounts.)

But there's also a value-added aspect to it. Disney has never been afraid to innovate and a lot of this is geared toward providing guests with an experience they cannot get elsewhere.

Not every theme park enhancement will yield an immediate financial return. I doubt attendance or price increases were warranted after they added the Phineas & Ferb adventure game to Epcot or the interactive queues at Haunted Mansion, POTC and Big Thunder Mountain.

Originally Posted by 11290

I work entry turnstiles and was told this Fall by one of my managers the ADDITIONAL cost to produce the RFID ticketing. Was really surprised at the amount. Actually, the new "touch pad" entries are probably going to have to have additional CM's due to the difficulty of "stopping" (no gating) guests when their tickets are not working correctly.

Just my $.02. Will be interesting to see how it all works when it reaches full implementation next year.

My comments that you quoted were directed toward the FastPass kiosks themselves. Every day tens-of-thousands...perhaps hundreds-of-thousands...of paper FP tickets are printed and disposed-of. Getting rid of those machines will undoubtedly save money in that regard.

But certainly there will be additional expenses in new areas.

As for theme park entry, each station may require increased staffing. But if each station moves guests through in a more efficient manner, fewer stations will be necessary.

[bcrook]

Originally Posted by tjkraz

Certainly Disney will be looking to increase profits in certain areas. It seems a given that on-site resort guests will have better benefits than local passholders or off-site visitors. That alone could drive up hotel occupancy and allow Disney to increase its hotel pricing (lower discounts.)

But there's also a value-added aspect to it. Disney has never been afraid to innovate and a lot of this is geared toward providing guests with an experience they cannot get elsewhere.

Not every theme park enhancement will yield an immediate financial return. I doubt attendance or price increases were warranted after they added the Phineas & Ferb adventure game to Epcot or the interactive queues at Haunted Mansion, POTC and Big Thunder Mountain.

I can't see this as value added for the masses. If the end result is limiting numbers of FP, not allowing hopping and FP at both parks, and only allowing one FP per ride a day will ultimately be perceived as a loss of benefits.

I do see a small percentage who it will work well for - those don't use FP much. But those that rely on FP will be upset.

This whole thing needs to be looked at in conjunction with the app. It becomes fairly clear this is a marketing tool to reacquaint the public with the more subtle aspects and offerings of the wdw parks. Everything in the app looks awesome, I see rafiki is at planet watch at 3:30, we could that. Off kilter is playing in thirty minutes lets go. Everything looks fresh and exciting. I have been to wdw a lot, I am familiar with everything, but I am being swayed. Think of those millions of first timers! They might just follow those recommendations popping up on their phones.

It is fascinating.

[Weedy]

Here is something from the local news:


http://www.wesh.com/themeparks/disne...z/-/index.html

[crazy4wdw]

Additional info on Disney Parks Blog:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blo...he-next-level/

[wdw71]

Originally Posted by bcrook

Think of those millions of first timers! They might just follow those recommendations popping up on their phones.

It is fascinating.

In other words it may just tell the experienced where not to go

[LaniesMom]

Originally Posted by wdw71

In other words it may just tell the experienced where not to go

Yes, let's hope all the newbies get sucked into the fascinating Stitch ride so the rest of us can take their place on one of the Mountains....

[Brook730]

I guess I am one of thoes that either way it does not matter much to me. My family only pulls maybe two FP a day and usually we can go with out any I don't do roller coasters and my DD is to small for them still anyways. so to me it would almost be better to reserve say TSM at 130 on a tuesday so my DH does not have to go running after RD to get them for us... But then again the flexibility will not be there. We don't normally park hop either but sometimes AK will just be to crowded to really enjoy it so we would hop over to MK or like during F&W we decided we had enough pushing thought the drunk collage kids so we went to HS for a while. Yes we don't do it often but if we wanted to we would just deal with the fact of not having FPs for that park. So yeah to me I guess it really does not matter much.

[seashoreCM]

(copied from another forum)

Reserved fastpass times (Fastpass Plus) does have a tendency to leave guests with isolated small chunks of time (typically just before the Fastpass return time) that Disney feels would be well spent in gift shops.

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by seashoreCM

(copied from another forum)

Reserved fastpass times (Fastpass Plus) does have a tendency to leave guests with isolated small chunks of time (typically just before the Fastpass return time) that Disney feels would be well spent in gift shops.

.......or perhaps it will leave guests with massive amounts of time...... previously reserved for days at Disney, now available to visit other destinations.

[krichie]

Originally Posted by tjkraz

My comments that you quoted were directed toward the FastPass kiosks themselves. Every day tens-of-thousands...perhaps hundreds-of-thousands...of paper FP tickets are printed and disposed-of. Getting rid of those machines will undoubtedly save money in that regard.

This got me thinking, maybe Disney will make their smart phone app push reminders to guests' phones when their reservation for a ride, food, etc. is about to approach.

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by krichie

This got me thinking, maybe Disney will make their smart phone app push reminders to guests' phones when their reservation for a ride, food, etc. is about to approach.

I really do think they'll try this, just like they'll try offers for extra FPs to move people out of the busiest parks into the less busy parks. But while I bring my smart phone along, I almost never notice when a text comes in. Disney is just too loud already. And I don't WANT to change my focus from the world around me to my phone. I have no intention of turning my ringer up, and sure hope others don't either.

[granmanh603]

Originally Posted by mom2rtk

I really do think they'll try this, just like they'll try offers for extra FPs to move people out of the busiest parks into the less busy parks. But while I bring my smart phone along, I almost never notice when a text comes in. Disney is just too loud already. And I don't WANT to change my focus from the world around me to my phone. I have no intention of turning my ringer up, and sure hope others don't either.

What about people with no smart phone and don't want a smart phone and do not care if they even take cell phone to park. Guess we do not matter
To be honest when I was down at Disney for 3 weeks in Oct,I was dismayed at the amount of parents at Disney with their faces glued to the phone while ignoring children. Some family vacation

[mom2rtk]

Originally Posted by granmanh603

What about people with no smart phone and don't want a smart phone and do not care if they even take cell phone to park. Guess we do not matter
To be honest when I was down at Disney for 3 weeks in Oct,I was dismayed at the amount of parents at Disney with their faces glued to the phone while ignoring children. Some family vacation

They will have kiosks around the parks for you to make changes to your plans if needed. But can you imagine being in line behind a big group deciding what time to schedule a ride? So yes, I would consider that a disadvantage. Disney is clearly going all in with the smart phones.

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by granmanh603

To be honest when I was down at Disney for 3 weeks in Oct,I was dismayed at the amount of parents at Disney with their faces glued to the phone while ignoring children. Some family vacation

Yes, because if you witness an adult checking their phone during the 5 seconds you encounter them in a theme park, they MUST be a horrible parent, right?

What a naive generalization.