FastPass Plus Testing has begun for Counter Service

[Melanie]

I'd love to just place my order, walk up to a counter, pay and get my food all at once.

If it works that smoothly.

If they don't remove the step of having to go to Guest Services, what is the point?

[Jared]

I love the idea of being able to order counter-service meals from my phone while in the park. I'm not following the system Nikki described in the original post, though. That sounds overly complicated for what should be a pretty simple process.

It shouldn't be any different than the Chipotle smartphone app, for instance. With that, you can place your order and pay with a credit card, and you then walk up to a special window in the restaurant to pick it up with minimal wait. Instead of waiting in that massive Be Our Guest line, I'd love to be able to order and pay for my meal while waiting in line at Peter Pan's Flight.

Tons of chain restaurants already do this. It doesn't seem like a big deal. But why would anyone have to go to Guest Relations for this to work? That seems more difficult than necessary.

[Melanie]

The more I think about all this, the more I realize I just don't have faith in Disney and their websites, apps, etc. With their track record in this department, I think it's justified to feel this way. I hope I'm proven wrong, and this (and all this + stuff) will be a smooth operation that greatly enhances the park goers day.

[Jared]

The more I think about all this, the more I realize I just don't have faith in Disney and their websites, apps, etc. With their track record in this department, I think it's justified to feel this way.

Yeah, that's the problem. This should be so simple and helpful for people. But you know there's no chance it will work that way. How can a company as integral as Disney be this inept at applying technology?

[PirateLover]

I'm with Mel... Color me skeptical.
I'm not against it per say. It sounds like some kinks need to be worked out, though.

If a lot of people choose this method, perhaps it will make the lines at peak times more manageable for those of us who aren't regimented, and don't know hours in advance at what precise time we will be hungry...and what we will be hungry for.

[BriarRose0708]

But why would anyone have to go to Guest Relations for this to work? That seems more difficult than necessary.

You got me there. Perhaps it's just for the test phase? There is a picture of the card on another website and this is clearly listed as step 3.

[Sylvia]

This is too much work. It reminds me of the "real world" where everything is ruled by the clock. I don't want that when I'm on vacation. And I don't want to plan today what I'll want for lunch in August.

We'll probably continue to do what we've always done. Schedule CS meals in "off times" and enjoy ourselves. We also don't plan TS meals weeks in advance; we take our chances and always have a back-up plan if we can't get seated in a reasonable amount of time.

On our upcoming trip, we'll plan 4-5 TS meals in advance, but the rest of time time, we'll take our chances. I should mention that we're not planning meals at the top favorites, so we shouldn't have any problem eating at the TS's of our choice.

[BrerGnat]

You got me there. Perhaps it's just for the test phase? There is a picture of the card on another website and this is clearly listed as step 3.

I bet the Guest Relations step is just for testing. It's a way to keep track of how many people are actually doing it, vs. those that agreed to do the "test" but just never did it. I'm sure it's a data collecting step.

When you ask people to participate in a test of something, but then you send them on their way, there is always going to be a percentage of people who simply don't participate.

[Janmac]

IF this system would work, we would use it, no questions. We always order the same things at the same counter services because that's what we like. At Flametree we get the chicken and rib combo which is a huge amount of food, but works out perfectly for me, DH and our grandniece. And we get to have lots of choices - chicken, ribs, beans, cole slaw. It's all good.

Same with Cosmic Rays - we always order the same thing.

On our last trip - in February of this year - we looked into Cosmic Rays just after noon and it was packed. We left. Went to the Contemporary CS. (Which caused no little problem because then DH and our grandniece had to figure out something to eat from a strange menu - bit of a melt down there until some fuel and fluids melted the attitudes away.) If we could have ordered ahead, we'd have probably eaten at Cosmic Ray's,

Since several in our extended family group have hypoglycemia issues, we usually eat at certain times, rather than when we feel hungry. Waiting til we feel hungry is a recipe for disaster.

Do I have faith in this working - no. Not even. Are their recent "enhancements" working yet? Thoe enhancements that overbooked BOG all summer?



Jan

[Mrs Bus Driver]

I can almost guarantee that this sort of thing will only be same day meals. There is NO way they are going to staff CS locations and premake meals based on the "X" number of people who ordered meals from home for any random day 6 months ago. I bet you will only be able to do this while you are INSIDE the park you want to order from, and probably can only order meals a couple hours (at most) in advance. I look at this like any other "take out" places that you can do online ordering from. I can use an app on my phone to order a burrito from Chipotle, but I can't place an order that I want to pick up tomorrow.

I assume once this is live and functional, it will be a matter of simply using a smart phone to "order online" from a selection of CS locations geographically near your current location.

Honestly, this sounds great to me. I always know what I want to order and the worst part of eating CS (for me) is the waiting in line to order, then waiting at the counter for the food. People are so disorganized in these situations and it stresses me out. I'd love to just place my order, walk up to a counter, pay and get my food all at once.

I agree sounds good to me to. Why is it the biggest argument against this is "you'll have to order 6 months in advance" when this has never been stated anywhere that I know of.
Its okay if you don't want to use your smartphone and don't want to look at the menu until you get there it just means that there will be fewer people in line with you. I as see it, it will be better for everyone.

[Melanie]

I agree sounds good to me to. Why is it the biggest argument against this is "you'll have to order 6 months in advance" when this has never been stated anywhere that I know of.
Its okay if you don't want to use your smartphone and don't want to look at the menu until you get there it just means that there will be fewer people in line with you. I as see it, it will be better for everyone.

The "ordering 6 months in advance" wasn't my argument, and I agree there is no way that would work. I just think it seems like a lot of work for a simple CS meal, and am not convinced it will all play out as well as conceived. If all it is is a few taps on a smartphone and walk up to a window and receive our meal in a timely manner, I'm all for it. I just don't have faith it will go that smoothly.

[BrerGnat]

If all it is is a few taps on a smartphone and walk up to a window and receive our meal in a timely manner, I'm all for it. I just don't have faith it will go that smoothly.

Negative Nancy.

Actually, this is my only hangup with this ENTIRE system. The MyDisneyExperience App stinks to high heaven. It was horrible on my phone last year. We'll see if it's improved any come August.

I am optimistic about the premise of the whole thing, but not so much about the actual implementation considering Disney's awful track record with computer based programs.

[Melanie]

Negative Nancy.

I've been called worse.

But yes, I am about this entire Magic+ stuff. I think it's the worse thing Disney has come up with in years.

[sharli]

I received my Magic Bands and was told that if you have them you can get a fp to BOG. Is that true? I went to the site but it won't let me type the letter parts of my confirmation number. Also, I saw a fp available when I go thru dining reservation. But when I go thru the steps, I can't find it again! Help!

[Kenny1113]

No thank you!

Sounds OK on paper, but I fear what a pp said -we will need ADR 180 days out for CS.

[Tekneek]

This is just silly. I hope the goal isn't for people to use up one of their 3 FP+ allotment to get chicken fingers. Of course, those people would probably win the silliest use of FP+ award, in direct competition with anyone who wastes one on any attraction that is consistently walk-on or less than 5 minute wait all day every day. Of course, there is nothing in MDE that warns you about making dumb/wasteful selections.

[Dulcee]

I can almost guarantee that this sort of thing will only be same day meals. There is NO way they are going to staff CS locations and premake meals based on the "X" number of people who ordered meals from home for any random day 6 months ago. I bet you will only be able to do this while you are INSIDE the park you want to order from, and probably can only order meals a couple hours (at most) in advance. I look at this like any other "take out" places that you can do online ordering from. I can use an app on my phone to order a burrito from Chipotle, but I can't place an order that I want to pick up tomorrow.

I assume once this is live and functional, it will be a matter of simply using a smart phone to "order online" from a selection of CS locations geographically near your current location.

Honestly, this sounds great to me. I always know what I want to order and the worst part of eating CS (for me) is the waiting in line to order, then waiting at the counter for the food. People are so disorganized in these situations and it stresses me out. I'd love to just place my order, walk up to a counter, pay and get my food all at once.

I agree, if this was to come to pass I'd imagine it would be a lot like this. And to be honest if I know I've just walked on to an hour long line at Test Track and I can spend some of that time looking at the menu at sunshine seasons via my phone, walk off the ride and right into my order, I'm ok with that.

I'm even more ok with not having to deal with a cranky DH when we have to stand in line for 45 minutes to get lunch...

[Katzateer]

Ugh, I agree with whoever said "Exhausting". Seems like way to much trouble for a meal that should be quick and easy. I don't see us every using this either.

I agree.

[2MuchWDFun]

I can almost guarantee that this sort of thing will only be same day meals. There is NO way they are going to staff CS locations and premake meals based on the "X" number of people who ordered meals from home for any random day 6 months ago. I bet you will only be able to do this while you are INSIDE the park you want to order from, and probably can only order meals a couple hours (at most) in advance.

I assume once this is live and functional, it will be a matter of simply using a smart phone to "order online" from a selection of CS locations geographically near your current location.

Yep...I agree. You took the words right out of my mouth.
It will definitely have to be a same day feature for the reasons you stated.
I actually like it, too--especially for seasoned WDW travelers that know what they want to eat at each CS location. We always travel with 2-3 people in our group so this would be both an easy and convenient option for us.

[Anthony007]

After experiencing fastpass+ my opinion has changed, I liked not having to run for fastpasses first thing in the morning. As long as it is not too far in advance, I think it will be great. Remember you can now choose when you want to return, we don't have to worry about a fastpass conflicting with an ADR.

Fastpass+ for CS? At first my thought is no, but why not, sure beats waiting in the sun for an hour. And to the argument that only people in the know will do it, only people in the know wait in line for an hour. Others go for lunch, see the line, go somewhere else. Again, as long as its not too far in advance, I say lets give it a try.