Animal Kingdom First To Test FP+ For All Guests

[mickclub1955]

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FastPass+ open to all guests including offsite beginning next week at Disney's Animal Kingdom
Dec 13, 2013 | 6:06am EDT

FastPass+ is moving into new territory next week as for the first it will be available to all guests visiting Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Starting December 18 2013, the latest test will allow all guests to use FastPass+, including those staying offsite and not in a Walt Disney World Resort hotel. During the test, regular paper FASTPASS will not be available, giving guests the choice to use FastPass+ or the standby line.

Non-resort guests will not be able to make FastPass+ reservations ahead of time, or using My Disney Experience. Mirroring the functionality provided by FASTPASS, offsite guests will need to visit a FastPass+ kiosk to make the reservations on the day they visit. MagicBands will not be available for non-resort guests. Instead, they will use their RFID enabled ticket media to access the FastPass+ kiosks and touch sensors.

Resort guests will continue to be able to make advance reservations using My Disney Experience. As with current testing, guests will be able to secure 3 FastPass+ reservations for that day.
The attractions available for FastPass+ are:

Character Greeting at Adventurers Outpost
Expedition Everest
DINOSAUR
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo – The Musical
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Primeval Whirl
It's Tough to be a Bug!

Kiosk locations are at:

Kali River Rapids
Primeval Whirl
Expedition Everest
Outside at Disney Outfitters
Outside the service center located at Creature Comforts

[mickclub1955]

I see disaster here. Busiest time of the year, no paper fast passes. If I worked at the AK, I would call in sick until after the New Year. But, this is moving MM+ to what it will look like for all parks in the future.

[1DisneyNut]

Yep, that is going to be an absolute mess. Long lines at kiosk's and angry guests. Just what everyone wants to do when they first enter a park.....stand in line at a kiosk for an hour and then have a bunch of problems once its their turn.

Why on Earth, would they not set it up so offsite guests could use MDE on their smartphones once in the park? And on the busiest week of the year??? This has to be the most mismanaged roll out in the history of business.

[JerseyDad]

Yep, that is going to be an absolute mess. Long lines at kiosk's and angry guests. Just what everyone wants to do when they first enter a park.....stand in line at a kiosk for an hour and then have a bunch of problems once its their turn.

Why on Earth, would they not set it up so offsite guests could use MDE on their smartphones once in the park? And on the busiest week of the year??? This has to be the most mismanaged roll out in the history of business.

....maybe there is some kind of secret agenda at work here? WDW doesn't want to expand it's number of attractions .....so let's just tick off the non-hardcore guests SO much that they don't come back ...or do so less frequently. Then ...the lines are shorter ...the hardcore guests book resort stays (money maker) ...and Disney still makes a profitable showing to Wall Street because they could lower expenses by not needing so many CM's to handle atrocious crowd levels.

...yup ...that's it!! Conspiracy theory hard at work!! :rolleyes:(would not surprise me to see it be true in some manner ...really)

.....and ...I had a really good laugh at the attractions that were put on the list as being "FP+ Attractions":

Character Greeting at Adventurers Outpost
Expedition Everest
DINOSAUR
Festival of the Lion King
Finding Nemo – The Musical
Kali River Rapids
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Primeval Whirl (really!!??)
It's Tough to be a Bug!

.....check me if I'm wrong ...but doesn't that list pretty much include EVERY AK attraction?!!

.....there's the problem!! There are 8 attractions, 1 ...maybe 2 which I'd say were "primary" (EE & Dino)) ....and 1 that's 'seasonal' (KRR). If there were 20 rides / attractions ...with 5 or 6 "primary" ...the FP issue would be ...a non-issue.

....but that takes money ..or should I say ...spending money.

[Dulcee]

Actually, with the busiest time of the year rapidly approaching they need to cut down on the double dipping that has been happening with fast passes. Had to happen eventually...

[Buttercup]

Kiosk locations are at:

Kali River Rapids
Primeval Whirl
Expedition Everest
Outside at Disney Outfitters
Outside the service center located at Creature Comforts

Sooo, there is still gonna be a mad dash to various places around the park to get to a fast pass kiosk? Only now there are less of them and your wait will be longer while people take their time making choices.

[BuffaloJason]

I still don't understand all the negativity surrounding this. Yes, clearly they'll need to have plenty of "kiosk capacity". I'm sure that fact isn't lost on them. I'm not sure why we would assume they haven't accounted for that. It seems like they've been exceptionally cautious in how they've rolled this out and have erred on the side of "walking before they run".

I would assume they reason they won't let day guests use My Disney Experience is that it's a perk for staying onsite, just like EMH.

[JerseyDad]

Sooo, there is still gonna be a mad dash to various places around the park to get to a fast pass kiosk? Only now there are less of them and your wait will be longer while people take their time making choices.

.....wouldn't the prudent move be (among those first 'dashers' to the kiosks) ...to by-pass the kiosk ...and just go to the ride while all others are waiting to get a "time" to return. Heck ....AK is a half-day park at best ...given the lack of attractions .

.....utilize "Nike Theme Park" practice ..."Just Do It" ...then leave.

[MOJoe]

I would assume they reason they won't let day guests use My Disney Experience is that it's a perk for staying onsite, just like EMH.

If so, that's a real game changer. Offsite guests will only be allowed to use what FP+ slots are left after resort guests have had 60 days to book. And they have to stand in what is most likely to be a very long line to find out what or if anything they want is still available.

Doesn't sound too magical for those not at a WDW resort.

[brad192]

Really? During the holidays? The most crowded time of the year? They're going to introduce an entirely new reservation system on a public who, in a lot of cases, never figured out the original FP system?

It's gonna be the biggest fail since "New Coke".

Wouldn't want to be a CM working a FP+ kiosk or Guest Relations next week.

[Melanie]

Bless you, Ron (WDWDriver).

[antnyh]

This will cause a stink, but I'll say it anyway...I don't think fastpass+ should be offered to offsite guests anyway...there....I said it. For those that pay a premium to be onsite there should be something extra we get.

[JerseyDad]

This will cause a stink, but I'll say it anyway...I don't think fastpass+ should be offered to offsite guests anyway...there....I said it. For those that pay a premium to be onsite there should be something extra we get.


.....well ...the on-site guest 'extras' are nice ...so enjoy them while they last. Because, with FP+ there will be less of a reason to keep EMH's around and they will be eventually phased out too.

[disney obsessed]

I am sitting here reading this post and suddenly Hunger Games senarios popped into my head. I know it is wrong and twisted but the competition for fast passes is becoming brutal.

[JerseyDad]

I am sitting here reading this post and suddenly Hunger Games scenarios popped into my head. I know it is wrong and twisted but the competition for fast passes is becoming brutal.

.....though some will say that all the new systems that are being put in place are supposed to "enhance" the guest experience at WDW ....I see it as a "survival of the fittest" type experience. The "fittest' being those with the thickest skin and tolerance for being manipulated by a corporate entity under the guise of "this is what's best for you".

.....those with less tolerance for it ...will go to Universal.

[WDWdriver]

Bless you, Ron (WDWDriver).

LOL! Thanks, Melanie. Yes, it should be "interesting". I'll add a helmet and flak jacket to my costume for the two days I'm working. After that I'm taking time off through the holidays.

[cer]

I am sitting here reading this post and suddenly Hunger Games senarios popped into my head. I know it is wrong and twisted but the competition for fast passes is becoming brutal.

I think everyone is going to end up just giving up. Day guests are going to give up on the kiosk lines and onsite guests are going to give up on trying to preplan every minute and give up on the poor on-site wifi.

As I sit here in my home, preparing for Marathon weekend, i have been able to make my fast pass plus reservations for over 35 days now and cannot for the life of me bring myself to commit to what park I am going to be in and when. :ack:

You liken the frenzy for fast pass plus to Hunger Games, I liken the whole way this thing is being rolled out to Obamacare. No one knows what it is going to be like or if it is going to hurt or help your experience. :confused:

[VWL Mom]

Actually, with the busiest time of the year rapidly approaching they need to cut down on the double dipping that has been happening with fast passes. Had to happen eventually...

Good point!

[Tekneek]

FP+ probably works better at AK than any other park, due to the smaller number of attractions that could even truly need FP at all.

For those still holding out hope that there is some fantastic FP+ element (that hasn't surfaced during any testing to date) yet to debut, I wouldn't count on it. Not much, in terms of the problems with the program, have been improved over time. Problems with the app and website have been fixed, to various degrees, but the significant design flaws in FP+ are still there and there is no indication those will be corrected before roll-out.

If FP+ did help kill the park traffic from off-resort guests, we can expect park tickets to really jump. Not only do they need to show increased profitability for Wall Street (they can slash CMs for that), but they need to show continued revenue growth (number of guests down = each guest must pay more).

[Dulcee]

.....though some will say that all the new systems that are being put in place are supposed to "enhance" the guest experience at WDW ....I see it as a "survival of the fittest" type experience. The "fittest' being those with the thickest skin and tolerance for being manipulated by a corporate entity under the guise of "this is what's best for you".

.....those with less tolerance for it ...will go to Universal.

I'm sorry, this made me laugh. So instead of survival of the fittest (which I don't believe anyway) you'll opt for survival of the wealthiest? As an offsite guest at Universal the only way to get front of the line access is to pay for it.

[DizneyRox]

They seem to be testing all sorts of different combinations for FP+ but one thing that hasn't changed is the limit of 3.

Interesting...

[JerseyDad]

I'm sorry, this made me laugh. So instead of survival of the fittest (which I don't believe anyway) you'll opt for survival of the wealthiest? As an offsite guest at Universal the only way to get front of the line access is to pay for it.

....yes, that's right ...you pay for it at Universal, as we did a few yrs back when we took an offsite day from WDW. We got in all of what we wanted to do ...which was pretty much everything ...and then left at days end. Unless of course you are a Universal Hotel guest and in that case ...the EXPRESS PASS is part of the hotel package.

....but ...I'm curious ...what part made you laugh?

....the part about some people getting fed up with WDW's increasing <snip>

....or ...that they would opt to go to Universal instead.

[Dulcee]

What makes me laugh is being up in arms that off site guests will need to use kiosks and can't make their reservations in advance, yet they still receive the "free" or at least included in admission price, perk that is fast pass plus and your solution instead is that you go to a park where you pay (and quite a bit I may add) to be even remotely close to the same playing field that onsite guests receive.

Follow this up with every critic of fast pass plus who begin grumbling about how its inevitable that WDW will soon charge for fast pass plus. Only to add on that I'll go to Universal instead.... where they make no qualms that you only get the perks you pay for.

The kiosk system is no different then people rushing to the fast pass dispensers at each ride. People will still rush, will still wait in line at the crack of park hours to obtain their fast passes, regardless of the system in place. At least on this system everyone has a shot at some type of fast pass versus heading to Universal where if I can't afford an additional $40-80 per person, I will watch every other guest who could afford it walk right to the front of the line as many times as they'd like.

If it was up to me I'd get rid of the whole fast pass system. Let everyone wait in line, talk to your kids, make friends with guests around you and wait your turn to ride. It worked just fine for many, many years.

[JerseyDad]

What makes me laugh is being up in arms that off site guests will need to use kiosks and can't make their reservations in advance, yet they still receive the "free" or at least included in admission price, perk that is fast pass plus and your solution instead is that you go to a park where you pay (and quite a bit I may add) to be even remotely close to the same playing field that onsite guests receive.

....but in does seem according to moves Disney is making, it's a direction that they may want to move in. They really want your presence in their resorts. If those rooms aren't filled ...they hurt more (in the pocket) than not having someone show up at the park.


Follow this up with every critic of fast pass plus who begin grumbling about how its inevitable that WDW will soon charge for fast pass plus. Only to add on that I'll go to Universal instead.... where they make no qualms that you only get the perks you pay for

.....it's not as if WDW doesn't know how a place like Universal operates (I mean ...they are a stone's throw away) ...in fact some of the new DAS rules mimic what Universal and other parks implement. That said ...I think if Disney sees that another park can get people to pay for a "better experience" ....it's not outside the realm of reason that they may entertain the same thing.



If it was up to me I'd get rid of the whole fast pass system. Let everyone wait in line, talk to your kids, make friends with guests around you and wait your turn to ride. It worked just fine for many, many years.

....I have no issue with the line waiting thing. (we got to Toy Story one morn ...at 11:15 am ...had FP+ for 11:20am ...and there was only a 35 minute wait on standby) I've been to WDW 11 times in 10 yrs ...and the number of times I got a paper FP ...can be counted on one hand. But, we had the FP+ thing in August ...and we didn't use all of them each day ...and some days ...we used none because we changed up our day's destination park. I for one am not all twisted out of shape about the FP+ thing ...it's WAY too much planning ...too far out ...to have to deal with, and it kill the spontaneity of the trip (same reason we only did the full meal plan once ...again ...too much to plan)

[1DisneyNut]

If it was up to me I'd get rid of the whole fast pass system. Let everyone wait in line, talk to your kids, make friends with guests around you and wait your turn to ride. It worked just fine for many, many years.

I completely agree. I remember many trips prior to FP where everyone had to wait in line. They had two standby lines for every attraction instead of one and a FP line. It worked just fine and we always saw every single attraction.

The deal is, the rides only have a certain maximum throughput. All FP does is provide a psychological warm fuzzy feeling to you on those few rides you get to ride quickly with a FP. Most don't realize they are in turn having to stand in line probably 20 to 30% longer on the rest of the rides to compensate for FP. One reason they want to eliminate the regular FP's and limit the number of FP+'s is because so many locals with AP's were coming on the weekends, grabbing fastpasses, riding those few rides and then leaving. That throws the balance out of whack for the regular guests that are trying to enjoy all the rides, not just a few FP's real quick.

[goofyskier]

I think there is a misconception that staying onsite at Universal is more expensive then Disney. When you compare a Moderate Disney resort cost to the Portofino Bay with tickets included Universal is actually on par with Disney. When you add in the benefit of the Express pass versus Fast pass and, not having to make multiple pre trip dinning arrangements and ride arrangements; I think Universal is gaining some ground on Disney. I won't say it is better then Magic Kingdom but I don't think it's a stretch to say Islands and Universal Studios are at least as good as the other three Disney Parks.

[AndrewJackson]

In my opinion, they have had a capacity problem at both MK and HS for quite some time. The capacity problem at EP is not as pronounced because the size of the park.

Maybe this is Disney's answer to the capacity problem. Limit the experience of the off-site guests - kind of a "thin the herd" mentality. At the same time, increase the revenue of the on-site guests by having a nifty little device on you wrist to buy anything your heart desires. No longer are you annoyed by having to reach into your pocket, get out your wallet, and find your KTTW card. Just point, click, and wink. Cha-ching!

Now, I know all of us would like more rides, better rides, faster rides. But is that sustainable? Is it reasonable to expect Disney to build a $100M e- ticket ride every 2 years?

I still need to experience the FP+, and will this spring. And, I am trying to wait to pass judgement until I have experienced it. However, if this will allow me to:

buy a hamburger at Pecos Bill's at noon without standing in line for 20 minutes,

or allow me to actually walk between Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain without having my Achilles' tendon clipped by a stroller,

or get a spot for the night time parade less than 90 minutes prior,

then I am all for it. And, I am willing to pay $129 a night at All Star to enjoy it.

[Donald Duck]

Really? During the holidays? The most crowded time of the year? They're going to introduce an entirely new reservation system on a public who, in a lot of cases, never figured out the original FP system?

It's gonna be the biggest fail since "New Coke".

Wouldn't want to be a CM working a FP+ kiosk or Guest Relations next week.

Couldn't agree more.
The idiots that planned this should be fired.

[PopPhan]

However, if this will allow me to:

buy a hamburger at Pecos Bill's at noon without standing in line for 20 minutes,

or allow me to actually walk between Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain without having my Achilles' tendon clipped by a stroller,

or get a spot for the night time parade less than 90 minutes prior,

then I am all for it. And, I am willing to pay $129 a night at All Star to enjoy it.

Sorry to say, but after my experience in the parks 12/4 - 12/11 --- a so called "slow" period -- I would not be willing to wager $1 on any of the 3 things you mentioned.

[Altair]

Sorry to say, but after my experience in the parks 12/4 - 12/11 --- a so called "slow" period -- I would not be willing to wager $1 on any of the 3 things you mentioned.

We were there about the same time and thought the crowds were fine. We had no long waits for rides or food. :mickey:

I've said before, the parks are almost always crowded, sometimes just more than others.

[TheVBs]

Is there tiering at AK? If so, would someone please post the breakdown? Thanks! :mickey:

[mickclub1955]

No tiering at AK.

[TheVBs]

Thank you for the info! :mickey: