My Experiences With My Disney FastPass+ Next-Gen Magic Experience

[Ian]

Hey all,

I've posted some spotty feedback in a few threads around the boards since we got back, but I wanted to give one quick summary of how I found working with the new system when we were down recently.

In the interest of being fair I'm going to break it out by Pros and Cons ...


Pros
I do like the Magic Bands to some degree. Having everything consolidated on your wrist and not having to dig for your passes or room keys all the time, worry about dropping them or losing them ... it was nice.
ADR's continue to be easily managed through the app. I really like having the ability to flex your ADR's if you need to ... we used this a few times while we were down to cancel one and book another and it was a big benefit.
The FP+ aspect wasn't quite the :thedolls: I expected it to be. I continue to be opposed to it, but it didn't "RUIN OUR TRIP!" or anything like that.
Overall I do like that they appear to be recognizing the system's inherent issues and trying to find ways to correct them. It's better than if they just cram an imperfect program down our throats and make us live with it.
Cons
The complexity of the program as compared with the complete and total lack of useful information about it from Disney is a large frustration. It took me a week to get our vacation set up on the app and our FP+ selections done. Although in fairness our reservation was more complicated than the average since we were travling on a TA room only package, had to buy our passes separately, and had one person with us who already had an AP.
Ergonomically speaking the Magic Bands aren't well thought out. The sensors that read them are very picky and if you don't get the exact right "Mickey to Mickey" contact you find yourself standing there contorting your wrist in all these unnatural positions. In general, the way they have the sensors set up was also less-than-ideal in that it kind of forces you to twist your wrist in an odd way. I actually thought the use of the bands slowed down the entrance lines vs. speeding them up since people continue to have issues getting them to read properly. Another thing I noticed? It's super easy to sneak in without admission with this new set-up ... there were at least three times I or another member of my party accidentally skipped swiping our bands and not one CM even noticed.
The technology that supports it is just atrocious. This is one area where I'll be very pointed in my feedback ... the WiFi continues to be spotty at best (in Art of Animation it was essentially non-existant) and the app itself is klugy, unreliable, and buggy. In my estimation as someone who has worked in technology for over a decade and who builds app for a living Disney is a year or more away from having this program truly ready for prime time. And that's if they invest even more money in it.
While FP+ isn't :thedolls: it's also not something I'm interested in. I felt like this trip was actually more rushed and frantic than normal simply because we were constantly running from FP to FP because of the way they're booked (i.e. you take what's available and that's that).
They have to fix the fact that you can only get FP in one park on a given day. That is a major inconvenience and makes it virtually impossible to consider getting FP for a park like Animal Kingdom where I might be there for a few hours in the morning and then hop to another park. I'm not sure what the motivation for this is (I can only surmise it's either technical or meant to discourage park hopping), but it needs to change.
The new test where you can only get one FP for an E-Ticket per park was a real drag in Epcot. We got FP for Soarin' which essentially made Test Track un-rideable for for us. The FP go so fast that unless you're willing to wait for say eight hours or more for your window to open you're out of luck. And really ... who needs a FP for Living With the Land or Nemo? We took those basically because we had to and they were a complete waste.
Overall I'd have to say the program had a signficantly lesser impact on our trip than I expected it to. Being very honest with myself, if I wasn't pre-disposed to not like it beforehand I think the impact would have been even less. The biggest issue by far is the complexity and lack of clarity around how the program works (and I mean the actual mechanics of using the app and navigating the program details) and also the significant technical limitations and challenges of their network and the app itself.

If they can sort that out and maybe tweak some of the items in the "cons" column I mentioned this may not be as bad as we all thought it would be.

[Tekneek]

I'm not sure what the motivation for this is (I can only surmise it's either technical or meant to discourage park hopping), but it needs to change.

I do not know either, but it has all the looks of a design shortcut. The complexity of scheduling across different parks would mean building in a higher level of intelligence into the system (certainly higher than what it shows so far). They can schedule things back-to-back in the same park and get away with it (nothing is more than an hour from each other), but it would be a disaster if the app booked Splash Mountain an hour apart from Tower of Terror.

Not that this was an impossible problem to solve. Disney should know the parks better than anyone. It should know the transportation methods/times better than anyone. They should be able to do better with this than they are. It surely must be nothing more than taking a shortcut. From a business perspective, I don't see why you wouldn't actually want to encourage the extra charge for park hopping (since you get that cash up front, whether anybody actually park hops or not).

[GMRO]

Thank you for the details! Enjoyed your Tweets as well from your trip. Hope your family had a magical time.

Was looking forward to your feedback... ;) We hope by May2014 during our next trip that "some" of the glitches are fixed. I would very much like to use it for park entrance and room entrance...and to walk up to the FP kiosk and get a FP if available. Past that...I don't want to schedule my time while on vacation or have to have an iDevice/APP running to enjoy my day.

Again - THANKS!

[MrPeetrie]

Ian, thank you for your well-detailed analysis of the NextGen at WDW. I anticipated many of the cons listed, except the difficulty with the bands lining up. I expected this to be a great asset, reducing the time to enter the parks. I was surprised to read about how "touchy" the bands were. I hope this gets worked. out. I, too, think the bands will eventually become a nice asset to future vacations.

[Kenny1113]

I agree with your summary.
Especially the bands lining up. I didn't find it asuncomfortable in the park for entrance and rides as I did for purchases. Maybe this was because it was on the side for the rides vs twisting your wrist completely around for purchases.

[Ian]

Agreed ... the FP and entrance readers weren't as bad as scanning for purchases.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I agree with your summary.
Especially the bands lining up. I didn't find it asuncomfortable in the park for entrance and rides as I did for purchases. Maybe this was because it was on the side for the rides vs twisting your wrist completely around for purchases.

I found the bands most uncomfortable when entering our rooms. I had to turn my wrist in a very awkward position every time I opened our room door.

[sorcerer fan]

another vote for wrist contortions onthe bands. In 8 days Inever had a immediate read fromthe bands. It didnt slow us down that much,but it was a bother

[Ian]

another vote for wrist contortions onthe bands. In 8 days Inever had a immediate read fromthe bands. It didnt slow us down that much,but it was a botherThat's how I felt, as well. I'm sure they have to make them that sensitive to ensure they're not accidentally scanning everyone's RFID all the time but it's just one more example to show the program wasn't all that well thought out in the first place.

[VWL Mom]

Thanks for the feedback Ian. I'm looking forward to seeing how it works for us next month. I'm pretty happy (after countless adjustments) with the way our FP+ times are distributed. We're creatures of habit so picking a park wasn't a big deal since we seem to follow the same pattern each trip, for first timers or those that don't visit as frequently, I could see a problem.

After tying our bands on I already decided to wear the Mickey head on the inside of the wrist. I wear my watch that way so it just felt more comfortable and easier to access.

[AndrewJackson]

Thanks for the report, Ian. I agree that they need to let guests pick FP+ for more than one park. Hopefully this is just temporary during the rollout.

If this continues, and it shows a decline in park hopper add ons, you bet TDO will allow multiple parks.

[Katzateer]

Hey all,

I've posted some spotty feedback in a few threads around the boards since we got back, but I wanted to give one quick summary of how I found working with the new system when we were down recently.

In the interest of being fair I'm going to break it out by Pros and Cons ...


Pros
I do like the Magic Bands to some degree. Having everything consolidated on your wrist and not having to dig for your passes or room keys all the time, worry about dropping them or losing them ... it was nice.
ADR's continue to be easily managed through the app. I really like having the ability to flex your ADR's if you need to ... we used this a few times while we were down to cancel one and book another and it was a big benefit.
The FP+ aspect wasn't quite the :thedolls: I expected it to be. I continue to be opposed to it, but it didn't "RUIN OUR TRIP!" or anything like that.
Overall I do like that they appear to be recognizing the system's inherent issues and trying to find ways to correct them. It's better than if they just cram an imperfect program down our throats and make us live with it.
Cons
The complexity of the program as compared with the complete and total lack of useful information about it from Disney is a large frustration. It took me a week to get our vacation set up on the app and our FP+ selections done. Although in fairness our reservation was more complicated than the average since we were travling on a TA room only package, had to buy our passes separately, and had one person with us who already had an AP.
Ergonomically speaking the Magic Bands aren't well thought out. The sensors that read them are very picky and if you don't get the exact right "Mickey to Mickey" contact you find yourself standing there contorting your wrist in all these unnatural positions. In general, the way they have the sensors set up was also less-than-ideal in that it kind of forces you to twist your wrist in an odd way. I actually thought the use of the bands slowed down the entrance lines vs. speeding them up since people continue to have issues getting them to read properly. Another thing I noticed? It's super easy to sneak in without admission with this new set-up ... there were at least three times I or another member of my party accidentally skipped swiping our bands and not one CM even noticed.
The technology that supports it is just atrocious. This is one area where I'll be very pointed in my feedback ... the WiFi continues to be spotty at best (in Art of Animation it was essentially non-existant) and the app itself is klugy, unreliable, and buggy. In my estimation as someone who has worked in technology for over a decade and who builds app for a living Disney is a year or more away from having this program truly ready for prime time. And that's if they invest even more money in it.
While FP+ isn't :thedolls: it's also not something I'm interested in. I felt like this trip was actually more rushed and frantic than normal simply because we were constantly running from FP to FP because of the way they're booked (i.e. you take what's available and that's that).
They have to fix the fact that you can only get FP in one park on a given day. That is a major inconvenience and makes it virtually impossible to consider getting FP for a park like Animal Kingdom where I might be there for a few hours in the morning and then hop to another park. I'm not sure what the motivation for this is (I can only surmise it's either technical or meant to discourage park hopping), but it needs to change.
The new test where you can only get one FP for an E-Ticket per park was a real drag in Epcot. We got FP for Soarin' which essentially made Test Track un-rideable for for us. The FP go so fast that unless you're willing to wait for say eight hours or more for your window to open you're out of luck. And really ... who needs a FP for Living With the Land or Nemo? We took those basically because we had to and they were a complete waste.
Overall I'd have to say the program had a signficantly lesser impact on our trip than I expected it to. Being very honest with myself, if I wasn't pre-disposed to not like it beforehand I think the impact would have been even less. The biggest issue by far is the complexity and lack of clarity around how the program works (and I mean the actual mechanics of using the app and navigating the program details) and also the significant technical limitations and challenges of their network and the app itself.

If they can sort that out and maybe tweak some of the items in the "cons" column I mentioned this may not be as bad as we all thought it would be.

yeap, that sums it up well! It will be interesting to see if Disney responds to the feedback. I think if they work out the FP+ problems it could be a good system. I like having my hands free and no cards to fumble around with.

[Ian]

After tying our bands on I already decided to wear the Mickey head on the inside of the wrist. I wear my watch that way so it just felt more comfortable and easier to access.I'm not certain, but I don't think they'll work that way. The Mickey head needs to be facing out to make proper contact with the scanner I believe.

[Zawadi]

Pros
I do like the Magic Bands to some degree. Having everything consolidated on your wrist and not having to dig for your passes or room keys all the time, worry about dropping them or losing them ... it was nice.
ADR's continue to be easily managed through the app. I really like having the ability to flex your ADR's if you need to ... we used this a few times while we were down to cancel one and book another and it was a big benefit.
The FP+ aspect wasn't quite the :thedolls: I expected it to be. I continue to be opposed to it, but it didn't "RUIN OUR TRIP!" or anything like that.
Overall I do like that they appear to be recognizing the system's inherent issues and trying to find ways to correct them. It's better than if they just cram an imperfect program down our throats and make us live with it.

When the system worked, there was a feeling of being able to reserve a ride at a given time instead of rushing at park opening to get a FP to find it's time is late afternoon.

Park entry works best is the band is on your left wrist and fingerprint a finger on your right hand.


Cons
The complexity of the program as compared with the complete and total lack of useful information about it from Disney is a large frustration. It took me a week to get our vacation set up on the app and our FP+ selections done. Although in fairness our reservation was more complicated than the average since we were travling on a TA room only package, had to buy our passes separately, and had one person with us who already had an AP.
Ergonomically speaking the Magic Bands aren't well thought out. The sensors that read them are very picky and if you don't get the exact right "Mickey to Mickey" contact you find yourself standing there contorting your wrist in all these unnatural positions. In general, the way they have the sensors set up was also less-than-ideal in that it kind of forces you to twist your wrist in an odd way. I actually thought the use of the bands slowed down the entrance lines vs. speeding them up since people continue to have issues getting them to read properly. Another thing I noticed? It's super easy to sneak in without admission with this new set-up ... there were at least three times I or another member of my party accidentally skipped swiping our bands and not one CM even noticed.
The technology that supports it is just atrocious. This is one area where I'll be very pointed in my feedback ... the WiFi continues to be spotty at best (in Art of Animation it was essentially non-existant) and the app itself is klugy, unreliable, and buggy. In my estimation as someone who has worked in technology for over a decade and who builds app for a living Disney is a year or more away from having this program truly ready for prime time. And that's if they invest even more money in it.
While FP+ isn't :thedolls: it's also not something I'm interested in. I felt like this trip was actually more rushed and frantic than normal simply because we were constantly running from FP to FP because of the way they're booked (i.e. you take what's available and that's that).
They have to fix the fact that you can only get FP in one park on a given day. That is a major inconvenience and makes it virtually impossible to consider getting FP for a park like Animal Kingdom where I might be there for a few hours in the morning and then hop to another park. I'm not sure what the motivation for this is (I can only surmise it's either technical or meant to discourage park hopping), but it needs to change.
The new test where you can only get one FP for an E-Ticket per park was a real drag in Epcot. We got FP for Soarin' which essentially made Test Track un-rideable for for us. The FP go so fast that unless you're willing to wait for say eight hours or more for your window to open you're out of luck. And really ... who needs a FP for Living With the Land or Nemo? We took those basically because we had to and they were a complete waste.
Overall I'd have to say the program had a signficantly lesser impact on our trip than I expected it to. Being very honest with myself, if I wasn't pre-disposed to not like it beforehand I think the impact would have been even less. The biggest issue by far is the complexity and lack of clarity around how the program works (and I mean the actual mechanics of using the app and navigating the program details) and also the significant technical limitations and challenges of their network and the app itself.

I agree that the purchase scanner are small and it is hard to align the band to them.

At park entry you have to turn to face the scanner, since you fingerprint as well. However, at FP+ return points there are two scanners, each on a post either side of the entry and the scanners face each other. This means than when you approach it is easy to use the left scanner when the band is on your left wrist, or vice-versa. However, using the opposite scanner involves stopping, turning and bending your wrist. This means that the scanner on one side (usually the left) is used more resulting in lower throughput. It would be much easier if the scanners faced you as you approached.

At one point we found no stand by line for Kilimanjaro Safari but the FP+ return line was past the stroller park area.

I too work in IT and found the app quirky to say the least. Being able to change only one thing at once (experience or time) was time consuming with too many screens to go through.

In MK the android app crashed when downloading alternative experience via WiFi.

We lost a lost of the magic by CMs at FP+ returns, making us feel guilty of trying to beat the system until we could prove that we had a genuine FP+ reservation.

[Gator]

I need some clarification on a few things with this.

1) Can you ONLY get fastpasses in advance now? Or can you get a fastpass for a ride as soon as you get to the parks in addition to the pre-fastpasses you have? I'm getting conflicting messages it seems.

2) In the old days (last year), I'd take my whole family's tickets to a fastpass machine and get the tickets while they rode some kiddie ride on the other end of the park or went to the bathroom or ordered some food. Do I now how to take all of their bands off to do this? And that's assuming I can get these extra fast passes.

BIG FAT MESS!

[Pirate Granny]

Three will be your limit...no legacy FP if you have a magic band

[Zawadi]

1) Can you ONLY get fastpasses in advance now? Or can you get a fastpass for a ride as soon as you get to the parks in addition to the pre-fastpasses you have? I'm getting conflicting messages it seems.

2) In the old days (last year), I'd take my whole family's tickets to a fastpass machine and get the tickets while they rode some kiddie ride on the other end of the park or went to the bathroom or ordered some food. Do I now how to take all of their bands off to do this? And that's assuming I can get these extra fast passes.

Regular (paper) FPs can only be obtained with a KTTW card. They cannot be obtained using a MagicBand.

AK has suspended regular FP for all guests with resort guests being able to pre-book FP+ via the app/website and non-resort guests in the park via a FP+ kiosk.

[Ian]

I need some clarification on a few things with this.

1) Can you ONLY get fastpasses in advance now? Or can you get a fastpass for a ride as soon as you get to the parks in addition to the pre-fastpasses you have? I'm getting conflicting messages it seems.

2) In the old days (last year), I'd take my whole family's tickets to a fastpass machine and get the tickets while they rode some kiddie ride on the other end of the park or went to the bathroom or ordered some food. Do I now how to take all of their bands off to do this? And that's assuming I can get these extra fast passes.

BIG FAT MESS!You can only make them in advance unless you get KTTW cards.

And based on what's in our News forum it looks like the legacy FP machines are coming out soon.

[Crow]

the band were a big headache since a diff person was originally on the reservation.
I agree w the issue of not being able to book FP at diff parks on the same day.
and agree with bending your hand to get in the gate to the resort or your room. sometimes I took it off and held it against the sensor

[Ian]

One thing I forgot to mention in the Con column ...

We had a friend who lives local to the parks come over to hang out with us during most of our trip. The inability to get her on our FP+ schedule stunk. :thedolls:

[Gator]

You can only make them in advance unless you get KTTW cards.

And based on what's in our News forum it looks like the legacy FP machines are coming out soon.

So let me get this straight. Instead of the 3-5 fastpasses/day for E ticket rides that my family used to get each day, we now get 1 E ticket pass and 2 others for Winnie the Pooh and Ariel. No extras during the day once I get there? No "Hey we want to skip the line for Space Mt AND Splash Mt AND Big Thunder"? Or am I missing something here.

[DizneyFreak2002]

So let me get this straight. Instead of the 3-5 fastpasses/day for E ticket rides that my family used to get each day, we now get 1 E ticket pass and 2 others for Winnie the Pooh and Ariel. No extras during the day once I get there? No "Hey we want to skip the line for Space Mt AND Splash Mt AND Big Thunder"? Or am I missing something here.

You are limited to 3 FP+ for one park per day... You book 60 days out if staying onsite... If staying offsite, you use your RFID plastic ticket and then approach a kiosk in the park the day you visit... Offsite guests can not book 60 days out... And right now, only DAK is testing offsite guests use of same day FP+ kiosks..... But, it appears all legacy FP machines will be removed in the very very very near future, so it is reasonable to assume each park will be on this system soon...

As for which attractions you can book, only Epcot and DHS are tiered at the moment... MK and DAK are not, unless something has changed and has not been reported on... As of now, you will be able to book a FP for Splash, Space, and Big Thunder... If MK winds up tiered, then, depending how they decide to break up the attractions, you may still be able to book the three or you may be able to book one or two of the three... It all depends how Disney tiers the attractions and if MK goes tiered in the future...

In DHS, you can choose either TSMM or Rock N Roller Coaster, you cannot choose both... They are listed as Tier 1 or Tier A attractions... ToT, on the other hand, is a Tier 2 or Tier B attraction... So in DHS, you can still FP two of the most in demand attractions (TSMM/RNRC and ToT with then a third pick)...

[Gator]

You are limited to 3 FP+ for one park per day... In DHS, you can choose either TSMM or Rock N Roller Coaster, you cannot choose both.

Well that is lame. I have a 2 1/2 (3 by our next trip) year old who can"t do the 44 or 48 inch rides. I like to FP those rides so she's not waiting forever for the other two kids to ride. So instead of a 15 minute turnaround, she and the remaining parent may have to wait up to an hour for this "big kid" rides. Fail, Disney. Epic fail.:mad:

[Ian]

Well that is lame. I have a 2 1/2 (3 by our next trip) year old who can"t do the 44 or 48 inch rides. I like to FP those rides so she's not waiting forever for the other two kids to ride. So instead of a 15 minute turnaround, she and the remaining parent may have to wait up to an hour for this "big kid" rides. Fail, Disney. Epic fail.:mad:Definitely another one of my issues with this program ... it doesn't handle the mixed family well. If you have some who like to ride the "big" rides and some who don't, it's really hard to plan around that.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Definitely another one of my issues with this program ... it doesn't handle the mixed family well. If you have some who like to ride the "big" rides and some who don't, it's really hard to plan around that.

Would child swap work in Gator's case? Get FP's for everyone and then child swap? Or do they only do child swap from the stand by queue? I never used child swap, nor do I know anyone who has... And in Gator's case, I have no idea how it would work, or if it would be a waste of even more time...

[Ian]

Would child swap work in Gator's case? Get FP's for everyone and then child swap? Or do they only do child swap from the stand by queue? I never used child swap, nor do I know anyone who has... And in Gator's case, I have no idea how it would work, or if it would be a waste of even more time...Well sure you can do child swap if you have a FP, but what Gator is saying (and what my issues were) is that with a limit of 3 FP per day, per park you lose the flexibility to FP all of the "big" rides in a park which means waiting in the interminable stand-by lines if you want to ride them.

So, for example, say you have little ones and you go to MK in the morning and you get your FP+ for a mix ... Peter Pan and Pooh for the kids and a Space Mountain for you. Now you have to stand in the stand-by line for Big Thunder and Splash Mountain if you want to ride them. And God forbid you decide you want to go to Epcot in the afternoon ... forget riding Test Track or Soarin' at all!

[Gator]

Well sure you can do child swap if you have a FP, but what Gator is saying (and what my issues were) is that with a limit of 3 FP per day, per park you lose the flexibility to FP all of the "big" rides in a park which means waiting in the interminable stand-by lines if you want to ride them.



Egg-zatly. Baby swap won't help here. I'm used to getting an Etickiet FP first thing, hitting a few rides at FantasyLand, grabbing another FP before we use the first set, and then continuing this throughout the day. I maximize the fastpass system to our benefit. FP+ takes away at least 2 or 3 FPs I would normally get. It doesn't make the trip better. It makes it worse by adding wait times throughout the day AND making me get up yet another early morning to book all the fastpasses (as if ADRs for dining wasn't a big enough pain in the backside).

I really don't get why they're doing this, other than turning this into a "pay for more play" offer in the future. As much as I want to see Epcot again, Disneyland is looking better and better.

[GMRO]

FP+ takes away at least 2 or 3 FPs I would normally get. It doesn't make the trip better. It makes it worse by adding wait times throughout the day...I really don't get why they're doing this, other than turning this into a "pay for more play" offer in the future.

You summed it up pretty well! Basically it STINKS!

I think after our May2014 trip I will be spending more time on the WATER vs. the parks.

90 to 120 mins for the popular attractions in stand-by line...and no "legacy" FP's... I'm out! I see no advantage in booking 60 days out or else. I've enough regimentation in my life...not on my vacation too!!!

[badkitty]

I hope they change the number you can get.

Also, I like to FP my favs more than once in a day (which has always been an option with the original). I can't seem to do this with the new system. I also miss getting FP when I park hop. Makes purchasing park hoppers less attractive.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I really don't get why they're doing this, other than turning this into a "pay for more play" offer in the future. As much as I want to see Epcot again, Disneyland is looking better and better.

BINGO... Gator, you win a prize!!! Pay for play system is EXACTLY what this will wind up becoming...

Want to book 60 days in advance? Stay in our over priced hotels!!! This is the first step in the pay for play system... Watch what comes next, other than HUGE price increases in 2014 to start offsetting the wasted cash already spent on something that wasn't broke to begin with... :)

[Gator]

Also, I like to FP my favs more than once in a day (which has always been an option with the original). I can't seem to do this with the new system.

Yes!!! My son and I did ExEv 4 times on our last trip. We grabbed FPs early and often until the time ran out. Now he's going to get to do it just once by FP and all the other times waiting in a 45-75 minute line. Why can't they give you a few fastpasses to start and then you can get some more throughout the day. It just makes sense.

Sorry to keep posting, but all these "cons" keep coming back. Slowly getting harder to justify all the extra money to go to FL.

[Ian]

Want to book 60 days in advance? Stay in our over priced hotels!!!I'd dispute the fact that their hotels are over-priced.

They're always full, which means the price point if anything is probably a bit too low.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I'd dispute the fact that their hotels are over-priced.

They're always full, which means the price point if anything is probably a bit too low.

But there in line the problem... They are not always full... And the values tend to be closer to fully booked than the deluxe...

People are staying offsite in larger numbers than before... DME failed to keep people on property... And failed to keep people from staying off site.. Just look at Christmas Eve this year... Parking lot closed but the MK never reached a phase closing... More cars than the lot could handle... Why? More offsite guests...

Compare Poly, GF, or Contemporary to any 5 Star hotel, which none of the WDW deluxe resorts are despite what people want to say... Compare the value resorts to any Motel 6... WDW resorts are always double the price... Just because someone pays it doesn't mean it isn't over priced... And many more people are realizing WDW resorts are over priced compared to nicer, better hotels off property...

EDIT: adding this in, people elsewhere are reporting the WDW resorts seem to be operating at no more than 50% full despite the huge crowds yesterday on Christmas Day and again today... IF, and I caution that to be a strong if, wonder why the WDW resorts are not seeing much more than 50% of capacity?

If anyone knows for a FACT and no guessing, can you post as to the capacity the WDW resorts are running at this week and next?

[Ian]

All I know is, second week of December, my Mom's friend wanted a room on property and there was nothing available deluxe or moderate.

[DizneyFreak2002]

All I know is, second week of December, my Mom's friend wanted a room on property and there was nothing available deluxe or moderate.

Not doubting your mom's friend's experience, just wondering how others could be reporting resorts at only 50% or so capacity during the busiest week of the year, and yet she couldn't get a room... Makes me wonder if somewhere along the line Disney (and other hotels for that matter) take rooms offline so they can fudge the numbers... Meaning, savings on labor... BUt then that wouldn't make much sense either cause they would make a ton more money by renting the rooms than having them sit empty and keeping labor on the low side... Then again, what do I know? I'm not in hospitality LOL...

***See this is why I said A BIG IF in my previous post... For all I know, the resorts could be at capacity and those who are there right now and see things for themselves could be misjudging... Who knows? I cannot seem to verify it myself, which is why I also asked anyone who may know to respond...

***Let me also add in here, I know people and have talked to people who have said just that, Disney does in fact take rooms offline and do not make them available to guests... Their claim is Disney does this so they can manipulate the numbers meaning, if a resort has, say 2600 rooms, and only 900 are booked, Disney would remove 800 rooms from inventory, and claim 50% capacity, when in reality, the true capacity number is 35%... This of course does not include rooms they are taking offline for real reasons such as refurbishing them... I have heard this from several people, but never have I been able to confirm they do this.. I just figured they removed rooms from inventory only when refurbishing them, not to play with the numbers to make things look better than they are...

[Buttercup]

Oh Ian I beg of you to put all of that in writing and send it to Disney. I wrote them an email a few weeks ago about how frustrated I am with the system for my upcoming 3 trips and I got a response within a couple days. The woman who wrote me wanted to call me after the holidays so we could discuss my thoughts further.
I would LOVE for you to be able to talk to a Disney rep because you know how to properly articulate all the issues there is with the new system.

[JerseyDad]

I'd dispute the fact that their hotels are over-priced.

They're always full, which means the price point if anything is probably a bit too low.

....ab-so-lute-ly NOT true!

....I was at POP for 10 days in Aug/Sept ....the food court was only 3/4 open (1 food station was always closed) and 1/3 the dining room was roped off so that no one could sit there ...so the staff didn't have to clean it.

.....the reason being....

.....food court workers AND the bartender at Petals told me that they were at about 75% to 80% occupied. (that was "verified" by me ...seeing that the rooms to each side of ours were vacant for 9 of our 10 days ....and 1/3 of the rooms on the 1st floor below us, poolside, Bldg 5, were empty for 90% of the time. Which ticked us off, because we requested that room location numerous times prior to arrival ...and were told "no you can't have that" at check-in ...and then later on saw all the vacancies and were fuming that we were not accommodated ...but that's another story ).

....let me add that LAST year ...when AoA was not even completed (no Mermaid Bldgs yet) ...we checked in (same time ..Aug/Sept) ...and we were offered a free upgrade to AoA (which we declined). So ...even a brand new highly desired resort was not full ...a year ago.

...the CM's there (at POP) were complaining that their hours were cut ....staff reduced ...because ever since AoA opened ...POP's occupancy dropped ...and other than at holidays / spring break ...free dining promotions ..it was never full like it had been a few yrs ago.

....they were having a hard time to fill Value rooms...and the highly sought after suites at AoA.

....oh ...and something that I just remembered. A different bartender told me that the housekeeping staff was also miffed (I didn't talk to any of them directly) ...because their 'tips' are down due to lesser occupancy. I know that they depend on that $$ (maybe that's why my $5/day 'tip' got us a zoo full of towel animals ...and enough soap and shampoo to last a year....)

[buzznwoodysmom]

I have no inside info as it seems some of you have, but based on my last three Disney vacations I would think the resort's were pretty close to being full during my trips.

Our last trips were in July/August 2012, Feb.2013, and this thanksgiving. On all three trips our resort parking lots were full (often had trouble finding a parking spot), the rooms around us all seemed occupied, the pools were packed, quick service/food courts were always packed, and the resort's just seemed very busy. During those trips we stayed at the following resorts; AKL Kidani, CBR, YC, BWV, ASMu, WL, and POR. Again, this isn't anything concrete, but in my opinion they were all pretty full.

[Ian]

Apologies for taking this off topic into resort occupancy discussions ... let's all try and focus back on the original discussion of NextGen.

My bad! :mickey:

[FantasmicJ]

We were at WDW the first week of December and I was a fan of the FP+ system overall. However, there were 2 things that we used that apparently are going away which I think could be missteps by Disney.
1. The tiering system. We booked our FP+ prior to when this was put into effect.
2. Having the ability to get paper fastpasses throughout the day.

Now, if the paper fastpasses stayed, I'd be totally fine with the tiered system. We used the paper fastpasses to supplement our FP+ times, and it really gave us great flexibility and really allowed us to optimize our day. Having not done a trip with the tiering restrictions, I can't give a full opinion on it.

The main benefit to me is that FP+ allowed us to have FP times for later in the day without getting to the parks right away in the AM and heading for a ride to gain our paper FP. In addition, it removed all the park criss-crossing that used to occur to get fastpasses.

As far as changing FP+ times, I didn't find it to be a huge burden overall. I had times where the app didn't work that well, but I have faith in Disney that they will continue to work on those bugs.

The park hopping wasn't a huge deal to us, we were able to schedule the entire week and make modifications throughout the week to help maximize our trip and FP+ ressies. But, I will also say if they were to keep the paper fastpasses that would help to solve for the inconvenience of the lack of FP+ park-hopping that some folks have experienced.

I do agree with others on the difficulty of mickey to mickey on the magicbands and readers, it seems they could do better usability testing and change angles, etc to get this to work better. I've also never seen so long of FP lines at places such as Soarin' just to get into the line as people were having trouble with getting the reader to work. Something needs to be done, we had to try to navigate through that line to get our kids to the bathroom as we were just eating at sunshine seasons there...

I really enjoyed having the charging, room key, photopass, tickets, and fastpasses on the magic band. Personally, I feel that my Disney vacationing style may change due to what they are putting in place. However, I am not convinced that it will be diminished at all based on what I experienced last trip. Based on my caveats at the beginning of my post, we'll see if that ends up coming true ultimately...

[Hammer]

The technology that supports it is just atrocious. This is one area where I'll be very pointed in my feedback ... the WiFi continues to be spotty at best (in Art of Animation it was essentially non-existant) and the app itself is klugy, unreliable, and buggy. In my estimation as someone who has worked in technology for over a decade and who builds app for a living Disney is a year or more away from having this program truly ready for prime time. And that's if they invest even more money in it.


The biggest issue by far is the complexity and lack of clarity around how the program works (and I mean the actual mechanics of using the app and navigating the program details) and also the significant technical limitations and challenges of their network and the app itself.

If they can sort that out and maybe tweak some of the items in the "cons" column I mentioned this may not be as bad as we all thought it would be.

I think this is the biggest problem with this program. People will figure out how to maximize FP + just like they did when Fastpass was introduced. In fact, people in a thread in Vacation Planning have a few ways they are trying out on their trip. If they don't fix the technological issues, though, people will become frustrated.

Old age is creeping up on me; what kind of glitches were there when Fastpass was introduced?

[Mrs Bus Driver]

Well that is lame. I have a 2 1/2 (3 by our next trip) year old who can"t do the 44 or 48 inch rides. I like to FP those rides so she's not waiting forever for the other two kids to ride. So instead of a 15 minute turnaround, she and the remaining parent may have to wait up to an hour for this "big kid" rides. Fail, Disney. Epic fail.:mad:
Have you considered "child swap"?

(Edit) Sorry I had only read your post Gator and didn't read the ones that followed until after I posted this. Usually I read everything before posting so sorry for jumping the gun.:blush:

[sacandjac]

On the days that you didn't scan to get in did you have trouble with your fastpasses? When we went in November my husband didn't scan in successfully and they just let him thru. After that every time he tried to scan in for a fastpass it didn't work. Luckily I could pull up on my app but it was a pain!!!