NEWS: Disney reveals details on Walt Disney World MyMagic+

[Rastuso]

Now that we're perhaps hitting Orlando around Easter, I started looking more into this. Rumor has it it will roll out in February, so it will impact our visit.

 

However, one issue, that I haven't seen really clear said by Disney, but is being said by fansites, is that Magic+ totally replaces FP. SO, if you choose your 4 Magic+ events, you do not get to participate in normal fastpass. I've read Disney say that the wristband replaces the FPs, but assuemd that meant your normal FPs were digitally added to your band.

 

If this is true, and you forfeit normal FPs, I really only see this system being worthwhile on the absolute busiest days, such as when we're visiting. HOWEVER, even then, I see bonehead parents using one of their 4 things for Dumbo, or Pirates, or a parade, essentially wasting one of the 4 uses. Now, these may be boneheads that are currently using getting FPs for Philharmagic, so that may be a wash, but I think the average Disney mark that stays on property, with length of stay passes, will easily be convinced that making sure they can ride Pirates at 8 pm with no wait is a GREAT deal for them.

 

I do see Splash and Space mountain, and TSMM becoming the domains of Magic+ only, since everyone will choose them, but the stupidity of the average visitor, and Disney putting red herrings on the list, could effectively remove all resort guests from the FP pool for some rides.

 

It will ruin early rides, since now guests will rush to their 8 am Splash Magic+ appointment, making standby lines long immediately.

 

It also essentially removes park hopping for resort guests, as they would have no FP benefits at the second park.

 

And as I said, you would be insane to use this on anything but a very busy day, since you can defintelty get more than 4 FP rides in a day, especially considering park hopping.

 

Now, I don't know about this whole thing. But, if it's true, I'm not worried about staying on property. Although, I don't know if we'll break the bank and stay at Universal the whole trip, since it's hard to justify the price on the days we aren't hitting their parks.

 

-R

[jray21]

Really? Property guests can only have 4 FP's per day no matter what? I wouldn't trust most fan sites. There is no way that Disney is only going to allow their resort guests to get only 4 FP's a day, while those who stay off property and don't have FP+ will be able to get a lot more. I've heard that you can pre-reserve 4 FP's, but you can still get all the normal FP's and they will be added to your FP+. If anyone can do it right, it's Disney. I really don't think we'll see any major difference from how things currently run. Really, they are just changing the format for FP's. It's going from paper to digital. The pre-reserve definitely changes things, but I don't see it being as terrible as most people think.

 

I also don't understand how this will ruin early rides. I really don't see this happening for the same reason it doesn't happen now. People don't like to get up that early, and the FP's are always delayed on opening. Even if they do allow FP+ to start right at opening do you really think a couple hundred people are going to head to Splash Mountain right away early in the morning. All the popular rides already get a lot of people there (like Peter Pan) so it really doesn't matter.

 

Remove park hopping? Nowhere have I seen anything said about FP+ only working at one location per day.

 

I really don't understand why people are guessing how this entire thing will work. Like I said before, if anyone can get it right, it's Disney. Give them a chance to actually announce more details and actually start implementing it before deciding how it will work.

Edited January 21, 2013 by jray21

[Miracleman]

Disney has a proven track record of knowing what they're doing with line management. I have little reason to believe they're going to screw this up.

[Jew]

Really? Property guests can only have 4 FP's per day no matter what? I wouldn't trust most fan sites. There is no way that Disney is only going to allow their resort guests to get only 4 FP's a day, while those who stay off property and don't have FP+ will be able to get a lot more. I've heard that you can pre-reserve 4 FP's, but you can still get all the normal FP's and they will be added to your FP+

 

That makes a lot more sense, which is why I think that is exactly what Disney is going to do.

[Rastuso]

Essentially every top Disney board says its either or. My opinion is if it's either or, it's worthless. If its both, it's too much of a perk that will destroy the guest experience for the have-nots.

 

And as for park hopping, the plus is absolutely one park a day.

 

As for having faith in Disney. Fast pass was always a solution for a problem that didn't exist, so I don't know when they ever proved they know anything about line management that helps the guest,instead of their bottom line. Fast pass was good for those "abusers" such as myself that hoarded them all day for evening use. For everyone else, it just made them thnk they were getting more rides, when they really weren't.

 

-R

[justinj2]

Really? Property guests can only have 4 FP's per day no matter what? I wouldn't trust most fan sites. There is no way that Disney is only going to allow their resort guests to get only 4 FP's a day, while those who stay off property and don't have FP+ will be able to get a lot more. I've heard that you can pre-reserve 4 FP's, but you can still get all the normal FP's and they will be added to your FP+. If anyone can do it right, it's Disney. I really don't think we'll see any major difference from how things currently run. Really, they are just changing the format for FP's. It's going from paper to digital. The pre-reserve definitely changes things, but I don't see it being as terrible as most people think.

 

I also don't understand how this will ruin early rides. I really don't see this happening for the same reason it doesn't happen now. People don't like to get up that early, and the FP's are always delayed on opening. Even if they do allow FP+ to start right at opening do you really think a couple hundred people are going to head to Splash Mountain right away early in the morning. All the popular rides already get a lot of people there (like Peter Pan) so it really doesn't matter.

 

Remove park hopping? Nowhere have I seen anything said about FP+ only working at one location per day.

 

I really don't understand why people are guessing how this entire thing will work. Like I said before, if anyone can get it right, it's Disney. Give them a chance to actually announce more details and actually start implementing it before deciding how it will work.

 

Head to FastPass+ details and you'll see it's been confirmed you can only make Fastpass+ reservations for one park pre day! http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/park-experience-terms-and-conditions.html

[jray21]

Essentially every top Disney board says its either or. My opinion is if it's either or, it's worthless. If its both, it's too much of a perk that will destroy the guest experience for the have-nots.

 

And as for park hopping, the plus is absolutely one park a day.

 

As for having faith in Disney. Fast pass was always a solution for a problem that didn't exist, so I don't know when they ever proved they know anything about line management that helps the guest,instead of their bottom line. Fast pass was good for those "abusers" such as myself that hoarded them all day for evening use. For everyone else, it just made them thnk they were getting more rides, when they really weren't.

 

-R

 

Ok, let me re-word my previous statement about one park. It was in regards to this statement

 

It also essentially removes park hopping for resort guests, as they would have no FP benefits at the second park.

 

While FP+ allows you to reserve FP's for only one park (as pointed out above), I don't see how you can jump to the conclusion that it essentially removes park hopping. Do you honestly think Disney would punish resort guests (the ones they get the most money from) and only allow them to visit one park, and get only 4 FP's, while non-resort guests could go from park to park and get as many FP's as available?

 

Again, you're assuming almost everything as fact. Disney has released only general information, and they have said over and over they will change it as needed. It's still in the basic/testing phases still, yet so many people are assuming that it is set in stone. No one, especially top Disney boards, knows exactly how it's going to work. Even Disney themselves say they are still in the process of tweaking it.

 

Fast pass helps their bottom line? If you mean I don't have to wait in line so I'm buying ice cream, yeah, it helped the bottom line. Why is that a bad thing? Last time I checked, Disney was a company, and their sole purpose is to make money. From day one, Disneyland/Disney World was built to make money. I really don't understand anti-FP people. Fast Pass is amazing, and it works, and it's free (even with FP+ they said there would still be a free option). I've also never met an anti-FP who doesn't use FP. And I'm sorry, but saying Disney never proved they know anything about line management is just plain wrong. Every single company in the world tries to copy Disney's line management so they must be doing something right.

[Rastuso]

I haven't seen other companies copy Disney. Universal did for a short time,and quickly stopped. Disney is the only place that hasn't made it a premium thing.... Yet.

 

I always love folks who just say Disney is a company. Of course they are, and their profits rely on happy customers. Universal spent less on WWoHP than Disney did on FP+. A few years ago, Universal was a failed also ran, now it's more Potter, maybe Middle Earth, and perhaps JP expansions coming, Disney could be knocked down a notch. They will always be the main draw, but they could be faltering. Hell, Univsal built Transformers in half the time Disney is building a little family coaster.

 

Well see. Disney is unmatched when it comes propaganda. They will do their best to convince everyone MyMagic+ is the greatest thing ever.

 

After all, Disco Yeti has been wowing people for years.

 

-R

[ernierocker]

 

Head to FastPass+ details and you'll see it's been confirmed you can only make Fastpass+ reservations for one park pre day! http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/media/park-experience-terms-and-conditions.html

 

That may be how it will be at the launch of FastPass+ but I wouldn't be surprised to see that change once Disney has a few months of data collection under their belts. Even if they stick with the one park per day for FastPass+, I don't see it effecting your average Disney Resort Guest's vacation at all. The majority of guests that utilize the park hopper are still going to have a park each day, that they will spend the majority of their time at. So, for their Magic Kingdom day, they use their FastPass+ there, and then go to another park that night where they can just use the regular FastPass system.

[Rastuso]

Assuming FPs are available at night. They aren't much now, and I can see this turning WDWs FP situation into TDLs, where you are lucky to get 3 in a day, and they are all gone by early afternoon.

 

I love how so many folks are so quick to just assume Disney will do the perfectly right thing. Their history proves otherwise. Remember how everyone said Disney would outdo Harry Potter in a big way?

 

Remember how the Yeti was so advanced, it needed a separate foundation from the Everest Mountain?

 

I can't see how MyMagic+ can even remotely come close to paying for itself. And I can't see how all the major Disney fan sites could all be wrong about FP+ and FP being mutually exclusive.

 

Well see in about a month. But I'm fairly amazed that no one on this site, which is pretty damn connected, has said a word about the programs being either or before I brought it up today. I thought I just couldn't find it. I mean, it's stated as fact on plenty of big Disney sites.

 

-R

[Jew]

I can't see how MyMagic+ can even remotely come close to paying for itself. And I can't see how all the major Disney fan sites could all be wrong about FP+ and FP being mutually exclusive.

 

Have you read the major disney fan sites over the years? The things posted and articles written over the years have had a 50% accuracy rate at best. They also don't like anything that can ruin the experience for them (the annual passholders who generally don't spend money), so it's only natural they would complain about something that is not even confirmed to try and influence things...

 

I'll reserve judgement until the system is actually launched.

[robbalvey]

Really thinking about locking this thread until more "real" information comes out. Keep in mind this system is still in the testing phase, and has not been fully rolled out!

 

It's frustrating to hear how much "fact" has been spread around, which are only rumors that have been said so many times that all of a sudden it's become a fact!

 

If there is one "fact" I can assure you that will happen, is that this system a year from now will look different from how it does today after they have had the chance to get guest feedback, test the system fully, make adjustments to it, get more feedback, implement more changes, etc, etc... Hell, we are STILL seeing tweaks made to the FastPass system that was introduced over ten years ago!

 

So before people keep going and making assumptions, or getting frustrated with Disney, why don't we let them actually get their hands dirty with this system, see what it can do, give them a chance to adjust things that need to be tweaked and THEN start posting rants?

 

--Robb "Oh, I know why...because it wouldn't be an enthusiasts forum if that sort of common sense happened!" Alvey

[Chroniq]

Based upon leaked documents,patent filings, building permits, and conversations with two people that would be in a position to to know, this is what next gen/fast pass +/my magic + is really all about.

 

 

The year is 2016. You enter the park using your RFID enabled bracelet. Since the ticketed fastpass system has been completely eliminated, you pull out your smart phone (or in park device provided by Disney if you still don't have a smart phone).. Based upon a profile that you've either preselected before the trip or you quickly typed in while on the monorail, you are presented with 5 choices of what ride you'd like to ride first while bypassing the line. After finishing the ride you are provided with an additional number of choices to ride next without a line. Using your RFID bracelet the computer determines your location, analyzes current wait times on rides close to you or in your profile, as well as guest distribution amongst the park, and makes a number of complex decisions on what 2-5 rides you can experience next while skipping the line. Everything is completely in real time so the need to plan or use strategy for touring the park is eliminated. Want to spend 20 minutes taking photos of the castle or spending time charging your phone for free at one of the new "relaxation stops"?No problem, when you are ready to ride you are presented with a current selection of choices.

 

Essentially Next Gen is the idea of using a computer to spread out people evenly amongst a park, while giving the guest constant choices of what to experience next, while also eliminating the need to rush from ride to ride to get the next fast pass.

 

This benefits Disney by being provided with a huge data mine (which is what the roll out right now is really all about) of customers spending habits, locations, and actions.. Sure, they'll use that information to sell you more things, but they also use it to maximize the guest experience by having the computer virtually eliminate all guest's wait times. As enthusiasts, we may have learned ways to milk/maximize the fastpass system , but this system allows even the first time park visitor to experience the maximum amount of rides with the shortest wait.

 

So imagine an opportunity to enjoy a Disney Park at your speed while always having "something" to ride next with a super short line and never feeling rushed. Thoughts?

 

 

-chris "and the standby line is gone by 2020" con

Edited January 25, 2013 by Chroniq

[larrygator]

Anyone who thinks standby lines will be completely eliminated by 2020 is certainly living in Fantasyland.

 

The favored rides will remain the favorites. Even if the interface tells you to go the attraction with no line, a family is going to go where they want to go. "Sorry kids we're not waiting an hour for Dumbo we're going to the exciting Hall of Presidents because there is no line. Then we'll hit up the Country Bear Jamboree and Carousel of Progress".

[Sir Clinksalot]

The simple answer:

 

What Disney is really trying to accomplish with Fast Pass+ ... More $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[Chroniq]

^That's basically the (1 billion dollar) hope.. By eliminating lines or at least minimizing them in real time, guests will experience more attractions, spend a minimal amount of time in a queue, and have more time to happily spend at the gift shop because they didn't feel rushed

 

Larry, the end of standby lines comes from a recent patent application (that was quickly pulled and then accidentally resubmitted twice).. So I'm just saying. It's not my idea. It's theirs.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Chroniq

[cfc]

Then we'll hit up the Country Bear Jamboree and Carousel of Progress".

 

Assuming those are still here in 2020. If the Carousel of Progress still exists, I imagine they'll be highlighting 2005 technology by then in the last segment.

[BeemerBoy]

I just can't believe Disney is continuing to try and enhance the guest experience by the use of forward-thinking technology. Why do they keep trying to make my visit easier and more enjoyable?!?!? Ugh, the nerve. I won't be part of your system, mouse.

[Ed Farmer]

Brilliant idea. I hope it kindly stays confined to within Disney.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Ed Farmer

[Hercules]

Is this really that big of a shocker?

[Hercules]

I just can't believe Disney is continuing to try and enhance the guest experience by the use of forward-thinking technology. Why do they keep trying to make my visit easier and more enjoyable?!?!? Ugh, the nerve. I won't be part of your system, mouse.

 

And really what is next? They are going to tap into our brains to read our minds? Stop your progressive witch science tricks Disney!!!! I don't subscribe to the devil!!!!

[Swimace]

I think what Disney is trying to accomplish is to ruin the parks for their annual passholders. GRIEVANCE!!!

 

I just can't believe Disney is continuing to try and enhance the guest experience by the use of forward-thinking technology. Why do they keep trying to make my visit easier and more enjoyable?!?!? Ugh, the nerve. I won't be part of your system, mouse.

 

Agreed! As a rule, I boycott all change. I am glad that we have a solid group of watchdogs here to keep the company in check.

[Chroniq]

Wow.. I made an effort to share some well researched information with TPR (instead of my exclusives recently on screamscape) and my post is merged...

 

 

 

Thanks TPR! Glad I thought of you and put in the effort!

Edited January 25, 2013 by Chroniq

[larrygator]

Thanks TPR! Glad I thought of you and put in the effort!

 

Based on this comment it sounds like you are thinking of yourself first!

[SLUSHIE]

Your forgot the references.

 

I think people are freaking out too much about this. Who cares if Disney knows your name and birthday (they already do) and know your purchases so they can send you emails that you will likely unsubscribe from (if you checked the box in the first place)?

 

I mean if them knowing what you do and but is the issue then you better cut up your credit card, disconnect from the internet and toss your cell phone in the fireplace right now!

 

The only way this could suck is if they end up being able to limit the number of attractions people can ride in a day (probably not likely).

 

There is no way the stand by line could ever go away, not yet anyways. There is probably till a large portion of single visit people that don't understand or use fast pass at all. Getting rid of standby would mean everyone would be using fastpass, and at that point people would have to be returning at the exact minute of their ride rather than some hour window in order for there to not be a massive lime a render the whole thing pointless. You cant expect people to do that.

Edited January 25, 2013 by SLUSHIE