Tag Archives: fastpass

Say Goodbye to Fastpass+ and Hello to Genie+…and more costs

Big changes are afoot at the Eared Circle – both Walt Disney World and Disneyland! Disney is retiring all current forms of Fastpass at the U.S. parks – FASTPASS, Fastpass+ and MaxPass, and will instead integrate a new system based on Disneyland’s MaxPass system into Disney’s upcoming “Genie” planning service that will be rolled out in an upcoming update to the WDW and Disneyland applications.

The first part of the service, “Genie+”, will allow guests to select an available attraction and the next available return time for an attraction that day. You can have only at a time, but as soon as you are eligible you can choose another. It’s like the old FASTPASS system, but without having to go to the attraction to get the ticket – and it can be in another park! The service is paid per day you wish to use it, and for each member of your party (i.e. what they are calling “ticket”) – $15/day/ticket for WDW, $20/day/ticket for DL. So for a family of four to use it it would cost $60 for the day. If you don’t want to use it for a day, you simply don’t pay. However, some of the most popular attractions may not be available in Genie+…

The second part, simply referred to as “Individual attraction selections”, is another upcharge allowing you to schedule up to two arrival times per day for popular attractions that are NOT part of Genie+ – examples given are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the Magic Kingdom and Radiator Springs Racers at California Adventure – but instead you pay a separate upcharge to gain access to these attractions. Cost will vary by date, attraction, and park and more will be known sooner to launch.

As part of all this, Fastpass entrances will be relabeled as “Lightning Lanes”, as it appears the old Fastpass name is part of the retirement, and the selections will simply be referred to as “Lightning Lane selections”.

Disney’s Genie service itself is a next generation planning utility that will allow you to create dynamic personalized itineraries and recommendations based on your preferences. It will be interesting to see how this works – it could be like having a dynamic Touring Plans system in your pocket, updating if you decide to go off-script for an attraction.

I’m sure there will be a lot of negative feedback in the short term over the upcharge, but MaxPass worked very well and it will have to be seen how it works at WDW.

FastPass+ and Extra Magic Hours benefits for Disney Springs Area Resorts extended through 2019

Just announced, the 60-day FastPass+ booking benefit and Extra Magic Hours for guests staying at one of the seven Disney Springs Area Resorts – B Resort & Spa, Best Western Lake Buena Vista Resort, DoubleTree Guest Suites by Hilton Orlando, Hilton Orlando Buena Vista Palace, Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista, Holiday Inn Orlando, and the Wyndham Garden Lake Buena Vista – has been extended through December 31st, 2019!

Walt Disney World will now allow selected guests to purchase more Fastpass+ experiences

According to our friends at the DIS, Walt Disney World has confirmed the recent rumor that selected guests will be able to purchase an add-on to their tickets that will allow them to book 3 additional Fastpass+ experiences per day, and up to 90 days in advance. The extra three experiences can be for any attraction regardless of tiered status or park, but any single attraction can only be booked once a day.

This is a pilot program that begins January 12th, 2018.

Eligible guests are those who qualify for WDW’s “Signature Services“, which currently include guests staying Club-level and Suite accommodations, as well as those who book VIP Tours. Guests must have at least a 3-day ticket, and the cost is $50 per day.

Updates to FastPass+ booking times and Rider Switch

A lonely little Fastpass+ touchpoint waiting to be used
A lonely little Fastpass+ touchpoint waiting to be used
Just a couple of updates…as of May 18th, the time at which you can first make FastPass+ reservations when the booking window opens has shifted from Midnight to 7:00am ET. Good news for the East Coast and Europe – not so much for the West Coast. We confirmed this change this morning.

Also, I’m hearing that at least at a few attractions there is a slight modification of the Rider Switch procedure, which adheres to the original idea that the Rider Switch pass should be given to someone going through the line first, insuring that it can’t be used until they return.

What may happen is that instead of being given the Rider Switch pass at the entrance, you instead get a lanyard that you will trade in further down the queue (likely at the loading area/merge point), where you will receive the actual pass. Nothing else has changed – the pass is still good for any three guests to use any time later that day.

[Update 8/4] I can confirm that the Rider Switch change has taken place at least at some attractions, as we used it and were presented with a card on a lanyard similar to the timing cards, and you trade that in to a CM further in the queue for the actual Rider Switch pass.

Why FastPass+ has improved standby wait times at old FASTPASS attractions – and why others suffer for it

Over a year ago, when FastPass+ just started to roll out with restrictions on what you could select, I posted the following on the DISboards, explaining why I predicted that standby wait times would actually go DOWN at the original FASTPASS attractions with FastPass+:

It can be argued that those riding TSM more than once are likely doing so via Fastpass, at least once. Not all, but probably the majority. Some are very likely to be doing it using multiple Fastpasses.

Now, if you can only get one FP+, what happens? Warning…assumptions ahead, but based on observation and logic!!! (No, Doc, don’t bring logic into this!!!)

Assumption 1: Regardless if you can get more FP+ in the park, you can still only get one per attraction.

Assumption 2: Those riding TSM with FP/FP+ will not be required to have to choose a FP+ for TSM or something else due to number of FP+ limitations or potential tiering of attractions.

Let’s give names to different classes of TSM riders. And see if I can pull together a coherent argument despite interruptions.

The “duplicates”. They get multiple FPs through the day for TSM, and ride 2+ times via FP, and potentially via standby as well, although if they do I expect it isn’t more than once.

The “fast-and-slows”. They ride twice – once standby, once FP.

The “one-and-dones”. They only ride once, either standby or FP, but are at least FP-savvy.

The “don’t-get-its”, those who don’t understand FP, and probably still won’t understand FP+.

Now, the “fast-and-slows” aren’t likely to change at all, since the changes don’t affect them as far as this argument goes (they may need to make a choice and give up their TSM FP+ for something else, but lets assume they don’t need to make that choice). So we can ignore them.

The “don’t-get-its” also aren’t likely to change. They are still a constant in the standby lines with their glares.

The duplicates are definitely affected, as they now can’t get more than one FP. So what do they do? They can still ride multiple times, but they have to do it via standby. Some will, but I have a feeling most likely only do so because of FP, and won’t. So while a few might go standby and increase the line there, others won’t. So less FP usage, with a lesser increase in standby usage. This alone would be a standby win as standby users will take the missing FP slots. Advantage: Standby.

Now the “one-and-dones” are also affected. Those that end up in the standby line simply because there are no FPs available after noon, now have the potential to get a FP+ given up by the former duplicates. They likely will fill all those slots again – but then they are taking themselves out of the standby line on a 1-for-1 basis. So although the FP+ line goes back to before, the standby line decreases by the same degree, so it is shorter. Advantage: Standby.

Now of course there could be outliers – former one-and-dones that become opportunistic fast-and-slows now that a FP+ is dangled in front of them, but in the same token some duplicates and fast-and-slows may opt all the way down to one-and-dones. And for each former duplicate that used to ride 3+ times and now drops to 1, there are that many more slots opened for others.

That’s why I’m actually seeing this as a potential win for the standby line.

Where this might not work as well where Assumption 2 breaks down more easily, like at MK, where there is a higher percentage of top-tier attractions. If you only have 3 FP+, and have to choose between the 3 (soon to be 4) mountains, Peter Pan, etc. Then you’ll have guests that may be forced into a fifth category, “I’d FP+ it but I’m out and forced to ride standby”, and this could see an increase in the standby line. This was worse when it seemed you’d only be able to get one top-tier FP+ – but this could also be a reason why they changed it.

As it turns out, I was right…turning to the great folks at TouringPlans.com, who have been collecting wait time data for many years now, they’ve analyzed the difference in standby wait times, and it shows that it was in fact a win for the standby line – not much in some cases, but still a win. The most popular attractions – Toy Story Mania, Space Mountain, etc. – saw the best increases – as they were likely the attractions that guests would re-ride as much as possible in the old system.

What I didn’t get in to was at the opposite end, although the results there should be somewhat self-evident…standby wait times at other attractions got longer.
Continue reading Why FastPass+ has improved standby wait times at old FASTPASS attractions – and why others suffer for it

FastPass+ tier changes at Epcot and Hollywood Studios

A few attractions will change their FastPass+ tiers at Epcot and Hollywood Studios, starting with FastPass+ selections for June 16th and later.

According to WDW Magic, Epcot’s “Living With The Land” will move up to Tier 1, while “Maelstrom” and “Character Spot” will drop down to Tier 2. At Hollywood Studios, “The Great Movie Ride” will move up to Tier 1.

This means that “Living With The Land” and “The Great Movie Ride” will be part of the tier where you can only choose one of the experiences in advance, while you can choose two from Tier 2.

There is no tiering at Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom.

This only applies to new FastPass+ selections made for days on or after June 16th. Existing reservations are not affected, but if you cancel them and then make new ones you will be subject to the new tiers.

Additional FastPass+ selections, limited park hopping available starting Monday April 28th

It’s official…you will now be able to get more than three FastPass+ selections a day. But there is a catch…you can only make an additional selection after you have already used up your first three. That means if you are choosing late FastPass+ experiences, especially things like Wishes and the Main Street Electrical Parade, you won’t be able to get more until very late – and whenever you do use up your three, you will only be able to choose from what is still available at that point – so don’t plan on Soarin’ or Toy Story Mania for a fourth choice.

After you’ve used your fourth choice, you can make a fifth, and so on, one at a time.

You will also be able to park hop with those additional selections – but it seems that the first three must be in the same park still.

Another point is that both prior rumors and the official news said that the additional choices are made at the FastPass+ kiosks around the parks – and don’t mention the web site or mobile app at all. I believe this is because neither currently have the flexibility to add that feature right now and it will take some development time – but I expect they will add it in the future as they really don’t need longer lines at some of those kiosks locations 🙂 Making additional selections for a particular park will appear to be limited to the kiosks at that park, it appears, so if you want to park hop you’ll have to wait until you get to the next park to make selections.

FastPass+ and MagicBands to be available to off-site guests starting March 31st

The endgame of the MyMagic+ rollout is here…according to WDW Magic (and checked with a few of our own spies), off-site guests will get full access to MyMagic+ including advanced FastPass+ reservations starting March 31st, 2014.

Guests who have created their My Disney Experience account and registered their tickets in the profile will be able to make up to seven days of advanced FastPass+ reservations within a 30 day period from the current date. They will no longer have to wait until they enter the park and use the kiosks, which have had long lines since off-site guests were given same-day access. The 7/30 day limit matches what Annual Passholders are able to do since they were all activated a couple weeks ago. Guests booked at a Walt Disney World resort will still have a 60 day window.

A ticket MUST be registered in the guest’s profile to be able to book FastPass+ experiences. This means that tickets must be purchased in advance.

Also, off-site guests will have the option to purchase a MagicBand to use in place of the regular ticket media. The price is not yet confirmed but we are hearing $12.95. It is also not certain what color choices will be available, as currently the resorts only stock “Iconic Gray” for guests who have not pre-customized their bands before arrival. To start with, guests with off-site bands will be able to use the bands for park entry and FastPass+ redemption, which can be done with their regular RFID-enabled tickets. But the bands will also allow some behind-the-scenes magic some of which is still being developed, but one current feature is being able to associate some ride photos automatically to your account by detecting the band when the photo is taken. More such magical features will be forthcoming.

Changes to FastPass+: tiered choices at Epcot and DHS, no regular FP for Pop Century guests, limited FP+ for Swan/Dolphin

Recently there have been some sudden and surprising changes with the FastPass+ system being rolled out. And at least in one case, it has guests shifting to other resorts or canceling their reservations all together…

First, about a week ago Epcot’s FastPass+ selections began to be “tiered”. This is similar to how attractions were handled with the Birthday/Give A Disney Day Fastpass cards, and with very early FastPass+ testing. What has happened is that the attractions were placed into two groups, or tiers, and you could only make ONE FastPass+ selection from the top tier, which included Epcot Character Spot, IllumiNations (when available), Maelstrom, Soarin and Test Track. Then you can pick two from all the remaining attractions. And you could not change your selections afterwards to attempt to get a second top tier attraction. Note that Soarin’ and Test Track – arguably the top two attractions at Epcot and often the only two you really need a Fastpass for, are in the top tier, which means you have to make the choice – which one are you going to use your FastPass+ for? For now, you could still get a regular Fastpass for the other, but that is changing as well (see further below.)

Now word breaks today that the same is happening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, with Toy Story Mania, Rock’n’RollerCoaster, Fantasmic! and Beauty and the Beast in the top tier. While this pits TSM and RNRC against each other, it leaves Tower of Terror and Star Tours in the other tier, so you at least have some reasonable choices.

Why are they doing this? Well, without any specific data, it is believed that these top two attractions at each park are getting almost all of the FP+ selections – and this is making availability somewhat scarce as the day draws near. By tiering and forcing the choice, more availability among the top attractions will allow more guests to take part instead of only those planning far ahead.
Continue reading Changes to FastPass+: tiered choices at Epcot and DHS, no regular FP for Pop Century guests, limited FP+ for Swan/Dolphin

Disney opens up MagicBands, Fastpass+ to all Disney resort guests over coming weeks

It appears that Disney has opened up the ability to customize MagicBands and start selecting Fastpass+ options to all Disney resort guests for guests checking in on or before October 31st, although they are being released over the coming weeks. Check the schedule below to see if you qualify. Note: Nothing has been scheduled for November at this point.

You must have a reservation at one of the following resorts, checking in as specified. To make Fastpass+ selections, you must also have a valid ticket registered in your My Disney Experience profile. And there are lots of reports of difficulties getting some tickets registered, as they are still working out all the bugs. At a minimum, they should be able to get you set when you check in, and then you can make selections then, but they are trying to iron out all the options and tickets.

No word yet on Annual Passholders and the general public getting access.

ALL DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Currently actively available for all guests of the following resorts:

Art Of Animation
Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House (including Villas)
Beach Club and Beach Club Villas
Contemporary Resort
Pop Century
Port Orleans Riverside
Polynesian Resort
Yacht Club

For check-ins AFTER September 30th:

All Star Movies
Animal Kingdom Kidani Village
Bay Lake Tower
Grand Floridian (not including Villas)
Port Orleans French Quarter

For check-ins AFTER October 7th:

All Star Sports
Boardwalk Inn and Boardwalk Villas
Caribbean Beach

For check-ins AFTER October 14th:

All Star Music
Coronado Springs
Old Key West
Wilderness Lodge and Wilderness Lodge Villas

For check-ins AFTER October 21st:

Fort Wilderness
Saratoga Springs

For check-ins AFTER October 23rd:

Grand Floridian Villas