State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[SarahWI]

Unless things have changed recently, Disney outsourced their IT to a company that has one of the worst reputations in the business. (They also tend to be the low-cost bidder on projects.)

What’s that phrase? Wait I almost have it. Karma. Karma is a something.

 

[Remy is Up]

Lurker here who made an account just to comment on this, if what you are saying is true, does that mean that those of us who have been waiting for annual passes to go on sale have not been able to purchase them just due to IT problems with the new FP? That seems to be what you are getting at with your "other program rollouts", no?

They could roll them out with the fp+, as they are not reliant on one another. But prior to the implementation of a new fp system the ap program would need to be modified as they have intersection points. I believe it would delay ap rollout to coincide with a new fp system. Realistically, they have no incentive to restart new ap sales.

 

[Remy is Up]

What’s that phrase? Wait I almost have it. Karma. Karma is a something.

Not all of it. Just specific projects because of the implementation. And none of what they outsourced has anything to do with platform testing and integration.

 

[SarahWI]

Not all of it.

My glass of Pinot said I was being clever. Alas.

 

[Remy is Up]

It's an interesting idea but I don't think so. It's my understanding that Disney already has reprogrammed much of their system for Park Pass and Premier Access.

In addition, bringing back FP+ temporarily would cause confusion among Guests. That band aid has been ripped off. No reason to reattach it.

They haven't managed to program the new platform for anything other than reservations. All other integrations have failed or programs that work with them have failed.

 

[Remy is Up]

For those slamming WDW IT, it isnt the people that are the problem.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

They could roll them out with the fp+, as they are not reliant on one another. But prior to the implementation of a new fp system the ap program would need to be modified as they have intersection points. I believe it would delay ap rollout to coincide with a new fp system. Realistically, they have no incentive to restart new ap sales.

A quick read between the lines: The new FP system will put different groups into buckets: AP's, Deluxe Resort Guests, Mod/ Value Guests, and Offsite Guests. They have to program the system to differentiate between what sort of guest you are into the new FP system to do what they want it to do. There are all sorts of weird little things that throw this off. What if you fall into multiple buckets (i.e. AP and onsite or A.P. and offsite) What if you have AP ticket vouchers that are inactive? You need a park pass ressie to get FP's at a particular park, your resort ressie has to be linked for the system to let you book FP's and know how many to let you book, 3rd party ticket vendors tickets that you link manually, packages, etc. etc. etc. Since they are trying to micromanage who gets what, they are running into a problem of their own making, and you better believe that they will still run into problems if they ever implement this system.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

For those slamming WDW IT, it isnt the people that are the problem.

I made a snarky comment about Disney IT earlier, but it really was about the website. I can’t imagine the effort it takes to maintain all those integrated systems. I was part of the early testing for MagicBands and I know how difficult it was to get everything to seamlessly cooperate.

 

[Br'er Rabbit is the Best]

They could roll them out with the fp+, as they are not reliant on one another. But prior to the implementation of a new fp system the ap program would need to be modified as they have intersection points. I believe it would delay ap rollout to coincide with a new fp system. Realistically, they have no incentive to restart new ap sales.

Any guesses what will happen to current APs when the new system rolls out? Think they will just straight up cancel them or convert them into the new system?

 

[SweetJulia23]

I'm thinking fp+ is coming back in the interim which would push the new fp system to 2022 as well as corresponding programs.

Do you think there will be any notice of FP coming back or could it just get loaded in the middle of the night by surprise?

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

Any guesses what will happen to current APs when the new system rolls out? Think they will just straight up cancel them or convert them into the new system?

No way, they have kept selling renewals and a few persistent people have managed to get AP's as well. I think thats part of the difficulty as well.

 

[New Mouse]

For those slamming WDW IT, it isnt the people that are the problem.

IT is almost always about the people. Disney doesnt hire or pay for the people qualified to do what they want to do. They are an entertainment company and cant compete with the likes of Apple when it comes to IT talent. Its exactly why they have so many IT struggles over the years.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

Do you think there will be any notice of FP coming back or could it just get loaded in the middle of the night by surprise?

If they were bold enough to announce the Pay to ride Paris program, they will definitely announce the one for WDW... don't think that the timing for the Paris announcement is a coincidence either, they are watching and seeing the reception. Its definitely a proving ground for the WDW program. If the reception is super negative, they may adjust how they implement in WDW. Notice how they also announced AP's there were coming back to soften the blow.

 

[SarahWI]

For those slamming WDW IT, it isnt the people that are the problem.

I’m not poking fun at IT. I’m poking at what I perceive as a lack of investment in the infrastructure and people to save a few bucks. I work in a massive healthcare system spread over 3 states, spouse works in our IT department: guaranteed our IT department is well funded and wouldn’t crash with booking of Boo Bash tickets or DVC members trying to modify a ressie.

 

[SweetJulia23]

If they were bold enough to announce the Pay to ride Paris program, they will definitely announce the one for WDW... don't think that the timing for the Paris announcement is a coincidence either, they are watching and seeing the reception. Its definitely a proving ground for the WDW program. If the reception is super negative, they may adjust how they implement in WDW. Notice how they also announced AP's there were coming back to soften the blow.

I mean if they plan to bring back free fast pass while they’re still testing the paid version. Will there be any notice or will they just be bookable at some unannounced time?

 

[Loro]

I think it is safe to say that when most are bashing Disney IT, they are bashing Disney's lack of proper investment in it, and not the actual workers.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I mean if they plan to bring back free fast pass while they’re still testing the paid version. Will there be any notice or will they just be bookable at some unannounced time?

I get the sense Disney definitely wants to avoid that they never want to be perceived as "taking something away" I think if free comes back, some sort of nominal cost will be baked in for offsite to use it (if thats even possible) and they lose a big opportunity to monetize going forward since all the marketing and instructions on original FP+ have to roll back out as well. I think that at least locks Disney into giving onsite 3 free for the foreseeable future with an upsell for extra once the new software is ready. I can see them announcing a launch date maybe phasing in dates within the 60 day mark so their systems aren't overloaded.

 

[ajiuo]

I hope DW doesn’t do what they are doing in Paris… that sounds awful. When I went in early 2020 the virtual cue for Rise of the Resistance was by far the worst experience of my trip. I really don’t want them to extend that to everything… I also don’t want to pay 10-20$ for each fast pass. That’s ridiculous… now if they are going to offer you the ability to buy additional fast passes on top of the existing fast pass plus program… I might be okay with that.

This is kind of disappointing because I’m just barely in the process of purchasing DVC points.. if they go to the route that they did with Paris I think I will probably sell it and be done with Disney World. That system just sounds awful.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

I hope DW doesn’t do what they are doing in Paris… that sounds awful. When I went in early 2020 the virtual cue for Rise of the Resistance was by far the worst experience of my trip. I really don’t want them to extend that to everything… I also don’t want to pay 10-20$ for each fast pass. That’s ridiculous… now if they are going to offer you the ability to buy additional fast passes on top of the existing fast pass plus program… I might be okay with that.

This is kind of disappointing because I’m just barely in the process of purchasing DVC points.. if they go to the route that they did with Paris I think I will probably sell it and be done with Disney World. That system just sounds awful.

Keep making noise here, on the Disney Parks Blog, Official Disney Twitter, Social Media, etc. They are watching to see how big a splash Paris makes, WDW is the crown jewel/ cash cow.

 

[Spaceguy55]

So it seems they are going to continue with the downward spiral of guest experience while they try to put square pegs in round holes to enhance and create new revenue streams...they need to start over from what was a somewhat stable base"pre covid " and start to care about guest experience again.
First thing that would help is discontinue park reservations and FP+ again.

And just thinking outside the box..turn the 2 closed AllStar resorts into free housing for more workers that can't afford to live close to WDW until operations are back to 100 percent...low wage workers even at"$15 to $20" can't afford the current rent in Orlando.
When they laid everybody off last year a lot of those workers had to leave town and cannot afford to start a new household now.
Long story short , more CM's..more guests..more satisfaction...more money etc....