Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of: <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/w/articles/2014/12/17/fantasmic-fastpass/" target="_blank"><b>12/17/14: Fantasmic Fastpass</b></a>
Originally Posted By Bellella I was actually at D-land on the 13th, right after they instigated this. (Oh my God. They actually went through with it.) May I just say that the whole park was a sea of people and that the line for Fantasmic Fastpasses snaked all the way down Big Thunder Trail. My BFF and I had other priorities, so we didn't see the show that night, but we probably will haul ass to the distribution area as soon as D-land opens next time we go. I just hope no one gets too crazy with this.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Although I don't necessarily think that this is a bad thing, it sounds like they certainly could implement it better. If your ticket was for the viewing area near the French Market and Haunted Mansion, I'm confused why they would start checking your ticket by the Mark Twain dock. It seems like it would be much easier to let you pass along the edge of the viewing area until you got to your designated section, where you would then enter. Additionally, does this mean that there's no way for guests to get to Critter Country during that time (other than arriving via the NOS train station)? That seems like poor planning I'm also less than impressed with the FP machines from converted ODV carts sitting under a collapsible white tent. I had expected them to install real FP machines, but I guess they may just be doing this as a test to see how/if it works In general, this sounds like a huge manpower burden for the park, to staff the FP distribution all day (I've never understood why CMs scan your ticket at the WOC machines, but no other FP locations) and then have the various checkpoints in the evenings, in addition to the regular crowd control for people who are just passing through. It also seems like this reduces the show's capacity, by requiring tickets to see it (even if they account for a certain number of no-shows). Additionally, it sounds like it's tough to get to Critter Country and NOS during the pre-show rush, which further reduces the park's capacity. Increase staffing to reduce capacity? Seems like an odd choice; I hope those dining packages are really paying off! I'm also surprised that they had a 2nd show on a weekday in mid-December, but maybe I just don't know how busy the parks are any more
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It's also odd that the Times Guide directs standby viewers to "Frontier Landing". I assume this is the Twain/Columbia dock, but I've never heard or seen that name anywhere before. Why not just use a name that's more colloquial and can be easily found on the park maps, rather than this obscure one?
Originally Posted By leemac This is just another example of Ops over-complicating something. All that had to do was police a "no stopping" policy until an hour before showtime which has been the standing recommendation ever since TDR implemented it. There was no need to throw money, resources and CMs at another unnecessary FP policy. Instead they pushed ahead with the lift and shift from WoC. However that show manages the guestflow in a far better way - granted it has the benefit of space. F! has always been an operational nightmare - it makes access to HM and Critter Country very difficult and I've yet to see an operational plan executed to perfection - and they've had over 22 years to get it right!
Originally Posted By Bellella >I'm also surprised that they had a 2nd show on a weekday in mid-December< How much does Fantasmic cost per show? At least 20 grand, right?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>However that show manages the guestflow in a far better way - granted it has the benefit of space.<< WOC has the space and the viewing area was designed for this sort of use. The simple ropes along the sidewalks for F! really don't do much to keep the viewing area physically separated from other guests, like the fences and planters of Paradise Park. It also has the benefit of being right along the biggest thoroughfare in the park, so that huge herds of people can leave quickly after the show ends However, even there it's always seemed like they could better utilize the space. I suppose it would feel more full if everybody were sitting, but there's always a ton of empty space to move around on any given level of the viewing area. For a show that's such a headache to see (planning early enough to get a ticket, coming back early enough to get a decent view, standing for the 30-minute show, etc), it seems like they could do a better job of using the available capacity And I agree that implementing the 1-hour (heck, even bump it up to 2-hours) rule would do a lot of good. As it's designed now, it encourages people to be there right when the 1-hour window opens, so they're going to be hovering before that and clogging up the walkways. I'm all for trying out a new procedure, but this just sounds like a mess
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>How much does Fantasmic cost per show? At least 20 grand, right?<< I have no idea, but it's significantly cheaper to run a second (or third) show on a night when there's already one show planned. The biggest expense is manpower and converting everything to/from guest use, and that's basically the same regardless of the number of shows. Yes, they'll need to load an extra round of pyro, but that cost is minimal compared to getting ~50 performers, dozens of techs, and dozens of crowd control CMs into the park for their multi-hour shifts
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I visited DL on the 26th (holy crowds, Batman!) and used the Fantasmic! FP. We got our FPs around 10:45am, which put us in the Yellow section for the 10:45pm show. They recommended arriving between 9:45-10:15 since spots within each section are unreserved, but we didn't make it over there until about 10:30. After much confusion and asking about 8 different CMs, we finally found our section which was between the POTC entrance and the show controls/central lighting tower. Despite being narrow (room for 3-4 rows of people standing) our section had plenty of room and we found a spot in the 2nd row, centered directly on the stage. For only waiting 15 minutes, we couldn't have asked for anything better Then we started looking around. The section in front of us, along the river, was sitting-only, as usual. I think it must have been intended for the dining packages (which have limited capacity due to the restaurant sizes) and it was almost completely empty. In the entire area in front of us, there were only about a half-dozen people. Considering how incredibly busy the park had been all day (the POTC queue was about 90 minutes for most of the afternoon, until it broke down for several hours), it was alarming to see that much empty space being wasted (even if it was nice to have some extra breathing room) In addition to the regular ropes to designate the viewing areas, they also had some barricades out to discourage people from hopping in without tickets. We saw several groups sneak in with us, and we also saw one get kicked out of the section; it seemed like they just don't have enough CMs to properly police this, but they're doing their best. I was impressed that the barricades had all been removed by the end of the show, to help crowds get out quickly. That must be a real pain for the CMs on days like that one, where they have 3 shows (though I don't know if the 3rd show had FP) Overall, it was really easy for us to get a great spot, which was really nice. However, given the crowd levels in the park that day, I'm shocked as how uncrowded the show was. I suspect that many people got tickets in the morning and changed their plans in the next 12 hours. Given that they had increased the guest control CM presence, it's alarming that the show's capacity was reduced by so much; it's nothing short of a colossal waste of resources. It will be interesting to see if they can make this work better once they roll out MM+. It was very clear that everything from the FP machines and hideous white tent to the section marker batons (most of which had been stuck in CM's pockets by the time we arrived) was very temporary and not ready for full-time use in the park. As a proof of concept test, it works, but they need to make serious changes to it if they intend to use this going forward
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl My only question is whether the area around Fowler's Harbor has become a FP location, or a standby location. It was always the easiest place to get a seat, probably because the angles are not the greatest in the world, and therefore my favorite. (The worst part of the view from that area is that you're seeing the Pinocchio giant marionettes edge-on; as with the inflatable Ursula boat, I count it no great loss.)
