Originally Posted By Next Big Thing This is really walking a fine line of rubbing guests the wrong way and profiting. Will all hotel levels be upcharged for this? What about DVC? My parents own DVC, and with what they pay/paid for it, it better the hell be free. I see what they are trying to do here, but hearing this info, I really worry about how guests will react to this.
Originally Posted By CarolinaDisneyDad From personal experience, I didn't find the Uni charge extra system for fastpass to be at all successful for my family. We have been going to WDW every year since 2003 and each year we spend a couple days at other parks or entertainment. We didn't pay for the fastpass at UNI and spent most of the day waiting in long lines to the point that our feet hurt from standing in place. Lines that should have been 15 to 20 minutes would take an hour or more. We ended up leaving around 4:30pm tired and dissappointed. We all agreed that some of the rides were the best we had ever ridden, esp the Harry Potter ride, and we had a good meal for lunch. But if we had to do those lines everyday for a week like we do at WDW then we would rather stay at home. Keep in mind that this was in late Oct 2007 (I believe the date is correct) and the park was not full. If not for a rain storm at around noon, we wouldn't have gotten into the HP world or ridden nearly as many rides as we did. When the rain hit we poncho-ed up and immediately headed for our most desirable rides. While the HP world was great as were most of their other big rides, we have never been back. The biggest problem to me seemed to be that their fastpass system made the standby lines intolerable and we felt like second class citizens because we couldn't afford to pay $50 extra for fastpass.We spent the rest of that week at WDW and never waited more than 15 to 20 minutes for a ride. My point here is that most guests will not revolt and complain when the experience becomes disappointing and the resorts favor those that can pay more. Most guests will be like our family and will just quietly go away an not come back. We didn't go this year to WDW. It didn't fit our budget and we found other less expensive things to do. I would like to go back and see the FL expansion and I hope the experience won't be tilted toward a certain level of clientelle. I would rather not go than feel like a second class citizen.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<From personal experience, I didn't find the Uni charge extra system for fastpass to be at all successful for my family. We have been going to WDW every year since 2003 and each year we spend a couple days at other parks or entertainment. We didn't pay for the fastpass at UNI and spent most of the day waiting in long lines to the point that our feet hurt from standing in place. Lines that should have been 15 to 20 minutes would take an hour or more. We ended up leaving around 4:30pm tired and dissappointed. >> I've had the complete opposite experience with you regarding Uni's system. Their on site room count is so small it barely affects the attractions lines. I was there 3 weeks after Potter opened and the longest line I waited in was for Potter, and that doesn't use the Express Pass. Also, Potter didn't open until 2010, so your date is terribly wrong.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "EMH and not allowing offsite guests to use Fastpass+, book special seating for shows and fireworks, etc are two VERY different things." Not really. "Yes. For free." So?
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Not really.>> Please, explain to me how 1 hour before the parks open in the morning or 2 hours after the park closes for resort guests affects the experience of normal day guests in the same way that restricting fastpass, priority seating, etc for only resort guests does.
Originally Posted By leobloom >> I've had the complete opposite experience with you regarding Uni's system. Their on site room count is so small it barely affects the attractions lines. << Agree with this. There's nowhere near the number of people using Uni's system as there are using FP. That's one of the reasons I think FP+ might work out at first, if they restrict it to resort guests. But after they start selling it to anyone, I suspect it'll confirm our worst fears -- maxing out the system is a sure way to screw over the guest without FP.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom <<" the problem I have is that those folks will get a better in-park experience to the detriment to others" I have no problem with this. They want to sell hotel rooms. Is it me, or is leemac starting to sound like Lutz did a decade or so ago? I generally like his posts, but the sky is starting to fall. This almost reads like a Mousechat thread. I get that people are wary about Fastpass+. But Fastpass+ sounds like the new "Pressler!!!!".>> What you seem to be missing is that WDW initially told shareholders that the entire Next Gen project would have a price tag of $1 Billion USD. According to this thread, everyone is now being told that $1.5 Billion has been spent and other than RFID chip mugs over at the Value resorts, R&D has nothing to show. I'm appalled at this staggering cost. You should be too! That is $1.5 Billion USD that could have been and should have been utilized elsewhere within the Disney organization! Especially when light poles are falling on train loads of guests riding Everest, and there is no functioning dragon for weeks during Fantasmic because the lift broke. Just how much money do you think the Disney organization should be spending on Next Gen? Apparently $1.5 Billion isn't nearly enough. And, in your opinion, do you think the Disney organization has gotten their money's worth? Has all this proposed Next Gen stuff truly "enhanced" the Disney park experiences $1.5 Billion USD?
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom You can argue the concept of having more park offerings for quests staying on site to death. Please justify how Next Gen has so far cost $1.5 Billion and rising for RFID chip mugs? Just what can we expect from Next Gen? Anyone? Ferris?
Originally Posted By TP2000 Al Lutz has been saying for the past year that NextGen at DLR is 18 months behind the similar NextGen schedule at WDW. In his latest update he said it rolls out formally at WDW this winter, with the DLR roll out 18 months later for summer '14. That's good news. Plenty of time to get all the bugs out and fine-tune the message for DLR audiences, or scrap the thing entirely when it falls on its face and does more damage than anyone thought. Fascinating conversation here on this NextGen stuff, thanks everyone!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Al Lutz has been saying for the past year that NextGen at DLR is 18 months behind the similar NextGen schedule at WDW. ... That's good news. Plenty of time to get all the bugs out and fine-tune the message for DLR audiences >>> In addition to that, they'll need to be sure that the business rules and deployment for DLR take into account the different nature of the resort and guest population than is the case at WDW. If they don't take that into consideration, you could have a situation where it's a hit at WDW but a disaster at DLR even though the systems and policies are the same. <<< or scrap the thing entirely when it falls on its face and does more damage than anyone thought. >>> That's certainly another possibility. Anyone remember the brand new "dynamic dispatching" system for the buses they developed and deployed at WDW a few years ago? IIRC, it was such a disaster they had to turn it off after less than a week and go back to the previous system. I don't know if they ever fixed the new system and re-deployed it, or if they just gave up.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I just called WDW reservations with another question, and I thought I would ask when NextGen would roll out while I was already on the phone. The lady I was talking to didn't seem to have any idea what I was talking about, but after I tried to explain it as best I could (since nobody really seems to have a grasp on the concept), she did some searching. After coming up with a couple dead-end news clippings about the Epcot entrance test, she was reading through some of the other bits of information on her computer, and mumbled "Oh, we spent a *LOT* of money on this!" At least they're admitting that it's crazy expensive. Now, if they could just give us a better timeframe for when it will start, so that I can mentally prepare myself for my in early/mid-January to be chaos.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "...and mumbled "Oh, we spent a *LOT* of money on this!"" I'm imagining her saying this in an Ernestine The Operator voice.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Current Disney management is much too inclined to 'fix' what isn't broken. There was never a need for Fast Pass to begin with. Back when things were so much more simple, the Disney theme parks got along just fine without Fast Pass and they could continue to get along without it today. ORGOCH: There's a lot a them management types they could git along without, too! ORWEN: If only Uncle Walt were alive and in charge again! As it is, he's probably too busy planning theme parks in Heaven to even care about what's going on down here anymore... ORGOCH ...hmmm, unless he went ta the bad place, instead, an' ended up at wrong end a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!!!
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Please, explain to me how 1 hour before the parks open in the morning or 2 hours after the park closes for resort guests affects the experience of normal day guests in the same way that restricting fastpass, priority seating, etc for only resort guests does." Both will give onsite guests a better in-park experience to the detriment to others. That's the original point. "What you seem to be missing is that WDW initially told shareholders that the entire Next Gen project would have a price tag of $1 Billion USD. According to this thread, everyone is now being told that $1.5 Billion has been spent and other than RFID chip mugs over at the Value resorts, R&D has nothing to show. I'm appalled at this staggering cost." I'm not a shareholder. I don't particularly care. "You should be too!" Funny, no outrage here. But I'm not a shareholder. "Just how much money do you think the Disney organization should be spending on Next Gen? Apparently $1.5 Billion isn't nearly enough." I don't care one way or another. They can spend the money however they want. "And, in your opinion, do you think the Disney organization has gotten their money's worth? Has all this proposed Next Gen stuff truly "enhanced" the Disney park experiences $1.5 Billion USD?" Again, I don't care. It's not my money. I understand why shareholders might be outraged about this. Me? Not so much.
Originally Posted By TMI "Both will give onsite guests a better in-park experience to the detriment to others. That's the original point" Actually no. The first only offers merely an EXTENDED experience. That's an important difference you are missing, or choosing to miss.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >><<Universal also offers onsite guests special privileges.>> Yes. For free.<< Since when? I just checked again, and Express Pass costs anywhere from twenty dollars for the Studios Park to a whopping 180 dollars for Park-to_park with Unlimited Express. (Granted, that includes admission.) I was suckered into Express Pass exactly once. It was entirely needless, although the people who were pressure selling them at the entrance to IOA certainly indicated otherwise. After breezing through the whole park in just under three hours (this was pre-WWoHP) without having even pulled the useless Express Pass out of its sleeves, I went to Guest Relations (or whatever it's called there) to see if it could be returned. I have never been treated more shabbily in a theme park. But-- main point-- Universal does have upcharges for "special privileges." They are not free.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ onsite guests (i.e. those in the Loews hotels) get Uni Express Unlimited as a perk.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Ah. So far, I have seen no truly compelling evidence that Disney's NextGen will charge anyone, let alone onsite guests. Or am I not reading enough alarming bloggers?
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Actually no. The first only offers merely an EXTENDED experience. That's an important difference you are missing, or choosing to miss." Not even allowed the experience sure sounds detrimental to me. Might be even worse of they charge extra for Fastpass+. Onsite guests get treated better. This is no different. It may turn out to have a big negative impact on the parks. We'll see. The outrage and panic are a bit over the top.
