Is Fastpass+ coming to DLP?

stevenlatham01 · July 21, 2015, 10:51:59 PM

Just got back from WDW and was really impressed with the magic band and Fastpass+ and was wondering if there was any news on them bringing them to DLP? Being able to book 3 fast passes per day 60 days from when you leave was amazing. It allowed us to virtually have no queuing at all for the length of our 10 day stay. This being the busy summer period makes it even more impressive. The magic bands were great too but it's the Fastpass+ feature was most useful. Anyone know any news on them coming to DLP?

norhel · July 22, 2015, 05:49:03 AM

Quote from: stevenlatham01 on July 21, 2015, 10:51:59 PM
Just got back from WDW and was really impressed with the magic band and Fastpass+ and was wondering if there was any news on them bringing them to DLP? Being able to book 3 fast passes per day 60 days from when you leave was amazing. It allowed us to virtually have no queuing at all for the length of our 10 day stay. This being the busy summer period makes it even more impressive. The magic bands were great too but it's the Fastpass+ feature was most useful. Anyone know any news on them coming to DLP?

Nothing is confirmed at the moment. But it might come sometime in the future.

DisneyRon · July 22, 2015, 07:40:39 AM

WDW is the test location for Magic Bands and Fastpass+, given that it's been mostly successful it is quite logical for it to get rolled out to other Disney parks over time.

My guess would be for Disneyland California to get it first, and then just slowly rolling it out around the other parks. So give it a few more years, but I imagine it will come to DLP eventually.

It's a big operation though and one that requires park wide WIFI to be installed, especially with the reliance on the MyMagic+ app for making changes in your fast passes and reservations.

grovesie · July 22, 2015, 08:32:28 AM

Quote from: stevenlatham01 on July 21, 2015, 10:51:59 PM
Just got back from WDW and was really impressed with the magic band and Fastpass+ and was wondering if there was any news on them bringing them to DLP? Being able to book 3 fast passes per day 60 days from when you leave was amazing. It allowed us to virtually have no queuing at all for the length of our 10 day stay. This being the busy summer period makes it even more impressive. The magic bands were great too but it's the Fastpass+ feature was most useful. Anyone know any news on them coming to DLP?

Did you find that it took away some of the spur of the moment? We too think that the system worked well, but we were for ever looking at our watches to ensure that we were in the correct location at the correct time, some times we had to walk passed a ride/show to attend our fastpass then go back.

How did you enjoy your trip?

stevenlatham01 · July 22, 2015, 12:19:33 PM

Loved the trip thanks. I was expecting to be in long queues all the time but as we got to the parks for rope drop almost everyday and then did our 3 fast passes start times from around 11am to 1pm. Would pick to 2 thrill rides have lunch then have a slow ride / show as the last fast pass. After that we usually went back to the hotel for a swim and a sleep if my daughter needed it. Then we would go back to usually a different park at around 7pm for dinner, a few slow rides and then watch the night time fireworks.

We did plan the holiday out well before we went but I find that half the fun with a Disney holiday. We did have to keep an eye on the time so we didn't miss our Fastpass window but as our FP were usually a big ride like 7dwarfs mine train with wait times of 120 min I was quite happy to walk right on. Also as we got to the parks early we had usually already been on about 7 or 8 rides by the time the FP window started.

As free wifi is coming to DLP parks maybe that's the first step to getting FP+ installed.

SophieMiddleton · July 22, 2015, 04:03:09 PM

I hope so! I mean we got PhotoPass eventually and they're working on increasing access to free wifi so hopefully they roll it out to us soon

HildeKitten · July 22, 2015, 09:07:19 PM

I imagine that thanks to the EU privacy laws (huzzah!) the magic bands will never make it to DLP.
Which I'm fine with, because I'm not a fan of the concept, at all.

DisneyRon · July 22, 2015, 09:49:54 PM

Quote from: HildeKitten on July 22, 2015, 09:07:19 PM
I imagine that thanks to the EU privacy laws (huzzah!) the magic bands will never make it to DLP.
Which I'm fine with, because I'm not a fan of the concept, at all.

Oh I very much doubt that the EU privacy laws will be a problem.

Basically, all the Magicband knows is a single, probably heavily encrypted, number (most likely a one-direction encrypted hash code).
That number connects the user to a database with your info. The band itself is utterly useless without the connecting database, and that, given that it holds your CC details, tends to be pretty secure (as demanded by EU law), and is something that Disney already has in place.
As for the "privacy concerns" about the bands themselves (as they ensure the park knows exactly where every band is at any given moment), again, not an issue. It's just local, temporary info, useless without context.

Magicbands and MyMagic+ work pretty well from Disney's point of view, it has some definite downsides for the visitor (what with the increasing standby times and such), but I suspect it'll be the future.

For the most part it worked really well for me at WDW, and while the FP+ system really could use some tweaking, it is a good addition that makes for a more seamless experience.

HildeKitten · July 25, 2015, 10:19:11 PM

well if they become mandatory in the future, I will point blank refuse to visit any Disney park again.
I know a lot of people think they are awesome and what not, but I don't want to be forced into wearing something that will log my every move for the duration of my stay.

DisneyRon · July 26, 2015, 08:44:43 AM

Quote from: HildeKitten on July 25, 2015, 10:19:11 PM
well if they become mandatory in the future, I will point blank refuse to visit any Disney park again.
I know a lot of people think they are awesome and what not, but I don't want to be forced into wearing something that will log my every move for the duration of my stay.

I'm not sure if Disney is even actively logging everyone at all times, the amount of data that would generate would be impressively enormous to put it mildly.
It makes finding lost children a piece of cake, long range readers can most likely find a specific band in a matter of minutes, and I don't doubt that many rides track their passengers as it makes photopass+ a little easier to link.

Not to mention that anyone who isn't staying at a Disney Resort would be untrackable, as Key-to-the-world cards don't have the same level of RFID integration and as such wouldn't provide linkable info.