Meeting Characters via an App

[tigger1974]

Just wondering how do people feel about some character meet and greets now being only available to people who have access to certain apps?
I may be in a minority here but I do not own a smartphone (I'm sure there are others who don't lol) and think it is sad that now not everyone can meet some of Disney's biggest stars.
I'm not talking about the Marvel encounters here I'm talking about Mickey Mouse (!) and Buzz Lightyear. I know you can meet Mickey without an app in Disneyland Park but this is not true of Buzz and a great many guests love him.
I do understand that queues are annoying - I don't like them myself - but I believe meet and greets should be available to all guests.
Would be interested to know your opinions.

TTFN

[Zee79]

I do own a smart phone but not really keen on meets being via an app. A lot of people are losing out meeting characters.

[Nioli]

I was skeptical about the app as well, but honestly meeting Spider-Man using it back during the initial test last November one hundred percent sold me on it.

When my time came up on the app I only had to wait for about a minute before I was meeting with Spider-Man (in what turned out to be my all time favourite character experience, though that was mostly unrelated to the queue system). Meanwhile that same day I queued for well over an hour to get a picture with Minnie in her Christmas outfit. The two experiences don't even compare!

I realise that it must suck for people who don't have smartphones, but it really does make for a much better meet and greet experience when you don't have to stand in a massive line beforehand.

[Becki]

I have just back from Disneyland and the app system is ridiculous I do not have a smartphone my husband did we tried everyday for captain America the second it opened he would get through and then it would say error then they would be gone. After a couple of days my husband had problems with his phone and it was no longer connecting we were told to go to the meet at 9.45 to see if the cast members could help. This was the most uncomfortable experience and I was actually scared at some point that fights were going to break out. From the moment the parks opened people started gathering and the min app became available everyone tried, not one person that had been waiting for and hour and a half got a slot this meant a lot of angry people a lot of cast members not able to calm situation. I did feel for them however Disneyland has advertised marvel summer, they then brought out package which excluded people it’s exsiting booking not being able to add it then a few days before our trip they made it so you could add package to exsiting booking however this would have cost me £430 and I had just got the premium meals plan. Captain America was the only marvel character people without these packages could see they then made pretty impossible to see him and many of the people who finally exploded had been there for the start spent 5 days trying and were going home without seeing him.

This unfortunately means should Disney continue to roll out this system we won’t be going back I actually have no problem queuing I will turn up early and line up. Disney is about the character as much as the rides for us and this system just seemed to cause upset and frustration. It definitely wasn’t the happy place it should have been.

[wimmekepunk]

I don't really mind an app but I do mind the fact that it is yet another app. I would think that Disney would be able to integrate the virtual queue in the already existing Disneyland Paris app.

[claire2281]

I don't really mind an app but I do mind the fact that it is yet another app. I would think that Disney would be able to integrate the virtual queue in the already existing Disneyland Paris app.

They should be able to but DLP is VERY behind the times when it comes to technology. It's pretty terrible tbh and something they've said they're working on (online restaurant booking for example) but of course they're already behind and these things can't be created, tested and installed particularly quickly.

[tigger1974]

Since I started this thread I have contacted a DLP help service on Twitter (sorry!) and they responded by saying that "if you don't have a smartphone, a cast member can make the booking for you"
Has anyone had any luck with this? Does it work at all?

Again I'm curious to hear of your experiences.

TTFN

[polar vixen]

We got to the studios twice for 9.15 tried to book at 9.45 managed to get an incredible slot of end of the day and no luck with capt. America. Second time spoke to a cast member showing him screen wouldnt load probs with app. He told us to come back at 1 (unlike park info disability card cannot be used) . We went back at 1. Waited 25 mins as no one was around. Spoke to cast member at spidey greet. He eventually made a call and told us someone was coming. 15 mins later said someone would come again. 29 mins later a woman comes and says get here for 2.45 and we'll squeeze you in. But glad id got cast members name on the morning or they wouldn't have believed me. Id rather queue.

[tigger1974]

Does not seem to be working very well. I hope, that if this is something DLP is going to continue with, they improve the system.
Personally I'd rather queue too!

TTFN

[donnadaydream]

What app is it? Just downloaded the main Disneyland Paris one but can't seem to find another in play store

[NCC1701Q]

It's called Lineberty and also works for a bunch of other themeparks.

[claire2281]

I think it's a good idea in principle because it allows you to go off and do other things, BUT as per usual DLP is rubbish at managing anything technological.

They need to ensure they're evolving this and keeping a careful eye on it - there will always be unforeseen problems with new systems, that's a given. But are they investigating if they're allocating the right number of tickets per slot? Could there be a standby line of set length too?

And why on earth don't they have more Marvel meet and greets on when we know they have the costumes there!

[MinniesTeaParty]

Does anyone have any more recent experience with meets using the Lineberty app? We are visiting in November from the US and trying to figure out if we will need to get foreign SIM cards for our phones in order to book. Is there wifi in the park? Do you have to be in the Studios park for the app to work? Is this working at all?

[ForeverDreaming]

I visited Disneyland 8-11th December and I found the app to be a complete waste of time. We decided not to bother and focused on seeing characters in the main park.

Whilst I can see the benefit of having a prebooked time so you have more time to see and do other things there are so many people who don't have the app, don't know about it let alone know how to use it, or find out about it too late to book a time. I knew about the app before visiting having read about it on the forums however there was very little communication about it from Disneyland Paris and therefore I can see how so many people end up not being able to see characters because they only find out about it when they try to see a character and are told they had to have booked which is far from ideal. When I was in the Studio park we did see a couple of characters that weren't part of the booking system (which I prefer), Chip and Dale and Remy were all about so hopefully they will have more characters roaming the parks that aren't bookable to make up for those who are unable to book a time with the others.

[BlaiseCarlisle]

It would be nice if they had an alternative for those who don't have smart phones, but at least they are becoming far more common and cheaper. I personally have mine with me at all times so the app is a good idea for people like me, but it's also annoying having to have another app, which will just be extra clutter most of the time.