Disney Math at it's Finest

Disney math at its finest = the gymnastics we do to justify DVC. :blush:

4 Likes

Right, and that’s why I said this:

True…but then the ones losing out would simply be randomized…a race like obtaining a BG…rather than first benefitting on site guests. But you will still end up with losers with longer wait times. Because there aren’t enough FPP options that save a significant time to benefit everyone.

Conclusion from the article:

“FastPass should really only be offered on a small selection of each park’s biggest anchor attractions - say, Magic Kingdom’s “mountains” - and even then, only once waits crest 30 minutes should the feature become available”

“if everyone is promised three FastPasses, the park needs to offer enough FastPass “slots” to match, which is why so many attractions that don’t need FastPass, have it. Even though there’s no line to skip at Muppet*Vision or Philharmagic, the feeling that you’ve saved time is sometimes more important than actually saving it.”

“the solutions are mathematically simple (scaling back on the number of attractions offering the service, or on the percentage of “slots” reserved for it)”

“Though technically FastPass makes your average time waiting in a day longer , it gives you three “high moments” that, psychologically, override that fact. Meanwhile, as the previous 4,000 words have shown, understanding why FastPass isn’t working requires (gulp) math. Which means that getting rid of or even reducing access to FastPass would be perceived as a reduction in guest value, likely translating into Facebook rage and “never coming back” threats.”

“So as FastPass expands and wait times inflate, Disney’s one-time solution for keeping guests out of lines has - ironically - become the system that forces them into lines…”

3 Likes

Disney Math

My sister’s grandkid’s 15th birthday party weeklong WDW fun with 18 family members. At an off site place where my sister used her timeshare to score 3 three br villas. Free.

But no Disney transport which the birthday kid says is the best ride at WDW.

So I reserved an el cheapo Fort Wilderness camp site, split the cost between the drivers in the family - slightly less than $25 each - and listed the kid and the 8 drivers as staying at the campsite.

On park days, we left our villas, drove less than 15 min to Fort Wilderness, where our magic bands got us drivers in the parking lot. Walked to the bus stop for the birthday kid’s favorite WDW ride to our park of the morning.

I only felt a teeny bit guilty over that campsite sitting empty.

4 Likes

whoa

Ahhhh… You were being literal about the 4 pages… I totally didn’t see the “next page” wedged in the massive ad section… :sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

I’m still not seeing the logic how this makes the system better…

How does that help?

Now we have even fewer fast passes to offer AND we’re shifting people to other lines with no fast passes at all? Are we assuming the MK mountains have enough capacity to give everyone one fast pass? So is this really just arguing that MK should have a tiered system?

1 Like

I swear I could have been the author of all that! :slight_smile:

And, at one time or another, I have stated all of those things.

2 Likes

I have a guess, but am not sure.

But if you do what he said, you can control the line much like how the BG controls the line to ROTR. You can provide an almost guaranteed low wait time that way…presuming everyone gets a FP for the ride…because you dictate when they show up, and so prevent long lines to begin with.

Personally, I think it is an idea in theory only, but in practice will be tricky to pull off. And what about the folks who just want to ride the same few rides over and over? Can they no longer do so?

Ugh. I hate FP Everytime I think about it, even in the theoretical sense… Sigh

2 Likes

You’re exactly right :joy: I know you have been writing many ‘essays’, especially lately!

Also readers, take a look at the many comments at the bottom of the article page. Very informative remarks and thoughts by many people. I sure hope Disney is listening! :thinking:

1 Like

I was thinking this… that’s why I :heartpulse:

There is also that BG’s limit you to one ride per day. That shortens lines because it caps the number of people that can ride. That had been a major flaw in USF’s Virtual Line System, people were riding multiple times while shutting out other people.

So, that does restrict the folks that just want to ride the same few rides over and over. Lots being done in Disney has Walt spinning in his grave. But, I don’t think that is one of them when you consider the lettered tickets.

Yes. Sorry I wasn’t clear…that’s what I meant in my assumption as to what the article might have been referring to…that it WOULD limit people to once…which is what I mentioned “about the folks who just want to ride the same few rides over and over.”

I remember as a youth just getting off Space Mountain, running to my parents and saying, “Can we go again?” They’d say sure, and we’d hop back in line again. (This was pre-Fastpass of course.) I remember doing BTMRR several times in a row as well. But if they were to go to a system where it is essentially controlled by FP, it would eliminate the possibility for people to do that.

2 Likes

Overall, a system that I think would work best, making it the most fair, but also make the most people happy (not everyone…) is to have a virtual queue system, but only allow people to get in line virtually for one ride at a time. So, let’d say you want to ride Space Mountain, Buzz, and PeopleMover. In MDE, you add Space Mountain to your virtual line. It says your return time is in 30 minutes. So rather than wait in the physical line for 30 minutes, you have 30 minutes to kill. So you use that 30 minutes to either ride a ride (such as PM) without a Virtual line, OR you grab a snack, etc. When your window opens up, you get into the Space Mountain queue, which now has a minimal wait because they control the flow. After you get off, you COULD decide to do SM again…so you add it to your virtual line again. Or, you could decide to add Buzz. When you do, Buzz says to return in 45 minutes. But you don’t wait in line. After 45 minutes, you get into a line that only takes 5 minutes.

So while the “wait time” was actually 50 minutes for Buzz, you only had to wait in LINE for 5. But this also allows people the freedom to do what they want when they want. It also means you can hop into the next line as soon as you get off the previous ride.

7 Likes

What you are describing is like the DAS; it’s not virtual, you go to a CM and they basically give you a return time equivalent to the current wait time. You are only allowed one DAS pass at a time. The return time is at the discretion of the CM too. I’ve had them wave me on straight away; usually near closing time. There is still the issue of where do all the ppl go while waiting for their ride time? Disney wanted crowds in some lines, but not sooo much they couldn’t shop and spend money. They also went to the trouble of creating interesting waits. I think it’s been working GREAT w/o FP right now.

3 Likes

That sounds like the Volcano Bay system and I absolutely loved that. It would also limit the people waiting in line for the super-headliners since ‘waiting’ in that line would keep people from doing anything else that had a wait. So, only the super committed would do so. The reason I think it works so well at VB is that the wave pool and two rivers can keep a lot of people happy while ‘waiting’ in lines.

2 Likes

Well, me, too. But I fear people are ready to riot unless Disney does something to ensure they don’t stand in a line for more than 30 minutes!

There would still be shopping, shows, high-capacity rides, food, where people could go. Plus, the actual wait time in the line could be controlled by Disney to contain a certain number of people. Maybe it is a 10 minute wait once your time slot is called. That means 10 minutes worth of people for those rides are standing in the queues.

Which they ONLY did because FastPass necessitated it!

Isn’t this how MaxPass works at DL?

Also, people can do a slow walk through the queue and let people pass them. We did that several times at USF the first time we went during a low crowd time. We did it every time in the Sneetches queue to read the book.

1 Like

Yes…but I’m suggesting apply this for EVERYONE, not a select few who are “paying to take cuts” at my (or, rather, everyone else’s) expense. That is to say, the standby line is virtual. You can’t get in the physical line without first getting a virtual line pass.

You might still be able to have a paid option where people are “taking cuts”…but that has less direct effect on guests because they aren’t experiencing the longer lines directly since they are allowed to do anything else. (I have a caveat to that, though…the virtual lines still grow longer in such a case, so there still needs to be a limit on how many paid they allow.)