I have not run this down yet, but I received a voicemail regarding our existing FP+ on 3/28/16 at MK. They asked for a callback ‘to offer some assistance with vacation planning’. We know it will be busy, but wondering what they have in mind? Has anyone else been contacted? Curious.
John
What ride is it for? Maybe an unexpected closure? Now you have to fill us in when you find out!
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It boils down to capacity control. Our FP+'s were set for 1:30 through 4:00 PM on 3/28. They offered to preserve our FP+ for later in the day if we agreed to push our arrival at MK until after 5:00. In exchange they are giving us 3 FP to use at another park earlier in the day.
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This is absolutely fascinating. I’m curious, @len, have you heard of this happening before? It’s new to me. Definitely another interesting thing that can be done with FP+. They can get a much clearer idea of how many people will be in each park at a given time, and can even do things like this to redistribute. Wowza!
Did you take them up on it? What park will you be going to? Were they able to get you any FPs you wanted at the second park, and if it was a park with tiered FPs, did that come into play? I wonder if they have a way to make sure you aren’t in MK before 5, somehow.
I really am intrigued by this…
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Was the call from Disney?
Never heard of such a thing.
Agree it IS an interesting strategy. I do not know how they could track it. The CM stressed they think the crowd will lighten after the second parade. (3:00 pm he said). I took the offer and was allowed to call back with the three FP+ requests at the alternate park later. And yes, it was legit, or the person I talked to has hacked WDW with the power to go into my MDE account, scrub our existing FP+ and add three “select up to three experiences” in their place.
I did not have the wits to ask about tiering restrictions at the alternate park but will report back when we get the other three FP+ booked.
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That’s pretty interesting.
How will they know if you were to arrive before 5pm? Can they/will they lock your ticket access until after 5pm? I mean, you wouldn’t have FPP to use until after 5pm, and presumably you’d be at that other park using the extras (maybe, unless you had them early in the day). I’m just curious how they would know whether you honored your end of the deal.
This seams odd to me. I can’t help but wonder if this has more to do with testing the FP system than actual capacity. I would gladly be a guinea pig 
And what if OP arrives at 5PM and the park is at capacity? Unlikely, I know, especially during the Spring Break kidfest, but what if?
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Not sure what OP is, but since we are resort guests they would have to be on defcon 4 to turn us away correct? In any case here’s how it went down when I called back to set the other three FP+ : Tiers applied, (boo) we went back and forth looking at options for EPCOT and Studios. The three 'gifted ’ fast passes are just like I booked them myself showing with specific time windows for the attractions. Can be changed like any other, but due to capacity we are pretty well locked in. I’m looking at the bright side and planning to enjoy the three extra attractions on an otherwise miserable high capacity day. PS: I confirmed with the cast member the three FP+ granted to us at MK in lieu of our original FP+, are good at any attraction, no restrictions, no tiers.
We intend to arrive late afternoon at MK as promised, but there appears to be no lock on the MK FP regarding time. It says “choice of experiences 8:00 am-12:00 AM.” We received something similar last year during the disastrous Polynesian Resort studios opening week when we had MAJOR Magic Band issues. They are good anywhere anytime, just walk on. I’m not too proud to take it. 
Cheers ,
John
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OP is original poster.
Thanks, I’m out of practice on the board/forum etiquitte.
This is amazing. I’ve never heard of it happening. @jdpk do you still have the original voicemail? And thanks very much for posting this!
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Len,
Geeze, some how I got the attention of the big guy! I do have the voice mail. Happy to share, just let me know how we can connect. It’s short and to the point. The discussion with the two CMs was a little more interesting. It didn’t sound like they do this a lot.
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jdpk: Yes, thus why I said “Unlikely.” Not a probability, but a possibility to be considered before one agrees to give up half her day at MK.
This is also interesting to me as we will be at WDW during the same week but will be in DHS that day. Interesting too that they are worried about capacity yet this is the first Easter break since we’ve been traveling at that time (since 2007) that they haven’t scheduled early EMH for the MK every day plus early openings for DHS and AK as well. Hmmm…
Also someone in DIS was called regarding 3/30 and asked to arrive no earlier than 5 in exchange for 3 additional FP+ per person at another park.
I just want to say that I find this all truly remarkable. Can you imagine the man hours involved to contact enough people to make a difference? And that they are relying on pinky swears to control the crowds? This is truly fascinating, and a terrible plan. I know that Disney employs better Industrial Engineers than this. I can’t wait to watch wait times to see if it works!
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Are they pinky swears, or do they have an unpublished way of restricting hours of entry at the swipe stations?
I’m sure that they are able to put that stipulation into the tapstyle algorithm, but I can only imagine it would be a nightmare if someone “changed their mind.” I haven’t been a part of one of these conversations, but I don’t know of anyone who had been told that they "can’t " enter. It seems that what has been reported is that “we’ll do x if you promise to do y.” That sounds very pinky swear to me.