And there was much rejoicing.
Jay takes a hard look at the ’03 numbers now that FastPass has been established for several years. Jay is surprised to learn that not only did the quantum leaps in customer spending and satisfaction failed to materialize for the most part, but that Disneyland is now saddled with rising customer complaints stemming from the overburdened infrastructure issues caused by FastPass.
I’ve long been an opponent of the FastPass system in use at Disneyland. Many rides that did not need the standby bypass got one any way for what turned out to be mostly PR reasons. Miceage today, announces that the new management at Disneyland (which I’m liking more and more everyday) has decided to make significant changes to the FastPass system. This is almost exactly what I’ve been posting should be done for two years now.
This change will have the added bonus of increasing the park’s capacity again. How’s that you ask? First off, CMs who were assigned to FastPass can now be used on the attraction adding capacity that had been lost. Second, the walkways and other infrastructure will now be less congested (more people will be in queue). Both these changes will make the guest experience perceptively better. Resulting in a higher return rate, among other things.
With people out in the park instead of in queue, the park has been maxing out at around 55K attendance before gridlock set in. Now that will probably rise toward the 70K mark. This will make for many fewer days with high guest complaints regarding overcrowding. 55K days are pretty common in the summer and holiday weeks. 70K days are very infrequent.
This is a huge step in the right direction for Disneyland. I hope that over the next few years they refine the system even more, perhaps to the point where it only kicks in once a certain number of guests pass through the gates. Those with PalMickey’s would be the first to know and other guests would find out when the approached an attraction with FP and saw that the gates for that queue were open.
Now… can we get to work on the Food and Restaurants department?