Disney Parks recently announced a significant hike in the price of single-day admission during peak attendance times. This change, prompted in part by the capacity level crowds both Walt Disney World and Disneyland hosted over the 2015 holiday season, is meant to persuade day trippers… Read More »Five ways Disney can get guests to visit on off-peak weeks
It’s been a few years since I was a guest on anyone’s podcast, but now it has been my pleasure to be a guest on two in the space of a week. Unlike on The Big Fat Panda Show, where I talked mostly about myself… Read More »Orlando Tourism Report Podcast – My Guest Interview
A huge thank you to John Panda, host of “The Big Fat Panda” show on YouTube. He first invited me on the show almost a year ago, but we were unable to get our schedules to align until now. I’m very happy we worked it… Read More »That time I was a guest on The Big Fat Panda show
There’s been a lot of progress around the Magic Kingdom’s Plaza / Hub since our last update. Disney has also released new concept art detailing what the hub of the Magic Kingdom will look like when construction is complete. For now, the Partners Statue is… Read More »Magic Kingdom Plaza / Hub Construction Update – May 2015
If you’ve visited Disneyland recently, the California Department of Public Health has some important news for you. They are investigating nine measles cases where the common tie between the patients is a recent visit to the Disneyland Resort. The cases are linked to visits made… Read More »Disneyland Resort visit is common thread in nine measles cases
Mickey Mouse, Donald and Goofy dressed in their revolutionary war garb for Independence Day at EPCOT. Just one of the over 150 costumes in Mickey’s closet. When you get a chance to have your photo taken with the main mouse, do you prefer the classic… Read More »Mickey Mouse, Goofy & Donald in revolutionary war garb
One tap of the MagicBand and Guests access their Disney FastPass+ attractions which can be secured before they even leave home.
The switch from Legacy Fastpass (where select attractions were able to be reserved on a day-of basis as many times as you could according to the rules) to the Next-Gen technology driven Fastpass+ (where most major attractions and many minor ones now offer FP+ entry, but you’re limited to just three FP+ a day) is nearly as drastic a change as the transition from the famous A-B-C-D-E-Ticket ride coupons to a passport system where one ticket gets you in the park and on every attractions.
My memory is a little hazy, but I don’t recall guests getting so worked up about that switch. That’s because it was largely a switch in the method of accounting in the guest’s vacation ledger. With ride coupons park admission was merely a token charge, the real money was in the coupons. So grandma could take the kids and she would only have to pay a small amount for herself. Single admission changed that model forever. The new model meant Disney got more at the gate, but a savvy guest could work the system by staying from open to close (we called them marathon days) and ride many times more attractions than they could with a coupon book. Plus they wouldn’t be stuck with a bunch of unused A-tickets at the end of the day. So in the end, the ledger balanced for the guest.
A certain camp of Disney Imagineers believe this switch was the worst thing to happen to the parks. That the move away from ride coupons and to a single passport, meant that new attractions couldn’t be cost justified based on coupon purchases, that guest behavior was unleashed and less predictable, that minor attractions suffered in attendance, and that it made more difficult for a family to come and enjoy the park if they had to pay a large chunk up front just to get in. The counter arguments were: that most families on vacation had a set amount to spend and they’d spend it on passports or ride coupons just the same, that allowing guests to experience the park without worrying about buying another E-ticket for Space Mountain provided a better guest experience, and that the real money for Disney was in hotels, food, and souvenirs. Read More »FastPass+ and MagicBands Takeover Walt Disney World – Part 2: Challenges and Solutions Ahead
Jeff and Denise of the excellent Mousesteps Disney fan site were invited by a cast member friend to be their guest during a test of the new Next-Gen system at EPCOT. During the test of the neww MagicBands and MyMagic+, they put the device through… Read More »MyMagic, Fastpass+ and Magicband Test Preview Video