englanddg
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2012
FastPass+ Update
Ok, my final FP+ window opened up tonight about an hour ago, and since I'm pulling an all nighter, I decided to go ahead and reserve them.
So, this is a good point to discuss my experience (mostly positive) with FP+ and MDX.
I actually meant to do this for the last FP+ window, but I lost all my screenshots overnight because I hadn't saved them in Paint.NET (where I was keeping them for editing after using CTRL-PRINTSCREEN) and Microsoft Windows Update decided while I was slumbering that I HAD to do a reboot, and it did it overnight. So, I lost all the pictures. Partially my fault for not saving them, but thanks Microsoft... <dripping with sarcasm>
(and, before anyone comments, I know I can turn that feature off, but I prefer not to manage it. As frustrating as updates can be sometimes, leaving it on auto-update and auto-install is just easier)
So, now I have new screenshots of a fresh experience, so here we go!
Step one, New Fastpasses! I really like this screen. It's clean and easy to use.
Next screen, you get to pick who you are making reservations for. Pretty easy for a group my size (only 2), but this is also a neat feature.
Ok, so, this next screen. Looks nice. I wish it skipped ahead to your vacation dates (so, yeah, be aware of that, you'll need to use the toggle buttons to get to the right dates instead of it auto-centering on them, but...that's forgivable and a minor gripe).
But, after this, I do have a GUI (graphical user interface) gripe.
So, you can select your day and your park. Great! Very intuitive!
Oh, and what's this? You can select more than one day!
Ok, that's neat. But, here's what I discovered that isn't so neat...
So, lets say you select more than one day. Well, not to many people go to Hollywood Studios 3 days in a row, so lets say I change my park to Epcot on the menu.
Well, it changes ALL the selected days to Epcot!
No notifications, it just does it. The first time I discovered this, I actually found out after I moved onto the next step. It's really a bad UI design that there isn't even a warning. Either they should limit you to select ONE day only, or they should allow the system to multi-day select with multiple parks.
And, again, if I've already selected my parks in the My Itinerary section, why don't those carry through as at least a note here? They should. Again, minor gripe, but that would dramatically improve the experience.
So, just a suggestion should someone from Disney read this. That needs to happen in the future.
Also, if you do mess up and select multiple days, you are sort of stuck at that point. The system (I don't have screenshots, but I did experience this) will walk you through all the days, but only for the ONE park you chose. The only way to "fix" your issue is to cancel your process and start all over again.
If there is a way to "unselect" a day once you've clicked on it, I haven't found it. Clicking on it again doesn't "uncheck" the day, which is what you'd expect. So...cancel and start over again it is!
So, repeating the process again, let's move on.
The ride selection screen is pretty well done, and I like the way they have popups (instead of redirects) when you click on details.
And the next stage you get to choose some "options" for times.
Now, here I have a few suggestions for Disney. It is really awkward, especially for someone not used to the parks, that a few different things are not listed here.
For example, conflicts with ADRs should be listed here (or at least the ADRs if they have been made). Another example are common events that people may wish to see, such as parades and shows.
It would really stink if you make your FP+ reservations, but they conflict with your ADRs and/or a parade or show you are also interested in. Especially if your ADRs are off park like at a resort or a different park.
There is no easy way (that I could find) to access this information during this process, so I grabbed my phone and pulled up the MDX app on it to check my ADRs and other time sensitive things just to think through the conflicts. But, as all that information is ALREADY in the system, it would be much simpler to have it displayed here by default (even if it is just a note sort of thing).
Anyhow, that would be a very nice addition.
One other thing I noted is that the options sometimes (happened to me twice) change your ride selections for you.
So, don't just breeze through looking to the right on time alone. I had, for example, ToT replaced with Great Movie Ride as one of my options...GMR doesn't need a Fastpass...ever...and that's rather sneaky of the system to do it that way.
Though I do understand why Disney might see it as "neat"...I do not...
I said I wanted these 3 things, don't go giving me other things as options on the sly...with a notification, sure, but an automatic replacement? No thanks!
Ok, the last section is where you can modify your selected times, and really streamline everything. This is a great section. I have two complaints / observations, though.
One is strictly UI design based. When you first get to it, you see this...
Very clean, very easy to figure out. So, you can "modify" this FP+. Got it. And that brings you to a nice "modification screen", which again is very user friendly, and I think well done.
It's the last step AFTER you modify (or cancel) that the UI goes a bit bonkers.
Ok, as a side note, the key to a good UI is that users can find the same things in the same places using the same terms. In this case, and this is a minor slight, Disney failed. As, it doesn't take you back to the first screen, as it should logically. Rather, it takes you to a third screen that is a blend of the two. The Modify button doesn't reappear, and stays "stuck" as the "change experience button". If you want to further tweak times, you need to use the "edit time" link off to the right. And, to compound the issue, it does this to ALL of the FP+ reservations, not just the one you edited to cause this screen to appear.
Is it awful? No. But, it could be better, and something that should be cleaned up.
I know it sounds like I'm griping, it's because I am. I do this work for a living, so I look at it a tad differently (with a professional eye), so please keep that in mind and take my critiques with a grain of salt.
So, there you have it, my experience with FP+.
Overall?
Well, it's improved a HECK of a lot since the first time I used it in 2013 when I was in a testing group. It's better than last year when I was trying to plan out that trip which had to be cancelled.
I'm very pleased with where MDX is going. I still am iffy about the uber planning aspects involved with a WDW trip as opposed to Disneyland (where basically all I did was book hotel and tickets), but considering the attendance and crowd considerations, I can see why Disney felt this was a good addition to the WDW experience.
Also, as I saw in 2013, the app has performed flawlessly. It updates nearly instantly with my changes to plans, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. The website...well, it's still got some work to be done.
Here's to hoping it keeps getting better!
