More info on xPass Or Whatever you'd like to call it

Well Lizzy as far as Jim Hill is concerned I take everything that he says with a grain of salt, BUT in this case I must take it with the whole salt shaker. Enough said about Jim Hill IMHO!!
And I probably should not even have said that.

I personally don't know what I am going to feel like eating for dinner tomorrow evening, never mind 180 days out. or for that matter, what ride I am going to want to ride next november 3rd. It's bad enough I must decide when to take my next vacation 11 months from now. I guess I am just a spontaneous person.

I understand what they mean about how we aren't really spontaneous about our Disney vacations because we buy plane tickets, book hotel rooms, and make ADRs...but I know a lot of people do have some spontaneity when it comes to which park/which day they visit each. Also, I don't want to have to plan out my entire day around exactly what rides I ride at what times I have passes for. I do have some spontaneity when it comes to things like that. i just ride what I want to when I want to.

Also...they are going to have to do something for cast members. From what I've heard, previous to my college program, cast members could just walk to the fastpass line and show their IDs to get in the fastpass line. Well Disney stopped that so we just had to get fastpasses like everyone else...which is fine. I don't mind having to get a fastpass like others...but what it sounds like with this new system, cast members who want to go to a park just to have fun on their days off or with family are out of luck.

This is one of those times that I comprehend the words that are on my screen but I can't really imagine how practical it will be until it comes around. Kind of like the queless lines at Dumbo. I'm sure that it sounds like it will be great but I just can't imagine it until I see it in full swing. It seems a little......ehh..to me though.

I think this whole concept of XPass is great for me. I usually have to plan certain parts of my vacation. This seems like a good thing for people who have to plan bits and pieces of their vacation.

What rock have I been under? xPass? The last I heard was about re-enforcing FP time slots....

Ok...hmmm, well if what he says is 'true' right now I'm not feeling anything good OR bad towards this xPass idea. If you're going during the peak season I can see it coming in handy, especially if you have little ones or are short on time. For me? I might give it a go just to see how it works but I already over plan as it is, I don't need to throw rides into those plans too! *head+desk* comes to mind! It'd be a completly planning burnout for me!

I tend to be a uber-planner - not down to the minute, but I use the Touring Plans, I pick which parks to do before I go, I know what I want to see and ride, and I do make ADRs the full 6 months out.
I figure if I'm spending that much money on a vacation, I don't want to spend my time waiting in line. Plus DH and I work in 2 of the most crowded tourist-y areas of NYC (Rockefeller Center and right across the street from Macy's) - so we don't like to deal with crowds when we're on vacation.
That being said, I wouldn't mind say planning a few things every day to have pre-booked. Would save the trouble of running back and forth across the parks to get FP's and sitting around waiting for the fireworks. I can see how it wouldn't work for everyone, but it would work for us.
And personally I love the idea of "checking in" before we leave home, so we can skip going to the resort and go straight to a park... I'm seeing in my head getting off the plane and going right to MK and seeing the castle

See I think planning times for a few rides is alright. Especially if its the first ride of the day and you want to avoid the morning rush.

The more I think about it the more I kinda really like the idea, especially when we have someone in our group who does a very few select rides in the parks!

Well... I'm gonna say it. This will make riding Toy Story Mania much easier and better and will give people a chance to ride it. I know its tough to think about.... but the only downfall is if say you choose 10am on Wednesday for TSM, and thats the day you should avoid.... then yeah... id probably go for rope drop and ride stuff till 10am and then leave. But I love the idea... but id choose a time early in the morning in case it ends up being a busy day at the park.

I really like it cause it means I dont have to rush into parks to get a FP or get in line. I can just take my time.

I think it sounds really cool...especially being able to order your quick service meals from your iphone....that is just awesome cause those quick service places can get so busy and crowded. I also think having the xpass isn't a bad thing cause if you can't be there for the time you scheduled then you just lose the pass. It won't hurt anything and it's not like you miss out on anything cause you didn't pay anything for them.

I dont like the xpass idea for myself because I dont like the idea of having to plan out the ride order of my day. By the time I get to the park I've already spent enough time planning my ADR's and which park to visit different parts of the day, that I like to be able to do as I please once I am in the park. We did fast passes for the bigger wait time rides, but other than that I would rather wait in a line than have to be back at a ride at a certain time.

How about this though.... when we went to Universal they have their own version of fast pass... you can either pay for it and you can walk right up to the ride or if you stay at one of their resorts you get it for free. Now I know so many people stay at the Disney resorts that it would be crazy for Disney to give them to every person who stays because the lines would be just as long. But what if they made it an add on option for resort guests. You can pay X amount for your entire trip and can go straight to the fastpass line anytime you want. They could still have fast passes for those guests that dont want to buy the other pass and for those not staying on property.

That would be my ideal solution, but who am I to say! haha!

emmaanne i agree with you that would be a great thing for them to do they could make it an option on your park tickets like the park hopper and water park option

The problem with Unversal's system is that what they don't tell you up front is you only have a limited number of express passes (I think thats what they call them) for each you buy. At least thats how it was last time I was there. They scan your pass each time you walk through the line and it takes one away each time. So for example if you buy the one at the gates, it's like $20...but then that only gets you like 5 passes...so you really have to decide if its worth it or not for each ride.

Also, I used to have an annual pass to Universal and we went a lot so we noticed that tons of people bought them before even getting into the parks and seeing the lines. I watched people buy them only to get into the park and realize it was only like a 10min wait for everything. So then you basically wasted $20 a person...

yea the whole system would need some tweeking, because 5 rides is NOT worth it.. but it would still be a neat add on to your ticket (if it was unlimited!)