Stupid Guest Tricks

OK, so yesterday, our FP machines at Pan went insane. Every few minutes, atleast one of our machines was getting a paper jam, eating a ticket, not reading tickets, not printing correctly, etc. So in between opening up the machine, re-feeding the paper, printing an abuse ticket, overriding (luckily all our machines had the overrides enabled), every guest seemed to have a critical issue with the FP.Quotes heard (almost all at once):
"Its out of paper!"
"It ate my ticket"
"Why is it not valid?"
"This isn't right!"
"Fix this!"
"I lost my ticket!"
"It's out of paper!"
"How do I do this?"

Now these are all fairly understandable comments. But I am only one person! Why do people seem to think that I will stop helping another guest to help them at that immediate second!? MF MF! Example:
I'm crouching next to an opened FP machine re-feeding the paper into it when a guest tries to stick his ticket into the machine. "This machine isn;t working right now, please use one of our other machines" "So this machine is broken?" he asks. "Yes." I reply. A guest commands me to help her, the machine is "out of paper." I say "I'll be with you in a minute, please try it in one of the other machines." Another guest "I lost my ticket!" "Ok, i'll be with you in a moment, let me finish fixing this machine and I'll be right with you" "It was last name _____" "Ok, I will be with you in a minute..."

We also had quite a few ticket losses too, with me ending up refering the guests to city hall and having them help them since I cant replace a ticket for them. They got mad at me about that. All I can do is push a button, speil occasionally, and move strollers.
You get the idea. It got so hectic that I ended up printing 20 overrides and just handing them out to whoever had a problem with FP. Mind you this wasnt just ONE of the 5 machines malfunctioning, it was ALL of them. There was some prior knowledge about these whacky machines, since they all had the overrides enabled. I want to see for just one busy day Pan not have FP.

Edit:

Yes, I have had that too (standing there waiting for their time) making a big deal of it. Example: its 6:25 by my watch and the return time clock. Guest with 6:35 return time come up. "You have about 10 minutes till your return time. Please come back then. "Your clock is wrong. I have 6:30" Ok, well we go by the official clock here so it's fair for everyone. Plus, if we did go by your watch, you'd have to come back in 5 minutes." "Well thats not how the person before you did it" "Well, they weren;t doing their job properly then. When the clock outside says 6:35, then you can come in."

Ive also had people just flat out ask me "I know we're a few hours early, but can we use this now?" or "We have FPs for 8:30, can we use them now (at 5pm)?" You know you're early, why would you ask (I guess it doesn't HURT...)?

bpgstudios wrote:WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH FASTPASS!?

It ain't just Pan. Virtually every FP attraction is going through this. The short answer: Upper Management (not Area Management) has decided to INCREASE the number of FastPasses given out.

All I can say is get used to it 'till the Guest complaints force them to go back to the old numbers.... and the guests are complaining, often in very public forums.

One such umm... "discussion" can be found at http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54473. Some are being sensible about things, some are not...

Fast passes are so much of a hassle, why not just get rid of it all together?!?!?! Save time, money, paper, and labor!

DLRFantasmic!Dan wrote:Fast passes are so much of a hassle, why not just get rid of it all together?!?!?! Save time, money, paper, and labor!

Because too many guests would stop coming if Disney went back to the days of standby lines for everything. I usually visit DL every couple of years and fly out to WDW at least once a year, sometimes twice. Waiting in 90 min to 2-1/2 lines is just no longer appealing. I'll grab a fast pass for a long wait attraction and then go shopping, grab a meal, or go on one of the A or B attractions that I probably would miss if I had to stand in long lines for the E ticket attractions.

I find that the fast passes make my vacation much more enjoyable and I've come back more frequently than I would otherwise. Its really nice to relax over lunch at the Brown Derby knowing that my FastPass for the Tower of Terror will be in the active window by the time I've finished my Cobb Salad and I don't have to rush for fear that I won't be able to see all the attractions. I can go and take a spin on the TTA Blue Line and relax while I'm waiting for the Space Mountain window to come up. Or go and take a nap at the Hall of Presidents while waiting on that Spash Mountain fast pass. Or perhaps check out the shops in Harambe while waiting for my Safari Fast Pass to open up. (The shopping thing seems to have worked because I usually go home with more than my duty free alotment each trip).

I wouldn't completely stop coming if FastPasses were eliminated, but I probably would put my DVC membership up for sale and only come once every 4 or 5 years instead once or twice each year.

I'm honestly sorry that the CMs have to deal with SGs trying to get in early for their FPs, faulty machines, too many tickets being printed etc. But I wanted to let you know that some of us do try to use the system fairly, really appreciate and probably wouldn't spend as much time and money at Disneyland and Walt Disney World if it wasn't available.

I agree with Epcotfan. Fastpasses have been a real godsend to us, and have enabled us to fully enjoy our time at both WDW and DL. Seems to me the problem is one that has to be fixed by management, which gives me pause given all I've read here! - but let us hope that guest complaints force them to do what needs to be done to help the CMs keep their sanity, and guests like me and Epcotfan coming back and enjoying a leisurely vacation.

GaTechGal wrote:That's my FAVORITE. Course I tend to save up those FP's and use them all in the afternoon. Does that make me a bad guest?

as i recall, isnt' the FP only good for specific time return? your only allowed back betw that time to use the FP?

Lordy lordy lordy....how did humanity survive this long without FPs to lessen waits, DVD players in cars to keep the kids' attention and Gameboys to keep them occupied everywhere else, Tivo, cell phones, and all the other tools that have led us to believe that instant gratification is our right?! Once upon a time, people just accepted the fact that lines might be up to two hours during peak times. Now, anything more than 20 mins. seems to insight "line rage." And then we wonder why kids have "ADHD." (Flame me for the quote marks if you want...I'm a doctor of psychology and very opinionated on the subject).

FP are a good thing when used properly. let's face it, most people think the world revolve around them and them alone. that rules apply to everyone but them. they are the exception to everything and we should bow down and kiss the ground they walk on and do everything possible to make sure that they are accommodated, do i have it right???

Syndrome, while your point about instant gratification is well-taken in general, the point with the FP program is that it is a tool to use to avoid unnecessary waits. When you go to the parks, if there is no wait, do you say to the people in back of you, "Please, go ahead. I believe that waiting is an integral part of the Disney experience, and I wish to improve my character by delaying my gratificiation?" Probably not. Do you argue against programs like Ridemax because they too deprive you of waiting? And I assume you do not read books or magazines on planes, because of the insidious effect of non-stop on-demand entertainment. No in-flight movies or dvd players for you! Staring at the back of the seat in front of you as a form of personal development - interesting concept.
Also, FPs are themselves a form of delayed gratification, as you can never use them immediately. You have to wait. So, one could argue that you should be in favor of them because of the forced delay in gratification.
With all due respect, I am not whining or throwing a fit. I just find the FP program to be worthwhile, and would hate to see it abolished because of the actions of some SGs.