If there ever were an actual reason to “drop a like” on a video, it would be this. Seeing the depth of the program, the variables, all of it is genuinely incredible and I’m in awe of the dedication here c:
@Justa Guy yeah honestly you could program this quite simply as a Programming 2 student. I’d probably do the basic implementation for like $250 and more advanced one like the later models for like $400
The secret to using fastpass is to have your friend drop her phone in the water and then the staff spend 30 minutes unsuccessfully trying to fish it out before giving your group free fast passes as compensation.
As an infrequent visitor who spent many hours planning each trip, I really feel bad for folks who just show up. It is not just FastPass+, it is also dining reservations, and package experiences. If you do not make dining reservations in advance, you are not eating in a sit-down restaurant
That’s not necessarily true. I just showed up to Universal’s Islands of Adventure and was seated at Mythos pretty much immediately. And it was a busy day.
Yeah that’s why if my family goes back to Florida we’re barely touching Disney. We like to ‘go with the flow’ for trips and having to hyper plan out every thing just so we can get on maybe 10 rides isn’t really worth it. It’s just better to hang out at beaches or even universal is better than the big mouse.
I know, right? A theme park sounds like my idea of hell, and I'm never going to one even if the lines are not so bad, but hearing the elaborate, dystopian ways in which the lines are bad is fascinating
32:22 Hearing the xPass philosophy of "guaranteeing that guests will be able to eat at their favorite restaurants and ride their favorite attractions" is like foreshadowing. You can already see how the system they're trying to invent will be favoring those visiting the parks often, because the once in a lifetime vacationers don't *have* favorites, because they've never been there before
Exactly. One of my friends told me he went to Disneyland with his kids and said they did everything. Paid for genie+ and lightning lane and everything. Like, of course they did. They don’t go to the park every week/month. They’re once in a life time vacationers.
My family visited Disney when they still had the original fast pass system. As a disabled person, that system works best; while of course I get disappointed when i don't get to skip lines completely, doing it that way really isn't fair, but for me (and many other disabled people) standing in line is quite literally torturous. Being able to get a ticket for however long the wait time is, then LEAVE, and SIT DOWN to wait relieves a great deal of the pain I have to live through just to visit a theme park. I would love to see you discuss park accessibility in another video if you have any interest in making one.
I used to work in Disneyland Paris, we have a system in which you can get a "priority pass" (essentially a Disney disability card) and with three other guests line up in the "priority access line", which are areas adapted for people with disabilities to sit and wait. The cast member has a clipboard with intervals (I think every 10 mins, not too sure) and will seat you on a ride according to the wait times of standby guests. You certainly do not have to wait as long as them, get to sit while waiting and go on more rides than usual. Pregnant ladies can also benefit from this too, but they must instead show their armband that we give to them at the park entrance.
As an Orlando Uber Driver and subsequently un-official all -parks concierge, I have directed MANY of our Orlando Guests to this video to BEST explain it. THANK YOU! I admit I'm STILL baffled by how we got to this point, but at least I can logically sort it out in my head:)
Rewatching this a year later and I have made up my mind to never go to a Disney park unless it's Tokyo Disney, maybe. The exorbitant cost of park tickets is mind boggling, let alone travel, lodging, food, and souvenir costs. Absolutely so overinflated and what you get for it isn't worth even half the cost of those daily park ticket prices. If I wanted to wait in line all day, I'd do it for free and come up with something I need at the DMV.
@Stacey Abshire ??? You do realize you're one of those "other millions who are still coming down here in droves" right? I know you probably meant well but you sounded incredibly entitled there.
Now if you could get the other millions who are still coming down here in droves to join you, it would be wonderful for the rest of us to then enjoy the parks again :-)
I live in FL but have not been to a US Disney Park. I did, however, live near Tokyo Disney for a few years. I went to Tokyo DisneySea once-- on a cloudy day with a high chance of rain during the offseason. I never had to wait more than 15-20 minutes for anything, without their fastpass. I realize how lucky I was and will likely not visit a Disney Park again. lol
One time me and my brother rode space mountain about 20 times in the span of 30 minutes (it felt like this atleast) because it started raining and everyone left the park.
It's not disney, but years ago my daughter her husband his family and ours all went to Hershey Park. My teenage daughter and my son-in-law's youngest brother who is a similar age went on this one water ride that had absolutely no line. We were like all right guys you can go like five more times and then we have to leave, well we couldn't see the line for where we were and we saw them go down that slide for about an hour and a half at least 50 times. They would not LEAVE. THESE THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
Can we just appreciate the soundtrack within this video that Kevin has made himself, like he not only creates this 2-hour masterpiece, but he also forges a soundtrack that doesn't really impede on the overall viewer experience while enhancing the experience at the same time
Wow everyone. The response to video has been overwhelming. I appreciate everyone watching it and hope you enjoyed it. It was a labor of love. Due to popular demand, we have added two new shirts to our store. If you want to support our documentary efforts and also get some Shapeland merch, go to our store here to preorder: defunctland.myshopify.com/
Be proud of yourself. I have a friend whose wife was pushing for a Disney vacation. I sent him this video. He sent it to her and said “if you still want to go after watching this, so be it.” They went to Wizarding World instead.
10/10 video essay. my first Defunctland experience and i don't know if i'll ever experience another level of engagement like this ever again. i was hooked the entire video, i even watched the credits. A+ scripting, music score, animation, editing, computer simulation, etc. really an amazing work of art from multiple contributors. halfway through i subscribed without even looking at the other videos on this channel.
@Retro Ryanthe rides and theming weren’t very good. At the time it was considered a budget park, it was a California theme park in the already California themed California.
As someone who has been to Universal and Disney multiple times, this video makes me believe that Universal is using Disney’s mistakes to try and make their experiences better, and I appreciate that. Disney just seems to be leaning into them.
Paused the video just to say I can’t believe that you made a computer simulation of a theme park just to satisfy our curiosity AND left it to people who watched past the 50 minute mark you absolute legend
@J Finn That's something I wish was discussed: How the Time of Year affected FastPass. I remember going in 2012 in May, and only having 2 long lines. The rest were like 15 mins tops (I had no knowledge of FastPass). But then I went again around the week of Christmas of 2016 (for the sake of a relative), with some knowledge of FastPass+ ... the parks were hell. Way too many people. FP+ was nice for the couple rides we utilized them, but the Standbys were barely ever worth it. I strongly recommend the Spring season: just late enough for the Waterparks to open, but not too late that Summer Vacation approaches. FA Spring Weather is also much nicer then Summer (although Winter weather in FA is my favorite ... too many people).
"dystopian hellscape" is too many people's go-to. you're two breaths away from saying "late stage capitalism" and we're talking about a theme park. Like do you want to start talking about the sanatoriums and how the process for getting a vacation at one of those was way better?
so glad that the hagrid motorbike ride got mentioned. my family went to universal last summer and had hotel “fastpasses” so we had a decent time, except that hagrids didn’t have fast pass. Luckily none of us wanted to ride it that bad, so we amused ourselves in the shorter queues by periodically checking the wait time for hagrids and calling it out. I remember my brother yelling “IT’S 3 HOURS” at me right after me and my sister had gotten off a coaster.
As a side note: my dad, who was paying for the whole vacation, was incredibly happy that we did not want to wait in the hagrid’s motorbike queue. We had stopped doing family vacations at Disney for that very reason
I’m both a pessimist and a hater therefore I am completely against going to Disneyland. The amount of money, stress, and planning involved just to go to a theme park is overwhelming and I am filled with rage and hate. That being said, this video was absolutely incredible and I thank you for your dedication and hard work. Subscribed
“It would be like a magic wristband, so naturally they called it ‘the experience band’” and having “experience band” in the most corporate typeface ever is hilarious
Moment of silence for the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice to find the secret button on the old school machines which would spit out free passes. We salute you.
i feel like the best way to shorten lines isn’t to short them at all, just make them more bearable. i’ve been in lines that play cartoons on tvs throughout the queue or have interactive elements, or even put in benches / water fountains/ snack stations throughout the queue so people aren’t just standing doing nothing. it will feel significantly shorter even if it’s a longer queue.
Hiring an industrial engineer for a video is what I call dedication. I have to admit, I gasped when you revealed that Shapeland was Animal Kingdom. I was so enthralled with all the data you were presenting and having so many internal opinions about it, that the reveal just shook me. Also, when you were explaining the Genie app, my jaw literally dropped. That thing is insane. Amazing work. You are a master of your craft, a true documentarian.
Your analysis using Shapeland to determine the effects of no FastPass, paper FastPass, and FastPass+ on overall wait times was likely much more sophisticated and detailed than whatever analysis Disney did.
@Bilbo_Gamers Problems with the original implementation with ticketing: 1) You need to travel through the park to get to the ride you want to get the fast pass from only to have to come back to the same ride later again. This wastes time and energy. 2) This encourages everyone to stick around the areas of the park with the best rides. This leads to heavy crowds in certain areas. 3) Rewards those who come to the park early and punishes those that come late. Is it the best solution? Maybe. Is it a perfect solution? Definitely not.
@Chip Corley Yeah there is. Go back to the Original implementation of fastpass. It is probably close to the best system that Could be made. No amount of management decisions will improve the product of a lone engineering genius. If they want to decrease wait times they need to expand the Park.
I had visited Disney World three times in my life before this past summer - once when I was only 6, and then twice around the turn of the millennium. It had obviously been a while since my last trip, so when a friend asked if I wanted to go for just a couple days, I jumped on the chance, convincing my family to join me so I could stay longer. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was lucky that I am a huge planner, doing all the research and making sure I kept everyone else on top of what we needed to do in order to actually do anything, because I can't imagine what our trip would have been like if I hadn't. Even then I could only do so much as we stayed offsite and didn't get Genie+ due to how expensive the trip was already, but at least we were guaranteed a place to eat! But even so, this was far too much planning, even for me. Having to pick which park we were going to which days ahead of time without knowing weather forecasts, not being able to park hop until 2 pm, having to decide a month out where and when we would eat (so long as the places we wanted even had spots available), not to mention watching those 100 Genie+ folks going past while only a few of the normal line were let in (explain that to a 9 and 11 year old) - it was a nightmare. We did still manage to make the most of it, but I was absolutely exhausted by the end - not from walking or waiting in line, but from the stress of planning and sticking to the schedule. We also fit two days of Universal Studios into the mix, and, honestly, it was the far better experience simply due to how much less of a schedule we had to stick to (and, admittedly, them having a FAR superior child swap system). Not sure when I'll brave Disney again, but I am looking forward to seeing how Epic Universe pans out.
Your comment reminds me about the fact that you used to be able to determine which park to go to even the morning of, based on weather and crowd predictions. Now, you're basically locked into it. If the park is overwhelmingly crowded and rides are down, too bad. You have to sacrifice your Fast Passes (and incur the extra cost of a park hopper) to try and salvage your day by going to a different park. But really, that probably won't help you, as all the parks are jammed these days.
@Allana if you've got two adults with kids who are not big enough for the ride, everybody waits together in line. When they get to the front one adult rides the ride while the other waits with the kids. When adult 1 returns, they now wait with the kids while adult 2 rides the ride.
Thank you for doing this. I live in Orlando and this new system has changed the culture of Disney. It genuinely feels divided and aggressive now.I often don’t even like going anymore. I hope they figure out a fix for the system at some point.
The app system in 2018-9 was amazing. We felt like we were our own itinerary makers for the day and would plan around the fastpass times. I went this year for a weekend and it felt like you need to fight on the app and if you lose your time, pay up $20.
I CANNOT get over the phrase "Things like this don't happen to the Dillons" something about it just paints such a vivid picture of the life this man has lived. I'm glad they got their golden fast pass.
I never related to the stereotype that it’s the happiest place on earth, as someone who hates lines, intense rides, and crowds. It really hits the trifecta of everything I hate in an event.
right? My best friend grew up doing annual family trips to Disneyworld and just hearing her mom talk for five minutes about all the meticulous planning that goes into a mere two or three days made me need a nap. I can't imagine taking myself to that busy of a park, let alone trying to manage young children doing it too
Okay, this is the first video Ive seen by this channel and Im confident I would listen to a 2 hour documentary on the process of drying paint if it were presented like this. It made my work day run a little smoother, so thanks!
When you revealed that Shapeland was actually Animal Kingdom, that had me just amazed at your script-writing skills and the immense climax it lead it up. Bravo!
Very interesting watching this after going to Disney for the first time since 2002-2003 this past February in 2022. I had fond memories as a kid of not waiting too long in many lines due to the FastPass system. Compared to today with the utter confusion surrounding the Genie app and everything associated with that. What really stood out was how miserable my family was during our day at Hollywood Studios in the Star Wars area of the park. We were determined to go on the new Rise of the Resistance ride since my uncle was a huge Star Wars fan. We waited just over three hours in that line, and by the end we just wanted to leave. Sure there was stuff to look at and do in the queue, but you're still waiting in a line that seemingly goes forever. It was so bad that we don't really remember the ride, we remember how pissed we all were with the wait time. To this day, we jokingly measure time in "Star Wars" units, which roughly equal 3 hours/unit. The kicker was that my wife, who was pregnant at the time, had a blast in the park that day. She couldn't ride because of her condition, so she spent the time we were in line walking around, shopping, eating, and enjoying the park. When we got off she was all smiles and we were ready to head home. Definitely will not be looking forward to going back to Disney if they can't figure out how to better manage queue times like this.
Really respect your attention to quality in your videos. You go above and beyond to give interesting and accurate information. Your passion is contagious! Wonderful and informative video!
Holy crap, the ending bit really made me feel like the Disney parks are a total dystopian nightmare. Even the regular guests who were handily gaming the system and making the parks the most money weren’t seen as enough for Disney, and Disney took advantage of them too. And they used the coronavirus as their excuse for taking advantage of them. What a crazy horrible time. I’ll just go to Universal from now on lol.
As someone who traveled on a budget as a child and now as a parent… working on your family’s ability to enjoy queuing is a vastly undervalued skill. Trivia, I-spy, would you rather - there’s tons of ways to simply enjoy time together regardless of the fact you aren’t actively doing anything 🥰
I have been to Disney twice: once during paper fast pass time and once during the very first rollout of magic bands… I had no idea how convoluted it had all gotten
Same. It’s more complicated than six flags (which has its own system you can exploit, especially when it comes to annual passes) which is really saying something
And this comes from someone who struggles with calling themselves a documentarian instead of just a KZclipr. If you ever needed to hear it, please give yourself the permission - this is a better researched, produced, and presented full length documentary film than I have watched in a LONG time. And it's on QUEUING. Incredible work
@summer If you would humor me, pick up any HP book that mentions Trelawny, Skeeter, or an antagonistic woman and *really* analyze the way JK describes them.
This entire system they have makes me feel more stressed then normal life. Vacations aren't supposed to be stressful like that! Having to plan your entire day in advance, no changes allowed, have to drop everything you're doing to rush rush rush to a reservation. Good God. Aren't you supposed to just go to the oak and wander around and do what you want as you come to it? Maybe you skip a ride that has too long a line or come back to it later. That's how it's supposed to be. None of this stress and strict schedule. You're supposed to just relax and have fun and not think about much
The editing, the misdirects, the tone, the music swelling during the dramatic reveals...incredible editing and kept me hooked on a subject I don't even care about 😂
Been to Disney this past December with my family. It reminded me of the casino. Bright colors and lights everywhere distracting you. Everyone looked pretty miserable, no smiles, no laughing. All guests looked stressed. If it wasn't for Genie+ we would've only made it on a few rides.
My first trip to Disney just happened to land during the sweet spot near the beginning of fastpasses and Magic Bands. It was so flawless. I went during a busy August but never once felt like I was waiting to long for a ride.
I’ve visited DisneyWorld 4 times: 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004. I was in high school and college. Since I had never gone as a child, I didn’t realize that Fast Pass was brand new - it was so easy and worked so well. I realize now that I must have visited at the perfect time.
I went to Disneyland in Anaheim in 2017 or 2018. The system in place seems to have been the original paper fast pass system. It was excellent in my opinion. It was the only time I had been there and the system was simple enough to understand. It enabled me to reserve the ride that was most important to me at the start of each day, experience a region of the park, maybe ride a couple smaller rides, do the important ride and then select a second choice with a reasonable fast pass window open and explore some more. Perfect for a three day ticket.
I really liked the original Fastpass system. Easy to figure out and you could get a lot done in a day. Having to figure it out was really not a problem, at all. There are a lot of people who are more interested in just showing up and wandering the park, and there was plenty to do if that was your plan. Also, staying really late each day certainly helped make the most of it all.
In the early 2000s, my sister went with her dance team to perform at Disney world and I as little brother got to tag along and enjoy the park all day with some chaperones. I remember getting to abuse the fast pass system by getting the passes from the chaperones who were uninterested or too busy for rides and effectively got to jump straight back to front of line a good 8 or so times in quick succession. There was no check to see who initiated the ticket vs who used it. Best day ever
Late 2000s did this on a family trip to Paris. My mum and younger sister would go for a nap and me and my dad would use theirs to ride star tours twice in a row - every day in the mid afternoon nap/siesta lull
My parents abused because I had 2 younger siblings, we would get 6 fast passes, 3 of us would ride, get a tot swap, ride again with the other parent, and then rinse and repeat if we wanted with the other 3. Or trade fast passes with other guests
I went to Disneyland a year ago and it was the worst Disney experience I’ve ever had. The virtual queue situation was shit. I grew up in southern CA so I’ve been many times and have always loved it. After my last visit (and the COST) I have zero plans to go back because it all left such a bad taste in my mouth. Truly don’t get the issue with the paper fast pass system! It was kind of like a fun game, I loved the rope drop and dash to get the best fast pass. It was exciting every time, which is what Disney is all about. Having to deal with an online luck-of-the-draw system is anxiety inducing and FRUSTRATING. We did everything we were supposed to and we STILL didn’t get the chance to ride any of the virtual queue rides. We were shut out because we clicked a stupid button a millisecond too late. I would SO much rather have gotten there early to do a rope drop to try to get a fast pass. On our last day we totally would’ve waited in a four hour line to do rise of the resistance, but we weren’t allowed to even make that choice because it was virtual queue only. Hated it.
@confessionsofoncer That's bs but I can see why a family of 5 taking their roadtrip from the midwest to CA would get upset that they have to wait 3 hours for ROR or pay $100 more to get on now. What's the best solution for all of this?
@cs yup. When you create a system that requires people to run to get to a ride, you are creating a lawsuit when people fall and injure themselves, or when fights break out at the queues.
@confessionsofoncer yeah rope drop has many faults, online queing could be alright i guess, but just a lucky draw is kinda BS also, i guess they should just have a que where you can check in months in advance , this way you can plan your trip on a day where the rides you want to que for are available for sure, it should be on a super easy to use disney website with a nice map, queing up for rides, setting a date etc, maybe that might work better and either have a cancelation fee for not attending your ques, or just have a seperate line for people who wait in line for the spots that were canceled or didnt show up in time
I've never been to a Disney park, but I was always under the impression that a fast pass was just a faster queue. Like you pay for a fast pass, you get a fast pass queue, and then the operator just lets you through at a quicker rate than the normal queue. The actual fast pass sounds like a complicated exam question.
Need to give y'all props for this incredibly well researched video. Loved the computer simulation, and y'all did a great job making this complex topic, a very entertaining video to watch.
My family visited our nearest Disney park (Disneyland Paris) when I was like 9, so it must have been 2013-2014. Still, my parents had to visit some rich friends they had, who had been there like five times, to get help planning the trip and to learn all the tricks and stuff to make it better. I had an amazing time, but only because they bothered to start preparing many months in advance and they were lucky enough to know people who already knew everything and were willing to help us.
And tbh, DLP was and still is the easiest of Disney Resorts (with HKDL) when it comes to planning ur visit, and even without a huge planning effort, it is possible to experience most of both park's best experiences in one day ! ^^
yikes, i would prefer just winging it, sure i would not get the max efficient twelve AAA rides in a day..... but having the whole day planned out for ya... that sounds like a total nightmare for me!
Now that it's been a year since this amazingly epic installment of the Defunctland series was posted, I'll have to know what the fate of the Genie+ service would be now that Bob Iger is back in business.
Your videos are always so good. You take information that seems boring on the surface and really take a deep dive few knew they needed. Every video provides multiple unique perspectives with, every aspect of a beautifully crafted story, earning a moment in the spotlight. So few would be interested to hear the stories you tell if it didn't come from you. You manage to make subjects I was barely interested in the center of my focus for weeks. I've never make a mistake by clicking on one of your videos. I hope you never forget the immense value of your art.
I am from mexico, i dont go to theme parks such as disney world or universal orlando that often, i was there the day that hagrids ride opened at the wizardly world, i did not attempt to ever get in line for the ride, i took the advantage that most of the other attractions where empty due to the HUGE line in the new ride, i kid you not, the wait at midday for the ride ended at the entrance of the park with around 400-650 minutes of wait, i had never in my life seen a bigger wait line ever. Also edit: how funny that chapek just got fired and they reinstated Iger as CEO, lmao
The real Disney experience is living in Florida getting 1 random Tuesday off and going to all 4 parks and hitting nearly all the rides with virtually no wait times
I wish Californians could get this experience, the only time you might get close is when it rains because everyone in Cali bunkers when water falls from the sky for the first time in a while LOL
Four biggest takeaways: 1. Disney created Covid-19 2. Disney took away KZclip dislike button 3. Shapeland is Animal Kingdom 4. Bathrooms may require FastPass in the future
My wife and I were annual pass holders living in Orlando and the FP+ system worked so unbelievably well for us we could not imagine how anyone could dislike it - we could text each other at work and be like “ooh, theres a fastpass for everest at 7pm, wanna go after work?” Then just spend an hour or two at the park as an evening outing. We ended up going multiple times a week sometimes without experiencing a single queue. But yeah, we never even sniffed the big ticket rides like Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarves, and the standby lines would be 3hrs+. The families that had one day to experience everything and didnt know the system were completely screwed.
I’ve been holding off of watching this one. Who knew I could be so entertained on a documentary about queues? Must be the British blood in me. So glad I watched. Extremely thought provoking and circles back to Walt’s ethos and visions for the park. Thanks for your work Kevin!
I'm normally not a statistics type of person and I've never had the displeasure of going to Disneyland or Disneyworld (I'm autistic and have cerebral palsy; theme parks are my personal hell for multiple reasons) but the statistics for the difference types of passes and guests are absolutely fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It's so interesting to see how these different factors and implemented systems affect the experience of the people visiting. I will still annnoy my family-in-law by refusing to go to Disney no matter how much my fiance begs and pleads 😂
I went to university of central Florida’s Rosen college. It’s right down the street from Disney and Universal. My major was entertainment management and I took many theme park specific classes. This video (and the entire channel) should be a part of the curriculum. I wish I had known about this channel when I was in school!
If you are feeling like doing something really passive agressive, you could watch this whole video while waiting in line for a Disney ride without the FastPass Heck you could probably binge this many times
Too bad Bob Chapek got his hands on this one too. God forbid a guest should get any benefit from a system that people loved. Instead, let's introduce a system that chisels more money from the guest, and one that they'll ultimately HATE. STUPID MOVE CHAPEK Stupid move
amazing video thank you so much! it's seriously not just about fast-passes it literally changes the environment of the parks and the extent to which people feel like they are just as important as other guests.
As an industrial engineering graduate, this video was a wild ride. The sheer excitement of being able to so drastically improve a system with such a relatively simple solution shifting to the horror of upper management greed and profit whoring turning what you created into a dystopian nightmare. Also major kudos to the dude who simulated shapeland. What a fun project, even better that they were actually paid for it lol.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected, but then I'm an engineer. We were in Orlando earlier this month for my son's wish trip. Having a wish pass is way different from even Genie+, as it allows you to get lightning lane access to all rides without needing a reservation (and at Universal you skip the lines entirely). The experience was overall fantastic, although the crowds were a lot and some of the guests got really pushy, especially during the parade. That said, I think that our experience wouldn't have been as great if not for our pass. I had watched a bunch of videos before we went and was nominally familiar with how Genie+ works, but it all seems like too much work. You have to plan out exactly which rides you want, which means you can't be spontaneous or easily adapt if something changes. You even have to reserve your park days well in advance, which means you can't be spontaneous about which park you want to go to either. And Genie+ seems to be pretty much a mandatory cost nowadays, as I regularly saw standby waits of multiple hours on popular rides. I can't imagine taking my young kids to Disney and having to wait in line for literal hours only to have to go home after 2 or 3 rides. With the amount that you have to pay for park tickets these days you should be able to do more. I can't compare wait times exactly at Universal, as I wasn't paying as much attention to the standby wait times there as I was at Disney, but it did feel like you get more for your money there. There is a skip the line pass that you can buy there, but it's very expensive, so most people don't get it. But one of the big differences is that there is no advanced planning required. You don't need park reservations, you don't need ride reservations or dining reservations. You can just show up and pick which rides you want to do when you are there, like you used to do at Disney. Everyone (both guests and employees) seemed less stressed about the situation than at Disney. It will be years before we go back to the area, and I don't know if we will do Disney at all then.
It helps when it's entirely based on lines at Disney. A company people want to hear more about all the time. If it were a video about lines at the post office, well it wouldn't be in the millions for sure.
I miss the old free fastpass, where you selected a time to ride and go there when you were suppose to. I think it was also limited to 1 per hour or something like that.
Oh my god! So, it’s briefly shown in this video, but the little wristband thingies came with a fingerprint system. Except it didn’t really work and staff didn’t really care. So, my family, who lived in the Orlando area would buy year round tickets for us and ask to borrow a different family’s year round tickets when my cousins came to visit. We would give my ten year old cousin the year round ticket belonging to our family friend. He would, of course, fail the fingerprint test, but they wouldn’t ask for ID on the account of him being ten and would just let him into the park. God what a blast from the past. That whole system was stupid as hell.
Thank you Kevin. You have educated me and convinced of the monster that is Disney’s money making machine. I have been wanting to return to Disney since I was a child but I’ll just return to the Wizarding World at this point.
Our last visit to Orlando was 2019, and we had a much better time in our three days at Universal than our two days at Disney. Even accidentally discovered a Pitbull concert at Universal on our way out the first night. :D
I've watched thousands upon thousands of KZclip videos and video essays, but this video is 100x better than anything I've ever seen. Brilliant storytelling.
This video is so well made that I not only spent 1 hour and 43 mins completely engrossed in learning about queues, but I also come back every few months to enjoy it all over again. Thank you for creating this masterpiece.
I experienced the original FastPass several times and FP+ just once in 2014 - the latter one with a highly unfair advantage. Disney managed to mess up my band / room assignment so the morning I arrived (I had been doing Universal and Sea World before), they gave me a band for my park tickets. Later in the evening, I got a second band for my room. Didn't take me long to realize (in fact about 5 minutes into my second day :) ) that that second band would work at the kiosks. I couldn't reserve ahead with it but I could still grab passes. You can imagine that just was the jackpot, because with SIX guaranteed plus the extras, lines are just no longer a thing. I had low-average crowds for visiting and knowing how to play the system, I just ran away with it. Magic Kingdom in a day? ALL 57 rides and shows between entering and leaving? Just barely fits an 18-hour EMT day, but *IT CAN BE DONE* because it *HAS* been done. The impossible task - solved. (And I got an extra Splash Mountain on top). That said - I have achieved similar feats with paper passes and also with Europa Park where there is only a barely functional virtual wait system and, for a long time, none at all. You had that 39 rides person in Shapeland - let's just say this is well below my *average* at Europa (and with a good percentage of E-Tickets too). And my top is almost 3 times that. Knowledge and flexibility, plus coming on the right day - and the willingness to walk to the exact other end of the park several times a day if it lets you experience more stuff - is still key under any system if you want to maximize rides.
Then there is someone like myself, who once abused the old Six Flags system that let you ride twice in a row to get 70 rides on Superman at SFNE in one day.
I hate Disney, but I watched this from beginning to end and actually learned something. Thank you. I only visited Disney World in Orlando once. In the 70s as a very young child with my family. We stayed in the brand new Contemporary hotel and rode the brand new Space Mountain. I remember there was a lake that had a sea monster that would light up around 10pm and waited every night by the hotel window to see it appear. But I was always so exhausted that I fell asleep before 10pm. We had a great experience at the park. It's the Disney corporation that I don't care for.
My parents used to be pretty sad about not being able to take my siblings and I to a Disney park when we were little... Maybe I should show them this video so they understand just what a nightmare it would have been at the time! XD
When I went to Disneyland in 2005, for some reason the return window wait time for Thunder Mountain was INCREDIBLY short. So we were basically getting a fastpass, riding the ride, and then immediately getting another fastpass which said we could go back on ride within 5-10 minutes. It was the greatest. Ended up riding it like 7 times.
As a former attractions cast member I will always miss the paper fastpasses, purely because I used to steal whole stacks of them and discreetly give them to families in standby when I visited the parks on my days off lol. I also used to give them to kids who were scared to ride the bigger attractions as a reward for being brave, or to any guest I saw being really courteous and kind. When mymagic+ rolled around guests honestly started getting really mean and impatient about the whole thing.
@Knight The paper FP system was perfect because everyone had a chance. If you wanted to be that militant Mom at the front at rope drop, leaving your kids in the dust as you raced to the FP kiosk of your favorite ride, then dragged everyone across the park several times to get more fastpasses, more power to you. And they were happy, and the people who wanted to show up at 11am and laze about were happy, too.
I work at a different theme park chain and we have something similar and my favorite thing to do is hand them out for families who seem like they need it or as a reward
@WatrDragn I used to be a Burger King supervisor, I’d always put a couple extra nuggets in the box. I saw colleagues do the same and our logic was “it’s a multi million company, a couple nuggets literally doesn’t matter” and “I don’t wanna count out all the nuggets, have a couple extra”, we also knew the customer was more likely to come back to us as a repeat customer
I just went to Disneyland and California Adventure for the first time in 7 years in a single day with my husband and I can genuinely say that the only reason it was enjoyable and “worth it” was 1) because his family has season passes and toured us through the park at lightning speed and 2) we waited in line for over 2 hours at one ride only to see it break down in front of us so they gave us each 3 free fast passes. Oh, and we were in the park from 8am to 11pm.
I am such a huge fan of your work, and this video is a great example of why. You go to extreme lengths (I don't even want to think about how much you spent on that programming job) to ensure your content is complete and understandable. I love how informative your videos are, but still showcase your sense of humor and personal thoughts on the subject. I also love how much you respect the sources you cite and credit them appropriately. Maybe that's silly, but it matters a lot to me!
I remember being at Disney World and Epcot in the early 2000s and seeing people getting off rides, going right to the fast past machine, getting the tickets, and then going right up to the front of the lines and being let right on the rides first which pissed off a lot of people as it was clear the cast members were not checking the fast pass times.
This video just popped up on my suggested & after reading the title then looking at the length of the video I thought “damn a video this long for the Fastpass?” Lol, glad to know it was easy to watch.
Well I know much more about lines than I ever thought I would, but honestly this was extremely informative and very interesting. Certainly gave me insight to the inner workings of Disney and queue's in general.
I went to Tokyo Disney in 2017 and based on these comments, my family must have been really lucky or my brother knew more about fast passes than he let on cause we rode 9 rides in a single day (including all the popular ones aside from the teacups) and never had to wait more than ten minutes (for splash mountain) and we shopped in between. This video made me realize that that’s not the typical experience
What I think could work is a laser system. If the queue passes 120 minutes, people who line up, including children, are incinerated.
Gooo time to be up!!
Perfectly balanced
This is it. My favorite comment.
We could also charge people for not getting incinerated then with a hardware that works most of the time!
I was hoping that’s what you would say
are we not gonna gasp in awe and clap that this guy literally paid an industrial engineer to simulate this
My man basically had someone make him a custom version of roller coaster tycoon to test a theory and I appreciate that
If there ever were an actual reason to “drop a like” on a video, it would be this.
Seeing the depth of the program, the variables, all of it is genuinely incredible and I’m in awe of the dedication here c:
@Justa Guy yeah honestly you could program this quite simply as a Programming 2 student. I’d probably do the basic implementation for like $250 and more advanced one like the later models for like $400
i'm thinking it's probably the reason this video has 15 million views and 350k likes, turned off my adblocker and refreshed the page when i saw that
Busted out laughing when he said he did. Props to him
The secret to using fastpass is to have your friend drop her phone in the water and then the staff spend 30 minutes unsuccessfully trying to fish it out before giving your group free fast passes as compensation.
Sigma grindset
that's the strat
W
Someone in a 120 minute line could watch this whole video and not be on the ride yet
@Amanda 0😊
@Davi hey did you get in flight of passage already? How was it?
@tarot enjoy it, savour it , respect it - the mouse demands it
@Shaun Wilcox in the line rn lmao
They didn't have smartphones yet. You had to tlak to people back then
As an infrequent visitor who spent many hours planning each trip, I really feel bad for folks who just show up. It is not just FastPass+, it is also dining reservations, and package experiences. If you do not make dining reservations in advance, you are not eating in a sit-down restaurant
@Celestunia seriously,the parks have lost their magic
That’s not necessarily true. I just showed up to Universal’s Islands of Adventure and was seated at Mythos pretty much immediately. And it was a busy day.
Yeah that’s why if my family goes back to Florida we’re barely touching Disney. We like to ‘go with the flow’ for trips and having to hyper plan out every thing just so we can get on maybe 10 rides isn’t really worth it. It’s just better to hang out at beaches or even universal is better than the big mouse.
There are many places inside the park that take mobile orders now. We did this just recently and never had to wait for food.
I never had this problem for all 8 of the times I went, then again I haven’t been in 5 years
Your ability to keep me engaged for hours about subjects I don’t care about at all is truly amazing.
I was literally just thinking this! 😂
I know, right? A theme park sounds like my idea of hell, and I'm never going to one even if the lines are not so bad, but hearing the elaborate, dystopian ways in which the lines are bad is fascinating
I know right!
I absolutely hate Disney and I'm so obsessed with these videos
Absolutely unparalleled
32:22 Hearing the xPass philosophy of "guaranteeing that guests will be able to eat at their favorite restaurants and ride their favorite attractions" is like foreshadowing. You can already see how the system they're trying to invent will be favoring those visiting the parks often, because the once in a lifetime vacationers don't *have* favorites, because they've never been there before
Exactly. One of my friends told me he went to Disneyland with his kids and said they did everything. Paid for genie+ and lightning lane and everything. Like, of course they did. They don’t go to the park every week/month. They’re once in a life time vacationers.
My family visited Disney when they still had the original fast pass system. As a disabled person, that system works best; while of course I get disappointed when i don't get to skip lines completely, doing it that way really isn't fair, but for me (and many other disabled people) standing in line is quite literally torturous. Being able to get a ticket for however long the wait time is, then LEAVE, and SIT DOWN to wait relieves a great deal of the pain I have to live through just to visit a theme park.
I would love to see you discuss park accessibility in another video if you have any interest in making one.
I used to work in Disneyland Paris, we have a system in which you can get a "priority pass" (essentially a Disney disability card) and with three other guests line up in the "priority access line", which are areas adapted for people with disabilities to sit and wait. The cast member has a clipboard with intervals (I think every 10 mins, not too sure) and will seat you on a ride according to the wait times of standby guests. You certainly do not have to wait as long as them, get to sit while waiting and go on more rides than usual. Pregnant ladies can also benefit from this too, but they must instead show their armband that we give to them at the park entrance.
I would love to see a video about theme park accessibility!!
There is actually a program at Disney to help you. Stop by guest services.
@weeniefang I have a friend who needs the assistance pass and I think it works great but on busy days it can cause a bit of a problem
@Christina Ferreira I like how you got 49 likes and mx. cobain ableism only got 3
the "things like this don't happen to the Dillons" bit shows exactly how funny and well-researched this video is
I burst out laughing when I heard that part
I really wanted to see how often things like that happen to the Dillons lol
I was actually hoping to have a full Dillon's history section
As an Orlando Uber Driver and subsequently un-official all -parks concierge, I have directed MANY of our Orlando Guests to this video to BEST explain it. THANK YOU! I admit I'm STILL baffled by how we got to this point, but at least I can logically sort it out in my head:)
How? Corporate greed.
Rewatching this a year later and I have made up my mind to never go to a Disney park unless it's Tokyo Disney, maybe. The exorbitant cost of park tickets is mind boggling, let alone travel, lodging, food, and souvenir costs. Absolutely so overinflated and what you get for it isn't worth even half the cost of those daily park ticket prices. If I wanted to wait in line all day, I'd do it for free and come up with something I need at the DMV.
ESPECIALLY now that they are giving much less experience for much more expensive prices so they can maximize profits. It's awful.
@Stacey Abshire
???
You do realize you're one of those "other millions who are still coming down here in droves" right?
I know you probably meant well but you sounded incredibly entitled there.
Now if you could get the other millions who are still coming down here in droves to join you, it would be wonderful for the rest of us to then enjoy the parks again :-)
I live in FL but have not been to a US Disney Park. I did, however, live near Tokyo Disney for a few years. I went to Tokyo DisneySea once-- on a cloudy day with a high chance of rain during the offseason. I never had to wait more than 15-20 minutes for anything, without their fastpass. I realize how lucky I was and will likely not visit a Disney Park again. lol
I'm CRYING about that dude that got fastpass for the Triangle and rode the Octagon 39 times while waiting. Absolute legend.
One time me and my brother rode space mountain about 20 times in the span of 30 minutes (it felt like this atleast) because it started raining and everyone left the park.
@missy IT'S A WORLD OF LAUGHTER
A WORLD OF TEARS
the only time i've ever been to disney, i rode it's a small world six times while waiting for peter pan. i will never escape that song
It's not disney, but years ago my daughter her husband his family and ours all went to Hershey Park.
My teenage daughter and my son-in-law's youngest brother who is a similar age went on this one water ride that had absolutely no line. We were like all right guys you can go like five more times and then we have to leave, well we couldn't see the line for where we were and we saw them go down that slide for about an hour and a half at least 50 times. They would not LEAVE.
THESE THINGS ARE POSSIBLE.
@Kaylor Coons best coaster
Can we just appreciate the soundtrack within this video that Kevin has made himself, like he not only creates this 2-hour masterpiece, but he also forges a soundtrack that doesn't really impede on the overall viewer experience while enhancing the experience at the same time
Wow everyone. The response to video has been overwhelming. I appreciate everyone watching it and hope you enjoyed it. It was a labor of love. Due to popular demand, we have added two new shirts to our store. If you want to support our documentary efforts and also get some Shapeland merch, go to our store here to preorder: defunctland.myshopify.com/
Be proud of yourself. I have a friend whose wife was pushing for a Disney vacation. I sent him this video. He sent it to her and said “if you still want to go after watching this, so be it.”
They went to Wizarding World instead.
This is your magnum opus.
It was a wild ride mate. Reaching the end was very depressing as well. This planet sucks ass.
What is the track used in the intro? It gave me goosebumps!
Edit; nvm found it! You produced that!!?? Love it.
"Hotels asked for more fast passes" gives the same vibes as "how can a country be in a crisis when they can just print more money, lol".
10/10 video essay. my first Defunctland experience and i don't know if i'll ever experience another level of engagement like this ever again. i was hooked the entire video, i even watched the credits. A+ scripting, music score, animation, editing, computer simulation, etc. really an amazing work of art from multiple contributors. halfway through i subscribed without even looking at the other videos on this channel.
At this point, these are not video essays. They're full on documentaries.
@Aj King u need to respect good craftsmanship bruh
@Retro Ryanthe rides and theming weren’t very good. At the time it was considered a budget park, it was a California theme park in the already California themed California.
Why are y’all so overly dramatic lol
As someone who has been to Universal and Disney multiple times, this video makes me believe that Universal is using Disney’s mistakes to try and make their experiences better, and I appreciate that. Disney just seems to be leaning into them.
Paused the video just to say I can’t believe that you made a computer simulation of a theme park just to satisfy our curiosity AND left it to people who watched past the 50 minute mark you absolute legend
I lost it at "entitled annual passholder". Also, Square > Triangle and I will die on this hill.
As someone who's never been to any Disney park, this just sounds like a dystopian hellscape
Is there any limit to how many people can be in the park at any one time/given day?
i went there in like 2016 😭you honestly dont actually have to know all this shit tbh. we just kinda cruised along and did whatever
fr
@J Finn That's something I wish was discussed: How the Time of Year affected FastPass. I remember going in 2012 in May, and only having 2 long lines. The rest were like 15 mins tops (I had no knowledge of FastPass). But then I went again around the week of Christmas of 2016 (for the sake of a relative), with some knowledge of FastPass+ ... the parks were hell. Way too many people. FP+ was nice for the couple rides we utilized them, but the Standbys were barely ever worth it.
I strongly recommend the Spring season: just late enough for the Waterparks to open, but not too late that Summer Vacation approaches. FA Spring Weather is also much nicer then Summer (although Winter weather in FA is my favorite ... too many people).
"dystopian hellscape" is too many people's go-to. you're two breaths away from saying "late stage capitalism" and we're talking about a theme park. Like do you want to start talking about the sanatoriums and how the process for getting a vacation at one of those was way better?
so glad that the hagrid motorbike ride got mentioned. my family went to universal last summer and had hotel “fastpasses” so we had a decent time, except that hagrids didn’t have fast pass. Luckily none of us wanted to ride it that bad, so we amused ourselves in the shorter queues by periodically checking the wait time for hagrids and calling it out. I remember my brother yelling “IT’S 3 HOURS” at me right after me and my sister had gotten off a coaster.
As a side note: my dad, who was paying for the whole vacation, was incredibly happy that we did not want to wait in the hagrid’s motorbike queue. We had stopped doing family vacations at Disney for that very reason
I’m both a pessimist and a hater therefore I am completely against going to Disneyland.
The amount of money, stress, and planning involved just to go to a theme park is overwhelming and I am filled with rage and hate.
That being said, this video was absolutely incredible and I thank you for your dedication and hard work.
Subscribed
Be soothed, my pet
“It would be like a magic wristband, so naturally they called it ‘the experience band’” and having “experience band” in the most corporate typeface ever is hilarious
The lead-in to part six was also chef’s kiss
Moment of silence for the brave souls who made the ultimate sacrifice to find the secret button on the old school machines which would spit out free passes. We salute you.
1:15:26 this is the greatest plot twist in cinematic history.
The pledge. The turn. The prestige. ✨️
I audibly gasped at the twist
Lol. That was tremendous. I actually yelled 'ohhhhhhh!' at my screen.
I've put off watching so many great movies because I don't have time, but I watched this and was fascinated the whole way through lol
Nice self promo 🙄
@Cesar Sain i like enjoying the things i watch
Lol
O.o
Toycat!
i feel like the best way to shorten lines isn’t to short them at all, just make them more bearable. i’ve been in lines that play cartoons on tvs throughout the queue or have interactive elements, or even put in benches / water fountains/ snack stations throughout the queue so people aren’t just standing doing nothing. it will feel significantly shorter even if it’s a longer queue.
Hiring an industrial engineer for a video is what I call dedication. I have to admit, I gasped when you revealed that Shapeland was Animal Kingdom. I was so enthralled with all the data you were presenting and having so many internal opinions about it, that the reveal just shook me. Also, when you were explaining the Genie app, my jaw literally dropped. That thing is insane. Amazing work. You are a master of your craft, a true documentarian.
Your analysis using Shapeland to determine the effects of no FastPass, paper FastPass, and FastPass+ on overall wait times was likely much more sophisticated and detailed than whatever analysis Disney did.
@Bilbo_Gamers Problems with the original implementation with ticketing:
1) You need to travel through the park to get to the ride you want to get the fast pass from only to have to come back to the same ride later again. This wastes time and energy.
2) This encourages everyone to stick around the areas of the park with the best rides. This leads to heavy crowds in certain areas.
3) Rewards those who come to the park early and punishes those that come late.
Is it the best solution? Maybe. Is it a perfect solution? Definitely not.
@Chip Corley Yeah there is. Go back to the Original implementation of fastpass. It is probably close to the best system that Could be made. No amount of management decisions will improve the product of a lone engineering genius. If they want to decrease wait times they need to expand the Park.
That is 100% not true. Everyone thinks they are smarter than Disney but there really is no perfect solution.
I had visited Disney World three times in my life before this past summer - once when I was only 6, and then twice around the turn of the millennium. It had obviously been a while since my last trip, so when a friend asked if I wanted to go for just a couple days, I jumped on the chance, convincing my family to join me so I could stay longer. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was lucky that I am a huge planner, doing all the research and making sure I kept everyone else on top of what we needed to do in order to actually do anything, because I can't imagine what our trip would have been like if I hadn't. Even then I could only do so much as we stayed offsite and didn't get Genie+ due to how expensive the trip was already, but at least we were guaranteed a place to eat!
But even so, this was far too much planning, even for me. Having to pick which park we were going to which days ahead of time without knowing weather forecasts, not being able to park hop until 2 pm, having to decide a month out where and when we would eat (so long as the places we wanted even had spots available), not to mention watching those 100 Genie+ folks going past while only a few of the normal line were let in (explain that to a 9 and 11 year old) - it was a nightmare. We did still manage to make the most of it, but I was absolutely exhausted by the end - not from walking or waiting in line, but from the stress of planning and sticking to the schedule.
We also fit two days of Universal Studios into the mix, and, honestly, it was the far better experience simply due to how much less of a schedule we had to stick to (and, admittedly, them having a FAR superior child swap system). Not sure when I'll brave Disney again, but I am looking forward to seeing how Epic Universe pans out.
Your comment reminds me about the fact that you used to be able to determine which park to go to even the morning of, based on weather and crowd predictions. Now, you're basically locked into it. If the park is overwhelmingly crowded and rides are down, too bad. You have to sacrifice your Fast Passes (and incur the extra cost of a park hopper) to try and salvage your day by going to a different park. But really, that probably won't help you, as all the parks are jammed these days.
@justcamden Those poor kids :')
@Allana if you've got two adults with kids who are not big enough for the ride, everybody waits together in line. When they get to the front one adult rides the ride while the other waits with the kids. When adult 1 returns, they now wait with the kids while adult 2 rides the ride.
What is a child swap system??
Thank you for doing this. I live in Orlando and this new system has changed the culture of Disney. It genuinely feels divided and aggressive now.I often don’t even like going anymore. I hope they figure out a fix for the system at some point.
The app system in 2018-9 was amazing. We felt like we were our own itinerary makers for the day and would plan around the fastpass times. I went this year for a weekend and it felt like you need to fight on the app and if you lose your time, pay up $20.
I CANNOT get over the phrase "Things like this don't happen to the Dillons" something about it just paints such a vivid picture of the life this man has lived. I'm glad they got their golden fast pass.
@Jamisan Matalonissimilar to Punk’d by Ashton Kutcher? 😂😂
@Double Oof do it!!!
makes me wanna write a story about them
If anyones wondering, it’s at 23:50
@CaJoel criminally underrated comment
I never related to the stereotype that it’s the happiest place on earth, as someone who hates lines, intense rides, and crowds. It really hits the trifecta of everything I hate in an event.
Imagine paying $300 per person to stand in a line with thousands of strangers all day
right? My best friend grew up doing annual family trips to Disneyworld and just hearing her mom talk for five minutes about all the meticulous planning that goes into a mere two or three days made me need a nap. I can't imagine taking myself to that busy of a park, let alone trying to manage young children doing it too
Okay, this is the first video Ive seen by this channel and Im confident I would listen to a 2 hour documentary on the process of drying paint if it were presented like this. It made my work day run a little smoother, so thanks!
for a second i was really thinking that the dillons actually dramatically changed the fastpass’ history
When you revealed that Shapeland was actually Animal Kingdom, that had me just amazed at your script-writing skills and the immense climax it lead it up. Bravo!
Very interesting watching this after going to Disney for the first time since 2002-2003 this past February in 2022. I had fond memories as a kid of not waiting too long in many lines due to the FastPass system. Compared to today with the utter confusion surrounding the Genie app and everything associated with that. What really stood out was how miserable my family was during our day at Hollywood Studios in the Star Wars area of the park.
We were determined to go on the new Rise of the Resistance ride since my uncle was a huge Star Wars fan. We waited just over three hours in that line, and by the end we just wanted to leave. Sure there was stuff to look at and do in the queue, but you're still waiting in a line that seemingly goes forever. It was so bad that we don't really remember the ride, we remember how pissed we all were with the wait time. To this day, we jokingly measure time in "Star Wars" units, which roughly equal 3 hours/unit.
The kicker was that my wife, who was pregnant at the time, had a blast in the park that day. She couldn't ride because of her condition, so she spent the time we were in line walking around, shopping, eating, and enjoying the park. When we got off she was all smiles and we were ready to head home.
Definitely will not be looking forward to going back to Disney if they can't figure out how to better manage queue times like this.
"This baby can do the Kessel run in 1 Star Wars unit"
Star Wars units 😂
Really respect your attention to quality in your videos. You go above and beyond to give interesting and accurate information. Your passion is contagious! Wonderful and informative video!
Hello my geeks and peeps
@Unknown Girl She part of their most eleit member ship, so of corse she is.
I should've expected you
The engineer helping with this simulation must have laughed when first hearing the pitch
Absolutely amazing.
Loved the reveal that the simulation was Animal Kingdom
Holy crap, the ending bit really made me feel like the Disney parks are a total dystopian nightmare. Even the regular guests who were handily gaming the system and making the parks the most money weren’t seen as enough for Disney, and Disney took advantage of them too. And they used the coronavirus as their excuse for taking advantage of them. What a crazy horrible time. I’ll just go to Universal from now on lol.
The Shapeland simulation seems like it's probably got a decent grounding to build a video game on. At least a pretty fun simulator to play with.
As someone who traveled on a budget as a child and now as a parent… working on your family’s ability to enjoy queuing is a vastly undervalued skill. Trivia, I-spy, would you rather - there’s tons of ways to simply enjoy time together regardless of the fact you aren’t actively doing anything 🥰
Modern day, having extra battery packs and apps like heads up can make a wait drastically different.
I have been to Disney twice: once during paper fast pass time and once during the very first rollout of magic bands… I had no idea how convoluted it had all gotten
Same. It’s more complicated than six flags (which has its own system you can exploit, especially when it comes to annual passes) which is really saying something
And this comes from someone who struggles with calling themselves a documentarian instead of just a KZclipr. If you ever needed to hear it, please give yourself the permission - this is a better researched, produced, and presented full length documentary film than I have watched in a LONG time. And it's on QUEUING. Incredible work
I love how they went from “more fast pass is a bad idea” to “fuck it, fast pass on bathrooms” in record time
@summer things aren't black and white, grey exist.
@summer If you would humor me, pick up any HP book that mentions Trelawny, Skeeter, or an antagonistic woman and *really* analyze the way JK describes them.
@MovieFan1912 They have Super Nintendo World which is a dream come true
This is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen on KZclip. The theme, design, narration is all immaculate
This entire system they have makes me feel more stressed then normal life. Vacations aren't supposed to be stressful like that! Having to plan your entire day in advance, no changes allowed, have to drop everything you're doing to rush rush rush to a reservation. Good God.
Aren't you supposed to just go to the oak and wander around and do what you want as you come to it? Maybe you skip a ride that has too long a line or come back to it later. That's how it's supposed to be. None of this stress and strict schedule. You're supposed to just relax and have fun and not think about much
Even if you came back to it later, the line would still be equally as long. It was always crowded and long lines remained long all day.
The editing, the misdirects, the tone, the music swelling during the dramatic reveals...incredible editing and kept me hooked on a subject I don't even care about 😂
Been to Disney this past December with my family. It reminded me of the casino. Bright colors and lights everywhere distracting you. Everyone looked pretty miserable, no smiles, no laughing. All guests looked stressed. If it wasn't for Genie+ we would've only made it on a few rides.
My first trip to Disney just happened to land during the sweet spot near the beginning of fastpasses and Magic Bands. It was so flawless. I went during a busy August but never once felt like I was waiting to long for a ride.
Not related, but why did he claim mid-2000s California Adventure was bad. I thought it was better than now.
I’ve visited DisneyWorld 4 times: 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004. I was in high school and college. Since I had never gone as a child, I didn’t realize that Fast Pass was brand new - it was so easy and worked so well. I realize now that I must have visited at the perfect time.
Oh, dear God. The descent from 'streamlined theme park experience' to 'grim Classist dystopia' was a wild ride.
He hadn’t even disclosed the elite with the DVC and all the “perks” that have come with real money (not “vacation” money).
@Sid Hackney i think he meant 5:58
@Lucas Wenzel But... fast pass WAS completely free to all park goers at the beginning though
Damn, it's like what video games are doing now with their premium season passes and whatnot
Most things have gone the same way nowdays, will be a while before things change again.
I went to Disneyland in Anaheim in 2017 or 2018. The system in place seems to have been the original paper fast pass system. It was excellent in my opinion. It was the only time I had been there and the system was simple enough to understand. It enabled me to reserve the ride that was most important to me at the start of each day, experience a region of the park, maybe ride a couple smaller rides, do the important ride and then select a second choice with a reasonable fast pass window open and explore some more. Perfect for a three day ticket.
I really liked the original Fastpass system. Easy to figure out and you could get a lot done in a day. Having to figure it out was really not a problem, at all. There are a lot of people who are more interested in just showing up and wandering the park, and there was plenty to do if that was your plan. Also, staying really late each day certainly helped make the most of it all.
In the early 2000s, my sister went with her dance team to perform at Disney world and I as little brother got to tag along and enjoy the park all day with some chaperones. I remember getting to abuse the fast pass system by getting the passes from the chaperones who were uninterested or too busy for rides and effectively got to jump straight back to front of line a good 8 or so times in quick succession. There was no check to see who initiated the ticket vs who used it. Best day ever
Late 2000s did this on a family trip to Paris. My mum and younger sister would go for a nap and me and my dad would use theirs to ride star tours twice in a row - every day in the mid afternoon nap/siesta lull
My parents abused because I had 2 younger siblings, we would get 6 fast passes, 3 of us would ride, get a tot swap, ride again with the other parent, and then rinse and repeat if we wanted with the other 3. Or trade fast passes with other guests
If only we could give Pulitzer Prizes to video essays. This one definitely deserves it.
I went to Disneyland a year ago and it was the worst Disney experience I’ve ever had. The virtual queue situation was shit. I grew up in southern CA so I’ve been many times and have always loved it. After my last visit (and the COST) I have zero plans to go back because it all left such a bad taste in my mouth. Truly don’t get the issue with the paper fast pass system! It was kind of like a fun game, I loved the rope drop and dash to get the best fast pass. It was exciting every time, which is what Disney is all about.
Having to deal with an online luck-of-the-draw system is anxiety inducing and FRUSTRATING. We did everything we were supposed to and we STILL didn’t get the chance to ride any of the virtual queue rides. We were shut out because we clicked a stupid button a millisecond too late. I would SO much rather have gotten there early to do a rope drop to try to get a fast pass. On our last day we totally would’ve waited in a four hour line to do rise of the resistance, but we weren’t allowed to even make that choice because it was virtual queue only. Hated it.
@confessionsofoncer That's bs but I can see why a family of 5 taking their roadtrip from the midwest to CA would get upset that they have to wait 3 hours for ROR or pay $100 more to get on now. What's the best solution for all of this?
@cs yup. When you create a system that requires people to run to get to a ride, you are creating a lawsuit when people fall and injure themselves, or when fights break out at the queues.
@raafmaat they did…that’s part of the video. Fast pass+ allowed people to reserve fast passes for rides 90 days in advance of their trip.
Probably too many people running, tripping, and then giving a disadvantage to those who can't walk well
@confessionsofoncer yeah rope drop has many faults, online queing could be alright i guess, but just a lucky draw is kinda BS also, i guess they should just have a que where you can check in months in advance , this way you can plan your trip on a day where the rides you want to que for are available for sure, it should be on a super easy to use disney website with a nice map, queing up for rides, setting a date etc, maybe that might work better
and either have a cancelation fee for not attending your ques, or just have a seperate line for people who wait in line for the spots that were canceled or didnt show up in time
"Part 4: The Dillons" actually destroyed me. I was laughing so hard I fell over.
I fell over when you made a politically charged video and framed it as an unbiased take.
Are you going to ride every Disney ride next?
Lemme guess, it kept appearing in your recommend so you broke down and decided to watch it?
Part 7 class warfare was very much not what I expected when I started watching
Have rewatched this several times and I love the lead-up to the big reveal/plot twist. This is such a great video. Thank you!
I've never been to a Disney park, but I was always under the impression that a fast pass was just a faster queue. Like you pay for a fast pass, you get a fast pass queue, and then the operator just lets you through at a quicker rate than the normal queue.
The actual fast pass sounds like a complicated exam question.
Need to give y'all props for this incredibly well researched video. Loved the computer simulation, and y'all did a great job making this complex topic, a very entertaining video to watch.
My family visited our nearest Disney park (Disneyland Paris) when I was like 9, so it must have been 2013-2014. Still, my parents had to visit some rich friends they had, who had been there like five times, to get help planning the trip and to learn all the tricks and stuff to make it better. I had an amazing time, but only because they bothered to start preparing many months in advance and they were lucky enough to know people who already knew everything and were willing to help us.
And tbh, DLP was and still is the easiest of Disney Resorts (with HKDL) when it comes to planning ur visit, and even without a huge planning effort, it is possible to experience most of both park's best experiences in one day ! ^^
yikes, i would prefer just winging it, sure i would not get the max efficient twelve AAA rides in a day..... but having the whole day planned out for ya... that sounds like a total nightmare for me!
Now that it's been a year since this amazingly epic installment of the Defunctland series was posted, I'll have to know what the fate of the Genie+ service would be now that Bob Iger is back in business.
Best video of the year! Absolutely worth the wait.
and we didn't even have to wait in a line to get it!
Such a good video! Didn't even realise this video was 2 hours long
It is since when
You don't need to wait if you just use fastpass.....
*industrially-smooth jazz*
Your videos are always so good. You take information that seems boring on the surface and really take a deep dive few knew they needed. Every video provides multiple unique perspectives with, every aspect of a beautifully crafted story, earning a moment in the spotlight. So few would be interested to hear the stories you tell if it didn't come from you. You manage to make subjects I was barely interested in the center of my focus for weeks. I've never make a mistake by clicking on one of your videos. I hope you never forget the immense value of your art.
Revealing that the data for the simulation was from animal kingdom was one of the best plot twists of this decade
I am from mexico, i dont go to theme parks such as disney world or universal orlando that often, i was there the day that hagrids ride opened at the wizardly world, i did not attempt to ever get in line for the ride, i took the advantage that most of the other attractions where empty due to the HUGE line in the new ride, i kid you not, the wait at midday for the ride ended at the entrance of the park with around 400-650 minutes of wait, i had never in my life seen a bigger wait line ever. Also edit: how funny that chapek just got fired and they reinstated Iger as CEO, lmao
Top Thrill Dragster's queue would routinely hit 12 hours in its first two years.
Yup! Ditto with going shopping on Super Bowl Sunday, especially after the game has started.
seeing those people explaining how to properly plan your vacation to game the fast pass was exhausting lol
The real Disney experience is living in Florida getting 1 random Tuesday off and going to all 4 parks and hitting nearly all the rides with virtually no wait times
I wish Californians could get this experience, the only time you might get close is when it rains because everyone in Cali bunkers when water falls from the sky for the first time in a while LOL
Four biggest takeaways:
1. Disney created Covid-19
2. Disney took away KZclip dislike button
3. Shapeland is Animal Kingdom
4. Bathrooms may require FastPass in the future
@zeno and for access to the sinks its an additional $10.99
Somewhere in Disney there's a ride I can ride at least 39 times.
@zeno I thought it would be waaay more than that
Truly amazing work. I love the way you unfold your data and story with hilarious plot twists and planning. Great job as always
My wife and I were annual pass holders living in Orlando and the FP+ system worked so unbelievably well for us we could not imagine how anyone could dislike it - we could text each other at work and be like “ooh, theres a fastpass for everest at 7pm, wanna go after work?” Then just spend an hour or two at the park as an evening outing. We ended up going multiple times a week sometimes without experiencing a single queue. But yeah, we never even sniffed the big ticket rides like Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarves, and the standby lines would be 3hrs+. The families that had one day to experience everything and didnt know the system were completely screwed.
I’ve been holding off of watching this one. Who knew I could be so entertained on a documentary about queues? Must be the British blood in me.
So glad I watched. Extremely thought provoking and circles back to Walt’s ethos and visions for the park. Thanks for your work Kevin!
I'm normally not a statistics type of person and I've never had the displeasure of going to Disneyland or Disneyworld (I'm autistic and have cerebral palsy; theme parks are my personal hell for multiple reasons) but the statistics for the difference types of passes and guests are absolutely fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed this video. It's so interesting to see how these different factors and implemented systems affect the experience of the people visiting. I will still annnoy my family-in-law by refusing to go to Disney no matter how much my fiance begs and pleads 😂
I went to university of central Florida’s Rosen college. It’s right down the street from Disney and Universal. My major was entertainment management and I took many theme park specific classes.
This video (and the entire channel) should be a part of the curriculum. I wish I had known about this channel when I was in school!
If you are feeling like doing something really passive agressive, you could watch this whole video while waiting in line for a Disney ride without the FastPass
Heck you could probably binge this many times
Too bad Bob Chapek got his hands on this one too. God forbid a guest should get any benefit from a system that people loved. Instead, let's introduce a system that chisels more money from the guest, and one that they'll ultimately HATE.
STUPID MOVE CHAPEK
Stupid move
Literally sat in line for 4 hours for a ride. Can confirm
I did it while waiting 2+ hours for Spider-Man because I’m a sucker, but I’m not a $7-$18 sucker
amazing video thank you so much! it's seriously not just about fast-passes it literally changes the environment of the parks and the extent to which people feel like they are just as important as other guests.
As an industrial engineering graduate, this video was a wild ride. The sheer excitement of being able to so drastically improve a system with such a relatively simple solution shifting to the horror of upper management greed and profit whoring turning what you created into a dystopian nightmare.
Also major kudos to the dude who simulated shapeland. What a fun project, even better that they were actually paid for it lol.
You’re an absolute legend and an inspiration I cannot believe the amount of work that must have gone into this
So crazy to hear how many theme park innovations started with disney
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected, but then I'm an engineer. We were in Orlando earlier this month for my son's wish trip. Having a wish pass is way different from even Genie+, as it allows you to get lightning lane access to all rides without needing a reservation (and at Universal you skip the lines entirely). The experience was overall fantastic, although the crowds were a lot and some of the guests got really pushy, especially during the parade. That said, I think that our experience wouldn't have been as great if not for our pass. I had watched a bunch of videos before we went and was nominally familiar with how Genie+ works, but it all seems like too much work. You have to plan out exactly which rides you want, which means you can't be spontaneous or easily adapt if something changes. You even have to reserve your park days well in advance, which means you can't be spontaneous about which park you want to go to either. And Genie+ seems to be pretty much a mandatory cost nowadays, as I regularly saw standby waits of multiple hours on popular rides. I can't imagine taking my young kids to Disney and having to wait in line for literal hours only to have to go home after 2 or 3 rides. With the amount that you have to pay for park tickets these days you should be able to do more. I can't compare wait times exactly at Universal, as I wasn't paying as much attention to the standby wait times there as I was at Disney, but it did feel like you get more for your money there. There is a skip the line pass that you can buy there, but it's very expensive, so most people don't get it. But one of the big differences is that there is no advanced planning required. You don't need park reservations, you don't need ride reservations or dining reservations. You can just show up and pick which rides you want to do when you are there, like you used to do at Disney. Everyone (both guests and employees) seemed less stressed about the situation than at Disney. It will be years before we go back to the area, and I don't know if we will do Disney at all then.
You did it. You got people to watch a feature length film about lines 13 million times. I’ve never been so proud
@TheOwneroftheIC um actually 3 morbillion people watched morbius
I’ve watched this like at least 10 times.
That's 8 million more people than watched Morbius.
It helps when it's entirely based on lines at Disney. A company people want to hear more about all the time. If it were a video about lines at the post office, well it wouldn't be in the millions for sure.
I once watched a 4 hour long video of a fractal without looking away from the screen. Acid is wild man.
I miss the old free fastpass, where you selected a time to ride and go there when you were suppose to. I think it was also limited to 1 per hour or something like that.
Oh my god! So, it’s briefly shown in this video, but the little wristband thingies came with a fingerprint system. Except it didn’t really work and staff didn’t really care. So, my family, who lived in the Orlando area would buy year round tickets for us and ask to borrow a different family’s year round tickets when my cousins came to visit. We would give my ten year old cousin the year round ticket belonging to our family friend. He would, of course, fail the fingerprint test, but they wouldn’t ask for ID on the account of him being ten and would just let him into the park.
God what a blast from the past. That whole system was stupid as hell.
Thank you Kevin. You have educated me and convinced of the monster that is Disney’s money making machine. I have been wanting to return to Disney since I was a child but I’ll just return to the Wizarding World at this point.
Our last visit to Orlando was 2019, and we had a much better time in our three days at Universal than our two days at Disney. Even accidentally discovered a Pitbull concert at Universal on our way out the first night. :D
I've watched thousands upon thousands of KZclip videos and video essays, but this video is 100x better than anything I've ever seen. Brilliant storytelling.
This video is so well made that I not only spent 1 hour and 43 mins completely engrossed in learning about queues, but I also come back every few months to enjoy it all over again. Thank you for creating this masterpiece.
I absolutely love 57:00 where it’s “You would need to pay an industrial engineer to create this complex simulation”
…..
“and I did just that”
Same here
came down here in the comments to remark on just that - so funny & satisfying
I did the thing where you read a comment just as it is mentioned in the video
I experienced the original FastPass several times and FP+ just once in 2014 - the latter one with a highly unfair advantage. Disney managed to mess up my band / room assignment so the morning I arrived (I had been doing Universal and Sea World before), they gave me a band for my park tickets. Later in the evening, I got a second band for my room. Didn't take me long to realize (in fact about 5 minutes into my second day :) ) that that second band would work at the kiosks. I couldn't reserve ahead with it but I could still grab passes. You can imagine that just was the jackpot, because with SIX guaranteed plus the extras, lines are just no longer a thing. I had low-average crowds for visiting and knowing how to play the system, I just ran away with it. Magic Kingdom in a day? ALL 57 rides and shows between entering and leaving? Just barely fits an 18-hour EMT day, but *IT CAN BE DONE* because it *HAS* been done. The impossible task - solved. (And I got an extra Splash Mountain on top). That said - I have achieved similar feats with paper passes and also with Europa Park where there is only a barely functional virtual wait system and, for a long time, none at all. You had that 39 rides person in Shapeland - let's just say this is well below my *average* at Europa (and with a good percentage of E-Tickets too). And my top is almost 3 times that. Knowledge and flexibility, plus coming on the right day - and the willingness to walk to the exact other end of the park several times a day if it lets you experience more stuff - is still key under any system if you want to maximize rides.
Then there is someone like myself, who once abused the old Six Flags system that let you ride twice in a row to get 70 rides on Superman at SFNE in one day.
I hate Disney, but I watched this from beginning to end and actually learned something. Thank you. I only visited Disney World in Orlando once. In the 70s as a very young child with my family. We stayed in the brand new Contemporary hotel and rode the brand new Space Mountain. I remember there was a lake that had a sea monster that would light up around 10pm and waited every night by the hotel window to see it appear. But I was always so exhausted that I fell asleep before 10pm. We had a great experience at the park. It's the Disney corporation that I don't care for.
My parents used to be pretty sad about not being able to take my siblings and I to a Disney park when we were little... Maybe I should show them this video so they understand just what a nightmare it would have been at the time! XD
When I went to Disneyland in 2005, for some reason the return window wait time for Thunder Mountain was INCREDIBLY short. So we were basically getting a fastpass, riding the ride, and then immediately getting another fastpass which said we could go back on ride within 5-10 minutes. It was the greatest. Ended up riding it like 7 times.
Truly a magnificent video. I would say that this is your Magnum Opus, but with this channel I wouldn't be surprised if you topped it in the future.
As a former attractions cast member I will always miss the paper fastpasses, purely because I used to steal whole stacks of them and discreetly give them to families in standby when I visited the parks on my days off lol. I also used to give them to kids who were scared to ride the bigger attractions as a reward for being brave, or to any guest I saw being really courteous and kind. When mymagic+ rolled around guests honestly started getting really mean and impatient about the whole thing.
@Knight The paper FP system was perfect because everyone had a chance. If you wanted to be that militant Mom at the front at rope drop, leaving your kids in the dust as you raced to the FP kiosk of your favorite ride, then dragged everyone across the park several times to get more fastpasses, more power to you. And they were happy, and the people who wanted to show up at 11am and laze about were happy, too.
Maaan you really gave this people a magical moment ( and was on your off hours)
I work at a different theme park chain and we have something similar and my favorite thing to do is hand them out for families who seem like they need it or as a reward
@WatrDragn I used to be a Burger King supervisor, I’d always put a couple extra nuggets in the box. I saw colleagues do the same and our logic was “it’s a multi million company, a couple nuggets literally doesn’t matter” and “I don’t wanna count out all the nuggets, have a couple extra”, we also knew the customer was more likely to come back to us as a repeat customer
You're a hero
I just went to Disneyland and California Adventure for the first time in 7 years in a single day with my husband and I can genuinely say that the only reason it was enjoyable and “worth it” was 1) because his family has season passes and toured us through the park at lightning speed and 2) we waited in line for over 2 hours at one ride only to see it break down in front of us so they gave us each 3 free fast passes. Oh, and we were in the park from 8am to 11pm.
I am such a huge fan of your work, and this video is a great example of why. You go to extreme lengths (I don't even want to think about how much you spent on that programming job) to ensure your content is complete and understandable. I love how informative your videos are, but still showcase your sense of humor and personal thoughts on the subject. I also love how much you respect the sources you cite and credit them appropriately. Maybe that's silly, but it matters a lot to me!
The fact you can finish this video and still be left in a typical Disney queue is astounding
I remember being at Disney World and Epcot in the early 2000s and seeing people getting off rides, going right to the fast past machine, getting the tickets, and then going right up to the front of the lines and being let right on the rides first which pissed off a lot of people as it was clear the cast members were not checking the fast pass times.
I've watched this video 5 times now. It is so amazingly well done.
This guy just talked about waiting lines for 1 hour and 40 minutes and I listen to him from stat to finish, mad respect
Not sure if you meant "start" or "stat", but both of work, and your comment is brilliant 🤣
Perfect to watch while waiting in line!
This video just popped up on my suggested & after reading the title then looking at the length of the video I thought “damn a video this long for the Fastpass?” Lol, glad to know it was easy to watch.
I had it easy because the Flying Pig showed up to entertain me.
Same. I was more than an hour in before I noticed it was a "long" video.
Well I know much more about lines than I ever thought I would, but honestly this was extremely informative and very interesting. Certainly gave me insight to the inner workings of Disney and queue's in general.
I went to Tokyo Disney in 2017 and based on these comments, my family must have been really lucky or my brother knew more about fast passes than he let on cause we rode 9 rides in a single day (including all the popular ones aside from the teacups) and never had to wait more than ten minutes (for splash mountain) and we shopped in between. This video made me realize that that’s not the typical experience
we have to appreciate that defunctland made this 2 hour long documentary entertaining and sprinkled on a ton of comical moments