February 19th- Advance Ride Reservations?

For my daily Disney devotion on February 19th, I ran across and read and interesting article about the future of fastpass and park touring.  The article can be read in its entirety here, but it mostly talks about the Disney NexGen project.  I have heard about the NexGen project with regard to the new interactive queue lines, but this article specifically referenced a proposed change the fastpass system that I don't think I'm going to be thrilled about.  In the article Disney Parks Chairman Tom Staggs talks about instituting a system in which you can reserve fastpasses before you even leave for your vacation.   Staggs describes in a article "a "version of Fast Pass for an entire Disney vacation." Future guests, he said, will be able to reserve specific ride times for popular attractions, secure seating for shows, make restaurant reservations and pre-book other experiences before they leave their homes on vacation." 

Now, I'm all for booking certain experiences before you leave home, things like the Bibbity, Bobbity, Boutique and fireworks cruises make sense to plan ahead of time, and if Disney can find a way to make it easier, than I'm on board.  What gives me pause is the mention of booking popular attractions ahead of time.  I'm already not a fan of the Disney dining system.  I think it is beyond crazy that I have to get up and be on the phone at 7 am 180 days before my vacation starts to get a crack at the more popular Disney restaurants.   I don't usually make my vacation plans that far in advance, so I'm typically locked out of the more popular dining locations.  If this system of pre-booking is extended to rides, than I'm really not going to be happy.  Its hard enough to plan out your dining 6 months in advance, I really don't want to be planning my ride times that far in advance as well. 

I have a toddler, and they certainly can be unpredictable.  If I have to reserve my fastpass time for Toy Story Mania 180 days (or 60 or 10 or even the night before), I will have no idea what the day is going to hold.  I like the flexibility of the current fastpass system, which allows me to make decisions about rides once I enter the park.  I can't schedule when my son will be cranky, or sleepy, or hungry, and a system that rigidly determines when I ride the headliner attractions is not going to make my vacationing any easier.

We will have to wait and see what happens with this new system, but I have a sinking feeling it is going to have much the same effect as ADRs do on dining, that I'm going to have to work even harder to plan my Disney vacation and I will loose even more vacation spontaneity.