Reading the tea leaves re FP+, EMH, tix changes

[OklahomaTourist]

Hey, all...

In reading the various posts about the rumors of EMH going away late this year, plus the advent/rollout of FP+, something occurred to me...

What we've read so far indicates that advance reservations for FP+ will be limited to one park per day, but no more than four within a time frame.

This instantly suggests to me that, at a minimum, they're trying to discourage park-hopping, and constrain the FP+. If the theories that FP+ is part of the reason EMH may go away, it occurs to me that its a perfectly logical reading of the "tea leaves" to suggest that, in the very near future, Disney may actually charge for the ability to "buy" extra FP+ passes. In other words, Disney may have literally figured out a way to monetize waiting in line.

Mind you, this is NOT a "rumor" or "insider info" at all. This is complete speculation based on extrapolating what I've read here into what would be a logical next-step. If non-expiring tickets are going away, EMH is under the gun, and the "advance FP+" system is designed to benefit planners/riders who might be the biggest users of EMH, seems to me only logical that tickets will eventually include FP+'s as a bonus "feature" to be added on. Everyone will get a "base" number with admission, but "extras" (up to a limit) will be an optional feature.

You think Disney would actually do something like this, or is it too out there?

Opinions solicited.

 

[tfc3rid]

Hey, all...
You think Disney would actually do something like this, or is it too out there?

Opinions solicited.

Activate additional FP+ for a fee... Absolutely could be done and for profit, absolutely would be done.

 

[patsal]

I was rolling the idea of something similiar to US/IOA and selling the passes to day guests while making additional FP+ available to resort guests for a discounted price when purchased in advance.

If there is a way to maximize profits while keeping operating costs lower you know it is going to happen eventually.

 

[AndiSlamberg]

I believe there is a press release, somewhere or patent release from Disney that states they don't want their guest to pay for the right to a fastpass. I can't remember where I saw it though....

 

[bookwormde]

Here are my thoughts. Opening the parks early and keepeing them open late costs a ton of $$. What it does right now is to give a big incentive to stay on site.

So if they change the incentive to a large number of fast passes (say 10 per day), that cost WDW next to nothing and would likely be as strong or a stronger incentive to stay on site.

Cut 10s of millions of $ from park opperating expenses and loose nothing from WDW's perspective.

 

[zorro77]

I like bookwormde's thinking. Yes, if they can save Millions in a year on payroll for morning staff and allow more time for clean up at night with maybe less staff they can save in many areas. Won't hurt attendance if any and keep resorts at high level.

 

[EagleScout]

I like bookwormde's thinking. Yes, if they can save Millions in a year on payroll for morning staff and allow more time for clean up at night with maybe less staff they can save in many areas. Won't hurt attendance if any and keep resorts at high level.

I agree this seems like an obvious next step- they just have to be careful (which I assume they will) that they do not run afoul of any guarantees they made in strident response to Congressional inquiry letter- i thought they might have said that there will be no charge for using fastpass plus- depending on how they worded it, I guess technically true, but if charging for fastpass "double plus" (ie, extra slots), there could conceivably be an issue-maybe. (Sorry, i am a law geek.). In other news, google play just pushed out a slightly enhanced mde app that is getting "closer" with a "plans" section - that is "supposed" to allow you to link reservations (but did not automatically include my reservations on website mde) and a "notifications" section- presumably to alert of upcoming fastpass plus whenever that happens.

 

[OklahomaTourist]

I agree this seems like an obvious next step- they just have to be careful (which I assume they will) that they do not run afoul of any guarantees they made in strident response to Congressional inquiry letter- i thought they might have said that there will be no charge for using fastpass plus- depending on how they worded it, I guess technically true, but if charging for fastpass "double plus" (ie, extra slots), there could conceivably be an issue-maybe. (Sorry, i am a law geek.). In other news, google play just pushed out a slightly enhanced mde app that is getting "closer" with a "plans" section - that is "supposed" to allow you to link reservations (but did not automatically include my reservations on website mde) and a "notifications" section- presumably to alert of upcoming fastpass plus whenever that happens.

They'll easily skirt any "promises" no to charge for FP+ per se by giving out a token number to every guest for nothing, but providing additional or premium FP+'s only as part of a "bonus" or "deluxe" resort reservation or something similar. Don't think for a second Disney isn't rolling all this out not to monetize it. I fully suspect bathroom FP+'s are next. "Premium" bathroom FP+'s will include toilet paper. "Extra Premium" FP+ will allow two flushes. Washing your hands will take an extra admission off your ticket

(sarcasm off).

And the Android MDE app absolutely sucks. But I also realize its barely a 1.0 version, so I'm hoping it gets better (because there's nowhere to go but up). Finding my reservation and my ADR's could NOT have been less intuitive. Should have been *the* first thing on the home page of the app.

 

[EagleScout]

They'll easily skirt any "promises" no to charge for FP+ per se by giving out a token number to every guest for nothing, but providing additional or premium FP+'s only as part of a "bonus" or "deluxe" resort reservation or something similar. Don't think for a second Disney isn't rolling all this out not to monetize it. I fully suspect bathroom FP+'s are next. "Premium" bathroom FP+'s will include toilet paper. "Extra Premium" FP+ will allow two flushes. Washing your hands will take an extra admission off your ticket

(sarcasm off).

And the Android MDE app absolutely sucks. But I also realize its barely a 1.0 version, so I'm hoping it gets better (because there's nowhere to go but up). Finding my reservation and my ADR's could NOT have been less intuitive. Should have been *the* first thing on the home page of the app.

I did finally find my room reservation-of course, it was in a "my reservation" section of the "more" tab, rather than on the new "my plans" tab. Funny you mention the paying for bathrooms- there was an off-Broadway play a few years ago called urine town. That had exactly that premise due to a water shortage/pollution issue (people had to pay and wait in etwb-type lines just to use bathroom)

 

[SciFi]

Disney has had fast pass for well over 10 years and has not, to my knowledge, ever allowed guests to purchase additional fast passes. I'm not understanding why FP+ would change that. They may very well include a pay for play option with FP+, but why wait? They could have done it long ago.

 

[bcrook]

Disney has had fast pass for well over 10 years and has not, to my knowledge, ever allowed guests to purchase additional fast passes. I'm not understanding why FP+ would change that. They may very well include a pay for play option with FP+, but why wait? They could have done it long ago.

Because it would be a new revenue stream. They could increase profits without bringing in more customers. Part of the plan of getting 20% more out of their existing customers. That has been said in reports and analyses.

If we were limited to 3 FP a day, and I could go to my app and buy three FP+ for my second ride on Splash Mountain - I would do it, and my son would do it. How much would we pay for that benefit? $3.00 each yes, $4.00 each? , $5.00 probably not. It would be so easy though, go to a kiosk search for FP+ available, wave your magic band connected to your credit card and run off to enjoy Expedition Everest one more time. That is much better than paying a huge fee up front for more FP+, pay as you play would probably net more money. That is what they are betting on at the food counters and souvenir shops.

But, I think a better deal for Disney is to use the extra FP+ for incentives to stay on site in some capacity. It is basically a FREE option for them, and if it is as effective at filling up the rooms at Free Dining - think about the bonus there.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

Hey, all...

In reading the various posts about the rumors of EMH going away late this year, plus the advent/rollout of FP+, something occurred to me...

What we've read so far indicates that advance reservations for FP+ will be limited to one park per day, but no more than four within a time frame.

This instantly suggests to me that, at a minimum, they're trying to discourage park-hopping, and constrain the FP+. If the theories that FP+ is part of the reason EMH may go away, it occurs to me that its a perfectly logical reading of the "tea leaves" to suggest that, in the very near future, Disney may actually charge for the ability to "buy" extra FP+ passes. In other words, Disney may have literally figured out a way to monetize waiting in line.

Mind you, this is NOT a "rumor" or "insider info" at all. This is complete speculation based on extrapolating what I've read here into what would be a logical next-step. If non-expiring tickets are going away, EMH is under the gun, and the "advance FP+" system is designed to benefit planners/riders who might be the biggest users of EMH, seems to me only logical that tickets will eventually include FP+'s as a bonus "feature" to be added on. Everyone will get a "base" number with admission, but "extras" (up to a limit) will be an optional feature.

You think Disney would actually do something like this, or is it too out there?

Opinions solicited.

~I don't think Disney will convert FP's to POS (point of sale). I can't believe I am saying this, but I think I would welcome it now. Anyway, I am really excited about FP+, the possibilities are endless! I have yet to see anything credible or even sensible, that would make me not want to use FP+.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

Disney has had fast pass for well over 10 years and has not, to my knowledge, ever allowed guests to purchase additional fast passes. I'm not understanding why FP+ would change that. They may very well include a pay for play option with FP+, but why wait? They could have done it long ago.

~I totally agree with this!!! Very well said!

 

[bcrook]

I am also curious about how Disney sustains the booking of their hotel rooms as they add more DVC. With Grand Floridian coming on board, more and more people are buying DVC. Therefore the hotel room customers are switching to the other style of resort. The more in DVC, the less incentive to get people to stay on site. I am locked in for 43 more years. So, I don't need an incentive.

The attendance of the parks is not increasing overall, so that means there has to be a net loss of regular room bookings every time a new DVC building goes into effect.

Or they have to entice more customers who stay offsite to fork over the extra bucks to stay on-site. How are they going to do that without EMH or Free Dining? There is a plan...

 

[SciFi]

Maybe the big incentive for Disney is to convert the unprepared (those who show up to the Magic Kingdom and are willing to wait 150 minutes for Dumbo) to the more prepared, who with a little help with planning could have a very enjoyable Disney experience and then want to come back for more.

I know if I waited over two hours for a ride and thought that was just what you do when you come to Disney, I would be less inclined to come back.

This may be at the expense of the ultra-prepared Disney guest who has spent numerous hours researching before going, thus gaining an advantage over the unprepared. So, the person I read about on here that usually gets 6-8 fast passes each day of their visit will feel that their experience is downgraded with FP+. But comparatively the number who feel their experience is upgraded will be much larger.

(I actually saw a wait time of 150 minutes for Dumbo last Friday from MDE android! Who would do that??)

 

[Spacedog1975]

For me, no variation on the fast pass theme will ever equal EMH. I have always enjoyed EMH in particular because the general congestion at the park is decreased dramatically. I hope they don't truly consider ditching it. I think the cost-benefit is in favor of keeping the program.

 

[Robbi]

It's my opinion that Disney does want to introduce some sort of pay system for FPs at some point but I think it will be for extra FPs.

 

[bcrook]

It's my opinion that Disney does want to introduce some sort of pay system for FPs at some point but I think it will be for extra FPs.

With every new ride opening, there would be more FP+ to sell. Magic kingdom has enough to give everyone three and some in reserve. Once mine train comes on line, more surplus. If they can get thousands of people a day burning FP+ on restaurants like be our guest lunch - that will loosen up even more.

The other parks need more attractions. Do you think they would sell only at MK to start?

 

[Robbi]

With every new ride opening, there would be more FP+ to sell. Magic kingdom has enough to give everyone three and some in reserve. Once mine train comes on line, more surplus. If they can get thousands of people a day burning FP+ on restaurants like be our guest lunch - that will loosen up even more.

The other parks need more attractions. Do you think they would sell only at MK to start?

It would make sense to start at the MK because it's the park with the most rides.

 

[Alice Royal]

Is it not true that the system retains unlimited FPs within the parks? From what I've heard, you can reserve four FP+ times in advance, but there will still be FP kiosks that dispense electronic FP spots onto the wristbands. It's the same system, just paperless and with the addition of 'reserved in advance' FPs.

If this is the case, I can't see Disney monetizing additional pre-visit FPs. I know that many families do not plan park schedules ride-by-ride and tend to go with the flow of wait times and FP return windows.