Rumor: Disney to charge for extra FP+ after Avatarland and Star Wars Land built

[DVCcurious]

I know someone who works at Disney's Corporate Finance area. He works at the corporate office, not at the parks. According to my source Disney wants to charge for FP+ to increase revenue, similar to what other parks are doing. He says the reason they haven't done it is they don't have enough rides that demand FP+ and so there aren't enough FP+ slots to sell.

Basically he said that if they offered FP+ for sale, but they ran out of slots and you couldn't buy the FPs it would be a PR nightmare.

The solution, according to him, is that Disney needs to build more high-priority rides. So once Avatarland and Star Wars Land are built he says they will then start charging for FP+. He says it probably won't be a resort-type benefit, but instead it would be priced in groups: 3 FPs for $15, 5 for $25, unlimited for $50. Those aren't actual prices, just something he said they've been throwing around.

He also said they are going to end free FPs at some point and make people pay for the benefit.

The most important thing to take out of this is he said this is the finance group's long range financial plan concept and these changes would happen towards the end of their 10 year financial forecast. So probably after 2020.

 

[Vidia2]

I know someone who works at Disney's Corporate Finance area. He works at the corporate office, not at the parks. According to my source Disney wants to charge for FP+ to increase revenue, similar to what other parks are doing. He says the reason they haven't done it is they don't have enough rides that demand FP+ and so there won't be enough to sell. Basically he said that if they offered FP+ for sale, but they ran out of slots and you couldn't buy the FPs it would be a PR nightmare. The solution, according to him, is that Disney needs to build more high-priority rides. So once Avatarland and Star Wars Land are built he says they will then start charging for FP+. He says it probably won't be a resort-type benefit, but instead it would be priced in groups: 3 FPs for $15, 5 for $25, unlimited for $50. Those aren't actual prices, just something he said they've been throwing around. He also said they are going to end free FPs at some point and make people pay for the benefit. The most important thing to take out of this is he said this is the finance group's long range financial plan concept and these changes would happen towards the end of their 10 year financial forecast. So probably after 2020.

Thanks for sharing this information! This really sheds some light on the whole situation.

 

[DVCcurious]

My source is not really that high up in the organization. He's a guy I went to business school with and we graduated in 2010, so he's only got 4 years of experience with Disney so it's not like he's close to the CFO. He also doesn't know a lot when I asked him some questions. Like I asked him why they added FP+ to rides that don't need it like the Teacups and he said he doesn't know.

All he knows is that when other companies started charging for fast pass Disney tried to figure out a way to charge for their FP, but their studies showed they didn't have enough rides people would be willing to pay for. So the idea was to start charging after they built a few new major attractions. This is still a long way off and as we know company's change their plans all the time. So there's no guarantee. But as of now their long range financial forecast include revenue for FP+ in the late years (8-10 which is like 2022-2024)

 

[rrali33tt]

I know I shouldn't say this, but I would purchase an unlimited FP for $50. BUT if they do an unlimited package, I want to be guaranteed that I can get on every ride (i.e. there are slots reserved for me for TSM etc.) . I am not sure how they would offer this for multi-day tickets. If it is $50/day that could get expensive. if it is a one time charge per ticket I am all for it. I might even pay $100 for it LOL This would give me so much time to have nice long dinners and do other activities and see shows at night . BUT, what if everyone wants the unlimited? Then there will be waits in the FP line. I think they need to think carefully about how they do this if they start charging...but I suppose they have 10 years to figure it out per the OP.

I don't pay for the regular express pass at Universal as I have gone in the off season. I attend Halloween Horror Nights each year. I pay close to $100 for their "express pass" during that event. This allows me to skip the lines at the haunted houses and all rides that are open in the park for one evening. They scan your ticket at the express line and will only allow you one express run. I went one year without the pass and its a 2-3 hour wait to see the houses. There are only 8 houses and it sucks when you only get through half of them. I hated waiting. It is worth it for me to spend the extra money and do everything I want in one night (then take a shuttle back to DIsney lol).

 

[Lewisc]

So once Avatarland and Star Wars Land are built he says they will then start charging for FP+. He says it probably won't be a resort-type benefit, but instead it would be priced in groups: 3 FPs for $15, 5 for $25, unlimited for $50. Those aren't actual prices, just something he said they've been throwing around.

My source is not really that high up in the organization. He's a guy I went to business school with and we graduated in 2010, so he's only got 4 years of experience with Disney so it's not like he's close to the CFO. He also doesn't know a lot when I asked him some questions. Like I asked him why they added FP+ to rides that don't need it like the Teacups and he said he doesn't know.

Star Wars land hasn't even been confirmed. Any plan which eliminates free FP+ and charges the same price for resort guests and non-resort guests won't be happening (JMO) Too many guests will decide to "pay" for their FPs by saving money staying offsite.

I'll put this in the same category as a rumor started by a bus driver.

Rumors about paying for FPs have been around since Disney first started to offer FPs. I'm sure many ideas for charging have been discussed by Disney.

 

[Disneychick75]

$50 isn't enough money to charge. Too many people would buy it.

 

[DisneyDude71]

Don't see it happening. WDW is not cedar point, manic kingdom has three to five major rides, hs three major rides, ask three major attractions, Epcot two major rides even if the build more rides unlimited would not benefit them. It would cause a vacuum to the major rides. With the detail they put into rides 7dmt enough rides to benefit the guest. Rides wouldn't be done till at least 2030!

 

[rteetz]

First off Star Wars hasn't been confirmed yet. Bob Iger has hinted at it and said they are working on Star Wars for the parks but nothing about a new land coming. While I could see Disney potentially doing a pay for more FP type thing I don't think they would wait until 2020 if they are going to do it they would do it within the next year or so. I also don't see them doing an unlimited FP pass. I could definitely see them having an option to add 1-5 FP to your limit but even that is May mot happen. I am pretty much certain that Disney has probably looked into this option. We will just have to wait and see what Disney does tho.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Star Wars land hasn't even been confirmed. Any plan which eliminates free FP+ and charges the same price for resort guests and non-resort guests won't be happening (JMO) Too many guests will decide to "pay" for their FPs by saving money staying offsite.

I'll put this in the same category as a rumor started by a bus driver.

Rumors about paying for FPs have been around since Disney first started to offer FPs. I'm sure many ideas for charging have been discussed by Disney.

100% agreed!

AKK

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I'm guessing your friend was digging around for some files and came across some proposal/idea map that outlined what this would mean. Think about it, I can scroll through a file directory here at my office and see hundreds if not thousands of proposals that never move forward or morph into something completely different.

Not saying that it's not possible, but as a "newbie" in an organization, it's easy to get caught up in the whirl of the day to day and the general mindset of an organization that produces a lot of ideas with a tight vetting process to make sure only the top ideas ever get green-lit.

 

[Crystal824]

I really can't see WDW doing this. I could see paying for FP above and beyond a certain number that everyone gets, but not paying for them all together.

 

[DVCcurious]

Not saying that it's not possible, but as a "newbie" in an organization, it's easy to get caught up in the whirl of the day to day and the general mindset of an organization that produces a lot of ideas with a tight vetting process to make sure only the top ideas ever get green-lit.

I totally agree with you. As I said my friend is not even at the financial management level. He's more of an excel-jockey type in the finance office. But I asked him about charging for FP+ and he told me they had revenue in the outer years of the 10 year long range financial plan.

 

[tjkraz]

I have no doubt that the bean counters would love to charge extra for FP+. They'd charge for drinking fountains and restroom visits if customers would pay.

What they want and what the market will tolerate are often two very different things. 10 years is an eternity...

 

[Silock]

$50 isn't enough money to charge. Too many people would buy it.

$50/day per ticket is a LOT.

 

[tjkraz]

$50/day per ticket is a LOT.

Purely in terms of $$$, I think it's on par with what others charge. Coaster park Cedar Point charges nearly $100 for their version of unlimited FastPass. That's on top of the approx $50 admission fee.

Disney would be the opposite: $100 admission plus $50 FP.

That said, CP has much more thrilling rides. I'm not an extreme coaster fan myself but it's pretty obvious people are getting a better bang for their buck on the Cedar Point pass (I think they call it Fast Lane.) On a typical summer day, Cedar Point has a half-dozen coasters whose lines can easily run 1-2 hours.

Also, Fast Lane appeals more to teens and young adults. Much more palatable for a single 20-something to pay for one Fast Lane pass as opposed to a family who may have to pay for 4-5 FastPass add-ons at WDW.

Incidentally, Cedar Fair's current CEO is Matt Ouimet...who previously did a multi-year stint as President of Disneyland. It wasn't until Ouimet took over that Cedar Fair really started to aggressively monetize Fast Lane.

 

[anthony2k7]

Well I think we can be fairly sure about a few things here:

• Disney needs to come up with a way to generate some income from billions they've spend on nextgen
• The DVC model of new guaranteed income streams paying for future expansion is seen as a success, so maybe they are looking for ways to apply that to future theme park expansions/capital projects

 

[nickeymouse]

I really hope not...

 

[wiigirl]

I really hope not...

ditto....

 

[Klane64]

If you notice on the commercial it says fast + is free DURING TEST,

 

[tjkraz]

If you notice on the commercial it says fast + is free DURING TEST,

Not quite. It says "stay at select Walt Disney World hotels and enjoy our new FastPass Plus during our test."