Fastpass return or replacement?

[mercuryvenus]

What business has a model that doesn’t want repeat customers?

I mean I get it. Disney may focus on attracting first timers but you can’t say they don’t want any repeat business. It’s not like first time guests get a ton of perks to attract them. In fact, most of the perks actually tend go to repeat guests. Although I would agree those perks are being stripped away little by little - which is likely because the margins are not as high for repeaters. But trust me, Disney needs some level of repeat visitors to utilize their capacity. If only first time visitors went to Disney world over the next 12-months, Disney would be seriously hurting.

Exactly. I can’t think of any first time visit perks.

 

[DVCcurious]

Exactly. I can’t think of any first time visit perks.

I got a free button. Seriously, I told a CM it was my first visit and they gave me a button. This was in 2010.

Does Disney want repeat visitors? Yes! Does Disney want first time visitors? Yes! Are first time visitors more profitable on a per-visit measurement? Probably! Are there enough first time visitors to make Disney as profitable if they got rid of their repeat visitors? No way Jose!

Every entertainment business wants a mix of both first timers who spend more per day and repeaters who consistently add profitability to a company. Let's compare this to baseball. Does a baseball team want people to buy Season Tickets? Of course. Do they also want people who go to one game per year? yes. The one-timers will buy a hat or sticker or something where the season ticket holder won't. But the stadium isn't full (unless you're in Boston) every game so the team can accommodate both customer types.

This is the idea with annual passes with blackout dates around Christmas and Easter. Disney wants repeat visitors, but only to fill up the space when there aren't enough first timers.

But to tie this into the FastPass discussion here's this anecdote:

We go to WDW once per year. In February 2020 we went to Disneyland (we were on that side of the country). Now, Disneyland doesn't really have on-site accommodations (they do, but it's very expensive and there's a billion offsite hotels that are literally closer than the onsite hotels). They also don't really have sit-down nice restaurants (it's nothing like WDW in the dining area). So Disney makes their money from tickets rather than lodging or expensive table service. This also levels the playing field between annual passers and regular ticket guests because neither is staying at a Disney hotel and neither is paying $270 for Be Our Guest (that's what it cost my family of four in July 2021).

So what does Disneyland do? They charge for MaxPass. Disney offers a free fastpass service that works exactly like Disneyworld's paper FP system except you scan your phone at the attraction and get a return time on your phone to show the CM. You can get a new FP every two hours but you have to physically be at the ride you want the FP for. Now, MaxPass costs $30 per day per person. So for our family of 4 it was $120 per day X 4 days = $480. That is real money that we spent that an annual pass holder would not have spent. What did we get for the $30 per day? With MaxPass you can book a new FP every 90 minutes and you can book it on your phone from anywhere in either park. You can be at California Adventure and book a FP for Space Mountain.

I'm sure Disney is looking at something like this for WDW. But I'm also sure there's a reason Disneyland got a Maxpass system and Disenyworld got a FP+ system. So maybe MaxPass wouldn't work with a 40/60 mix (or whatever the season pass vs regular tickets is at WDW)

 

[Aprilshack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1424649939225767939

Take with a huge pinch of salt.

 

[DJJimmy9]

THIS IS ALL UNCONFIRMED!!!!

However, the following is out there from a couple of sources that the new version of FP for WDW will be announced soon (this month). Supposedly the implementation will be October 1st or soon after.

All of these options will be implemented at the same time as a replacement to fastpass:

Lightening Pass - Paid entry into the fastpass line (much like the Paris model)

Lightening Pass Plus - Costs more than LP but straight to the front of the line

Genie Basic - Free but only allows you to book a time to join the standby line. Once in the standby line you have to wait the same as everyone else.

Genie Favourite Attractions - Free and allows you to identify a specific number of favourite attractions. You then 'may' receive an alert informing you when the standby line is low. Only some folks will receive that message though so the attraction isn't overloaded.

Genie Plus - Paid customised touring plans, much like those already offered by the Touring Plans website.

Standby - (most but not all attractions) - traditional walk up and wait.

Boarding Groups - Will continue for ROTR and will be the only way to ride Ratatouille when it opens.

 

[qwerty2k]

so they took a hard look at what was already a complicated system for a lot of people and thought if they layered on even more cryptic terms and rules that it may help the average guest navigate it

 

[BrianL]

so they took a hard look at what was already a complicated system for a lot of people and thought if they layered on even more cryptic terms and rules that it may help the average guest navigate it

Yeah, if that is what they go with, I don't like it at all!

 

[Marionnette]

THIS IS ALL UNCONFIRMED!!!!

However, the following is out there from a couple of sources that the new version of FP for WDW will be announced soon (this month). Supposedly the implementation will be October 1st or soon after.

All of these options will be implemented at the same time as a replacement to fastpass:

Lightening Pass - Paid entry into the fastpass line (much like the Paris model)

Lightening Pass Plus - Costs more than LP but straight to the front of the line

Genie Basic - Free but only allows you to book a time to join the standby line. Once in the standby line you have to wait the same as everyone else.

Genie Favourite Attractions - Free and allows you to identify a specific number of favourite attractions. You then 'may' receive an alert informing you when the standby line is low. Only some folks will receive that message though so the attraction isn't overloaded.

Genie Plus - Paid customised touring plans, much like those already offered by the Touring Plans website.

Standby - (most but not all attractions) - traditional walk up and wait.

Boarding Groups - Will continue for ROTR and will be the only way to ride Ratatouille when it opens.

I'm sure that a complex system like that is exactly what a first-time visitor wants to navigate. Why does everything with Disney have to be so complicated? I really hope this system has no basis in truth.

 

[Stephy811]

Yeah, if that is what they go with, I don't like it at all!

Same. What is the point of the genie favorite? Surely if a person is savvy enough to navigate all this they can figure out how to monitor wait times for their favorite rides and jump in line when it drops…seems silly…especially if just based on posted waits which haven’t been accurate anyways.

 

[Scott R. Scherr]

Disney Dish with Jim Hill & Len Testa broke it all down on today's podcast.

 

[cakebaker]

THIS IS ALL UNCONFIRMED!!!!

However, the following is out there from a couple of sources that the new version of FP for WDW will be announced soon (this month). Supposedly the implementation will be October 1st or soon after.

All of these options will be implemented at the same time as a replacement to fastpass:

Lightening Pass - Paid entry into the fastpass line (much like the Paris model)

Lightening Pass Plus - Costs more than LP but straight to the front of the line

Genie Basic - Free but only allows you to book a time to join the standby line. Once in the standby line you have to wait the same as everyone else.

Genie Favourite Attractions - Free and allows you to identify a specific number of favourite attractions. You then 'may' receive an alert informing you when the standby line is low. Only some folks will receive that message though so the attraction isn't overloaded.

Genie Plus - Paid customised touring plans, much like those already offered by the Touring Plans website.

Standby - (most but not all attractions) - traditional walk up and wait.

Boarding Groups - Will continue for ROTR and will be the only way to ride Ratatouille when it opens.

One of the major complaints I read here is that you have to have years of experience to use FP+ Effectively. At least now people can see what complicated really is.
Nothing on that list interests me at all except the lightening pass options and what they’re going to cost.

 

[Lisse24]

THIS IS ALL UNCONFIRMED!!!!

However, the following is out there from a couple of sources that the new version of FP for WDW will be announced soon (this month). Supposedly the implementation will be October 1st or soon after.

All of these options will be implemented at the same time as a replacement to fastpass:

Lightening Pass - Paid entry into the fastpass line (much like the Paris model)

Lightening Pass Plus - Costs more than LP but straight to the front of the line

Genie Basic - Free but only allows you to book a time to join the standby line. Once in the standby line you have to wait the same as everyone else.

Genie Favourite Attractions - Free and allows you to identify a specific number of favourite attractions. You then 'may' receive an alert informing you when the standby line is low. Only some folks will receive that message though so the attraction isn't overloaded.

Genie Plus - Paid customised touring plans, much like those already offered by the Touring Plans website.

Standby - (most but not all attractions) - traditional walk up and wait.

Boarding Groups - Will continue for ROTR and will be the only way to ride Ratatouille when it opens.

Yeah, the overworked nature of this leaves me skeptical that this is what Disney is moving towards. Still, I can squint and *almost* see a system that works. I imagine this is likely partially correct but has some old info mixed in.

 

[emilymad]

So can you use a Lightening Pass with a Boarding Group?

Why does Disney make things so complicated??? And the names, they really couldn't come up with something better....

 

[snowwhite84]

How much stock do we put into the $50 RotR rumor?

 

[NJlauren]

I don’t really see how the lightning plus would work, where do they enter? Are they going to just walk past everyone have a CM pushing them threw?

Also how is genie basic any different then just entering the stand by line?

im going to check out the podcast mentioned above casue I’m lost… and I consider my self pretty knowledgeable on FP+

 

[emilymad]

Sadly I would happily pay $50 for RotR to not do the stupid 7am thing when you still might not get to ride. Actually I think $50 would be kind of a steal for this.

 

[mercuryvenus]

So can you use a Lightening Pass with a Boarding Group?

Why does Disney make things so complicated??? And the names, they really couldn't come up with something better....

These are all unconfirmed rumors.

 

[New Mouse]

So can you use a Lightening Pass with a Boarding Group?

Why does Disney make things so complicated??? And the names, they really couldn't come up with something better....

Only on the third tuesday of the month when the moons of gall align.

 

[jujubiee4]

All i care is how much is any of this going to cost? And why so many layers? Looks like they are
trying to hit up everyone from the budget conscious to the deep pocket guest and everyone
in between.

 

[cakebaker]

Sadly I would happily pay $50 for RotR to not do the stupid 7am thing when you still might not get to ride. Actually I think $50 would be kind of a steal for this.

I’m pretty much a sucker for any add on they throw out there but $50 per person for 1 ride? That’s a hard no for me. I’ll take my chances with the VQ for free. We got 2 out of 3 tries last week, both bg’s under 10.

 

[Garyjames220]

THIS IS ALL UNCONFIRMED!!!!

However, the following is out there from a couple of sources that the new version of FP for WDW will be announced soon (this month). Supposedly the implementation will be October 1st or soon after.

All of these options will be implemented at the same time as a replacement to fastpass:

Lightening Pass - Paid entry into the fastpass line (much like the Paris model)

Lightening Pass Plus - Costs more than LP but straight to the front of the line

Genie Basic - Free but only allows you to book a time to join the standby line. Once in the standby line you have to wait the same as everyone else.

Genie Favourite Attractions - Free and allows you to identify a specific number of favourite attractions. You then 'may' receive an alert informing you when the standby line is low. Only some folks will receive that message though so the attraction isn't overloaded.

Genie Plus - Paid customised touring plans, much like those already offered by the Touring Plans website.

Standby - (most but not all attractions) - traditional walk up and wait.

Boarding Groups - Will continue for ROTR and will be the only way to ride Ratatouille when it opens.

do you think you will be able to purchase them in advance or on the day only