How come WDW does not have a express ride line for their Resort guests like Universal

[cgcruz]

Too darn many resorts. Just look at the lines during an Evening Extra Magic Hours were there are hotel guests. EMH evenings just dont work. Now imagine that all day! EMH mornings works because most people are not going to wake up at 6:00am to be at a Park. Now Universal only has 3 high priced hotels, so they arent going to attract the masses.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

Oh, plus - Universal NEEDS the extra enticement to get Guests to stay there. Disney doesn't

Like free dining.........?

 

[MainStMandy]

Ive often wondered if at both parks Uni and Dis if the express lines will ever become as big as the regular ones? Heee, hope not. I always stay on site at U for that perk. When we go to Dis we usually just suck it up on the regular lines, occasionally geet an express pass. But that would be nice. If that happened my fear may becomre realized however, both lines being equally long.

Not if the systems stays the same way, with only a limited number of FP being handed out a day. For a while they were testing not limiting the number of FP held by one guest, but the number handed out per day, per ride would not change. This was tested out EPCOT for a few days last year.

 

[goofie4goofy]

You don't have to stay in a US hotel to get the FOTL perk. It can be purchased as an add-on with your ticket. It is $15 for one park or $25 for both parks.

It is not the same as the resort guest FOTL. It is for 1 day and can only be used once per attraction. Resort guest FOTL is unlimited and for full length of park pass. So for instance you cannot ride ROTM over and over using the FOTL, it is one time one day deal.

 

[dpic]

I don't want WDW to become the have and have-nots. We're all equal parts of the dream inside the park. I prefer it that way. Resort guests have EMH, that's a pretty nice perk.

 

[DOOM1001]

I would love if Disney had unlimited Fastpass for their hotel guests, I just picture it now, Disney Fastpass and hotel guest line for Soarin 2 hours and the regular stand-by line 20 minutes, it would NEVER work!!!!!!

Everything is fine the way it is now,I used to be a huge fan of Universal until they came up with the idea of taking away their free Universal Express program, and it wasn't like I used it often, but the option was there!!! Now you either have to be staying at one of their WAY OVERPRICED hotels or pay around $20 extra.

Disney's FP is great cause everyone has the same opportunity, if some people don't know how to use it, it's not Disney's fault, sure it's not perfect, if you go get a FP for Soarin at 2pm on a very busy day you could be out of luck.But everyone paid their admission to the park and everyone should be equal to the access to the rides, remember hotel guests get EMH hours outside of the park's regular operating hours, which is also a perfect system.So listen people the system isn't broke, not perfect but very fair and I see no reason for any change!!!

 

[madelinesmum]

I saw or read somewhere that WDW resort has the same amount of hotel rooms as NYC, 22,000 or something. I also saw on a show that it was the same size at the city of San Fransisco.

 

[Mono~rail]

It is not the same as the resort guest FOTL. It is for 1 day and can only be used once per attraction. Resort guest FOTL is unlimited and for full length of park pass. So for instance you cannot ride ROTM over and over using the FOTL, it is one time one day deal.

Interesting. DD and I rode ROTM 4 times in a row using our FOTL pass that I purchased. We rode it a total of 5 times. Very interesting.

 

[kaybird]

Answer: Universal thought of it first.

Actually, it was Universals answer to Disney's EMH. We love the perks of staying on property, and the morning hours usually get us well through the most of the rides by 11:30. By then, we don't care about the crowds, we go off and do the less "lined up" of the attractions. Would bet if Disney see it as much of a threat, something else will come along. Witness the "free Dining" in Aug-and Sept...

 

[mill4023]

You don't have to stay in a US hotel to get the FOTL perk. It can be purchased as an add-on with your ticket. It is $15 for one park or $25 for both parks.

Like another poster said, it is not the same because you only get one pass for each ride.
Also, during the crowded times of year when you actually really need the express pass, the prices go up a lot higher. When we were there in March last year, I think they were around $40 for 1 park.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) WDW has thought of several Fast Pass options in the past.
. . . available at resorts before you leave for the parks for all resorts guests
. . . fees for unlimited use or more frequent use
. . . unlimited for club-level guests
2) So far, all have been discounted.
3) They have all been deemed as creating two-tiers of guests.
4) And Disney does not want to turn-off the "average" guest.
5) Of course, WDW could change their mind and implement something.


NOTE: There is a lot of competition for the Florida vacation guest at the moment. The tourist trade is stagnant and not increasing, and all the parks (Universal, Sea World, WDW, Busch) are searching for ways to steal the other's guests. To create a separate class of citizen by changing the WDW Fast Pass could spell a lot of dissatisfied guests who go elsewhere. Disney knows there is a brand loyalty, but the public is finicky and change at a whim which could lose a lot of business.

 

[WillCAD]

Actually, it was Universals answer to Disney's EMH. We love the perks of staying on property, and the morning hours usually get us well through the most of the rides by 11:30. By then, we don't care about the crowds, we go off and do the less "lined up" of the attractions. Would bet if Disney see it as much of a threat, something else will come along. Witness the "free Dining" in Aug-and Sept...

Free dining didn't seem to me to e a response to anything that the competition was doing, it seemed more like an experiment to increase on-site resort bookings during the slack times, which most tourist destinations do, with varying degrees of success. Disney has tried several programs for this reason over the last few years, including the famous discount codes of 2001-2002, AP discounts, and those great 7-for-4 plans where you paid for 4 nights and got 7. Free dining is just the latest in the series.

None of these programs seemed to increase the overall crowd levels in the parks, but the codes and 7-for-4 did increase the percentage of WDW visitors who stayed on-site by a bit, and the free dining seems to be doing so to an even greater degree. Free dining has also had a major effect on the percentage of WDW park Guests who are eating in teh table-service places as opposed to counter service; it became way more difficult this year to get ADRs in September and October than in years past.

Universal's response to free dining has been ticket deals, such as the 10-day unlimited ticket for the price of a 2-day, and a few other miscelaneous sales. Personally, I think discount codes to the Uni resorts similar to those that WDW released in 2001-2002 would have a bigger impact on their bookings.

 

[mill4023]

NOTE: There is a lot of competition for the Florida vacation guest at the moment. The tourist trade is stagnant and not increasing, and all the parks (Universal, Sea World, WDW, Busch) are searching for ways to steal the other's guests. To create a separate class of citizen by changing the WDW Fast Pass could spell a lot of dissatisfied guests who go elsewhere. Disney knows there is a brand loyalty, but the public is finicky and change at a whim which could lose a lot of business.

Perhaps tourism is stagnant overall, but apparently whatever Disney is doing right now is working and whatever Universal is doing isn't. Because Disney attendance continues to go up while Universal's continues to go down.
Eliminating free Express passes certainly didn't help Universal since their attendance was down 15% in the first quarter and they lost 25 million dollars.

 

[penguin087]

I would be happy to pay for an "all day fast pass option" just like we pay for park hoppers. Even if it was only one ride per day on each the fast pass rides. I know it wouldn't be worth it to every one but it would be to me.

 

[GSLand]

Three days at Hard Rock Hotel - Club level. Front of the line on every ride. We made ourselves dizzy riding the roller coasters over and over.
Then ... three days at WDW, very crowded, so FP's were for late in the day if available at all. It was quiet a let down. We won't do it this way again, Universal then WDW.

But ... next trip is for WDW only. That's what the family wants

 

[mill4023]

I would be happy to pay for an "all day fast pass option" just like we pay for park hoppers. Even if it was only one ride per day on each the fast pass rides. I know it wouldn't be worth it to every one but it would be to me.

But don't you understand that by offering paid (or as a perk for onsite guests) all day fast passes, that would make the lines longer for everyone else, including those guests who are on a tight budget and have saved for years to make this trip to WDW? I would really hate to see that happen. I know that people with more money get a lot of things that people with less cannot afford. Obviously, I don't expect the rates at the Poly to be the same as the All Stars. And that's fine. But I don't think that separation into different tiers of guests should continue in the parks.

I think that everyone who pays the park admission should get to have an equally enjoyable experience. Giving all day fastpasses to people who pay more would have a major negative impact on the enjoyment of the parks for those who cannot afford them.

 

[goofie4goofy]

I saw or read somewhere that WDW resort has the same amount of hotel rooms as NYC, 22,000 or something. I also saw on a show that it was the same size at the city of San Fransisco.

You have your stats wrong....NYC has close to 75,000 rooms. WDW is twice the size of Manhattan or about the same size of San Francisco (city). That is total acreage a lot of the property in WDW is still unused.

If NYC only had 22K rooms, there would be a lot more people sleeping on the streets.

 

[DOOM1001]

People are confused about a show on travel channel that says that when Disney's next hotel is finished they'll have HALF as many hotel rooms as as there is in NYC, so people might have heard this and just didn't pay attention to HALF.I think WDW actually has about 35,000 hotel rooms which is about half of the 75,000 someone said NYC has!!!

 

[resol37]

Why... simple. Because Disney has something like 25 resorts with thousands upon thousands of guests - Universal has 3 resorts..... you do the math and see how much time it would save you in line.

I haven't read through all of the comments, but I have to agree with Skylarr29 right off the bat.

With all the resorts that WDW has, the number of guests who stay on property (most likely) outnumber those who stay off-property.

I know little about Universal Studios, but I'd imagine that with only 3 resorts, the same does not apply to them.

If WDW offered Jump to the Front of the Line capabilities to all resort guests, huge lines of resort guests would form at the front of the line, thereby defeating the purpose. The impact on the Standby queue would also be horrible for off-property guests.

As of right now, FastPass is available to any and every guest at no additional charge and that's as fair as it can be.

HOWEVER, the Unofficial Guide does list some options that WDW has included in their FastPass patent. I won't type them all, but...

Front-of-the-line FASTPASS would offer guests the ability to head immediately to the front of the line once per attraction. Curiously, the patent says that this may be offered both for FASTPASS and non-FASTPASS attractions, but we've heard absolutely nothing about this being implemented at non-FASTPASS attractions.

Also in the UG is this quote taken directly from the patent itself...

Spending per guest at hotels can determine different hierarchies of access to FASTPASS. Thus, the more that is spent by a patron, the higher the priority can be for FASTPASS.

 

[Rayn]

Disney has so many hotel guests on property that an express line would probably go slower than a non-express line.