Disney guests to skip ride lines with new plan

[Sherry E]

Oh, I agree we're all ruminating at this point. But extras like you mentioned here are really GREAT ideas for property guests. For their prices, Disney needs to show me "more" to make a stay really magical.

The thing is that when they do show "more" to make the stay magical after they decide which of these options to go with, they will be charging much more than they've already been charging. They won't be adding stuff onto the existing lofty prices - that's the only problem. So I'm not sure how that will fly with people who have already avoided staying onsite because of the crazy rates.

It will be very interesting to see how it all unfolds and how people respond when and if any of this stuff comes to pass!

 

[Dobie]

I could see a scenario where a hotel guest would go online and select fastpasses, one for each two hour window, from the list of available fastpass attractions. Then, in the park that day, there would be fastpasses available for other guests to go to the fastpass machines and get the leftover fastpasses.

If you think about it, their are probably only about 6 or 7 thousand resort hotel guests on any given day, out of 35,000-50,000 park guests? There is no way that there is enough hotel guest traffic to make a significant dent in the fastpass distribution experience for other guests.

Anyway, I would probably shell out another five hundred bucks per vacation to not have to stand in line, because I tend to go less frequently and pay a lot anyway.

 

[ludari]

I just heard about this on the local news so I immediately checked the boards so see what was going on and happy to see members are on top of things.

From what I heard and read I like the idea of going on-line to reserve a spot for certain rides and dinning so I'm excited about the whole idea.

 

[Susie63]

One of the things that was mentioned in my survey as being "considered" (again, that's the operative word) by Disney for the hotel bookings was "Fast Passes for everyone in the party." They are also "considering" one World of Color Fast Pass for everyone in the party, too. They are also considering a free character meal, a free counter service breakfast, a souvenir mug, choice of hotel, ability to get a full refund upon cancellation, MM, some other stuff I am forgetting, etc. These would all be included with the higher priced rooms or packages, not with the PIN code rooms or anything like that- IF they implement these changes, that is.

This is what annoys me about the "proposed "changes to staying onsite. If you stay in a non discounted room you can get a free character meal....whoop de doo....$100 max .....cheap o souvenirs.....MM...isn't that included with your park hopper anyway....or free fastpassess
and the best one...the ability to choose your hotel....aaahhhh...and if you opt out for the discounted room it will be like Disneyland has merged with Hotwire

 

[Sherry E]

This is what annoys me about the "proposed "changes to staying onsite. If you stay in a non discounted room you can get a free character meal....whoop de doo....$100 max .....cheap o souvenirs.....MM...isn't that included with your park hopper anyway....or free fastpassess
and the best one...the ability to choose your hotel....aaahhhh...and if you opt out for the discounted room it will be like Disneyland has merged with Hotwire

Oh no! Hotwire!

Yeah, see, that's kind of what I was thinking - some people will not find that stuff worthwhile. If they were to add in all that stuff and not hike up the existing prices/rack rates, then maybe it would be a more appealing deal. But I think they are going to raise hotel rates somewhat in general, and then add in a bunch of stuff, and then take away stuff from the PIN code & other discount rooms, etc. At least that is the way it appeared to come across in this survey.

But maybe not. Maybe they won't get that extreme with it, hopefully. I'm crossing my fingers that they will be able to strike a nice balance/happy medium for everyone. Hopefully they will think hard before they implement any major changes. But it's looking as though they will probably offer the guests a choice - 'get this package or room for XXX price and get all these perks or take the much less expensive room for XX price (which is already expensive) and lose the flexibility and privileges you are used to.' And perhaps they will throw in a middle tier offer as well.

It should be very fascinating to see this all unfold over time, for better or for worse! I just wonder if DLR is trying to put these changes in effect later this year or next year, when DCA's work is complete. Right now, the Disneyland Hotel is still under construction. Large chunks of DCA are being worked on. It doesn't seem like this year would be the most sensible time to start tweaking the hotel bookings. Next year would make more sense. And 2013 would make the most sense, but I doubt they will wait that long.

 

[TheColtonsMom]

See our master plan was to stay offsite again in October use the MM on our parkhoppers then upgrade to our APs. Then as AP holders we could use the discount to finally do the hopefully completed DLH and get our MM by staying onsite for our spring 2012 and fall 2012 trips. I imagine at least by the fall 2012 trip whatever the new stuff is it will be in place as I agree with SherryE that they will probably dovetail the changes with the opening of Carsland that summer. I hope we can at least avoid the changes on our spring trip.

 

[minjo]

My family doesn't let me plan once we get to the gates. I can plan for certain meals, like Character Meals or Blue Bayou, but other than that we like to go with the flow.

 

[Mugglemama]

So, if I'm understanding correctly regarding FP's....IF any of these changes were to be implemented at some point, then those paying premium prices for onsite hotel/packages would be able to reserve all the FP's they wanted for the times they wanted, before ever arriving at the resort, and then what...."regular" park guests just get whatever happens to be left?

If this is the case, and IF it heavily impacted the return times of FP that were available to those not paying premium prices, it would really affect whether or not we decided to keep going to Disneyland each year. With 4 kids, there's just no way I'm going to shell out thousands of dollars every vacation if our FP access is heavily affected. Personally, I wouldn't be willing to wait in super long lines (if no FP's were left), or to have to wait 6 or 7 hours for delayed return times (due to earlier ones all having been snagged by premium-paying guests).

I can see how it would be great to be the ones being able to snag up all those early FP's, without even having to run for them upon arriving at the park. I'm just not willing to shell out the crazy amount of money that would be required for that "perk", and I'm not willing to have my vacation (which already costs thousands of dollars...) altered because of it, either.

I realize other theme parks already charge for their version of a FP, so it doesn't surprise me that Disney would try to suck more money out of people for their FP program. It would just be a disappointment to those of us who are not willing to spend any more on our Disney trips than we already do. I'd be far more willing to do something non-Disney with my vacation money every year, personally.

 

[Dobie]

I just don't think that this would have a huge impact on FP availability, because there are not that many DLR onsite hotel rooms, especially when compared to 50,000 a day park guests overall. . .

 

[Mugglemama]

I just don't think that this would have a huge impact on FP availability, because there are not that many DLR onsite hotel rooms, especially when compared to 50,000 a day park guests overall. . .

I sure hope that turns out to be the case!

 

[jernysgirl]

But who's to say that this vacation FP will only be exclusive to on-property guests? It is all speculation right now, but I suppose that it could available to anyone just like dining reservations are open to anyone, or it could be open to anyone who books a package with Disney (open property or good neighbor). It is so hard to tell at this point, but I do think that it has the potential to affect the FP in the park.

 

[Sherry E]

But who's to say that this vacation FP will only be exclusive to on-property guests? It is all speculation right now, but I suppose that it could available to anyone just like dining reservations are open to anyone, or it could be open to anyone who books a package with Disney (open property or good neighbor). It is so hard to tell at this point, but I do think that it has the potential to affect the FP in the park.

Thats kind of what I was thinking. They (Disney planners and strategizers) are just tossing things around now, trying to find a workable plan (workable to them, anyway), getting feedback. They probably have a general idea of where they want to go with all of this stuff, and maybe it is becoming a clearer vision as time passes, but if they do not intend to implement this stuff for a while - like next year or even 2013, let's say - there's lots of time for adjustments.

 

[brenda1966]

Has anyone who stayed in a "good neighbor" hotel on a package been sent the survey? I'm guessing not, which indicates to me that these perks are for onsite guests only.

I was sent the survey for my stay at WDW, where I think a larger percentage of people stay onsite. I was not thrilled with some of the implications of the survey and I hope my answers reflected that to Disney!

 

[Sherry E]

Has anyone who stayed in a "good neighbor" hotel on a package been sent the survey? I'm guessing not, which indicates to me that these perks are for onsite guests only.

I was sent the survey for my stay at WDW, where I think a larger percentage of people stay onsite. I was not thrilled with some of the implications of the survey and I hope my answers reflected that to Disney!

The survey that I got (and I assume the same one that LisaInCalifornia and others have gotten) was very specifically about staying onsite at one of the DLR hotels.

Maybe they have a totally different survey for Good Neighbor guests, or it's only the bookings for onsite folks that they are interested in tweaking. I'm guessing that if Good Neighbor guests had received surveys mentioning these considered changes for the future, we would be hearing about it.

 

[Susie63]

Perhaps we should start a new thread that deals with just the hotel issue. I would but I am a thread killer... I am really surprised that more people who stay on site haven't chimed in on this, as I am sure most people book with the discount.

 

[newmouse82]

I just read the post on Disney Blogs and then read the replies there and they are not too positive there either ( out of 26 comments I think 20 were negative). Hopefully they take all this into consideration before moving forward with the project.