Disney , please don't do this...

[drstrangelove]

don't charge for any FP+ , EVER , and don't give extra FP+ to guests staying at any of your resorts , or Annual Passholders , or anyone for that matter .
In addition , can you please allow 4 FP+ for the MK ? I believe 3 is fair for the other three parks (at least for now) however because the MK has so many more attractions available it should get an additional FP+.

I truly do not understand why people feel this way. I mean people seem fine with Disney charging insane over prices for park tickets, food and hotels, but if they want to offer you another item for a cost, this is the one that people get upset about. Its a business. If the public will pay for something, why should they not charge for it.

I suspect they will always keep the 3FP system free, but that the will offer more or other perks for more money or deluxe hotel guests.

For me, I say bring ont he charges. I gladly pay it at Universal and love the result.

 

[OtherScott]

Yeah how dare Disney reward people that spend more money!

This is like the post complaining about all the magical amazing perks that DVC members get.

Given that Disney had never treated FP as a perk for onsite guest, isn't the OP merely asking them to treat FP+ similarly?

 

[morethananyonex]

Given that Disney had never treated FP as a perk for onsite guest, isn't the OP merely asking them to treat FP+ similarly?

FP+ is not an onsite perk. Additional FP+ and length of booking window may be over time, we don't know. How is additional FP+ for resort guests a wildly different concept than additional park hours for resort guests?

 

[CarolynU]

I truly do not understand why people feel this way. I mean people seem fine with Disney charging insane over prices for park tickets, food and hotels, but if they want to offer you another item for a cost, this is the one that people get upset about. Its a business. If the public will pay for something, why should they not charge for it.

I suspect they will always keep the 3FP system free, but that the will offer more or other perks for more money or deluxe hotel guests.

For me, I say bring ont he charges. I gladly pay it at Universal and love the result.

Disney is a business and a ruthless one at that. If they thought that they could get away with charging $10000+ per night for a deluxe with unlimited FP+ and a reduced scale for other catagories without it affecting their attendance they would.
If offisters could get nothing without paying extra on top of their ticket price and they would still come they would. That's for sure.
They are now looking at their data and working out exactly how they can maximise this new system for their own profits. What is the guest cut off point where people will no longer come or it will negatively effect their experience so that they won't return. That's the $60,000 question.

That will be the point that the trial will be concluded and there are any number of adjustments that they could make even on a seasonal basis.

I have the $$$ to pay to play as another poster said, but for me I just don't like the concept as the legacy FP just gave everyone the same experience whatever your income bracket once you had paid your ticket cost. I found the onsite extras enough. I understand that I'm in the minority though.

 

[Planogirl]

FP+ is not an onsite perk. Additional FP+ and length of booking window may be over time, we don't know. How is additional FP+ for resort guests a wildly different concept than additional park hours for resort guests?

It's different because more passes would have to be issued which would logically slow down standby lines even more. Since offsite visitors would end up in standby lines more then their park experience would certainly change. EMH doesn't have the same effect.

Again capacity makes the difference IMO. Universal has more capacity to satisfy the three resorts they have. We have visited Universal several times and have yet to buy Express passes. We've never needed them because we know how to tour. If we ever do need them it's nice that they are available though. I hope to have similar touring plans for the Disney parks eventually but of course if those don't work there is nothing available for purchase to help with the lines. At least not yet.

 

[OtherScott]

I don't know why some people keep getting stuck on Disney giving more to people who give them more. They've always done it, it's not new. I don't know if they will give more to onsite guests or not (besides the booking window) I have arguments for both ways. Either way, it shouldn't be surprising if Disney does choose to shape this in a way that rewards people for onsite stays. They are a business, they want the extra money from a family staying onsite all other things equal.

Probably because they never did it with FP.

It's unreasonable to think that Disney did not consider whether or not giving preferential treatment to onsite guest when they rolled out FP in the first place and concluded (based on actions) that it was not in it's best interest.

Maybe the calculus has changed. Maybe the value of other perks they could offer onsite guests then is less than they can offer now, so using FP+ as an onsite perk makes sense now.

It's certainly reasonable to question why.

 

[morethananyonex]

It's different because more passes would have to be issued which would logically slow down standby lines even more. Since offsite visitors would end up in standby lines more then their park experience would certainly change. EMH doesn't have the same effect. Again capacity makes the difference IMO. Universal has more capacity to satisfy the three resorts they have. We have visited Universal several times and have yet to buy Express passes. We've never needed them because we know how to tour. If we ever do need them it's nice that they are available though. I hope to have similar touring plans for the Disney parks eventually but of course if those don't work there is nothing available for purchase to help with the lines. At least not yet.

The capacity is what makes me think this won't happen for a long while. Especially because the recent surveys have them offering extra FP+ with no mention of a fee to anybody. It's hard to see how they could do all that, and charge for FP+ and give extra to resort guests.

I don't see an issue with the concept itself though. Offsite guests are effected by morning EMH too. That's an entire hour where onsite guests have the ability to get in the parks and enter the lines before they do. Evening EMH tend to draw large crowds before the park closes, also effecting offsite guests. Again, I don't see the idea of extra FP+ for resort guests as hugely different. Do I think it's likely to happen in the near future? Probably not, given what we know about how FP+ is currently working.

 

[OtherScott]

FP+ is not an onsite perk.

Yes, I know. The OP was just asking for things to stay the same wrt onsite/offsite (no difference in treatment).

How is additional FP+ for resort guests a wildly different concept than additional park hours for resort guests?

It's not. It's just different than they way Disney has historically treated FP (no difference between onsite/offsite or level of onsite accommodations).

 

[morethananyonex]

Probably because they never did it with FP. It's unreasonable to think that Disney did not consider whether or not giving preferential treatment to onsite guest when they rolled out FP in the first place and concluded (based on actions) that it was not in it's best interest. Maybe the calculus has changed. Maybe the value of other perks they could offer onsite guests then is less than they can offer now, so using FP+ as an onsite perk makes sense now. It's certainly reasonable to question why.

Of course it's reasonable to question why.

It's not reasonable IMO to act as if charging for a service is a despicable act that Saint Walt would never have considered, and would never have happened in the past.

 

[Planogirl]

The capacity is what makes me think this won't happen for a long while. Especially because the recent surveys have them offering extra FP+ with no mention of a fee to anybody. It's hard to see how they could do all that, and charge for FP+ and give extra to resort guests.

I don't see an issue with the concept itself though. Offsite guests are effected by morning EMH too. That's an entire hour where onsite guests have the ability to get in the parks and enter the lines before they do. Evening EMH tend to draw large crowds before the park closes, also effecting offsite guests. Again, I don't see the idea of extra FP+ for resort guests as hugely different. Do I think it's likely to happen in the near future? Probably not, given what we know about how FP+ is currently working.

I can see that morning EMH would affect early crowds. We always stayed away from the park that offered morning EMH when we stayed offsite. Actually we usually missed it when we were onsite too because we hate getting up THAT early.

I guess that evening EMH didn't seem to be as big a deal though. People seemed to arrive later and by then we would have all of our rides done and were just in the park to wander and see shows. Of course, FP+ could change all of that easily.

 

[johde]

don't charge for any FP+ , EVER , and don't give extra FP+ to guests staying at any of your resorts , or Annual Passholders , or anyone for that matter .
In addition , can you please allow 4 FP+ for the MK ? I believe 3 is fair for the other three parks (at least for now) however because the MK has so many more attractions available it should get an additional FP+.

Of course you know almost all of this has happened at Disney at least temporarily under FP-. 2 I know of are:

1. In 2011 DL gave extra FP's to all onsite guests. These FP's were also available to be used at select attractions that didn't have FP return lines in addition to the regular FP attractions.
2. At WDW, extra FP have been given away at various times for taking the DVC tour.

I don't see Disney selling extra FP+'s since they are talking about giving additional Same Day FP+'s after using some or all of your initial allotment. That being said, there are several thing that they could do now that everything is "behind the scenes". For example, if there are only a few FP+ slots left, the system may let them be booked by an onsite guests, but if an AP who has FP+ed the ride 10 times in the last month tries to book it it will come up as "unavailable". Or Deluxe onsite guests have no tiers and everyone else has tiers during prebooking. With FP+ my choices as an onsite guests could be different than yours as an offsite guests. They've already hinted that offsite guests would be initially given FP+ times more spread out in the day "because they are more likely to stay in the park all day", where onsite guests would be more bunched together "so they would have time to go back and enjoy the resort.

 

[ArwenMarie]

The capacity is what makes me think this won't happen for a long while. Especially because the recent surveys have them offering extra FP+ with no mention of a fee to anybody. It's hard to see how they could do all that, and charge for FP+ and give extra to resort guests.

Let's say they want to give one bonus FP a day to all of their deluxe customers. They will just take them from the FP pool at 60-30 days and then whatever is left at 30 days will be left.

As far as that survey, even if they do put that functionality in, I don't think they will care what is left to pick through on the day of. Some days there will be stuff, some days there won't, depends what rides you like, etc.

I do think there is a limit to what they can do though wrt selling and giving bonus FPs and I'm sure there is massive amounts of data analysis going on right now to figure it out

 

[sonofanarchy]

Thank you. I have grown so tired of everyone knowing what Walt would do. Walt was many things, including a shrewd businessman, and he had a team of very shrewd/brilliant businessmen behind him. The only thing I am sure of is that Walt, today, would be a superior spokesperson than Disney's current chief, Iger, who has all the charisma of an old gym sock.

Walt himself was not a shrewd businessman. He was anything but. He had no problem with the company being shrewd, but that was left up to his brother and the board. He was a terrible businessman himself.

 

[OtherScott]

Of course it's reasonable to question why.

It's not reasonable IMO to act as if charging for a service is a despicable act that Saint Walt would never have considered, and would never have happened in the past.

I agree. I was more focused on the OP.

My view is that if Disney is going to apply FP+ differently than it did FP (wrt to distinctions about where guests stay) it might have helped if they named it something entirely different.

 

[NavyDad]

Probably because they never did it with FP.

It's unreasonable to think that Disney did not consider whether or not giving preferential treatment to onsite guest when they rolled out FP in the first place and concluded (based on actions) that it was not in it's best interest.

Maybe the calculus has changed. Maybe the value of other perks they could offer onsite guests then is less than they can offer now, so using FP+ as an onsite perk makes sense now.

It's certainly reasonable to question why.

There will tweaks and mods to the FP system going forward but I don't see them going to a pay for more plan or even get more for staying deluxe.

Neither of those were in their best interest before and probably wouldn't be going forward. It is in their best interest to have the MOST people use the system a little bit MORE. It is not really in their best interest to have a SMALLER number of people using the system a whole lot more.

Legacy Fastpass was step 1 and Fastpass Plus is step 2 on what could be a long path to a completely virtual queue. Disney has much more incentive to get more people to queue virtually than less people to queue virtually more often.

 

[OtherScott]

There will tweaks and mods to the FP system going forward but I don't see them going to a pay for more plan or even get more for staying deluxe.

Neither of those were in their best interest before and probably wouldn't be going forward. It is in their best interest to have the MOST people use the system a little bit MORE. It is not really in their best interest to have a SMALLER number of people using the system a whole lot more.

Legacy Fastpass was step 1 and Fastpass Plus is step 2 on what could be a long path to a completely virtual queue. Disney has much more incentive to get more people to queue virtually than less people to queue virtually more often.

Pretty much.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Disney has already long offered guests who pay more to get something extra.

I have stayed at all the Disney resorts, and like nearly all of them. they all have pros and cons, but seriously? Why would anyone pay for a deluxe resort, deluxe dining, park hopping, onsite hotels, etc., if they did not feel they were getting something extra?

No matter what 'extras' you choose, you do get something in return. The base level experience has long been terrific.

But being able to buy little extras is part of what makes Disney such a universally appealing experience. Would celebrities go if they could not buy extra perks? Would less affluent guests go to WDW if they did not feel they were getting something great?

I've seriously done WDW at many different price points. I don't like paying something for nothing (the new cc dining holds, potential to be charged as a no show) but otherwise, I kind of LIKE that I can buy which extra perks I want. Sometimes we eat in the food courts, sometimes we eat at signature dining locations. We get to mix up our choices based on our preferences.

There are a few things I don't love. In the past, Disney rewarded it's base pretty well. The more you knew about WDW- from experience- the more you got little free perks. As much as I love the DIS...it is part of the problem. The internet means first timers can research all those little perks that were once reserved for repeat visitors.

 

[DisneyFive]

Just to throw my $0.02 in as well.

I'm very much against charging extra for FP's, especially when the old paper FP system worked the way it was for years and years.

The "FP" at Universal is very expensive ($35-50 per person per day or so). For a family of 5 on a week long trip, well you do the math!

I don't want to pay what we've been paying for our Disney vacations $$$ AND for FP's.

Onsite, offsite, annual pass, IMO should all have the same FP+ privileges.

If I'm going to pay more for something, and expect more, it will be for the resort amenities, food, etc. NOT for enjoying the park attractions.

Dan

 

[MadToad]

Walt himself was not a shrewd businessman. He was anything but. He had no problem with the company being shrewd, but that was left up to his brother and the board. He was a terrible businessman himself.

I respectfully disagree...
His ability to listen to others alone demonstrates a degree of business sense few have.

 

[Hannathy]

I respectfully disagree...
His ability to listen to others alone demonstrates a degree of business sense few have.

I agree with you! Knowing what you don't know or do well and knowing to hire people to do that job and listen to them is a good businessman.