Disney , please don't do this...

[disneynutz]

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

So the park down the road is charging $35 - 50 per person and getting it, do you really expect Disney to give them away for free? The concept of fast passes is changing, I am sure that Disney has all kinds of ideas on how to make money from them including using them to control crowds.

Bill

 

[DVCcurious]

Walt would have signed up for Obamacare.

But seriously...

Why did Disney invent Fast Pass?

So that guests wouldn't have to wait in line.

And what does Disney want guests to do with that time they would've spent waiting?

They want guests to buy things.

So what is the solution?

Give guests a fastpass as part of every purchase in the gift shop or character meal. The more expensive the item or food, the more fastpasses you are given.

You buy your kid a stuffed Dumbo? Boom, fastpass for the family included.

You take your kids to Cinderella's Royal Table? 3 fastpasses for the family!

They catch you eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you brought in from home? They take away one of your FP+s!


This is the way to keep the original intent of Fast Pass intact.

Disney invented Fast Pass for one reason, and one reason only: to get people to spend more time and money in the gift shops. Those princess wands aren't going to sell themselves people!

 

[NavyDad]

So the park down the road is charging $35 - 50 per person and getting it, do you really expect Disney to give them away for free? The concept of fast passes is changing, I am sure that Disney has all kinds of ideas on how to make money from them including using them to control crowds.

Bill

Disney has given them away for free for a long time because FP is actually a completely different animal than the express pass from UO. Disney uses FP as a virtual queue. Basically it is more efficient for a person to reserve a time to come back to a ride either in person at a kiosk or on an electronic device than to simply stand there waiting for their turn.

Right now UO uses theirs as basically just a simple upcharge for the benefit of skipping lines at random. It is not a queueing system at all. That up-charged benefit would soon not be a benefit with the high use and demand that FP has. That is part of the reason UO does not use it for FJ. As UO grows even more with the expansion of HP and building more resorts I would not be suprised to see them eliminate or completely change their express pass.

 

[Bullseye]

I'm not Disney's defender. I just call it like I see it. FP+ sucks, but that doesn't mean everything Disney does does as well. I take my kids out all the time to local parks, venues, etc. Disney, by comparison, is a bargain.

Honestly, when I saw you and Crostofer disagreeing I thought maybe there was a chink in the armor for "Team FP+ Sucks".

Was thinking this might be an opportunity to lure you back to Team Pixie Dust

 

[*disgal*]

Walt would have signed up for Obamacare.

But seriously...

Why did Disney invent Fast Pass?

So that guests wouldn't have to wait in line.

And what does Disney want guests to do with that time they would've spent waiting?

They want guests to buy things.

So what is the solution?

Give guests a fastpass as part of every purchase in the gift shop or character meal. The more expensive the item or food, the more fastpasses you are given.

You buy your kid a stuffed Dumbo? Boom, fastpass for the family included.

You take your kids to Cinderella's Royal Table? 3 fastpasses for the family!

They catch you eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you brought in from home? They take away one of your FP+s!


This is the way to keep the original intent of Fast Pass intact.

Disney invented Fast Pass for one reason, and one reason only: to get people to spend more time and money in the gift shops. Those princess wands aren't going to sell themselves people!

 

[PaulaVonSchweetz]

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.

This!!!

Seriously

 

[Rip]

While I agree, the Uncle Walt stuff is silly, Walt was far from a business man. Roy was a business man. If Walt ran the business side of things, WDW would probably not exist. Walt was a perfectionist.

As for bleeding customers dry, not entirely accurate. I always hear people complain about how much they charge for a bottle of water. It's $2.50. Try getting that at your local movie theater. It's a theme park, not a retail store. For their quick service food, Disney happens to be a heck of a lot cheaper than your local Six Flags.

Yes, the Deluxe Resorts are priced super high. However, that's a choice some people choose to make. No one is being forced to pay for a view of the Castle.

This. The man went bankrupt multiple times before partnering up with Roy.

 

[Rip]

Disney has given them away for free for a long time because FP is actually a completely different animal than the express pass from UO. Disney uses FP as a virtual queue. Basically it is more efficient for a person to reserve a time to come back to a ride either in person at a kiosk or on an electronic device than to simply stand there waiting for their turn.

Right now UO uses theirs as basically just a simple upcharge for the benefit of skipping lines at random. It is not a queueing system at all. That up-charged benefit would soon not be a benefit with the high use and demand that FP has. That is part of the reason UO does not use it for FJ. As UO grows even more with the expansion of HP and building more resorts I would not be suprised to see them eliminate or completely change their express pass.

You do realize that express at UO was originally free and exactly like the old FP system, yes? The reason they changed it was because they could. Disney doesn't have the capacity to both keep "free" FPs available and sell additional ones.

 

[Minniesgal]

I agree...I would pay for unlimited FP and upgrade resorts for more perks.

Me too

 

[Nancy F]

I hope the opposite. I would love to get extra for being a resort guest, and I would even more like to be able to pay for an unlimited front of line pass like you can at Universal. I'd pay in a second.

Me Too!
Nancy

 

[Planogirl]

Eh, someone commented that WDW is such a great value over other parks like Six Flags. Our local Six Flags is actually a fabulous deal if you go often. They have ridiculously cheap season passes, meal deals and all kinds of specials to make the prices more palatable. However I wouldn't say that Six Flags is anywhere close to as nice unless you're a coaster fanatic.

That aside, I did like the comment a PP made about another park charging for fastpass so why would Disney continue to give them away for free. Why indeed. I can see some type of pay to play system being implemented very gradually over time.

I still don't agree that resort level should have much bearing on this though. You pay for a pass, you get to play in the park like anyone else.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

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

Just out of curosity....what resort amenities would you be willing to pay more for? Disney resorts are already at a VERY high premium in comparison to their offsite counterparts.

A familiar refrain on these boards are that people "are only in their rooms to sleep - they go to Disney to spend time in the parks". I would think that adding value to park time would be worth the upcharge vs. fees for more resort amenities than many would not take advantage of (perhaps you are the exception.....while it doesn't seem like it sometimes, I am sure there are some folks out there that do include some resort time into their vacations).

 

[mefordis]

My prediction is they will begin charging for FP+. They are already getting people accustomed to long waits and longer lines before pulling the trigger.

My guess is it will be an option for people to buy or to stay Deluxe and get free. Or maybe not - maybe just to buy. There would be plenty of people who would pay for it. PLENTY. The reasoning is they are already spending 10k on a trip - what is a $x more for to allow them to spend less time in lines.

Look at Disney's track record. They have taken advantage of making money at every turn. And there will be plenty of buyers of the FP+. I predict they will sell out on a daily basis.

 

[DisneyFive]

So the park down the road is charging $35 - 50 per person and getting it, do you really expect Disney to give them away for free? The concept of fast passes is changing, I am sure that Disney has all kinds of ideas on how to make money from them including using them to control crowds.

Bill

No, I don't want them to charge for FP's AT ALL! Just because they can, doesn't mean they will. We can at least hold out hope right?

Just out of curosity....what resort amenities would you be willing to pay more for? Disney resorts are already at a VERY high premium in comparison to their offsite counterparts.

A familiar refrain on these boards are that people "are only in their rooms to sleep - they go to Disney to spend time in the parks". I would think that adding value to park time would be worth the upcharge vs. fees for more resort amenities than many would not take advantage of (perhaps you are the exception.....while it doesn't seem like it sometimes, I am sure there are some folks out there that do include some resort time into their vacations).

To your question "What resort amenities would you be willing to pay more for?" Not many. That's why I said "if". We've stayed at values and mods while at Disney and have been more than happy with that.

Sure, you could pay to have FP's. ...but paying for FP's would be paying for something that I got before for free!(rolled into the ticket price) FP's to me are a very important part of our park enjoyment (not standing in lines all day.) My point is that Disney has included this in the price of admission since FP was started. As I said before, just because they CAN charge for it, doesn't mean they will or should.

Dan

 

[Thumper_Man]

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.

If I stay offsite and pay out of pocket for signature dining for a week, can I also get more? I'm spending more money after all.

I just don't see Disney going for this, at least not overtly.

Ok. I usually bite my tongue when it comes to these threads but I agree with you Planogirl.

How does someone onsite know they're spending more money than me if I'm staying offsite? Just because you paid more in lodging? Did any of these people stop to think I may be spending more on dining and shopping than they are?

 

[oliviaik]

I just get sick at the the thought that people staying on site somehow deserve more FP than someone staying off site. You are paying more in general, yes, but you already get perks for doing so. You get a whole different feel at a Disney resort than you do off site. That is worth something to people. In general, you get better pools, although there are a few off-sites with competitive ones. You get better scenery and landscaping. You get a much more convenient location close to the parks. You get unique dining options at the resort. You get services such as merchandise being delivered to your room. You get to use your Magic Bands to charge purchases to your rooms. You have kids clubs and babysitting offerings available. YOU GET ACCESS TO MORE HOURS IN THE PARK RIDING RIDES THAN OFF-SITE GUESTS. The perks of staying at a resort should be limited to the quality of the resort itself. Otherwise, the in-park experience should be the same for all guests. I have a feeling that some people would keep advocating for more perks for only on-site guests even if on-site guests were given 8 exclusive hours per day in the parks and off-site guests only had 4 hours that they could visit. I mean, after all, the on-site guests did pay more for their rooms. . .

 

[Rebekkap]

I just get sick at the the thought that people staying on site somehow deserve more FP than someone staying off site. You are paying more in general, yes, but you already get perks for doing so. You get a whole different feel at a Disney resort than you do off site. That is worth something to people. In general, you get better pools, although there are a few off-sites with competitive ones. You get better scenery and landscaping. You get a much more convenient location close to the parks. You get unique dining options at the resort. You get services such as merchandise being delivered to your room. You get to use your Magic Bands to charge purchases to your rooms. You have kids clubs and babysitting offerings available. YOU GET ACCESS TO MORE HOURS IN THE PARK RIDING RIDES THAN OFF-SITE GUESTS. The perks of staying at a resort should be limited to the quality of the resort itself. Otherwise, the in-park experience should be the same for all guests. I have a feeling that some people would keep advocating for more perks for only on-site guests even if on-site guests were given 8 exclusive hours per day in the parks and off-site guests only had 4 hours that they could visit. I mean, after all, the on-site guests did pay more for their rooms. . .

That's capitalism for you - if you can pay more, you get more. I don't see why the in park experience "should" be the same for all guests. It's not some sort of moral imperative.

 

[jade1]

but paying for FP's would be paying for something that I got before for free!(rolled into the ticket price)

Not if they charge for FP+ on future expansions.

 

[sonofanarchy]

My prediction is they will begin charging for FP+. They are already getting people accustomed to long waits and longer lines before pulling the trigger.

My guess is it will be an option for people to buy or to stay Deluxe and get free. Or maybe not - maybe just to buy. There would be plenty of people who would pay for it. PLENTY. The reasoning is they are already spending 10k on a trip - what is a $x more for to allow them to spend less time in lines.

Look at Disney's track record. They have taken advantage of making money at every turn. And there will be plenty of buyers of the FP+. I predict they will sell out on a daily basis.

Not trying to sound like a know-it-all, but I said this the day they announced FP+. It makes perfect sense to add it as a feature to purchase on your ticket.

I don't see why people think this would be so shocking. If they've got the audacity to charge you for a No Expiration option, this is nothing.

 

[sonofanarchy]

I just get sick at the the thought that people staying on site somehow deserve more FP than someone staying off site. You are paying more in general, yes, but you already get perks for doing so. You get a whole different feel at a Disney resort than you do off site. That is worth something to people. In general, you get better pools, although there are a few off-sites with competitive ones. You get better scenery and landscaping. You get a much more convenient location close to the parks. You get unique dining options at the resort. You get services such as merchandise being delivered to your room. You get to use your Magic Bands to charge purchases to your rooms. You have kids clubs and babysitting offerings available. YOU GET ACCESS TO MORE HOURS IN THE PARK RIDING RIDES THAN OFF-SITE GUESTS. The perks of staying at a resort should be limited to the quality of the resort itself. Otherwise, the in-park experience should be the same for all guests. I have a feeling that some people would keep advocating for more perks for only on-site guests even if on-site guests were given 8 exclusive hours per day in the parks and off-site guests only had 4 hours that they could visit. I mean, after all, the on-site guests did pay more for their rooms. . .

The bolded aren't perks. Those are things any hotel would give you for charging more money. As for EMH, while considered a perk, it's a joke. 1 hour in the morning. Big deal. The park is mobbed and not all the rides are open.

I'm shocked that people think it's "unfair" for Disney to offer more perks like more Fastpasses to onsite guests. Universal has done it for years, and they've just gotten more successful.