FastPass Policy - For Resort Guests Only

[CIA]

While resort guests do have EMH, I have never seen anyone kicked out during the evening part of that program.

So long as it wouldn't be something to add on for a fee (like the dining plan), I would be on board with it. We prefer staying on property anyways.

That's right. People don't get kicked out. They can't go on the rides because they have to show a room key but they can walk the park, eat, and drink, and be merry.

 

[KellyNY]

Off property resorts have huge disadvantages like having to drive around Disney which I don't want to do, no dining plan, no ME, list goes on and on. But people at the values get basically the same perks as those at deluxes and that is not right, not right at all.

Did you completely miss the part of my post where I described hotel amenities, are they same for value and deluxe? You stay on property because you don't want to drive and so on, you stay at deluxe because you want better hotel, am I right? So what special treatment at park you think you deserve staying at deluxe over someone staying at value or someone staying off property? You get exactly what you pay for and nobody really forcing you to do so, right now, as it is, without FPs. You want special treatment, get one of those person guides and feel like royalty bypassing lines.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I don't like this idea. One of my pet peeves of Universal is that their system is for resort guests only. Disney's system is more fair.

 

[CIA]

Did you completely miss the part of my post where I described hotel amenities, are they same for value and deluxe? You stay on property because you don't want to drive and so on, you stay at deluxe because you want better hotel, am I right? So what special treatment at park you think you deserve staying at deluxe over someone staying at value or someone staying off property? You get exactly what you pay for and nobody really forcing you to do so, right now, as it is, without FPs. You want special treatment, get one of those person guides and feel like royalty bypassing lines.

Bottomline is people staying at Disney hotels are putting more money in the hands of Disney than those who aren't. They should be entitled to the best of the best at WDW and that includes Fast Pass advantages.

 

[maxiesmom]

Bottomline is people staying at Disney hotels are putting more money in the hands of Disney than those who aren't. They should be entitled to the best of the best at WDW and that includes Fast Pass advantages.

I don't agree.

Apparently you missed the thread on how the whole fast pass system is flawed and elitest. And how we should all feel sorry for the people who are waiting in the stand by line. No reason to make the divide between the haves and the have nots even larger.

I stay on site more often than off site. But I just don't care that much about fast pass. Gasp!!! I find I can tour quite well without having to get a fistfull. One or two a day is plenty.

 

[KellyNY]

Bottomline is people staying at Disney hotels are putting more money in the hands of Disney than those who aren't. They should be entitled to the best of the best at WDW and that includes Fast Pass advantages.

And I book last minute trip, just few days in advance, therefore paying full price, no discounts, every single trip, so do they have to roll out red carpet when I get off ME or my food should be special somehow since I pay and not on FD. I put more money into Disney trip then many people who travel at the same time, so where is my special treatment?
Bottom line, entitlement is a very bad quality.

 

[Lovehowl]

I'm not very fond this idea either.
There are plenty of priviliges given to those who stay on the resort itself, but little for those who don't.

I think it's nice Disney allows families like mine (Who can't afford to stay on location) to use fast pass.

 

[CIA]

And I book last minute trip, just few days in advance, therefore paying full price, no discounts, every single trip, so do they have to roll out red carpet when I get off ME or my food should be special somehow since I pay and not on FD. I put more money into Disney trip then many people who travel at the same time, so where is my special treatment?
Bottom line, entitlement is a very bad quality.

Depends on where you are staying.

 

[juliebug1997]

That's right. People don't get kicked out. They can't go on the rides because they have to show a room key but they can walk the park, eat, and drink, and be merry.

We were just there in March for some EMH evening hours at MK. We were never asked for our room key in order to ride the rides.

 

[juliebug1997]

I don't like this idea. One of my pet peeves of Universal is that their system is for resort guests only. Disney's system is more fair.

If you aren't staying at one of their resorts, you can pay for it but it's so expensive!!!! Like $45 a day for both parks.

 

[KellyNY]

Depends on where you are staying.

Not according to you. I pay more then other, so I am the queen, right?

Don't you see that your argument got zero logic?

 

[umichigan10]

We were just there in March for some EMH evening hours at MK. We were never asked for our room key in order to ride the rides.

It's kind of random. They sometimes will check, sometimes won't. Maybe they assume all the off property people will think, 'we can't be here now.' and leave.

Either that or Disney can enter your brain and figure out where you're staying instead of actually asking.

 

[juliebug1997]

It's kind of random. They sometimes will check, sometimes won't. Maybe they assume all the off property people will think, 'we can't be here now.' and leave.

Either that or Disney can enter your brain and figure out where you're staying instead of actually asking.

Is that why I'm a Disney-a-holic?

 

[umichigan10]

Is that why I'm a Disney-a-holic?

probably, and this also explains how people keep coming back to see the the same things over and over again with little change. It saves money that way.

 

[danceintherain]

I believe Disney was still raking in incredible profits before the invention of the Fast Pass! I don't think changing the system would deter non-resort guests to stop coming. But really, it's impossible to know until an experiment was done so all we're doing on this issue is making a guess. You think yours is correct, I think mine is correct. Impossible to know for sure.

It's a fact that Disney operates close to capacity most of the year. During certain times of the year, they can charge more than twice as much and still operate at capacity. People pay more money to experience higher crowd levels. Therefore, Disney has no incentive to add any additional perks to resort guests. They must think they are making plenty of money with the current system in place. I'm sure they've run studies to consider switching, but for whatever reason they don't see the appeal.

Basically, you're asking for an additional perk for something you're going to do anyways. That's like handing someone $6000, then trying to haggle. They already know how much money you're willing to spend, so there's no incentive for them to give you anything else.
Disney is trying to appeal to the pocketbooks of the people who are only planning on spending $1000, but might be swayed to spend more by something particularly sparkly in a shop window. Fast Pass has the potential to actually keep these people in the parks longer without anything to do.
For example, at 10am they can either jump in a line for 60 minutes, or get a Fast Pass for 11:30. If they opt for the line, they're in a line for 60 minutes, then they can leave if they wish. If they opt for the Fast Pass, they can either ride another ride, eat something, or walk through a shop. The FP is keeping them in the park. Their potential to spend more money is higher. Resort guests are likely spending the bulk of their time in Orlando at Disney. Non-resort guests could leave and go spend money on International Drive. Disney wants everybody spending money at Disney.
You're right, this is all conjecture, but it makes sense. Disney has happy resort guests who are willing to drop thousands of dollars on their vacation, and they have happy day guests who think they're "beating the system" by using a FP.

 

[bicker]

Why do some people assume that they should receive so many extra perks just because they stay in a Disney hotel?

Nobody made any such assumption. The assumption people have been making is that Disney will probably, eventually, use FastPass priority to enhance the value of their resort offerings, just like they've done with regard to ME, the DDP, and other features. It'll all come down to when Disney sees more money to be made by converting some off-site guest satisfaction into some more on-site guest satisfaction.

Why should it be all resort guests.......why not just Deluxe guests.or DVC guests.........or maybe all resort guests and all florida resid. and peole with shaved heads?????

Perhaps they would see more benefit from just offering such advantages for their more expensive hotels. I think that would have to do with where they see softness in the market. They're building more budget rooms, right now, aren't they? Something like that - a big increase in the amount of rooms they need to fill - could prompt this change, and in this case, it would be budget rooms that they want to fill, so the priority would probably be offered to all Disney resort guests.

Not that it matters, but I don't know of any other benefit offered, other than those that are directly related to the proximity of the resort to the parks, that differentiate between deluxe resort guests and other resort guests. Again, that doesn't matter, but it is interesting, because it might imply that, when the determinations are made, the costs associated with making such distinctions are typically higher than the benefits of doing so.

 

[TisBit]

I love the fastpass debate. As others have mentioned, there are already advantages given to on site guests and if they ever decided to eliminate EMH's, maybe they would consider changing the FP system. We stay on site most times and it wouldn't really affect us.

FP is a public relations icon for Disney. They can and do say, we give you something for free that others restrict. It is a win-win, while some people complain about the system, in the end Disney can say we are trying to help you out. We have given you the ability to make sure you can get on at least one major attraction with a minimal wait vs the old days that during peak periods most major attractions had 120-180 minute waits. Sure there are flaws, but they are minimal and no solution doesn't have those same flaws.

As others have said, I don't feel I must fastpass everying and collect them up for later use. We usually fastpass 2-3 rides a day (the most popular) and use that time savings to get out of the park during the peak periods. Everyone using FP different ways helps to balance the system and also keep crowds down. For our family, we could survive just doing ropedrops/ early EMH...a lot of times the fast pass is just a convenience.

 

[rt2dz]

...to the poster who said we don't get enough for the outragious prices Disney charges for the resorts, I think you are wrong. To start with, I don't think paying under $100 a night for a room is outragious. You can easily stay on property and not spend a fortune. It just depends on what resort you choose.

Secondly, you get quite a few perks now staying on property. Magical Express is a huge perk, as are EMHs and the Dining Plan. As is package delivery to your resort, and the ability to charge everything to your room key. You get quite a few perks by staying at a Disney resort. I don't see where they need to add anything more.

You don't always have a choice to spend under $100 on a room at Disney. If you have more than 4 people in your family, for example. I also believe it isn't fully about what you pay, but what you get for what you pay. I know people love value resorts, but to me, there are just a Motel 8 room. Not worth it. I can pay just a little more, stay in a suite (sometimes nicer than a deluxe disney room) that will fit my family of 6, off site. Not that we always do (We do enjoy being "onsite" when doing Disney only), but we CAN NOT stay at a Disney resort for under $100 per night, no matter what--even if we stayed at a value resort because we would have to have TWO rooms.

I wouldn't call Magical Express a "huge" perk. Magical Express may or may not be a perk. We drive. Definitely NOT a perk. I also wouldn't use it because of the delay in luggage. Then take into account I have an ASD & PSD child and another with just PSD, can't take the chance that it would be "agreeable" to them to use at all. So no perk there.

Dining plan is not really a perk either. First, perks are free and the dining plan is not free. Second, dining plans do not save our family anything anyhow. Even when "free." We eat too much TS for the basic dining plan. However, we don't eat enough for the deluxe dining plan. Not to mention we wouldn't eat all those appetizers and desserts at every meal. Plus, it is a huge waste of credits signature dining and dinner shows are. Nope, just finished out dining plans for our next trip and the dining plan would cost us 12% more than paying out of pocket. Free dining means paying more for tickets, since I can't purchase from a discount ticket broker, which ups our cost. It also means paying for rack rate instead of using a discount code. "Free" dining has always cost us more than not taking advantage of it.

I do agree EMH are a perk, but it isn't one that is overly meaningful to everyone. If you use TGM, you are generally avoiding EMH anyhow. One hour doesn't mean much in the AM; we never use those because I find my kids to be more pleasant if we don't wake them up in the morning. Makes for a much more enjoyable day for us and those around us. Evening EMH depend on how late it is. Hours that go into 1 AM, we wouldn't be there for anyhow. I'd say we only take advantage of EMH 20% of the time it is offered.

I would add that being able to make ADRs +10 days out is a perk too, but not everyone books that far in advance for that to be considered a big perk. Busy, holiday seasons, "free" dining offer time, but not always is it needed.

Disney will, I think, need to add something to their rooms or bring down (at least stabilize) their resort room prices. I used to be ONSITE ONLY, but, not so much anymore. They've hit a price-point in the rooms that fit us that I'm just not as willing to pay as often. And the more we stay offsite, the less I'm willing to stay onsite at those prices. The perks just aren't worth it; they do need to entice me more. And we don't do Disney as much when we stay offsite.

For the actual process of FP for resort guests only as an enticement, I'm sure it can be done in some different capacity than it is now. It couldn't be on tickets. Not every guest buys a package with tickets--AP holders, DVC guests, those that buy from a discount ticket broker, etc. You couldn't put it on a room key because who is to stop you from adding other people (free children) to your room to get extra FP to you hit capacity. There is no way to know what park they are in for the day.

I'm not for FP for resort guests only. Not only because we aren't staying onsite every trip anymore, but because I think free FP for all puts Disney ahead of the curve.

A possibility I see, is to give each guest some bonus FP cards--like we got once when we took a DVC tour. It spit out x amount of fast passes (I think a total of 5 per person) for us to use at any park for an immediate FP within a certain time frame--they could be programmed to last the length of stay. I'm sure they could find a way around the "extra guest" thing--present for delivery?

For my enticement (notice I'm not saying "perk"), I'd prefer more and bigger discount codes on room only reservations.

 

[Planogirl]

Are those who stay onsite always paying more than those who stay offsite?

I can never find them when I travel but people do mention paying less than $100 a night for budget rooms. Sometimes you hear of packages that include a room at a budget hotel complete with park passes and free dining for a remarkable price. By the time we pay for park passes outright and dining OOP, I wonder if we aren't sometimes giving Disney more money.

Park passes are expensive. I can't see requiring people possibly even longer waiting times so that those who will stay onsite anyway get more extras. I don't see this as a wise move by Disney.

 

[raidermatt]

Park passes are expensive. I can't see requiring people possibly even longer waiting times so that those who will stay onsite anyway get more extras. I don't see this as a wise move by Disney.

Exactly, it's a delicate balancing act. They need both groups.

That's probably why they have largely tinkered with other things to offer the needed incentive to stay on site, things that don't have such a negative impact on off-site guests.