Fastpass return or replacement?

[malba2366]

I do think that Disney needs to provide an advantage to guests and DVC members who stay on site. The prices are 2-3 times what they are outside the gates and what benefits are we currently getting?

The benefits are the extra magic hour and early entry which are returning. I would like to see them do a better restaurant booking reservation window for on property guests. From my understanding they are having no problem booking their hotel rooms at the moment so I doubt they will have any need to incentivize that at the moment.

 

[Lilsia]

I would love to see Disney resorts have a customer loyalty program like every other hotel chain does. Stay so many nights, get free nights, or meals, free parking, etc. They should be rewarding loyal customers.

 

[mrd7896]

So is there a consensus of:
Do we think that a paid fast pass service means that if you do NOT want to pay, you would still wait 2 hours for FOP?
Do we think that those that would pay to guarantee a 10 AM ride of FOP would contribute to lower wait times for those that aren't paying?

I'm not versed enough in the wait times for headliners during the FP+ era because even though i go annually, pre-covid we rope dropped, took advantage of EMH and had our 3 FP+ scheduled so we often didn't need to wait more than 30-40 minutes for anything. I feel like i can picture FOP being 125 minutes MINIMALLY every day (it is currently 130 on the MDE app)

i have gone during COVID but was fortunate enough to go while crowds were still 'low' so wait times were 30-40 MAX

I guess i understand those that like the even playing field that Disney has right now, but i always adored FP+ because i took advantage of it fully. the amount of people that didn't know it was there, free, and could be more than 3 rides a day was actually shocking.

its such a toss up for me in being pro-paid service or not.

i would really need to see the scale of 'this ride costs $X per person, while this ride costs $Y per person' to see what makes it worth it. $18-$20 per person per headliner is crazy (isn't that the highest the Paris scale goes to??)
part of me thinks that i will shell out some $ for one or two attractions per day and take my chance at any other of interest by rope dropping, or simply doing a good old fashion standby queue.

i just know myself and if i can be in control of my day a bit more i will pay..something...for it.

FWIW my next trip is December and we are a group of 12. most adults that go to Disney annually and really know how to tour. 5 of our group haven't been in YEARS (or ever with the youngest being 15) and this will definitely be an attraction heavy trip. so if they don't get on ToT, FOP, etc. they will be very disappointed. If we can GUARANTEE them that chance i would really have to look into it. Even though $10 for a ToT "FP" x 12 in our group is $120 for ONE ride...yikes

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Maximizing its potential is probably the correct phrase.

Not to me though. When you say you maximize the potential of the fuel performance of your car, that affects only you. There is a critical piece that is missing from that, which is that for FP+, although you are maximizing it for yourself, it is often to the detriment of the average Disney visitor. You may not see it that way, but its a critical component to why they are changing it.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I would love to see Disney resorts have a customer loyalty program like every other hotel chain does. Stay so many nights, get free nights, or meals, free parking, etc. They should be rewarding loyal customers.

IN A WAY, DVC is a kind of customer loyalty program (I mean, it's a time share, but it serves as a customer loyalty as well). However, that kind of discount for not work for DVC.

Do we think that those that would pay to guarantee a 10 AM ride of FOP would contribute to lower wait times for those that aren't paying?

Say what? How would paying customers lower the wait time of non-paying customers?

 

[malba2366]

So is there a consensus of:
Do we think that a paid fast pass service means that if you do NOT want to pay, you would still wait 2 hours for FOP?
Do we think that those that would pay to guarantee a 10 AM ride of FOP would contribute to lower wait times for those that aren't paying?

I'm not versed enough in the wait times for headliners during the FP+ era because even though i go annually, pre-covid we rope dropped, took advantage of EMH and had our 3 FP+ scheduled so we often didn't need to wait more than 30-40 minutes for anything. I feel like i can picture FOP being 125 minutes MINIMALLY every day (it is currently 130 on the MDE app)

i have gone during COVID but was fortunate enough to go while crowds were still 'low' so wait times were 30-40 MAX

I guess i understand those that like the even playing field that Disney has right now, but i always adored FP+ because i took advantage of it fully. the amount of people that didn't know it was there, free, and could be more than 3 rides a day was actually shocking.

its such a toss up for me in being pro-paid service or not.

i would really need to see the scale of 'this ride costs $X per person, while this ride costs $Y per person' to see what makes it worth it. $18-$20 per person per headliner is crazy (isn't that the highest the Paris scale goes to??)
part of me thinks that i will shell out some $ for one or two attractions per day and take my chance at any other of interest by rope dropping, or simply doing a good old fashion standby queue.

The waits for certain rides will be long no matter what. With a paid system I see Disney using dynamic pricing to maintain their profits while not letting the standby lines get as long as they used to with fp. Avatar used to get to over 200 mins, 7DMT to 180 mins regularly during peak seasons with fp, Now they are a good amount shorter. If they start selling fastpasses the lines during peak seasons will almost almost certainly be longer than they are right now. Guests will have to recalibrate their expectations, either only go on one or two of the popular rides a day based on time limitations or pay to go on more.

 

[rainyvegandisney]

.

 

[malba2366]

You need to keep in mind that the posted wait times are inflated, especially in the evening. You can avoid going during peak times, both of the day and during the year. Though personally, I paid $20 for a touring plans subscription just to get accurate wait times

How is touring plans getting accurate wait times while Disney can not provide the ? I have found the Disney estimates to be pretty accurate in the past.

 

[BrianL]

How is touring plans getting accurate wait times while Disney can not provide the ? I have found the Disney estimates to be pretty accurate in the past.

It's not that Disney cannot provide them, it's more that sometimes they don't want to. For example, later at night they might keep the numbers a bit higher to encourage fewer people to line up right at closing time.

 

[Mac30188]

How is touring plans getting accurate wait times while Disney can not provide the ? I have found the Disney estimates to be pretty accurate in the past.

Since the values are different, it is clear they use different algorithms. I suspect the problem with predicting waits is all the traffic patterns for all the parks are completely different. I also feel confident that this is a temporary setup and things will change again once a new FP system is implemented. Therefore, if there are inaccuracies, I doubt Disney wants to invest in fixing a problem that will change again once Faspass returns. Just a guess.

 

[mrd7896]

Say what? How would paying customers lower the wait time of non-paying customers?
[/QUOTE]

hence the question that i'm wondering about.
if a bucket of people won't be clogging up the queue because they have a return time at 4 PM, that whole bucket of people will be elsewhere in the park, not bombarding the attraction when it opens...specifically how FP+ worked and how Disney used to be able to monitor things.

so my point in the question was, when FP+ was a thing, people would argue that waits were sooooooo much worse because of the FP queue. and now people are saying that without FP+ the wait times typically feel a lot shorter because there is no other queue getting priority

i was curious if 'rides have longer lines when FP is open' is a common opinion/thought

 

[malba2366]

Say what? How would paying customers lower the wait time of non-paying customers?

hence the question that i'm wondering about.
if a bucket of people won't be clogging up the queue because they have a return time at 4 PM, that whole bucket of people will be elsewhere in the park, not bombarding the attraction when it opens...specifically how FP+ worked and how Disney used to be able to monitor things.

so my point in the question was, when FP+ was a thing, people would argue that waits were sooooooo much worse because of the FP queue. and now people are saying that without FP+ the wait times typically feel a lot shorter because there is no other queue getting priority

i was curious if 'rides have longer lines when FP is open' is a common opinion/thought
[/QUOTE]

It is semantics. The rides do not have shorter waits on average because previously fp riders had a much shorter wait than standby riders. But the waits are absolutely shorter now than they were for standby riders when fp was available.

The paid fastpass system could result in lower standby waits than the previous fp system since fewer people will elect to pay for fp than to take them when they were at no added cost. Paid fastpass will almost certainly not lower standby waits lower than they are now with no fastpass.

 

[Narcoossee11]

So it appears that DPA at Disneyland Paris will soft launch on Aug 3 & 4th. Full launch on Aug 5th.

Even though I am strongly in camp “DPA won’t work for WDW”, if we use the same announcement and implementation pattern assuming Oct 1st is the target launch of whatever WDW’s new system will be….

That would mean an announcement the week of Aug 30th, soft launch Sept 29th & 30th, full launch Oct 1st.

OK...... Why is there not more comments about the PARIS System. Do You not realize some form of the pay for play is coming to ORL. info was interesting to see how many FP's you can purchase each day per each ride.

Like it or not FP's as we have known it is changing.

 

[mrd7896]

OK...... Why is there not more comments about the PARIS System. Do You not realize some form of the pay for play is coming to ORL. info was interesting to see how many FP's you can purchase each day per each ride.

Like it or not FP's as we have known it is changing.

that's what im saying! talking now with the other adults in our december trip and thinking about a potential of MINIMALLY $9 per person per headliner is pretty nutty!

 

[krybandt]

FWIW my next trip is December and we are a group of 12. most adults that go to Disney annually and really know how to tour. 5 of our group haven't been in YEARS (or ever with the youngest being 15) and this will definitely be an attraction heavy trip. so if they don't get on ToT, FOP, etc. they will be very disappointed. If we can GUARANTEE them that chance i would really have to look into it. Even though $10 for a ToT "FP" x 12 in our group is $120 for ONE ride...yikes

The thought of having to pay $10 per ride per person - which may be low or not in the realm of possibilities - is what scares me. If a family of four were to buy 3 rides each day of a 7 day ticket, that's $840 versus $0 with the old system. Buying one FP a day at that theoretical price seems more doable, but the benefit from skipping one wait doesn't seem like enough to save the rest of the day.

If it's that expensive I'd imagine few would be willing to pay (??) and maybe standby lines would be more manageable without as many coming through with FP. It's still hard to imagine being excited about a trip knowing we'd have to RD every day, cut back on downtime at the resort, and that we still might not get to ride all of our favorites. It could have the effect of making parks less crowded because I know we would stop going.

 

[Mac30188]

OK...... Why is there not more comments about the PARIS System. Do You not realize some form of the pay for play is coming to ORL. info was interesting to see how many FP's you can purchase each day per each ride.

Like it or not FP's as we have known it is changing.

The problem is Disney has a demonstrated pattern of treating parks differently. I agree in there is a good chance paid FP are coming in some form, but it is unlikely to be that exact system. Since Disney has released no details at all on what the Orlando system will look like, it is extremely speculative at best until we get some nugget of knowledge. It's like looking at a white sheet of picture and guessing what an artist will paint. What we really are desperate for is some official communication that gives us something.

 

[malba2366]

OK...... Why is there not more comments about the PARIS System. Do You not realize some form of the pay for play is coming to ORL. info was interesting to see how many FP's you can purchase each day per each ride.

Like it or not FP's as we have known it is changing.

A lot of people on here are fans of the old fp system.

 

[snikki]

I mean really…why haven’t they brought FP back yet?

People are still going in massive numbers and spending the money without FP. Disney doesn’t need to bring it back. It’s not hurting them.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

OK...... Why is there not more comments about the PARIS System. Do You not realize some form of the pay for play is coming to ORL. info was interesting to see how many FP's you can purchase each day per each ride.

Like it or not FP's as we have known it is changing.

Mainly because we don’t know what the WDW system will be. Disney Premier Access is already live in Shanghai and has been for FOUR YEARS. Pricing for Paris isn’t exactly newsworthy as it is pretty similar to Shanghai.

And for about the millionth time: we don’t know a paid system is being implemented in Orlando. We don’t know anything about FastPass+/FastPass for WDW and won’t until they make an announcement.

I still strongly believe we will see a hybrid system. Something that offers some level of “free” FastPasses based on Resort level, AP status, DVC membership etc…with the option to buy MORE passes. I don’t believe we will see strict pay to play at WDW. But I don’t know that and I’m not saying “WDW will have a hybrid system” in the same factual manner that others are stating “WDW will have a paid system”.

The only thing we know for sure is that we know nothing about what FastPass will look like in the future at WDW.

 

[ellbell]

Not to me though. When you say you maximize the potential of the fuel performance of your car, that affects only you. There is a critical piece that is missing from that, which is that for FP+, although you are maximizing it for yourself, it is often to the detriment of the average Disney visitor. You may not see it that way, but its a critical component to why they are changing it.

Every had the opportunity to maximize the potential of FP+ it wasn't a secret. So if it was detrimental to some people it's because they didn't research it and tbh whenever I spend that kind of money on anything I research it because I need to know what I'm spendingy money on. You don't go and throw down 5000 on a used vehicle before researching it and doing your due diligence either. So for everyone it is maximizing the potental of FP+.