Fastpass vs. Express Pass

[gatorskin76]

Some levels of resorts sell out even at "off" times. This last October we were unable to get a full week at a DVC resort and couldn't fill out the week at a moderate resort (deluxe was a little rich for our blood this go-round and we just aren't interested in the value level).

I really don't think Disney is hurting on filling up the resorts to the point where they'd need to restrict fastpasses to resort guests in order to pull it off. If they were, total attendance would probably be low enough to where you wouldn't need FPs much anyway.

They have been filling hotels with 25 to 42% discounts off rack rate. They seem to slowly backing off discounts, but there are still 30%'s out there. As they continue to try to back off the discounts they may need to add some value.

 

[wehavesix]

We've only been to US & IOA once and maybe we were just lucky but other than the rides for HP, there were no long lines. We debated buying FOTL passes but after talking to a friend who is a local with season passes, we decided to risk just waiting until we got there. I'm glad we did since it would have been a huge waste of money. Plus, DH couldn't ride several of the rides. Man! Did he ever feel cheated! I doubt we will go back any time soon.

 

[shoney]

Universal sells admissions that have unlimited FOTL access, similar to staying onsite. We bought them a few years ago when we were staying in my parents timeshare. It was well worth it! My kids went on the mummy atleast 10 times in a row!!!!

(the one that only gives you 1 per ride wasn't worth it to us)

https://secure.universalstudios.com...ryGroupExternalID=UO&CategoryExternalID=UOVIP

 

[Yoshi]

I prefer Express Pass because you have little to no wait but with Fastpass, you can still wait 15 - 20 minutes for rides even during slower times. Test Track for example has you waiting to get into the pre-show, watching the pre-show and then there is a small line after the pre-show.

 

[dmband]

Enough of the nickel and dime crap that other places do. I love that you can go to Disney World, pay to park (if staying offsite and not a passholder), get your admission, buy your food and just be done with it. There's almost no extra charges. Why complicate the matter?.

Bingo nickel and dining people pisses them off as a whole
You are better off charging $100 and saying you get this stuff free then charging 70 for this and add another 10 you get this but for another 20 you can have this

 

[TLSnell1981]

, but would they get the return ones? I can speak for one family that would visit less often if they did this.

I've been told, over and over, return guests are NOT the target (market). I believe, that is true. They've played out FD, so they need another "bubble". I guess, they're banking on NextGen. Some folks won't like it, but FOTL is popular at Universal.

 

[Mister Skellington]

I'm been mulling this over and trying to figure out why it would upset me so much to lose free fastpasses.

I don't choose to pay to stay club level, and I'm fine not having access to the lounge. I don't resent people who choose to pay for that at all.

So, the best reason I can come up with why I would be very upset if free fastpasses went away is because I have them now. I would not want to lose them and would not pay for them. It may even be enough for me to stop my fairly often trips.

Me too.If Disney does a Universal Express model, I will spend my money elsewhere. It isnt that I can't afford to stay on site to get the perks, I just think the value of my dollar would be better spent elsewhere. I like my Disney trips but spending a ton of extra cash to not have to stand in line isnt my idea of vacation. There are plenty of other places to go. I was torn between Maui and Orlando this year.We chose Orlando. If xpass were in place the choice would have been Maui.

Maybe Bank of America should tell Disney charging more and giving less doesnt work.
Better yet, why not up the admission price 500%, limit the number of guests, and not have FP at all.

 

[Wadecool]

 

[JCornell]

It sounds like most people are missing the point of what FastPass is all about and why Disney created it. Disney didn't create it as a special treat for their guests although they cleverly present it to you that way. If you read about queuing theory and Process Cycle Time, you'd see it's actually a very sophisticated tool to optimize the wait time, and here's the cool part, for all riders. By utilizing Fast Pass they divert people from the StandBy line which lowers the wait time for StandBy and then constantly adjust how many FastPasses they give out throughout the day and length of return time to optimize the overall throughput of the line which translates to a lower avg wait time for all riders. They're constantly tweaking that with this idea in mind. They have a vested interest in this since the shorter your wait time, the less time you're spending in lines which gives you more time to travel between rides which means more opportunities to spend money on food and stuff. It also means you'll be happier and willing to spend more time in the park which again means more opportunity to stay there for all of your meals, shop, etc.

All this said, FastPass already makes them a lot of money without having to charge you a dime for it. If they were to ever move to a pay model, they'd want to be careful that it doesn't undo the benefit they already get. Universal's model is very different in that the Express Pass is a lot more exclusive (not nearly as many people have it) and the result is that it really only benefits the Express users and not the StandBy people who actually end up having longer wait times. This probably drives up hotel revenue and the direct revenue from selling the Express passes but they might be missing some potential revenue from the StandBy people spending a lot of time in line. I can't speak to Universal's model too much but trust me that Disney has a whole lot of IT and data analysis paying attention to how their ride queues function. Also, Universal's model gives a pass for the whole park for the whole day while Disney's model allows them to tweak things on a per-ride basis. That extra control is important to them.

 

[kaligal]

It sounds like most people are missing the point of what FastPass is all about and why Disney created it. Disney didn't create it as a special treat for their guests although they cleverly present it to you that way. If you read about queuing theory and Process Cycle Time, you'd see it's actually a very sophisticated tool to optimize the wait time, and here's the cool part, for all riders. By utilizing Fast Pass they divert people from the StandBy line which lowers the wait time for StandBy and then constantly adjust how many FastPasses they give out throughout the day and length of return time to optimize the overall throughput of the line which translates to a lower avg wait time for all riders. They're constantly tweaking that with this idea in mind. They have a vested interest in this since the shorter your wait time, the less time you're spending in lines which gives you more time to travel between rides which means more opportunities to spend money on food and stuff. It also means you'll be happier and willing to spend more time in the park which again means more opportunity to stay there for all of your meals, shop, etc.

All this said, FastPass already makes them a lot of money without having to charge you a dime for it. If they were to ever move to a pay model, they'd want to be careful that it doesn't undo the benefit they already get. Universal's model is very different in that the Express Pass is a lot more exclusive (not nearly as many people have it) and the result is that it really only benefits the Express users and not the StandBy people who actually end up having longer wait times. This probably drives up hotel revenue and the direct revenue from selling the Express passes but they might be missing some potential revenue from the StandBy people spending a lot of time in line. I can't speak to Universal's model too much but trust me that Disney has a whole lot of IT and data analysis paying attention to how their ride queues function. Also, Universal's model gives a pass for the whole park for the whole day while Disney's model allows them to tweak things on a per-ride basis. That extra control is important to them.

Disney didn't create it at all.

Universal had EP before Disney had FP.

Uni went to a new FP system years ago. Disney will eventually copy that, too. Look like it may be soon.

Disney may "present" the whole thing as their genius idea, but it Uni did it first.

I love Uni's system. You can just walk around the park, riding what you want to ride. Don't have to get up early. Don't have to make a mad dash to THE ride while others making that same dash push and shove you. No running from one side of the park to another to ride stuff or pick up tickets that you bring back during a specified window of time so that you can ride it. No skipping stuff because the line is just too ridiculous and you won't be in the park at the hour the return tickets are being dispersed for. No worrying that the return ticket will be during the hour you have an eating appointment that will cost you $40 to cancel if you want to ride that ride. No crap.

Uni = no hassle. Walk around, ride what you want, when you feel like it.

I like to sleep in, ride the stuff I like, eat, shop, have time for the pool. It's pleasant and relaxing and fun.

That Disney way is not fun. It's work. Too much running around. Too many appointments to keep.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would say that Disney does not mind that you criss cross the park, making separate trips to get fastpasses and use fastpasses. When more guests criss cross the park more will see things in gift shop windows and make impulse purchases. Or grab a Mickey Bar or Dole Whip or something like that*.

Or guests roaming about in a limited area (such as one land at Magic Kingdom) while their fastpasses mature rather than take a hike elsewhere will have ample opportunity to go into nearby gift shops.

The busier the street or boulevard passing by a commercial piece of land, the more valuable that piece of land is for building a store or shopping center on.

* Hmmm. Would Disney make a lot of money selling turkey wings i.e. something similar to a turkey leg but for guests who don't want something that big?

 

[eliza61]

And they have. Honestly, think of the backlash if all of a sudden Disney started charging for FastPasses. I can think of a ton of comments that would be made about it. Universal started out charging for the Express Pass so they can continue. They can increase the price if they want and no one will care.

Disney attempts to treat everyone fairly with a few exceptions. But the fact that Joe Average can go to Disney World, stay offsite, pay the $14/day to park and still be made to feel like he belongs at Disney World without having to endure another $40-$50 per person out the wallet is still, well, Disney.


Enough of the nickel and dime crap that other places do. I love that you can go to Disney World, pay to park (if staying offsite and not a passholder), get your admission, buy your food and just be done with it. There's almost no extra charges. Why complicate the matter?

One of the reasons I don't go to Universal is because of the Express Pass. It's elitist and the hotels are way too expensive to begin with. So do the reverse and you will have people staying away from Universal.

Truthfully disnut, I don't think the back lash would be all the big of a deal.

I think the backlash here would be substantial but remember we are a teeny tiny percentage of guest.

I could see disney offering a cash based express pass. I don't think disney tries to treat every one the same at all. Maybe the access to rides is equal but at the resorts, those who kick out the extra dough get extras. heck, until recently in order to get a decent size bed you had to shell out extra dough.

Personally I have no problem with it and depending on the cost I would shell out the cash for a front of hte line pass.

I don't buy into every one has to have the same. If you can afford a Mercedes that's what you buy, Mercedes does not have to make their cars affordable to everyone. If you can afford to sit first class and that is important to you, then yeah, you get the steak dinner and extra leg room. You pay the extra money, you get the airport lounge.

I have no problem with disney offering a front of the line express pass in addition to the current fp system. So this way everyone can get a fp but if you feel this is some thing you want to kick out extra for you can.

 

[mom2aandj]

Disney isn't at all fair or equal now. There are already "haves" and "have nots" right next to each other in the park. I personally know two families that hired the ultra expensive Disney tour guides this past year, and those guides certainly did more than show them around and fetch fast passes. My friend gave me one example where they were allowed to enter a ride through the fast pass entrance 5 times in a row, while the guests in the standby line glared at them. It's already happening.

 

[seashoreCM]

I don't buy into every one has to have the same. If you can afford a Mercedes that's what you buy, Mercedes does not have to make their cars affordable to everyone. If you can afford to sit first class and that is important to you, then yeah, you get the steak dinner and extra leg room. You pay the extra money, you get the airport lounge..

However if the number of people who bought Mercedes' reduced the number of Chevrolets available to "the rest of us" then the latter would squawk loudly. Or if the number of people who ordered steak reduced the number of hamburgers ...

I could tell a long long story on how the number of people who bought automobiles 80 or so years ago reduced the number of buses and streetcars available to "the rest of the folks" but that would not be appropriate here.

Anyone recall whether, before 1982 when most rides required individual tickets, guests staying at Disney's resorts received any extra E tickets?

 

[eliza61]

However if the number of people who bought Mercedes' reduced the number of Chevrolets available to "the rest of us" then the latter would squawk loudly. Or if the number of people who ordered steak reduced the number of hamburgers ...

I could tell a long long story on how the number of people who bought automobiles 80 or so years ago reduced the number of buses and streetcars available to "the rest of the folks" but that would not be appropriate here.

That's why I put " in addition" to the regular fast pass. leave the current system in place and offer a paid for "front of hte line access" for extra money would not decrease the number available to others.

if some one sees value in shelling out say 100 extra bucks per pass, then they could and if some one thinks that it's a waste of dough they still have the option of using the regular fp.

 

[Ed5781]

This is an interesting read going back down memory lane.
I changed my mind. Bring back free. Lmao.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Zombie thread. Closing.