Just back - wish they sold Express Passes like Universal

[goofy!]

We just got back from a weekend in Anaheim. Stayed at the Anaheim Marriott for a National Cheerleading Competition.

We were hoping to squeeze some Disney in while we there, but it didn't work out as planned. We purchased the 3 day park hoppers hoping that between the three days and utilizing fast passes, we would be able to do a bit more than we were able to.

Unfortunately, it was crazy busy this past weekend. We knew that was going to be the case with over 4,000 cheerleaders & families in town. Due to cheer commitments (practices, meetings, competitions, etc) we only had several hour blocks here and there to fit things in. We could go for 2 hours, have to be back at the convention center for a couple of hours, go back for an hour, etc.

Due to our tight schedules, fast passes never worked for us. It seemed like the return time was always to far out for us to use them. So, even with extensive planning, with waiting in 40 -50 minute queues, we would only get one or two rides in at a time. We were quite bummed. And yes, I know this is not in any way Disney's fault, but our schedule's fault.

But, that said, As Universal Orlando AP holders, we are totally spoiled with FOTL (front of the line) and Express Pass. Disneyland (not really practical at WDW) could really make a killing if they followed suit and sold booklets of fast passes. The Express Pass books at USF - 1 any-time express pass per ride - sell for up to $50.00 for both parks during the busiest times. I know we would have shelled out just about anything for the opportunity to see more of DL in a limited time frame. And I know that many of the 4,000 cheerleaders & family would have done the same.

As it was, Disney was beautiful, clean and well kept up. I agree with another poster that said that they thought it was better maintained and friendlier than WDW.

 

[Albort]

sorry abour your problems! I hope you still had fun!

Didnt they give the cheer people a night on paradise pier to themselves?

 

[goofy!]

We did have fun. And, as experienced Disney and Universal people, we knew we would probably run into problems with our schedules, so we definitely expected it. However, as it was our very first cheer competition ever, even with extensive planning, we weren't quite prepared for the sheer number of people involved

Some gyms must have arranged for the night on Paradise Pier by themselves (perhaps the California gyms?), as it was not an advertised 'perk' for all gyms. Our gym, even with bringing in over 600 people itself, could not even get discounted 'group' tickets from Disney.

I do feel sorry for the people who went on Monday, April 2. This was the day after the competition and the packed school busses that left our hotel alone probably swamped the lines

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Sorry to hear you weren't able to see as much as you wanted to! I've gone down as a teenager for a convention and once it was over we spent the last day down there at DL. Made things much nicer, that way we weren't running back and forth.

Not sure if I'd like a booklet of any time fast passes at DL. The fast pass line can get pretty long in and of itself the way it is now. If your waiting stand by having a long line of fast pass people can really slow things down on some rides. If people had any time fast passes, stand by would be forever! LOL

 

[goofy!]

Sorry to hear you weren't able to see as much as you wanted to! I've gone down as a teenager for a convention and once it was over we spent the last day down there at DL. Made things much nicer, that way we weren't running back and forth.

Not sure if I'd like a booklet of any time fast passes at DL. The fast pass line can get pretty long in and of itself the way it is now. If your waiting stand by having a long line of fast pass people can really slow things down on some rides. If people had any time fast passes, stand by would be forever! LOL

But, as somebody kindly reminded me in a PM, you can actually use a fast pass anytime after the return time. So, in reality, any already pulled fast pass is an "anytime" fast pass - especially the ones pulled in the morning. With everything going on, I had forgotten that little perk and it probably would have made a small difference in our touring plans.

At Universal, I haven't seen much difference in the Express lines since they started selling the express passes.

I just know that if we had a booklet of fast passes, we would have been able to ride much more than we did. And we would have gladly ponied up much more of our $$$ for them. As it was, Disney didn't get much of our money. All they got was our park hopper tix money. We spent all our allotted time in queues, so there was no time for dining or souvenir shopping. If we could have ridden a few rides with time left over, not only would Disney have suckered us out of lots of money for the fast pass booklet, they would also have sucked even more money out of our wallets as we impulsed bought in the souvenir shops

As for planning a "non-cheerleading" day for Disney, we did. However, schedules changed after airfare and lodging was purchased and our Disney day became a "cheer" day. Not Disney's fault, just Murphy's law. The good news is that the kids weren't too disappointed as we do go down to Orlando on a regular basis. So whatever they missed, they knew they could catch at WDW. We did try to catch the things first that were unique to DL, so that if we did miss things, we could make it up later.

I am just making a comment on what I think would be a great business decision for Disney.

 

[spazzyjazzy]

I am going to have to agree with JenDisneylandlver on her comment. I think There would be an overabundance of people purchasing the front of the line pass and the lines would be the same whether it was the front of the line pass or standby. There probably is more of an attendance to Disneyland then there is attendance for Universal also. I wouldn't invest in a front of the line pass to Disneyland if it was offered. I think it would be more of a pain then a timesaver.

 

[mikayla73]

I am glad you still were able to have a great time.

I agree with the other poster and I wouldn't like it if they charged for FP's. Lots of people go to DL on a budget and having to fork out additional cash for FP's I think it could increase the standby times as the people who could normally use FP and get more things done, will have to be in the standby line waiting. I am sure there are some that could/would pay for FP's, but I think there's just as many or more that couldn't/wouldn't. Using the $50 example, that would be an additional $200 for a family of 4 in addition to the cost of the park hoppers - OUCH!

I have been to US, and thought it was just OK. I wouldn't pay for the FOTL pass there either. Besides and I don't know the numbers, but I think DL gets more visitors than US, although that could just be my opinion as I don't know any actual #'s.

FWIW this is just MHO

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

But, as somebody kindly reminded me in a PM, you can actually use a fast pass anytime after the return time. So, in reality, any already pulled fast pass is an "anytime" fast pass - especially the ones pulled in the morning. With everything going on, I had forgotten that little perk and it probably would have made a small difference in our touring plans.

At Universal, I haven't seen much difference in the Express lines since they started selling the express passes.

I just know that if we had a booklet of fast passes, we would have been able to ride much more than we did. And we would have gladly ponied up much more of our $$$ for them. As it was, Disney didn't get much of our money. All they got was our park hopper tix money. We spent all our allotted time in queues, so there was no time for dining or souvenir shopping. If we could have ridden a few rides with time left over, not only would Disney have suckered us out of lots of money for the fast pass booklet, they would also have sucked even more money out of our wallets as we impulsed bought in the souvenir shops

As for planning a "non-cheerleading" day for Disney, we did. However, schedules changed after airfare and lodging was purchased and our Disney day became a "cheer" day. Not Disney's fault, just Murphy's law. The good news is that the kids weren't too disappointed as we do go down to Orlando on a regular basis. So whatever they missed, they knew they could catch at WDW. We did try to catch the things first that were unique to DL, so that if we did miss things, we could make it up later.

I am just making a comment on what I think would be a great business decision for Disney.

That's true, you can use it after the expire time. I'm not sure how many people know this, however. My guess is that a lot of people probably believe it really does expire after it's time.

Regardless though, they also restrict how many fast passes go out each day. Which is why you hear of Space Mountain running out of fast passes for the whole day at an early 11 am on busy days.

I've never been to Universal Orlando, so I'm not sure how their express lanes work. I just think it would either make the fast pass line very long (with having so many people buying the booklets) that stand by might look good! LOL Or it would make those waiting in stand by be there quite some time. I think the way they do it is pretty fair. I understand when you're there for conventions it can make it hard to see things. I mean we need a good 3-4 full days to see everything we want to! But that's what Disney wants, they want you to spend lots of days there, which means lots of money! If you could see everything in one day, it wouldn't be quite the money maker it is for them!

But I'm glad you guys will be able to make it up at WDW.

 

[arliepooh68]

I personally am glad disney doesn't do that.. when we go to USH we feel nickel and dimed to death . . . gotta pay this if you want to park closer, gotta pay this if you want FOTL, gotta pay this if. . . that is why i love DL, flat fees, no nickel and diming. . .

how was the comp??? any winning???

 

[goofy!]

I personally am glad disney doesn't do that.. when we go to USH we feel nickel and dimed to death . . . gotta pay this if you want to park closer, gotta pay this if you want FOTL, gotta pay this if. . . that is why i love DL, flat fees, no nickel and diming. . .

how was the comp??? any winning???

Much like fast passes, Universal Orlando does limit the amount of booklets sold each day so as to control the queues and not overwhelm them. And I do believe that Universal Orlando has about the same, if not larger attendance than Disney Land. We have never waited more than 15 minutes in a Universal Orlando Express queue, so I don't think the selling of Express passes has impacted the lines that much. It just would have been a nice option to have.

The competition was great - thanks for asking! Our gym brought 8 teams and we ended up with 4 seconds, 4 National champions, 1 spirit award, 1 judges choice award and 1 grand championship. Being as this was our first venture into the cheer world, I am guessing our gym did quite well. But all the teams were so great - I have no idea how the judges can make their decisions!

 

[dohgusgus]

But, that said, As Universal Orlando AP holders, we are totally spoiled with FOTL (front of the line) and Express Pass. Disneyland (not really practical at WDW) could really make a killing if they followed suit and sold booklets of fast passes. The Express Pass books at USF - 1 any-time express pass per ride - sell for up to $50.00 for both parks during the busiest times. I know we would have shelled out just about anything for the opportunity to see more of DL in a limited time frame. And I know that many of the 4,000 cheerleaders & family would have done the same.

But there's a problem to that. If Disneyland sold a booklet of fastpasses, I bet almost everyone would buy a booklet and then there wouldn't be such a thing as FAST pass everyone would be in the fast pass line.

 

[fidoprincess]

Just wondering, did you not know you could use your fastpasses after the time window? We often collect them all morning long and then use them in the late afternoon or evening when it gets busy.

I know that if they sold FOLP at DL, we would buy them! I can't imagine people like us not buying them after paying for airfare, hotel, etc.. if you don't live close by, you want to get the most done for your money! If we were already spending over $2000 minimum to come to DL, we would easily spend more for the FOLP!!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

And I do believe that Universal Orlando has about the same, if not larger attendance than Disney Land.

U.S. Figures for 2006.
1. MK 16.64 Million Up 3%
2. Disneyland 14.73 Million Up 1.2%
3. Epcot 10.46 Million Up 5.5%
4. Disney Studios 9.1 Million Up 5.0%
5. AK 8.91 Million Up 8.6% Biggest % gain in top 10
6. Universal Studios, Orlando 6.0 Million Up ]1.2%[
Note that this conflicts with 2005 figures which show a 6.1 million figure.
7. Disney's California Adventure. 5.95 million. Up 2.1%
8. Seaworld Orlando 5.74 Million Up 2.5%
9. Universal's IOA 5.30 million Down 4.8% Only loser in top 10.
10. Universal Studios Hollywood 4.7 Million Flat.


USO draws less than half of Disneyland. USO and IOA together draw 3 million short of Disneyland. That's not including IOA.

Edit. That should have read "that's not including DCA in Disneyland's figures.

The world figures show MK and DL 1 and 2 with TDL and TDS at 3, and 4.
DLP checks in at #5 and 6,7, and 8 belong to the other 3 WDW parks

 

[mikayla73]

And I do believe that Universal Orlando has about the same, if not larger attendance than Disney Land.

U.S. Figures for 2006.
1. MK 16.64 Million Up 3%
2. Disneyland 14.73 Million Up 1.2%
3. Epcot 10.46 Million Up 5.5%
4. Disney Studios 9.1 Million Up 5.0%
5. AK 8.91 Million Up 8.6% Biggest % gain in top 10
6. Universal Studios, Orlando 6.0 Million Up ]1.2%[
Note that this conflicts with 2005 figures which show a 6.1 million figure.
7. Disney's California Adventure. 5.95 million. Up 2.1%
8. Seaworld Orlando 5.74 Million Up 2.5%
9. Universal's IOA 5.30 million Down 4.8% Only loser in top 10.
10. Universal Studios Hollywood 4.7 Million Flat.


USO draws less than half of Disneyland. USO and IOA together draw 3 million short of Disneyland. That's not including IOA.

The world figures show MK and DL 1 and 2 with TDL and TDS at 3, and 4.
DLP checks in at #5 and 6,7, and 8 belong to the other 3 WDW parks

I just went to look this up too, I couldn't believe that US has even half of the attendance that DL has, and I was right

Congrats on your winnings!