MaxPass / Digital Fastpass - Discussion Thread

[KatieCharlotte]

Just to put any rumors to bed, the article states that FP will only be available when you are in the parks and warns to check FP availability before purchasing MaxPass. I think it is logical to assume that the increase in FP availability, achieved through removal of the minimum wait times, was in preparation for MaxPass. I will be curious to see if FP demand really goes up, or whether MaxPass is only purchased by people who are already heavy FP users. (This is very different than FP+ being made free and easy for all WDW resort guests.) It sounds like all FP will be pulled from the same pool. There's also no reason to think that MaxPass users can't alternatively pull FP the conventional way -- subject to the usual limitations and no double-dipping -- now that FPs are entirely tied to each person's park ticket.

 

[StarlitNight05]

Wow, only Signature Plus and not Signature?! I suppose it's not surprising, but very irritating.

Nonetheless, I am excited to see how this all plays out next week. Should be interesting...

 

[Winnowill]

I really don't get the point of not including it for signature APs who already have photos included.

Agree. It makes no sense at all.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Wow... very disappointed by these announcements. Even though Signatures already have photopass included in their AP, we don't get MaxPass included, lowering the value when we buy MP. Also you can buy it for $75 for the CURRENT life of your pass, so if your expiration date is coming up (as mine is) it's not worth it to buy it. I really don't get the point of not including it for signature APs who already have photos included.

Seems like a market test to me. Frankly if they had added it to the Signature APs I would have expected a $40-$80 price increase to take effect the same day. Disney seems to be holding off on the annual price increase for the Signature and Signature Plus APs this year still. It has been 21 months since the last price increase on the top tier APs which for Disney seems shockingly long to me. Doing the maxpass as an add-on helps them gauge what people are willing to pay and how many are willing to pay it. Then when they are ready to do the next price increase, they can decide whether to keep it as an add-on cost or to wrap it in and force everyone to pay for it whether or not they would or could use the service.

ETA: Including it on the Signature Plus APs still doesn't make up for that price difference if you don't plan to visit during the Christmas/New Year's holiday, so it's not an incentive to upgrade but feels like a special gift to those who are already choosing to pay the premium to have the top tier pass, almost like a thank-you gift, which is how I've always looked at the photopass add-on from when they split out the Premium Pass 21 months ago. I'm guessing not a lot of Premium level passholders were hankering after photopass. It was just a special bonus to help soften the blow of the big changes and price increases.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Wow... very disappointed by these announcements. Even though Signatures already have photopass included in their AP, we don't get MaxPass included, lowering the value when we buy MP. Also you can buy it for $75 for the CURRENT life of your pass, so if your expiration date is coming up (as mine is) it's not worth it to buy it. I really don't get the point of not including it for signature APs who already have photos included.

Feeling the same way right now. Why not at least prorate the cost for anybody who's already in their AP year. At $75x 6 for us, I can't see us getting it. I'll have to watch over the next few weeks how regular FPs are working for people and see if we can still do what we want that way. So frustrated right now.

 

[DLgal]

Wow, only Signature Plus and not Signature?! I suppose it's not surprising, but very irritating.

Nonetheless, I am excited to see how this all plays out next week. Should be interesting...

I guess that CM I talked to at Guest Relations a few weeks ago was right. Just Sig+ and Premiere get Max Pass included.

I'm not buying it. $75 per pass translates to $300 extra. To not be lazy. Nope...we will just keep walking to the rides to get our FP.

 

[ashley0139]

I will probably try it out for fun one day at the $10 price, but I won't be getting the $75 unlimited version when my pass expires at the beginning of September.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Feeling the same way right now. Why not at least prorate the cost for anybody who's already in their AP year. At $75x 6 for us, I can't see us getting it. I'll have to watch over the next few weeks how regular FPs are working for people and see if we can still do what we want that way. So frustrated right now.

Disney doesn't prorate annual pass upgrades, so it's not surprising they won't prorate this. Since there is daily pricing though, you can get your prorate that way. Until you want to use it more than 7 days the $10 per day per person pricing is better, so for those who are already deep into their pass year and want the service, that's an option. I personally will want to see how this system works and if the benefits are anything other than what we are all perceiving them to be before I would choose to pay for them. I have no issue with walking from attraction to attraction and park to park to get our fastpasses. I actually love my 18,000-27,000 Disney steps per day because they at least make me feel less guilty about not always (ahem, not often) choosing the healthiest food options.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Soooo.... I can either go free FPs and pay $99 for 5 days worth of PP+, ooooooor, pay $10/day for 5 days for electronic FPs and PP+? Seems like a no-brainer for me or am I missing something here?

 

[DaveNinja]

at $75 it might be worth getting for one AP in the family just for the PhotoPass ability (assuming the AP holder does not have PhotoPass already)

 

[bdiddy]

Is the $10 per person? We'll be there in 2 wks. I wish this was holding off until after our trip. I don't want to be guinea pigs and it possible cause issues, we only have 2 days and who knows when we'll be back.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Is the $10 per person?

Yes, $10 per person per day.

 

[bdiddy]

Yes, $10 per person per day.

Thank you. I was coming back to delete my question because I was just reading all the details but you beat me to it!

I have so many questions though. Lol...So for $10 per person per day you get unlimited photo downloads for the day and get to schedule fast passes through the app correct?

Does that mean you will have to show your phone/the app when you go on the ride or is it connected to the paper tickets somehow?

Also I'm assuming there is no tiered system like at WDW and it's pretty much the same in that you schedule the fast pass and then can do more after the time etc...just like paper but it's all on the app? But other than having access through the app, it's pretty much the same?

Thank you!

 

[Khokhonutt]

Soooo.... I can either go free FPs and pay $99 for 5 days worth of PP+, ooooooor, pay $10/day for 5 days for electronic FPs and PP+? Seems like a no-brainer for me or am I missing something here?

It's obvious if you're talking about one or even two people. For larger families, I think the value decreases as the number of people and days increase. I was hoping to see some sort of prorated price for multi-day tickets, but I guess not for now.

 

[Oswald23]

I hear rumours signature pass loses his Photopass benefits at all. Is this correct?

 

[disland7]

As a family of 7 there is absolutely no way we would buy MaxPass as an add on to annual passes or for the whole trip if we just had multi-tickets. I really think the majority of people will purchase for 1 maybe 2 days of their trip and personally I would also only purchase for 2-4 people in my group.

 

[PurpleKomodo]

Is the $10 per person? We'll be there in 2 wks. I wish this was holding off until after our trip. I don't want to be guinea pigs and it possible cause issues, we only have 2 days and who knows when we'll be back.

I agree with this. I don't want to be a guinea pig either. There are a few in our group that this trip could be a once in a lifetime trip. We arrive on the 19th with our first park day being on the 20th. Right when this thing goes live. Disney's technology reputation is so shakey. If this glitches up the whole system, we get screwed. I can't justify the cost on trying MaxPass. We have already paid the 78.00 for PP+. There are 6 ticketed guests (and a baby) in our group so $10 per person per day puts us at $180. I just hate that we won't even have a week (barely a day) to see the impact of this before we are trying to tour the parks ourselves.

Dear Disney - Please oh please do not let this glitch up or screw with the current FP system!! Please oh please!!

 

[onlyoneash]

Ok, if someone is in my situation too, let me know if this works when you go after the 19th:

We have 2 adults and 2 kids and fully utilize rider swap (younger kiddos)

If you buy only 2 max passes (one kid, one parent), and then you plus the one child go on a ride with your maxpass, does the swap work like usual? Then the other parent and child without the max pass can ride next and you can save $20 per day and the running around with little kids!

I am fully expecting a report on this from someone in the future

 

[chicagodisfan]

Okay, I've read the Disney Parks Blog posts and all the updated posts here and I have two questions:

1. I was just getting ready to buy our tickets for our early August trip from LMT. Is there any potential problem with buying from a third party now? Should I just bite the bullet and buy from Disney? Would love the savings but I think we'll want to add this to our tickets.

2. It is me, DH, and DS 11, DS 7 and DD 3. The only FP ride that DD would be able to go on would be Toy Story Mania. What if I just bought it for the 4 of us? Can anyone see a potential problem with that? I understand that I wouldn't be able to ride TSM with them if they got a FP for that, but I'm okay with that and I'd rather save the $40 since we'll be using Rider Swap for everything else anyway.

 

[chicagodisfan]

Ok, if someone is in my situation too, let me know if this works when you go after the 19th:

We have 2 adults and 2 kids and fully utilize rider swap (younger kiddos)

If you buy only 2 max passes (one kid, one parent), and then you plus the one child go on a ride with your maxpass, does the swap work like usual? Then the other parent and child without the max pass can ride next and you can save $20 per day and the running around with little kids!

I am fully expecting a report on this from someone in the future

I think I was posting the same question at the same time as you! But your post makes me realize that we may only need it for 3 of the 5 of us with one of us needing to stay back with the youngest and doing Rider Swap! Will the same parent always have to be the first to ride if it is linked to your ticket/phone? Very interested in hearing what everyone's experiences are since we are there two weeks after it starts!