Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Jrb1979]

Well, it's not a bad "look" from the perspective of the person who is able to afford it. Ask all of the people who can't afford it whether or not it's a bad look, and you might get a different answer...

I do agree that the wait times are shorter overall at parks that have a paid pass system, however.

I get it that it sucks for ones that can't afford it but life's not fair. The reason they make it cost so is to limit the amount of people that buy it.

@Eric Smith I'm guessing you're one of those that don't think it's fair. I see no issue dishing out another $300 so me and my littles can use fast pass at other parks

It seems Disney fans use Fast Passes more as a planning tool instead of what fast passes should be. That is to lower wait times for those that use it.

 

[Eric Smith]

I get it that it sucks for ones that can't afford it but life's not fair. The reason they make it cost so is to limit the amount of people that buy it.

@Eric Smith I'm guessing you're one of those that don't think it's fair. I see no issue dishing out another $300 so me and my littles can use fast pass at other parks

It seems Disney fans use Fast Passes more as a planning tool instead of what fast passes should be. That is to lower wait times for those that use it.

I think you’re saying that because you can afford it. If you weren’t able to afford it, you’d probably be singing a different tune. FP+ is a really fair system in reality. Anyone who can buy a ticket can use it.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think you’re saying that because you can afford it. If you weren’t able to afford it, you’d probably be singing a different tune. FP+ is a really fair system in reality. Anyone who can buy a ticket can use it.

I wouldn't be singing a different tune if so couldn't afford it as I never buy a fastpass for my local park as I go often enough. If I couldn't afford a fast pass I also couldn't afford travelling to other parks much either.

FP+ should be more like other parks in having limited availability. Keep it free but maybe limit to 5000 guests per day. FP+ should be more to lower wait times and not to control crowd control. That's where Disney has it all wrong.

 

[jade1]

I get it that it sucks for ones that can't afford it but life's not fair. The reason they make it cost so is to limit the amount of people that buy it.

It's pure capitalism your touting. Raising the price of a desired product as high as possible until it reaches maximum return and customer saturation.

America and Disney (World) were built on this.

US and others have just been more blatant than Disney on FP.

 

[Farro]

Yeah, don’t let those peons who can’t afford it ruin your vacation. I think Disney’s system is much better than the paid systems used by other theme park chains. It’s a bad look for rich people to be able to pay more than everyone else to be able to skip the line.

Yeah...we aren't rich, , but we do save up to purchase those types of advantages. We stayed at DreamMore at Dollywood and got something like that. If we did Universal we would save to purchase it. Same if Disney institutes this.

That's why we only go every few years to Disney got to save to play!

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah...we aren't rich, , but we do save up to purchase those types of advantages. We stayed at DreamMore at Dollywood and got something like that. If we did Universal we would save to purchase it. Same if Disney institutes this.

That's why we only go every few years to Disney got to save to play!

When I go to other parks other then my home park, part of my budget is to buy a fast pass. When I go to a park I want to be able to ride as many of the attractions as I can. Using fast pass let's me do that. I don't get that same satisfaction from Disney's FP+. I should be able to use FP+ day of going to a park and be able to get on just about every attraction. Hence why I wish FP+ would disappear and go back to the way it used to be. There is no need to plan out your day at a park. No other park works that way.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I still think the regular FP+ system will return as soon as things go back to normal. Disney has to have some kind of perk for it's resort guests (60 day window). If they go to the system used in Disneyland, what advantage would DW resort guests have?

The FP+ window has only been a perk for about 6 years, little more. People have been finding reasons to stay at WDW for a lot longer than that. Perks come and go (look at how much EMH has changed), I personally think there is still good reason outside of the FP+ window to stay onsite. It has never been the driving factor for us.

 

[Disney Bubble Lover]

It's pure capitalism your touting. Raising the price of a desired product as high as possible until it reaches maximum return and customer saturation.

America and Disney (World) were built on this.

US and others have just been more blatant than Disney on FP.

I think Disney is in a tricky situation with paid add ons. One of the reasons it’s the most popular theme park in the world is because it’s unlike any other place in the world. They’re selling magic, a chance to visit the “happiest place on earth” and escape from reality for a bit. I am a big supporter of capitalism and free markets but the Disney experience is unique because they have done a better job than most at disguising that they are, in fact, a for profit business at the end of the day. Their pay to play options are much less in your face than their competitors which I believe is done by design. Being visually grouped into economic classes doesn’t feel very magical.

For this reason I don’t think they’ll go the same route as many other theme parks and roll out a completely paid FP system. I believe they will continue to develop paid add on experiences but will do their best to preserve the “magic” during core park hours and attempt to keep the pay for play options running in the background as much as possible.

 

[Jrb1979]

It's pure capitalism your touting. Raising the price of a desired product as high as possible until it reaches maximum return and customer saturation.

America and Disney (World) were built on this.

US and others have just been more blatant than Disney on FP.

I'm guessing you never go to other parks but Disney? Paid fast pass systems work so much better. No picking you time for a ride and wait times are usually really short. Instead of waiting 2 hours to get on a ride, the fast pass wait time is around 20 minutes. Cause of that I am able to get multiple rides on many attractions.

 

[firefly_ris]

Paying for FP for 5 people on top of paying for tickets for 5 people just to get in, I'd probably never be able to drag my husband back for that.

 

[DisneyAuntie12]

I think Disney is in a tricky situation with paid add ons. One of the reasons it’s the most popular theme park in the world is because it’s unlike any other place in the world. They’re selling magic, a chance to visit the “happiest place on earth” and escape from reality for a bit. I am a big supporter of capitalism and free markets but the Disney experience is unique because they have done a better job than most at disguising that they are, in fact, a for profit business at the end of the day. Their pay to play options are much less in your face than their competitors which I believe is done by design. Being visually grouped into economic classes doesn’t feel very magical.

For this reason I don’t think they’ll go the same route as many other theme parks and roll out a completely paid FP system. I believe they will continue to develop paid add on experiences but will do their best to preserve the “magic” during core park hours and attempt to keep the pay for play options running in the background as much as possible.

These were my thoughts exactly. While on the one hand I would probably sell my kidney to buy a FastPass package if it meant avoiding a Level 5 Meltdown in the line to It's A Small World, on the other there is something really strange about having a first class and a coach experience at Disney. I also assumed they would do add ons like more tours, holiday parties, dessert parties with a ride, early morning magic, etc. - but it sounds as if these rumors came from people who know what they are talking about, and also, it looks like Shanghai Disney does have a 'premiere access' system. So I'm not sure what to think. I wouldn't have guessed it, but maybe they are planning on paid fast passes.

 

[JM23457]

I would hate to see poorer families who saved and saved just to go, have an inferior experience because Disney chose to monetize FastPasses. Personally, I don't think they'll do this. I certainly hope they don't.

Under the most recent system, people who wanted extra FP advantages enough to really pay for them could do it via a club level stay or a VIP tour. That's quite enough imo. Those options were expensive enough to limit participation numbers to where normal guests wouldn't feel the pinch. But just ordinary FPs offered on sale to all guests will probably be affordable to most guests who stay moderate & deluxe, & all of them (and others) having it would really damage the experience for those who couldn't afford it. That would be a very anti-inclusive & un-Walt Disney thing to do.

 

[Jrb1979]

Paying for FP for 5 people on top of paying for tickets for 5 people just to get in, I'd probably never be able to drag my husband back for that.

Do you not go to other theme parks? Have you ever bought fast passes?

As far as those against a paid FP system I can see where you're coming from. It should be fair for everyone but that's not the point of a fast pass system.

NO picking you time for a ride and wait times are usually really short. Instead of waiting 2 hours to get on a ride, the fast pass wait time is around 20 minutes. Cause of that I am able to get multiple rides on many attractions. That's the point of a fast pass system. What Disney needs to figure out IMO is to limit it more. Keep it free but lower the amount of fast passes available then there is now. An example would be limit the amount of FP per ride to 100 an hour.

 

[Brianstl]

Just because you don't see a charge for FP+ doesn't mean many people aren't already paying for it. I don't think people realize how much money Disney makes off their current FP+ system. I think most of the people who want Disney to go to system like other parks use, would recoil when they saw the price that Disney would have to actually charge to make up for the money they make of the current system.

 

[Eric Smith]

Do you not go to other theme parks? Have you ever bought fast passes?

As far as those against a paid FP system I can see where you're coming from. It should be fair for everyone but that's not the point of a fast pass system.

NO picking you time for a ride and wait times are usually really short. Instead of waiting 2 hours to get on a ride, the fast pass wait time is around 20 minutes. Cause of that I am able to get multiple rides on many attractions. That's the point of a fast pass system. What Disney needs to figure out IMO is to limit it more. Keep it free but lower the amount of fast passes available then there is now. An example would be limit the amount of FP per ride to 100 an hour.

The original point of the FastPass system was to better manage the length of lines in the parks. Part of that was to put it in was to be fair to everyone. The paper fast pass system was fair to everyone since anyone could walk up and get one as long as they were available. It's a very bad look for an expensive park like Disney World to start allowing people to pay more to cut the line. It may work well in other parks, but there aren't any other parks like Disney World.

 

[skeeter31]

The original point of the FastPass system was to better manage the length of lines in the parks. Part of that was to put it in was to be fair to everyone. The paper fast pass system was fair to everyone since anyone could walk up and get one as long as they were available. It's a very bad look for an expensive park like Disney World to start allowing people to pay more to cut the line. It may work well in other parks, but there aren't any other parks like Disney World.

They already allow people to pay more to cut the line. Anyone on a VIP tour is paying more and gets on rides much faster than anyone else.

 

[Jrb1979]

The original point of the FastPass system was to better manage the length of lines in the parks. Part of that was to put it in was to be fair to everyone. The paper fast pass system was fair to everyone since anyone could walk up and get one as long as they were available. It's a very bad look for an expensive park like Disney World to start allowing people to pay more to cut the line. It may work well in other parks, but there aren't any other parks like Disney World.

I am just pointing out what makes a paid system work better. Disney could make it work with their free system just drop the amount available per ride per day.

Here is how I hope they change it too. Keep it free but FP+ is gone. So no 60 day advance booking. Change it back to day of and drop the amount of FP available per ride by a lot. Turn FP into a free version of what other parks paid version is.

 

[Eric Smith]

They already allow people to pay more to cut the line. Anyone on a VIP tour is paying more and gets on rides much faster than anyone else.

That's true, but I'm ok since that costs so much that there are only a tiny amount of people who are able to do it. I can count at one hand where I've seen a group from a VIP tour get on a ride in front of me.

 

[Moliphino]

I'm guessing you never go to other parks but Disney? Paid fast pass systems work so much better. No picking you time for a ride and wait times are usually really short. Instead of waiting 2 hours to get on a ride, the fast pass wait time is around 20 minutes. Cause of that I am able to get multiple rides on many attractions.

Almost never, and the paid front of line passes are one of the things that puts me off from other parks.

 

[Moliphino]

Here is how I hope they change it too. Keep it free but FP+ is gone. So no 60 day advance booking. Change it back to day of and drop the amount of FP available per ride by a lot. Turn FP into a free version of what other parks paid version is.

So back to the paper fastpasses, essentially. No thanks. That was terrible for non-rope droppers.