Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Jmljasmine]

First I just want to ask this for those that say their kids couldn't handle long wait times. Do you ever take your kids to regional parks? I take my nieces to my local park a lot and the average wait is 30 minutes to an hour and they never complain.

Second with them covering up all the Fast pass signs now makes me think there is going to be big changes coming. I know for Shanghai they do a paid system. Its about $90 for the top seven rides per person.

No, we don't go to regional parks. They aren't appropriate for our small kids. Hopefully there would be an option for just a couple of the top rides for less. 90 each for 6 people is quite a lot.

 

[thegash35]

I hope it never comes back. All queues move faster without it. You spend less time waiting overall at the sacrifice of riding three things with minimal wait.

 

[Rileygirl]

Hum, I came on here this morning to see the scuttlebutt on fast passes, because apparently on space mountain the fast pass sign is still there, but the wording has been completely taken off the sign. Maybe this is not accurate news? And, I have no idea if this is significant or not

 

[yaya74]

Hum, I came on here this morning to see the scuttlebutt on fast passes, because apparently on space mountain the fast pass sign is still there, but the wording has been completely taken off the sign. Maybe this is not accurate news? And, I have no idea if this is significant or not

Do you mean the sign is there but the words "Fast Pass" has been removed from the sign??

 

[Chernabob]

Hum, I came on here this morning to see the scuttlebutt on fast passes, because apparently on space mountain the fast pass sign is still there, but the wording has been completely taken off the sign. Maybe this is not accurate news? And, I have no idea if this is significant or not

What you heard about the sign appears correct. Look back three pages on the "News Round Up" thread.

 

[yaya74]

What you heard about the sign appears correct. Look back three pages on the "News Round Up" thread.

Would you kindly tell us on what page of the News Round Up this was reported, please?

 

[Rileygirl]

Do you mean the sign is there but the words "Fast Pass" has been removed from the sign??

Yes. Like gone.

What you heard about the sign appears correct. Look back three pages on the "News Round Up" thread.

Oops. Sorry. I just figured it would appear prominently on this thread.

in all honesty, it’s a minor thing, seen at one attraction, probably means nothing. It will be interesting to see if other attractions get this ‘scrubbing’, thatmight be more of an indicator.

 

[Chernabob]

Would you kindly tell us on what page of the News Round Up this was reported, please?

Apologies, p. 123. I tried quoting here, but having difficulties. (Not enough coffee yet!)

 

[marikujawa]

I hope it never comes back. All queues move faster without it. You spend less time waiting overall at the sacrifice of riding three things with minimal wait.

That's great as long as the parks are being kept at low capacity. I was visiting WDW before the time of any type of fast passes and I guarantee you we will never go back to the days you had to wait 90+ minutes to get on Splash.

 

[ford91exploder]

Great points.

Defenses to the old FP+ that start with:
"As a solo traveler"
"We go monthly"
"We go during the slow times"
"I have a cheat sheet that shows when the drop times are at each park" (I love this one and man, way to go! That is some next level FP wizardry!!)
shouldn't be looked at as the average experience.

Just like criticisms starting with:
"During our last trip over New Year's with 15 people in our party..."

For the average traveling family, it was a system that required a lot of juggling. For the family that was on their first trip in awhile (or ever), there was no way to master the ins and outs by the end of the trip. If you had 4-6 people in your family and you had FP scheduled at a certain park, you went to that park. Deciding to release them all and hit up a different park and play the odds of snagging same day at a new park, wasn't the best idea. Could it be done, sure. Was it likely, during times when families usually travel, not really.

The easiest fixes:

Tier the rides
Make the FP+ anytime
Give a certain number in advance based on where you are staying and what level (yes, sorry, Deluxe should get more. Club level should get more. But, so should guests who pay insane rates for motel rooms "values" VS people who stay offsite).
Charge for extras (again tier it based on accommodations, time of year, etc)
Post the FP times so people can decide when / if they want to use their FP

The most miserable family i ever saw in Disney had laminated gantt charts with FP and Dining reservations scheduled walk times etc. I remember thinking to myself that’s the very antithesis of a Disney visit, but its also the ultimate result of the production scheduling system at Disney FP+ADR so yes this is indeed a bad system

 

[ford91exploder]

Great points.

Defenses to the old FP+ that start with:
"As a solo traveler"
"We go monthly"
"We go during the slow times"
"I have a cheat sheet that shows when the drop times are at each park" (I love this one and man, way to go! That is some next level FP wizardry!!)
shouldn't be looked at as the average experience.

Just like criticisms starting with:
"During our last trip over New Year's with 15 people in our party..."

For the average traveling family, it was a system that required a lot of juggling. For the family that was on their first trip in awhile (or ever), there was no way to master the ins and outs by the end of the trip. If you had 4-6 people in your family and you had FP scheduled at a certain park, you went to that park. Deciding to release them all and hit up a different park and play the odds of snagging same day at a new park, wasn't the best idea. Could it be done, sure. Was it likely, during times when families usually travel, not really.

The easiest fixes:

Tier the rides
Make the FP+ anytime
Give a certain number in advance based on where you are staying and what level (yes, sorry, Deluxe should get more. Club level should get more. But, so should guests who pay insane rates for motel rooms "values" VS people who stay offsite).
Charge for extras (again tier it based on accommodations, time of year, etc)
Post the FP times so people can decide when / if they want to use their FP

The most miserable family i ever saw in Disney had laminated gantt charts with FP and Dining reservations scheduled walk times etc. I remember thinking to myself that’s the very antithesis of a Disney visit, but its also the ultimate result of the production scheduling system at Disney FP+ADR so yes this is indeed a bad system

 

[yaya74]

The most miserable family i ever saw in Disney had laminated gantt charts with FP and Dining reservations scheduled walk times etc. I remember thinking to myself that’s the very antithesis of a Disney visit, but its also the ultimate result of the production scheduling system at Disney FP+ADR so yes this is indeed a bad system

I don't have a laminated chart since I would store my schedule in my phone. I am the only person who knows the schedule. DH and kids just follow me around. I would use Touringplans to plan out my route so no time is wasted. Is it a lot of work? Yes. Do I enjoy planing my trip? oh yes!

Having that said, I have visited Universal Orlando using the unlimited express pass. Do I like it? Very much to the point that I hope Disney would adapt the same system.

 

[tseitel]

Duplicate

 

[tseitel]

In regards to the fast pass signage, doesn’t the new Remy attraction have a fast pass lane and return time window? Pretty sure I saw that on some vlogs.

 

[TinkB278]

Seriously don’t know if I can handle disney world without FP. I only went on rides I had a fast pass for. Can’t hardly stand wasting my vacation in a standby line. If FP doesn’t come back I’m not sure what I’ll do with my DVC points.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

If FP doesn’t come back I’m not sure what I’ll do with my DVC points.

I find this really interesting. Really shows how different people value different things. We bought DVC because we love Disney resorts, the accommodations, the service, the ambience, the feeling. I couldn’t imagine dumping our points simply because of FP changing. But I also understand people having different preferences and points of view. DVC is about so much more than just the parks for us - we love Aulani, HHI, Vero Beach too, but I know not everyone does - people have all different reasons for buying in.

We are more “just wing it” WDW visitors, so FP+ took some getting used to with a party of 10-12 people who prefer no schedule on vacation. We are all naturally early risers and get to the parks early, but we prefer an unscheduled day. We grew to like FP+ over time though and found ways to adjust - we grew to like being guaranteed FP for 3 favorite rides and being able to book more FP after the first 3. So much better than criss crossing the parks for paper FP all day. A premium offering like Disneyland’s MaxPass would be great fit for our family, but I understand others wouldn’t feel the same.

I am open to a change, and we will just go with the flow and adjust just like we have to all the other modifications Disney has made over the years.

 

[tjkraz]

We are more “just wing it” WDW visitors, so FP+ took some getting used to with a party of 10-12 people who prefer no schedule on vacation.

You can still "wing it" if you choose to not reserve FastPasses as long as you don't mind waiting in lines.

What you can't do if they eliminate FP+ is ride the 20 most popular attractions without waiting at least an hour.

 

[ford91exploder]

There’s not enough space in the parks to have that many people wandering around. They’d have to cut capacity and jack up prices.

Thats what things like PARADES and Streetmosphere and Shows are for not to mention benches and shady spots to take a load off, Yet Disney is down to ONE parade from FIVE in 2015, and continues to relentlessly cut those ‘people eaters’ as wasteful and unnecessary.

Walt and the nine old men did add these things to the park as charity items they provide capacity of another sort. people watching a parade are not using ride capacity, Like all things its a balancing act which finance driven guys simply dont get. They see the parade as a waste not as a method to entertain 20-30,000 people along the parade route many (most) are buying snacks etc. yeah the retail numbers in the stores go down, But thats compensated for the increased F&B sales.

But that does not happen when Merchandising and F&B are separate competing business units unlike the old wholistic model the parks ran on its now a zero sum game if one ‘wins’ the other ‘loses’ by definition.

 

[Timandalicia]

Hey, I'm just wondering if there has been any recent rumors of fastpass returning in any capacity sometime soon. With vaccines rolling out and more people booking vacations I'm sure park capacity will be increasing enough soon to have it feasible again.

Apparently a bunch of rumors... all started on this thread

 

[ford91exploder]

I don't have a laminated chart since I would store my schedule in my phone. I am the only person who knows the schedule. DH and kids just follow me around. I would use Touringplans to plan out my route so no time is wasted. Is it a lot of work? Yes. Do I enjoy planing my trip? oh yes!

Having that said, I have visited Universal Orlando using the unlimited express pass. Do I like it? Very much to the point that I hope Disney would adapt the same system.

i can see how planning appeals to some as part of their Disney vacation being able to visualize getting on a favorite ride and experiencing it it your minds eye. Being an engineer its the checking out from reality which apoeals to me