Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

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Ugh, I hope and pray they don't move to paid Fastpasses. You're basically saying rich people who can afford it will get to go on rides faster than the others. It's kind of icky. I book Disney trips for people, and some of them are on budgets. This just creates another expense.
Except this is how everything works. Pay more, get more.
 
Meh, isn’t this the same “insider” who confidently predicted back in February that Disney was about to move to a Maxpass style FP system? And then nothing happenned? Also, the idea that Disney somehow “cannibalized” the FP code when creating the PP system such that they couldn’t easily put the fastpass system back into place, even side by side with the park pass system, is ludicrous. That’s not how software engineering works.

I agree. To think that they don't still have the code and resources for everything that the FP+ system needs is laughable. I personally don't see how something doesn't return once capacity increases enough.
 
Meh, isn’t this the same “insider” who confidently predicted back in February that Disney was about to move to a Maxpass style FP system? And then nothing happenned? Also, the idea that Disney somehow “cannibalized” the FP code when creating the PP system such that they couldn’t easily put the fastpass system back into place, even side by side with the park pass system, is ludicrous. That’s not how software engineering works.
Obviously you don't know who Martin is and that's OK. He never said when things would happen, because timelines for projects change constantly. However, the whole IT system at WDW has been overhauled in order to facilitate new changes. Old software is gone and new programs which are capable of more dynamic programs have been installed. Disney has to recoup money and a new FP system is easily a way to do that. He never gave a timeline or details other than it has been discussed and the likelihood of a paid system like maxpass would be installed was now very high.
 
Obviously you don't know who Martin is and that's OK. He never said when things would happen, because timelines for projects change constantly. However, the whole IT system at WDW has been overhauled in order to facilitate new changes. Old software is gone and new programs which are capable of more dynamic programs have been installed. Disney has to recoup money and a new FP system is easily a way to do that. He never gave a timeline or details other than it has been discussed and the likelihood of a paid system like maxpass would be installed was now very high.
I wish they would announce what is going on with it. If its paid I need to know if i can afford it/budget.
 


He never gave a timeline or details other than it has been discussed
If it's the "insider" poster that I'm thinking of on the other board, then he confidently dropped vague hints, starting in like 2019, about a system that never materialized. Some of those "hints" indicated that it was about to start.... And that happened multiple times over years, including as recently as February. I get that he's an insider like you say.... But nothing he has said on that topic in that thread has panned out for several years now, and he's deliberately vague enough so that no matter what he says he can always claim later that he was right all along.
 
I only hope that Disney doesn't decide to be like every other park out there. If I wanted every other park, I wouldn't come to Disney. They've had my loyalty because of the difference in their parks and the difference in the quality of the experience. I think making people pay extra on top of the high ticket cost (don't get me started on the tiered system of ticket pricing by season/day)... it's just not a good idea. If they want people to pay for bonus FP+ that's one thing...but there needs to be an even playing field of FP+ to start with and it needs to be a quality field.
 


If it's the "insider" poster that I'm thinking of on the other board, then he confidently dropped vague hints, starting in like 2019, about a system that never materialized. Some of those "hints" indicated that it was about to start.... And that happened multiple times over years, including as recently as February. I get that he's an insider like you say.... But nothing he has said on that topic in that thread has panned out for several years now, and he's deliberately vague enough so that no matter what he says he can always claim later that he was right all along.
Noone I am aware of who actually has knowledge of anything having to do with policy or changes has posted anything here with any guarantees. A lot of the posters with knowledge make vague references a lot as a point of information on what they hear. Actual specifics are never posted in order to ensure the privacy and security of those they get the information from, as well as the relaying that plans can change dramatically based on circumstance. There have been plans to overhaul fp+ and many other policies and things like APs since prior to the closure. However, the reopen at restricted levels has allowed Disney to decide which parts of the overhaul and when. At this point there is still no definitive timeline for new fp+ system or annual pass changes. Just because things haven't happened on a timeline some people expected based on posts doesn't mean the vague posters were wrong. They were being careful and only stating what they could. And Martin is one of , if not, the most reliable sources. When Pete was saying they will open on Memorial Day last year it was Martin and his group who even stated as early as late April, the plan was Mid July to Early August and pete didn't know anything. They were right. And they are right about imminent changes to fp+, annual passes, and the reasons for delays being the IT and software overhaul. However they never said what the changes would be or when. Because the details of the options are in discussion and change. If I had to guess, there will be paid fps either as the primary system or as an add on. I'd lean to a primary system such as max pass because the software for it is now integrated into the new WDW OS. And they need to recoup money. I also believe the new OS has a new AP platform and there are changes being applied to that. But to say they left it vague to be right? Lol. Everything Disney does is vague, even to their own management teams. And that group of insider who are Martin's group know a lot more than you realize.
 
I only hope that Disney doesn't decide to be like every other park out there. If I wanted every other park, I wouldn't come to Disney. They've had my loyalty because of the difference in their parks and the difference in the quality of the experience. I think making people pay extra on top of the high ticket cost (don't get me started on the tiered system of ticket pricing by season/day)... it's just not a good idea. If they want people to pay for bonus FP+ that's one thing...but there needs to be an even playing field of FP+ to start with and it needs to be a quality field.
Fair is a state of mind that allows you to believe you are entitled to something you aren't.
Paid options are a reality and they get benefits those who don't pay what they do will not.
That is life in general
 
Fair is a state of mind that allows you to believe you are entitled to something you aren't.
Paid options are a reality and they get benefits those who don't pay what they do will not.
That is life in general

I don't think that I personally am entitled to anything. Everyone pays the same price to get into the parks, at least relatively...depends on the type of ticket, discounts, etc...but relatively a close amount. Something like FP+ is something that affects everyone throughout the entire day. I personally love having a FP system of some sort and I'm not anti-any extra charges, I just want the initial field of passes for all types of attractions to be available to everyone because everyone paid the cost of admission to experience those attractions.
 
I don't think that I personally am entitled to anything. Everyone pays the same price to get into the parks, at least relatively...depends on the type of ticket, discounts, etc...but relatively a close amount. Something like FP+ is something that affects everyone throughout the entire day. I personally love having a FP system of some sort and I'm not anti-any extra charges, I just want the initial field of passes for all types of attractions to be available to everyone because everyone paid the cost of admission to experience those attractions.
That doesn't help having it available to everyone. Right now with no FP people are happy cause the standby lines move quickly. The biggest complaint about FP is that the standby lines barely move. If you limit FP then it won't affect standby lines too much.
 
Fair is a state of mind that allows you to believe you are entitled to something you aren't.
Paid options are a reality and they get benefits those who don't pay what they do will not.
That is life in general
Yup. I certainly don't want to pay more for things, but I recognize that if you want better stuff, you usually have to pay more for it.

I don't "get" to sit in first class on an airplane because I don't pay more. For years, we stayed in cheap off-site hotels. We didn't "get" to stay onsite at WDW because I didn't pay extra to stay there. We don't "get" to eat at CRT instead of Cosmic Rays unless we pay extra.

The only thing that I think makes FP viewed differently than those other things is that it has been free up to this point. Charging for something that used to be free is viewed as Disney "taking something away" rather than just providing something extra for a price.

If it had been an extra fee from the beginning, most people would just view it as another option you can pay extra for if you want better "stuff."
 
I don't think that I personally am entitled to anything. Everyone pays the same price to get into the parks, at least relatively...depends on the type of ticket, discounts, etc...but relatively a close amount. Something like FP+ is something that affects everyone throughout the entire day. I personally love having a FP system of some sort and I'm not anti-any extra charges, I just want the initial field of passes for all types of attractions to be available to everyone because everyone paid the cost of admission to experience those attractions.
Which is why Disneyland uses maxpass. Clean slate every day. If that were introduced at WDW?
 
That doesn't help having it available to everyone. Right now with no FP people are happy cause the standby lines move quickly. The biggest complaint about FP is that the standby lines barely move. If you limit FP then it won't affect standby lines too much.
It was available to everyone for years. The tiers helped space things out. The timing of when you could get another FP helped. It was never perfect, but nothing is.
 
I certainly don't want to pay more for things, but I recognize that if you want better stuff, you have to pay more.

I don't get to sit in first class on an airplane because I don't pay more. For years, we stayed in cheap off-site hotels. We didn't "get" to stay onsite at WDW because I didn't pay extra to stay there. We don't get to eat at CRT instead of Cosmic Rays unless we pay extra.

The only thing that I think makes FP viewed differently than those other things is that it has been free up to this point. Charging for something that used to be free is viewed as Disney "taking something away" rather than just providing something extra for a price.

If it had been an extra fee from the beginning, most people would just view it as another option you can pay extra for if you want better "stuff."
Business changes. Perks are removed or added as the business allows. If there is an opportunity to recoup losses by bringing back fp as a paid system, that is what the business dictates and consumers can decide whether or not to attend. Harsh reality. On any given day maybe 25% of the people in parks even knew how the fp system actually worked and less than that understood how to refresh and work the system to their advantage. The typical once a year or once every 5 years guest won't notice if fp comes back as paid because they didn't or won't use it anyway. You are talking about a minority which will notice anything
 
FWIW when Disney World opened it cost more to ride the good rides. Tickets came in packs but you could buy larger packs with more E-Tickets. So if you had more money you could do more stuff. Somewhere on the Disney Docs website is an old internal report showing that most of the A tickets went unused even because people were just buying them to get more E-tickets.

So nothing new here, other than the exorbitant price increases in the meanwhile...
 
FWIW when Disney World opened it cost more to ride the good rides. Tickets came in packs but you could buy larger packs with more E-Tickets. So if you had more money you could do more stuff. Somewhere on the Disney Docs website is an old internal report showing that most of the A tickets went unused even because people were just buying them to get more E-tickets.

So nothing new here, other than the exorbitant price increases in the meanwhile...
Yup. I went to MK in the early- to mid- 70s as a kid when they had ticket books. I still have a few leftover A and B tickets laying around!

Want to ride that new-fangled "Space Mountain" ride? Sorry, you already used your E ticket on "20K Leagues Under the Sea." So you'll have to go up to a kiosk and purchase another ticket to ride it.
 
One of the fascinating things about this conversation is that there's no evidence that Disney plans to offer paid fast passes anywhere beyond the Club Level. There aren't any disclosed studies, or leaked memos, or supposed high-level discussions that charging for FPs has ever taken place. The only evidence that exists is some people's assumptions that WDW will use any opportunity to charge more money -- people here, people blogging, people just talking. But I've never head anything official about this at all beyond the Club Level, and the CLFPs are a multi-level promotion, requiring resort stays, more expensive rooms and an additional add-on (plus, at the time of its inception, some other in-park perks as well).

I don't think paid FPs are coming in any form beyond the very restrictive Club Level option and the even costlier VIP tours. The cost would be too high, the optics too bad. But it's always amazing to see how far people on a Disney-centric message board will go to deny WDW any benefit of any doubt, often without any evidence beyond "well, they're just so greedy."
 
One of the fascinating things about this conversation is that there's no evidence that Disney plans to offer paid fast passes anywhere beyond the Club Level. There aren't any disclosed studies, or leaked memos, or supposed high-level discussions that charging for FPs has ever taken place. T
Disney has been continuously surveying FP changes as part of their ongoing tracking as far back as 2014. We don’t hear about it because it’s now new but they’ve been asking the questions for 7 years.
 
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