Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Grumpy by Birth]

Exactly. Especially for those in value resorts. Those resorts aren't close to parks like the deluxes. The perks for values were always airport transfers (DME) and early access to FP+. Without some sort of perk for staying at a value, is it really worth staying on property for a hotel that costs more than a comparable off-site hotel?

But there's a giant bowling pin next to the building! Isn't that enough?

 

[Remy is Up]

I think FP+ for onsite guests and paid for everyone else. If it is just a paid service for everyone, then I will stop staying onsite as often. FP+ 60 day booking is one of the main reasons I stay onsite every trip.

I would agree but I think they would also give it to platinum passholders as an incentive to move people from silver or gold to platinum. If they decide to keep it tiered the same way, which is still being worked out

 

[Jrb1979]

This was posted by the same poster(Martin) yesterday. It's an update on what may be coming for FP.

"It's likely there will be a small pot of free fastpasses. If these aren’t available you pay for a designated ride or rides depending on type of ride, group selected and price point.

It also likely you’ll be able to buy a set of passes for a certain group, eg the big Mountains, and ride each one once. It’s also likely that if you do that you won’t be able to get a pass for say PotC or the Dwarf Coaster. There will probably be single attraction passes available too and maybe an ultra priced Ultimate pass but again with conditions and no re rides. Most passes will probably also be return time specific.

Availability and amount of free or paid passes will vary and depend on day to day operations and attendance predictions."

 

[ellbell]

This was posted by the same poster(Martin) yesterday. It's an update on what may be coming for FP.

"It's likely there will be a small pot of free fastpasses. If these aren’t available you pay for a designated ride or rides depending on type of ride, group selected and price point.

It also likely you’ll be able to buy a set of passes for a certain group, eg the big Mountains, and ride each one once. It’s also likely that if you do that you won’t be able to get a pass for say PotC or the Dwarf Coaster. There will probably be single attraction passes available too and maybe an ultra priced Ultimate pass but again with conditions and no re rides. Most passes will probably also be return time specific.

Availability and amount of free or paid passes will vary and depend on day to day operations and attendance predictions."

It seems like everytime he puts something out that it's less likely to be true.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

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.

It's already this way at Six Flags and Universal that I know of. Oh, and Silver Dollar City.

I have an Elite Membership with Six Flags and we get 2 front of the line passes every visit. And we can save them up and use them on future visits.

 

[shafke]

Yeah, every amusement park does this (maybe except Hersheypark, I don't remember a paid option there). Ironically, though, WDW is the only park I'd pay for this, and they're the only ones that don't offer it (yet)!

Yes, Hersheypark has had a paid option for a while now.

 

[Heather07438]

WDW needs to not cross the line where people without FP feel a visit is futile. Guests who don’t want to pay extra need to feel like they can manage okay without it.

I also think they’ll want to continue the goodwill of something included with every ticket, like one VQ from the headliners for each park/day.

From there the paid options start. Not cheap but not crazy expensive either, just limited in use somehow. Maybe that is thru cool down window, maximum uses or grouping of use (like mentioned above with MK mtn’s). Love to see what they come up with there. Then likely some type of boost or advantage worked in for onsite guests.

I think the new system will roll out to work with Genie. iirc they previewed ‘Princess’ and ‘Adventurer’ as Genie choices for guidance. Maybe that’s where the FP groupings work? Whatever happens, I expect it to roll out at a relatively decent price followed by steady increases. Try it sooner than later, lol.

 

[StaceyHSD]

If they go this way it’s kind of like going back to the old ticket days. The very first time I went to WDW EPCOT wasn’t open yet and they still used tickets to get on the rides. If I remember correctly you’d get one book of tickets when you bought your ticket, then after that if you needed more of a particular type of ticket you had to buy more. And of course, the initial ticket book had fewer E tickets than the other tickets.

 

[shafke]

If they go this way it’s kind of like going back to the old ticket days. The very first time I went to WDW EPCOT wasn’t open yet and they still used tickets to get on the rides. If I remember correctly you’d get one book of tickets when you bought your ticket, then after that if you needed more of a particular type of ticket you had to buy more. And of course, the initial ticket book had fewer E tickets than the other tickets.

From what I remember, we always had A & B tickets left over. I think C & E were the easiest to use.
Also, there was a time you could pay for just admission to MK. I think this covered transportation (Ferry/Monorail) from the parking lot to MK. There were, at the time, 3 attractions that did not require tickets... Circlevision, whatever it was called when Buzz is now (sponsored by Eastern Airlines) and one other that I do not recall.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

Sounds like the Genii won't be granting my wishes if they go in that direction.

 

[StaceyHSD]

From what I remember, we always had A & B tickets left over. I think C & E were the easiest to use.

Yes!!!

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

From what I remember, we always had A & B tickets left over. I think C & E were the easiest to use.
Also, there was a time you could pay for just admission to MK. I think this covered transportation (Ferry/Monorail) from the parking lot to MK. There were, at the time, 3 attractions that did not require tickets... Circlevision, whatever it was called when Buzz is now (sponsored by Eastern Airlines) and one other that I do not recall.

"If You Had Wings" was the free Eastern Airlines ride where Buzz is located now (we used to ride that thing over and over!). It was also changed slightly to "Dream Flight" when Delta took over sponsorship before it became Buzz.

I don't recall if Circlevision 360 was free, but it was in the current Monsters Inc location (originally "America the Beautiful" and later "The Time Keeper").

I can't think of any other attractions that didn't require a ticket back then. I'm sure someone else remembers.

 

[Prouddad]

The unfortunate reality is that Disney has lost a unfathomable amount of money. Likely they are grasping at straws as to how they will recoup their loss; and this could be profitable for them. Only time will tell.

 

[Jrb1979]

It seems like everytime he puts something out that it's less likely to be true.

Maybe but either way it's unlikely coming back as FP+ and paying for it will be attached.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

This was posted by the same poster(Martin) yesterday. It's an update on what may be coming for FP.
"It's likely there will be a small pot of free fastpasses. If these aren’t available you pay for a designated ride or rides depending on type of ride, group selected and price point.

It also likely you’ll be able to buy a set of passes for a certain group, eg the big Mountains, and ride each one once. It’s also likely that if you do that you won’t be able to get a pass for say PotC or the Dwarf Coaster. There will probably be single attraction passes available too and maybe an ultra priced Ultimate pass but again with conditions and no re rides. Most passes will probably also be return time specific.

Availability and amount of free or paid passes will vary and depend on day to day operations and attendance predictions."

This is the same poster who back in February was confidently and cryptically predicting the imminent switchover of Fastpass to a maxpass style system. A prediction that he started tossing around years ago. His predictions on this topic should be taken with a barrel of salt.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

No!! I don't want paid fast passes. We can barely afford to go as it is. I like the fastpass + system. I know all the tricks, get all the fast passes I want, and get about 8 fast passes each day. I hope fast pass returns just as it was.

 

[Loro]

This is the same poster who back in February was confidently and cryptically predicting the imminent switchover of Fastpass to a maxpass style system. A prediction that he started tossing around years ago. His predictions on this topic should be taken with a barrel of salt.

I completely agree. People have been predicting and talking about MaxPass coming east ever since it was invented. World is very different from Land. What works with one does not necessarily work with the other, and this is a very good example of it.

Will there be an additional system of paid FP? I think that's a possibility, and probable.
Will there be a free or pseudo free version? Yes, it is almost certainly coming back, at least as a perk of staying on property. What other perk is there for staying on property other than the mostly weak transportation and 30min early entry (which kinda already exists anyway unofficially)? Is the bubble worth paying 2-3x as much for mostly lower quality resorts as compared to outside just because of location? Not to mention that with FP+ at least people were guaranteed short waits for 3 attractions. That is huge for guest satisfaction.

Some kind of free version of FP+ will be back, and possibly sooner than people think... especially with attendance increasing and big summer crowds expected. Nothing like 3 hour waits with 90+ degree Florida days and no FP+ to make for guest satisfaction numbers...

 

[Prouddad]

I'm just being realistic. They lost close to a billion dollars (so far.) I see most of the free perks that we have previously enjoyed; going away for at least a long while.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I'm just being realistic. They lost close to a billion dollars (so far.) I see most of the free perks that we have previously enjoyed; going away for at least a long while.

But Disney has never benevolently dispensed “free perks” out of the goodness of its heart, based upon its massive profits. Like all corporations it constantly attempts to maximize profits for its shareholders. Against what they would gain for charging for FP, they have to weigh the huge negative publicity hit of “greedy Disney” charging for something that has always been “free”, as well as the foregone income from paid tours and after-hours events.

 

[Prouddad]

But Disney has never benevolently dispensed “free perks” out of the goodness of its heart, based upon its massive profits. Like all corporations it constantly attempts to maximize profits for its shareholders. Against what they would gain for charging for FP, they have to weigh the huge negative publicity hit of “greedy Disney” charging for something that has always been “free”, as well as the foregone income from paid tours and after-hours events.

Ok. But everyone wanted everything shut down. This is the price we must all pay unfortunately. Only time will tell.