Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Acup313]

I don't know about that one. Disney has pretty well built that into their park model at this point. There would be endless flipping out if they took that away now.

I think they are saying it would just change to anytime hopping.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

I don't know about that one. Disney has pretty well built that into their park model at this point. There would be endless flipping out if they took that away now.

Bummer, I didn't realize the 2pm thing was going to stick around post-Covid.

 

[Loro]

If they eliminate the capacity restrictions, then what is the point to keeping the 2PM hopping time (outside of RotR 2nd chance)?

 

[Wandering Oaken]

Bummer, I didn't realize the 2pm thing was going to stick around post-Covid.

Chapek said the Park Pass thing is here to stay. But who knows? He seems to make up his mind after looking in his wallet so they may change this one day.

 

[Dis Dragon]

The Park Pass is a logistical tool they can leverage, that's why they're so enamored with it. They can plan ahead for how many people are going to be where with staffing and also helps dollar projections based on numbers - where before they had to have estimations on how many people were going to visit a park everyday.

 

[Heather07438]

You can’t really use more recent information though since attendance has gone up in that time. So any changes since wouldn’t be due to FP it would be due to attendance changes. For this kind of analysis it’s best to look at a time frame close to the event date. We could get some good data soon if FP comes back but that will be affected by capacity changes.

There’s so much that changed after that also had major impact.

HS continuously evolved 2015-2020, every year different to the next. Various reasons caused TSMM’s extremely different average waits year to year. Beside overhauls in all parks outside MK, FP distribution increased. Tiers shifted. Attendance patterns changed. Operational changes like reducing hours and only opening one side of certain rides early in the day. Experience morphed from the onset of FP+ right up to closure.

It’s very hard to get a full picture of how the average guest experience changed, or track those changes between different styles of visitors in a meaningful way.

There’s data for the weather today and we can stick our head out the window. Sometimes they don’t agree if the data doesn’t capture the whole story. We loved using FP for the most part. Not always. The tiers became aggravating. Changing plans became tedious. Sometimes FP lines went berserk, famously for character meets. Popular rides commonly clocked 2-3hr waits. Enough poor saps were left waiting 4-5 HOURS for their shot on FoP that it became more common as time went by, not less. Very rarely was FoP well under 3hrs the last year or two before closure. Even if that didn’t affect me personally I’d expect that kind of stuff to factor into which direction WDW chooses to go. If they can improve upon the old system, fantastic. I’d love it all to go back to 2020 preclosure where we knew drop times and optimized overall use, but I’m prepared for the strong likelihood it won’t.

 

[cdurham1]

Not sure when someone posted a technology update, but my Android based smartphone is finally using the "Standby" language.

 

[Meglen]

Do we think it will use "Standby" and "Insert express pass lingo" in the future ? is that what the speculation here is?

 

[Dis Dragon]

Yeah, there was one iteration called "Lightning Pass" - I'm guessing it would be there to prompt people to say, I'm not waiting in Standby, lets go buy lightning pass? Pure speculation :0

 

[Dis Dragon]

I saw another post from someone with inside contacts that confirmed that they were testing a new fastpass system in AK with CM's today. They were very tight lipped about everything, was very frustrating!

 

[Wandering Oaken]

I saw another post from someone with inside contacts that confirmed that they were testing a new fastpass system in AK with CM's today. They were very tight lipped about everything, was very frustrating!

What post are you looking at? Every post I've seen on this form and the other forums have all just simply said it's the original fastpass system that the CMs are testing right now.

 

[lovethesun12]

One of the best marketing campaigns and practicing Disney has done has made people reliant on a FP system (much more at WDW it seems) and to some that's the reason they make trips out there and for others it's a pester to deal with much like how ADRs can be.

Why are you assuming people enjoy FP+ because of marketing? A friend actually introduced me to FP+ believe it or not, not Disney. It's awesome because I hate standing in line with kids, and with FP+ I don't have to stand in line with kids.

On our 2018 trip, I went to HS at rope drop for EMH and when we got to TSMM the wait was already posted for 95 min. My kids were 2 & 4 at the time so we skipped the ride because that wait was too much for them.

At 1pm, we walked on the ride with FP+.

Yesterday, wait times for every single ride at HS (exception of star tours) was more than an hour by 10am, and that's with reduced capacity.

I'm not sure you can convince me that the reason I would rather wait in a 5min vs 60-95min line with 2 young kids is a result of marketing.

 

[cakebaker]

I saw another post from someone with inside contacts that confirmed that they were testing a new fastpass system in AK with CM's today. They were very tight lipped about everything, was very frustrating!

Is this the post you're referreing to? Because it doesn't say that it's a new fp system.

There appears to be some kind of fast pass test going on at Animal Kingdom today with select groups. We were talking to a CM about the single rider line for Expedition Everest (still not open) when a group walked up with a 12:15pm fast pass. He clarified fast pass, not DAS, verified on their phone, and directed them to a different CM. We asked and got told they were testing with “select groups” and that there was nothing further he could say.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

Why are you assuming people enjoy FP+ because of marketing? A friend actually introduced me to FP+ believe it or not, not Disney. It's awesome because I hate standing in line with kids, and with FP+ I don't have to stand in line with kids.

On our 2018 trip, I went to HS at rope drop for EMH and when we got to TSMM the wait was already posted for 95 min. My kids were 2 & 4 at the time so we skipped the ride because that wait was too much for them.

At 1pm, we walked on the ride with FP+.

Yesterday, wait times for every single ride at HS (exception of star tours) was more than an hour by 10am, and that's with reduced capacity.

I'm not sure you can convince me that the reason I would rather wait in a 5min vs 60-95min line with 2 young kids is a result of marketing.

Huh?? How did you get that out of my comment? I didn't say people enjoyed (I said to some that's the reason they make the trips and to others it's a pester) FP because of marketing?? Did you miss the part where I said practicing? I wasn't trying to convince you of anything.

You found out about FP by word of mouth from your friend. FWIW, even though I wasn't actually saying what you thought I was, you utilized FP due to word of mouth marketing and you're utilizing just that with your comment above by discussing the pros to you which was you waiting 5 mins instead of 60-95 with 2 young kids.

All I was saying in my comment is that Disney has made their parks and the guests in it reliant on FP (by marketing AND practicing--I think you missed the practicing part)

 

[Remy is Up]

Is this the post you're referreing to? Because it doesn't say that it's a new fp system.

The "new" system has not passed test environment within the platform. They would not be testing it in the parks yet. They are likely testing viability of the old fp+ system on specific rides as it has worked on the new platform in live environment without crashing it.

 

[Garyjames220]

The "new" system has not passed test environment within the platform. They would not be testing it in the parks yet. They are likely testing viability of the old fp+ system on specific rides as it has worked on the new platform in live environment without crashing it.

so do u think we will go straight to the new system or old system and then later on a paid for new system

 

[Remy is Up]

so do u think we will go straight to the new system or old system and then later on a paid for new system

I wouldn't trust anything at the moment because noone knows. I know the steps being taken and where the testing for the various programs sits as of Saturday. Old fp+ passed live integration, new fp still in test environment- failed live integration, aps passed live integration, dining plans started live integration testing. Based on that. The guess would be if they are forced to roll out a fp system due to raising the capacity, likely would be old fp but with a new system on the horizon. However there is a live integration test on the new fp system this week. If it passes they could start in park testing and then have a choice of the 2.

 

[cakebaker]

The "new" system has not passed test environment within the platform. They would not be testing it in the parks yet. They are likely testing viability of the old fp+ system on specific rides as it has worked on the new platform in live environment without crashing it.

Coming from someone who has 0 knowledge about these things- does this mean we shouldn't assume any testing we hear of is indicative of it returning soon? But it does mean at least, that it's definitely coming back?

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Wasn't one of the reasons Disney came up with FP+ was to reduce lines so people aren't in line so much and instead out spending money. Why would they give that up entirely? I can see them charging for some extras but not the original 3. Not everyone is going to pay to play so that leaves a big portion of guests standing in long lines all day long and not out spending money. I know they can make that up by charging for the FP+ but I wonder how many people outside of these boards are actually willing to pay. Disney is an expensive trip for most people as is without that extra cost.

 

[cakebaker]

Wasn't one of the reasons Disney came up with FP+ was to reduce lines so people aren't in line so much and instead out spending money. Why would they give that up entirely? I can see them charging for some extras but not the original 3. Not everyone is going to pay to play so that leaves a big portion of guests standing in long lines all day long and not out spending money. I know they can make that up by charging for the FP+ but I wonder how many people outside of these boards are actually willing to pay. Disney is an expensive trip for most people as is without that extra cost.

They pay at Universal and other theme parks as well. I'm not sure, but I think Disney is the only one who ever had a free program. I have no doubt enough people would be willing to pay for it to be highly profitable for Disney. It would be a great "perk" for onsite guests as well- give them something they're charging everyone else for is tempting. The fact that they had already been giving it to them won't matter- offering something for "free" is a great marketing tool- sort of like "free" dining- neither are really free, but people love it anyway.