Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Heigh-Ho]

One could argue they are also inferior parks. If Six Flags tried to charge Disney prices, they would likely go out of business.

Disney charges what they charge because they can, same as the other parks. Doesn't make them inferior, what a way of looking at it

 

[Garyjames220]

Depends on what a "small fee" actually entails. Even a small charge could really add up for a family spending a week on vacation. Even if it was only $20 a day pp then for a family of 4 for 7 days, it's $560. We have a 10 day trip planned for the spring, so in my hypothetical example we'd be paying an extra $800 to have fastpass - which used to be included.

im coming from uk for 16 nights

 

[Mac30188]

Disney charges what they charge because they can, same as the other parks. Doesn't make them inferior, what a way of looking at it

Fair point, was not my intention. I was just indicating that DIsney is viewed as a premier brand.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

Fair point, was not my intention. I was just indicating that DIsney is viewed as a premier brand.

I'd count Universal in that as well.

Six Flags, Cedar Point and others they are just geared towards different clientele. Some also because of where they are located at are seasonal too.

 

[Chris Ehlers]

What ever they announce it will definitely will have a 30-60 window for going live. they will have to educate and prepare the guests as well as guest services and those 5-6 kiosks in Tomorrow land wont be able to handle a completely new system and all the unknowns.

I honestly wish they would utilize the CM's for Restaurants instead of FP+ the lack of Dining options for next week is abysmal

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

im coming from uk for 16 nights

It's people who take longer vacations that would be most affected by this, I think. Fastpass charges could make longer trips prohibitive for many people - and maybe that is Disney's goal, and would turn the biggest profit for them, I have no idea. Maybe they make more money off of the shorter stays? I've said it before on this thread, but a fastpass charge could very well mean the end of my family vacationing in Disney.

We are not as far away as you, but we do fly, and we like to make a vacation out of it, rather than a few days of a theme park mad dash. I'm not paying flight costs for a short stay so that I can buy fastpasses and have to rush in and out of Disney. I'm not paying hundreds of extra dollars for something that used to be included. And I'm also not paying all that money to spend my "vacation" standing in long lines with little kids. It's not really about being "priced out" as such - we could easily shorten our stays, or stay off site, in order to fit a Disney vacation in our budget. But I don't particularly like either of those options and would likely just wind up going somewhere else that might be a better fit for my family at that point. I'd be bummed about that, because I love Disney, but that's the reality of it. This is the bottom line of why I'm so anxious to find out what their plan is for FP.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Fastpass charges could make longer trips prohibitive for many people

I actually think you'd find people doing the opposite IF they could make it work. Spread out their park days more if they feel they won't get as much done as they did in the past. Consider Universal. We spend 3 days there typically (park to park passes) and without EP. With EP you'd need two max (if you did park to park especially) and it was busy. Some may take the opportunity to go at a leisurely pace. Not saying people would necessarily embrace this but it could be something they choose to do if an included FP system turned into a paid system only and it was too cost prohibitive (or based on principle) didn't do it.

That said international is different because you have time it takes to get to FL, conversion rates and getting enough reason to go that distance. Disney offers a longer package available to UK residents for example than you can get here in the U.S. to account for some of the things there. Although when we flew to Hawaii, even coming from the middle of the country it took a while and we accounted for that in terms of how long we stayed there (knowing our arrival day was shot due to travel). We did that for our honeymoon in St. Lucia even though it wasn't as far as Hawaii it was the flights that caused us to add more days. It was one flight there one flight back and only on certain days of the week.

 

[cakebaker]

What ever they announce it will definitely will have a 30-60 window for going live. they will have to educate and prepare the guests as well as guest services and those 5-6 kiosks in Tomorrow land wont be able to handle a completely new system and all the unknowns.

If they just bring back FP+ as it was, there's no need for a month or more to educate anyone. And what is there to prepare for? It makes no sense they'd let the entire summer pass and introduce it when crowds are diminishing. They need it now. With the increased capacity and the 4th coming, it's going to be a mess.

I don't think they're going for an entire new system, I think they're playing catch up and need to do something asap to alleviate the long lines and the angry guests that will cause.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

I'd count Universal in that as well.

 

[onelove8187]

I very much am in favor of FP+ returning. I am hoppeful it returns before my upcoming trip for the last week of July. I am ok (this time) if it doesn't, because part of me feels its an opportunity to embrace a slightly different type of trip. I am now again an out of state passholder (YAY!) and have taken many trips with FP+ over the past several years which have been optimized to the fullest. I do think it will be nice to take a more relaxed approach... at least once lol.

As far as paid FP+, i can see being ok with it at a certain price point. Not happy, but accepting... The problem with the rumors is that the price range was ludicrous. $100-$300 per person per day... that is unfathomable even for Disney lol. $1200 for family of 4 for one day of FP+??? on top of park tickets! nope, not possible, this is so disconnected from reality that it is literally impossible. Unless this is some top tier option that yields front of line access to unlimited attractions, sort of VIP tour lite just without a tour guide? maybe, but only if it is in addition to free FP+ or some new hybrid FP+ because they will absolutely not move the bulk of guests into a system of only standby lines.

 

[Dis Dragon]

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.

It was off a FB board I follow for one of the resorts - was the board creator that has several family members employed in various levels of WDW.

 

[Heigh-Ho]

View attachment 585452

Your loss is my gain I guess, doesn't bother me one bit if you don't care for Universal that much or don't consider it 'premier'

 

[Garyjames220]

It's people who take longer vacations that would be most affected by this, I think. Fastpass charges could make longer trips prohibitive for many people - and maybe that is Disney's goal, and would turn the biggest profit for them, I have no idea. Maybe they make more money off of the shorter stays? I've said it before on this thread, but a fastpass charge could very well mean the end of my family vacationing in Disney.

We are not as far away as you, but we do fly, and we like to make a vacation out of it, rather than a few days of a theme park mad dash. I'm not paying flight costs for a short stay so that I can buy fastpasses and have to rush in and out of Disney. I'm not paying hundreds of extra dollars for something that used to be included. And I'm also not paying all that money to spend my "vacation" standing in long lines with little kids. It's not really about being "priced out" as such - we could easily shorten our stays, or stay off site, in order to fit a Disney vacation in our budget. But I don't particularly like either of those options and would likely just wind up going somewhere else that might be a better fit for my family at that point. I'd be bummed about that, because I love Disney, but that's the reality of it. This is the bottom line of why I'm so anxious to find out what their plan is for FP.

totally understand where u are coming from. We go in May 2022 with our 13 month old twins at the time and I’m dreading been priced out of affording fast passes. Even a few “free “ would make a big difference“

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Your loss is my gain I guess, doesn't bother me one bit if you don't care for Universal that much or don't consider it 'premier'

lol and there's a reason why some people who love Universal tend to stick with the Universal side of the Boards. Some people really do love to look down upon it, dunno why as if people couldn't possibly be fine with both. To me they both have their pros and cons much like many things. At least Universal lovers find some humor in it calling themselves the Dark Side, the stepchild, etc

 

[Dis Dragon]

Depends on what a "small fee" actually entails. Even a small charge could really add up for a family spending a week on vacation. Even if it was only $20 a day pp then for a family of 4 for 7 days, it's $560. We have a 10 day trip planned for the spring, so in my hypothetical example we'd be paying an extra $800 to have fastpass - which used to be included.

This exactly, they made no money before off FP. It's no loss if they don't give out free things, but just thing how many families like this would feel inclined (or that it's a must) to have FP for their trip. They're already shelling out 4-9k dollars a trip, what's that additional 1k to make it perfect? See that extra revenue coming in for a thing that costs them nothing.

BTW, I'm extremely salty and only going off of personal opinion and I would love to be proven wrong by the Disney company.

 

[Chris Ehlers]

If they just bring back FP+ as it was, there's no need for a month or more to educate anyone. And what is there to prepare for? It makes no sense they'd let the entire summer pass and introduce it when crowds are diminishing. They need it now. With the increased capacity and the 4th coming, it's going to be a mess.

I don't think they're going for an entire new system, I think they're playing catch up and need to do something asap to alleviate the long lines and the angry guests that will cause.

only way you could bring it back sooner then later is if you made it only same day with park reservations. people who dont follow these forums would be clueless . I have friends that are meeting us this weekend and they had no clue Fireworks were back.

 

[finedice]

There are also tons of articles out there talking about how Disney is really starting to price themselves out of the middle class and that the upper middle and upper classes are the demographics that are least interested in a Disney vacation. Put it all together, and it just makes bad marketing sense. I think charging huge rates for FP would be a grave mistake. I also think Disney is keenly aware of this.

 

[Kelly014]

Their ticket prices are also much lower than Disney's.

And people don’t spend two weeks at Universal or Six Flags. I think one of the strongest arguments (in my mind) for them continuing to offer some sort of free option is the fact that 5/6/7+ park day tickets is not out of the norm. It’s not like that at other parks. A family trying to pay for fast pass every day of their trip at Disney would be a significant extra cost - like thousands. We pay plenty for our Disney trips but that would be a dealbreaker for me, we’d start going less often.

I know the demand for Disney is high right now, but many people have stimulus money and didn’t vacation last year. They’re tired of staying home and there are a years worth of people trying to fit in cancelled vacations on top of normal travel, plus the 50th is coming up. It will take some time to get rid of that pent up demand, but eventually it will slow down and they will need to offer discounts/incentives again.

I think Disney is smart enough to see the big picture and imagine what demand is going to look like a year or two down the road. Personally I think a paid only fast pass system would be shooting themselves in the foot. They will price out people who have 2+ kids or people who enjoy 1-2 week stays and several park days if they’re charging for fast pass per person for every single park day, and those people make them an awful lot of money. Now, I could see the free system being tied to on site stays, but I don’t think they will 100% scrap it.

 

[lovethesun12]

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)

I didn't miss the practicing part. Your post mentioned how there was sometimes antagonism towards people who are okay with not having FP, then went on to discuss in the next paragraph how well Disney has done marketing/practicing FP+, as if that is part of the reason why those that disagree with you feel they need it. It's fine if people don't want FP+; that's their opinion and many of the arguments for that position are valid. For me though, it isn't FP+ (or marketing/practice/structure of it) I enjoy, it's not having to wait in line. They could try virtual queues, bring FP+ back, and call it whatever they want it doesn't matter to me. I didn't like waiting in lines long before I ever decided to go to Disney. I also usually travel during Easter, so my experience will differ greatly from those that don't (which could also be the reason why we might disagree).

I actually think FP+ is probably poorly marketed. My friend may have mentioned it but she also mentioned other convenient things like baby stations, stroller rentals, and monorail - is every little thing marketing? (it probably is, I just don't think it warrants mentioning in that case). I had no idea I could book FP+ 30-60 days out, or that I could book a fourth, which is why most people in my party didn't return (didn't get to do any top tier rides because we booked FP+ day of) so I'm not sure that's great marketing.

Anyways its okay to agree to disagree and I'm not a huge FP+ defender (I'm open to other options). I just want to go to the parks and not wait in the lines I would have had to on my first trip to experience the best rides, and not wait in the lines with the wait times that are currently at the park.

 

[AnnabelleTheTalkingTree]

totally understand where u are coming from. We go in May 2022 with our 13 month old twins at the time and I’m dreading been priced out of affording fast passes. Even a few “free “ would make a big difference“

We are also May 2022! And we'll have 3 young kids total in our party. Two of those kids are mine, and two of the 3 will be under 2. Long lines are definitive no go Our first trip as parents was 2019 and fastpass was never as valuable to me as it was with a kiddo. It's very hard for me to imagine a scenario in which our May trip isn't negatively impacted by a lack of fastpass. My hope is that they keep the three free for onsite guests. If it does go to fully paid, depending on the price/structure, I might consider buying them for a few days of our trip to make sure this trip is enjoyable, before backing off of Disney for future vacations.