Paying for fastpass in 2006?????

[2belles'mom]

As a previous poster mentioned, Disneyland has been operating with some form of this for quite awhile...the Castle Club was mentioned, but there is also a "package" for those staying at the top Disneyland onsite hotels through AAA--UNLIMITED FASTPASSES. Whoohooo, I did shell out the money and stay onsite to take advantage of this perk. It was sooooooooooooo worth it!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

First of all, I can't imagine them changing it in the middle of the HCOE. They have put MILLIONS into marketing. Before they started really pushing the "Family of 4 for $1500" I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a commercial for Disney World. I don't think I had EVER seen a commercial for Disney World! To start changing the Fast Passes now wouldn't be smart. I would think if they cahnge it, it would correspond to the END of the celebration. Like right around the time they start to charge for Magical Express.

Second, I have the 2005 Birnbaum guide and I have been through it a million times. There is wrong information in it. These books are written so far in advance that they are outdated before they hit the shelf. I just don't think there is anything to get worked up about.

I could be completely incorrect, but I don't think it will change until the end of the year. If it does change in the beginning of the year I will be HUGELY glad we are booked for AKL in August!

 

[Stewy]

Hmmmm.... What happened to the original idea behind fastpasses? It was to get you out of line and into the shops and restaurants, wasn't it?
I can't see how getting you through a park in four hours and able to see all of WDW in 2-3 days helps WDW's bottom line. Then again Universal is getting $37.50 per park per person for their express pass Christmas week

btw. I think Universal's elimination of the free express pass stinks. This helped us make the decision not to visit Universal on our next trip. $$$

 

[phamton]

Well right now the express is $15 at Universal. Universal has not eliminated the free express. It was not scanning most of the older annual passes and older tickets. All older tickets and old annual passes had alphanumeric (the pass ID was like 23A876B123) All the new tickets and annaul passes have just numbers. They have been replacing the old express machines. There has been no announcemnet to discontinue them at this time.

 

[cara76]

We have AP's and never stay onsite (33 miles front door to parking lot at MK). If this happens we would never be able to get any fast passes

Hoping it's just an ungly ole rumor and not true, I for one would be very dissapointed in Disney if it where.

 

[jlovesee]

You know some people think that Disney expecting guests to pay so much more for a fast pass is going to make everything great it doesn't always work that way.

Look at Six Flags, they have Q-Bot, you pay $50 or so (never used it but know people who have) and it works sort of like fast pass. Its junk, it turns people off of Six Flags parks (along with other reasons but I wont go there), because they feel they have to pay $50 to get into the park and then another $50 not to wait in line for 2 hours.

I think its fine if Disney follows Universal and gives on site perks (like a free fast pass or something) to everyone staying on site, I DO NOT agree with only giving that to those staying in Deluxe or above or paying extra. It will hurt Disney more then it will help them in that Disney probably still makes more money off of those middle class folks then over the rich folks. There are just a lot more middle class people. Never piss off your bottom line

(aka 50 middle class people spend $100 per day at a park vs. 5 upper class that spend $500 a day at a park)

Jennifer

 

[twojo21]

i have my birnbaums walt disney world 2006 official guide in front of me right now & there is no mention of paying for fastpass anywhere. i think the op is mistaken.

 

[Jamesbyr]

We have AP's and never stay onsite (33 miles front door to parking lot at MK). If this happens we would never be able to get any fast passes

Hoping it's just an ungly ole rumor and not true, I for one would be very dissapointed in Disney if it where.

Well this is valid, but AP holders living 33 miles away can come during the slower times and have no problems.

What did we do when there were no Fast Passes? We came early in the morning, or paid extra for those recent extended evening hours.

I was tempted to stay at the Universal hotels and get the easy entry passes, but resisted the temptation this year at least. But they have only two or three hotels in their program, not the thousands of rooms that Disney has. If there is such a program at Disney, it will be on the "concierge" level if at all.

 

[2boyshere]

We also went to Disneyland for the 50th in July and booked thru AAA to get the unlimited fast pass. You had to buy your room and tickets thru them and stay on site. It was absoutely great and even though the parks were packed we were able to do everything multiple times because we could get a fastpass for every ride at the same time and then get another & another. I heard they may stop this out there but we said we would love it if WDW did this. It would enable us to go during school vacations easier and deal with the crowd level, although I think the
f-pass lines would be longer by a huge amount.

 

[In a hurry]

i have my birnbaums walt disney world 2006 official guide in front of me right now & there is no mention of paying for fastpass anywhere. i think the op is mistaken.

It is in the kid's book. Finally found mine, and the OP is is correct in her quote.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

If they were careful enough to edit it out of the regular edition I would think there is no need to worry! Why on earth would a kid care if Fast Passes are free or not, when their parents make the arrangements? I would imagine it was just overlooked in the final proofreading. In the grand scheme of things they probably figured the kids would breeze right over that part. DS9 has the 2005 Kids version and I don't think he would have caught a reference like that, and if he did read it I doubt it would have occurred to him that it is any different than the system at WDW now.

Nobody has really come out with a clear outline of HOW the system would change. If you PAY for Fast Pass but the system remains the same (only one pass every 2 hours) then the Fast Pass lines won't change because the number of passes and the time frames will be the same as they always have. I don't think Disney has said ANYTHING about unlimited. Unlimited would certainly change the dynamics, but as far as I can tell, they aren't talking about that. They are talking about making guests (other than deluxe resort guests) pay for the system that is already in place.

 

[palmtreegirl]

If they were careful enough to edit it out of the regular edition I would think there is no need to worry!

It's only in the Kids guide? Then I agree, no need to worry.

 

[kmkja1]

The fact is is that we just have to wait and see. I don't think Disney will do something that will anger the majority of their guests(those not staying at Deluxes) to benefit a small minority of customers. That is not good business.

 

[mic_key_mouse]

I think if one thing is certain, is is that change is inevitable at WDW. Especially now since there is a changing of the guard, and the new leadership is going to want to make their mark early. I don't care if it's in the kid's book or the adult book- it's there. It's in an official guidebook, and I am concerned.

My guess is that IF it goes into effect, it will be a system where guests in deluxe resorts (and probably DVC members) will get more complimentary FP availability than those in the moderates and values. They will tier it so the more you spend the more access you have to FP priveleges. I am also thinking that people staying in the lower tier resorts will have an option to purchase the 'deluxe' level of FP distribution. Ultimately, it is going to be marketed as a 'reward' for staying on Disney property imo. The Disney 'system' is geared to keeping people on property, and this would be yet another clever way to accomplish that. Who knows how it's going to pan out? No one (at least no one outside of Disney management). But it sure is fun to speculate

 

[#1_Donald_Duck_Fan]

I really hope Disney doesn't do this (we stay at the Wilderness so wouldn't effect us that much) it will turn alot of people off of Disney. Also why are you going to penalise people because they can't stay at a deluxe resort.

 

[Disneyholics5]

I don't think that you can compare Universal, Disneyland Ca., etc. to Disneyworld in Florida. Disneyworld has four major parks and more hotels/rooms than all the others combined. I have read and heard that the lines at Universal for onsite guests are many times longer than the regular lines I can't imagine how long the lines would be at Disneyworld if they went to a pay and/or perk system because from reading these responses most people would be willing to pay for an unlimited fast pass (as would I) and we are only a very small number on this discussion board now, so it would seem to me that the lines would be just as long if not longer than the regular stand by lines. Obviously they would have to work out some sort of system such as times they can be used at certain rides or whatever. I think it would be difficult. Probably the reason that they MAY be considering different passes for different guests, deluxe, moderate, value etc. not that it is fair. I personally don't even stay at a Disney hotel, I stay at the Buena Visa Palace in DTD have been for years. Now would they consider the hotels in the DTD village area as part of their system, just as the Swan and Dolphin surely would be? I would not want to be the one to have to set this plan up to please the hundreds of thousands of Disney guests (most of which are middle income-and who I agree spend MUCH MUCH more at Disney than the wealthy guests. But as many posters have said some kinda change is definitely in the works. JMHO. Sorry this turned out to be so long.

 

[In a hurry]

Actually, I think the fact that they went out of their way to change the phrasing from the last couple of books makes it a concern. Otherwise, why bother? It isn't like a typo that just wasn't caught. It was an intentional re-writing.

 

[GPALANGE]

But why is it in the Kids book and not the regular one??? That's what has me puzzled.

 

[In a hurry]

That is really odd. I can't remember if they came out at the same time.

 

[freediverdude]

What jackskellingtonsgirl said does seem like something Disney would do....maybe have the ability to use the current fastpass system as an extra $10 or $20 a day charge for Disney resort guests, but included for free if you're at a deluxe. That sounds totally plausible. And then also have it as an add-on to the off-site guest magic your way tickets, just like the no-expiration and magic plus pack options, only probably more expensive per day than the Disney resort guest fee. Yes I could totally see that happening- it wouldn't require much change to the current fastpass system, only a change to the tickets. The only real questionable part then would be the APs, whether those people would have to pay a per-day fee to have the privilege, or whether APs would include it for a higher price.