State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[SarahWI]

The important question..When will Disney bring back gift shop delivery to our resort?

Indeed.

 

[Illinois76]

That won't change the fact that they aren't worth it.

We've never, in 35 years stayed off site. The only, absolutely only reason we aren't off site on our trip this month is we want quick and easy access the to MK. The only reason we're at the Cabins is because it was the only resort available that would house our bunch, not force us onto a bus to get to the MK and not cost us over 1k a night. We will Uber to everywhere else. Does that make it worth the $450 a night plus $70 a day for a golf cart? Obviously, since we booked it. But does it leave a bitter taste in my mouth that in order to get that one simple thing that is not negotiable, we had to pay that kind of money.

Leaving your customers with a bitter taste in their mouth shouldn't be ok with Disney.

It’s the absolutes. C’mon. Have to separate opinion from fact.

Bitter taste, destroying their brand, etc.

I’m a huge Disney fan and have absolutely no bitter taste in my mouth.

 

[mom2rtk]

It’s not a 1 for 1 and no business will ever be at 100% capacity every day outside of NFL stadiums but the general point remains. For every guest who gets priced out and leaves, a new guest takes their place. And there is a big long line of people buying DVC resale. There’s a big long line of people trying to buy annual passes. I just looked at hotels in October and for the week I’m going the cheapest available hotel is animal kingdom lodge at $450 a night. People make fun of Bob’s unprecedented demand comment but it’s 100% true. And this is with the borders closed! Imagine how bad it will be once foreigners are allowed back in the country. Now there’s an even bigger pool of people to take your place.

I'm sure you're aware that some of that is an artificial shortage based on reopening staffing issues. And I'm not talking about DVC. I'm talking about people visiting the parks. Ultimately if someone takes my place, Disney still loses. They wanted me AND the replacement person. That's my point.

 

[mom2rtk]

But it's not that they need many to buy the FP. They just need the privileged few to do so.

If just a few privileged people buy this new product, I have the feeling it will be considered a failure by Disney. While they don't expect or need everyone to buy it, there certainly is a floor that consists of more than just "a few". They expect a certain critical mass far greater than, say, the number who purchase VIP tours.

 

[mom2rtk]

The less people that have FP the better it works.

For you.

 

[Heather07438]

Wait, that’s how child swap works?! (Or at least used to work.) Here I was, thinking it was supposed to be an “everyone rides once” type thing, not “everyone rides at least once, some ride twice.” My oh my.

I think some people were really maxing it out? Mom would get 3 FPs and Dad would get a different 3. They’d hit 6 FP lines and the riding kids would get to go twice. Basically getting 12 rides with no waits. We never used it but from what I’ve read I think some people were doing this. But I could be confused.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

Disney World is my favorite place in the world, but if it comes down to choosing expensive fast passes or long lines all day we will switch to spending our money on different vacations with better value. These rumors and lack of information from Disney are really turning me off.

 

[Dis Dragon]

You could do FP line child swap for 3 people? That seems ridiculous. At least they make you wait in standby once right now.

 

[cakebaker]

It’s the absolutes. C’mon. Have to separate opinion from fact.

Bitter taste, destroying their brand, etc.

I’m a huge Disney fan and have absolutely no bitter taste in my mouth.

I never said every Disney guest feels the way I do. I was and am a huge fan and have been for decades. The fact that I have issues with them right now doesn't change that. Glad you are still completely happy with what they're doing. I never said anything about their brand, btw. I have no doubt they'll come out of all this just fine.

 

[Jrb1979]

For you.

The way I do theme parks it does work for me. Whatever park I go to parks my goal is to ride as many attractions as possible as well as re-ride the ones I like best. Last time I was at Universal I did Mummy 10 times during the week I was there.

 

[onelove8187]

I just realized why DLP pay-per-ride will not work in US… Americans, myself included, generally want to feel like they/we are getting a better deal, a discount, or the like… even if they aren’t. It is so baked into our culture that I can’t imagine it not finding it’s way into a WDW FP+ paid program. Even look at Disney resorts, what % or reservations are rack rate? People fall over themselves for DDP. We like feeling like we won.

dollar general, family Dollar, Costco, marshals, kohl’s, loyalty programs, credit card rewards, it’s mostly psychological nonsense to convince the customer they are getting a better deal deal. Of course, deals can be had, but those exist under the umbrella of need for perceived value that persists in our culture.

I am not familiar with Shanghai or french culture to know if this is different, but I would guess it is.

100% have convinced myself now that either value bundles or all access (likely rolling just like FP+) will find it’s way to WDW.

 

[Jrb1979]

I just realized why DLP pay-per-ride will not work in US… Americans, myself included, generally want to feel like they/we are getting a better deal, a discount, or the like… even if they aren’t. It is so baked into our culture that I can’t imagine it not finding it’s way into a WDW FP+ paid program. Even look at Disney resorts, what % or reservations are rack rate? People fall over themselves for DDP. We like feeling like we won.

dollar general, family Dollar, Costco, marshals, kohl’s, loyalty programs, credit card rewards, it’s mostly psychological nonsense to convince the customer they are getting a better deal deal. Of course, deals can be had, but those exist under the umbrella of need for perceived value that persists in our culture.

I am not familiar with Shanghai or french culture to know if this is different, but I would guess it is.

100% have convinced myself now that either value bundles or all access (likely rolling just like FP+) will find it’s way to WDW.

You will feel like it's a deal when they decide to wait til wait times are over 2 hours before a FP system comes back.

 

[cakebaker]

The way I do theme parks it does work for me. Whatever park I go to parks my goal is to ride as many attractions as possible as well as re-ride the ones I like best. Last time I was at Universal I did Mummy 10 times during the week I was there.

In the end, what everyone cares about is how a system works for them and people don't much care how changes affect anybody else. I'm not sure that it should. We aren't talking world peace here and caring for our fellow man. It's a theme park and it's just a vacation.

But you are absolutely right, the fewer people using the system, the better it is for those that do. Just like with EMH's. So absolutely I hope if nothing else, it reduces demand. If I'm going to pay a fortune, I at least want to enjoy what I paid for.

 

[ChipnDale79]

You could do FP line child swap for 3 people? That seems ridiculous. At least they make you wait in standby once right now.

Ehh it was something that set Disney apart. It was so the person that had to sit out could get the same experience as everyone else. It was about creating a memory

 

[onelove8187]

You will feel like it's a deal when they decide to wait til wait times are over 2 hours before a FP system comes back.

Not exactly, I think that feels coerced… like you are backed into needing it, not that you have an advantage especially paying at that point vs. paying for some access ahead of time.

 

[onelove8187]

Ehh it was something that set Disney apart. It was so the person that had to sit out could get the same experience as everyone else. It was about creating a memory

I was a fastpass warrior who embraced all the tips and tricks to maximize park time and we also used rider switch often; but I never, ever, felt inclined to try to game this… even though they made it very easy to do… super grimy to game that benefit. Sad to see it go because now I have 3 kids and one of us won’t get to have the experience with both older kids together.

 

[Leahc117]

I was a fastpass warrior who embraced all the tips and tricks to maximize park time and we also used rider switch often; but I never, ever, felt inclined to try to game this… even though they made it very easy to do… super grimy to game that benefit. Sad to see it go because now I have 3 kids and one of us won’t get to have the experience with both older kids together.

Same here. After waiting with baby I was so glad to experience an attraction with my other children- together. I understand the change but my family did love that program. For us it was more about the waiting parent enjoying the attraction with the kids - the kids were too young to really care about how many rides or FPS they got. They would be fine with riding once but I wouldn’t like riding alone after my husband and older kids rode together- if that makes sense. It was a nice program but the new one seems fair.

 

[Magnoliafan]

I just realized why DLP pay-per-ride will not work in US… Americans, myself included, generally want to feel like they/we are getting a better deal, a discount, or the like… even if they aren’t. It is so baked into our culture that I can’t imagine it not finding it’s way into a WDW FP+ paid program. Even look at Disney resorts, what % or reservations are rack rate? People fall over themselves for DDP. We like feeling like we won.

dollar general, family Dollar, Costco, marshals, kohl’s, loyalty programs, credit card rewards, it’s mostly psychological nonsense to convince the customer they are getting a better deal deal. Of course, deals can be had, but those exist under the umbrella of need for perceived value that persists in our culture.

I am not familiar with Shanghai or french culture to know if this is different, but I would guess it is.

100% have convinced myself now that either value bundles or all access (likely rolling just like FP+) will find it’s way to WDW.

This is an interesting point. I used to work in retail and was a supervisor at J.C. Penney when they decided to overhaul their entire system. They got rid of coupons and sales in favor of “everyday low prices”. Things really were cheaper - items previously marked $30 and always sold at a discount or as part of some kind of BOGO might now have a regular price of $15. Sales tanked. The store where I worked went from constantly busy to dead. There were other changes (look of the store, changing brands, etc), but the question I heard most was “when are sales coming back?” And when the experiment utterly failed and the old system came back, people lined up to get that $30 item on sale for 25% off and use their 15% off coupon to get an even better deal. They “won”, like you said, and their prize was paying $19 for something that had cost $15 without the games.

Disney add-ons have always been about perceived value. “Sure, the after hours events are expensive, but the lines are short and I get free popcorn and ice cream!” Most people don’t get a calculator after the event is over to break down exactly how much each ride cost after the “free” treats are subtracted. They don’t want to know. If they were able to walk on a few rides and enjoy short waits for 7DMT and Splash before grabbing some free waters and Mickey bars, then they might feel like the cost was worth it.

Whereas having the ability to pay one flat rate for one activity (like $20 for a short wait for 7DMT) just feels a lot less like value and a lot more like gauging. It just feels like a rip off, even if the overall cost might be less than its portion of DAH, if you did grab that calculator. So I agree that asking people to pay X dollars per FP, straight up, no perceived bargains or value, wouldn’t be well received. Especially since it’s not an “exciting new service”, but something that used to be free.

 

[Karin1984]

If just a few privileged people buy this new product, I have the feeling it will be considered a failure by Disney. While they don't expect or need everyone to buy it, there certainly is a floor that consists of more than just "a few". They expect a certain critical mass far greater than, say, the number who purchase VIP tours.

Depends on the definition of the 'a few'. I am thinking 5-10% per day. For Disneyland Paris that's 2.750 - 5.500 guests. That's about 900 - 1.800 families. I think that's doable, especially for families visiting from abroad.
That would mean €176.000 - €352.000 per day for those who buy all 8 FP rides at Disneyland Paris at €8 per ride. Plus a 'few' who only buy it for one or two rides.

And this is definitely aimed at people who have money and are willing to spend it, but for who VIP tours are out of reach. Paying €200 per day (to repeat some rides) per person, is a lot better than the minimum €3.500 for a VIP tour (no idea what the minimum is in DLP). I rarely see VIP tours at DLP, I think it doesn't exceed 10 a day = €35.000.

They know the loyal AP holders will come no matter what, because this group probably knows how to use EMH or what the down times per day/year are. Or, wait it out. This group knows that Big Thunder Mountain normally can reach 60-90 minute wait times, if that's now 30-45 minutes because they have cancelled FP, they will be happy and won't see this as a long wait.

 

[Kbrb]

Disneyland paris is a 3 day experience tops I dont see any reason to fast pass some of the rides on that list.

Disneyworld is a not even the same ball park. I hate this idea but if my 2 week trip goes ahead next year? Im in Hollywood studios and i cant get on Mickeys railway? Am i dropping $30 for my family? or waiting 4 hours for the next boarding pass? I think we all know what will happen.

10% of people buying one of these a day is very low estimate.