State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I was re-reading an article about the Premier Access pass at Disneyland Paris. In the announcement there are 8 rides mentioned which will have Premier Access. They have replaced Indiana Jones' coaster with Autopia. Which is probably a good call as a FP for Indiana Jones was rarely necessary, and lines at Autopia are always long as it is very slow loading.
There is now 50/50 split 4 rides aimed at guests with (young) children and 4 rides aimed at a more adult audience with height requirements.

Before FP + was introduced to WDW, how many rides with FP were there and how many of these were aimed guests with children and which at adults?
I think before FP+ there were no options to use FP for shows & characters, right?

In the same article it was mentioned that the Hotel Fast Pass will not return to Disneyland Paris.

There were shows with legacy FP - Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Indiana Jones, Lights Motors Action, Little Mermaid, Muppets, Philharmagic, Honey I Shrunk the Audience, It's Tough to be a Bug. That's all I can think of. The popular rides all had FP, regardless of target audience.

 

[jimim]

our upcoming trips are causing anxiety of some sorts also. I don't even want to go through the process of scheduling park days. since they are letting so many people in now they should just get rid of that reservation system. it's just 1 extra thing to plan which I don't want a lot time for in my life.

fast passes they need to get off the pot. bring it back or nix it and replace it with a paid system and let the cards fall where they may so people can just get on with their planning. or hey Disney doesn't throw anything away anyway. just pull out the paper fast pass machines and let the games begin! those were always interesting mornings.

right now I just can't get into any of it. I cx'ed the New Years trip which my kids aren't happy about but they will get over it. so we are trying for next easter. maybe it will be back to normal by then.

if I had to pay for fast passes. . . . I prob would cause I mean if I don't that mean 4 hr waits for rides we still haven't been on. cause of covid we still haven't seen Star Wars land. last April was suppose to be that trip when covid started. didn't see mickey and Minnie train ride yet either. I just don't think I can wait in 2-3 hr lines at this point.

 

[MyHappyPlace17]

Reading all your posts about the current experience at WDW leaves me questioning why anyone would go under these circumstances. A Disney vacation is so expensive. Too expensive to not expect an equal level experience for the money paid. I love vacationing at WDW. It's my favorite place to spend my vacation dollars, but given the cost, we average going only once every other year. Our last trip was December 2019 but I wouldn't go again this year even with huge discounts after reading all the reports currently on social media. I'm tentatively planning for Nov/Dec next year and am very hopeful that Disney has figured everything out by then and we'll get to enjoy the experience we've come to enjoy and expect over the years. But if they don't get their act together, we may skip next year as well. I simply refuse to pay that much money for a subpar experience. If anything, we may come to Orlando and just do a shorter trip at Universal only.

Having free FP was nice, but I can understand the business reasons for it no longer being offered free. I've stated it before in other posts but my hope for FP at Disney was for it to follow the Universal model with no scheduling or return times required. I'd be willing to budget that in for a fair, reasonable cost. But if they go to a system which requires me to crisscross the parks multiple times like a crazy person to visit an attraction, find the queue too long, try for a FP, getting a return time later in the day (or not getting one at all!) then having to return to that attraction later from wherever I may be in the park at that time, and paying for that? No. And I'm not paying all that money for a long awaited trip and missing many of the headliners or having to wait in 2 hr lines for the privilege. If they are sticking with time windows, then I need to be able to plan in advance so I know going into the park that day I will be able to experience all the attractions important to me and can plan my day out to make it as stress free and enjoyable as I can.

I've always been "that person" at work and with friends and acquaintances who talks WDW up. Over the years I've encouraged many people to go and those people have become repeat visitors as a result. Right now, I'm discouraging people from going. A Disney trip is a hard sell already given the cost, but with the experience being such a poor one right now, I just can't see the value in it. Disney is a business like any other. They are in it to make money. If they can slow construction to a crawl dragging it out for years, reduce ride capacity to save on labor costs at the expense of the customer experience, and eliminate or delay re-opening of entertainment, restaurants, hotels and other services and people will still come in droves spending as much, or more than ever, then why should they up their game?

 

[cakebaker]

our upcoming trips are causing anxiety of some sorts also. I don't even want to go through the process of scheduling park days. since they are letting so many people in now they should just get rid of that reservation system. it's just 1 extra thing to plan which I don't want a lot time for in my life.

fast passes they need to get off the pot. bring it back or nix it and replace it with a paid system and let the cards fall where they may so people can just get on with their planning. or hey Disney doesn't throw anything away anyway. just pull out the paper fast pass machines and let the games begin! those were always interesting mornings.

right now I just can't get into any of it. I cx'ed the New Years trip which my kids aren't happy about but they will get over it. so we are trying for next easter. maybe it will be back to normal by then.

if I had to pay for fast passes. . . . I prob would cause I mean if I don't that mean 4 hr waits for rides we still haven't been on. cause of covid we still haven't seen Star Wars land. last April was suppose to be that trip when covid started. didn't see mickey and Minnie train ride yet either. I just don't think I can wait in 2-3 hr lines at this point.

I'm with you on the FP issue- but I've given up that they're going to do anything until the kinks are worked out on their paid system- and knowing Disney, that could be a good long time. It will most definitely be interesting watching how it all unfolds without having a stake in it trip wise. There's no doubt in my mind it won't be before out trip.

We leave next Sunday and other than park reservations, I've done nothing. Normally by now my suitcases are out, I've shopped for clothes and things for the long drive, set up a daily itinerary and a million other things. We have 0 dining reservations. We think we'll be spending a lot of time at our resort (cabins at FW) and will just save the money and eat at the cabin. My goal on this trip is to see the fireworks and spend as little money as possible other than what I've already spent.

After that, no plans on the horizon for WDW. The next trip we do will be well after the dust settles and I can count on what the experience will be. No more adjusted expectations trip. I have certain expectations of what a trip to Disney should be and when and if they meet those, we'll go back. It's not lofty expectations, just the basics of what they use to be. I hope they get there.

 

[cakebaker]

I've always been "that person" at work and with friends and acquaintances who talks WDW up.

Same here with anyone who asks me about it. I had the owner of a small business I frequent ask me just yesterday to give them some tips on a trip they were thinking about. My advice was to not plan it and go somewhere else. He was shocked because I'm the biggest Disney fan he knows. But instead of telling him what a great time he'd have and how amazing WDW was, I found myself showing him wait times, telling him all the things that aren't there and yup, showed him the trash can pictures. I tried to tell him that it wasn't always this way, just because I come off as crazy to have been such a dedicated fan. Pretty sure they're making alternate plans now, at least I hope so. I don't want to hear a few months from now how miserable it was and questioning why I would ever go as often as we did.

If Disney is really focusing on first time, one and done guests, maybe they should consider that it's those of us who have been going for years that do a lot of their advertisng and right now, I'm not a good commercial.

 

[yaya74]

Reading all your posts about the current experience at WDW leaves me questioning why anyone would go under these circumstances. A Disney vacation is so expensive. Too expensive to not expect an equal level experience for the money paid.

That's why I regretted going to Disney this summer. I should have brought my money to Universal Orlando (Why can UO operating almost everything at pre-pandemic level but Disney cann't??) . I booked my vacation based on the assumption that indoor mask-wearing was still in effect and that parks are operating with limited capacity. Then right after I paid for my vacation in full, the mask-wearing mandate was completely lifted and park passes were refilled 3 times! I didn't want to lose my $200 and I still had faith in Disney so I went. I came home but left my passions and love for Disney in Orlando.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Reading all your posts about the current experience at WDW leaves me questioning why anyone would go under these circumstances. A Disney vacation is so expensive. Too expensive to not expect an equal level experience for the money paid. I love vacationing at WDW. It's my favorite place to spend my vacation dollars, but given the cost, we average going only once every other year. Our last trip was December 2019 but I wouldn't go again this year even with huge discounts after reading all the reports currently on social media. I'm tentatively planning for Nov/Dec next year and am very hopeful that Disney has figured everything out by then and we'll get to enjoy the experience we've come to enjoy and expect over the years. But if they don't get their act together, we may skip next year as well. I simply refuse to pay that much money for a subpar experience. If anything, we may come to Orlando and just do a shorter trip at Universal only.

Having free FP was nice, but I can understand the business reasons for it no longer being offered free. I've stated it before in other posts but my hope for FP at Disney was for it to follow the Universal model with no scheduling or return times required. I'd be willing to budget that in for a fair, reasonable cost. But if they go to a system which requires me to crisscross the parks multiple times like a crazy person to visit an attraction, find the queue too long, try for a FP, getting a return time later in the day (or not getting one at all!) then having to return to that attraction later from wherever I may be in the park at that time, and paying for that? No. And I'm not paying all that money for a long awaited trip and missing many of the headliners or having to wait in 2 hr lines for the privilege. If they are sticking with time windows, then I need to be able to plan in advance so I know going into the park that day I will be able to experience all the attractions important to me and can plan my day out to make it as stress free and enjoyable as I can.

I've always been "that person" at work and with friends and acquaintances who talks WDW up. Over the years I've encouraged many people to go and those people have become repeat visitors as a result. Right now, I'm discouraging people from going. A Disney trip is a hard sell already given the cost, but with the experience being such a poor one right now, I just can't see the value in it. Disney is a business like any other. They are in it to make money. If they can slow construction to a crawl dragging it out for years, reduce ride capacity to save on labor costs at the expense of the customer experience, and eliminate or delay re-opening of entertainment, restaurants, hotels and other services and people will still come in droves spending as much, or more than ever, then why should they up their game?

I'm still finding it to be more than worth it, though I will say that when I go I am almost always only paying for myself. Usually going with my parents or a group of friends, but always paying for my own hotel room. So that does help with cost. To me, the magic is still there and I can't get the Disney experience anywhere else (well, obviously other Disney parks, but besides that). While I wouldn't recommend first time visitors go right now, I definitely wouldn't discourage it. For me, I will be more than happy to continue to pay.

 

[notatallmagic]

our upcoming trips are causing anxiety of some sorts also. I don't even want to go through the process of scheduling park days. since they are letting so many people in now they should just get rid of that reservation system. it's just 1 extra thing to plan which I don't want a lot time for in my life.

fast passes they need to get off the pot. bring it back or nix it and replace it with a paid system and let the cards fall where they may so people can just get on with their planning. or hey Disney doesn't throw anything away anyway. just pull out the paper fast pass machines and let the games begin! those were always interesting mornings.

right now I just can't get into any of it. I cx'ed the New Years trip which my kids aren't happy about but they will get over it. so we are trying for next easter. maybe it will be back to normal by then.

if I had to pay for fast passes. . . . I prob would cause I mean if I don't that mean 4 hr waits for rides we still haven't been on. cause of covid we still haven't seen Star Wars land. last April was suppose to be that trip when covid started. didn't see mickey and Minnie train ride yet either. I just don't think I can wait in 2-3 hr lines at this point.

I totally am in the same place when it comes to planning. Every trip until this summer - planning has been half the fun! My teenagers and I would pour over ride choices, meals, shows - every conceivable part of the trip. It's been great for our family dynamic - learning that everyone can and should get some of their favorites, and learn to compromise too. I'll never forget one of the trips we took with extended family (there have been 4-5 of those) when my then 13 year old son got to use one of his FastPasses to meet Tinkerbell with his 4 year old cousin...lol.

We have a kind of "touring plan" we've used very effectively every single first park day at each of the parks. It has ALWAYS allowed us to get on pretty much all of our favorites, barring a ride shut down. Now, without FastPass and crazy lines on simple rides, we have no idea if that tried and true 10 year plan will even work. It's stressful and un-fun. One of the reasons we've been Disney Regulars is knowing what to expect; and without that, no point really in being a regular any more.

 

[notatallmagic]

I'm with you on the FP issue- but I've given up that they're going to do anything until the kinks are worked out on their paid system- and knowing Disney, that could be a good long time. It will most definitely be interesting watching how it all unfolds without having a stake in it trip wise. There's no doubt in my mind it won't be before out trip.

We leave next Sunday and other than park reservations, I've done nothing. Normally by now my suitcases are out, I've shopped for clothes and things for the long drive, set up a daily itinerary and a million other things. We have 0 dining reservations. We think we'll be spending a lot of time at our resort (cabins at FW) and will just save the money and eat at the cabin. My goal on this trip is to see the fireworks and spend as little money as possible other than what I've already spent.

After that, no plans on the horizon for WDW. The next trip we do will be well after the dust settles and I can count on what the experience will be. No more adjusted expectations trip. I have certain expectations of what a trip to Disney should be and when and if they meet those, we'll go back. It's not lofty expectations, just the basics of what they use to be. I hope they get there.

I'm exactly where you are - leaving this Thursday. And we wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the sunk costs of Annual Passes, purchased long ago for the final year before my oldest leaves for college (only 4 weeks from now). Our family vacation timeline is running out, and it's sad to end it this way.

And we were also Uber-planners, and other than 2 Jungle Skipper lunches and one Beaches and Cream; we are unplanned. Super sad.

 

[preemiemama]

So we complained at guest relations this morning before leaving the park. There were 3 people fielding complaints and issuing DAS cards. The CM who helped us said that 20 more have been hired and they are training now. Maybe once staff is ramped up they’ll start FP?

 

[cakebaker]

I'm exactly where you are - leaving this Thursday. And we wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for the sunk costs of Annual Passes, purchased long ago for the final year before my oldest leaves for college (only 4 weeks from now). Our family vacation timeline is running out, and it's sad to end it this way.

And we were also Uber-planners, and other than 2 Jungle Skipper lunches and one Beaches and Cream; we are unplanned. Super sad.

I have an AP voucher yet to be redeemed along with nearly 4k in Disney gift cards that were to have been used on our first cancelled trip. And yes, I knew the risk when I bought them, but in my defense, I don't think I was the only one who never envisioned Disney closing their doors for months. I'm not activating the voucher, it won't get used enough and I'll find other Disney related vacations to eat up the gift cards- they just won't be spent at WDW.

My suitcases, btw, are sitting out in my room, have been since the day I unpacked them a year and a half ago. I didn't have the heart to put them up and don't have it to open them and pack. It is sad. I'm past angry. I'm just disappointed and really sad about what Disney has become and where I think it's headed.

 

[cakebaker]

So we complained at guest relations this morning before leaving the park. There were 3 people fielding complaints and issuing DAS cards. The CM who helped us said that 20 more have been hired and they are training now. Maybe once staff is ramped up they’ll start FP?

Thank you for taking the time. Honestly, I don't think we're ever going to see FP+ as it was again. I don't believe it's staffing issues at all regarding that. I think it's they want to go straight to their paid system.

 

[preemiemama]

Thank you for taking the time. Honestly, I don't think we're ever going to see FP+ as it was again. I don't believe it's staffing issues at all regarding that. I think it's they want to go straight to their paid system.

I complained on the chat feature and on Twitter as well. Trying to make sure they are hearing how what they have decided to do has affected real people in the parks as much as possible.

 

[Lewisc]

Right. They put together Broadway quality shows. I think the Lion King Broadway show was adapted from the WDW Festival of the Lion King. It’s a huge ordeal.

Lion king play opened at least 6 months before AK opened. More likely Festival was inspired by Broadway play.

 

[mercuryvenus]

Lion king play opened at least 6 months before AK opened. More likely Festival was inspired by Broadway play.

Got it. But still — the quality they go for is the same level.

 

[buttersnix]

Reading all your posts about the current experience at WDW leaves me questioning why anyone would go under these circumstances. A Disney vacation is so expensive. Too expensive to not expect an equal level experience for the money paid. I love vacationing at WDW. It's my favorite place to spend my vacation dollars, but given the cost, we average going only once every other year. Our last trip was December 2019 but I wouldn't go again this year even with huge discounts after reading all the reports currently on social media. I'm tentatively planning for Nov/Dec next year and am very hopeful that Disney has figured everything out by then and we'll get to enjoy the experience we've come to enjoy and expect over the years. But if they don't get their act together, we may skip next year as well. I simply refuse to pay that much money for a subpar experience. If anything, we may come to Orlando and just do a shorter trip at Universal only.

Having free FP was nice, but I can understand the business reasons for it no longer being offered free. I've stated it before in other posts but my hope for FP at Disney was for it to follow the Universal model with no scheduling or return times required. I'd be willing to budget that in for a fair, reasonable cost. But if they go to a system which requires me to crisscross the parks multiple times like a crazy person to visit an attraction, find the queue too long, try for a FP, getting a return time later in the day (or not getting one at all!) then having to return to that attraction later from wherever I may be in the park at that time, and paying for that? No. And I'm not paying all that money for a long awaited trip and missing many of the headliners or having to wait in 2 hr lines for the privilege. If they are sticking with time windows, then I need to be able to plan in advance so I know going into the park that day I will be able to experience all the attractions important to me and can plan my day out to make it as stress free and enjoyable as I can.

I've always been "that person" at work and with friends and acquaintances who talks WDW up. Over the years I've encouraged many people to go and those people have become repeat visitors as a result. Right now, I'm discouraging people from going. A Disney trip is a hard sell already given the cost, but with the experience being such a poor one right now, I just can't see the value in it. Disney is a business like any other. They are in it to make money. If they can slow construction to a crawl dragging it out for years, reduce ride capacity to save on labor costs at the expense of the customer experience, and eliminate or delay re-opening of entertainment, restaurants, hotels and other services and people will still come in droves spending as much, or more than ever, then why should they up their game?

I mean, it’s not that easy to cancel. When we were 30 days out it wasn’t like this. My kids already had their hearts broken last year, I’m not going to cancel on them again. We have to use our airfare too. Plus, my kids are getting older, I know they can still enjoy it at an older age but I kinda want to be there when they’re younger. They were supposed to be 9 and 6 when we went, now they’re 11 and 8. Also, I’m tired of planning the same stupid trip for two years. I’m kind to the “let’s just get it over with” phase. I'm ready to move on to the next trip. And lastly, I think we’ll still have fun. It may not be great but we can always leave and go to the beach or something if it really is that bad.

 

[mercuryvenus]

I totally understand the frustration of not having FP. I really do. But I’m not sure the Universal model is much better. I’m not thrilled with the notion of either having to wait in long lines (and the Universal lines are terrible too) or paying $80/day to skip a line once per ride, or $100/day for unlimited skips. That adds a huge amount of money to a vacation budget.

From what I’ve read, Disney’s Genie app will strike somewhere in the middle: everyone will get a certain number of free FP, with on-site guests getting more, and then you can purchase additional ones. That seems reasonable to me.

 

[cakebaker]

. My kids already had their hearts broken last year, I’m not going to cancel on them again.

For those who had trips cancelled last year, especially those who were hit with little or no notice, it was incredibly hard to break the news to young kids. I think this is a case of you really have to have experienced it to know just how heartbreaking it is. My grandson ( 9 yrs old now) would not even talk about WDW for months and would leave the room if the subject turned to WDW. Honestly, he shows little excitement about the upcoming trip and I know it's because he remembers being disappointed last time and is afraid it will happen again.

So if I waste a few thousand dollars, so be it. I'm not telling that child he's not going again. By the time they ramped up capacity like they did, then it became increasingly clear they were going to do nothing in regards to the ever increasing crowds, we were a couple of weeks out from leaving. I'll spend whatever it takes to not see the face I saw in March ever again. My goal is to suck it up, smile for him and try to leave WDW at the end of the week without him hating the place and refusing to ever return. Lofty goals, huh?

 

[vicarrieous]

We just got back from an 8 day trip to WDW. It was our Welcome Home DVC stay at the Poly after purchasing in the new year. We wouldn't have gone in July but we had points that were set to expire and expiring flight credits. I was hoping for either attendance to still be limited or FP to come back and neither happened. I will admit, it was tough. We didn't spend as much time in the park as we normally would due to wait times, crowds and heat. We rope dropped every day but found it hard to get to the parks (especially HS & AK) more than 30 minutes before opening with busses. One morning we were at the bus stop at 7:40 for a 9am opening at HS. The first bus didn't come until 8:41. By the time we got to the park, lines were well over or pushing an hour for most headliners.

We already have an 11 day trip planned for January and expect the temps to be better, but are already discussing how we will adjust if FP doesn't come back or things are still not operating fully. We probably won't get hoppers (we would have bought AP's prior to this trip, but couldn't), will reduce the number for park days and potentially spend some time off property or at our resort.

We did go in Oct of 2020 and had a much better time with the restrictions in place. We also noticed that this trip we rarely saw cavalcades while in October we saw multiple in a day. That could be because we spent less time in the parks, but I also wondered with much more crowding if its less likely they they run them as often.

We still had a great time, but it felt a bit different with the parks being less enjoyable.

 

[mercuryvenus]

For those who had trips cancelled last year, especially those who were hit with little or no notice, it was incredibly hard to break the news to young kids. I think this is a case of you really have to have experienced it to know just how heartbreaking it is. My grandson ( 9 yrs old now) would not even talk about WDW for months and would leave the room if the subject turned to WDW. Honestly, he shows little excitement about the upcoming trip and I know it's because he remembers being disappointed last time and is afraid it will happen again.

So if I waste a few thousand dollars, so be it. I'm not telling that child he's not going again. By the time they ramped up capacity like they did, then it became increasingly clear they were going to do nothing in regards to the ever increasing crowds, we were a couple of weeks out from leaving. I'll spend whatever it takes to not see the face I saw in March ever again. My goal is to suck it up, smile for him and try to leave WDW at the end of the week without him hating the place and refusing to ever return. Lofty goals, huh?

I’ve found that kids really respond to the adults around them. If you’re excited, they will be too, and vice versa.