State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[preemiemama]

Are the few single rider lines still available in the parks? As a sometimes solo traveller to WDW these can cut hours of queuing from the day. I was never happier than when I could ride Expedition Everest five or six times an hour! If they ditched FP I hope these lines would still be an option.

Yes- here now and they are open.

 

[SL6827]

While it was hilarious, everything he said was true.

Link?

 

[cakebaker]

Link?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1412373970679173130

 

[vincep]

Can't figure out why so many people who have what seems like a giant hate on with Disney continue to post on a board for people who love Disney. Not saying there is nothing to have issue with (nothing is perfect) but the incredible bashing that goes on just blows my mind.

When you see something you love degraded and exploited to be exclusive to the very rich to give to a few people fabulous great wealth then maybe you'll know what we are talking about.
You know nothing about Walt Disney or the history of his company.
If you did you'd know how offensive and ill-informed your comments are.
Disney wanted average Americans not the carriage trade.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

1. Free Parking was removed for no good reason other than more profits
2. Dining Plan was adjusted to the point where it is a ripoff... for more profits
3. DisneyLand AP's were pruned because they took advantage of Covid... for more profits
4. FP's are widely believed to be changing and have already changed at many other parks... for more profits
5. Magical Express was cut off with no alternatives other than guests left paying the bill when a perfectly viable bus transportation had been working fine for years... for more profits
6. The company has used a PANDEMIC that has killed over 4 million people around the world as an excuse to to make these changes... for more profits
7. Extra magic hours only for guests who shell out $500+ a night at a deluxe resort, moderates/value guests are NOT WELCOME... for more profits

... Shall I continue?

1. Hotels in major cities and tourist destinations around the world charge for parking - so Disney was simply adopting an industry standard. Also, the parking at Universal Orlando: $18 at Cabana Bay, $28 for self and $37 for valet at Portifino Bay, Royal Pacific, $30 self and $42 valet at Hard Rock….
2. Dining Plan offered numerous options for different budgets and styles, adjusted from an original “one size fits all” approach
3. Disneyland’s AP program had gotten totally out of hand. Lots of articles on how they had been oversold. This was a problem that needed a solution long before Covid rolled around.
4. Given the entire purpose of this thread is to discuss rumours around FP we can’t say anything definitive about WDW’s program. Paid FP options have existed for many years at Shanghai, Disneyland and DLP. This is not a post-pandemic change around the world.
5. Magical Express could also have been killed because Mears is launching a new offering in Jan 2022. Plus, DME only came into existence in 2005….Somehow for the previous 34 years that WDW existed people managed to get from the airport to the property.
6.THIS is absolutely untrue and downright disgusting. Parking, Dining, Passes, Transportation, a form of paid FastPass at locations around the world - ALL of these things changed prior to the pandemic.
7. Guests that pay more, get more. This is not a new concept.

 

[DJJimmy9]

Agreed. If they don’t want to bring back FP+ because of wanting to start a new program, extend park hours.

And I don’t want to hear about staffing- stop increasing capacity and opening more resorts that require more staff. They can open what they want to open.

I think it’s probably too late to accomplish much by not increasing capacity any further though. From what I read, they’ve already jumped it high enough that it’s already to the point of what an average day would be. $$$$$ is the over riding concern now, not guest satisfaction.

I agree with all your points. Unfortunately, publicly traded companies are motivated by earnings…more revenue and less expenses. Sure, guest satisfaction matters (somewhat) to ensure future earnings, but when so many of us keep coming back no matter what they cut there is no motivation to stop.

If attendance dropped and earnings took a hit, they would give us more of what we want to entice us to come back. But right now the pendulum has swung way over to the PROFITS side. It will swing back eventually if they go too far to one side.

Of course, as a shareholder, it’s hard to argue against their results. Heck, the stock was up over 4% today. I’m lucky enough to have about 200 shares (wish I had bought more) and that’s about a $1,500 increase in value IN ONE DAY! And then almost immediately the other side of my brain thinks of how many Fastpasses I can buy with that $1,500!

 

[New Mouse]

6.THIS is absolutely untrue and downright disgusting. Parking, Dining, Passes, Transportation, a form of paid FastPass at locations around the world - ALL of these things changed prior to the pandemic.

? Disney has flat out said the pandemic allowed them to make changes.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Nevermind. Continuing to participate this thread is becoming an exercise in futility.

 

[New Mouse]

I agree with all your points. Unfortunately, publicly traded companies are motivated by earnings…more revenue and less expenses. Sure, guest satisfaction matters (somewhat) to ensure future earnings, but when so many of us keep coming back no matter what they cut there is no motivation to stop.

If attendance dropped and earnings took a hit, they would give us more of what we want to entice us to come back. But right now the pendulum has swung way over to the PROFITS side. It will swing back eventually if they go too far to one side.

Of course, as a shareholder, it’s hard to argue against their results. Heck, the stock was up over 4% today. I’m lucky enough to have about 200 shares (wish I had bought more) and that’s about a $1,500 increase in value IN ONE DAY! And then almost immediately the other side of my brain thinks of how many Fastpasses I can buy with that $1,500!

Yes, the stock market has been a slot machine lately, not based on much of anything regardless of the company. It was up 4% today but down 10% as of recent times.

 

[New Mouse]

?? Where exactly have they said that? A direct quote or source please

“Obviously, nobody wants to have the parks closed for up to a year. But at the same time, we realized that was a unique opportunity maybe to advance some things that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for us to go change in an operating environment. And so we’ve made some moves already, but we’re going to make further moves.”

— Bob Chapek

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

“Obviously, nobody wants to have the parks closed for up to a year. But at the same time, we realized that was a unique opportunity maybe to advance some things that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for us to go change in an operating environment. And so we’ve made some moves already, but we’re going to make further moves.”

— Bob Chapek

I work in PR and Communications and spin is a fantastic thing. You can make a quote do whatever you want when you take it out of context. What is the source of this? A press release? A shareholder call? What was said before this quote? And after? Did someone ask about improvements (physical refurbishments to the resort like the room renovations at All Stars?)? This does not state “Hey, we decided to make you pay for parking, reduce value of dining plans, remove transportation options etc….” because of the pandemic.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Here is the full quote from the shareholder call transcript:
“So - and then the second one would be the Parks. We wanted to make sure that we took this opportunity. I mean, obviously, nobody wants to have the parks closed for up to a year. But at the same time, we realized that was a unique opportunity maybe to advance some things that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for us to go change in an operating environment.

And so we've made some moves already, but we're going to make further moves, and they're designed to improve the guest experience, while at the same time yielding those moves for the benefit of our shareholders. And at the same time, maintaining the expansion because we've got this wealth of intellectual property. So we took the highest priority projects and kept going on them, even though, obviously, capital was a consideration at the time.
So frankly, it's been a rough year, but we're exiting it now as optimistic as ever.

Convenient that the part focusing on the guest experience, increasing shareholder value and keeping high priority projects moving forward in spite of an exceptionally difficult financial period were left out of the other “version” of his quote. Not to mention, the version you posted literally tries to make it seem like the statement ends after “make further moves” when the sentence doesn’t end there! Very much spin by whoever originally posted that version.

 

[Illinois76]

When you see something you love degraded and exploited to be exclusive to the very rich to give to a few people fabulous great wealth then maybe you'll know what we are talking about.
You know nothing about Walt Disney or the history of his company.
If you did you'd know how offensive and ill-informed your comments are.
Disney wanted average Americans not the carriage trade.
[/QUOTE]
The problem is that degraded and exploited are not quantitative.

This is the only fan base in the world that allows themselves to believe their opinions are actually fact - and get pissed about anyone challenging it.

Also… don’t just cherry-pick the American Family part of Walt’s past… he was fully bought into McCarthyism… and accused studio employees of being communists because they simply wanted to unionize.

But I realize that’s hard to talk about when you just want to talk about the parks being ‘degraded and exploited.’

 

[New Mouse]

Here is the full quote from the shareholder call transcript:
“So - and then the second one would be the Parks. We wanted to make sure that we took this opportunity. I mean, obviously, nobody wants to have the parks closed for up to a year. But at the same time, we realized that was a unique opportunity maybe to advance some things that would have been difficult, if not impossible, for us to go change in an operating environment.

And so we've made some moves already, but we're going to make further moves, and they're designed to improve the guest experience, while at the same time yielding those moves for the benefit of our shareholders. And at the same time, maintaining the expansion because we've got this wealth of intellectual property. So we took the highest priority projects and kept going on them, even though, obviously, capital was a consideration at the time.
So frankly, it's been a rough year, but we're exiting it now as optimistic as ever.

Convenient that the part focusing on the guest experience, increasing shareholder value and keeping high priority projects moving forward in spite of an exceptionally difficult financial period were left out of the other “version” of his quote.

Ok...so now that youve literally put it out there that the moves were meant to benefit the shareholders, do you believe it?

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

Ok...so now that youve literally put it out there that the moves were meant to benefit the shareholders, do you believe it?

So you are going to continue to cherry pick? GUEST EXPERIENCE is the first thing he lists.
“make further moves, and they’re designed to improve guest experience, while at the same time yielding those moves for the benefit of our shareholders”

DESIGNED for guests and YIELDED for shareholders. Of course Disney is responsible to their shareholders. This is not a surprising thing. THEY ARE A BUSINESS! Their entire purpose is to make money. Don’t confuse the brand promise of “magic” with the fact that at the end of the day revenue is king. This has been the case long before Chapek and will remain the case long after.

They aren’t taking advantage of the pandemic. They are doing what countless other industries and businesses around the world are doing and adapting to the new reality. Major events change the world. They aren’t monsters that are out to get you. They want people to enjoy their vacations. They can want that and still want to give their shareholders the maximum return possible.

 

[New Mouse]

So you are going to continue to cherry pick? GUEST EXPERIENCE is the first thing he lists.
“make further moves, and they’re designed to improve guest experience, while at the same time yielding those moves for the benefit of our shareholders”

DESIGNED for guests and YIELDED for shareholders. Of course Disney is responsible to their shareholders. This is not a surprising thing. THEY ARE A BUSINESS! Their entire purpose is to make money. Don’t confuse the brand promise of “magic” with the fact that at the end of the day revenue is king. This has been the case long before Chapek and will remain the case long after.

They aren’t taking advantage of the pandemic. They are doing what countless other industries and businesses around the world are doing and adapting to the new reality. Major events change the world. They aren’t monsters that are out to get you. They want people to enjoy their vacations. They can’t want that and still want to give their shareholders the maximum return possible.

You work in PR? Of course hes going to.say the guest experience first.

Im curious what guest positive things you have seen that continued during the pandemic. I can give you a list that has changed for.the negative, been postponed, or canceled completely.

 

[cakebaker]

...they’re designed to improve guest experience, while at the same time yielding those moves for the benefit of our shareholders...

Had I known refusing to flip the switch to turn on FP+ because they want to roll out a paid system someday, was to improve my experience I would’ve never complained!

Thanks, Bob! I’m sure I’ll love those 2 hr lines!

 

[vincep]

'This is the only fan base in the world that allows themselves to believe their opinions are actually fact - and get pissed about anyone challenging it. '
Like yourself.

'Also… don’t just cherry-pick the American Family part of Walt’s past… he was fully bought into McCarthyism… and accused studio employees of being communists because they simply wanted to unionize.

But I realize that’s hard to talk about when you just want to talk about the parks being ‘degraded and exploited.’ '


You are quite the doozy aren't you?
Talk about being hard to talk to.
You want to talk about Walt's anti communism when I am talking about the financial situation of going to the parks and the quality of the experience?
Way out of line. Keep your politics to yourself.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I just really don't know why it seems so hard for others to understand that some people continue to see great value and positive experiences in going. I get why some people are frustrated, but I'm not. Not everyone expects the same experience or wants the same things in a trip. Just because you find things to be a negative, doesn't mean everyone else feels the same way. Bashing others for remaining positive or continuing to see the value just because you don't see it that way is pretty disgusting.

 

[mshanson3121]

"I hope everyone here realizes that there is going to be an entire generation of children that grow up who's only exposure to the parks is through youtube vloggers." --> that is pearl-clutching. .

Nope. It's not. Learn the definition of something before you use it lol