the why behind fastpass+

[dwheaton]

I think there are multiple reasons, some which have been outlined already in this thread. Here are some of them:

1. Tracking guest habits. They want to know where people are going and at what time and then will use all that data to adjust their offerings, raise prices where possible, and adjust their marketing strategy.

2. Personalization. This is a big part of it and goes along with all the new screens that we're seeing in the queues. Disney thinks guests want characters to call them by their names and that the "experience" of magic is drawing them. That definitely isn't the case for me, and this is not why I love Disney.

3. Pushing people to the non-headliners. In a sense, FP+ and its tiering causes people to avoid just doing the headliners repeatedly, which creates bottlenecks and reduces the focus on the second-tier attractions.

4. Crowd distribution. On a related note, they want to try and distribute the crowds better so they aren't just in a few spots. Thus far, this is a big fail based on reports from the parks of long lines for FP+ queues and the kiosks.

5. Maximize efficiencies. Disney World is in its maturity phase by the Business School definition and isn't looking to grow in the normal sense. Instead, they're trying to maximize capacity without investing in infrastructure.

6. Find new ways to get more dollars out of guests. Like others have mentioned, this is a way to draw cynics to the Magic Bands, which get them to spend more money or buy enhancements to the wrist bands.

I don't think it has much to do with Legacy Fastpass. It's all about the current management's approach to Disney World. They'll build a few things to keep people from revolting, but their growth attention is in Asia.

 

[Golf4283]

I need hard numbers to back up my opinion people don't like FP+? I can read, those are my "hard numbers".

Here's a question for you though. Do you post on the internet every time something goes as planned? When you go out to dinner and the service is fine and the food is good?

Now if the service was insane and the food put you in a state of euphoria you might go ahead and post that.

My point here is that most people whom the system worked fine for and had no complaints won't post their thoughts. When something works the right way it's as if it was never there.

I don't want to get in an argument about our opinions cause obviously you and I won't agree on this subject. That's just my opinion on relying on internet reviews for anything.

 

[DisneyAllyC]

I never thought it would be possible for Disney to lose money but anything can happen in this economy just like Disney raising ticket prices again. The idea of FP+ is brilliant but at the same time so complicated. I'd love to have a vacation without any problems. I really do love the fact that I do have 3 Fastpasses in one day. And I'm going on Toy Story Mania for the first time.

 

[Donut23]

It's true that cruiselines see an average increase of 12% in spending when using something other than our cash.

12% on food and merchandise is not enough "success" for Disney and they certainly are not going to spend a BILLION $$$ + for customer satisfaction alone. If that were true, DH would be happy again standing under Lights of Winter!

They have now raced up to that magic $100 a day ticket price. Did you see how the press across the board (except ABC of course) all covered the recent price increase. News anchors adding their own comments.....forgetting to comment on US ticket media.

Nope, they are pushing the bounds if ticket, food and hotel prices. They had to find something new and it had to be good to be worth THIS price.

You may disagree. I say lets just wait and check back in a year.

Disney is going to be charging for extra Fastpasses. Like the crazy games people play on their phones. The game is free but you can quickly unlock levels for a fee. Candy Crush comes to mind.

They are banking on an entirely new source of revenue. THAT makes it all worth it.

Sadly.

 

[ConvenientTruth]

I think there are multiple reasons, some which have been outlined already in this thread. Here are some of them:

1. Tracking guest habits. They want to know where people are going and at what time and then will use all that data to adjust their offerings, raise prices where possible, and adjust their marketing strategy.

2. Personalization. This is a big part of it and goes along with all the new screens that we're seeing in the queues. Disney thinks guests want characters to call them by their names and that the "experience" of magic is drawing them. That definitely isn't the case for me, and this is not why I love Disney.

3. Pushing people to the non-headliners. In a sense, FP+ and its tiering causes people to avoid just doing the headliners repeatedly, which creates bottlenecks and reduces the focus on the second-tier attractions.

4. Crowd distribution. On a related note, they want to try and distribute the crowds better so they aren't just in a few spots. Thus far, this is a big fail based on reports from the parks of long lines for FP+ queues and the kiosks.

5. Maximize efficiencies. Disney World is in its maturity phase by the Business School definition and isn't looking to grow in the normal sense. Instead, they're trying to maximize capacity without investing in infrastructure.

6. Find new ways to get more dollars out of guests. Like others have mentioned, this is a way to draw cynics to the Magic Bands, which get them to spend more money or buy enhancements to the wrist bands.

I don't think it has much to do with Legacy Fastpass. It's all about the current management's approach to Disney World. They'll build a few things to keep people from revolting, but their growth attention is in Asia.

I think this summarizes everything effectively.

 

[dwheaton]

It's true that cruiselines see an average increase of 12% in spending when using something other than our cash.

12% on food and merchandise is not enough "success" for Disney and they certainly are not going to spend a BILLION $$$ + for customer satisfaction alone. If that were true, DH would be happy again standing under Lights of Winter!

They have now raced up to that magic $100 a day ticket price. Did you see how the press across the board (except ABC of course) all covered the recent price increase. News anchors adding their own comments.....forgetting to comment on US ticket media.

Nope, they are pushing the bounds if ticket, food and hotel prices. They had to find something new and it had to be good to be worth THIS price.

You may disagree. I say lets just wait and check back in a year.

Disney is going to be charging for extra Fastpasses. Like the crazy games people play on their phones. The game is free but you can quickly unlock levels for a fee. Candy Crush comes to mind.

They are banking on an entirely new source of revenue. THAT makes it all worth it.

Sadly.

I can foresee Disney charging for FastPasses. However, the issue is that there is a finite number of people that can go through an attraction every hour. If they charge for them, they have to put a cap on FastPasses that can be sold. The demand will be much higher than the supply. We're already seeing that now with FP lines that are longer due to a larger number being released. In a sense, it would eliminate the SB line and make everyone pay.

I just can't see how it would work to charge extra in that way.

 

[sethschroeder]

It's true that cruiselines see an average increase of 12% in spending when using something other than our cash.

12% on food and merchandise is not enough "success" for Disney and they certainly are not going to spend a BILLION $$$ + for customer satisfaction alone. If that were true, DH would be happy again standing under Lights of Winter!

They have now raced up to that magic $100 a day ticket price. Did you see how the press across the board (except ABC of course) all covered the recent price increase. News anchors adding their own comments.....forgetting to comment on US ticket media.

Nope, they are pushing the bounds if ticket, food and hotel prices. They had to find something new and it had to be good to be worth THIS price.

You may disagree. I say lets just wait and check back in a year.

Disney is going to be charging for extra Fastpasses. Like the crazy games people play on their phones. The game is free but you can quickly unlock levels for a fee. Candy Crush comes to mind.

They are banking on an entirely new source of revenue. THAT makes it all worth it.

Sadly.

Good point about candy crush, they could be looking to monetize it. Number 1 thing is that I still feel part of the selling point of all this is to modernize the system.

There would never be a great time to bring out this system but it had to be done sometime. Ever changed banks lately? Would you go to a bank that didn't have online banking? Would you shop at amazon if you had to call in your orders? Do you use checks still or do you find yourself grabbing plastic?

Technology can make or break a company and if Disney didn't push forward now when Universal releases something similar Disney would find themselves way behind. Universal is likely working on a way to track guests as well.....

 

[faneuil]

I can foresee Disney charging for FastPasses. However, the issue is that there is a finite number of people that can go through an attraction every hour. If they charge for them, they have to put a cap on FastPasses that can be sold. The demand will be much higher than the supply. We're already seeing that now with FP lines that are longer due to a larger number being released. In a sense, it would eliminate the SB line and make everyone pay.

I just can't see how it would work to charge extra in that way.

Unless they create a third line.
SB, FP+ and FP+ premium.

Poor SB people on things like Peter Pan would be waiting all day.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

That's deceptive of Disney to say that. They didn't market FP- to most customers, but they have committed massive resources to ensuring that everyone is using FP+. I'm guessing that if they mailed a pretty box with Mrs. Incredible on it to every resort guest they would have known about FP-.

To be fair, Disney marketed the heck out of FP- when it first came out. What they are doing now is pretty standard - like US marketing Diagon Alley.

 

[ptted]

I am hoping, in the very near future, AP holders who have zero need to stay on property (I live 10 miles away), will be able to pre-book FP+. It would be really helpful for when we're bringing visitors into the park, and it would give Disney some great data that lets them know when local AP holders visit, and what they do.

This is what I want more than anything from Disney right now.

 

[Minniesgal]

The internet masses have made their displeasure known regarding FP+. It isn't just this board, it is all over the internet (other WDW forums, Trip Advisor, FB, etc).

Disagree I've read as many people say they really like it as people say they hate it.

 

[Golf4283]

I think if they're gonna charge for fastpass+ ever it's going to be along the lines of..

"Hey, know when you're coming down and staying offsite? Login to MDE, link your tickets and for an extra fee you can pre-book your FP+. Get all the advantages of staying onsite with early access to FP+ times."

That's just my thought about it.

 

[JimmyV]

I can foresee Disney charging for FastPasses. However, the issue is that there is a finite number of people that can go through an attraction every hour. If they charge for them, they have to put a cap on FastPasses that can be sold. The demand will be much higher than the supply. We're already seeing that now with FP lines that are longer due to a larger number being released. In a sense, it would eliminate the SB line and make everyone pay.

I just can't see how it would work to charge extra in that way.

I was on the fence about Disney charging for FP+s. Part of me thought that mechanically they could do it, but the other part of me said that it pivoted too far away from the way Disney operates. Now, having experienced FP+ at a crowded time, I cannot see how they can charge for FP+. There are reports that FP+ is accounting for 75% of ride capacity at headliners. Given what we witnessed, I would have to agree. People streaming in to FP return lines in an unending flow. Not the dribs and drabs like before. If they were to sell FP+s, would they then "up" that percentage to 85%? They can't do that unless they simply go ahead and close down the SB lines and replace them all with single rider lines. Besides, how much longer can the FP return lines get? The Everest line is already out to the Nemo theater. Would it then extend to Dino Land? Or maybe they would keep FP+ availablity at 75% of ride capacity but lower the "free" ones to 50% and sell the other 25%? That would result in "free" FP+s being unavailable to people unless they pre-book very, very early, and would all but insure that changing on the fly would be impossible. The entire system is being sold to the public based on the ability to book in advance, book the day of upon arrival, and make changes once you get to the park. All of those things go away if they cut back the number of FP+s available for free.

Every way I look at this leads me to believe that selling FP+ would result in a negative return. I have been a huge advocate for the 4th and even 5th FP+ per day. But having seen the lines first hand, I doan't know if the park could accomodate all of those extra FPs unless they do something to shift the lines back indoors and convince people that a 30 minute wait in a FP line really is a good thing.

 

[Minniesgal]

I was on the fence about Disney charging for FP+s. Part of me thought that mechanically they could do it, but the other part of me said that it pivoted too far away from the way Disney operates. Now, having experienced FP+ at a crowded time, I cannot see how they can charge for FP+. There are reports that FP+ is accounting for 75% of ride capacity at headliners. Given what we witnessed, I would have to agree. People streaming in to FP return lines in an unending flow. Not the dribs and drabs like before. If they were to sell FP+s, would they then "up" that percentage to 85%? They can't do that unless they simply go ahead and close down the SB lines and replace them all with single rider lines. Besides, how much longer can the FP return lines get? The Everest line is already out to the Nemo theater. Would it then extend to Dino Land? Or maybe they would keep FP+ availablity at 75% of ride capacity but lower the "free" ones to 50% and sell the other 25%? That would result in "free" FP+s being unavailable to people unless they pre-book very, very early, and would all but insure that changing on the fly would be impossible. The entire system is being sold to the public based on the ability to book in advance, book the day of upon arrival, and make changes once you get to the park. All of those things go away if they cut back the number of FP+s available for free. Every way I look at this leads me to believe that selling FP+ would result in a negative return. I have been a huge advocate for the 4th and even 5th FP+ per day. But having seen the lines first hand, I doan't know if the park could accomodate all of those extra FPs unless they do something to shift the lines back indoors and convince people that a 30 minute wait in a FP line really is a good thing.

I've seen exactly the same at universal in the express lines that they do charge for

 

[JimmyV]

I think if they're gonna charge for fastpass+ ever it's going to be along the lines of..

"Hey, know when you're coming down and staying offsite? Login to MDE, link your tickets and for an extra fee you can pre-book your FP+. Get all the advantages of staying onsite with early access to FP+ times."

That's just my thought about it.

I agree with this. I can see them trying to monetize access to FP+, but not the FPs themselves.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I have been a huge advocate for the 4th and even 5th FP+ per day. But having seen the lines first hand, I don't know if the park could accomodate all of those extra FPs unless they do something to shift the lines back indoors and convince people that a 30 minute wait in a FP line really is a good thing.

JMO, but I think that if this comes into play, any "additional" FP+ sold for a price (or that come with a premier resort booking) would come from the existing pool. No more FP+ issued per day, per ride. Fewer available to the general ticket holder.

 

[Golf4283]

I agree with this. I can see them trying to monetize access to FP+, but not the FPs themselves.

I honestly don't fault them for this either. I pay good money when I go down to stay onsite (DVC member) and I like having benefits that offisite guests don't have.

I guess that makes me a brat or spoiled because some people just can't afford to stay on site, which I understand. Such is life though, it's not always fair.

Edited to fix a typo above when I meant to say "offsite guests don't have"

 

[dwheaton]

I was on the fence about Disney charging for FP+s. Part of me thought that mechanically they could do it, but the other part of me said that it pivoted too far away from the way Disney operates. Now, having experienced FP+ at a crowded time, I cannot see how they can charge for FP+. There are reports that FP+ is accounting for 75% of ride capacity at headliners. Given what we witnessed, I would have to agree. People streaming in to FP return lines in an unending flow. Not the dribs and drabs like before. If they were to sell FP+s, would they then "up" that percentage to 85%? They can't do that unless they simply go ahead and close down the SB lines and replace them all with single rider lines. Besides, how much longer can the FP return lines get? The Everest line is already out to the Nemo theater. Would it then extend to Dino Land? Or maybe they would keep FP+ availablity at 75% of ride capacity but lower the "free" ones to 50% and sell the other 25%? That would result in "free" FP+s being unavailable to people unless they pre-book very, very early, and would all but insure that changing on the fly would be impossible. The entire system is being sold to the public based on the ability to book in advance, book the day of upon arrival, and make changes once you get to the park. All of those things go away if they cut back the number of FP+s available for free.

Every way I look at this leads me to believe that selling FP+ would result in a negative return. I have been a huge advocate for the 4th and even 5th FP+ per day. But having seen the lines first hand, I doan't know if the park could accomodate all of those extra FPs unless they do something to shift the lines back indoors and convince people that a 30 minute wait in a FP line really is a good thing.

Exactly. The current issues with long lines for FP+ queues and kiosks seems to indicate that they need to pull back the amount they give out. The problem is that the marketing of being able to book everything in advance fails. It becomes like the old system or ADRs with FP+ for the headliners being gone early in the day.

I think they will have to adjust what they do before the summer months. They need to roll the system to off-site and AP guests to remove all the FP+ kiosks lines and how that impacts just walking around the park. The challenge is then finding a way to ensure that the FP lines aren't crazy. With more people being able to pre-book, the general idea would be that more will grab FPs early. How will it function?

I'm sure people smarter than me are looking into this very question, but it seems like the planning is being done backwards. They're testing out different theories on guests who've paid their money expecting a certain level of access to the attractions.

My hope is that a solution will arise in the next few months that allows the system to function smoothly. My concerns started with only three fastpasses or not being able to use them in different parks. That seems like naive thinking now. I'm just worried if the parks will offer close to a decent experience when we're not even in lines. That's a bad sign.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I agree with this. I can see them trying to monetize access to FP+, but not the FPs themselves.

That also makes a lot of sense.

 

[JimmyV]

I've seen exactly the same at universal in the express lines that they do charge for

This feeds in to what I said about pivoting away from the way Disney operates. They do not want to be Universal. Selling FOTL access is so "undemocratic" to the way Disney traditionally operates. If Disney wanted to monetize opportunity, it would already be charging people for prime ADRs. You don't think that people would pay $10 per person for a guaranteed spot at 'Ohana, Claifornia Grill during Wishes, Be Our Guest for dinner? We all know how hard it is to get certain ADRs and how supply falls so short of demand. But Disney has never tried to capitalize on that. I don't see FP+ any differently. To do otherwise would be to bow to the business strategies of Universal which I think is like fingernails on the chalkboard to the PTB.