Universals FOTL....

[Jon99]

While an interesting and successful concept at the much smaller Universal parks, is this something that would work at WDW because of the huge number Disney property rooms????

 

[tiberius]

I think that Disney having so many hotel guests, that it would end up being a negative for non-resort stayers big time.

 

[Jon99]

That was my initial thought as well... At Universal you are paying a premium of a couple hundred bucks for a room for this benefit, could Disney even think of doing or not doing the same for people in the value resorts without creating a large rift between the deluxe and value guests???

Another thing that crossed my mind.. If WDW would implement such a plan, they would be called greedy and other negative things would be said.. Yet at USF, their fans think its a wonderful idea...

 

[joshsmom]

Uh oh, I don't know what FOTL is! I'm sure I'm supposed to know this--but I don't. Please explain

 

[Jon99]

I don't know all of the details, but basically if you stay at one of the 3 Universal resorts you have a fastpass type ticket to skip all of the attraction lines at their 2 parks...

 

[joshsmom]

WOW, hello! Now that's an amazing concept!!! Don't know if it would work, but it's a concept!!!

 

[TreeOfLife]

I think some people make it easier for Disney to find an excuse for not offering FOTL access to its resort guests. "... Oh Disney has far too many resorts and guests", some claim in their defense. I doubt it is a rational explanation. Not all guests will be at the same attraction, in the same park and on the same day. There are ways to work it around, if there is a sincere willingness to pamper guests, but Disney has lost that.

So why don't they do it? For the same reason they do not offer 800 numbers: They know they'll still get guests!

But we stayed at HRH two nights and used the Express line... It was unbelievabnly comfortable! Nothing beats it. You have a different line and in some attractions where they merge, your line goes in first! The longest attraction line was Shrek, where the waiting time was 20 minutes for us but for everyone else it was 105 minutes! In every other ride we pretty much just walked right in through the Express line. It was nice! We felt like VIPs

And as a choice for non-resort guests I think they can buy one of those passes too, so don't tell me Disney could not match or beat that perk!

 

[Jon99]

But wouldn't a LOT of people accuse Disney of being greedy by almost forcing people to pay the higher rates at their resorts???

At Universal , you have to pay a premium to get this perk.. What if Disney would offer this to guests of the deluxe resorts, including DVC properties, and the moderates????

 

[tiberius]

Originally posted by joshsmom
Uh oh, I don't know what FOTL is! I'm sure I'm supposed to know this--but I don't. Please explain

FOTL - Front of the Line

As explained above it allows people a quick alternative to boarding a ride. It is similar to the Fast Pass concept, but more limited in who can use it.

If Disney wanted to do something similar, they could limit Fast Pass to just resort guests instead of all Park Hopper Ticket holders.

 

[tiggerzpalz]

I am sorry but in my opinion that is an unrealistic concept to use at disney. Universal can offer it because they only have three resorts. Disney has 17. Whether every person is there at the same time is irrelevant. The sheer numbers are simply too much. It is not an excuse but a simple fact. It has nothing to do with greed but simple logisitics. I am sure if they could find a way, which would allow them to keep ahead of a rival they would utilize it.

 

[Dznefreek]

I am sorry but in my opinion that is an unrealistic concept to use at disney. Universal can offer it because they only have three resorts. Disney has 17. Whether every person is there at the same time is irrelevant.no it isn't The sheer numbers are simply too much.no they are not It is not an excuse but a simple fact.

Ah the great Disney vs. FOTL debate.

Once again WDW has 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, DTD, etc. Not to mention that not everyone staying on WDW property is not necessarily always at a WDW park. They do got to USF, IOA, SW, BGT, KSC, Gatorland, outlet malls, visit friends, etc.

When you take the number of rooms, (25K let's say)x 3 people average=75k) divide it by the number of rides, shows , and attractions,etc. at the 4 parks and taking into account again that they are not all at the park at the same time the impact would be; I think minimal. They just do not want to do it!

 

[tiggerzpalz]

Three people average? They are 7 in my family alone. We travel with another family of 5 and a third of four. All one has to do is look around their bus stop or monorail service. Parties of three are not really an accurate count. I think your number of three is a bit off. But hey you have your opinion and I have mine.

 

[jeankeri]

What is the cost of a room at a Universal resort vs Disney?

 

[Dznefreek]

Room average , not group average. Still it can be done.

 

[Mackey Mouse]

If Disney offered this, I would definitely pay extra for that perk...

Of course in saying that, I am the person who is annoyed with the Airlines for not giving us breakfast anymore on that 7:00am flight out of Boston. I once asked at the Delta counter, why no more meals.. they told me that they took surveys and this is what the people from the Northeast want.. no frills.. well I am here to say they never asked me, and I would pay for those extras...I do not think it is necessary to travel first class for a 3 hour flight unless you have frequent flyer miles, but I would pay for a meal.

If I go to Universal this coming December, I will definitely stay on property to take advantage of that front of the line perk.

 

[sue1013]

If I am remembering correctly Royal Pacific is priced about the same as AKL and WL. Hard Rock and Portofino Bay are priced like the rest of the deluxes. FOTL is a great thing would love to see it at Disney. Even if they only offered it at the Deluxes. It would be worth it to me especially if I was going at a crowded time of the year.

 

[Crazy4mandms]

We stayed at Hard Rock last year and didn't mind paying the extra for the hotel to get FOTL. Ever since then I have been trying to think of ways that WDW could make this work. What about a rotating schedule? Here's my input:


Value Resorts get FOTL on Wednesdays at the 4 parks and Thurs at the waterparks (they pay the least so get only one day and kinda what would be "off" days..hey! not knocking it cuz i stay at the values but they are the cheapest!!

Mods get FOTL at 4 parks on Tues and Fridays and waterparks on tuesdays

Deluxes = 4 parks on Fri and Sat and waterparks on Sun and Mon

DVC = 4 parks Sun and Mon and waterparks on wed/thurs


A schedule like this would allow those who pay higher hotel rates to get better/more FOTL days. People couldn't really complain about the schedule, sorta like being hit or miss like see FITS or an Eride night or using EMH. And Disney could possibly justify more of a profit seeing that people might pay extra to stay in a mod, deluxe or become DVC members to get better FOTL benefits.

This probably wouldn't work for some reason, which I'm sure someone will help figure out the pitfalls here soon (hey! I'm no Walt..hee hee!!)...but it looks good on 'paper'!!! FOTL just TOTALLY ROCKED so much that there's just gotta be a way!!!

 

[Dad of 3]

Having been at both USO and WDW resorts, Front Of The Line (FOTL) is the best perk of any Orlando Hotel. As a USO hotel guest, you always queue for attractions in the Express pass line (same idea as Disney's Fastpass). Hotel guests do NOT need to get a Express pass ticket that has a designated time like the rest of the park guests, they just show their hotel room card key to the attendant, who will scan each person's card which proves that they are valid hotel guest and then enter the attraction. There are limits to the number times you can sequentially repeat a ride. Years ago before Express Pass, Hotel guests actually went in the exit ramps to get on the next available seat. I remember doing that and having people tell use that we were going in the wrong door. This is not the procedure now.
USO Hotels are fabulous, there is a lot of debate, but many people consider them at par in quality to Disney Deluxe Hotels. There are three hotels and the prices vary like Disney Hotels, but loosely the rack prices for regular rooms are less than most Disney Deluxe hotels, and there are discounts available which depending on the season can bring the RPR rooms prices to the Disney moderate price range. See the Universal Studio Resorts disboards for details on how to get discounts. The popularity of USO hotels has risen tremendously in the past three years and FOTL has definitely contributed to their success. This year, USO raised room prices cut back on the size and availability of discounts. You probably could hear the whining from USO disboard posters over here. Last year, I got a RPR pool view room in March for $99/ night. Those days are long gone now, if there are any discount rooms left for March, they are $160 and up.
We have our personal reasons to return to Disney for a vacation this year, but we know, we will miss FOTL.
It is interesting, USO and IOA used to have an early open for hotel guests and they cancelled it and nobody cared. Why get up early when you have minimal line ups all day!
Here is a thought for Disney should they not want to allow full FOTL, allow Hotel guest to use their hotel key cards in the Fastpass machines to print a extra Fastpass attraction.

Dad of 3

 

[Jon99]

Just an idea....

Value resort guests are able to use a FOTL type pass 6 times a day, moderate guests are allowed to use it 10 times a day and Deluxe and DVC guests have unlimited times.. I love the idea, but I also think its not practical to offer the same type of plan at Disney because of volume..

 

[n2mm]

FOTL access is a great perk. We stayed at Portofino Resort for ONE night last summer (the beginning of our vacation). We got a great price of $159 for our 5 star room. A beautiful resort with water shuttle to both parks. Because we stayed one night we got to use FOTL access for our first and last day (2 days of FOTL access for one night stay) wow. Yes in the middle of the summer, you can only imagine the lines. 2 hours for some waits. FOTL access is wonderful, but you can only get on a ride once an hour, meaning you can't get off of MIB and get back in line, but you can ride anything else. That was the only thing we saw and understand when the employee said that it keeps the lines even throughout the parks by doing it. We are huge Disney fans, but love this perk. After our stay at Portofino, we then zipped over to the contemporary for our 9 additional nights of vacation. There are several discounts you can get at Universal hotels, like the entertainment rate, annual pass holder rate, the fan club rate, and AAA. Would Disney ever do this, I doubt it. I think I would rather them limit fasspass to resort guest only. The nice part about FOTL access, is the employees stand at the front of the "special" line and they scan your room key, making it impossible to "sneak" any extra people in your room. Everyones' key is scanned, including the children. The employees are quick and it seems to work well. A thumbs UP for this wonderful PERK.