Why isn't Maxpass free?

whitneyebz

Mouseketeer
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
A friend brought up something to me that I honestly wondered back when MaxPass was announced...why isn't it free? I understand it comes with photopass, but why didn't they do what WDW does and give it for free? (without photopass). I'd love everyone's honest thoughts or any information you can share. On our trip a year ago, we did not use MaxPass because of this. I was mad that they charge for it so we went without it. This year we used MaxPass and LOVED it, but it is still frustrating that they charge in Disneyland when it's free in WDW (which is on the other side of the country and much more expensive for us, so we will only be able to go once).
 
Probably also because WDW is more a destination vacation where people stay for a longer time. There are probably more people taking a daytrip at Disneyland than at Disney World. This makes it easier to upsell MaxPass for a small amount. For a family of four $40 extra on a day at Disneyland is not that much. With these kind of products it makes more sense to buy it for the entire stay, not just one day, or every other day of a week long vacation. Going on holiday to WDW is expensive, it's a harder sell to say 'family of four, here for 7 days, want to skip waiting queues for our most popular rides? Pay $280 extra!'
Everything above $50 sounds like a lot to add (I think that's the psychological threshold for a family)
 


Maxpass (although just called Fastpass) is free at Shanghai Disney. All guests seemed to use a smartphone for Fastpass, I never saw anyone use the fastpass machines or scan a physical ticket at an attraction.

However fastpass can also be purchased, $10-20/per attraction (depending on demand and individual vs bundle purchase). Fastpass for Pirates (an amazing attraction) can only be purchased. Purchased fastpass can be used immediately (no time window).
 
1. The mouse likes money.

2. Maxpass is much more useful than the FP system at WDW. And one of the reasons it is so useful is that most parkgoers don't buy it.

Spot on. Please don't make it free. With traditional FP, the effort to walk over and pull the paper slip is the barrier to usage. With MP the fee is the barrier. Without a barrier, the FPs will all disappear way too fast.
 


Spot on. Please don't make it free. With traditional FP, the effort to walk over and pull the paper slip is the barrier to usage. With MP the fee is the barrier. Without a barrier, the FPs will all disappear way too fast.
Which is why some FPs are almost impossible to get at WDW, where FPs are got online & they're included with every ticket. People scrambling to get a FastPass for a ride 60 days in advance, often in vain.:sad2:

I recently read a thread started by a poster who didn't understand why he/she couldn't get a FP for Slinky Dog 60 days in advance. The poster had made an expensive onsite resort reservation, trusting that the best FPs would be available, and other posters had to explain why even 60 days wasn't enough for some rides.

By contrast, at Disneyland anyone with MaxPass can get FPs for all of the major rides each day. That was our experience, at least.
 
Which is why some FPs are almost impossible to get at WDW, where FPs are got online & they're included with every ticket. People scrambling to get a FastPass for a ride 60 days in advance, often in vain.:sad2:

I recently read a thread started by a poster who didn't understand why he/she couldn't get a FP for Slinky Dog 60 days in advance. The poster had made an expensive onsite resort reservation, trusting that the best FPs would be available, and other posters had to explain why even 60 days wasn't enough for some rides.

By contrast, at Disneyland anyone with MaxPass can get FPs for all of the major rides each day. That was our experience, at least.
Our experience too. Plus you can reride favorites by FP pretty easily.

Those 60 plus day shutout threads make me twitchy. I don't want to be disappointed in my trip before I even leave home.
 
Which is why some FPs are almost impossible to get at WDW, where FPs are got online & they're included with every ticket. People scrambling to get a FastPass for a ride 60 days in advance, often in vain.:sad2:

I recently read a thread started by a poster who didn't understand why he/she couldn't get a FP for Slinky Dog 60 days in advance. The poster had made an expensive onsite resort reservation, trusting that the best FPs would be available, and other posters had to explain why even 60 days wasn't enough for some rides.

By contrast, at Disneyland anyone with MaxPass can get FPs for all of the major rides each day. That was our experience, at least.

I don’t understand why it’s done this way at WDW. Why not let people select their Fastpasses in the park once they scan in for the day like at DL? We went two years ago and because we didn’t book in advance we basically couldn’t get many fastpasses (I think we got four total for two park days). And they weren’t that great.
 
Which is why some FPs are almost impossible to get at WDW, where FPs are got online & they're included with every ticket. People scrambling to get a FastPass for a ride 60 days in advance, often in vain.:sad2:

I recently read a thread started by a poster who didn't understand why he/she couldn't get a FP for Slinky Dog 60 days in advance. The poster had made an expensive onsite resort reservation, trusting that the best FPs would be available, and other posters had to explain why even 60 days wasn't enough for some rides.

By contrast, at Disneyland anyone with MaxPass can get FPs for all of the major rides each day. That was our experience, at least.

Ugh I am wanting to go to WDW sometime next year and reading about their weird Fastpass+ makes me nervous. It's like having to relearn an entirely new system.
 
I don’t understand why it’s done this way at WDW. Why not let people select their Fastpasses in the park once they scan in for the day like at DL? We went two years ago and because we didn’t book in advance we basically couldn’t get many fastpasses (I think we got four total for two park days). And they weren’t that great.
It allows Disney to get a better idea of how many people to expect in each park daily so they can staff down accordingly (or up).
 
Yep, Maxpass should be the defacto FP system for ALL parks. Don't want to pay? Fine, your still on the same level field as those who do pay as far as starting each day with access to FP's for all rides. Our last trip to WDW was during the second year of FP+ and frankly, we won't be back again. Even with our advance reservations, having to lock yourself into a park so far in advance and then the paltry leftover fast passes that you get to choose from after you go through your selections took all the fun out of it for us.
 
There are many, many more fastpasses available at WDW. At DL, just the most popular rides are on the system. At WDW, almost every attraction uses fastpass, including many where it is really unnecessary. The sheer number allows them to offer it free to everyone and present it as a value. (“Yay, we locked in a fastpass for Little Mermaid.”)
 
Yeah it bugs me, for our family of 5 on a 10 day ticket, it's just too expensive of an add on.

One of the reasons we stopped going to Universal was their selling front of the line passes. I like at Disney that once you were on the parks all guests were equals, now though between Maxpass and all the premium dining/seating for x or y packages it's really not
 
A friend brought up something to me that I honestly wondered back when MaxPass was announced...why isn't it free? I understand it comes with photopass, but why didn't they do what WDW does and give it for free? (without photopass). I'd love everyone's honest thoughts or any information you can share. On our trip a year ago, we did not use MaxPass because of this. I was mad that they charge for it so we went without it. This year we used MaxPass and LOVED it, but it is still frustrating that they charge in Disneyland when it's free in WDW (which is on the other side of the country and much more expensive for us, so we will only be able to go once).

“Why isn’t it free?” Disneyland is a business, they operate for a profit. Because people are willing to purchase MP and happy with product (when it works) there is zero reason to give it away for free.

WDW doesn’t give MaxPass for free because they don’t have it. They have FastPass+ which is an entirely different system and doesn’t remotely work the same way MaxPass does. MP gets you far more imho with more rides, more flexibility, no tiers vs FP+ with 3 rides/day (maybe 4/5 if you’re good at the system), scheduled 60 days out, and split into tiers at 3 out of 4 parks. Also FP+ is pseudo-free. If you want the most out of it you pay extra to stay onsite/Disney Springs and get access to the system at the 60 day mark. If you don’t get it at the 60 day mark your odds of getting the best rides (FoP) suck if you can’t be super flexible.

A truely interesting test would be if WDW started charging for FP+... but imho it doesn’t hold a candle to MP in terms of value & given the lousy choices sometimes due to availability a charge for that product could anger more guests than it benefits!
 
This has been my first experience with MP and while I like the convenience of getting it on my phone I am finding the fast passes are gone super early for all the rides and the standby lines are longer than when I have been in the summer time. By the time you get to 5pm you really only have the choice to do standby lines. I've only been to WDW once with the fast pass system there and actually found I was able to get more passes. I wish you could chose times here so that you could schedule around breaks and dinning reservations.
 
This has been my first experience with MP and while I like the convenience of getting it on my phone I am finding the fast passes are gone super early for all the rides and the standby lines are longer than when I have been in the summer time. By the time you get to 5pm you really only have the choice to do standby lines. I've only been to WDW once with the fast pass system there and actually found I was able to get more passes. I wish you could chose times here so that you could schedule around breaks and dinning reservations.
We were there over spring break. We had fast passes well into the evening.
 
Ugh I am wanting to go to WDW sometime next year and reading about their weird Fastpass+ makes me nervous. It's like having to relearn an entirely new system.
It is. My first FP booking day was the most stressful Disney planning day I’ve ever had. It was far worse than 180+ ADR booking day. The combination of parks I wasn’t familiar with (I even had printed maps in front of me in case my backup options didn’t work), trying to get FOP & 7DMT at times & days that would work (I didn’t get either but a month later I saw hours had been extended at MK and I snagged a 7DMT), the rule about no overlapping times and battling their CRAP IT- I hated it. I threw my papers partway through I was so frustrated- not a shining moment at 4:15am PST I admit.

Most important thing I learned: Have 2 ways to connect to FP+. I got times showing on my phone that wouldn’t show on my laptop online & visa versa. This also gives you a way to keep booking when the Stich Ate The Page notice inevitably pops up in the middle of booking, or even at the beginning preventing you from getting in at all!
 

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