Would you pay for more fast passes?

[snarlingcoyote]

I'm sorry, but I just had to laugh a little at the prices suggested. . .Disney already does this, at those prices, for Fastpass+.

There's nothing that says I can't buy a second ticket to the parks and use those Fastpass+ with a separate wristband, is there?

 

[disneylover1980]

I would only pay more for fast passes if the prices of tickets are lower. Disney is starting to get out of control!

 

[kiramay]

Absolutely. At our local Six Flags there's an option to buy a season "fast pass" with season tickets. Totally worth it. Universal offers the option. I wouldn't LIKE it, and it would limit the trips we took to WDW, but I'd absolutely pay for it. We probably averaged 6 FP- a day on our last trip, which made it possible to do nearly everything we wanted at least 1-3 times. I'm still hoping something changes by our next trip since 3 a day is a big disappointment.

 

[LovemesomeDW]

Yes, absolutely I would pay extra!

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

Yes, I would pay extra ... whether as an add on option or by booking a deluxe resort to gain access to more (or better) fastpasses.

We used unlimited express pass at Universal over Easter week one year ... it was wonderful. I'm not sure how much I would pay for an equivalent perk at Disney ... but I would seriously consider it if offered.

Do I want to pay more? No. But, changes are coming and I'm going to roll with them because we visit during peak season and maximizing fastpass has been the key to us enjoying WDW. No way am I going to stand in a 70 minute line for Peter Pan or a 150 minute line for Soarin'. That's just not fun in my book - I would rather stay home.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm sorry, but I just had to laugh a little at the prices suggested. . .Disney already does this, at those prices, for Fastpass+.

There's nothing that says I can't buy a second ticket to the parks and use those Fastpass+ with a separate wristband, is there?

In the past, tickets would only work in the FastPass terminals if they were first used to enter the park. You couldn't borrow a friend / family member's ticket--or used an extra ticket of your own--to get extra FPs unless it had been swiped through the turnstile that day.

Makes sense that similar logic would be applied to FP+ and the MagicBands.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

In the past, tickets would only work in the FastPass terminals if they were first used to enter the park. You couldn't borrow a friend / family member's ticket--or used an extra ticket of your own--to get extra FPs unless it had been swiped through the turnstile that day.

Makes sense that similar logic would be applied to FP+ and the MagicBands.

So enter the park twice, once for each band.

 

[doconeill]

So enter the park twice, once for each band.

Your Fastpass+ and MagicBands are tied to your profile, not each other directly. You wouldn't be able to make double FP+ selections just because you have two MBs, and the MBs are essentially interchangeable - either one can be used to enter the park or redeem FP+.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Seems to be a lot of chatter that the purpose of the new FP+ is to find a way to monetize fast passes. So let's say you get three free in advance but have to pay for more than that. Universal you pay up to $90 per day for unlimited FP on top of your entry. Would you pay and if so what would be your price?

Not one damn cent...

Wait...let me think about it for one second...
Yeah - I'm even more sure now.

They would need to add 5 top of the line, theme park industry leading attractions (of all varieties...not just puke machines) for me to even consider going back on my stance...as a starter.

Still love wdw... But the offerings are stale in many categories.

 

[yitbos96bb]

The thing is, Disney's FP isn't a front of the line pass. It's a means to get more people out in Disney, spending money and having a good time instead of waiting in a line. That's why you can only get one every X minutes and you have to wait until X time before you can enter and (now) you can only enter in that time period.

Why would Disney shoot themselves in the foot by making that costy? Most people aren't thrifty and well-planned DISers. They're using the time between getting a fast pass and using it the way Disney intended them to - they're out spending money in air conditioned shops!

A FOL or VIP type pass would be something different entirely and I could see the possibility of Disney charging for that, but, personally, my ROI forecast would be that it wouldn't be a profit maker for them (of course, someone else's ROI might be entirely different).

Maybe this is what you mean, but it is more a way to prevent congregation of large crowds in specific areas and instead spread the crowds around the park increasing efficiency. I don't think it was successful from that POV. Of course the benefit of all this is the potential of spending money as you mentioned.

 

[PuppyJonathan]

Depends on the rides, depends on the deal, depends on the park

 

[Disneylover99]

It depends on the park.

I would pay more for FP at MK because there are plenty of attractions. I would not pay more at Epcot because we spend a good chunk of our day in WS.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I don't think I'd pay a daily fee but I'd probably use a per ride system a few times a day. If I really wanted to ride something and it had an hour line I'd pay $5 for an instant FP, it would have to be for that time though, not hours later.

They could just use the old FP machines and replace the KTTW card reader with a $5 bill reader.

 

[johnodonnell]

I voted yes at 25 bucks. It's such a lot of wasted time standing in line.

 

[MrsBusDriver]

Not one damn cent...

Wait...let me think about it for one second...
Yeah - I'm even more sure now.

They would need to add 5 top of the line, theme park industry leading attractions (of all varieties...not just puke machines) for me to even consider going back on my stance...as a starter.

Still love wdw... But the offerings are stale in many categories.

I agree, there is nothing worth paying extra for.

 

[RnbwSktles]

I answered the poll before reading the comment, so I assumed it meant pay or nothing, not that you would only be paying for more than the 3 you get now with FP+

I would be willing to pay $25 for unlimited FP at MK, but probably not the other parks. Maybe a per ride fee at others.

I have never been to WDW at a slow time and always stayed off-property with having to rely on someone else to transport me to the park. That made getting to rope drop impossible. This upcoming Jan trip will be different, but I am used to long lines and missing FP for things like Soarin and TSMM. I would absolutely pay $25 more to have a more enjoyable experience in those cases.

 

[wdwgreg]

God no, anything that adds more queue skipping is bad, im glad they are limiting it to 3 FPS a day


think about it, you know the portion of the queue where the fast pass joins the rgular queue, and after that the queue moves so much faster, well that is what the whole line should be like, and used to be like (and still is like on events such as MNSSHP AND MVMCP) and the queue times where never as long

So now add in more line skipping passes, and a non FP wait of 30 minutes at Soarin turns into 120 minute wait, for all those unwilling unable to pay for the privilege of not queuing

 

[disneydaddy610]

Agree with wdwgreg.
At present the amount of fast passes are finite. I also agree with the observation that the link e moves quicker after you get past the fast pass entry line. At least for rides that constantly move, HM and SE come to mind. Even where rides where you wait for a ride to load up, eg the mountains. The lines seem to move faster once you get past the fp point. But maybe that's subjective since once you get past that point you know you're near.

Introduce more fast passes though you increase the wait time in both lines. I believe I experienced this once on Christmas day at TSM at the studios. The standby line was 180 minutes and the fp line was over 90. Minutes from my understanding the ride was not down there were just an over abundance of fp that day.

If Disney were to start charging for fp people would rightly so not expect to have to wait inline for very long. Meaning they would have to let a higher percentage of fp through meaning longer sb times. Again if you add in the option for a 'premium' fast pass then you get the same problem.. If you pay to get extra wouldn't you expect to get to the front and not ha very to wait too long at all..

Imagine that scenario on Xmas day at TSM as I described.. The one day where everyone would probably pay to jump the queue..... To quote syndrome
"when everyone is super... No one is"
The fast pass would become meaningless if everyone or a majority had one..

Lol.. So I'm conclusion... .. No I would not want to pay for more fps, (sorry for the ramble)

 

[doconeill]

The fact that the line moves "faster" after the FP merge point is simple logic and math, although there is subjectiveness to what "faster" means. It's certainly faster than the standby line was. Not faster than the Fastpass line. And some lines are observably different like at RNRC and Soarin' as you stop and wait for quite a while a couple times.

But lets take the simple example of, say, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It is a "continuous loading" ride, with a continuous queue. And let's say it loads two guests per second.

If there were no fastpass line, the entire line would move at the same speed - two guests per second.

With a fastpass line, after the merge, it still moves at two guests per second.

The merge point itself can let through only two guests per second as well. But now it has to do so proportionally from the Fastpass and Standby queues.

If the Fastpass issue rate was, say, 50% of capacity, then they are going to need to let half the people in from the Fastpass line, and half from the standby line. Thus, the standby line now slows to 1 guest per second.

Issue more Fastpasses, and it slows even more.

But here's the trick - the standby line is obviously slower, in the sense of velocity. But it's also shorter, in terms of number of people in it - since a lot of people who would have been in it are instead using the Fastpass line.

If everything was proportional - a guest using a Fastpass would otherwise have been in the standby line, and only does it once, went shopping, etc. then the standby line should take just as long as it did before.

Where it starts to fail is when guests use FP multiple times in the same attraction, get in other lines while Fastpass is holding their position, etc. when they otherwise would have gone on the attraction only once. THIS is what makes the standby line overall longer.

And I think FP+ might actually change this for the better, due to the limits on usage (not saying the limits themselves are good, but in terms of the flow).

They _may_have been issuing more FP/FP+ in total than before as they introduce the new system. It's hard to tell for certain, but subjectively it seems true. I don't know if they will reduce back to "normal" once the transition is complete.

 

[beer dave]

The fact that the line moves "faster" after the FP merge point is simple logic and math, although there is subjectiveness to what "faster" means. It's certainly faster than the standby line was. Not faster than the Fastpass line. And some lines are observably different like at RNRC and Soarin' as you stop and wait for quite a while a couple times.

But lets take the simple example of, say, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It is a "continuous loading" ride, with a continuous queue. And let's say it loads two guests per second.

If there were no fastpass line, the entire line would move at the same speed - two guests per second.

With a fastpass line, after the merge, it still moves at two guests per second.

The merge point itself can let through only two guests per second as well. But now it has to do so proportionally from the Fastpass and Standby queues.

If the Fastpass issue rate was, say, 50% of capacity, then they are going to need to let half the people in from the Fastpass line, and half from the standby line. Thus, the standby line now slows to 1 guest per second.

Issue more Fastpasses, and it slows even more.

But here's the trick - the standby line is obviously slower, in the sense of velocity. But it's also shorter, in terms of number of people in it - since a lot of people who would have been in it are instead using the Fastpass line.

If everything was proportional - a guest using a Fastpass would otherwise have been in the standby line, and only does it once, went shopping, etc. then the standby line should take just as long as it did before.

Where it starts to fail is when guests use FP multiple times in the same attraction, get in other lines while Fastpass is holding their position, etc. when they otherwise would have gone on the attraction only once. THIS is what makes the standby line overall longer.

And I think FP+ might actually change this for the better, due to the limits on usage (not saying the limits themselves are good, but in terms of the flow).

They _may_have been issuing more FP/FP+ in total than before as they introduce the new system. It's hard to tell for certain, but subjectively it seems true. I don't know if they will reduce back to "normal" once the transition is complete.

This is excellent logic, but I would like to add something-- maybe implied by this post, but maybe not... If the fp was eliminated, a person who enters the sb line, with the same total number of riders (fp plus sb), will move through the line faster than when the lines are separate due to the elimination of the preferred rider status given to the fp line.

With only stand by, the wait is determined by the number of people in front of you when you enter. With the fp-- at any given time the line may become inundated with a mass fp rush, bringing your progress to a virtual halt.

So in actuality, a 2 per second load could be anywhere from 2 per second in standby to almost zero. I have counted one to ten in some situations (sb to fp) That makes for a slow sb.