FastPass+ Most Certainly Not Coming Back As It Was

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Instead of positive motivators to holistically increase guest's willingness to part with their money, they are relying on people's FOMO to drive increased spending.

At that point, it's a race to the bottom.

That race started awhile ago with Iger.

Let’s laud him…post some box office charts and a stock market history while we’re at it?

there’s always short, medium and longterm consequences to decisions.

and the world isn’t flat

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If I didn't already have four 5-day passes and $2000CDN in gift cards I wouldn't even bother going back at this point. So sad.

think you can stick to that assertion?

 

[EnjoyingLife]

Disney is most certainly relying on impulse buying.

The children are tired and cranky but really want to go on Dumbo, which has a 45-minute wait time. Your significant other just wants to get out of there and go back to the pool to relax.

Press a button and ($40 later) your problems are solved.

In your example, do you think that same family will be overly eager to plan a return trip? I suspect there might be some level of frustration and resentment—maybe even buyer’s remorse—after making that impulsive purchase. (Unless money truly is no object to them.)

 

[Touchdown]

This is also going to significantly increase DAS fraud once everyone figures out this is getting them something better then the paid option for free they are soon going to have the same problem the old system had, but this time it’s going to negatively affect upcharge customers, decreasing their satisfaction and decreasing sales.

 

[larryz]

FP didn't make the standby line longer.

I wonder if there's a way to make a hot key for that phrase on my cell phone?

Put it in your signature.

 

[MrHappy]

If this is right, wouldn’t it lead to a lot more crowding in other places? Probably. Thus the Park Reservation system for capacity capping. Right?

 

[drizgirl]

I also know Disney’s number one goal is to straddle the line between a good guest experience and making as much money as possible, however possible. Disney has been this way… for… a very long time.

I think they've done a decent job of doing this historically. But they've been leaning lately more toward the "most money" side of the line and I'm afraid they're about to lost their balance and fall.

 

[drizgirl]

I think you have to accept at this point that whatever they introduce will make the guest experience worse

In spite of higher ticket and hotel prices.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Lol…if this rumor is correct…then the tickets/hoppers become “cover charges”…

they can lock off the lines and say that they aren’t available for the rest of the day at 9 am except for a fee.

add flex pricing on restaurants…throw in a crowd like 12/26…and what do you have?

that isn’t the parks of the past at all. Only the chipped facades on the Epcot pavilions remain. With a very tightly budgeted maintenance allowance - of course.

yoi…I need a drink.

 

[havoc315]

You’re assuming this will be an improvement of the guest experience by making it more complicated to plan and navigate your day in the parks?

No. I’m assuming it’s a better guest experience because it makes it much easier to plan and navigate the park!
No need to book FPs at 6am 60 days in advance, managing 60+ day schedules. No need to waste FPs on attractions like BATB because if tiers. No limit of only 1 tier-1 attraction.

Instead, same day flexibility. It’s raining… maybe not a good day to go to AK. Now I can switch plans, without losing all my AK FPs.

Hmmm, Splash Mountain only has a 10 minute line… I’ll ride standby instead of getting a pass. Big Thunder Mountain live is up to 45 minutes, I think I’ll pay $10 to skip it, without having to make that plan 60 days in advance.

So much same day flexibility. A vastly improved guest experience.

 

[havoc315]

Lol…if this rumor is correct…then the tickets/hoppers become “cover charges”…

they can lock off the lines and say that they aren’t available for the rest of the day at 9 am except for a fee.

That’s not impossible. But I don’t expect that to happen. It doesn’t happen at any other theme park that uses paid express passes, including other Disney parks.

add flex pricing on restaurants…throw in a crowd like 12/26…and what do you have?

They already have flex pricing at restaurants.

that isn’t the parks of the past at all. Only the chipper facades on the Epcot pavilions remain. With a very tightly budgeted maintenance allowance - of course.

yoi…I need a drink.

 

[larryz]

No. I’m assuming it’s a better guest experience because it makes it much easier to plan and navigate the park!
No need to book FPs at 6am 60 days in advance, managing 60+ day schedules. No need to waste FPs on attractions like BATB because if tiers. No limit of only 1 tier-1 attraction.

Instead, same day flexibility. It’s raining… maybe not a good day to go to AK. Now I can switch plans, without losing all my AK FPs.

Hmmm, Splash Mountain only has a 10 minute line… I’ll ride standby instead of getting a pass. Big Thunder Mountain live is up to 45 minutes, I think I’ll pay $10 to skip it, without having to make that plan 60 days in advance.

So much same day flexibility. A vastly improved guest experience.

I'm awestruck at your ability to rationalize paying extra for something you've already paid for.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

That’s not impossible. But I don’t expect that to happen. It doesn’t happen at any other theme park that uses paid express passes, including other Disney parks.



They already have flex pricing at restaurants.

You got nothing on this one…sometimes just let a rant be a rant and let it go.

still can’t get why your trying to defend the concept here so hard? It’s almost personal or something?

paying more for the same stuff in Orlando doesn’t increase your street cred.

 

[havoc315]

In your example, do you think that same family will be overly eager to plan a return trip? I suspect there might be some level of frustration and resentment—maybe even buyer’s remorse—after making that impulsive purchase. (Unless money truly is no object to them.)

I suspect that would make many families more eager to plan a return trip. (I didn’t have to wait in any long lines! I didn’t have to wake up at 6am 60 days in advance. I just pushed a button, paid a few dollars, and poof… the line disappeared!)

Yes, there will always be people put off by the price. There are people who won’t go to Disney anymore because the buffets are so outrageously priced. But then there will always be people who find the price worthwhile.

 

[pax_65]

For decades now, I've argued that I get good value from my WDW vacations. (We do a lot of tricks to achieve that - DVC, APs, FPs etc.) My argument was centered around the fact that while a WDW vacation is pricey, you get a lot for that money. For example, with some smart strategies and planning I could do every attraction in all 4 parks (or at least all the ones I really wanted to do). However I had to concede that higher prices, shorter hours and more ticketed events has hurt that value in recent years.

My fear with the FP change is that either 1) I won't be able to do as much without FastPass or 2) I will have to pay a TON more to have the same benefit we used to get for free (although I personally will NEVER pay it, on principle). Either way, I worry that the value of a WDW vacation has just taken a significant hit. Time will tell.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm awestruck at your ability to rationalize paying extra for something you've already paid for.

Based on the last two days of back and forth…my guess is that he hopes it will make attendance fall and/or have long lines of “paupers” and express “princes”
At the rides.

the “true luxury experience” Iger pulled out of his at a quarterly briefing ten years ago…
…but you’ll still be going on Peter Pan and triceratops spin

 

[Raineman]

I'd like to bring up a point that I don't think anyone's mentioned yet. In the days of yore when we booked our 3 FPs months ahead of time, I'm sure most people (I know we did) booked them so that the sequence of FPs matched the flow of their travel around the park. If you started your day at rope drop in NFL, maybe you do 7DMT and PPF, then move to HM in Liberty Square, then maybe BTMRR in Frontierland, before the lines get too long in late morning. Then, you might book your first FP at PoTC as you move into Adventureland, your second at JC, then your third on Space Mountain as you move to Tomorrowland. I would imagine most people travel through the lands in a circular path, depending on where they start. If this new system is implemented, once the queues reach the point where standby needs to be scheduled, or if you want to start using the paid DPPs, your path around the park will be determined by what attractions you can schedule a standby/DPP for, and where you want to be and what you want to do while waiting in the virtual queue. This is going to result in alot of back and forth across the parks, which is definitely going to increase the amount of walking each day, which could lead to sore feet and tired kids sooner than usual, or result in making decisions which can lead to alot of time spent hanging out and waiting. For example, there is a standby spot/DPP at BTMRR/Splash available in an hour and you are in Tomorrowland wanting to ride SM/Tron/Buzz but they're not available for 2-3 hours. Do you book BTMRR/Splash, walk to Frontierland, ride, and then hope you can book SM/Tron/Buzz for later and walk back to TL? Or, do you book SM/Tron/Buzz for 2-3 hours later and hang out there for that time because you don't want to walk over to Frontierland and have to walk back to TL later without being assured that you will get that standby spot/DPP at SM/Tron/Buzz?

 

[havoc315]

You got nothing on this one…sometimes just let a rant be a rant and let it go.

still can get why your trying to defend the concept here so hard? It’s almost personal or something?

paying more for the same stuff in Orlando doesn’t increase your street cred.

Im not “defending it.” I’m giving my true opinion: that I like it. I truly believe it sounds like a great plan.
Now ask me about the Disney Dining Plan, and you’d hear me rant against it.

I don’t get why you’re attacking such an excellent plan so vigorously.

Again, it’s not paying more for the same stuff. It’s paying more to get more: no need to plan 60 days in advance — that’s worth $$$$ to me. Not being limited to a single tier-1 FP, that’s worth $$$. Getting real options and flexibility as to when and where to get passes. That’s worth $$$.

 

[ParentsOf4]

In your example, do you think that same family will be overly eager to plan a return trip?

Over time, people forget about that extra $40, $80, $120, etc. they spent on Premier Access.

So yes, 3 or 4 years later that family will mostly remember what a great time they had and will be ready to return.

Meanwhile, those who didn’t pay for Premier Access will remember the long lines and not want to return.

BUT DISNEY DOES NOT WANT THIS SECOND GROUP BACK.

The second group didn’t spend the extra for Premier Access. Their Per Capita Guest Spending (one of WDW’s important financial metrics) will be lower. With the parks already overcrowded, Disney would rather save the space for someone who might be willing to pay for Premier Access, or those who return again and again no matter how long they waited in line.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Pay to play.