Ticket price increase / FP+ changes coming?

[seascape]

I don't go crazy planning my trips. Since we go 4 times a year, we usually take it easy. I plan an anniversary dinner for our Food snd Wine visit and a Birthday Dinner for my wife during the Festival of the arts. In April. besides getting a fast pass for The Mickey ride and one for FoP, we probably will spend our mornings at out Resort.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The Magic Kingdom, the world’s busiest theme park, has less dining capacity today than it did 30 years ago. Throughout Walt Disney World capacity has generally stagnated with marginal gains for decades now. Planning has most definitely become more necessary to get value, especially if you want to do more than 8 experiences over a whole $100+ day. Disney wants people to obsessively plan so that they don’t have to make any more than the bare minimum available.

 

[GhostHost1000]

So if crowds were smaller, but there were less attractions, then the point is moot because crowd distribution would have been the same.

but the point I was making is Disney WAS once able to be visited without any planning and you could easily enjoy yourself and get things done as well.

then again.. "fun" depends on the person

 

[ImperfectPixie]

but the point I was making is Disney WAS once able to be visited without any planning and you could easily enjoy yourself and get things done as well.

then again.. "fun" depends on the person

I agree 100%. And we're "do everything" kinds of people. Rides, experiences, food, water parks/pools...you name it, we will probably try it. (Aside from crazy stuff like jumping out of an airplane or something.)

 

[Josh Hendy]

I also don't understand all this garbage people are spouting about people expecting a great time on a spontaneous Disney trip. Disney has never been and will never be a destination that you could just spontaneously visit for a day or two and have a great time

I used to do probably 20x more trip planning than the average family visiting WDW and that was just making a hand written calendar and scribbled touring plans made with the help of Unofficial Guide. Nowadays to get the same number of ride experiences I would have to do maybe 20x as much trip planning as before, over a much greater length of time.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

You are so very wrong. From around 2003-2014 I went to WDW around 20 times. Never planned anything more then, "probably will be at MK this day". Now, I have my days planned down to the minute to insure I get my monies worth. I also now go once every 2 or 3 years instead of 2x per year.

I think you have cause and effect backwards. You were spontaneous BECAUSE you went twice per year, not the other way around. People who go once every five or ten years (or ever) have much more pressure to get the itinerary exactly right because they won't be back for a long time.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I think you have cause and effect backwards. You were spontaneous BECAUSE you went twice per year, not the other way around. People who go once every five or ten years (or ever) have much more pressure to get the itinerary exactly right because they won't be back for a long time.

exactly - and the more they pay the more those folks who come once every 5-10 or in their lifetime are going to be frustrated if they can't do certain attractions

 

[xdan0920]

I think you have cause and effect backwards. You were spontaneous BECAUSE you went twice per year, not the other way around. People who go once every five or ten years (or ever) have much more pressure to get the itinerary exactly right because they won't be back for a long time.

I generally agree with this way of looking at things. In fact there are some posts in this thread of people who still visit a lot and don’t feel the need to “do everything” so they don’t plan down to the T. In that case you are exactly right.

In this case though, I wasn’t meandering around the parks, we were hitting all the headliners, we were doing everything every time. Before FP+ you got out what you put in while you were in the parks. Things have changed quite a bit since then.

 

[John park hopper]

70's, 80's and into the late 90's we did spontaneous trips--the only planning was what clothes to take and we had a great time did all the e attractions and saw everything we wanted to see, didn't have to plan out 6 months in advance where we wanted to eat. Unfortunately that is not the case any more. Because of crowds and the way Disney has things set up now FP, ADR, special events, up-charges spontanous trips IMO won't be the same.

 

[Missing20K]

People not knowing about FastPass+ is still a problem. New queues are physically separated near merge in part due to increases in physical altercations.

Continuing down the current path of dividing their customer base into Haves (Deluxe Rooms, Premium Meal Plan, Upcharge Parties, rumors of paid fast passes, maxpass+, etc.) and Have-nots (off-site room, no meal plan, paid daily parking, no EMH) will only increase the frequency of such altercations, I fear.

 

[IanDLBZF]

Of special note, the NASDAQ did an article on this.... worth reading.

Is $200 for a Day at Disneyland Too Much?

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is boosting prices for some of its Disneyland and Disney World tickets and annual passes this week. The increases are minor compared with last year, when it raised some admissions by as much as 25%. But this week's 5% increase for some tickets isn't go

www.nasdaq.com

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Of special note, the NASDAQ did an article on this.... worth reading.

Is $200 for a Day at Disneyland Too Much?

Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) is boosting prices for some of its Disneyland and Disney World tickets and annual passes this week. The increases are minor compared with last year, when it raised some admissions by as much as 25%. But this week's 5% increase for some tickets isn't go

www.nasdaq.com

What a bullcrap headline.

 

[RSoxNo1]

What a bullcrap headline.

Also, Epcot Forever as the image?

 

[Disstevefan1]

I see a lot of people complaining that FP is useless to them because they don't stay on property... Within the last 6 months on 2 separate trips I was able to:

1) Get SDD less than 30 days out
2)Move said Slinky dog dash to an earlier time
3)Move said Slinky dog dash again earlier
4)Get FOP less than 30 days out
5)Move FOP to an earlier time less than 30 days out
6)Get a day of FOP fastpass
7)move said FOP fastpass earlier day of
8) Get day of fastpasses for ToT, RnRC, Star Tours, TSMM, F! in one day after my initial 3(in one day)
9) Get day of fastpasses for Frozen, TT, and Soarin (x2) after my initial 3(in one day)
10) Get day of fastpasses for NRJ(x2), and Everest(x2) after my initial 3(in one day, before leaving around 4)
11)Get day of fastpasses for Pooh (x2), Mermaid, Pan, HM, Pirates, Space, Splash, Buzz (x2), Dumbo, Meet Mickey, Meet Tink, Meet princess, Meet Ariel, all day of after my initial 3. (in one day)

Anyone that says FP is useless to them has given up on the system. Is there an advantage to being an on site guest? ABSOLUTELY, however just because you are limited to a 30 day window or even if it was Day Of, does not mean the system is useless to you.

When you say "Move FOP to an earlier time less than 30 days out" do you mean cancel the existing FOP pastpass and get an even earlier FOP fastpass less than 30 days out.

Are there any tricks, like keep refreshing in the app?

 

[Purduevian]

When you say "Move FOP to an earlier time less than 30 days out" do you mean cancel the existing FOP pastpass and get an even earlier FOP fastpass less than 30 days out.

Are there any tricks, like keep refreshing in the app?

Correct. Looking at what I've done on FOP in the past 6 months.
On Trip 1:
-Booked it 60 days out for the morning
-Rode it in the morning
-Around 12, got a 7pm fastpass for FOP, but we were planning to leave around 4 pm (after using a safari, NRJ, and 2 everest fps before that)
-Around 1:30 after spamming the modify button on the 7pm FOP, while in line for another ride, a 3:30pm popped up for FoP. I then modified it to the 3:30

On Trip 2:
-Late decision to go to WDW, so started getting Fastpasses about 25 days out (FOP was not available)
-About 20 days out, a 2pm FOP appeared (I had been checked maybe 10 times a day randomly)
-About 15 days out, after selecting modify the reservation on the 2pm FOP, an 11am FOP appeared. I modified the reservation (again checking randomly like 10 times a day).

For Day of Fastpasses, 2 of us were pretty much spamming the FP page every time we were in line for something (even in a fastpass line) or if 1 was in the bathroom and we were waiting for the other one. It's really amazing what Pops up if you just spend like 3 minutes constantly refreshing. My Magic Kingdom day, we actually did everything in the park that offered Fastpass except Jungle Cruise and Aladdin because we roped dropped it. It got to the point where we had to stop "playing the Fastpass Game" to do things like eat, parades, and shows because we could basically pick any ride in the park (except 7 dwarfs, FOP, and SDD) and get a fastpass for it within 30 minutes of the current time. I should also point out, this was during July 4th week, so not exactly dead season.

 

[nickys]

When you say "Move FOP to an earlier time less than 30 days out" do you mean cancel the existing FOP pastpass and get an even earlier FOP fastpass less than 30 days out.

Are there any tricks, like keep refreshing in the app?

You don’t cancel it, you modify it. Keep modifying and other times pop up. Partly due to day-of FP drops that tend to happen at certain times for specific rides, depending on how things are going. And partly due to people changing plans.

 

[mlayton144]

How about just get rid of APs altogether? Just like the rest of the world - stay onsite (pay more) = you get more (access to the best attractions). Most APers already get value in a lower cost per day, if you want that FOP or MMRR FastPass , book a room. There are too many folks who feel entitled. Make WDW the best for vacationers, not those who treat it like their backyard

 

[nickys]

How about just get rid of APs altogether? Just like the rest of the world - stay onsite (pay more) = you get more (access to the best attractions). Most APers already get value in a lower cost per day, if you want that FOP or MMRR FastPass , book a room. There are too many folks who feel entitled. Make WDW the best for vacationers, not those who treat it like their backyard

AP holders who don’t stay onsite are in the same position as those WDW guests who stay offsite. And it is possible to get FPs for those rides on the day if you keep refreshing the app. They have no impact on your ability to book FPs.

So I am failing to understand why you think the APs should be abolished.

 

[mlayton144]

Vacationers on Disney property = those feeding the mouse

 

[mlayton144]

This is in response to those saying FP+ should be eliminated