Changes to FASTPASS may be coming

[PurpleDragon]

4) The ability to make FASTPASS reservations via web, TV, cellphone, or regular phone days in advance.

Ok heres my complaint about this possible change. There is already a problem with people hoarding fastpasses! How do you think its gonna be when they don't even have to be at the park to do it?

So lets say you get to the park on Monday morning and see the line for Test Track is too long, so you go to get a fast pass and see that the next available time is 3:40PM on Friday, but your leaving on Thursday. What would be the point? That completely nullifies the whole idea of a fast pass. The way fast pass is supposed to work is that when you see a line is too long, you get a fastpass enjoy the rest of the park for a while and come back later during your window of time, then jump into a much shorter line and get on the ride quicker.

I just hope they don't put that option in place. Its just a nightmare waiting to happen.

 

[kateface517]

Yes, you are paying the same as a guest that is not staying on property too....but they do not get EMH, so, how does that figure into your logic?

EMH is a perk to all disney resort guests not just the ones that pay more and since it is before or after regular park hours it doesnt really affect guests staying off property because they are not even in the park. Paying more for a deluxe resort should have nothing to do with getting on rides quicker than the people who paid the exact same admission to the park as you did.

 

[Lauriebar]

EMH is a perk to all disney resort guests not just the ones that pay more and since it is before or after regular park hours it doesnt really affect guests staying off property because they are not even in the park. Paying more for a deluxe resort should have nothing to do with getting on rides quicker than the people who paid the exact same admission to the park as you did.

But you are missing Speck's point entirely. You are saying that it is okay for an Orlando resident to pay the same admission charge as a vacationer from Georgia but not to be allowed the privilege of EMH just because they are not spending the additional money for a Disney resort room. Yet, it is not okay for Disney guests staying at a Deluxe resort to get park privileges that a Moderate or Value guest does not. This logic is flawed. You say that because the park is closed that it doesn't affect guests staying off property. But why are the parks closed only to those ticket holders who are not paying for staying on property? The answer is, of course, that Resort guests are spending more money at WDW and are therefore afforded this extra benefit. What better way for Disney to encourage their guests to stay on property?

This debate is not about discrimination it is about capitalism, pure and simple.

 

[speck76]

But you are missing Speck's point entirely. You are saying that it is okay for an Orlando resident to pay the same admission charge as a vacationer from Georgia but not to be allowed the privilege of EMH just because they are not spending the additional money for a Disney resort room. Yet, it is not okay for Disney guests staying at a Deluxe resort to get park privileges that a Moderate or Value guest does not. This logic is flawed. You say that because the park is closed that it doesn't affect guests staying off property. But why are the parks closed only to those ticket holders who are not paying for staying on property? The answer is, of course, that Resort guests are spending more money at WDW and are therefore afforded this extra benefit. What better way for Disney to encourage their guests to stay on property?

This debate is not about discrimination it is about capitalism, pure and simple.

Finally....someone who "gets it"

 

[bucklmd]

Well why doesn't Disney just build a seperate park for people who choose to pay more? It could be newer and cleaner and only have deluxe resorts. No annual passes or day guests, but resorts only? Wouldn't that just solve everything? Ha! Just keep all the socioeconomic classes seperate and everyone is happy. That's ridiculous!

I don't like the idea of different perks depending on how much they pay. The Orlando hotel market is very competitive and the fact that anyone pays extra to stay on Disney property of any kind should be appreciated by Disney. If they valued deluxe hotels so much more, then they would only have deluxe hotels and not enter the discounted room market. As Speck says occupancy is so high, then why would they ever build All Stars or Moderates? They could just keep building deluxe hotels and getting paid more. I think it would really make a lot of people mad and it would hurt them.

PS - Can someone explain the whole Universal pass? I was just there for the first time and I thought you either had to pay approx. $13 to get an EP for 14 rides on different rides or you had to be a resort guess. Do they offer EP for free?

 

[bucklmd]

Another thought is that implementing all kinds of new Fastpass options just adds confusion to a place that is already confusing to the general public. I know everyone on these boards is educated on most Disney things, but here is the prime example of the general public:

Last week I stayed at Caribbean Beach. In case you don't know, they have an internal shuttle that goes just to different stops at the resort including the custom house where guests check in. They also have park shuttles that do not go to the custom house. Well, I had to go to the custom house to leave and there was a couple that got on that bus from one of the other island stops. When we got to the custom house, I heard them ask the bell stand where they go to get the bus to Epcot and Disney World. That is the average person coming to WDW and they just don't get it. It's getting too complicated and is getting so big it will self destruct.

 

[Lauriebar]

Well why doesn't Disney just build a seperate park for people who choose to pay more? It could be newer and cleaner and only have deluxe resorts. No annual passes or day guests, but resorts only? Wouldn't that just solve everything? Ha! Just keep all the socioeconomic classes seperate and everyone is happy. That's ridiculous!

Maybe I am crazy but I thought that the whole American economic system was built on the notion that you get what you pay for. The idea that everyone should be offered everything equally is not feasible nor does it make sense economically. Of course if you pay more money you are offered better services.

Disney builds resorts at different price ranges because they understand that their guests run the gammet economically. I'm glad that they do. There is no reason to turn this into a social debate.

Not everyone can afford a vacation at WDW, that is just the way it is. A vacation is not a neccessity and therefore does not fit into the catagory of basic human needs that require equality among socioeconomic classes.

 

[bucklmd]

I am a true believer in you get what you pay for. I'm just saying I don't want to stay in a longer line for staying at PO than I would had I stayed at GF. I'm really impatient and not to mention too poor for GF.

I guess the true solution to all this mess is to go in January. Things are definitely getting blown out of proportion on this thread considering they are ideas we may not see for a long time. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

 

[speck76]

Maybe I am crazy but I thought that the whole American economic system was built on the notion that you get what you pay for. The idea that everyone should be offered everything equally is not feasible nor does it make sense economically. Of course if you pay more money you are offered better services.

Disney builds resorts at different price ranges because they understand that their guests run the gammet economically. I'm glad that they do. There is no reason to turn this into a social debate.

Not everyone can afford a vacation at WDW, that is just the way it is. A vacation is not a neccessity and therefore does not fit into the catagory of basic human needs that require equality among socioeconomic classes.

Exactly....

A quote from Caddyshack: "The world needs ditch-diggers too"

Not everyone can afford the deluxe resorts, which is why WDW segmented their hotels. Segmentation of hotels is something that was revolutionized by Marriott in the early 1980's with the addition of Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, and Residence Inn......not everyone could afford a upscale hotel, so why not provide something that they can afford? Now, did the upscale hotels hurt because of this....not at all. People who can afford luxury will more often spring for the nicer hotel. Why do you think people buy BMW's and Mercedes....they could buy a Kia for $15K, so why spend money on a $60K car that still only has 4 wheels and will do the same job?

That being said, the day may eventually come where guests in the deluxe segment are not visiting WDW as much.....it could be another recession, or WDW could fall out of favor with this segment of the population. What is WDW to do in this case? They could lower the room rate, which will hurt profit, unless they cut back on services (a room at the GF has a higher cost to operate than a room at POP), or they could offer additional benifits to these guests, which would incent people to stay in these hotels.

You may not like it because it could possibly exclude you, but it is a wise business decision for WDW to pursue if they ever have these circumstances.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Things are definitely getting blown out of proportion on this thread considering they are ideas we may not see for a long time. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Good point. If Disney is smart though, I would advise not to anger the majority of your guest who will probably staying at moderate/value resorts, offsite, or who or locals.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Maybe I am crazy but I thought that the whole American economic system was built on the notion that you get what you pay for. The idea that everyone should be offered everything equally is not feasible nor does it make sense economically. Of course if you pay more money you are offered better services.

Disney builds resorts at different price ranges because they understand that their guests run the gammet economically. I'm glad that they do. There is no reason to turn this into a social debate.

Not everyone can afford a vacation at WDW, that is just the way it is. A vacation is not a neccessity and therefore does not fit into the catagory of basic human needs that require equality among socioeconomic classes.

Yeah, for the resorts you get what you pay for. Not at the parks where everyone pays relatively the same to get in. I totally disagree with your point and think it is silly.

 

[Lauriebar]

Yeah, for the resorts you get what you pay for. Not at the parks where everyone pays relatively the same to get in. I totally disagree with your point and think it is silly.

Calling me silly doesn't change that fact that business is business.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Calling me silly doesn't change that fact that business is business.

I wasn't calling you silly, but your point. I think that would be bad business, and potentially alienate a majority of your consumers.

 

[shoppingnut]

Why did Disney build the moderates and economy hotels? Because they wanted to bring those people who were staying off-site and spending their hotel, souvenier and dining dollars elsewhere to Disney's pocketbook. I can recall a time when we couldn't afford the handful of hotels on site, so we stayed off-site and rented a car. By doing this, we would eat two of our three meals outside the parks and bought our souveniers at places on I-drive or rte 192. Disney realized in order to capture these folks they would have to have different levels of hotel.

I really do not think that Disney wants to anger the locals because they support the parks in downtimes and off season. Just like it didn't want to anger it's non-FL resident AP holders when it added the dining option to packages but the AP holder couldn't get the dining because you had to buy the park ticket too, so they opened the DDE card to all AP holders, smart business move, because if they didn't I would have been up in arms and reconsidered my keeping the AP or maybe start eating outside of the parks and/or cutting back on going to Disney totally.

Everyone pays the same price to get into the parks, so they should have equal access to FP's. But by adding EMH for resort guests, they were trying to ensure that people selected their resorts over outside ones. I think FP works fine the way it is, I don't like UO's at all, waiting in line to get one is a nightmare because people can't work the machine or decide what time they want, Disney's is simple and straightforward. If you are paying more for a hotel at Disney that is because the hotel itself has extra amenities and that is what you are truly paying the extra money. I can just see people getting the FP's at hotel the night before and then deciding the next morning to go to another park, it would through the whole system out of wack.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Everyone pays the same price to get into the parks, so they should have equal access to FP's. But by adding EMH for resort guests, they were trying to ensure that people selected their resorts over outside ones. I think FP works fine the way it is, I don't like UO's at all, waiting in line to get one is a nightmare because people can't work the machine or decide what time they want, Disney's is simple and straightforward. If you are paying more for a hotel at Disney that is because the hotel itself has extra amenities and that is what you are truly paying the extra money. I can just see people getting the FP's at hotel the night before and then deciding the next morning to go to another park, it would through the whole system out of wack.

I totally agree. Some people are not understanding that when you pay at a deluxe resort you pay the extra money for the extra amenities, not for special privliages in the parks. These are two seperate things you are paying for.

 

[speck76]

I totally agree. Some people are not understanding that when you pay at a deluxe resort you pay the extra money for the extra amenities, not for special privliages in the parks. These are two seperate things you are paying for.

Perhaps the parks could be considered an amenity too........

 

[Bravesfn1]

Perhaps the parks could be considered an amenity too........

I disagree.......

 

[TimeTrip]

I think one of the big differences between giving front-of-line fastpasses to deluxe/aaa/??? people versus EMH, is that with EMH, people who aren't privy to the benefit know exactly what to expect. They know that the park closes at a certain time for them. During the time the park is open to everybody, everyone is on equal ground. During the time the park is EMH, its only open to those who have access, and then those people allowed in the park for the EMH are all on equal ground.

When you mix perks into "everybody" time is where people may get riled up, because everyone isn't on equal ground.

 

[Lauriebar]

I totally agree. Some people are not understanding that when you pay at a deluxe resort you pay the extra money for the extra amenities, not for special privliages in the parks. These are two seperate things you are paying for.

Perhaps you do not understand that the Disney Co. has every right to implement these changes. Whether they will or not is certainly debatable.

 

[Bravesfn1]

Perhaps you do not understand that the Disney Co. has every right to implement these changes. Whether they will or not is certainly debatable.

I do understand that, but think that would be a bad way of conducting business. Perhaps in your mind Disney can do no wrong, but I have a right to disagree with their decisions. And I understand this is all speculation at this point on what they are going to do.