Changes to Fastpass+ Tiers at Hollywood Studios Effective 8.29

[Buried20KLeague]

Absolutely...that’s where I’m at as well.

People have to remember that even Disney has been very careful to advertise
FP+ as a “benefit”. They really haven’t...they offer it with out superlative. That in of itself is telling.

Here’s what it was designed to do:
1. Track movements to glean data for revenue streams and staff reductions
2. Ride ration...as near zero investment since DAK for a stunning 15 years grew crowds to a level where the parks flaws show.
3. Eventually - more revenue streams.

Iger himself - slime monkey that he is - talked about how he had to “convince” the board to authorize the spending on it. There is EXACTLY one way you convince a mercenary board of billionaires like Disney to spend. One.

But this is our responsibility - the consumers. It’s a relationship and you’re allowing everyone to be abused. When I see “oh I just wish they’d charge so I can be done with it...my time is too valuable”

That kinda thought cause rampant deflation of the value of MY time. There are no “individuals” in a team Disney. And there never will be. Wise up, peeps.

Bingo.

I’m currently sitting on a beach on Maui because my dollar goes further here than in WDW now. Think about that. That’s nuts.

In 2017 we went to shanghai Disney and Hong Kong Disney in one trip. Because it made sense compared to the same 2 weeks at wdw (when including park tickets, food, etc).

Don’t be lemmings people. Look around.

 

[MinnieCaroline]

I think, in theory, stand by lines will move a little faster, doesn’t mean the lines won’t be long! If the Tier 1 FP are dispersed to include 5 rides, the FP line at all times will be slightly less.
I don’t like this at all, we will be there in August, however, we leave before this starts and I am happy about that!
We will be back in January and it maybe totally different by then, we probably will have to pay for FP by that time! Disney is taking away so many perks of being an on-site guest, or any guest, really sad

 

[peter11435]

I don’t know why people think this will have any direct effect on standby lines. They are not changing the overall amount of fastpass inventory for these attractions and ultimately while the distribution will be vastly different the tier 1 attractions will still all book out their available inventory.

 

[CLEtoWDW]

Side question related to shows (property wide)- Do any shows save seats in a certain section, regardless of when you enter? On previous trips, we Fastpassed shows simply to avoid queuing up super early with our kids. In every instance, we were told the FP only got your line through the door first. Once FP was in, the stand by line was let in to get whatever seats were left. So essentially, you had to queue up even earlier than normal. It happened a few times we ended up entering after the stand by line and were told to just sit wherever. It didn’t really matter where we sat, but it seemed like a waste of a FP. It would make so much more sense to have an entire section dedicated to FP. Are there any shows that do this?

I know exactly what you mean. I was at Fantasmic on Monday with a FP and ended up with one of the worst seats in the house. I asked a CM what was the point of the FP and he said “I understand... I don’t agree with it either.”

 

[TeriofTerror]

I don’t know why people think this will have any direct effect on standby lines. They are not changing the overall amount of fastpass inventory for these attractions and ultimately while the distribution will be vastly different the tier 1 attractions will still all book out their available inventory.

Agreed. The park is going to be packed, and people are going to grab whatever FPs are available. Same number of attractions divided by way more people equals fewer FPs and longer waits across the board.

 

[nickys]

I think, in theory, stand by lines will move a little faster, doesn’t mean the lines won’t be long! If the Tier 1 FP are dispersed to include 5 rides, the FP line at all times will be slightly less.
I don’t like this at all, we will be there in August, however, we leave before this starts and I am happy about that!
We will be back in January and it maybe totally different by then, we probably will have to pay for FP by that time! Disney is taking away so many perks of being an on-site guest, or any guest, really sad

Why would the FP lines be any less? There will still be the same number of FPs available for each ride.

It just means more people will be able to get one of them. All those extra people who will now be coming to DHS, who have either never been to WDW before or have given the park a miss for a few years.

 

[nickys]

Side question related to shows (property wide)- Do any shows save seats in a certain section, regardless of when you enter? On previous trips, we Fastpassed shows simply to avoid queuing up super early with our kids. In every instance, we were told the FP only got your line through the door first. Once FP was in, the stand by line was let in to get whatever seats were left. So essentially, you had to queue up even earlier than normal. It happened a few times we ended up entering after the stand by line and were told to just sit wherever. It didn’t really matter where we sat, but it seemed like a waste of a FP. It would make so much more sense to have an entire section dedicated to FP. Are there any shows that do this?

Well there are shows that direct FP holders to certain areas. And some, like Indy, will let the FP line in first, therefore the FP holders then get first dibs at the front and centre seats if they want. But after say 10/15 minutes, the stand-by line is let in and those people can then fill up available seats. If you have an FP but arrive less than 15 minutes before, you have to take your chances with seats.

 

[wdisney9000]

Just another aspect of MM+/FP+/NGE that makes a Disney trip more frustrating. I recall the hordes of people who exclaimed their joy for all this technology when it was released and how it would make everything mAgiKal!

They have used NGE to reduce staffing, cut back on food portions, increase the price, play musical chairs with which rides and restaurants are open and when, and most likely soon to add paid for FP+.

But hey! Now my family doesnt have to be at rope drop and we can breeze into the park whenever we feel like it and enjoy our ONE (single), FP+ for the day at HS!!!

Magic bands truly were designed to enhance my experience! *insert fart noise

 

[MinnieCaroline]

Why would the FP lines be any less? There will still be the same number of FPs available for each ride.

It just means more people will be able to get one of them. All those extra people who will now be coming to DHS, who have either never been to WDW before or have given the park a miss for a few years.

It’s called dispersing!!

 

[peter11435]

It’s called dispersing!!

The end result at the attractions will be the same. Each of those tier 1 attractions will distribute their entire available inventory of fastpasses. There will be no difference to the number of guests who have fastpasses for each attraction.

The difference now is that a greater percentage of park guests will have access to a fastpass for one of those preferred attractions.

 

[MinnieCaroline]

The end result at the attractions will be the same. Each of those tier 1 attractions will distribute their entire available inventory of fastpasses. There will be no difference to the number of guests who have fastpasses for each attraction.

The difference now is that a greater percentage of park guests will have access to a fastpass for one of those preferred attractions.

I was trying to find a silver lining in a bad situation, why would Disney do this? What is the reason? I suppose they will have more paid events so you can ride the attractions, oh well, it will suck! I already hate what they did to this park, now it will be even worse!

 

[ToTBellHop]

The end result at the attractions will be the same. Each of those tier 1 attractions will distribute their entire available inventory of fastpasses. There will be no difference to the number of guests who have fastpasses for each attraction.

The difference now is that a greater percentage of park guests will have access to a fastpass for one of those preferred attractions.

Yes. And those paying the most to stay at WDW (at a WDW resort hotel) will wait in line longer. Seems like risky behavior to me. Why should they care if off-site guests can’t get FP for a ride?

 

[peter11435]

I was trying to find a silver lining in a bad situation, why would Disney do this? What is the reason? I suppose they will have more paid events so you can ride the attractions, oh well, it will suck! I already hate what they did to this park, now it will be even worse!

They are doing this so that more guests will be able to get a worthwhile fastpass. Obviously this means that no guest can book two worthwhile fastpasses. But the number of guests who’s only fastpass options will be three shows that you don’t need fastpass for will be less.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

They are doing this so that more guests will be able to get a worthwhile fastpass. Obviously this means that no guest can book two worthwhile fastpasses. But the number of guests who’s only fastpass options will be three shows that you don’t need fastpass for will be less.

And even once you are able to use your ONE good FP plus the two 2nd tier FP, chances of you getting another tier 1 FP is going to be slim to none, I imagine. People are going to be holding onto those tier 1 FPs like gold, not releasing them. And if they do get released, you've got a much bigger crowd with more people waiting to pounce on them. We're going to take advantage of the 6-9am EMH in September. We will see how the first day goes and how large the EMH crowds are and judge then if we want to give it another go on our second DHS day so we can get the heavy hitters out of the way before the crowds descend at rope drop

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

I stayed off site during my trip this past March and I was able to get fast passes. The problem we had is that the few options they offered and the odd times that we had to get our fast passes for specific rides, we just didn't want to run across the park to use them or it was inconvenient. But not to worry....now we will only have ONE Tier 1 ride so no need to rush. Now we get so stay there all day to ride ONE good ride.

I will add that staying off site was FAR better than staying on site.
1) My hotel was a few minutes from the park (maybe a 10 minute drive) which is how long it takes normally to get around on the grounds from a resort at Disney anyway..
2) My hotel was only $150/night and unlike Disney resorts they offered me a $15 per night discount for being a Veteran so that made it $135/night.
3) My hotel gave us free breakfast every morning including Mickey waffles, eggs, sausage or bacon and much more.
4) Our hotel pool was clean and QUIET and had a jacuzzi. So we were able to hang out without a raucous amount of kids running around.
5) Our hotel was quiet. I didn't hear doors slamming, or jet powered toilets flushing at all hours, or people dragging their suitcases outside my door, or kids running around outside my door.
6) And I didn't have to play $13 per day to park at the hotel simply because I drove my own car.

I was talking it over with my wife and we were trying to figure out what the benefits really are for staying at a WDW resort.
We really couldn't find one any longer especially for the cost. And that's a shame.

My sister is moving to Chattanooga and she is going to be about 8 hours or so from Disney. We mentioned her driving down and me meeting her there, but neither of us wants to stay on-site and pay to park the car at a Disney resort but we don't want to stay offsite because we want access to the FP at 60+ days. It's quite the dilemma. We like staying on property because we stay in the Disney "bubble", but we also have started to realize the benefits of staying onsite aren't what they used to be.

 

[Patcheslee]

After reading through quite a bit of this I didn't see mention of the emailed promo some people received awhile back about a stay that included 60 day FP open to multiple parks. I bring it up because is there a possibility they are looking into how many people park hop if they can get 2 different park FP at 60 days? When you throw in that possibility to the new Tiers at DHS it could draw people away from DHS after SWGE opens and allow a larger rotation of guests into the park throughout the day. Book a Tier 1 FP at DHS, spend a few hours there, then hop to another park for the FPs scheduled there. They've now dispersed not just across DHS but 3 other parks.

 

[lindawdw]

After reading through quite a bit of this I didn't see mention of the emailed promo some people received awhile back about a stay that included 60 day FP open to multiple parks. I bring it up because is there a possibility they are looking into how many people park hop if they can get 2 different park FP at 60 days? When you throw in that possibility to the new Tiers at DHS it could draw people away from DHS after SWGE opens and allow a larger rotation of guests into the park throughout the day. Book a Tier 1 FP at DHS, spend a few hours there, then hop to another park for the FPs scheduled there. They've now dispersed not just across DHS but 3 other parks.

I have thought the same thing which would alleviate the mass crowds in some of the parks. With the tier system in DHS now, I expect that a lot of guests who are able to go to WDW a few times a year will leave after doing their one E-ticket F/P and visit another park if that option becomes available.

 

[Lensman]

I thought it might be helpful to illustrate the potential impact.

Before:
Tier 1: 3 attractions - Saucers, Slinky Dog, and TSMM
Tier 2: RnRC, ToT, Star Tours, plus some shows
Attendance: 20,000 per day, half onsite
Tier 1 FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
Assumption: all onsite visitors get their 1 Tier 1 FastPass and RnRC and ToT as their Tier 2
33,000 Tier 1 FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 10,000)
Note:
23,000 RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 20,000)

After without tier adjustments:
Tier 1: 3 attractions - Saucers, Slinky Dog, and TSMM
Tier 2: RnRC, ToT, Star Tours, plus some shows
Attendance: 40,000 per day, half onsite
Tier 1 FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
Assumption: all onsite visitors get their 1 Tier 1 FastPass and RnRC and ToT as their Tier 2
23,000 Tier 1 FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 20,000)
3,000 RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 40,000)

After with tier adjustments:
Tier 1: 5 attractions - Saucers, Slinky Dog, TSMM, RnRC, and ToT
Tier 2: Star Tours, plus some shows
Attendance: 40,000 per day, half onsite
Tier 1 FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 5 x 12 = 72,000
Star Tours FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 1 x 12 = 14,000
Assumption: all onsite visitors get their 1 Tier 1 FastPass and Star Tours as their Tier 2
52,000 Tier 1 FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (72,000 - 20,000)
No Star Tours FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (14,000 - 40,000)

I put this forward as a first draft analysis. I'm sure that together we can update it with better numbers for attendance, ride capacity, anticipated hours, percentage onsite vs offsite/season pass to get us some additional insight into why Disney might have thought this was a good idea. My numbers look wrong because they seem to show that even with an anticipated attendance of 40,000 and 70% of capacity given out as FastPasses, there will be more Tier 1 FastPass capacity than there will be demand for it.

I think it's dangerous to draw conclusions from a preliminary analysis, but the above numbers *might* show that the retiering helps offsite visitors and season pass holders. The only reason I can come up with for this is the idea that onsite visitors will already be getting the opportunity to go on everything they want during the extended EMH hours, and offsite guest satisfaction would be too low if onsite guests were to end up monopolizing the FastPasses after EMH after getting to ride on everything during EMH anyway.

Looking forward to everyone's adjustment of the numerical analysis or overall critique.

 

[nickys]

I thought it might be helpful to illustrate the potential impact.

Before:
Tier 1: 3 attractions - Saucers, Slinky Dog, and TSMM
Tier 2: RnRC, ToT, Star Tours, plus some shows
Attendance: 20,000 per day, half onsite
Tier 1 FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
Assumption: all onsite visitors get their 1 Tier 1 FastPass and RnRC and ToT as their Tier 2
33,000 Tier 1 FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 10,000)
Note:
23,000 RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 20,000)

After without tier adjustments:
Tier 1: 3 attractions - Saucers, Slinky Dog, and TSMM
Tier 2: RnRC, ToT, Star Tours, plus some shows
Attendance: 40,000 per day, half onsite
Tier 1 FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 3 x 12 = 43,000
Assumption: all onsite visitors get their 1 Tier 1 FastPass and RnRC and ToT as their Tier 2
23,000 Tier 1 FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 20,000)
3,000 RnRC, ToT, Star Tours FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (43,000 - 40,000)

After with tier adjustments:
Tier 1: 5 attractions - Saucers, Slinky Dog, TSMM, RnRC, and ToT
Tier 2: Star Tours, plus some shows
Attendance: 40,000 per day, half onsite
Tier 1 FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 5 x 12 = 72,000
Star Tours FastPasses available per day: 1200 x 1 x 12 = 14,000
Assumption: all onsite visitors get their 1 Tier 1 FastPass and RnRC and ToT as their Tier 2
52,000 Tier 1 FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (72,000 - 20,000)
No Star Tours FastPasses available to offsite visitors and season pass holders (14,000 - 40,000)

I put this forward as a first draft analysis. I'm sure that together we can update it with better numbers for attendance, ride capacity, anticipated hours, percentage onsite vs offsite/season pass to get us some additional insight into why Disney might have thought this was a good idea. My numbers look wrong because they seem to show that even with an anticipated attendance of 40,000 and 70% of capacity given out as FastPasses, there will be more Tier 1 FastPass capacity than there will be demand for it.

I think it's dangerous to draw conclusions from a preliminary analysis, but the above numbers *might* show that the retiering helps offsite visitors and season pass holders. The only reason I can come up with for this is the idea that onsite visitors will already be getting the opportunity to go on everything they want during the extended EMH hours, and offsite guest satisfaction would be too low if onsite guests were to end up monopolizing the FastPasses after EMH after getting to ride on everything during EMH anyway.

Looking forward to everyone's adjustment of the numerical analysis or overall critique.

You have a typo in the “after tier changes” bit. Your assumption is still all onsite get 1 tier 1 and then ToT and RnR as tier 2. I assume you mean they get Star Tours as a tier 2.

Also I think it’s a false assumption that all onsite people will be able to do everything they want in 3 hours of EMH. I think the queue for GE by the end of EMH will still have onsite guests in it, plus everyone else who has been lining up for the past 2 hours.

 

[Lensman]

You have a typo in the “after tier changes” bit. Your assumption is still all onsite get 1 tier 1 and then ToT and RnR as tier 2. I assume you mean they get Star Tours as a tier 2.

Also I think it’s a false assumption that all onsite people will be able to do everything they want in 3 hours of EMH. I think the queue for GE by the end of EMH will still have onsite guests in it, plus everyone else who has been lining up for the past 2 hours.

Thanks for the proofreading!