Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
There's got to be a tipping point in any scenario. I don't know where it is... But it's out there.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Disney considering VIP and other add-on options to their tickets....
- Thread starter WDWmazprty
- Start date
There's got to be a tipping point in any scenario. I don't know where it is... But it's out there.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
Why should we all be equal at Disney? That makes no sense at all. Maybe if Disney was in a communist nation, but not here.
We are not all equal. I am sorry to say but it's true. A guest willing to spend more than 5 familes combined is more valuable to Disney than 1 "average joe" family. And they should be. It is those spending the big bucks that finance the ability for improvements and existence of experiences for those who do not spend as much.
Also if we are all equal, why is my tax rate so high and the guy making 10 buck and hour with 2 kids has to pay next to nothing in taxes?
wolf359
Well-Known Member
True, but the other side of the argument is assuming Disney will completely change the system to cater to those opting for the VIP upgrades. So we're all just assuming at this point. However, there's nothing in what Disney is proposing through the survey that takes away any current offerings, it's simply giving more for those paying more.
I just don't see it. Again, what Disney is considering would give more than the standard benefits to those that choose to upgrade, while keeping the status quo for "regular" tickets. If Disney was considering a system where everyone would have to pay for FastPass I think they would have asked THAT question in the survey. "Would you pay for FastPass?"
I think Disney knows they need to offer the standard version of FastPass to everyone, especially because it has been available for so long. What I find surprising is that in almost every other thread about FastPass many people have cited other park's paid unlimited FastPass as being superior to what Disney offers. Yet now that it seems that Disney is thinking about offering the same thing, suddenly it's a problem.
It's also interesting that of the entire list of options being suggested in the survey so much discussion is being focused on the FastPass option. Especially considering how many complain about ticket prices, yet Disney is talking about several ways to actually charge less to go to the parks, yet no one is wasting any time talking about that. It must be easier to go right for "the sky is falling" side of things.
trr1
Well-Known Member
thats what I thought also and then if you want to eat at the parks you add on a dinning plan also(another 40-? )
Larry Mondello
Well-Known Member
I am sure glad I saved my old tickets
ChrisM
Well-Known Member
Let's be very clear as to what I believe Disney was proposing in their survey. The text reads as follows:
Attempting to infer or assume as little as possible, I believe the proposition for this "add-on" is:
(1) $150 per day, per person. (Conceivably per park, but perhaps it could be used for any park if on a park hopper plan.)
(2) Unlimited use of Fastpass. (I take this to mean truly unlimited. As in, you can walk into the Fastpass line of any attraction whenever you want OR you can retrieve an immediate use Fastpass for any attraction at any time if paper Fastpasses are still in use.)
(3) Subject to availability. (I believe this means a fixed number of VIP tickets would be offered per day, not that the user would be subject to restrictions in the number of available Fastpasses in the Fastpass pool.)
At that price (per ticket, per day) and with limited availability, I can see the demand and use working out in such a fashion that the end result would not have much impact on guests who did not choose to pay a premium for VIP access. Given that so many guests visit WDW in groups, $150 per ticket, per day for an entire group adds up quickly.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
That's pure conjecture. We've heard time and time again that Disney words these surveys very carefully to get the reaction they're looking for. If they worded it "Would you pay for fastpass", who in their right mind would answer "YES"? There wouldn't even be a point to the survey. Many times they're doing these surveys to justify what they want to do, and manipulate accordingly. These are smart people that do this.
You're assuming Disney's not trying to find a way to work this into their mainstream guest. I worry that their reasoning may be more nefarious than that. And again... Maybe you're right. Maybe I am. We don't know till they roll it out.
wolf359
Well-Known Member
I agree that Disney words their surveys carefully, but I've been asked point blank in a park exit survey if I would pay for it. They asked lead-in questions about if I used FastPass, if I thought it improved my enjoyment of the park, etc, and then asked if I thought it was a system I would be willing to pay for.
Since I said "no" to paying for FastPass and I can't imagine I'm the only person that got asked that survey and responded the same way, I'm convinced Disney knows FastPass is VERY popular but they'll never get people to pay for the current system.
What we're seeing now in this round of surveys is them figuring out WHAT it will take to get people to pay for it. Enhancing the benefit is the most obvious way to do that, because the system is so ingrained into people's touring schedules now there is no way Disney could reduce the current system and not face backlash.
Since I said "no" to paying for FastPass and I can't imagine I'm the only person that got asked that survey and responded the same way, I'm convinced Disney knows FastPass is VERY popular but they'll never get people to pay for the current system.
What we're seeing now in this round of surveys is them figuring out WHAT it will take to get people to pay for it. Enhancing the benefit is the most obvious way to do that, because the system is so ingrained into people's touring schedules now there is no way Disney could reduce the current system and not face backlash.
Buried20KLeague
Well-Known Member
What makes you think they care? I think if they think they'll p!ss off guests but still turn a profit by implementing something, they'll do it.
Horizonsfan
Well-Known Member
I didn't say that $82 was it and they were screwed. I said they are in dangerous territory. The reinvestment in the parks is modest at best (FLE is an outlier) and no other prices are holding, parking, dining, and merchandise have all gone up by quite a bit. I'm not the one they should or ever will worry about, it may be more time between my trips but i'll still go fairly frequently (more than once every 5-7 years). For the general public it's going to be harder and harder to justify the cost of going to WDW more than once a decade, if that.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
:sohappy:
Monsterfan99
Active Member
Of course the people who use them elsewhere will find them superior. Those parks have no free option and it becomes "I paid to not wait and you have to." Those that do not buy them tend to think they were a worse system at other parks (myself included and yes I have used them before.)
panther726
Member
Go ahead and boycott Disney, that'll show em...
Also, when did the talk of individual tickets come into play? See, this whole ticket option IS presenting the opportunity for choice. If we had this attitude, we would all be staying in the same resort, with the same amentities, and the same quality of restaurants. If you don't want any of the extra add-ons, simply don't buy them. I'm sure there was a bunch of fuss when the park hopper thing came out, and here we are now. I couldn't imagine Disney without it. But it's the same concept. Wouldn't park hopper guests techincally be stealing fastpass from guest with a base ticket?
It's one of those pesky ideas from the Founding Fathers of the USA. What were they thinking!
That's misleading. Disney has done MASSIVE disocunting for the past two yearsm and moderate discounting before that. Attendance figures have gone up ONLY because of the discounts. In-park guest spending is way down.
Universal's system is the least fair of them all. It is by definition line cutting. Disney and Six Flags give you a time to return equal or greater than the current wait time. Disney's actually IS the best system, as it merely redistributes part of the attractions hourly capacity. Those passholders can only come after a certain time. Assuming they would have gotten in line at the time they went to get their FP, the standby guests won't be waiting any longer than if that guest had gotten in line. Not true with Universal's system. Express Pass users ARE cutting in line. Six Flags system is less fair than Disney's, but it works similar to FP. Users select which ride they want to ride, and the device gives them a time to go (which is whatever the attractions wait time is).
The problem I have with this potential VIP FastPass is that people on these boards seem to underestimate how many people are willing to pay. And while they may limit how many are available, that limit is completely arbitrary and be sure that if it is in high demand they will raise that limit.
jakeman
Well-Known Member
Since we have no facts at this point, would the converse that the naysayers may be overestimating its impact be true as well?
They were for equal oppurtunity. And BTW, not for all, they excluded women and African Americans from their idea. Additionally, they did not want everyone to be equal, but everyone to have the chance to be successful on their own merits, not limited by some draconian tether requiring those who can to suffer because some can't.