"I thought that the lines would be way more efficient without it...but had to see it.
I saw it...much better in traditional lines."
When?
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FastPass+ Disappearing on Some Attractions?
- Thread starter MagicHappens1971
- Start date
I saw it...much better in traditional lines."
When?
Pepper's Ghost
Well-Known Member
Both of these are great tips in general. I was thinking you meant there were other means similar to FP, but guess that was wishful thinking. It's been many years since I've been back, but what we'd do was always go in late Sept, and we always got to the park at opening, or "rope drop". I hear they don't really do rope drop anymore, but I'd always intend to be there first thing. Riding rides during parades is a must... always! We'd stop to watch Wishes though. That was our favorite, but immediately after that, dart over to HM.
The couple trips we took, we rarely stayed until close, but that is another great time.The only issue with these suggestions is that it leaves vast periods of time when there are long lines to wait in. I'd have to think that if they added a paid FP option, I'd always opt for that. No question. I don't think it's fair to those who can't afford it, but to me it'd be a no-brainer if offered.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
4/4-4/10/21
I have no idea what WDW plans for FP+ (or similar feature) - many more insightful folks posting here would have that - but could certainly see once crowds/demand surges again that a paid FP option could be introduced. We are going in November (first trip since 2016) and planning on rope drop to close, hoping for at least 12 hrs of park hours, and would take advantage of FP+ if offered (but doubtful it will be). Fortunately my family all have previous trips so its likely we will plan to experience 2-3 priority attractions as soon as park opens, and if lines get long may miss out on others.Both of these are great tips in general. I was thinking you meant there were other means similar to FP, but guess that was wishful thinking. It's been many years since I've been back, but what we'd do was always go in late Sept, and we always got to the park at opening, or "rope drop". I hear they don't really do rope drop anymore, but I'd always intend to be there first thing. Riding rides during parades is a must... always! We'd stop to watch Wishes though. That was our favorite, but immediately after that, dart over to HM.
The only issue with these suggestions is that it leaves vast periods of time when there are long lines to wait in. I'd have to think that if they added a paid FP option, I'd always opt for that. No question. I don't think it's fair to those who can't afford it, but to me it'd be a no-brainer if offered.
aliceismad
Well-Known Member
Or instead of waiting in lines mid-day, you take a break and swim in the hotel pool.Both of these are great tips in general. I was thinking you meant there were other means similar to FP, but guess that was wishful thinking. It's been many years since I've been back, but what we'd do was always go in late Sept, and we always got to the park at opening, or "rope drop". I hear they don't really do rope drop anymore, but I'd always intend to be there first thing. Riding rides during parades is a must... always! We'd stop to watch Wishes though. That was our favorite, but immediately after that, dart over to HM.
The only issue with these suggestions is that it leaves vast periods of time when there are long lines to wait in. I'd have to think that if they added a paid FP option, I'd always opt for that. No question. I don't think it's fair to those who can't afford it, but to me it'd be a no-brainer if offered.
If there is a paid option, I'll likely end up buying it too. I would expect a paid option will be most detrimental to locals or people who take multiple trips per year and are less likely to spend the extra money. That's purely speculation on my part though.
jaklgreen
Well-Known Member
I think that we are talking about 2 different things. I am talking about having basic knowledge of the place that you are going, not planning your trip down to the second. And going to WDW is nothing like going for a Sunday drive by your house, you know that. Look at the situation now. You have to book your park days ahead of time and can't just show up anymore. The bare minimum amount of research would tell you that. If you are OK with just showing up to be turned away, then fine, do what you like. But if you tell your kids for weeks that you are taking them to WDW and show up to find out that you can't, then your just kind of a lazy jerk that couldn't be bothered to spend 20 minutes on the internet figuring out what you need to do to make that happen. Because it all comes down to either hubris or laziness. You either think that the world will somehow conform to how you want it to be, or you are just too lazy to put in the research time.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
No, none of the above.
Some people are risk averse, and some people are okay with taking a little risk once in a while. I don't suppose you read my later posts in this thread?
If I got to WDW, and for some reason I couldn't get in to a park- never happened to me- but supposing it did- I'd just do something else for the day. Same as I did this past Sunday. I changed my mind, and didn't end up where I initially thought I'd go. It was awesome!
I'm sorry you don't feel like a spontaneous trip could be fun.
JusticeDisney
Well-Known Member
I know some won’t agree (and that’s obviously totally fine) but I would love to see a “pay” fast pass system come to fruition. Personally, I have always thought Universal’s system to be vastly superior to WDW’s.
Just my $.02.
Just my $.02.
jaklgreen
Well-Known Member
I never said or even implied that. I said it was foolish to go someplace that you have never been and are unfamiliar with, without doing some basic research. You keep bringing up what you do, but you have been to WDW so you already have that knowledge. There is a difference between spontaneous and stupid. Maybe you have more free time and money then others but I don't have the luxury of traveling 1400 miles away and not know even the most basic of information about the place that I am going. What a waste of time and money, not to mention unsafe. How do you know if your hotel is in a safe part of town? How are you going to get to a hotel, are there rooms available, since it's too much work to book ahead. I think that you are intentionally not understanding what I am saying. I am not talking about planning your trip and then deciding when you get there what ride to go on. I am talking about just getting in your car and going someplace that you have never been with no plans and no idea about the area. That is dangerous, especially for woman. I wish I lived in the world of men that I did not have to worry about safety.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry you feel that way.
My initial post was simply to say that while I liked aspects of FP+, I prefer more flexibility. That's the plus of not having 3 pre-booked FP+. I like the idea of deciding when I arrive at MK which ride to I want to ride that day. To me, and my family, that's more fun.
That's all.
Absolutely. Paris during its brief reopening, and to a certain degree Anaheim 18 months ago was like a breath of fresh air in that respect.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
You may be correct, the average guest didn't bother to understand the directions of how FP+ worked, and didn't understand that they were permitted to book a 4th FP. I'm sure, as has been discussed in this thread, some 2019 visitors also didn't book any FP at all, so maybe it balanced out.
On the other hand, a great many folks widely shared videos about how to to obtain FP.
After a person used their 3rd FP, they were able to obtain a 4th FP. After they used their 4th FP, they were able to obtain a 5th one, and so forth.
Initially when FP+ was offered, there was a limit of 3 FP+, but that wasn't the case in 2019. (I forget exactly when they started allowing 4th FP+, but I just found a post dating back to 2016, so it was at least 3 years.)
Second, there was also no requirement that FP+ users had to book 3 FP. They were allowed to book 3, but not required to book 3. It was entirely possible to book just one FP. A person booking one FP at a time was able to book a 2nd FP as soon as they used their 1st FP; they just took a gamble on what would be available. By early 2020, this too was widely shared information by many bloggers.
Alas, this was perhaps one of the flaws of the FP+ system. It was meant to work a certain way, but people had found a way around the intended system (no more than 1 FP per hour), and were rapidly sharing that information.
Raineman
Well-Known Member
So, what I can summarize is that locals/AP holders/casual park visitors, who only do a few rides at once, love the FP system. Visitors that come from elsewhere who spend extended time on property and are not back for extended periods of time, want their wait times overall decreased, as they will be using standby many more times than FP. To me, this would scream the need for a paid FP service. The first group I mentioned, which would be the minority, would be motivated enough by their use of the FP system to pay for it; the second group would enjoy the shorter standby times created with minimized FP usage. Now, if the number of people using a paid FP system was significant, then it would be no different than the current free FP system, but I think the chances of that happening would be small, especially if the paid FPs were at a higher price point.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
To piggyback on your thoughts, we already have Universal's model. Three of their hotels include Express Pass, which is more or less- similar to having a Fastpass for every attraction. They also offer an Express Pass one can buy, but it tends to be aggressively priced.
Meanwhile Disney World also already experimented with a paid Fastpass. For much of 2019, they offered club level hotel guests the option of buying 3 extra FP per day for $50 per person per day, with a 3 day minimum. Initially, the package also included a private fireworks/evening show viewing area. (Epcot = the FP Illuminations area. At MK = roped off area in the Hub. At AK = roped off part of the RoL seating. At HS= roped off area to see Fantasmic.) A few months later, they dropped the reserved seating. So it costa minimum of $150 per person, for 3 days and a total of 9 extra pre-booked FP. Other stipulations were: no tiers, no duplicates, no more than 1 FP per hour, the bonus FP were booked by a CM. In other words, people who bought the extra FP could get FP for both Pandora attractions, but not 2FP for FoP. LAst, the other stipulation of the program was that it could be booked at 90 days before arrival, but no guarantees of FP availability. In other words, someone who booked the extra FP 70-90 days before arrival could get just about any FP, at just about any time (spaced 1 hours apart), but 60 days before arrival or less the paid FP came out of the same pool as everyone else. (So, a solid chunk of $$$ for something that was not very useful.)
To give you some idea of Universal's pricing...Paid Express Pass at Universal comes in 2 varieties. Option A is one Express Pass per each attraction. It runs $250 per ticket on weekends this month/$160-170 weekdays per park. Option B is Unlimited 1-park Express Pass, and that runs more like $300 per day/$200 weekdays per park.
A night at the Hard Rock = $389+ tax. I think most the folks using EP get it this way, because $300 is a crazy price to pay. If the hotel portion of staying at HRH= about $150 (compared to staying offsite? or one of the less expensive Universal Hotels.), that's like getting Express Pass for $75 (occupancy of 2) or $37.50 (occupancy of 4). Except really: 1 night at a hotel = 2 days of Express Pass. 2 nights = 3 days of Express Pass. So with a two-night 4 person occupancy roughly = Express Pass for $25 per day per person. (Though of course this is just a rough calculation.)
I could potentially see WDW experimenting with something similar in the future, except that as has been pointed out in this thread, many people didn't understand how WDW's system worked. Some didn't know it was free, many didn't know they could book a 4th FP, some didn't like the scheduling/one-per-hour aspect of it.
Prior threads have also pointed out that WDW has many more hotel rooms than Universal. It probably isn't feasible to think WDW would ever offer a WDW Express Pass to every onsite hotel customer, unless WDW adds many more attractions.
Meanwhile Disney World also already experimented with a paid Fastpass. For much of 2019, they offered club level hotel guests the option of buying 3 extra FP per day for $50 per person per day, with a 3 day minimum. Initially, the package also included a private fireworks/evening show viewing area. (Epcot = the FP Illuminations area. At MK = roped off area in the Hub. At AK = roped off part of the RoL seating. At HS= roped off area to see Fantasmic.) A few months later, they dropped the reserved seating. So it costa minimum of $150 per person, for 3 days and a total of 9 extra pre-booked FP. Other stipulations were: no tiers, no duplicates, no more than 1 FP per hour, the bonus FP were booked by a CM. In other words, people who bought the extra FP could get FP for both Pandora attractions, but not 2FP for FoP. LAst, the other stipulation of the program was that it could be booked at 90 days before arrival, but no guarantees of FP availability. In other words, someone who booked the extra FP 70-90 days before arrival could get just about any FP, at just about any time (spaced 1 hours apart), but 60 days before arrival or less the paid FP came out of the same pool as everyone else. (So, a solid chunk of $$$ for something that was not very useful.)
To give you some idea of Universal's pricing...Paid Express Pass at Universal comes in 2 varieties. Option A is one Express Pass per each attraction. It runs $250 per ticket on weekends this month/$160-170 weekdays per park. Option B is Unlimited 1-park Express Pass, and that runs more like $300 per day/$200 weekdays per park.
A night at the Hard Rock = $389+ tax. I think most the folks using EP get it this way, because $300 is a crazy price to pay. If the hotel portion of staying at HRH= about $150 (compared to staying offsite? or one of the less expensive Universal Hotels.), that's like getting Express Pass for $75 (occupancy of 2) or $37.50 (occupancy of 4). Except really: 1 night at a hotel = 2 days of Express Pass. 2 nights = 3 days of Express Pass. So with a two-night 4 person occupancy roughly = Express Pass for $25 per day per person. (Though of course this is just a rough calculation.)
I could potentially see WDW experimenting with something similar in the future, except that as has been pointed out in this thread, many people didn't understand how WDW's system worked. Some didn't know it was free, many didn't know they could book a 4th FP, some didn't like the scheduling/one-per-hour aspect of it.
Prior threads have also pointed out that WDW has many more hotel rooms than Universal. It probably isn't feasible to think WDW would ever offer a WDW Express Pass to every onsite hotel customer, unless WDW adds many more attractions.