FastPass+ Most Certainly Not Coming Back As It Was

[M:SpilotISTC12]

This is Disney’s way of essentially bringing back the ticket books and charging you to enter for a chance to buy a book. They can have their cake and eat it too. I’m not paying extra to enter a line and if I don’t I’m shut out from the standby. I’m officially priced out.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Someone please tag me if there's actually news... I gotta take a break from the back and forth again.

…but you’re still here

 

[LittleBuford]

The losers: Those who arrived to the park later and relied upon pre-booked "free" FP to E-ticket attractions.

I don't understand your use of scare quotes here. The old system was indeed free. What a shame it's now a thing of the past.

 

[Trauma]

You’re already paying $120 a day.

Sure but that used to mean you could do what you want if you where willing to wait.

Now what does it mean?

 

[dreday3]

Could the stand-by pass queue potentially not be that bad? Outside of new rides, realistically most rides won't have more than a 2 hour wait.

So arrive early, get in one stand-by queue, ride other rides, get called to the line, ride, join another stand-by queue? Could still get a few headliners in that way.

Or am I being too positive about this?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sure but that used to mean you could do what you want if you where willing to wait.

Now what does it mean?

…looks like “not much”

my point is STAHP repaying for what has already been paid for. I gave the same warning for “after hours” and no one wanted to hear it

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Could the stand-by pass queue potentially not be that bad? Outside of new rides, realistically most rides won't have more than a 2 hour wait.

So arrive early, get in one stand-by queue, ride other rides, get called to the line, ride, join another stand-by queue? Could still get a few headliners in that way.

Or am I being too positive about this?

you ever tell yourself what you want to hear?

I think the fear/danger is pay only for the decent rides and long lines for all the other stuff.
And sadly…that’s easy to see the way the numbers line up

 

[aliceismad]

50% or more are loosely “frequenters”. Every day…every year. It was built by prior management to ensure that.

I've wondered about this for a long time. Thanks.

 

[tirian]

I’m still lurking around here and popping up just to shake my head at the apologists.

It’s a company that needs to report constant growth to Wall Street. They don’t care about you or your magic or your family or your pixie dust or your special Twitter causes. They need to make more money and will chase whoever will give it to them. Add me to the growing list of people making 6k salaries who are planning vacations anywhere except WDW.

 

[havoc315]

I don't understand your use of scare quotes here. The old system was indeed free. What a shame it's now a thing of the past.

How was it free?!??? It was included in the price of the ticket. That’s not free.
And there was an up charge for 60 day booking — built into your on-site resort rate.

Other than the oxygen you breathe, nothing is “free” at WDW.

 

[flynnibus]

People will boil everything down to the question "what do I have to do to ride X?"

A. Pay for Fastpass
B. Is standby pass in operation?
......B1. No, you wait in standby
......B2. Yes, you have to get a standby pass
.....................What if standby passes are sold out or the return time is bad for me
.................................B2.1 Pay for Fastpass
.................................B2.2 Keep your face buried in your phone waiting for more standby passes to drop
.................................B2.3 Don't ride

It doesn't have to be all flow-chart to be human accessible. It really is as simple as..

1) Decide if you will opt out of lines at a cost because that's how you roll...

or
1) Get in line
2) If line is closed, optionally get standby pass
3) If I don't like the option, or it's not there, I can accept that or buy a line skip.

The 'get in line' model is not that complex. Get in line now, or opt to return later (huh... sounds alot like FP.. people figured that out too). The only main difference is the potential that a line won't have standby waits available... which is... wait for it... another concept already established in the parks with the virtual queue rides.

 

[Parker in NYC]

I don't go to the parks for the "rides". I go for the heat, humidity, and the lovely guests. Wheee!

 

[GoofGoof]

@marni1971 should I be worried about this for my trip 8/19-8/29 to WDW? DLP says ”this Summer”. Will WDW take longer?

 

[LittleBuford]

How was it free?!??? It was included in the price of the ticket. That’s not free.
And there was an up charge for 60 day booking — built into your on-site resort rate.

Other than the oxygen you breathe, nothing is “free” at WDW.

It was included in the price of the park ticket. Perhaps that isn't free from your perspective, but it's certainly free compared to what it being discussed now.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

How was it free?!??? It was included in the price of the ticket. That’s not free.
And there was an up charge for 60 day booking — built into your on-site resort rate.

Other than the oxygen you breathe, nothing is “free” at WDW.

..:actually…air is going to be in the next round of resort fees…based on “guest feedback”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

@marni1971 should I be worried about this for my trip 8/19-8/29 to WDW? DLP says ”this Summer”. Will WDW take longer?

Huh?

 

[mightynine]

How was it free?!??? It was included in the price of the ticket. That’s not free.
And there was an up charge for 60 day booking — built into your on-site resort rate.

Other than the oxygen you breathe, nothing is “free” at WDW.

Because it's one thing to feel like they reached into your pocket once, it's another thing for it to feel like they just want to keep it there constantly.

 

[ParentsOf4]

It was 3.50 to get in and dad bought the ticket books and we just wanted the E tickets. So the concept of paying per ride is how it all started at MK.

When WDW opened in 1971, an adult admission was $3.50. (Children ages 3 to 11 were $1.00!). Adjusted for inflation, that’s about $24.

By 1981, the last year of admission only tickets, prices were up to $8.00. But because inflation was so bad in the late 70s and early 80s, that still works out to about $24 after inflation.

$24 is more than what I paid recently to sit in the bleachers for an Atlanta Braves game. (Best place to experience an MLB game is in the bleachers!) For those who have never been, Truist Park is a beautiful new stadium with all the latest amenities, a great place to watch a game.

What Disney wants to do is charge you $110 to get into the ballpark, and then charge you $10 for each half inning you want to watch!

 

[flynnibus]

It's only a real benefit to the customer if there is something worthwhile to do during those two hours.

Is there?

I'll play your game...

Which is more enjoyable?
- Standing in a line in an enclosed space with hundreds of people for 2hrs
or
- Being free to move about and do almost nothing if you cared to?

The bar is pretty low when you are talking about 'what is better than standing in a line'

 

[larryz]

Love it.


No, that's not correct.

Here was an old thread discussing it:

What is the ratio of one time visitors to repeat visitors?

Not sure how we could find this out. Another thread has me wondering, the thread was talking about what you don't spend money for on trips, souvenirs, buffets, parties, etc. Anyway. If it was only a one time trip, you might splurge for the things that repeat visitors just don't find the...

www.disboards.com

But from various sources, the stats I've typically seen are that 70-80% of guests are first-time visitors. And among the repeat visitors, there is often a long time between visitors.

Much more repeat business in California, because it's a more "local" park.

But WDW has far fewer regular visitors.

Some of us don't go to the board you mentioned because they have an agenda.