FastPass+ Most Certainly Not Coming Back As It Was

[ImperfectPixie]

'member when MM+ was going to be this amazing system, that wasn't just about spending a couple billion bucks so people could have FastPasses and tickets on bracelets, oh no - it was going to to revolutionize the theme park experience, characters would talk to you by name, rides would recognize you and customize the experience just for you, and it wasn't just one of the biggest IT money-pit boondoggles of all time?

I 'member...

Me too.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I guess I don't remember it being as fanatical as I see it know or maybe growing up in the big apple dampered some of that.
Your right it does remain to be seen but let me add that I've been around for at least 8 years and we've been predicting Disney's doom for at least that long.

we’ve been predicting a recession that would stress iger’s strategy...not doom.

but recessions are 100% good for the consumer...which is why they’re no longer “tolerated”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

'member when MM+ was going to be this amazing system, that wasn't just about spending a couple billion bucks so people could have FastPasses and tickets on bracelets, oh no - it was going to to revolutionize the theme park experience, characters would talk to you by name, rides would recognize you and customize the experience just for you, and it wasn't just one of the biggest IT money-pit boondoggles of all time?

I 'member...

Or...they had a 1986 dos/lexis nexus/windows 3.11 computer system and needed to redo everything...and Bob didn’t have the stones to tell the board they had to pay for it or the whole place was gonna collapse under the digital crunch??

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't think original FastPass was a failure at all. I think it's much easier to argue that FP+ was, but as you mentioned, it's all tied in with the overall MyMagic+ system.

Fastpass 1.0 was a an amazing, simplistic system that did exactly what they wanted AND made the days easier for many without impacting those that didn’t want to participate. Every other amusement operator came up with some paid gag to monetize it...but none were close.

and then the “analysis” suits of new management overpromised and under delivered on a replacement.

 

[DryerLintFan]

For as long as I've been here, there's been a bunch of people saying they'd like to see ticket prices go up if it means crowds go down. But ticket prices go up, and new charges are added, and crowds don't go down.

 

[Incomudro]

“What they dont realize is that in general they are actually not accomplishing anymore than they would if we didn’t have FP+”

Utter nonsense. I would always FP splash mtn, 7 dwarfs and space mtn. Got them 60 days out from our planned trip. Never had a problem doing that for an entire decade. If we hadn’t done that, I would have waited 1.5-2hrs per each of those rides because it’s was July (ummm that’s possibly a total of an extra 6hrs!) longer of my time at MK in a day. Can’t see how that “evens out” as the naysayers say. In the 3-6hrs time I saved by using FPs for those major attractions, we waited in 10+ smaller attraction lines and took a midday break to go swim at the resort. Came back around dinner time and rode some more utilizing FP one at a time for anything we hadn’t done but still wanted to do earlier in the day. Everything rode at MK in one day. Without FP that wouldn’t have been possible. Did I spend a few moments on my phone while riding the monorail or while waiting in a short line checking for those FPs later in the day? Yeah I did. But we got them and we had a fantastic vacation. And hopefully one day soon we will be doing it again

Couple that with rope drops, or extra magic hours - get on one or two rides that weren't Fast Pass rides first thing in the morning, the fill in space between Fast Pass rides with attractions that have shorter wait times.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

For as long as I've been here, there's been a bunch of people saying they'd like to see ticket prices go up if it means crowds go down. But ticket prices go up, and new charges are added, and crowds don't go down.

I love my fellow boardmates...I do...

but this was always patently stupid.

the goal is maximum attendance at maximum price.

if they did manage to overprice...and attendance fell...they’d then do temporary discounts on higher prices to lure the crowd back.
And then reset the board Again.

this isn’t hard.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Couple that with rope drops, or extra magic hours - get on one or two rides that weren't Fast Pass rides first thing in the morning, the fill in space between Fast Pass rides with attractions that have shorter wait times.

so early morning sprints to avoid the system is proof that the system works?

...got anything else?

 

[jt04]

For as long as I've been here, there's been a bunch of people saying they'd like to see ticket prices go up if it means crowds go down. But ticket prices go up, and new charges are added, and crowds don't go down.

That is why reservations are likely here to stay. I keep hearing per guest spending is up when parks are less crowded. Profits have to have a sweet spot between cramming the parks full (higher overhead/less per guest spending) and too few to ensure growth.

Like trying to adjust a fine watch.

 

[jt04]

Oh, and the buzz is APs are returning. Reservations will be the new crypto currency. If you could trade them.

 

[Jedijax719]

If, after the pandemic woes, Chapek is somehow able to use price increases along with cuts here and there but get people into the parks anyway, he looks like a hero to the stakeholders. Isn't that the bottom line after all?

 

[jt04]

If, after the pandemic woes, Chapek is somehow able to use price increases along with cuts here and there but get people into the parks anyway, he looks like a hero to the stakeholders. Isn't that the bottom line after all?

Until somebody invents a better system it is.

 

[UNCgolf]

If, after the pandemic woes, Chapek is somehow able to use price increases along with cuts here and there but get people into the parks anyway, he looks like a hero to the stakeholders. Isn't that the bottom line after all?

From a shareholder perspective, attendance could drop to 5,000 people a day across the entire property and they wouldn't care as long as those 5,000 people were all spending 50k for the experience. Of course that's an extreme (and impossible) scenario, but it's just to exemplify that the only thing that really matters to Wall Street (at least at the moment) is profit margins and overall revenue. Attendance figures are only relevant to the extent they increase profits.

 

[Goofyernmost]

That is why reservations are likely here to stay. I keep hearing per guest spending is up when parks are less crowded. Profits have to have a sweet spot between cramming the parks full (higher overhead/less per guest spending) and too few to ensure growth.

Like trying to adjust a fine watch.

Guest spending is an important source of revenue, but they aren't about to sacrafice the $100. per day per person ticket price to sell a T-shirt no matter what the margin is. They will never try and decrease the attendance numbers. There is just to much money involved. If they could run every single day at maximum safe attendance, that is what they will do. And there is a breaking point someplace. There always is!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

If, after the pandemic woes, Chapek is somehow able to use price increases along with cuts here and there but get people into the parks anyway, he looks like a hero to the stakeholders. Isn't that the bottom line after all?

it was also Iger’s housing crash playbook

“free dining”, anyone?

 

[DryerLintFan]

it was also Iger’s housing crash playbook

“free dining”, anyone?

ONLY IF I CAN GET A DIFFERENT MUG EVERY TIME I GO!!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Guest spending is an important source of revenue, but they aren't about to sacrafice the $100. per day per person ticket price to sell a T-shirt no matter what the margin is. They will never try and decrease the attendance numbers. There is just to much money involved. If they could run every single day at maximum safe attendance, that is what they will do. And there is a breaking point someplace. There always is!

agreed...but if I had a nickel for every person that post “they’re trying to reduce attendance to improve the expedience....they told us so”



they only caveat is that they want to do it with the same or less labor outlay. They always seem to make that “ok” somehow...however.

 

[jt04]

Guest spending is an important source of revenue, but they aren't about to sacrafice the $100. per day per person ticket price to sell a T-shirt no matter what the margin is. They will never try and decrease the attendance numbers. There is just to much money involved. If they could run every single day at maximum safe attendance, that is what they will do. And there is a breaking point someplace. There always is!

We will know by whether they keep or end reservations in the long term.

Steve Jobs and Apple marketing is widely respected in the business world. Just saying.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

From a shareholder perspective, attendance could drop to 5,000 people a day across the entire property and they wouldn't care as long as those 5,000 people were all spending 50k for the experience. Of course that's an extreme (and impossible) scenario, but it's just to exemplify that the only thing that really matters to Wall Street (at least at the moment) is profit margins and overall revenue. Attendance figures are only relevant to the extent they increase profits.

but as you said...that’s not possible

it’s not an “elite enclave”...it’s amusement parks built for the middle class. That’s not a theory...that is exactly how it was designed and built out.
It’s not a compound in kennebunkport or Hyannisport.

that’s going to be the framework they’ll work in. Forever.

even as people round here hoard vacation club points and then hyperextend trying to tap their own shoulder blades.

 

[RSoxNo1]

This sounds convoluted and extremely stressful just to figure out.

You mean like Fastpass+?