FastPass+ Most Certainly Not Coming Back As It Was

[danv3]

I’m worried Disney is more focused on making $ than making guests happy and it’s going to appear that way as well

Welcome new guy!

 

[Dayma]

I have zero issues paying for a premium service if it reduces wait times for me. Just do what they do in Paris....

 

[GhostHost1000]

Welcome new guy!

Ha definitely not a newbie I know how Di$ney work$….but those not into disney like all of us here are going to begin to connect the dots as well which isn’t going to be the best image but hey whatever pleases the shareholders I guess

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Ha definitely not a newbie I know how Di$ney work$….but those not into disney like all of us here are going to begin to connect the dots as well which isn’t going to be the best image but hey whatever pleases the shareholders I guess

They won't be too happy when they finally price out all the people who make Disney their one family vacation every year.

 

[plawren2]

See, I’m freaking out about our planned trip for the opposite reason. With the uncertainty as to what park capacity will be and crowds will be, I have no idea what to do in terms of planning to make sure we can experience attractions with reasonable waits. If standby lines are reasonably short, great, but I’d feel so much more comfortable if I could have some FP+ in my pocket for FoP, 7DMT, Slinky, etc.

But I’m a planner in general when it comes to vacations. I’m much more relaxed knowing we have a semblance of a plan rather than just “winging it”

agreed (we have trip in early November, with plenty of unknowns remaining)

 

[CosmicRays]

What if Disney just copied Universal's system. Stay in a deluxe resort get fast passes included. Everyone else has to pay a premium.

 

[RobbinsDad]

Tiered pricing based on resort stay category, and eliminating advance reservations seems like the simplest solution to me. Which is why Disney will never go for it.

Oh, and hi everybody, it's been a while. This pirate has been hibernating since March 2020.

 

[wookie_programmer]

I know Martin has already said this won't happen, but I still feel like making FP an "included" resort only perk seems like the most elegant solution. It allows the company to charge for FP without directly billing and seeming "greedy" the way those "other lesser parks" charge for line access. It provides an incentive for staying on property where the real massive amount of profits come from.

Tiering the number of included fastpasses with the level cost of the hotel also helps drive guests towards higher costed rooms, where apparently the occupancy rate has been lagging in recent years. I've suggested before that something like 3 FP per day for Deluxe, 2 for Moderate, 1 for Value would be a big differentiator among the properties but still allow for their to be some upside to the more affordable rooms compared to off site.

Not to mention that right now if the perfect time to develop and announce this to be effective on (say) January 1, 2022 so it coincides with the loss of DME. The amount of FP distributed by this would be much less than previously given out and would not result in as much wait time inflation for the standby.

You could even include FP as part of a higher tier AP so that you aren't implicitly excluding locals but would result in charging them as well if they want such access.

This seems very logical. It also solves another problem for Disney. Charging for parking, eliminating the Magical Express and as of now no Fast Pass benefits, makes staying on resort way less enticing. I never thought I would stay off property, but there's becoming less and less value added. Though I'd like to see at least 2 offered at the minimum level.

It is possible that they will go with an all queue system for the more popular rides and eliminate fast pass completely. If so, staying on property could get you priority in that system. Staying at higher end resorts gets you even higher priority.

 

[Incomudro]

This seems very logical. It also solves another problem for Disney. Charging for parking, eliminating the Magical Express and as of now no Fast Pass benefits, makes staying on resort way less enticing. I never thought I would stay off property, but there's becoming less and less value added. Though I'd like to see at least 2 offered at the minimum level.

It is possible that they will go with an all queue system for the more popular rides and eliminate fast pass completely. If so, staying on property could get you priority in that system. Staying at higher end resorts gets you even higher priority.

Certainly makes sense.
It's odd to see them cannibalize much of makes staying on property feel special.
Seems counter productive.

 

[marni1971]

Certainly makes sense.
It's odd to see them cannibalize much of makes staying on property feel special.
Seems counter productive.

Until the hotels are 50% full they won’t get it.

 

[mattpeto]

This seems very logical. It also solves another problem for Disney. Charging for parking, eliminating the Magical Express and as of now no Fast Pass benefits, makes staying on resort way less enticing. I never thought I would stay off property, but there's becoming less and less value added. Though I'd like to see at least 2 offered at the minimum level.

It is possible that they will go with an all queue system for the more popular rides and eliminate fast pass completely. If so, staying on property could get you priority in that system. Staying at higher end resorts gets you even higher priority.

I think we really have to wait to see what the post pandemic is going to like. The only cuts for sure is DME and EMH.

Here are the Bubble Perks as I categorized them:

WDW Bubble Transportation

Disney Magical Express - RIP 1/1/2022

Advanced FP+ (60 Days)

Advanced Dining 180 Days

Extra Magic Hours - likely gone forever

Disney Dining Plan Option

Complimentary Shipped Magic Bands

Magicband Resort Chargeback

Flexible Reservations

@lentesta - any others?

 

[Po'Rich]

The VIP system is probably unaffordable for the average guest. Plus VIP tours cost Disney money since there's a guide involved (even if it's a fraction of the tour cost) and I'm willing to bet there's a limited number of people available who meet the requirements and are willing to work for Disney's wages. The replacement FP system(s) most likely won't require additional staffing per paid option beyond what was the cost of running FP+. Thus Disney can pocket nearly 100% of the upcharge rate with the ability to sell it to more people.

I understand the benefits of a non-VIP but pay FP system from Disney's perspective. What I was referring to was the suggestion to have a paid FP systems that priced out most families (which is what I thought JBR was proposing). I was merely stating that the uber-expensive, go-to-the-front-of-the-line option already exists.

 

[flutas]

There could be a finite and fluid pot of “free” passes available per day to try to appease guests.

I'll just resurrect my expectations from the previous thread.

After my research last night I'm thinking it's going to be a hybrid model, almost similar to the current park pass system with different buckets.

Bucket A = Genie guests
Bucket B = All guests
Bucket C = Paid FPs

Now the exact rules on booking everything I have no clue about.

It seems like there will be a potentially "unlimited" FP option (Ultimate). I think it's also going to be similar to the current date selection on tickets, where you will select how many pre-booked FPs you want when buying your ticket.

I'm expecting 4 main categories (lots more internally, but that's for CMs to know)

• Free
• Genie
• DVC
• Purchased (Ultimate plan included here)

I just go based off what I see from Disney.

Types
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Subtypes
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[mattpeto]

I'll just resurrect my expectations from the previous thread.

They aren't going to offer anything extra to the DVC owners IMO.

 

[orky8]

They aren't going to offer anything extra to the DVC owners IMO.

Hypothesized to be for those that do a tour -- not for owners.

 

[flutas]

They aren't going to offer anything extra to the DVC owners IMO.

Tell that to their programmers.

 

[TokyoMiki]

FastPass doesn't increase theoretical capacity, but it increases effective capacity by filling vehicles on attractions that would run partially empty in a standby-only environment.

Your summary is money; nicely explained making it easy to understand.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

There’s a chance you’ll buy a pass for a certain group of attractions.

They were testing this way, way, way back in 2012 during early FastPass+ implementation at Magic Kingdom. Specific, curated “wine flights” depending on your party’s interest. One for non-thrill seekers and two others for mild and then wild ones if I recall correctly.

If Disney is going this route, it is unlikely that there will be one catch all for the e-tickets and more of a selection of only one/two then a scattering of the lower graded attractions. They don’t have enough capacity to make it a carte blanche all access like Express Pass. Doing so would easily cannibalize into the VIP Tours profits.

And to echo Martin’s rumblings - there’s absolutely zero incentive for Disney to include this at no cost for resort guests or DVC. There isn’t an issue or need to get people to stay on property. They reduced Extra Magic Hours and replaced them with for profit Early Morning/After Hour events on top of starting Magic Kingdom’s seasonal events in August. Magical Express will be removed and the Minnie Vans are the upcharge solution to the problem.

 

[Jrb1979]

I understand the benefits of a non-VIP but pay FP system from Disney's perspective. What I was referring to was the suggestion to have a paid FP systems that priced out most families (which is what I thought JBR was proposing). I was merely stating that the uber-expensive, go-to-the-front-of-the-line option already exists.

I was proposing that. For FP to work it needs to be more limited than it is now. It should be to the point that stand by lines are barely affected.

 

[flutas]

They were testing this way, way, way back in 2012 during early FastPass+ implementation at Magic Kingdom. Specific, curated “wine flights” depending on your party’s interest. One for non-thrill seekers and two others for mild and then wild ones if I recall correctly.

They reduced Extra Magic Hours and replaced them with for profit Early Morning/After Hour events on top of starting Magic Kingdom’s seasonal events in August.

First line sounds like the Genie announcement.

Second line sounds like the unannounced Genie+ Hours benefit.