FastPass+ Most Certainly Not Coming Back As It Was

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Chi84

Premium Member
No, the point was that regular visitors who complain about the Disney changes and price increases are the reason for those things.

That's great that you still find value in the product. I'm not arguing whether there is value in the product or not. I was simply stating that there is much LESS value in the product, based off of what you are charged and what you're provided.

Literally, this whole discussion was sparked off by people complaining about a potential pay-for FP+ and then later on talking about how they'd still pay it. I jumped in somewhere in the middle, but in the context of the discussion my point remains. Regular guests only have themselves to blame for the continued lower offerings at a higher price point.
I think you're being too hard on people. I would pay for FP+ but would still prefer to get it free. Disney isn't the only example of people being charged more for less. Look what's been going on with the airlines (pre-COVID). Look what's been happening with food and services of all types.

If your only point is that people shouldn't complain about things they aren't willing to fix, I agree. But that seems to go against current practice, especially on the internet.
 

Jedijax719

Well-Known Member
Increasing the nightly stay by $200 over pre-covid costs while also taking away ME, Disney dining plans, early fp reservations (or fp at all) equates to taking away all previous perks while increasing prices 30-40%. Anyone on fence about it from before covid would have no reason now. Many off site hotels offer shuttle to both wdw and universal.
 

Chomama

Well-Known Member
Increasing the nightly stay by $200 over pre-covid costs while also taking away ME, Disney dining plans, early fp reservations (or fp at all) equates to taking away all previous perks while increasing prices 30-40%. Anyone on fence about it from before covid would have no reason now. Many off site hotels offer shuttle to both wdw and universal.
Agree. We actually used Marriott points for the swan last month. We were upgraded to a two room suite and got free breakfast offered when we checked in. I really can’t justify the Disney hotels
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Early entry for resort guests hasn’t started yet.




The only one I can think of right now is being able to book dining for the length of your stay (up to 10 days).
It was casually mentioned but ”free” DME is currently still going on so there’s that. And I’d strongly assume at Early Entry will be in place well before DME goes away.

I’m not disagreeing that the on-site perks are paltry at this time.
 

strictfoo

Member
On the topic of why they haven't released the new Fast Pass program, it seems like it would make sense for Disney to make sure COVID doesn't spike again. It would be a bummer for everyone involved if they started the new program and then had to cancel/refund all of it because they had to reinstitute social distancing and all that.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
On the topic of why they haven't released the new Fast Pass program, it seems like it would make sense for Disney to make sure COVID doesn't spike again. It would be a bummer for everyone involved if they started the new program and then had to cancel/refund all of it because they had to reinstitute social distancing and all that.

Nah - This is Florida... they aren't going back. Disney is probably spending a ton of energy still on just how to come out of hibernation and get back to full strength... let alone start offering new offers that create new workloads to manage. I'm sure getting back to full strength is priority one..
 

whiterhino42

Active Member
Honest opinions. What do you feel the reaction would be if Disney copied Universals completely?

Deluxe hotels grant you unlimited fast passes per day.
Then for the rest, you had the option to say increase your ticket per day by 50 bucks to get 1 fast pass per ride. Or 85 per day to get unlimited.
I would be mad. I'm also never staying on Disney property again without fastpaas. It was the only incentive left
 

Roy G. Dis

Well-Known Member
We're staying at BLT so we can walk to MK. I realize that by doing so I am betraying my fellow disnerds but it was a once in a lifetime splurge.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
There are no theme park benefits afforded to people staying on property. Liking a resort more than another one isn't a perk, it's a preference. Many people prefer off site resorts to on site resorts.
There never used to be so many “perks”. On-site was the perk. And yet people stayed. People will still come and still pay the asking price (more fool then).

If there’s a substantial drop in occupancy I dare say things would be tweaked but until then if they can make as much money as possible for shareholders that’s the current method of working.
 

Surfin' Tuna

Well-Known Member
If there’s a substantial drop in occupancy
You and I both know they can't stray much farther from what made WDW special, yet they continue to pack the hotels full whilst offering less. I have dreams of people wising up and staying elsewhere or just staying away for a while, but I just don't see it happening.

I like seeing the stock price increase, but they can do that while making wise investment. Destroying Epcot and ruining all sightlines while overspending to do it, isn't what I call wise investment in the future. Eventually I think this will come back to bite them, but it might be too late to recover properly at that point.
 

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
You and I both know they can't stray much farther from what made WDW special, yet they continue to pack the hotels full whilst offering less. I have dreams of people wising up and staying elsewhere or just staying away for a while, but I just don't see it happening.

I like seeing the stock price increase, but they can do that while making wise investment. Destroying Epcot and ruining all sightlines while overspending to do it, isn't what I call wise investment in the future. Eventually I think this will come back to bite them, but it might be too late to recover properly at that point.
In the 70's the only 'perks' available were, well none. You could get the monorail from your hotel but that was it. The reality is that there'll always be those who find joy in staying in Disney, just because they're in Disney. Some hotels give you park views, some don't but you're already in Disney and that's enough for some.

Don't get me wrong, there's definitely less 'perks' than there was just over a year ago. I fully get that some have that perspective and understand why. At times though I read on here about how great Disney was in the 70's whereas now it's rubbish, yet that's not entirely true if at all. Back then the CM's were probably more engaging, well more of them were than they are now. But back then it was harder to get the job as a CM as they employed far, far, far less. This meant the ones you got were usually the best of the best, the ones with no personality or enthusiasm rarely got the job. I remember my first Visit to the MK and Space Mountain was the only 'mountain' in Disney World and MK was the only park. When the MK opened, there were no 'mountains' at all.

Granted back then, Disney had less money. But the idea that they'd just throw it around on everything for the guests was wrong. They did more for the guests but it was still a business. MK opened with less attractions than it has now, no coasters at all. No perks for hotel guests as such, just the perk of staying in Disney. If an attraction is built now if it's not cutting edge technology and bigger, better, longer or faster then anything else we're led to believe that Disney only ever built these type of attractions in the past with no 'filler', also not strictly true.

I also think the older we get and the more times we've been to Disney, the more we notice. For instance as a teen in the mid 80's I started to notice all the things you could see from the monorail that I'd not noticed before. The dirty bin areas around the Contemporary, out of control shrubbery near the monorail station, the bins and junk behind Space Mountain as you neared the MK, the show buildings and backstage areas from the MK skyway and the not so well hidden backstage area from the railroad. Now these things had probably always been there, but hadn't been noticed because there was so much nice stuff to see that your eyes weren't attracted to it. With familiarity after many visits though, you start looking around and noticing these things more because you're not as distracted by the good stuff and realise that everything isn't as perfect as you once thought.

On here we're a bit fanatical beyond 'normal folks' about Disney World, well I am at least. This means we want what's best for us and sometimes miss the bigger picture. Some on here almost have this idea that if a new attraction is built that doesn't appeal to their age group, that it means Disney doesn't care about what they want. Some think "I've done that attraction for 10 years and I'm bored with it now, it needs replacing" without realising the joy it still gives millions of people who aren't bored with it. Disney are certainly financially greedier than they were, some CM's don't seem as engaging and at times the budget cuts are frustrating especially if the ride length of a new attraction suffers. But they still do build new attractions, many very good. Most slated the idea of Pandora on here, "Who's interested in that, it'll be rubbish" etc. Yet one of it's attractions is one of the highest rated rides anywhere by many people. When Galaxy's Edge opened people were falling over each other to call it terrible and yet when ROTR opened many people were blown away by it. If Guardians follows suit in Epcot it will again be hugely popular as will Tron and Rat.

Disney can and should do better at times, yet to me anyway it seems a bit lazy to just rubbish everything Disney does and say everything was better 'back in the day'. I'm not saying nothing wasn't, but a bit of perspective is needed I feel rather than the minority who just hate everything. Constructive criticism is fine, as is hating everything if that's your bag. But again the idea that everything was perfect and now isn't, just doesn't seem as cut and dry to me as it does to some others.

By the way to the OP, I'm not saying you are all negative or falling out with you. Just quoted you for one thing and then kind of got carried away so don't think I'm calling you out on my reply 😉
 
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CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
Premium Member
Increasing the nightly stay by $200 over pre-covid costs while also taking away ME, Disney dining plans, early fp reservations (or fp at all) equates to taking away all previous perks while increasing prices 30-40%. Anyone on fence about it from before covid would have no reason now. Many off site hotels offer shuttle to both wdw and universal.
The average Disney hotel price increase for 2021 was about 3.2%
 

Disney Glimpses

Well-Known Member
There never used to be so many “perks”. On-site was the perk. And yet people stayed. People will still come and still pay the asking price (more fool then).

If there’s a substantial drop in occupancy I dare say things would be tweaked but until then if they can make as much money as possible for shareholders that’s the current method of working.
I agree but I would consider the original EMH (3 extra hours at select parks) a pretty hefty perk. 60 day FP+ also more or less guaranteed guests would ride their favorite rides everyday.

The main draw to staying on property, as you mentioned, is not these perks though. I was just pointing out how we went from a 2 pretty significant ones to 0. And if they did care about that, they may add a limited free tier.
 

marni1971

Park History nut
Premium Member
I agree but I would consider the original EMH (3 extra hours at select parks) a pretty hefty perk. 60 day FP+ also more or less guaranteed guests would ride their favorite rides everyday.
EMH only came about after 9/11 though remember. The problem (like free FP and dining) is guests have been conditioned to expect something. Take it away and the complaints naturally start.
 

CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
Premium Member
EMH only came about after 9/11 though remember. The problem (like free FP and dining) is guests have been conditioned to expect something. Take it away and the complaints naturally start.
Well also the prices of the resorts have climbed at about 2x the rate of inflation since then, especially with the Deluxes, moderates, and Pop, but at least you could justify an on-site stay through the access benefits. Demand for resorts will fall some amount without FP benefits, certainly my family will do less; we never stayed on-site until FP+ made it more or less mandatory to have the vacation we wanted to have, and I’d gladly stay at the Embassy Suites again.

Will enough people take that action to change anything? I don’t know. It might at least hurt their pricing power.
 

Dreaming of Disney World

Well-Known Member
Another benefit to staying on site is the ability to book a dining package, especially free dining. The possibility of free dining and fast passes returning is why we are currently booked at Pop Century for our August 2022 trip.
 

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
EMH only came about after 9/11 though remember. The problem (like free FP and dining) is guests have been conditioned to expect something. Take it away and the complaints naturally start.
Haven't Iger and Co. been fighting the "We need to wean the rubes guests off of discounts and deals" battle for a good 10 years now? Wonder how that has been going for them. Or maybe Covid gave them the gift of "a reset" they so desperately wanted to allow them to start to monetize everything they can under the guise/ruse of "unprecedented demand".

The bottom line is this - As long as there are plenty of people desperate to give little Johnny and Susie their "once-in-a-lifetime" WDW vacation and are willing to pay stupid amounts of money to do it, the course will not change. If people start to wise up and see what else they can do for the same amount of money, and I know that's the biggest "if" in the history of Orlando, maybe there's a chance to change course away from the "charge for everything, squeeze them for everything they have" mentality currently coming out of TDO & Burbank.
 
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