Fastpass Plus needs tweaking?

[Oddysey]

I am likely in the minority here but I prefer no fastpass at all. I prefer visits with more spontaneity. I hate having to be places at appointed times while on vacation. My everyday life is full of needing to be somewhere at an appointed time. Why should my free time be the same? Feels less free imo.

 

[sxeensweet]

You have good timing then. In Jan 2016, there were lines. Not huge, but people were waiting to ride it with FPs.

January has some very busy days due to the marathon weekend and such too. We haven’t waited in lines for rides like that one in many years. That’s why we love going Oct-Dec! Most rides we don’t have FP’s for and ones with FP’s we rarely are in line for long. Even FOP the 2 FP’s we had in December we only waited 10-15 min in FP line. So for many reasons we love FP+ era vs. prior to it. Noticed no difference on the ones that usually didn’t have long lines prior still for us have been walk ones or 5 min wait maybe. Sorry that has not been the case for your visits.

 

[tonymu]

I am likely in the minority here but I prefer no fastpass at all. I prefer visits with more spontaneity. I hate having to be places at appointed times while on vacation. My everyday life is full of needing to be somewhere at an appointed time. Why should my free time be the same? Feels less free imo.

Yup.... Exactly!

 

[LUVofDIS]

am not trying to start a flaming war, but do you think it may be a matter of time before Disney starts having customers pay additional for the privilege of using Fastpass Plus? It seems that it is ripe for becoming a premium service, andI think it's a matter of time.

I think a service like FastPass+ will remain free in its current or slightly altered state. There will definitely be a deluxe version more like MaxPass with an upcharge in the future.

Right after thanksgiving to second week of December?? Most are home fighting each other at Walmart during those weeks.

We have been going between the week after Thanksgiving and the first couple weeks of December for years and we have noticed more crowds during this time each year. We now avoid the week before Christmas as it much to busy now. In 2013 it was moderate to low crowds, now the crowds can get fairly heavy.

 

[spacemtnfanatic]

This is exactly why I haven’t been to a WDW park in two and a half years and have no plans to return anytime soon. Nothing can be done without a plan and the number of FP+ you can get is so limited. Gone are the days where you either wait or get legacy FP for the “big” stuff and then enjoy reasonable waits on the other stuff. I’m not going to pay higher prices than ever to wait an hour for Jungle Cruise because my first FP+ time isn’t for another five hours.

 

[marni1971]

I am not trying to start a flaming war, but do you think it may be a matter of time before Disney starts having customers pay additional for the privilege of using Fastpass Plus??

No flames.

Being able to pay for more reservations than the plebs is in the future.

 

[Doug Means]

No flames.

Being able to pay for more reservations than the plebs is in the future.

i think this is already happening...people like me just don't have the money to know about. the NWO, illuminati, DVC members, and annual pass holders with the proper income level all get more FP+ options than the average joe does, we just don't know about it

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No flames.

Being able to pay for more reservations than the plebs is in the future.

Sadly...one has to concur.

Charging for a ride on small world after charging for market value for a ride all day ticket.

It’s hard to step back and have perspective sometimes

 

[larryz]

Sadly...one has to concur.

Charging for a ride on small world after charging for market value for a ride all day ticket.

It’s hard to step back and have perspective sometimes

Ah. You think the entrance fee is to "ride all day."

It's actually to wait for rides all day.

 

[DarthVader]

I am not saying Fastpass needs changing,

Oh, I am. I don't like how Disney implemented fastpass+

 

[winstongator]

I am not trying to start a flaming war, but do you think it may be a matter of time before Disney starts having customers pay additional for the privilege of using Fastpass Plus? It seems that it is ripe for becoming a premium service, andI think it's a matter of time.

I mean, the parks have regular 22 dollar "standard parking", and closer "preferred parking" for 45 dollars. We also have preferred rooms, so how long before Fastpass Plus becomes a fee based privilege?

There already is an upcharge version. It's the club level only option and you can book your FP 90 days out:
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/paid-fastpass-club-level-disney-world-thoughts-info/
The real cost of that is getting the club level room. Checking on club vs. regular for when I'll "be there" in Nov. No luck. I think WL has the cheapest club-level rooms with access to this and their lowest rack-rate is $611 vs. $366. So $245/night to get access to buying 3 FP for $50/guest/day. So my family of 4 is $445/night extra, or over $800 total.

We've used the Express Pass at Universal when we stayed at the Hard Rock and it was awesome. That was around $450/night for the room. You can buy the express pass for like $90/person/day, so the benefit of the hotels with that seemed quite worth it to me. I think WDW has too many rooms at deluxe hotels to offer this perk.

WDW will always have a version of FP that is free. Imagine a 4 day trip w/o them. You don't get there early, and all you get is the full standby lines. My memories of trips pre-FP have lots of waiting in lines. Even if you choose to wait for things, you still have those 3 lines each day you skipped.

 

[larryz]

There already is an upcharge version. It's the club level only option and you can book your FP 90 days out:
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/paid-fastpass-club-level-disney-world-thoughts-info/
The real cost of that is getting the club level room. Checking on club vs. regular for when I'll "be there" in Nov. No luck. I think WL has the cheapest club-level rooms with access to this and their lowest rack-rate is $611 vs. $366. So $245/night to get access to buying 3 FP for $50/guest/day. So my family of 4 is $445/night extra, or over $800 total.

We've used the Express Pass at Universal when we stayed at the Hard Rock and it was awesome. That was around $450/night for the room. You can buy the express pass for like $90/person/day, so the benefit of the hotels with that seemed quite worth it to me. I think WDW has too many rooms at deluxe hotels to offer this perk.

WDW will always have a version of FP that is free. Imagine a 4 day trip w/o them. You don't get there early, and all you get is the full standby lines. My memories of trips pre-FP have lots of waiting in lines. Even if you choose to wait for things, you still have those 3 lines each day you skipped.

There are also the various plaid options... like having unlimited FP+ for whatever rides you want.

For example, pay the fee for the plaid and ride FoP as often as you want.

 

[ThanksPhoenicians]

There are also the various plaid options... like having unlimited FP+ for whatever rides you want.

For example, pay the fee for the plaid and ride FoP as often as you want.

With the added bonus of people assuming you're a celebrity because you're with the plaid-guard.

 

[EricPZ]

I am not trying to start a flaming war, but do you think it may be a matter of time before Disney starts having customers pay additional for the privilege of using Fastpass Plus? It seems that it is ripe for becoming a premium service, andI think it's a matter of time.

I mean, the parks have regular 22 dollar "standard parking", and closer "preferred parking" for 45 dollars. We also have preferred rooms, so how long before Fastpass Plus becomes a fee based privilege?

They could sell FastPass ticket books. They could group the rides in each park A-E...with A being the kiddy, or less popular rides, and E being the most popular rides. The books could priced based on the number of tickets you have in each category. As you go to the FastPass line, you tear a ticket out of the book and hand it to the CM. When your book is empty, you can go to a kiosk and buy more tickets....or just not go on any more rides.

 

[Doug Means]

They could sell FastPass ticket books. They could group the rides in each park A-E...with A being the kiddy, or less popular rides, and E being the most popular rides. The books could priced based on the number of tickets you have in each category. As you go to the FastPass line, you tear a ticket out of the book and hand it to the CM. When your book is empty, you can go to a kiosk and buy more tickets....or just not go on any more rides.

I was just discussing the other day with my family how the fast pass system is basically turning back into the ticket system. so, i was suggesting that WDW would get rid of the FP system and go back to the ticket system, but with the tech of the day everything will be kept track of for the individual on their magic band and mydisneyexperience. I was proposing that the A ticket rides though would not need a ticket, those would come with the price of admission.

The money would work like this: let just use a general $100 cost to get into the parks now as a base to start. so, to get into any gat might cost $20. and the ticket packet would cost $80. from that $80, E tickets could cost $15 and you get 2, D tickets could be $10 and you get 2, C tickets could cost $6 and you could get 5, and B tickets could be $4 and you get 5. now you don't need the fast pass system because there would be a limited number of E tickets sold any day. of course when you run out of E tickets, or any B - E tickets, you can buy more, but but Disney could set a limited number of any ticket to be sold for the day. just like there are a limited number of FP's for a day. Once they are out, they would be out. Also, you might be able to buy a general $80 package where you use that $80 dollar any way you want: that could be 5 E tickets, or 20 B tickets.

right now i pay around $100 to get in. if i don't use the FP system that is in place, i run to the big rides i want to ride, right at rope drop and get on the 2 big rides i want. then i spend the rest of the day in lines for all the other rides i want and the lines wait times are relative to how "big" the ride is, so i can do a lot more of the less big ride and less of the medium or big rides. if i do use the fast pass system i get to ride those 2 "big" rides when ever i want, i don't have to run in to make sure i get them, and then i spend the majority of the day waiting for the other rides just the same. i can get new FP when the 1st 3 are used but rarely do i ever get a new "big" ride FP

 

[thomas998]

I saw major lines at POTC and Haunted Mansion unlike what I have seen during previous visits.

I agree about EPCOT. Spaceship Earth had waits of 55 minutes lol. This was a walk on whenever attraction before FastPass, and with this new Judy Dench version.....

POTC and HM have for as long as I can remember, had rather random line times. They can go from being a near walk on to insanely long for no apparent reason as if masses of guest suddenly get the urge for the ride or are magically drawn to some other part of the park. Especially true during the week days.