Cat Powers
New Member
I feel your pain….*I* will be responsible if this trip (Dec 6 - Dec 10) fails because *I* booked the FP+ 60 days out and God help me if something goes wrong, it will be all *MY* fault!!
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FastPass+ restricted to 1 major attraction at Epcot
- Thread starter CTXRover
- Start date
GeekDad
Active Member
You're going to Disney with the wrong people if this is true.I feel your pain….*I* will be responsible if this trip (Dec 6 - Dec 10) fails because *I* booked the FP+ 60 days out and God help me if something goes wrong, it will be all *MY* fault!!
GeekDad
Active Member
Did I miss something? I thought the only restriction was at Epcot which we all know has a sever lack of good ride options. Let's not run around like the world has ended until it actually has.
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
Okay smartaleck. The whole idea for the FP+ was to make it one E-ticket, and two lower ticket rides. No one is running around like the world has ended. I am stating exactly what has been the forgone conclusion by Disney. So, yeah, you missed something.
GeekDad
Active Member
I wasn't meaning to imply you were running around like the world has ended I was just using it as a scenario in a sarcastic way. My apologies for offending you.
I'm fully aware of what Disney originally intended however things can and did change. When they first started testing FP+ you chose one ride from each category and there were three different categories one of them containing most if not all of the E-ticket rides. After some small group testing they changed it so that you could pick any three rides you want. Now due to the lack of quality rides at Epcot they've changed the policy for Epcot. I don't like the change either but I'm holding out hope they will make more changes from the continuing testing to get the system to truely be better than the original FP system.
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
They didn't change anything. They simple dispensed with the category system during testing. They did not need the headaches from the category system while full testing was taking place. Now that they are nearly done with testing, they will be rolling out the category system.
I think Disney IS trying to do some form of Universal.
I definitely see a paid FP option coming in the future. I know it's not popular, but I honestly think that is why the number of FP+ per day is so low. I understand some of this is crowd control, but Disney is looking to make money, and I think charging for additional FPs would be a goldmine for them.
I don't think Disney cares about ride capacity or anything else- it is the almighty dollar they are chasing and I do believe there is money to be made in the FP system.
As for the paid option, I have NO idea what they may do.. maybe start out with onsite guests being able to buy another 3 FPs for $10? I do believe some people would go for it.
Or maybe they would offer an uber expensive all inclusive unlimited FP, ala Uni's EP.. I know the masses would scream, but then Uni's paid add-on for day guests isn't cheap either, depending on what time of the year you are at Uni.
Why couldn't WDW offer that? Limit the amount of these uber FPs per day?
Just thinking out loud, who know how this mess is going to all work out. I just think the days of a Guest getting an all inclusive experience is switching over to an all exclusive experience, and that is a big difference because it boils down to how much money a guest is going to fork out.
I just miss the days of being able to go and leave my troubles at the main gate. And for that, we are spending Thanksgiving at Uni before moving to WDW. Speaking with my wallet, again. LOL
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Please consider my earlier posts. WDW is no longer in the theme park business; it's in the hotel and timeshare business.
For Disney, the big money is not going to be made selling FP+ upgrades, which have only a limited appeal. Just like at Universal, most will balk at paying for the upgrade at WDW.
Offering cash FP+ upgrades would hurt their core business. Disney needs to get their $200/night to $1000/night rooms filled. The margins are incredible yet they have thousands of empty rooms during even the busiest season.
Beyond occupying rooms, onsite guests pay Disney's ridiculous price for food, drinks, and merchandise. That's where the money is.
Selling FP+ upgrades only hurts the core business since it provides less incentive to stay onsite.
Think of it this way, if Disney sold FP+, my options would be to rent a 4-bedroom house on I-192 for $150/night, rent a car, eat a lot of my meals offsite, and then pay Disney another $50/person for FP+ or I could let Disney transport me to and from the airport for "free", cram into a $400/night Deluxe Resort, pay Disney $15-40/person per meal, and get "free" FP+.
It's obvious to me which option Disney wants me to choose. In fact, they want me to choose it so much that they are not going to give me the option.
WDW is playing FP+ games because, with 31,000 onsite rooms, they don't have enough ride capacity. WDW needs more rides and fewer rooms. But the big money is in the hotel rooms. It's why Disney continues to build resorts and DVC without significantly growing the theme parks in 15 years.
Since the opening of DAK in 1998, WDW has added over 10,000 rooms!
It's easy to justify the cost of building yet another hotel or DVC, a lot more difficult to justify building another park.
Again, WDW is now in the hotel and timeshare business, not the theme park business.
tissandtully
Well-Known Member
Please consider my earlier posts. WDW is no longer in the theme park business; it's in the hotel and timeshare business.
For Disney, the big money is not going to be made selling FP+ upgrades, which have only a limited appeal. Just like at Universal, most will balk at paying for the upgrade at WDW.
Offering cash FP+ upgrades would hurt their core business. Disney needs to get their $200/night to $1000/night rooms filled. The margins are incredible yet they have thousands of empty rooms during even the busiest season.
Beyond occupying rooms, onsite guests pay Disney's ridiculous price for food, drinks, and merchandise. That's where the money is.
Selling FP+ upgrades only hurts the core business since it provides less incentive to stay onsite.
Think of it this way, if Disney sold FP+, my options would be to rent a 4-bedroom house on I-192 for $150/night, rent a car, eat a lot of my meals offsite, and then pay Disney another $50/person for FP+ or I could let Disney transport me to and from the airport for "free", cram into a $400/night Deluxe Resort, pay Disney $15-40/person per meal, and get "free" FP+.
It's obvious to me which option Disney wants me to choose. In fact, they want me to choose it so much that they are not going to give me the option.
WDW is playing FP+ games because, with 31,000 onsite rooms, they don't have enough ride capacity. WDW needs more rides and fewer rooms. But the big money is in the hotel rooms. It's why Disney continues to build resorts and DVC without significantly growing the theme parks in 15 years.
Since the opening of DAK in 1998, WDW has added over 10,000 rooms!
It's easy to justify the cost of building yet another hotel or DVC, a lot more difficult to justify building another park.
Again, WDW is now in the hotel and timeshare business, not the theme park business.
Honestly, I could see some sort of in-app purchase in the MDE app on the phones. If you don't have a phone, you can charge at one of the kiosks. It seems to already be set up this way.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Note that Disney's Magic Express is "free". However, it's not really free; it's built into the price of the room.
Rather than offering an upsell which could cause a lot of backlash ("I'm paying $500/night and you're going to charge me for it!"), it's better for Disney to build into the price of everyone's room, like DME.
One option that was considered was to offer Deluxe Resort guests better FP+ selections. The idea was that Disney would rather have you upgrade to a $500/night room than be in a $200/night Moderate Resort room and hope that pay for a FP+ upsell.
With WDW's tens-of-thousands of rooms and 3 levels of resorts, Disney needs guests to upgrade their rooms. They have a lot of empty Deluxe Resort rooms. From a business perspective, that's just potential revenue being thrown away. It's like manufacturing too much of a perishable good. In this case, the perishable good is the room and, when it's empty, it's just going to waste. WDW has an assembly line of rooms available every day. They want them filled.
Please consider my earlier posts. WDW is no longer in the theme park business; it's in the hotel and timeshare business.
For Disney, the big money is not going to be made selling FP+ upgrades, which have only a limited appeal. Just like at Universal, most will balk at paying for the upgrade at WDW.
Offering cash FP+ upgrades would hurt their core business. Disney needs to get their $200/night to $1000/night rooms filled. The margins are incredible yet they have thousands of empty rooms during even the busiest season.
Beyond occupying rooms, onsite guests pay Disney's ridiculous price for food, drinks, and merchandise. That's where the money is.
Selling FP+ upgrades only hurts the core business since it provides less incentive to stay onsite.
Think of it this way, if Disney sold FP+, my options would be to rent a 4-bedroom house on I-192 for $150/night, rent a car, eat a lot of my meals offsite, and then pay Disney another $50/person for FP+ or I could let Disney transport me to and from the airport for "free", cram into a $400/night Deluxe Resort, pay Disney $15-40/person per meal, and get "free" FP+.
It's obvious to me which option Disney wants me to choose. In fact, they want me to choose it so much that they are not going to give me the option.
WDW is playing FP+ games because, with 31,000 onsite rooms, they don't have enough ride capacity. WDW needs more rides and fewer rooms. But the big money is in the hotel rooms. It's why Disney continues to build resorts and DVC without significantly growing the theme parks in 15 years.
Since the opening of DAK in 1998, WDW has added over 10,000 rooms!
It's easy to justify the cost of building yet another hotel or DVC, a lot more difficult to justify building another park.
Again, WDW is now in the hotel and timeshare business, not the theme park business.
I totally agree with you regarding the hotel business, no argument there -I think in other threads we have been in agreement on this subject.
I just believe that if ANY money can be made thru some sort of paid FP system, TDO will try it.
Hot Lava
Well-Known Member
This I still think will happen. Not immediately, but once they have this system in place and working reasonably well, I think this tiered system will be put in place.
Given Disney's current model - more money over everything else - I still feel that they may introduce the paid FP+. I guess they need to at least see how the whole system shakes out as it is before introducing all these other things.
TheMouseFan
Well-Known Member
I just got on MDE to again check to see if I could choose Illuminations as a FP+. I finally can, but it is considered a tier 1 choice. It will not let me switch my Maelstrom FP+ for an Illuminations one, but it will let me change my Test Track one. I didn't even bother trying to switch my Soarin' one, but I imagine it would let me switch it to Illuminations. Apparently, their is a hidden heirarchy in the tier 1 attractions. I can't imagine many people choosing that as their tier 1 unless TT and Soarin' are already gone.
Edit: So, I went in and played a little. I had to move my Maelstrom FP+ to an evening time, then it let me change it to Illuminations. I'm not sure why that would be, but it worked, so I am happy.
Edit: So, I went in and played a little. I had to move my Maelstrom FP+ to an evening time, then it let me change it to Illuminations. I'm not sure why that would be, but it worked, so I am happy.
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TheMouseFan
Well-Known Member
There is supposedly a preferred viewing area that you have access to. My return time is 8:35-8:55. So, also no need to find a spot way ahead of time. At least that is what I am hoping!!
Tuvalu
Premium Member
I am deliriously happy right now ('cause I'm sure it won't last...)
I had 3 FP+ booked before the new restriction was put in place (SSE, Test Track, Maelstrom). Really wanted Illuminations but it never showed up as an option. Decided tonight to see what would happen if I chose to "replace" my existing FP+...behold, Illuminations was an option! So I replaced SSE, TT & Maelstrom for Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth and Illuminations.
Only instead of replacing my existing FP+, it added 3 more...MDE shows I have 6 FP+!! (I would post a pic of the screen if I knew how to do that
)Has this happened to anyone else? I may log in tomorrow and be back with only 3...but that would be okay.
TheMouseFan
Well-Known Member
I didn't personally experience this when I switched mine, but I have read that several people have had this "problem", and it just takes the computer awhile to catch up. You really only have the 3 newest FP+ selections. I was just pleased that I was able to switch mine to other tier 1 attractions since I also scheduled mine before the change was put into place, as I wasn't about to give up my TT or Soarin' FP+ for Illuminations (esp. since I will be there next week when it really shouldn't be difficult to get a good spot anyhow!).I am deliriously happy right now ('cause I'm sure it won't last...)
I had 3 FP+ booked before the new restriction was put in place (SSE, Test Track, Maelstrom). Really wanted Illuminations but it never showed up as an option. Decided tonight to see what would happen if I chose to "replace" my existing FP+...behold, Illuminations was an option! So I replaced SSE, TT & Maelstrom for Living with the Land, Spaceship Earth and Illuminations.
Only instead of replacing my existing FP+, it added 3 more...MDE shows I have 6 FP+!! (I would post a pic of the screen if I knew how to do that
Has this happened to anyone else? I may log in tomorrow and be back with only 3...but that would be okay.
SteveAZee
Premium Member
I moved the times for a few of my FP+ ressies and ended up with a 1:30 Everest (old resssie) and a 1:00 Everest (new ressie). Tech guy says that the 'new' one is correct, and that the old one just hasn't been cleared by the system. It's been about two weeks since I made that switch, so...