FastPass+ UnFair process Confirmed

[ninjaprincesst]

I just don't get why someone who does not stay onsite thinks they should get the same perks as someone who does, and they can't say oh we are going to release a limited number of fastpass at 60 days so "some" resort guests can get them but "some" can not. It could be worse it could be like Universal where resort guest get "fastpasses" or whatever Universal calls them for free, but offsite guest have to pay for fastpass.

 

[Jae99]

I am fairly certain that Disney is in business to make money. So it only makes sense that they use a pay to play type structure.

The more a guest pays the more perks and benefits they will get. Better resorts, hard ticket events, preferred seating and such.

 

[njDizFan]

Point of clarification

When DL first open the more money one spent the more rides one rode. If that's not a caste system then I don't know what is in a theme park. How many little Johnnys or Susies wanted to ride "just one more time" at DL and could not cause mom and pop would not or could not buy more tickets when at the same time little Reggie was riding till he puked because his mom and dad could? The accusations that this (spend more get more) is something new at Disney are false IMO.

The system has been monetized since day one at Disney. And there is zip zero nada wrong with that IMO, they are not a social program, they are a business.

Points for admitting your a socialist though, but at least you not a commie

I did include that disclaimer at the end of the quote, there were ticket booklets up until 1982 even in WDW. The discontinuation was quite unpopular with the locals who liked to just come in and walk around on the cheap.

Well yes, they are a business, and yes they have to answer to their shareholders and Wall Street and all that of course. If they wanted they could start charging $300 a day in admission and we could either pay the price or make the choice not to go. these are all fundamental laws of business that we must all abide. My point is that by leveraging FP+, people who stay offsite are now at an unequal playing field. this was not the case last year, or 5 years ago or 30 years ago.

Is it within their rights? certainly, do I have to like it...no

this can become a slippery slope. Not to get into hyperbole but what if only resort guests were able to use the monorail, or only deluxe guests got to to use FP for free, or EMH restricted to just deluxe guests. This could lead to a much more defined caste which was not always true and IMHO not the spirit of Disney

 

[worldfanatic]

Either stay on property,
or shut up and remain the second class WDW citizen you deserve to be.

 

[BigTxEars]

I did include that disclaimer at the end of the quote, there were ticket booklets up until 1982 even in WDW. The discontinuation was quite unpopular with the locals who liked to just come in and walk around on the cheap.

Well yes, they are a business, and yes they have to answer to their shareholders and Wall Street and all that of course. If they wanted they could start charging $300 a day in admission and we could either pay the price or make the choice not to go. these are all fundamental laws of business that we must all abide. My point is that by leveraging FP+, people who stay offsite are now at an unequal playing field. this was not the case last year, or 5 years ago or 30 years ago.

Is it within their rights? certainly, do I have to like it...no

this can become a slippery slope. Not to get into hyperbole but what if only resort guests were able to use the monorail, or only deluxe guests got to to use FP for free, or EMH restricted to just deluxe guests. This could lead to a much more defined caste which was not always true and IMHO not the spirit of Disney

I see your point , I don't agree with it being a caste system at all though. It's free market which to me is as fair as man can make an economy. To me caste is a negative word related to societies where you were born into a social class and you never left it. That is not what is going on in America at all IMO. I have no debate with you at all, I just think we see things differently

 

[BigTxEars]

Either stay on property,
or shut up and remain the second class WDW citizen you deserve to be.

I guess if I buy a upper level seat at the MLB game I am a second class citizen because I am not down in the "good" seats. Damn MLB greed! Who do they think they are offering me a 100% luxury item and then having the nerve to charge me to "upgrade" when I go! For that matter why is Chiles charging me more for a steak than a hamburger? That is crap!!! I should get whatever else gets regards of how much I spend!! And don't get me started on home builders, really a bigger better home cost more than a smaller one? How is that "fair".....

All I know is that next time I go to Taco Bell they better not try to charge me more to upgrade to a large combo!

Damn free market economy.......

 

[morningstar]

It's interesting to think how to game the system. Say you are a resort guest and log on day 60 out. The earliest Anna and Elsa FP is for 5:30PM. Do you grab it, or do you get three FPs early in the day so you can open up your fourth FP right after lunch? If everyone makes the "strategic" move, then the 5:30FP will be available all the way up to on the day. In this case, I think enough people will forgo the strategic play out of Anna and Elsa madness. The most popular rides might not have FPs left on the day or even 30 days out. Less popular rides maybe will. It could become a tradeoff. You can either make use of three or four FPs during the day for E-tickets, or quickly cycle through six or seven for medium-popularity rides.

 

[Andrew C]

Just skimmed through this thread so it may have been mentioned.

We were at MK a few weeks back. It was the first day you were able to get more than 3 fast passes after you use your first 3. We were easily able to get 4, 5, 6, and even 7 that day to popular attractions. I got that many for two reasons. One. I like using fast passes. Two, I wanted to see how many attractions were available still. The only real limitation I found was that but around 3pm or so, the only fast pass available for Peter Pan was after 8pm.

One time, there was a manager at the kiosk and she asked me how I liked getting extra fast passes after the first 3. I told her it was great and a much needed change to the system. She told me a lot of people seemed to be enjoying is extras

 

[KingdomofDreams]

I did include that disclaimer at the end of the quote, there were ticket booklets up until 1982 even in WDW. The discontinuation was quite unpopular with the locals who liked to just come in and walk around on the cheap.

Well yes, they are a business, and yes they have to answer to their shareholders and Wall Street and all that of course. If they wanted they could start charging $300 a day in admission and we could either pay the price or make the choice not to go. these are all fundamental laws of business that we must all abide. My point is that by leveraging FP+, people who stay offsite are now at an unequal playing field. this was not the case last year, or 5 years ago or 30 years ago.

Is it within their rights? certainly, do I have to like it...no

this can become a slippery slope. Not to get into hyperbole but what if only resort guests were able to use the monorail, or only deluxe guests got to to use FP for free, or EMH restricted to just deluxe guests. This could lead to a much more defined caste which was not always true and IMHO not the spirit of Disney

Why is it I never see anyone complaining about Universal and their Express Pass for on-site guests? IMO Disney has taken a huge step in the right direction with FP+. I just wish they would find a way to offer a similar system to Uni so reserving a specific time was no longer necessary. Touring at the Uni parks is so stress free. Just go where you feel like going at the moment and walk right into the Express line.

 

[reptar77]

Just skimmed through this thread so it may have been mentioned.

We were at MK a few weeks back. It was the first day you were able to get more than 3 fast passes after you use your first 3. We were easily able to get 4, 5, 6, and even 7 that day to popular attractions. I got that many for two reasons. One. I like using fast passes. Two, I wanted to see how many attractions were available still. The only real limitation I found was that but around 3pm or so, the only fast pass available for Peter Pan was after 8pm.

One time, there was a manager at the kiosk and she asked me how I liked getting extra fast passes after the first 3. I told her it was great and a much needed change to the system. She told me a lot of people seemed to be enjoying is extras

We had very similar experience. No problems at all except the one day the whole MME system was down.
My only complaint is that you have to go to the kiosk to make the FP after the 3rd, we should be able to do it on the app. I was told that they are working on it.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I don't think it is discrimination, it is simply a perk for staying in a Disney resort, of course they are going to give first shot at the fastpasses to those that are staying on property, it encourages people to stay on property. Why would they hold back fastpasses for those that are staying off property and cause people that are staying on property to not be able to get the fastpasses they want? It is a reward just like extra magic hours.

Soooooo, someone who ponies up the big bucks for one night at the all stars gets preferential treatment over someone who has had a PAP for over a decade. Got it. Good to know.

 

[GoofGoof]

Just stay at a Disney hotel. Problem solved

By the way this isn't discrimination. They are not preventing you from booking a room and receiving the same benefits as everyone else who has booked a room. If they said FL residents or AP holders who book a room to stay at WDW are still not eligible for advanced FP registration that would be discrimination.

There are many examples of advantages given to customers who are paying to be in a "higher class". First class airline passengers get meals and drinks for free and are allowed to board the plane first. It's not discrimination against the coach passengers.

 

[GoofGoof]

I did include that disclaimer at the end of the quote, there were ticket booklets up until 1982 even in WDW. The discontinuation was quite unpopular with the locals who liked to just come in and walk around on the cheap.

Well yes, they are a business, and yes they have to answer to their shareholders and Wall Street and all that of course. If they wanted they could start charging $300 a day in admission and we could either pay the price or make the choice not to go. these are all fundamental laws of business that we must all abide. My point is that by leveraging FP+, people who stay offsite are now at an unequal playing field. this was not the case last year, or 5 years ago or 30 years ago.

Is it within their rights? certainly, do I have to like it...no

this can become a slippery slope. Not to get into hyperbole but what if only resort guests were able to use the monorail, or only deluxe guests got to to use FP for free, or EMH restricted to just deluxe guests. This could lead to a much more defined caste which was not always true and IMHO not the spirit of Disney

Isn't EMHs part of the same "caste system". Only onsite guests can stay late or arrive early. With EMHs offsite guests are completely left out. With this you can still enjoy all the same attractions you just can't book 60 days in advance. I would think this creates less of a caste system than EMHs.

You certainly have every right to not like this policy. I'm not trying to say you don't.

 

[Andrew C]

Isn't EMHs part of the same "caste system". Only onsite guests can stay late or arrive early. With EMHs offsite guests are completely left out. With this you can still enjoy all the same attractions you just can't book 60 days in advance. I would think this creates less of a caste system than EMHs.

You certainly have every right to not like this policy. I'm not trying to say you don't.

There is no difference booking 60 days out for fast passes or 30 days out. You will get the same attraction opportunities.

When I was there in April, I was changing my fast passes on the fly all the time using the app. I doubt I used many of my originally choices that were setup when we first arrived.

 

[GoofGoof]

There is no difference booking 60 days out for fast passes or 30 days out. You will get the same attraction opportunities.

When I was there in April, I was changing my fast passes on the fly all the time using the app. I doubt I used many of my originally choices that were setup when we first arrived.

Probably only an issue for really popular attractions or really popular times. I'm thinking the Frozen meet and greet, TSMM and maybe Soarin and TT are probably the only big advantage. I think Frozen should be a temporary thing. At very busy times (Christmas week, Spring Break, 4th of July) it may be a bigger advantage.

 

[Andrew C]

Probably only an issue for really popular attractions or really popular times. I'm thinking the Frozen meet and greet, TSMM and maybe Soarin and TT are probably the only big advantage. I think Frozen should be a temporary thing. At very busy times (Christmas week, Spring Break, 4th of July) it may be a bigger advantage.

You are right. I think TSSM, Soarin, and TT were the only ones we did not move around during our trip. But I am sure it was not an issue getting them 30 days out. But probably harder to adjust on the day of.

Obviously Frozen is just another beast.

EDIT: actually we did not FP test track. We walked on at rope drop.

 

[unkadug]

Soooooo, someone who ponies up the big bucks for one night at the all stars gets preferential treatment over someone who has had a PAP for over a decade. Got it. Good to know.

Yes, as well they should.

Your having a PAP for "X" amount of years bears no correlation with the current guests ability to obtain Fastpass's.

Why should it?

 

[cw1982]

You are right. I think TSSM, Soarin, and TT were the only ones we did not move around during our trip. But I am sure it was not an issue getting them 30 days out. But probably harder to adjust on the day of.

Obviously Frozen is just another beast.

EDIT: actually we did not FP test track. We walked on at rope drop.

Probably only an issue for really popular attractions or really popular times. I'm thinking the Frozen meet and greet, TSMM and maybe Soarin and TT are probably the only big advantage. I think Frozen should be a temporary thing. At very busy times (Christmas week, Spring Break, 4th of July) it may be a bigger advantage.

For the record, I'm now 15 days from my trip (so well within the 30-day window that seems to be the big issue for the OP) and I can still move around my FP for TSMM and Soarin' and have more than ample selections left in terms of time slots available. I have no idea about TT, but seeing as how TT and Soarin' seem to have about equal demand in terms of wait times, I would guess that if Soarin' is still open, TT probably is as well. I still don't see the 60-day window advantage being that large over what people booking even at 15 days can get.

Granted, this might not be true the week of the 4th of July... but we won't know that until we see how this works in action on peak days. It'll be interesting to see if any complaints surface about lack of FP availability around Memorial Day weekend... but in terms of the 30-day window, I personally haven't seen a single person who is going that weekend complain about not being able to get what they wanted at 30 days out, so even then, there's no real evidence yet to suggest that anyone is truly being punished or "discriminated" against for not staying onsite.

Why is it I never see anyone complaining about Universal and their Express Pass for on-site guests? IMO Disney has taken a huge step in the right direction with FP+. I just wish they would find a way to offer a similar system to Uni so reserving a specific time was no longer necessary. Touring at the Uni parks is so stress free. Just go where you feel like going at the moment and walk right into the Express line.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at Uni you have to either 1) pay extra for Express Pass or 2) be staying onsite to be able to use it. Of course Uni can allow Express Pass users more flexibility if a smaller percentage of their guests are using the program than that of those who use Disney's FP+. I don't know the exact numbers, but I highly doubt that every single guest entering Uni is either staying onsite or paying extra for the Express Pass option. When you have more people using the systems, there are fewer people who can utilize that system effectively per hour on any given ride. If everyone was using the Express Passes, at some point the Express Pass lines would be just as long, if not longer than, the standby queue. Since Disney's system allows every guest to be able to use at least SOME passes, I'm not sure that I agree that Uni's system is necessarily better. It requires less planning, but it's also more exclusive in terms of who gets the benefit.

 

[GoofGoof]

For the record, I'm now 15 days from my trip (so well within the 30-day window that seems to be the big issue for the OP) and I can still move around my FP for TSMM and Soarin' and have more than ample selections left in terms of time slots available. I have no idea about TT, but seeing as how TT and Soarin' seem to have about equal demand in terms of wait times, I would guess that if Soarin' is still open, TT probably is as well. I still don't see the 60-day window advantage being that large over what people booking even at 15 days can get.

Granted, this might not be true the week of the 4th of July... but we won't know that until we see how this works in action on peak days. It'll be interesting to see if any complaints surface about lack of FP availability around Memorial Day weekend... but in terms of the 30-day window, I personally haven't seen a single person who is going that weekend complain about not being able to get what they wanted at 30 days out, so even then, there's no real evidence yet to suggest that anyone is truly being punished or "discriminated" against for not staying onsite.

That's good to know. My last trip was still in testing and a low crowd time so I could move around everything even day of. So basically outside of high peak times it's likely that the Frozen M&G is the only thing restricted.

This is just purely my opinion and not meant to offend anyone, but I don't get the M&G's where the "character" has a human face. Always seemed weird to me. I have 2 boys so they aren't really into princesses anyway, but when we met Peter Pan and Wendy it was just a little strange to me. I know Mickey is just some guy in a costume, but it's just different.

 

[unkadug]

...This is just purely my opinion and not meant to offend anyone, but I don't get the M&G's where the "character" has a human face. Always seemed weird to me. I have 2 boys so they aren't really into princesses anyway, but when we met Peter Pan and Wendy it was just a little strange to me. I know Mickey is just some guy in a costume, but it's just different.

You'd be quite surprised.