News Gotta Pay2Play: Paid FP on the way!

WhyteAL

WhyteAL

Active Member
I love Disney and everything they usually do, but lately and specifically with this idea...I'm thinking I've reach my point of elasticity where I don't think Disney is really the vacation location I want to put my disposal dollars in anymore. So much so that for the past 2 years I've been staying off property just because of the crowds and costs of staying on property.

Although I am local and have visited a million times, the reality from what I can gather is that Disney makes more money off continuously returning guests not the once in a lifetime visitor.

"Paying extra" for this seems a bit much, and although I think some folks will pay; Florida being an economically challenging place to live I don't see this making it a better guest experience overall. I don't know what the Florida to out of state visitor ratio is, nor do I think they publish that information but visiting is becoming a bit taxing for a family of 4 specifically for Florida residents. For the same price I spent at Disney in 2017 I spent for a trip to the real France for 10 days.
 
Tom P.

Tom P.

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
No, you mean 'welcome to unbridled capitalism' - That thing our society broke up in the 19th century because it destroyed lives.
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While I agree that there are certainly problems with the variety of capitalism currently being practiced in the United States, I also seriously doubt that Disney selling extra FastPasses to people who choose to buy them is going to destroy anyone's lives.

I think we need to keep some perspective on this. We are not talking about food. We're not talking about healthcare. We're not talking about clothing. We're talking about what is already an expensive, luxury item outside the financial reach of many people -- a vacation at Walt Disney World. And there are, and always have been, plenty of ways that people with more money get a higher level of service than people who are on a tight budget.

The End Zone Food Court vs. Victoria and Albert's. A standard room at Port Orleans vs. a club level room at the Grand Floridian. Being limited to one park per day vs. being able to park hop between parks. You could list examples all day of where your Disney vacation will be different if you have more money that you are willing and able to spend. Selling FastPasses is no different.

Do I like this change? No, not particularly. Will it ruin my next vacation to Walt Disney World or keep me from coming? No, not in the slightest. Do I think folks are making WAY too big a deal over this? Yeah, quite definitely.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Tom P. said:
While I agree that there are certainly problems with the variety of capitalism currently being practiced in the United States, I also seriously doubt that Disney selling extra FastPasses to people who choose to buy them is going to destroy anyone's lives.

I think we need to keep some perspective on this. We are not talking about food. We're not talking about healthcare. We're not talking about clothing. We're talking about what is already an expensive, luxury item outside the financial reach of many people.
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You missed the point. This is not comparing the two products... This is about the JUSTIFICATION of behavior.

The idea that capitalism is all about making money... screw anything else. etc. It doesn't matter if you are selling hot dogs or ferraris... if you boil all justifications down to being selfish and thats OK because.. you know.. capitalism. That's not a good place to be.
 
WhyteAL

WhyteAL

Active Member
Tom P. said:
While I agree that there are certainly problems with the variety of capitalism currently being practiced in the United States, I also seriously doubt that Disney selling extra FastPasses to people who choose to buy them is going to destroy anyone's lives.

I think we need to keep some perspective on this. We are not talking about food. We're not talking about healthcare. We're not talking about clothing. We're talking about what is already an expensive, luxury item outside the financial reach of many people -- a vacation at Walt Disney World. And there are, and always have been, plenty of ways that people with more money get a higher level of service than people who are on a tight budget.

The End Zone Food Court vs. Victoria and Albert's. A standard room at Port Orleans vs. a club level room at the Grand Floridian. Being limited to one park per day vs. being able to park hop between parks. You could list examples all day of where your Disney vacation will be different if you have more money that you are willing and able to spend. Selling FastPasses is no different.

Do I like this change? No, not particularly. Will it ruin my next vacation to Walt Disney World or keep me from coming? No, not in the slightest. Do I think folks are making WAY too big a deal over this? Yeah, quite definitely.
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I just think this is another example of the theme parks over charging for experiences that have the capacity to impact other guest experiences negatively. Overall the cost/value ratio to the Disney Park experience is not meeting minimum expectations for me anymore. That does not mean I will not go, but that does mean I will not go as frequently or spend as much time there as I used to.

When I think about my reaction to the continual price increases or added value costs I find it a bit concerning because I am also a Disney shareholder, so the question is at what point will the reaction to such high costs to this vacation experience begin to impact attendance crowds and at which point does that begin to impact guest spend in the parks.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
flynnibus said:
You missed the point. This is not comparing the two products... This is about the JUSTIFICATION of behavior.

The idea that capitalism is all about making money... screw anything else. etc. It doesn't matter if you are selling hot dogs or ferraris... if you boil all justifications down to being selfish and thats OK because.. you know.. capitalism. That's not a good place to be.
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A longstanding company like Disney operating for a 90 day yield will damage its stability longterm..as we see developing with Star Wars...

The difference now than 40 or even 20 years ago is the iger is retiring with no succession and the board is a collection of unrelateds. There's nobody with a reason to care if they go the way of Kodak or sears in 10 years.
Dangerous. Unfettered capitalism...like communism (that's an ECONOMIC principle) has never existed and would fail...rest assured.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
MisterPenguin said:
So, let's go for max: 800 eligible rooms. 4 per room. 3,200 people with 3 extra FPs = 9,600 'bought' FPs per day.

Over a 12 hour day, that's 800 extra FPs per hour. If every park has a 'top 3' rides on which people would use these FPs, then, over the 4 parks, that would be an extra 66.6 people at that attractions per hour.

So, at max capacity usage, you would see one extra person per minute enter a top tier ride. At max usage.
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Right...not a noticeable difference...that's why they picked that.

Now...next would be dvc...your talking a potential of like 4,000 ish units then...way different. Even if the crotchety old ones reject outright and talk about the "good old days" of okw in 1993...which they will ;)
 
trainplane3

trainplane3

Well-Known Member
I flat out hate this. Not where it is now, but where it will be at the end. I think we all know where this is going. @marni1971 tossed a hint out but it's pretty obvious how this is going to work out in a year or so. When this rolls out in its final form, you can bet I'll be complaining.

I'd be fine with the MaxPass system from DL (seems slightly reasonable?) or just dumping FP all together at this point. Standby gets so long that it's not even worth it at times. Example: 2 hours for TT, 2 hours for SM, an hour for Soarin'. I swear I used to wait a max of an hour for SM "back in the day" (early 00's) before the nasty hallway they stick you in now. And if WDW thinks they'll get me to spend money in their stores instead, well that's a wrong assumption.
 
HauntedPirate

HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
trainplane3 said:
I flat out hate this. Not where it is now, but where it will be at the end. I think we all know where this is going. @marni1971 tossed a hint out but it's pretty obvious how this is going to work out in a year or so. When this rolls out in its final form, you can bet I'll be complaining.

I'd be fine with the MaxPass system from DL (seems slightly reasonable?) or just dumping FP all together at this point. Standby gets so long that it's not even worth it at times. Example: 2 hours for TT, 2 hours for SM, an hour for Soarin'. I swear I used to wait a max of an hour for SM "back in the day" (early 00's) before the nasty hallway they stick you in now. And if WDW thinks they'll get me to spend money in their stores instead, well that's a wrong assumption.
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I used to wait much less than that to ride Space Mountain in the mornings in mid-December in 1991. ;) I recall riding 18 times in a row once on that trip. Ride, get off, run around to the entrance, ride, get off, run around to the entrance... lather, rinse, repeat.

This is just me speculating, but I think a for-pay FastPass system is likely, even for the rubes, before the 50th begins. TDO is far too invested in the FP+ system now to not monetize it.
 

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