News Gotta Pay2Play: Paid FP on the way!

[Lets Respect]

I would argue that for the in-demand attractions, they don't have enough capacity to manage fastpass and day guests as it is. This is just an upcharge perk for those willing to spend that further diminishes the value of a $100+ ticket for everyone else.

Right. At what point does a ticket turn into a "Walk around the park and enjoy the atmosphere" ticket
And to have a halfway decent time you need to buy extras or a tour or a EMM or DAH
Wait until Star Wars Land!

 

[TXRob]

Seems to me as a 34 year old - my generation doesn't want to understand supply and demand. WDW doesn't have unlimited capacity, so there has to be a way to constrain demand...What is that constraint? PRICE!
Just like everything else nowadays, people feel entitled to things they didn't earn or pay for. It's quite simple...Fastpasses...hotel rooms...park tickets are worth WHAT PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR THEM!
If people are willing to pay $200 for a Magic Kingdom ticket, why wouldn't Disney charge that?
Would love to know how many employees these commentors that state "GREED...MONEY GRAB.." employ...my guess is 0.0

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Wait...I’m still yawning...

 

[Lets Respect]

I must have missed this. So these three paid FPs aren't tiered?

Wow.

 

[Kamikaze]

There are industry norms that determine park capacity based on attendance. Disney has chosen to increase crowding instead of increasing capacity. Disney also operates by reducing existing capacity to maintain a greater level of crowding on lower attendance days.

They ARE working to increase capacity. Just at a pace that doesn't keep up. The only way to limit it in the short term is to increase ticket prices, which is what I said originally.

 

[Kamikaze]

Just one more reason of many NOT to renew our AP's. There is no reason to pay over $100 bucks a day just to walk into the park, only to have to pay extra for every move you make once you get in there. Doesn't matter whether you are "mad at your money" and can throw it away on a ride....The question is Why Should You Have To????

Uh, if you have APs, you aren't spending anywhere near $100 per day to go into the parks.

 

[larryz]

Uh, if you have APs, you aren't spending anywhere near $100 per day to go into the parks.

Unless you only go five days a year.

 

[MrPromey]

Right. At what point does a ticket turn into a "Walk around the park and enjoy the atmosphere" ticket
And to have a halfway decent time you need to buy extras or a tour or a EMM or DAH
Wait until Star Wars Land!

One thing that always gets me in these discussions is someone will invariably chime in and say something to the effect of "what do you expect for free?" when discussing fastpasses or upcharge events that result in removing or reducing an experience "normal" guest previously got with their ticket because they for whatever reason, forget about the ever-increasing price Disney charges just to be able to show up.

I expect it will be years (after they open) that we will ever experience the Star Wars attractions - either because my son will have gotten old enough to be able to handle a 2 or 3+ hour wait in line for a 5 minute ride or because demand will have died down enough to make the wait a more manageable hour or so for those attractions... Or we manage to take a trip to Disneyland where I think it'll end up being less of a problem.

I'm not even counting on ever getting a fast-pass for either of them and that's without some people being able to pay extra to get more fastpasses with an even longer fastpass window.

I know that not all of this is Disney's fault exactly but the way they manipulate crowds today, it's frustrating to know that at least some of it is and that they're okay with intentionally diminishing the guest experience.

 

[Kamikaze]

Unless you only go five days a year.

Then you probably shouldn't be going for an AP

 

[andysol]

Seems to me as a 34 year old - my generation doesn't want to understand supply and demand. WDW doesn't have unlimited capacity, so there has to be a way to constrain demand...What is that constraint? PRICE!
Just like everything else nowadays, people feel entitled to things they didn't earn or pay for. It's quite simple...Fastpasses...hotel rooms...park tickets are worth WHAT PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR THEM!
If people are willing to pay $200 for a Magic Kingdom ticket, why wouldn't Disney charge that?
Would love to know how many employees these commentors that state "GREED...MONEY GRAB.." employ...my guess is 0.0

As a fellow 34 year old from Texas, let me reason with you here Rob.

Please don't mistake "Entitlement" with expectations or realizations. Everyone understands the basic concept of supply and demand. Everyone understands that we have the choice to pay, or not pay for something.

What you are failing to understand, is that it is ok to look at a situation, and see how it negatively affects you, and to dislike the change.

Using @Master Yoda here as a rebuttal to my original post, for example:

There is also the fact that pretty much every business on the planet does this. I had to do it back in 1990 when I managed a quick lube. It just makes financial sense to staff based on predicted need.

So if I show up at 9:15am to Jiffy Lube, and Yoda only has one inspector there doing car inspections but there are 3 people in front of me that day, I'm waiting an hour. That doesn't mean I disagree with Yoda's business philosophy. Say 9:15 is generally a slow time, so why would he have 3 employees there doing inspections when on most days he'd be paying them to do nothing? I get it. Totally. Concept understood.

That doesn't mean it doesn't suck waiting an hour to get an inspection. So let's not confuse that for entitlement.


That all said- I like you Rob. For two reasons.
1) You're from Texas.
2) You made that whole post without saying "Disney is a Business". So that's a win in my book.

 

[wesTcoastY]

The day NextGen was announced I said this and other things were coming. I hate always being right.

Yep....every other segment of our lives has been divided up into what you are willing to pay for.....this is no different.

 

[TXRob]

As a fellow 34 year old from Texas, let me reason with you here Rob.

Please don't mistake "Entitlement" with expectations or realizations. Everyone understands the basic concept of supply and demand. Everyone understands that we have the choice to pay, or not pay for something.

What you are failing to understand, is that it is ok to look at a situation, and see how it negatively affects you, and to dislike the change.

Using @Master Yoda here as a rebuttal to my original post, for example:


So if I show up at 9:15am to Jiffy Lube, and Yoda only has one inspector there doing car inspections but there are 3 people in front of me that day, I'm waiting an hour. That doesn't mean I disagree with Yoda's business philosophy. Say 9:15 is generally a slow time, so why would he have 3 employees there doing inspections when on most days he'd be paying them to do nothing? I get it. Totally. Concept understood.

That doesn't mean it doesn't suck waiting an hour to get an inspection. So let's not confuse that for entitlement.


That all said- I like you Rob. For two reasons.
1) You're from Texas.
2) You made that whole post without saying "Disney is a Business". So that's a win in my book.

I am with you mostly - but from what I read there are just as many people upset about current crowd levels as there are about all of these "premium" items coming into the fray.
I was at WDW in Oct and the crowds were absolutely insane. I mean the hotels were sold out for some random weekend in October.
This club level paidFP issue is now so small I don't think it affects the macro view on wait times, but yes if they expand this to everyone it will affect waits for the parks if 1000s of people sign up for it.

Unfortunately, expectations of guests are so subjective and all over the spectrum you never know what people want.

Too chilly in Dallas today man!

 

[andysol]

They ARE working to increase capacity. Just at a pace that doesn't keep up. The only way to limit it in the short term is to increase ticket prices, which is what I said originally.

If this is your response, then you didn't understand what he said.

Check the wait times today on MDE on what would normally be a slow day on a Wednesday. Or tomorrow around 10am EST. BTM will likely be around 50-60 minutes an hour after park opening. Why? One side running. It "feels" crowded, without actually being crowded.

Again- keep in mind Disney has come out and mentioned attendance being down. Even more, claiming that is their intent- to reduce attendance while increasing profits. And they've been successful.

So ticket prices mean nothing when they can artificially manipulate waits and lines on the fly. Why have both sides open to allow a 20 min wait- even at $200/ticket- if people are willing to wait 45 mins? Half the labor, half the operating expense, double the profits.

The day they stop manipulating wait times is the day I'll agree with you that ticket prices are what can improve wait times.

 

[Kman101]

To see if they will pay it. I will wager that most will.

I imagine so too.

But I kind of cringed at it being $50. It's clearly testing the waters.

 

[xdan0920]

As a fellow 34 year old from Texas, let me reason with you here Rob.

Please don't mistake "Entitlement" with expectations or realizations. Everyone understands the basic concept of supply and demand. Everyone understands that we have the choice to pay, or not pay for something.

What you are failing to understand, is that it is ok to look at a situation, and see how it negatively affects you, and to dislike the change.

Using @Master Yoda here as a rebuttal to my original post, for example:


So if I show up at 9:15am to Jiffy Lube, and Yoda only has one inspector there doing car inspections but there are 3 people in front of me that day, I'm waiting an hour. That doesn't mean I disagree with Yoda's business philosophy. Say 9:15 is generally a slow time, so why would he have 3 employees there doing inspections when on most days he'd be paying them to do nothing? I get it. Totally. Concept understood.

That doesn't mean it doesn't suck waiting an hour to get an inspection. So let's not confuse that for entitlement.


That all said- I like you Rob. For two reasons.
1) You're from Texas.
2) You made that whole post without saying "Disney is a Business". So that's a win in my book.

You’re also less likely to return to that Jiffy Lube. That’s the tricky part of customer satisfaction. Without it, eventually you’re optimized staffing level will be zilch, because you’ll be closed.

 

[wendysue]

Uh, if you have APs, you aren't spending anywhere near $100 per day to go into the parks.

Correct. I guess I didn't need to speak to my not renewing our AP's. That is a whole different issue with many reasons. I needed to just address the guests who have to pay those high ticket prices only to get nickel and dimed to death once inside.

 

[mikejs78]

Charging for FP is the kick on effect. Once this test is integrated successfully, why would they stop here? Can you think of one possible reason why they wouldn't expand this program to all DVC guests? Deluxe resort guests? Eventually all resort guests?

The extra FastPass upcharge? Sure, they might expand who can buy it. But I don't think they will ever get rid of the free tier because it is very important to them for crowd management.

 

[King Panda 77]

so the only people worthy of going to Disney world are Europeans on two week vacations?

I'm down with that ...

 

[mikejs78]

No, of course not. But people staying at a resort (and to some degree AP) should have priority over GenPop.

Doesn't this already happen to a degree with park closings when the parks are at capacity?

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Doesn't this already happen to a degree with park closings when the parks are at capacity?

Yes, but not until capacity is way too full already. If they took this system and dropped the numbers by a certain percentage per park (based on its total capacity) then there you go.