Rumor Version of MaxPass coming to WDW in May?

[DisneyCane]

at WDW, when the old paper FP was the only thing available, more than 1 ride would "sell out" minutes after park opening and the rope drop sprint

Minutes? No. The return times would get late. I remember riding spending an hour and a half or so at Epcot at rope drop to ride some rides and then purposely getting a TT FP for 6PM or so. Then, we'd park hop and return to Epcot after dinner to ride.

 

[aliceismad]

From my inexperienced perspective, it seems that Disney will make the lines as long as guests will tolerate, regardless of how many people are in the park. Sure, each attraction has a max capacity, but do they often run at max capacity? Disney has the ability to add more staff or less, adjust the number of vehicles or tracks used for some attractions, adjust park hours, etc. All of these things could affect line length as much as the number of guests, couldn't they?

Regardless of what FP/MaxPass/ExpressPass system they modify or introduce, ride capacity seems to be a problem. But capacity is not just a matter of needing more rides (although I do think that more rides would be great). It's also a problem in part because Disney can choose to operate at less than full ride capacity. I'm sure the bean counters have worked out capacity vs. operations cost vs. profit vs. guest satisfaction vs. a million other elements. I can only imagine which are weighted more heavily. Am I wrong in my assumptions?

 

[lazyboy97o]

From my inexperienced perspective, it seems that Disney will make the lines as long as guests will tolerate, regardless of how many people are in the park. Sure, each attraction has a max capacity, but do they often run at max capacity? Disney has the ability to add more staff or less, adjust the number of vehicles or tracks used for some attractions, adjust park hours, etc. All of these things could affect line length as much as the number of guests, couldn't they?

Regardless of what FP/MaxPass/ExpressPass system they modify or introduce, ride capacity seems to be a problem. But capacity is not just a matter of needing more rides. It's also a problem in part because Disney can choose to operate at less than full ride capacity. I'm sure the bean counters have worked out capacity vs. operations cost vs. profit vs. guest satisfaction vs. a million other elements. I can only imagine which are weighted more heavily. Am I wrong in my assumptions?

Yes, it is possible for Disney to reduce their operating capacity not only at attractions but also at retail and dining venues. This in and of itself is not the problem. It is a key part of operating a financially viable park as your baseline "design day" capacity is typically greater than your average day's attendance. How a park determines capacity is not a given, it is a function of how much the park wants you to do in a day. Disney wants you doing no more than the 8 experiences a day that will make most people "satisfied" on a customer survey.

 

[stepjune28]

A friend told me that their friend said that their Disney travel agent said that they heard whisperings that FP (or a form of it) will return after the new year.
I obviously take that with a grain of salt, but wanted to hear if anyone else was hearing anything lately?

 

[TTLUTS]

A friend told me that their friend said that their Disney travel agent said that they heard whisperings that FP (or a form of it) will return after the new year.
I obviously take that with a grain of salt, but wanted to hear if anyone else was hearing anything lately?

Really? Yes! I hope your friends friend travel agent knows what they are taking about. Now I won’t have to cancel my trip

 

[WDWTrojan]

Really? Yes! I hope your friends friend travel agent knows what they are taking about. Now I won’t have to cancel my trip

Why would you cancel it over a lack of FP? The lines now are a fraction of what's posted. It's a much better guest experience overall than the FP+ days.

 

[TTLUTS]

Why would you cancel it over a lack of FP? The lines now are a fraction of what's posted. It's a much better guest experience overall than the FP+ days.

No way Jose. I would never wait 60 mins for a ride and all of the popular rides are over 100 when it’s busy. I’m scheduled to go in April and stay at Contemporary and it’s going to be jam packed. Also there’s no guarantee I could get on ROTR and I’m not paying all that money to fly 1500 miles, sit in line and possibly not get on ROTR. When you then add in no EMH, dining plan, fireworks or shows? No thanks. No interest.

 

[TTLUTS]

No way Jose. I would never wait 60 mins for a ride and all of the popular rides are over 100 when it’s busy. I’m scheduled to go in April and stay at Contemporary and it’s going to be jam packed. Also there’s no guarantee I could get on ROTR and I’m not paying all that money to fly 1500 miles, sit in line and possibly not get on ROTR. When you then add in no EMH, dining plan, fireworks or shows? No thanks. No interest.

And this is a problem. There’s zero incentive to stay on Disney property and pay all that money. Disney can’t get back to normal until their hotel guests return and there’s no reason for them to go, no matter how much you discount the room

 

[MisterPenguin]

A friend told me that their friend said that their Disney travel agent said that they heard whisperings that FP (or a form of it) will return after the new year.
I obviously take that with a grain of salt, but wanted to hear if anyone else was hearing anything lately?

Our insiders are quite sure that the return of FP+ is a definite maybe.

 

[nickys]

A friend told me that their friend said that their Disney travel agent said that they heard whisperings that FP (or a form of it) will return after the new year.
I obviously take that with a grain of salt, but wanted to hear if anyone else was hearing anything lately?

No way Jose. I would never wait 60 mins for a ride and all of the popular rides are over 100 when it’s busy. I’m scheduled to go in April and stay at Contemporary and it’s going to be jam packed. Also there’s no guarantee I could get on ROTR and I’m not paying all that money to fly 1500 miles, sit in line and possibly not get on ROTR. When you then add in no EMH, dining plan, fireworks or shows? No thanks. No interest.

So are you never going back until you ca be guaranteed a ride on RotR then? Because that never did have FP+. Whether they use boarding groups or FP+, you’ll never be guaranteed to be able to ride it.

Even with a FP+ you’re not guaranteed to be able to ride anythingrides break down and also close for refurbs.

A friend told me that their friend said that their Disney travel agent said that they heard whisperings that FP (or a form of it) will return after the new year.
I obviously take that with a grain of salt, but wanted to hear if anyone else was hearing anything lately?

Well, since they won’t be back in 2020, I can confirm that if they return it will definitely be after the new year. Not sure which year though, might be 2022.

 

[WDWTrojan]

No way Jose. I would never wait 60 mins for a ride and all of the popular rides are over 100 when it’s busy. I’m scheduled to go in April and stay at Contemporary and it’s going to be jam packed. Also there’s no guarantee I could get on ROTR and I’m not paying all that money to fly 1500 miles, sit in line and possibly not get on ROTR. When you then add in no EMH, dining plan, fireworks or shows? No thanks. No interest.

1) The posted wait times are often double what they actually are.

2) Your time spent bypassing the queues with FP+ is amortized in the other lines you wait in throughout the day, which are artificially inflated thanks to FP+. Sure you waited 15 mins for Splash Mountain, but the other wait times you are stuck waiting in are longer, so you didn't actually save time, unless Splash was all you did all day.

 

[TTLUTS]

1) The posted wait times are often double what they actually are.

2) Your time spent bypassing the queues with FP+ is amortized in the other lines you wait in throughout the day, which are artificially inflated thanks to FP+. Sure you waited 15 mins for Splash Mountain, but the other wait times you are stuck waiting in are longer, so you didn't actually save time, unless Splash was all you did all day.

1) Wait times are high, posted times and actual times.......popular rides being 100+ actual minutes waited are normal during busy times (when we typically go b of kids school)...........for the sake of argument, lets take actual times........They are still very high

2) Theres no way on gods good earth that you will convince me that the 100 minutes i saved on FOP, 60 min on Everest and 60 mins of Safari will be added on when i ride Dinosaur, Kali and the other rides........It is disproportionality WAY less time to have 3 FP+ (saved 220 minutes, over 3 hours) that the other lines are 3+ hours longer b of FP...........Its because demand drops of drastically after those 3-4 top rides............Waits for rides 5-10 (no matter what rides you think they are) might double in wait time, but its only doubling from 10 to 20 mins and if you didnt have FP+, the top rides would still have 100+ minute wait times

 

[WDWTrojan]

1) Wait times are high, posted times and actual times.......popular rides being 100+ actual minutes waited are normal during busy times (when we typically go b of kids school)...........for the sake of argument, lets take actual times........They are still very high

2) Theres no way on gods good earth that you will convince me that the 100 minutes i saved on FOP, 60 min on Everest and 60 mins of Safari will be added on when i ride Dinosaur, Kali and the other rides........It is disproportionality WAY less time to have 3 FP+ (saved 220 minutes, over 3 hours) that the other lines are 3+ hours longer b of FP...........Its because demand drops of drastically after those 3-4 top rides............Waits for rides 5-10 (no matter what rides you think they are) might double in wait time, but its only doubling from 10 to 20 mins and if you didnt have FP+, the top rides would still have 100+ minute wait times

The current posted wait times are often double what you actually wait. Just a fact.

And I'm not going to argue about FP+, but it has been well documented it doesn't actually save much time unless you are only doing the attractions you have FP+ for and nothing else.

 

[TTLUTS]

The current posted wait times are often double what you actually wait. Just a fact.

And I'm not going to argue about FP+, but it has been well documented it doesn't actually save much time unless you are only doing the attractions you have FP+ for and nothing else.

100% not true at all..............The demand falls off precipitously after top 3-4 rides in at least 3 of the parks (AK, HS and Epcot) so the amount of time saved on the top 3 more than makes up from the added time for the others

 

[lazyboy97o]

100% not true at all..............The demand falls off precipitously after top 3-4 rides in at least 3 of the parks (AK, HS and Epcot) so the amount of time saved on the top 3 more than makes up from the added time for the others

You’re still assuming your visitation patterns and preferences are a universal truth. That you claim 8 experiences is more than enough shows you are getting and happy with sub-standard capacity. That’s less than 1 attraction per hour over a full day when the goal should be at least 1.5 attractions per guest per hour.

 

[TTLUTS]

You’re still assuming your visitation patterns and preferences are a universal truth. That you claim 8 experiences is more than enough shows you are getting and happy with sub-standard capacity. That’s less than 1 attraction per hour over a full day when the goal should be at least 1.5 attractions per guest per hour.

When there's only 6 rides in an entire park?

 

[lazyboy97o]

When there's only 6 rides in an entire park?

There should not be only six rides in one of the world’s most visited amusement parks with a three figure admission price.

 

[TTLUTS]

There should not be only six rides in one of the world’s most visited amusement parks with a three figure admission price.

Right, but thats what there are

 

[DisneyDave54321]

@lentesta you and Jim spoke about a survey recently on on of the podcasts where it asked questions regarding potential benefits for staying on property. When/if this new paid FastPass is rolled out, do you think it will be tied to a specific room category like during the test (I.e. club level) or do you think it would be available to all resort guests as long as you are willing to pay the money?

 

[lentesta]

@lentesta you and Jim spoke about a survey recently on on of the podcasts where it asked questions regarding potential benefits for staying on property. When/if this new paid FastPass is rolled out, do you think it will be tied to a specific room category like during the test (I.e. club level) or do you think it would be available to all resort guests as long as you are willing to pay the money?

The original pitch for FP+ had the option to show different levels of availability to different guests.

If paid FP comes, my guess is it’ll be available to everyone. I wouldn’t be surprised to see different packages or options.