Why did Disney create the FastPass system?

[AdventureHasAName]

The original purpose of Fastpass was to get guests out of the queue line and into shops and restaurants. The belief was that if you could "skip" a line, the typical guest would stay in the same area until their Fastpass window arrived and that time would be spent shopping and eating (and giving Disney money). I do not know if that is what solid research told them, or if that was the product of the push-polling that they like to do whenever they already have their minds set on a particular action. Either way, the pitch to the guest was they'd still be getting to ride the attraction at the same time, but rather than stand in line for an hour at Space Mountain, you could spend an hour in Star Traders and grab a hot dog at The Lunching Pad. Of course, reality never meets expectations and rather than spend all of that time shopping and eating, the typical guest got right on line for another attraction (sometimes, the standby line for the same attraction). This is important because if guests spent all of the Fastpass Wait time in a shop or eating, standby line lengths would remain constant. But if they got in another line, it meant the Fastpass system was actually making standby guests wait longer if they didn't have a Fastpass, than if the system didn't exist at all. This is because people have mass ... and mass always takes up space ... so if you take mass (a person or a group of people) out of one space in the park, and the mass remains in the park, then it has occupy an equal amount of space somewhere else in the park (ie, longer lines elsewhere).

This should have been obvious to anyone who ever read the first five pages of a physics textbook, but Disney Beancounters could never be persuaded otherwise. I'll also note that the instant Fastpass was implemented, a portion of the fanbase (*raises hand*) started saying, "You know, they are gonna charge for this at someone point" and the portion of the fanbase coated in pixie dust would argue and argue that it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and Disney would never screw with its greatest idea ever.

tl;dr:
Disney corporate thought it would make them a ton more money and lines lengths would remain the same. Instead, they made a little more money (in the short term, I'd argue not in the long term) and line lengths got longer.

 

[Jon Good]

I was working at EPCOT on Test Track when it first opened and we started with no fast pass. The lines were about 3 hours long and the end of the line was at the center of the park near the fountain. After fast pass was installed the lines became much shorter. I believe it should still be a free system.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I was working at EPCOT on Test Track when it first opened and we started with no fast pass. The lines were about 3 hours long and the end of the line was at the center of the park near the fountain. After fast pass was installed the lines became much shorter. I believe it should still be a free system.

Or it might even be because it was new and a new attraction always has a long line. Couple that with a rather slow moving system and there is a three hour line. Later when Fastpass was added the attraction was not as new so there were fewer guests going to it. Another possibility is that, if I recall, that ride initially broke down a lot so lines stayed long early on.

 

[Smooth]

Test Track officially opened March 1999. Test Track started using FastPass in November 1999. I'm not sure if the lines were still 3 hours long by that time.

 

[Andriadisney]

This is literally many people's complaint. They can't get into the parks. If you want smaller crowds, $400+/day/person to enter... period. Crowds will shrink pretty fast IMO. Otherwise, all you're doing is shrinking revenue, and p!ssing people off because they can't get tickets/reservations. When people can't get FP to their faves due to how quickly they go, they get upset. Imagine if they just can't get into parks now. Lowering capacity alone only shrinks revenue. Never gonna happen without massive price hikes.

I feel like that is exactly what they need to do. I would pay more to get in the rides I want. With a good experience I will return, most likely more than once a year. But now, with park capacity at a max and wandering around endlessly, they lost all of my revenue. Price increases are a part of life. I am just accepting it. Kids are only young for a short time. They grow up so fast, go away to college and begin their life. It gets harder and harder to corral the family and spend quality time with them. If it costs me more to get us all together. So be it. Just bring back the experience to a level of respect to the consumer.

 

[Married5Times]

Adventures Has A Name,

your #21 is very, very good: a common-sense explanation of FP using fundamental science and natural guest behavior

 

[Married5Times]

Or it might even be because it(Test Track)was new and a new attraction always has a long line(3 hours in this case)

I'd change that "might" to something far more definitive.

 

[el_super]

The original purpose of Fastpass was to get guests out of the queue line and into shops and restaurants.

Not really. The original intent was to get people out of lines, period. No one liked standing in line and it was one of the top complaints guests had about the overall experience (right below cost).

So a more accurate line would be, "to increase guest satisfaction," which of course can lead to increased in intent to return, and eventually revenue.

But something that has been lost to time was that Disney always intended for guests with Fastpasses to experience other attractions as well. That was built into the system early on. Disney (esp Disneyland) had an aging attraction roster with many theater shows and lower-tier attractions sitting empty half the day. The hope was that if guests really wanted to avoid the lines, they would go check out one of those lower-tier/minimal wait attractions while waiting for the Fastpass return time on the big attractions.

It didn't really work because attraction demand isn't equal, and guests would still rather spend 60+ minutes in line for something they see of value, rather than seeing the Tiki Room or Country Bears with minimal wait.

So the flipside of the "increased satisfaction" coin for Disney, was to increase attraction efficiency across the board. They're still working on that.

 

[Married5Times]

Not really. The original intent was to get people out of lines, period.

I'll see your "Not really" and raise you another not really.


Disney's intent was to get guests out of line to shop and eat more straight from Mouse lips in the late 90's early 2000's
Disney sold/marketed the program to guests by calling it a benefit or perk for park goers

 

[Tom Morrow]

I was working at EPCOT on Test Track when it first opened and we started with no fast pass. The lines were about 3 hours long and the end of the line was at the center of the park near the fountain. After fast pass was installed the lines became much shorter. I believe it should still be a free system.

Not to be rude, but your anecdotal evidence from the very early days of Fastpass does not align with what we know and the data we have. That's comparable to suggesting that Rise of the Resistance's lines are shorter now because of Genie+.