State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[luv2cheer92]

I think some people were really maxing it out? Mom would get 3 FPs and Dad would get a different 3. They’d hit 6 FP lines and the riding kids would get to go twice. Basically getting 12 rides with no waits. We never used it but from what I’ve read I think some people were doing this. But I could be confused.

They changed that around two years ago or so. So that everyone who wanted to ride had to have a FP if using the FP lane for the initial ride. So unless mom or dad didn't want to ride every ride as well, they couldn't double up on the FPs. Some people on here seemed pretty mad about that, but I never felt sorry for them.

 

[jpbothwell]

I just realized why DLP pay-per-ride will not work in US… Americans, myself included, generally want to feel like they/we are getting a better deal, a discount, or the like… even if they aren’t. It is so baked into our culture that I can’t imagine it not finding it’s way into a WDW FP+ paid program. Even look at Disney resorts, what % or reservations are rack rate? People fall over themselves for DDP. We like feeling like we won.

dollar general, family Dollar, Costco, marshals, kohl’s, loyalty programs, credit card rewards, it’s mostly psychological nonsense to convince the customer they are getting a better deal deal. Of course, deals can be had, but those exist under the umbrella of need for perceived value that persists in our culture.

I am not familiar with Shanghai or french culture to know if this is different, but I would guess it is.

100% have convinced myself now that either value bundles or all access (likely rolling just like FP+) will find it’s way to WDW.

I'm an American and have lived in Europe for the better part of 20 years, in the Netherlands first and now Spain. Even though you're not suppose to generalize (get ready because I'm about to), I would say Europeans are on average MUCH thriftier than Americans. Things also move MUCH slower here and people are more willing to wait whether at a restaurant, the butcher, or the bank. I went to DLP the first week of December a few years back and there were 30-45 minute lines for almost every restaurant at dinner time. With the possible exception of the Brits who have a favorable exchange rate, its hard for me to see most Europeans paying €32-€45 for their family of 4 to ride any of those attractions, especially when you have the free Standby pass that will cut down on the time in line.

 

[Kbrb]

I'm an American and have lived in Europe for the better part of 20 years, in the Netherlands first and now Spain. Even though you're not suppose to generalize (get ready because I'm about to), I would say Europeans are on average MUCH thriftier than Americans. Things also move MUCH slower here and people are more willing to wait whether at a restaurant, the butcher, or the bank. I went to DLP the first week of December a few years back and there were 30-45 minute lines for almost every restaurant at dinner time. With the possible exception of the Brits who have a favorable exchange rate, its hard for me to see most Europeans paying €32-€45 for their family of 4 to ride any of those attractions, especially when you have the free Standby pass that will cut down on the time in line.

We brits love a line, i once came back from spain and there was hold up at immigration. We formed a snaking line so perfect i nearly broke into a verse of god save the queen. We will pay for a few of those passes as the time in DLP is short 2 3 nights tops. We will also pay for what ever comes to Disney world. On average we go once every 3 to 4 years and stay 14 nights. Most people will take in Uni and maybe seaworld. Our time in the house of mouse is limited and not easily repeatable. I get there in Oct 22 and my last day in magic kingdom im not able to get on tron? I hate to admit it im gritting my teeth bribing the mouse and riding it.

 

[jpbothwell]

We brits love a line, i once came back from spain and there was hold up at immigration. We formed a snaking line so perfect i nearly broke into a verse of god save the queen. We will pay for a few of those passes as the time in DLP is short 2 3 nights tops. We will also pay for what ever comes to Disney world. On average we go once every 3 to 4 years and stay 14 nights. Most people will take in Uni and maybe seaworld. Our time in the house of mouse is limited and not easily repeatable. I get there in Oct 22 and my last day in magic kingdom im not able to get on tron? I hate to admit it im gritting my teeth bribing the mouse and riding it.

You are pretty skilled at queuing up. The Spanish don't form lines but rather triangles. I appreciate the first confirmation that Brits will shell out for DPA and whatever comes to WDW, but I don't see the Dutch using their alligator arms to reach into their pockets to pay for it and definitely don't see the Spanish. My wife would probably punch me and slap the phone at out of my hands before she let me pay €45 to ride BTMRR.

 

[Kbrb]

You are pretty skilled at queuing up. The Spanish don't form lines but rather triangles. I appreciate the first confirmation that Brits will shell out for DPA and whatever comes to WDW, but I don't see the Dutch using their alligator arms to reach into their pockets to pay for it and definitely don't see the Spanish. My wife would probably punch me and slap the phone at out of my hands before she let me pay €45 to ride BTMRR.

I just ran a dumby booking at Disney.EU and .co.uk. The rest of Europe isnt getting any kind of free dining or gift voucher offers. I do wonder what the numbers are for foreign travelers.

 

[yorkieteacher]

Paid FP's and rising Disney resort rates will change how we do Disney. We are looking at off-site stays in very nice upscale resorts for less money than value Disney resorts, fewer days spent in Disney parks and seeing other Orlando area parks instead, using UBER which is cheaper than renting a car and easier than Disney transportation (we have used it frequently even when staying on-site), and shelling out for the FP's. If we have substantial savings from being off property, if would probably be easier than arriving 30 minutes early and cheaper paying for the FP's we didn't want to wait in the lines for, or sign up for virtual queue's for, if things are like Paris. We are watching closely to see how things play out.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

After digesting the news about the DLP paid Premier pass there are a few reasons why an identical system won't work at WDW. The biggest being the onsite hotels. Unless management is completely incompetent, they will never implement the system in that form. Why?

1. Premier pass is equally available to both offsite and onsite guests. Paris has very few onsite guests, WDW has lots of hotels. Clever consumers at WDW would just find the cheapest offsite motel near WDW and buy premier passes all day long with the hundreds of dollars they save vs onsite. Onsite families take note, cut their trips from 5-7 days to 2-3 days and spend more on premier passes squeezing more out of each day and Disney loses out on hotel, merch, and dining revenue. Park-hopping commandos figure out how to game the system and ride everything on property in 1-2 days with a wad of cash.

2. Meanwhile, virtual queues are a disaster when they work at all. Crafty parkgoers churn standby queues by getting a picture of all the QR codes in advance or dividing and conquering their party depleting the stock of these by lunchtime and locking out regular guests. The system isn't able to handle the volume and crashes frequently leading to more problems.

3. The parks feel more crowded as the massive crowds of confused people mill about the park with nothing to do but buy merch or food. Except not food because you have to use mobile order and if the slots are all taken by the expert guests, they find the one poor cast member at each dining location with an iPad.


How can you prevent this from happening? 1. Become a Disney shareholder. If enough people passionate about the parks own the company, we can help determine the direction the company takes. Demand a board and executives that value the park experience. 2. Vote with your wallet. Everyone here complains when something changes, but we always go back like addicts. Go to Universal, visit a national park, take a trip to Europe. 3. Make noise on Social Media. Disney HATES this, they want to control the narrative. If millions of people complain on Twitter/ Facebook/ etc. it damages their brand and they make changes. If it works to get them to clean bathrooms and pick up the trash in the parks, you better believe it will get them to take out the trash and clean out the idiots in the boardroom.

 

[Karin1984]

I just ran a dumby booking at Disney.EU and .co.uk. The rest of Europe isnt getting any kind of free dining or gift voucher offers. I do wonder what the numbers are for foreign travelers.

Special offers are limited at the moment for DLP. But in normal times there are usually several options throughout the year and you do not have to book offers for your own country. You can book any offer, regardless of country of residence.

Numbers... at the moment it is at least 90% French with all the travel restrictions. In normal times I think it will be 60% French? Announcements are always done in 6 languages.

 

[Nabas]

1. Premier pass is equally available to both offsite and onsite guests.

I agree with your post but am unsure about this. It could be that (for example) onsite Guests can buy Premier Access at a discount.

I suspect the system at WDW hasn't been 100% decided on yet and DLP is a prototype. At this point, we're not exactly sure what WDW will be getting.

 

[Kbrb]

They have to tie it into the onsite hotels.

1 free pass for vaule
2 for mods
3 for deleux

Special offers are limited at the moment for DLP. But in normal times there are usually several options throughout the year and you do not have to book offers for your own country. You can book any offer, regardless of country of residence.

Numbers... at the moment it is at least 90% French with all the travel restrictions. In normal times I think it will be 60% French? Announcements are always done in 6 languages.

Aw sorry i meant offers for Disney world orlando. Our uk one has 250 spending and a meal credit per night how much depends on level of hotel. If you where from say the US or Holland can you book via the uk site? Could i book via the US site? I never knew i could.

Back on topic im getting more and more convinced they will use this as a ploy to get you into the onsite hotels. I wouldn't be shocked to see value get one pass mods 2 and deluxe 3 passes per day

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

I agree with your post but am unsure about this. It could be that (for example) onsite Guests can buy Premier Access at a discount.

I suspect the system at WDW hasn't been 100% decided on yet and DLP is a prototype. At this point, we're not exactly sure what WDW will be getting.

Except that DLP’s new system isn’t a prototype at all. Disney Premier Access has been in place at Shanghai Disneyland since March of 2017. It is a slightly different system in that it offers a “set” of passes as well as individual passes. As I’ve mentioned several times, no two resort properties have *exactly* the same FastPass system. Shanghai doesn’t have a virtual standby option. But the system coming to DLP isn’t some shocking or revolutionary thing as it’s being made out to be.

 

[cakebaker]

Except that DLP isn’t a prototype at all.

In that it could be used as a basis for whatever they bring to WDW, it is a prototype. WDW could refine it and make specific changes to better fit the parks here.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

In that it could be used as a basis for whatever they bring to WDW, it is a prototype. WDW could refine it and make specific changes to better fit the parks here.

But DLP isn’t the first iteration of Disney Premier Access, so really Shanghai is the prototype and DLP is a new iteration of it. And using that logic, we could also argue that MaxPass is a prototype. A low cost “all rides” version of paid FastPass that still allows a “free” option. Or that Tokyo Disneyland’s “digital FastPass” where you book day of and use Virtual queues for the newest attractions is another prototype.

 

[cakebaker]

Then we could also argue that MaxPass is a prototype. A low cost “all rides” version of paid FastPass that still allows a “free” option. Or that Tokyo Disneyland’s “digital FastPass” were you book day off and use Virtual queues for more popular attractions is another prototype.

I’m not sure I get where there’s a debate here or at least one worth having at least.

But sure - anything that is used as the basis for something else could be called a prototype or template or probably a dozen other words. Sorry, but I don’t a thesaurus pulled up or I could find more.

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

I’m not sure I get where there’s a debate here or at least one worth having at least.

But sure - anything that is used as the basis for something else could be called a prototype or template or probably a dozen other words. Sorry, but I don’t a thesaurus pulled up or I could find more.

What I’m saying is that people are losing their minds over DLP, when Disney Premier Access isn’t this new money grabbing evil system. It’s been used for years at another park. And it’s just as hypothetically likely that the system that has been in place in California or Tokyo could be applied to WDW. But because the news of DLP came out recently everyone is obsessed with it as “the one” that they’ll base WDW’s new system on with absolutely zero evidence that it is indeed the case.

And this whole thread is a debate

 

[cakebaker]

And this whole thread is a debate

Not over the use of a single word it isn’t. This is way too far into the weeds this early in the morning. But have fun with it. I’m moving on to obsess about FP+ coming back.

 

[jpbothwell]

What I’m saying is that people are losing their minds over DLP, when Disney Premier Access isn’t this new money grabbing evil system. It’s been used for years at another park. And it’s just as hypothetically likely that the system that has been in place in California or Tokyo could be applied to WDW. But because the news of DLP came out recently everyone is obsessed with it as “the one” that they’ll base WDW’s new system on with absolutely zero evidence that it is indeed the case.

And this whole thread is a debate

People are "losing their minds" because everyone is waiting for some kind of announcement on FP at WDW and DLP's announcement is the first official news from Disney about any kind of new system to skip the lines. And to respectfully disagree, a paid system that replaces a previously free one is kind of the definition of money grabbing.

 

[Karin1984]

People are "losing their minds" because everyone is waiting for some kind of announcement on FP at WDW and DLP's announcement is the first official news from Disney about any kind of new system to skip the lines. And to respectfully disagree, a paid system that replaces a previously free one is kind of the definition of money grabbing.

That plus that the covid closure helps to make a change to systems that have existed for a long time. Without covid, switching to a paid FP system or the change to rider swap had been harder. Now new people have never used it or sort of forgot a bit how it was (for the incidental guests, not the die-hards here).

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

People are "losing their minds" because everyone is waiting for some kind of announcement on FP at WDW and DLP's announcement is the first official news from Disney about any kind of new system to skip the lines. And to respectfully disagree, a paid system that replaces a previously free one is kind of the definition of money grabbing.

People are "losing their minds" because everyone is waiting for some kind of announcement on FP at WDW and DLP's announcement is the first official news from Disney about any kind of new system to skip the lines. And to respectfully disagree, a paid system that replaces a previously free one is kind of the definition of money grabbing.

But paid options aren’t entirely new for DLP. There have previously been multiple forms of paid FastPass at DLP. Super FastPass, Ultimate FastPass and VIP FastPass (available to certain resort guests). Whereas WDW has only had one paid FastPass option and it was an optional upgrade available to CL guests only on a trial basis.

And what I was saying re: “DPA isn’t some NEW EVIL money grabbing system”, is that DPA isn’t a new concept. It and MaxPass have been available for 4 years in other Disney parks. It’s not like FastPass has previously been free everywhere and this is the first time Disney has thought to charge for it.

 

[jade1]

It's a big reason why they do what they do. Cause so far no matter what they cut or make people continue to pay for it. Til people start voting with their wallets they will continue to do this.

As far as FP goes I welcome a paid system. I have gone to enough parks to know a well paid systems work. The less people that have FP the better it works.