Charge for FP? Please say it aint so!

[rteetz]

That is nothing close to the experience of my local Six Flags. Im guessing its a management thing.

I am at Six Flags Great America about 6 times a year as a season pass holder for the past 5 years and I have NEVER heard this comment.
The park is just as clean at my 2015 trip to WDW
Have never had spoon issues
Our Six Flags isnt open yet during Spring Break season so shrug...however when High School and College is still in session I would agree that they need more people working especially the food
We have single rider lines on 3 different rides but only 1 of them are a top tier ride. 2 different top tier rides that do not have a single rider that would greatly benefit from having one.
The wait times on the WDW app were never close to correct for my 2015 trip...the 2 non official apps were much closer in estimated waits.
The WDW app never updated that Dinosaur was down for hours but it kept going from 15min to 55min making us think it had reopened when it didnt.
The SFGA bathrooms have an attendant in every single one constantly spraying something down, tossing trash out or mopping the floor.

Its been probably 1.5-2 years now since I have been to Six Flags Great America but I thought it was way under kept compared to Disney. Buildings looking dirty. Abandoned areas. It just made me appreciate Disney more and more.

 

[Liljo22]

And to tie Six Flags into this discussion, they charge $129 per person for their top tier Flash Pass that gets you FOL access on all the rides. They have lower tiers but they are virtual lines not FOL and they don't give access to the top rides in the park.

 

[The Pho]

That is nothing close to the experience of my local Six Flags. Im guessing its a management thing.

I am at Six Flags Great America about 6 times a year as a season pass holder for the past 5 years and I have NEVER heard this comment.
The park is just as clean at my 2015 trip to WDW
Have never had spoon issues
Our Six Flags isnt open yet during Spring Break season so shrug...however when High School and College is still in session I would agree that they need more people working especially the food
We have single rider lines on 3 different rides but only 1 of them are a top tier ride. 2 different top tier rides that do not have a single rider that would greatly benefit from having one.
The wait times on the WDW app were never close to correct for my 2015 trip...the 2 non official apps were much closer in estimated waits.
The WDW app never updated that Dinosaur was down for hours but it kept going from 15min to 55min making us think it had reopened when it didnt.
The SFGA bathrooms have an attendant in every single one constantly spraying something down, tossing trash out or mopping the floor.

Haven't been to Great America, but the past couple years I've done Great Escape, New England, Great Adventure, Over Georgia, and Magic Mountain. All but Magic Mountain I would say are borderline filthy. Fairly certain New England wasn't even cleaned before they opened the park this season at all. Magic Mountain was better but still I wouldn't consider it clean, same goes for Cedar Point. But with Six Flags, I don't expect much since annual passes that get you into every park are only about $50. But I'd also say that Disneyland itself was far from clean the only time I went there, however California Adventure was quite clean.

 

[HuskieJohn]

Its been probably 1.5-2 years now since I have been to Six Flags Great America but I thought it was way under kept compared to Disney. Buildings looking dirty. Abandoned areas. It just made me appreciate Disney more and more.

Oh im not saying that disney isnt MUCH better at keeping up their buildings and overall supreamly better as a theme park. I was just saying those specific arguments points were not my experience.

However SFGA did just knock down the Pictorium which has basically been the biggest eyesore in the park for the past 5+ years so that should help.

 

[Whositsgalore]

I may be the only one but i would gladly pay for unlimited fast passes or even 1 fast pass per ride. Quickly enjoy the parks in the morning without standing in long lines then head back to the resort to relax by the pool all afternoon. I would jump all over that.

 

[Moliphino]

I live a half hour from Six Flags New England and I haven't been there in about 8 years (and even that was only because a friend invited me along). It's just not good.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

I may be the only one but i would gladly pay for unlimited fast passes or even 1 fast pass per ride. Quickly enjoy the parks in the morning without standing in long lines then head back to the resort to relax by the pool all afternoon. I would jump all over that.

You're not the only one, but the problem with that is it pushes Disney farther from the average family and more towards being only for the rich.

 

[Remy is Up]

I may be the only one but i would gladly pay for unlimited fast passes or even 1 fast pass per ride. Quickly enjoy the parks in the morning without standing in long lines then head back to the resort to relax by the pool all afternoon. I would jump all over that.

You can pretty much do this already. I know some people hate to "plan" or get up early, but, even as recent as 3 weeks ago I was able to get into AK on EMH morning Ride FOP, EE, Safari, Dinosaur , Navi, EE AGain Single rider this time, and Chester..The only wait was being at the park at 630 for a 7AM EMH and was on FOP and done with it by 710, completely finished the park by 1030 as far as "rides" go. Out of the park by 11, dealt with zero lines, back at the resort, hit the pool for a couple of hours, went to Epcot for the evening and used FPs there, had a nice dinner at Hacienda, and the day was good. Ive done the same thing at MK, Epcot, and Studios, saved the FPs for evenings at parks and treated the evenings very slow with no rush to ride anything because all the riding was done in the early AMs. Able to have nice sit down dinners and enjoy the nighttime shows. From Thursday- Sunday you can do Epcot, MK, AK, and Studios emh without missing a beat. And even without EMH, just avoid the emh park, be at another park at opening and you can accomplish pretty much the same thing. I despise waiting in lines, especially in the Florida heat, so Ill get out of bed and make sure I do what I want early and then have relaxed afternoons and evenings. Its all about planning and what your goals are.

 

[mkarizona]

Probably just a rumor or speculation that I think people are just "assuming" Disney will do based on all their other recent things (increase in ticket prices, resort parking, more upsells, etc.). If speculations go around enough, they become 'rumors', if those go around enough, they become 'fact'.

But, I wouldn't be surprised either. The problem is, this (like the resort parking) just generates really, REALLY bad press when you start charging for something that was free for many, many years.
People give Disney huge props for having a free "skip the line" system and it is a big selling point. A lot are shocked they do that .. and that is huge.

If Disney did this, it would lose the magic and appeal to a LOT of loyal customers and push more people to Universal for sure as Disney goes from the top dog to just another theme park in Orlando.

If they changed things to "day of" Fast Passes (like Disneyland) . .I would be okay with charging. Disneyland's system seems a lot easier/fairer even though it costs.

Scheduling things 30-60 days in advance and stressing out about how "maximize" the system for a vacation is silly.


I think the FP+ system is straining under its own weight. The addition of more net new attractions will help it, but just feels like the system is very burdensome (technology wise and guest experience wise)

Disneyland does not charge for regular paper fastpasses. The charge is for electronic fast passes (which are great btw) and includes photopass for the day.

 

[cwoww]

Sesame Place charges (a lot) for their "magic queue" and they are way down on the list of great theme parks compared to Disney. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney implemented a paid FP system.

 

[EveDallas]

Or you can book fast passes on a day-by-day basis. Right now—at 1pm—there are still FPs available TODAY for nearly every WDW attraction: BTMR, Space, Splash, Test Track, Soarin, RNR, Tower of Terror, Star Tours, Everest, Kilimanjaro. That same experience isn’t replicated every day of the year, but more often than not, there are dozens of attractions available same-day. I’ve had days where I went thru my 3 pre-booked FPs and still secured 8-10 more.



Universal doesn’t offer reservations 6 months out, but they do still allow for advance booking. Are you suggesting that Universal guests can dine at will without any advance planning whatsoever?

Not really sure what else Disney could do. Eliminate advance reservation and guests are either lining up at 8am to book same-day or they’d wait literally hours for a table on a first-come, first-served basis. It’s unfortunate that the likes of Be Our Guest and Plaza Restaurant can’t accommodate every willing diner. But there are dozens, perhaps hundreds of other alternatives scattered around WDW property.

Actually, yes. I've never made a reservation at Universal and never waited more than thirty minutes for a table.

 

[Cory's Gal]

Another vote here for the same system in WDW as they have in Disneyland! We LOVED LOVED LOVED Max Pass at Disneyland. I thought $10/person a day which included Photopass was a great deal!! We got on SO many attraction, especially headliners with such ease on our phones! (Bring a fuel rod for power extra power!) We found it easy and so stress free! We didn't have to criss cross the parks at all! Basic FP still available too for those who didn't want to pay extra! I think it's great to have both those options for different needs of guests

 

[Remy is Up]

Living in GA close enough to Six Flags to go and We wont go anywhere near that park. Its dirty and they constantly have issues with fights and such. Its unsafe, the rides arent that great, and parts of the park absolutely smell awful. Outside of Disney, Universal, and Sea World, the parks we do go to when we want to ride the big coasters: Carowinds in Charlotte NC, Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio, Dollywood in Pigeon Forge TN, Busch Gardens and Kings Dominion in Virginia, and Busch Gardens in Tampa.

As far as FP or virtual rides at other parks. It is extremely pricey and I dont see WDW doing away with free ones. Offering extras for a "charge" to onsite resort guests and giving them a longer window out to book them sounds like something more plausible.

 

[tarak]

You can pretty much do this already. I know some people hate to "plan" or get up early, but, even as recent as 3 weeks ago I was able to get into AK on EMH morning Ride FOP, EE, Safari, Dinosaur , Navi, EE AGain Single rider this time, and Chester..The only wait was being at the park at 630 for a 7AM EMH and was on FOP and done with it by 710, completely finished the park by 1030 as far as "rides" go. Out of the park by 11, dealt with zero lines, back at the resort, hit the pool for a couple of hours, went to Epcot for the evening and used FPs there, had a nice dinner at Hacienda, and the day was good. Ive done the same thing at MK, Epcot, and Studios, saved the FPs for evenings at parks and treated the evenings very slow with no rush to ride anything because all the riding was done in the early AMs. Able to have nice sit down dinners and enjoy the nighttime shows. From Thursday- Sunday you can do Epcot, MK, AK, and Studios emh without missing a beat. And even without EMH, just avoid the emh park, be at another park at opening and you can accomplish pretty much the same thing. I despise waiting in lines, especially in the Florida heat, so Ill get out of bed and make sure I do what I want early and then have relaxed afternoons and evenings. Its all about planning and what your goals are.

I agree. We were at AK about ten days ago. Got to the park around 7:30 (8:00 EMH). We rode FOP, Navi, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, EE, Kali River Rapids, and the Safari all before 11. We only had a FP for the Safari. We rode EE and FOP again with FP. We got a lot more done the days we got to the parks for rope drop. We’ve been to WDW often enough that we didn’t get up that early every day.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Disneyland does not charge for regular paper fastpasses. The charge is for electronic fast passes (which are great btw) and includes photopass for the day.

We don't have paper FP in FL??? And AP Holders get free photopass with their AP.

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

Living in GA close enough to Six Flags to go and We wont go anywhere near that park. Its dirty and they constantly have issues with fights and such. Its unsafe, the rides arent that great, and parts of the park absolutely smell awful.

We also live about 75 miles from Six Flags Ga. On my last trip I witnessed a group of teens with really foul language cut in front of all of us in the Batman Que and only one man stood up to them and he got jumped by all of them. It was 4 or 5 on one. Nothing happened to the teens and families with kids left the line. Some of the rides are pretty good like Goliath but the park sure isn't WDW. I will never take my kids there unless they step up security, get rid of the gangs and actually punish the ones that are causing trouble.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

My annual pass orice jumped by $100 to include photo pass. I don't think those who have AP's need a perk for pictures with FP for Disney to start charging for them. Universal charges for Express Pass. Since they implemented that, I stopped getting them. At one time they were free like Disney

 

[cmwade77]

I could see them bringing back paper FPs for free and then charging for the ability to book FPs from the app like MaxPass at Disneyland, as that model has worked well for them and provides fair options to both those who want pay and those who don't. And they can get rid of this booking FPs 30 to 60 days in advance nonsense, it is really fairer to do day of only and increases FP availability.

I do not see them charging for all FPs though and a person handling timeshare resells is definitely not a reliable source.

 

[The Pho]

I could see them bringing back paper FPs for free and then charging for the ability to book FPs from the app like MaxPass at Disneyland, as that model has worked well for them and provides fair options to both those who want pay and those who don't. And they can get rid of this booking FPs 30 to 60 days in advance nonsense, it is really fairer to do day of only and increases FP availability.

I do not see them charging for all FPs though and a person handling timeshare resells is definitely not a reliable source.

I don't see them ever bringing back paper passes to World. They've spent tons of money into the system that gives them ample amounts of data on visitor habits and patterns. The Disneyland model works at Disneyland because it has a significantly larger number of day trippers since its next to a major city. World is primarily a vacation destination, where lots of people want to plan ahead and know what they're getting in advance. Both models work for themselves and transferring them wouldn't translate all that well. It would be nice if they held back more passes for day of release in World so the non planners still had a chance but they won't be going back to day of only.
And personally I never book fastpasses more than a few days out, usually just the night before and always get what I want (except Flight of Passage or Seven Dwarves).

 

[cmwade77]

I can definitely see them going to day of only, the present system doesn't work well at all as who knows exactly what time they will want to ride a particular ride 30 to 60 days in advance? I don't even know more than an hour or two in advance what my body will be able to handle.

Day of is the way to go, they won't get rid of magic bands, as they will still want to be able to track exactly where you are at any given moment on Disney Property (and yes, they can do that, they even tell you they can when you order your magic bands), but I can see them going day of only and I can see paper FPs or perhaps instead of paper FPs, you have to go to the attraction to get a return time and if you want to be able to book through the app you will have to pay extra.

The bottom line is I don't see them getting rid of free FPs, but I do see them monetizing them.