Fast Pass Future? Predictions...

[katyringo]

I think free fast pass is gone too.

isn’t WDW attendance way higher than DL? I mean even with FP+ the FP lines get long. With max pass available to everyone for every ride wouldn’t it just make the lines extremely long?

They still limit the number of FP available for each ride. But Disneyland doesn’t offer FP for a lot of rides/expirences fhat DisneyWorld does. Like the character meets and rides like Peter Pan.

 

[disneyguy87]

Is she not eligible for DAS?

We weren't aware of the severity of her condition until our 2019 trip and I didn't know how/where to ask. When I booked our now canceled 2020 trip I asked about this and they told me to talk to Guest Relations on check-in.

 

[greg9x]

i don’t really understand this. It works just fine at Disneyland with two parks and similar number of rides. We’ve used maxpass is all type of crowd situations there including Christmas break capacity crowds.
But truth be told? I’d pay more for it. When we went to DisneyWorld in October we took a day at universal and paid for the unlimited express pass. I think it was close to $100 per person. The thing is.with the maxpass model . you don’t have to buy it everyday... or one person buy it each day for the photos.

I believe free fastpass is gone. DisneyWorld was the last theme park left that had it free other than Disneyland’s paper fastpass..I also believe Disneyland will do away with those.

Disneyland has always been painted as more for locals, so probably a lot who go a lot and don't feel pressed to have to do all the rides, so the Maxpass isn't felt as a necessary expense to a lot of guests.

Disneyworld is a major tourist destination that high planning goes in to and people want to do all the rides during their trip. The ability to get on the rides is in high demand with a limited supply...so the market will demand a high price to get that access. There is no way a FP+ pay system would be under $100/day and probably much more.

If you only paid $100 for Express Pass at Universal, then you were there at a low demand time where many would say it isn't needed... for comparison, for the upcoming spring break they are up to $310/day. Universal is also getting too crowded as many dumped Disney when Universal was a much easier/cheaper vacation spot.

 

[JakeAZ]

Disneyland has always been painted as more for locals, so probably a lot who go a lot and don't feel pressed to have to do all the rides, so the Maxpass isn't felt as a necessary expense to a lot of guests.

Disneyworld is a major tourist destination that high planning goes in to and people want to do all the rides during their trip.

Exactly!

 

[JakeAZ]

Exactly. If they decide to sell FP they will have to make them expensive or it’ll defeat the purpose.

I do agree with the sentiments that anything "paid for" will need to be priced substantially higher in order for it not to be seen as a "must do", I still believe WDW will give some "included" ride access to on-site guests.

They just raised prices for 2022. Can they really take away DME, PM EMH and FP+ from on-site guests with the prices they charge? Time will tell, but I want to believe that would be the last straw for many families as they see $500+ per night for "deluxe" hotels that include basically nothing.

 

[JakeAZ]

We weren't aware of the severity of her condition until our 2019 trip and I didn't know how/where to ask. When I booked our now canceled 2020 trip I asked about this and they told me to talk to Guest Relations on check-in.

Based on what you said, I think she'd be good to get one. We've never used the service, but from what I hear you don't have to go into immense details regarding the condition. Just that she'd be unable to stand in hour+ line after hour+ line.

 

[JakeAZ]

With max pass available to everyone for every ride wouldn’t it just make the lines extremely long?

Yup.

If everyone has something that is "included", it's hard to complain (too much) when it doesn't work.

Now, if people have to pay for the right to be a part of system that will be just as crowded...the complaints will be off the charts.

They can't target everyone at a low price. They will have to target some at a high price. They will make the same, if not more, but it won't bog down the system as if everyone had it.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Exactly. If they decide to sell FP they will have to make them expensive or it’ll defeat the purpose.

Not if it's a hybrid of paid and limited. They could literally use the old system but charge $20 for each fastpass.

 

[JakeAZ]

Not if it's a hybrid of paid and limited. They could literally use the old system but charge $20 for each fastpass.

While I agree your pricing probably is in the ballpark of what they will charge, I think they'll do it as packages to add on to whatever they include with an on-site stay.

 

[Rusty2rules]

They just raised prices for 2022. Can they really take away DME, PM EMH and FP+ from on-site guests with the prices they charge? Time will tell, but I want to believe that would be the last straw for many families as they see $500+ per night for "deluxe" hotels that include basically nothing.

The short answer: yes. And they'll continue to do it until attendance begins to fall, which there are no signs of happening anytime in the near future. There's already pent up demand from the pandemic. They've got the 50th anniversary coming up. That will last 18 months, ending just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of EPCOT. According to their most recent earnings call, WDW turned a profit even at reduced capacity. So, yes, they will continue to charge a premium for less services until there's a revolt.

Me personally, I'm going in September. I had originally planned 4 nights/5 days at WDW at Coronado Springs. They've ticked me off to the point I cancelled my reservations last week and am reducing my time at the Mouse House. I saved so much money, I'm able to extend my trip by a day. So, instead of giving The Mouse all of my money, I've reduced my Disney days from 5 to 3 (not to mention cancelling my CS reservations) and spending 3 days at Universal. I also sent their customer relations an email telling them exactly that and explaining why. To be quite honest, I'm more excited about Universal than I am Disney.

If they see more of that, they might change their policies. Until then, they're going to continue to charge more for less.

 

[JakeAZ]

The short answer: yes. And they'll continue to do it until attendance begins to fall, which there are no signs of happening anytime in the near future. There's already pent up demand from the pandemic. They've got the 50th anniversary coming up. That will last 18 months, ending just in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of EPCOT. According to their most recent earnings call, WDW turned a profit even at reduced capacity. So, yes, they will continue to charge a premium for less services until there's a revolt.

Me personally, I'm going in September. I had originally planned 4 nights/5 days at WDW at Coronado Springs. They've ticked me off to the point I cancelled my reservations last week and am reducing my time at the Mouse House. I saved so much money, I'm able to extend my trip by a day. So, instead of giving The Mouse all of my money, I've reduced my Disney days from 5 to 3 (not to mention cancelling my CS reservations) and spending 3 days at Universal. I also sent their customer relations an email telling them exactly that and explaining why. To be quite honest, I'm more excited about Universal than I am Disney.

If they see more of that, they might change their policies. Until then, they're going to continue to charge more for less.

"We are very sorry to hear this and we will make sure to escalate your concerns to the correct department. Have a magical day"

 

[Rusty2rules]

"We are very sorry to hear this and we will make sure to escalate your concerns to the correct department. Have a magical day"

Translation: "We have 10 more suckers right behind you who can't wait to reserve that room you just cancelled and give us all their money. Buh bye, loser."

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

The short answer: yes. And they'll continue to do it until attendance begins to fall,

Attendance at the **hotels** is absolutely abysmal right now is my understanding, and they don't even have all of them open! So, yeah, they are feeling the lack of hotel perks right now I think.

 

[Rusty2rules]

Attendance at the **hotels** is absolutely abysmal right now is my understanding, and they don't even have all of them open! So, yeah, they are feeling the lack of hotel perks right now I think.

The parks are only running at 35% according to reports, so I wouldn't expect the resorts that are open to be anywhere near full. With that said, all but 5 resorts (I believe around 20 are open) are completely booked in March. The parks are nearly completely booked for March and early April. Like I said, between pent up demand and the special events they have rolling out over the next several months (even years), they won't feel the pain until people stop going for such things. Heck, I'm going in September, typically a slow time, and the crowd calendars are currently predicting 4 and 5 out of 10. Usually they're a 2 or 3, 4 max, that time of year.

 

[Boo]

I think that the Fastpass concept will transition to the virtual queues like RoR on mde. Disney can then determine which attractions are only available for a one per day/ per party, and how many virtual queues can be utilized at a time. They have to figure something out. Having the switchback lines outside now instead of inside the building because of covid concerns and no fastpasses made all the parks feel very, very crowded last week.

 

[diskids2]

Did anyone get the survey about an upcoming booked trip? It had a few different questions in it geared toward your likelihood to keep your current reservation. One of the items was about FastPass. I thought that was interesting.

 

[JakeAZ]

Did anyone get the survey about an upcoming booked trip? It had a few different questions in it geared toward your likelihood to keep your current reservation. One of the items was about FastPass. I thought that was interesting.

I remember getting something like this when we booked "back up" rooms before our 11 month window to rent points opened. I answered everything with a tilt towards "yes all the missing stuff will play a factor into keeping this reservation" Then we canceled it when we were able to rent DVC with points.

 

[redrosesix]

Fair points- my wife agrees. She thinks they need to retain SOME perks for staying at the resorts or people will just stay at less expensive hotels nearby.

This is our thinking.

We proved your wife right. We saw how many perks were slashed for resort guests and our 2022 family reunion trip became a trip to Cuba at an all-inclusive resort. Our next family trip will most likely be to Universal and then a week on the beach in St. Pete's, just because we've never stayed there and Disney isn't offering anything special enough to keep us there. We might buy a 2-day pass for WDW, but we won't do the water parks or anything else. If we have to have a car to get to WDW, then we're just going to use that car to go to other places.

Getting into the parks half an hour early isn't enough to keep guests onsite -- even Universal does an hour and that's for both parks. Magic bands aren't really a perk -- they're no different than the KTTW cards except you can wear your magic band in the pool, and now you have to buy them. I've never stayed at a hotel where I actually had to buy my room key.

So yeah...the FP might keep us at WDW so they will have to do it.

 

[Jonfw2]

This is our thinking.

We proved your wife right. We saw how many perks were slashed for resort guests and our 2022 family reunion trip became a trip to Cuba at an all-inclusive resort. Our next family trip will most likely be to Universal and then a week on the beach in St. Pete's, just because we've never stayed there and Disney isn't offering anything special enough to keep us there. We might buy a 2-day pass for WDW, but we won't do the water parks or anything else. If we have to have a car to get to WDW, then we're just going to use that car to go to other places.

Getting into the parks half an hour early isn't enough to keep guests onsite -- even Universal does an hour and that's for both parks. Magic bands aren't really a perk -- they're no different than the KTTW cards except you can wear your magic band in the pool, and now you have to buy them. I've never stayed at a hotel where I actually had to buy my room key.

So yeah...the FP might keep us at WDW so they will have to do it.

Well said!

 

[Rusty2rules]

This is our thinking.

We proved your wife right. We saw how many perks were slashed for resort guests and our 2022 family reunion trip became a trip to Cuba at an all-inclusive resort. Our next family trip will most likely be to Universal and then a week on the beach in St. Pete's, just because we've never stayed there and Disney isn't offering anything special enough to keep us there. We might buy a 2-day pass for WDW, but we won't do the water parks or anything else. If we have to have a car to get to WDW, then we're just going to use that car to go to other places.

Getting into the parks half an hour early isn't enough to keep guests onsite -- even Universal does an hour and that's for both parks. Magic bands aren't really a perk -- they're no different than the KTTW cards except you can wear your magic band in the pool, and now you have to buy them. I've never stayed at a hotel where I actually had to buy my room key.

So yeah...the FP might keep us at WDW so they will have to do it.

Not to hijack the thread, but St. Pete/Clearwater is awesome! I love that area.