Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[yaya74]

People keep saying this, but virtually all the other major theme parks have brought back their versions of fastpas with crowd limits. Disney could bring it back if it wanted to, it just would have to be a little more creative with he queues.

Glad to know I am not the only one having that thought. Universal Orlando is running at the same capacity limitation and it is still selling the express pass which is a system that I really enjoy.

 

[ellbell]

People keep saying this, but virtually all the other major theme parks have brought back their versions of fastpas with crowd limits. Disney could bring it back if it wanted to, it just would have to be a little more creative with he queues.

Not to mention none of us cam actually say what Disney will or won't do. Even regular cast members don't get that kind of info. Disney will or won't do whatever they want.

 

[Krandor]

People keep saying this, but virtually all the other major theme parks have brought back their versions of fastpas with crowd limits. Disney could bring it back if it wanted to, it just would have to be a little more creative with he queues.

Other parks though don't give every guest fastpassses. A paid system with limited quantity can be limited even more then normal. The systems are just not the same.

 

[Jmljasmine]

Paid FP+ a la carte for the Tier 3 type rides is dumb imo, and also causes disney to lose out on a valuable crowd management tool. I think I posted it earlier in this thread, or maybe one of th EO the ones, but there are a lot of parents of young children like me who don’t care what ride the fastpass is for, so long as I don’t have to wait on a 40 minute ride with my 1 and 5 year old. I don’t even care if it turns out the standby line isn’t backed up beyond the fastpass checkpoint. At least by getting a fastpass I know before getting on that line I’m not going to have a potty emergency mid-line. Disney is making a huge mistake if it takes away free unlimited fastpasses for the IASW and turtle talks of the world.

So agree. I don't think a lot of the people claiming no fast past and 30 min plus lines that move have kids, especially young ones.

 

[Jmljasmine]

We always rope drop and then start our fast passes for around 10:00. We have always been able to get so much accomplished first thing in the morning. We ride the less popular rides first thing while others are running to the headliners. We usually take a break midday and return to the part in the afternoon. We have never felt like we need to pull fast pass after fast pass to get done what we wanted.

Agree. The 3 has always been plenty and I felt Disney explained the how to of that well.

 

[Eric Smith]

People keep saying this, but virtually all the other major theme parks have brought back their versions of fastpas with crowd limits. Disney could bring it back if it wanted to, it just would have to be a little more creative with he queues.

Express pass at Universal isn’t analogous to FP+ at WDW. Universal doesn’t give every guest access to Express Pass, it’s a paid add on or a perk for on site guests. You don’t see a huge line in a Express Pass queue ever like you do in the FP+ line.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Express pass at Universal isn’t analogous to FP+ at WDW. Universal doesn’t give every guest access to Express Pass, it’s a paid add on or a perk for on site guests. You don’t see a huge line in a Express Pass queue ever like you do in the FP+ line.

It’s not just universal. Virtually every major theme park int he US that has reopened has done so with it’s version of line skip intact. Again, Disney would have to expend effort and be creative, but they could surely figure out a way. Hell, even something as simple as just bringing fastpass back for the tier 3 rides would be a huge benefit becuase then they could divert crowds to rides without lines and away from rides with long lines.

 

[Eric Smith]

It’s not just universal. Virtually every major theme park int he US that has reopened has done so with it’s version of line skip intact. Again, Disney would have to expend effort and be creative, but they could surely figure out a way. Hell, even something as simple as just bringing fastpass back for the tier 3 rides would be a huge benefit becuase then they could divert crowds to rides without lines and away from rides with long lines.

Why would Disney want to make the standby lines for tier 3 rides longer? That doesn’t make any sense.

is there another theme park chain that gives access to their “line skip” feature to literally every guest?

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Why would Disney want to make the standby lines for tier 3 rides longer? That doesn’t make any sense.

No, for the tier 3 rides fastpass is a method of crowd management. It always has been. If IASW is a walk on, they can drop fastpasses for it to get people away from other crowded sections fo the park. Same with mad tea party, MCOA, turtle talk, figment, the seas, or any of the several other dozen rides that frequently drop to walk in status. They are missing out on a valuable crowd management tool. And before you respond with “well you can just check the app and see what has no line,” we all know that app is notoriously unreliable for line times AND by the time I walk to the ride on the other side of hte park that ride that was 5 minutes might get updated to 25 minutes. By grabbing a fastpass, I know I don’t have to worry about the line suddenly increasing.

And finally: Yeah, Disney sure does want the rides on tier 3 rides to be longer if it displaces people who might otherwise have been waiting in line at tier.1 rides. It’s all about spreading the crowds out.

 

[rpb718]

There are no FP tiers at MK.

 

[RollTideinMD]

I am really hoping for some version of Fastpass for our November 2021 trip. This is totally on me and something I have to manage, but it gives me a level of anxiety. I have young-ish children who will probably not be very patient.

 

[Naglejen]

Literally a minute. You had to get on mde at specific drop times for specific rides. I think fop was 3:01, and sdd was maybe 12:01 (May have that wrong, don’t remember any more). But hardly any time at all.

I am so chagrined that I had absolutely no idea that this was a thing

 

[New Mouse]

Express pass at Universal isn’t analogous to FP+ at WDW. Universal doesn’t give every guest access to Express Pass, it’s a paid add on or a perk for on site guests. You don’t see a huge line in a Express Pass queue ever like you do in the FP+ line.

Its unlimted use though for resort guests. Disney should implement fastpass for resort guests only... they should have done this years ago.

 

[Eric Smith]

Its unlimted use though for resort guests. Disney should implement fastpass for resort guests only... they should have done this years ago.

I agree that Disney should do that (as someone who stays at only Disney resorts). I don’t think the universal resort guests make up that big of a percentage of overall guests right now.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

There are no FP tiers at MK.

There are also no tier 3 rides. That isn’t the point I was making. The point is that fastpass is and always has been a crowd control tool which allows them to switch crowds over from very crowded rides and areas of the park to low crowd rides and areas of the park. If there are rides that have a 2 hour line, and rides that are walk-on where every car isn’t being loaded because there are not enough people, well that is inefficient. Fastpass fixed that to some degree and made everyone’s experience better. They need to bring this aspect of fastpass back. That could mean bringing it back for the non-headliner rides in a park like magic kingdom.

 

[seashoreCM]

I would say that one purpose of encouraging guests to sign up for 3 fastpasses is to eliminate the complaints by guests ignorant of fastpass and seeing all those other guests "cutting in line" or "with special privilates" using fastpass.

My complaints about the current system:

1. Fastpasses become "sold out" at IPO.

2. You go through all of the steps needed or given you and still don't get the desired fastpass.

3. It may still be necessary to spend a long time in line in order to get the fastpass, admittedly perhaps at a different time and place such as outside the park entrance early in the morning.

4. Unable to use the system all afternoon long because you are trying to hold onto one much desired fastpass for that evening.

 

[rpb718]

There are also no tier 3 rides. That isn’t the point I was making. The point is that fastpass is and always has been a crowd control tool which allows them to switch crowds over from very crowded rides and areas of the park to low crowd rides and areas of the park. If there are rides that have a 2 hour line, and rides that are walk-on where every car isn’t being loaded because there are not enough people, well that is inefficient. Fastpass fixed that to some degree and made everyone’s experience better. They need to bring this aspect of fastpass back. That could mean bringing it back for the non-headliner rides in a park like magic kingdom.

The first assumption you are making here is that most people are always checking MDE on their phones. The 2nd assumption is that someone will want to ride IaSW instead of lining up for SM or 7DMT or BTMR because the lines are short. The 3rd assumption is that every FP+ available for every attraction in the park is spoken for before the park even opens for the day. The 4th assumption is that you believe Disney is constantly monitoring and adding FP+ to rides with low wait times when in fact there were still FP+ in the system because they weren't all taken.

Is there an official link you are referring to that describes how WDW is monitoring and using FP+ during the day as crowd control?

 

[New Mouse]

The one thing fastpass plus did was really magnify the lack of desirable attractions at Disney as a whole. Aside from Magic Kingdom, its hard to identify more than 3 fp that are useful and desireable at the other parks. Epcot...soarin, test track, frozen(for some). AK... fop... safari...everest. DHS... Tower...coaster....slinky... toy story.

When all guests are competing for the same passes it becomes quite clear you dont have the amount of attractions you should. This is why I laugh when people say the parks have plenty to do.

 

[disneygirlsng]

The one thing fastpass plus did was really magnify the lack of desirable attractions at Disney as a whole. Aside from Magic Kingdom, its hard to identify 3 fp that are useful and desireable at the other parks. Epcot...soarin, test track, frozen(for some). AK... fop... safari...everest. DHS... Tower...coaster....slinky... toy story.

When all guests are competing for the same passes it becomes quite clear you dont have the amount of attractions you should. This is why I laugh when people say the parks have plenty to do.

...because there is plenty to do. There are plenty of things to do that don't use fastpass, especially at AK and Epcot.

 

[RollTideinMD]

The one thing fastpass plus did was really magnify the lack of desirable attractions at Disney as a whole. Aside from Magic Kingdom, its hard to identify more than 3 fp that are useful and desireable at the other parks. Epcot...soarin, test track, frozen(for some). AK... fop... safari...everest. DHS... Tower...coaster....slinky... toy story.

When all guests are competing for the same passes it becomes quite clear you dont have the amount of attractions you should. This is why I laugh when people say the parks have plenty to do.

I don’t necessarily disagree with you - I think your time in the parks is what you make of it.