To Shop, To Wait or To Ride?

[DreamSweetsLove]

Well it was the idea for the original FP too right? I want to go souvenir shopping! But most merch says Disney Parks on it. So it's very hard to find souvenirs to bring back.

 

[jcemom]

LOL, wouldn't that just be a classic "business mistake" story? Disney forces everyone to start carrying smart phones, only to realize that they no longer need to shop during their spare time since it's so easy just to play "Angry Birds" instead.

I really don't envision FP+ saving me much time (it is only 3 FP after all), but if it does, then we will spend it in the resort pool. I won't be doing any extra shopping because I hate to shop. I eat enough as it is, so I don't really think I can stomach any extra snacks either lol.

 

[LovesHauntedMansion]

If I'm only going to get 3 fastpasses a day, this will not save me any time. I will be spending my so-called "extra time" standing in lines that I couldn't get a fastpass for.

I know that this is off-topic, but one thing that Disney has done that has caused me to spend more money is the policy of allowing guests to eat and drink in attraction lines. In the beginning of WDW, you had to throw away all food and beverages before getting in line. In those days we definitely didn't buy many snacks and drinks because we were rushing to get in another line and would have had to either gobble up our treats or throw away the uneaten portions. Now we buy a lot more snacks. The negative of this is seeing more litter in the lines where people have discarded empty food wrappings and cups.

 

[sb682]

Disney is not thinking of people who try to tour efficiently and rarely wait in lines longer than 20 minutes, like most people on DIS. They are thinking of the people who wait in 3 hour lines for Space Mountain, 2 hours for PPF and then park their strollers along Main Street 2 hours before MSEP starts. If you're in line all day long, how can you spend any money? How can your child beg you for a Mickey bar or a princess dress if she's in a queue? That's what they're betting on: some of the people who complain "I paid all this money and only got to ride one ride" will suddenly find themselves able to ride more. As they are able to ride more, they'll walk past more snack carts and gift shops and make more impulse purchases.

 

[Karbase8]

I have kind of turned a blind eye to FP+ so I don't quite understand the whole concept. It seems or if I am getitng this right you will be allowed to ride 3 FP a day? And would have to pick them in advance and more rides are becoming FP attractions I hope this concept dies if this is the case. But as others have stated the quality of the souveniers is very poor and could be bought in any disney store, I would say the Emporium in Epcot has different things once in awhile, I tend if I do buy anything things that are more practical such as kitchen items that I use daily and have had no problems. But I want to go on attractions when I am not disney not shop.

 

[angierae]

During our April 2012 trip (after they started enforcing FP return times) we had no problem at all doing other attractions in the general area of where our FP was (so we would Soarin and then just stay in the general area doing other things, then return to soarin within our window), etc. Never once did I consider FP wait time time to shop. It was time to do other attractions with short/no wait times!

 

[dadofgoofy]

I think it's more about dispersing crowds. That is the reason that they are putting FP+ entrances at things like IASW. I think they assume that first time visitors, which most people are, will waste some of their FP+ allotment on things they would never need a FP for, therefore spreading out the crowds. That is just a theory, but I think that has more to do with it.

If I'm a first time visitor who did no planning and only got to ride 4 things all day due to long stand by lines, I may not want to come back. But.... if I get to FP 3 things, and increase my ride count to 7-8 things per day, I may be willing to come back for a second visit, and not leave as dismayed as many first time unprepared families do. Therefore, Disney gets additional sales for years to come-- much more so than from people buying an extra t-shirt or turkey leg.

Just my two cents.

 

[Mkrop]

I think it's more about dispersing crowds. That is the reason that they are putting FP+ entrances at things like IASW. I think they assume that first time visitors, which most people are, will waste some of their FP+ allotment on things they would never need a FP for, therefore spreading out the crowds. That is just a theory, but I think that has more to do with it.

If I'm a first time visitor who did no planning and only got to ride 4 things all day due to long stand by lines, I may not want to come back. But.... if I get to FP 3 things, and increase my ride count to 7-8 things per day, I may be willing to come back for a second visit, and not leave as dismayed as many first time unprepared families do. Therefore, Disney gets additional sales for years to come-- much more so than from people buying an extra t-shirt or turkey leg.

Just my two cents.

But if you have a first time visitor who did no planning on FP, what makes you think that a first time planner will do any planning on FP+ and select times 60 days out.

WDW needs to educate the guest whatever FP system is in place.

 

[misstammy824]

According to what I have read here on the Dis, one of the motivating reasons behind this whole FP+ is the desire of the the higher-ups in the Disney organization to get more of their guests to buy more items.

BUT, at the same time, I have read a ton of comments about the dearth of quality Disney merchandise that said guests would want to purchase.

And for certain people, the whole trip is their gift, no need for souvenirs.

So, is Disney going to improve their merchandise to MAKE people take advantage of their "free time between rides" to shop? Or are they simply assuming that the people WANT what is in the shops, but just do not shop because the rides distract them?

I'm really not trying to be sarcastic or snarky, but I truly don't understand how this concept changes from FP to FP+. You currently, with few exceptions, can only have one FP for a given window. What do you do now while you wait for your ride time or time to go get a second FP? My guess is that you go stand in a line for a different attraction, or you wait for a parade, or you eat, or you shop, or you do a meet and greet, or you watch a show, or you just sit and relax. Why would it be any different once the new FP+ is fully operational? You have "down" time regardless of the system used. I don't believe the switch to FP+ is driven by a desire to get you to shop more. Just my opinion.

 

[fbb]

I think WDW hit bottom on merchandise variety about 3-4 years ago, and have been slowly improving since then.