More info on potential FP+ changes

[The Fatadder]

This proposal is pretty much exactly what I was expecting to see, although I suspect they are being optimistic when they list Moderates as well as Deluxe getting the 3 free wishes (I half expect it to be 1 or two for the Mods so that there is more of a marked difference between the benefits at different hotels. Disney have shown with the extra magic hours that in the new post covid world there will not be equality in the benefits between different hotels.

One thing that will be interesting is going to be how the booking system will work for these "wishes", and whether of not you can still pre book before travel or if it is back to a first come first served on the day approach. Unless they are selling the extra wishes in advance I suspect the latter (which is a shame) but it will be interesting to see. Hopefully we are not too far from an official announcement (surely they want to get this in place by October 1st?) Will be nice to know whats happening to be able to plan (and budget) effectively

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

One of the problems I can see is knowing what system does work best for the majority of guests (they are never going to please all of the people).

Some people liked the current fastpass+ system, whereas some others (like yourself) don't. Some preferred the old paper fastpass system. Some would like not to have a fastpass system at all and go back to how things were 22+ years ago. Some like Universal's paid express pass system. Some just want a virtual queue system for the rides with long queues. Who knows which system works for people?

I think one thing you mention, and many people didn't like, was the idea of having to book fastpasses weeks in advance. It feels alien to many people. They don't want to have to decide they are going to ride Big Thunder Mountain at around 11am on their 4th day at the parks about a month before they even start their holiday. Admittedly, they didn't have to - fastpasses for BTMR were usually available on the day - but they felt they had to. In some ways it makes sense to change things so that the fastpasses (or whatever they get called) are made on the day. That comes with its own problems, as boarding passes for RotR have shown, but I still think it would make more sense to people.

Whether guests should pay for them or not is a different topic. Obviously as guests we don't want to have to pay more. But then again we want to pay a lot less for our tickets and for the parks to have less people in them. Those things aren't going to happen.

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My position entirely.. I enjoyed the parks under the old, paper fast pass system personally and for selfish reasons.. I.e this suited our approach to Theme Parking.

I do not want to stay on site.

We want to decide which park to visit on most given days when we get up and have an (early) breakfast.

The early bird invariably caught the worm (Rope drop in our case) and generally, I had done all the big rides in any given park and was out of that park by 1400. Some of the ‘high rollers’ in their deluxe Disney accommodation had doubtless barely arrived in the parks by the time that I was leaving (and doubtless missed out entirely on the biggest crowd pullers).

I cannot do that any more, so have ignored Disney on my last 5 Orlando visits, preferring D.C. Ultimate non swims and Universals with a night in RPR or HRH. I can invariably achieve every ride that I want, multiple times and thus get very full benefit of the park that I now pay for. Disney can do one.

[Nimbus]

Apologies. Another long rambling post by me...

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

My position entirely.. I enjoyed the parks under the old, paper fast pass system personally and for selfish reasons.. I.e this suited our approach to Theme Parking.

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That's understandable. I think there are many people who have the same opinion as you.

I'm not sure which of the two fastpass systems I preferred. Both have their good points and bad points. I think I might have preferred the newer fastpass+ system but, then again, I switched to staying onsite just as that was introduced so I gained the additional benefit of being able to book earlier.

I think an online version of the old fastpass system (so no more paper tickets) might be a good idea. But then I worry we will get the situation we have with RotR where everyone is desperate to get onto the app/website at 1 second past 7am and all the slots are gone by 7:05am.

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

The early bird invariably caught the worm

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I find it a little sad that, in order to get on certain rides or enjoy a less-busy park, one needs to get up and at the park by rope drop. And not just because I prefer a lie in when on holiday. I don't remember having that sort of pressure the first couple of times I visited. You could roll up at 10:30am or whenever and it was fine.

It does make me wonder that as more and more people recommend getting to the parks before rope drop, will the parks actually become less busy later in the afternoon? Similar to the old argument that said that if most people were following the Busy Day Guides then the recommended parks will end up being the busiest parks.

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

I cannot do that any more, so have ignored Disney on my last 5 Orlando visits, ... Disney can do one.

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These changes aren't aimed at you then. It's not going to matter to you what fastpass system DisneyWorld eventually decides on. You've already moved on and I doubt any changes will make you suddenly want to come back; I don't think Disney is planning to attract new customers with whatever new fastpass system they employ. I think we can safety guess that Disney won't be bringing back the old paper fastpass system. The parks keep on getting busier and a system that worked back in 1999 probably isn't going to work in 2021.

[antietam]

Hi
It feels a bit like paying to enter the park and then paying again to ride the attractions in the park.
I stay in Deluxe villa Resorts as we are DVC members so i am interested in maybe avoiding lines by getting the early morning access or evening hours as rumoured.
I might pay for the after hours event, i just dont know.

one thing for sure is that if paying for the rides is all that is on offer we will probably do that to some extent

We are supposed to be going at Christmas and all these rumours and changes floating around on top of not even knowing whether USA will even allow us in.

Its clear by the news at the moment that they dont want uk visitors entering at the moment due to the the way our government is currently handling the pandemic

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by antietam

It feels a bit like paying to enter the park and then paying again to ride the attractions in the park.

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Just like the good ol' days when Walt first opened Disneyland then.

But it's not really as you say.

You'd be paying to enter the park and then choosing whether to pay to skip the standby queues or not. You won't have to pay to ride the attractions, instead you will be paying to reduce the amount of time spent waiting in line. That is no different to most other theme parks that have a paid fastpass-like system.


Obviously, the main differences here are that:
1. The fastpass system used to be free and folk don't like having to pay for things that used to be free.
2. The tickets to enter the Disney parks are already expensive enough and I doubt they'll reduce in price once they no longer include fastpasses.
Assuming, of course, Disney does remove the free fastpasses. We don't know yet.

[Disneyhm]

Just read this article showing the new paid 'Fastpass' options for DLP! Astronomical doesn't even cover it

disneytips/disneyland-pa...b4f6-308637244

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Disneyhm

Just read this article showing the new paid 'Fastpass' options for DLP! Astronomical doesn't even cover it

disneytips/disneyland-pa...b4f6-308637244

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They cost no more than the previous Super Fastpasses that DLP had for a few years (they cost less in some cases).

Previously 3 superfastpasses used to cost 45 euros during the summer season. That's 15 euros per fastpass.

The point is, you're not supposed to buy lots of these fastpasses. In fact, the majority of people are not expected to buy these. If the majority of people did buy them then the fastpass queue would be as long as the standby queue.

[Disneyhm]

Originally Posted by Nimbus

They cost no more than the previous Super Fastpasses that DLP had for a few years (they cost less in some cases).

Previously 3 superfastpasses used to cost 45 euros during the summer season. That's 15 euros per fastpass.

The point is, you're not supposed to buy lots of these fastpasses. In fact, the majority of people are not expected to buy these. If the majority of people did buy them then the fastpass queue would be as long as the standby queue.

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I have only ever been to WDW where they have been free and DLP when they weren't available at all. The free FP system in WDW worked but sure they will charge when they come back. I haven't read this thread btw, my post was moved here. The queues at the moment without FP in WDW are reported to be huge so surely this will mean the same thing? I know we certainly couldn't afford to buy these for our family even for a couple of rides a day!

[loldis]

Originally Posted by Disneyhm

I have only ever been to WDW where they have been free and DLP when they weren't available at all. The free FP system in WDW worked but sure they will charge when they come back. I haven't read this thread btw, my post was moved here. The queues at the moment without FP in WDW are reported to be huge so surely this will mean the same thing? I know we certainly couldn't afford to buy these for our family even for a couple of rides a day!

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The queues are normal length for this time of year, with or without FP. People (especially local vloggers) are complaining about the queues at the moment because they got used to the limited capacity queue lengths during the heavy Covid restrictions. So seeing normal queues again is a shock, they've simply forgotten how long they used to be.

To give an example, average queue time at 7DMT a few days ago (31/7, so last Saturday in July) was 82 minutes. Same day in 2019 was 106 minutes. Peter Pan 52 mins vs 68. Haunted Mansion 50 mins vs 46. Little Mermaid 31 mins vs 26.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by Disneyhm

I have only ever been to WDW where they have been free and DLP when they weren't available at all. The free FP system in WDW worked but sure they will charge when they come back. I haven't read this thread btw, my post was moved here. The queues at the moment without FP in WDW are reported to be huge so surely this will mean the same thing? I know we certainly couldn't afford to buy these for our family even for a couple of rides a day!

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If it’s like the DLP system - and I doubt it’ll be exactly like it because WDW is quite different to DLP - then there will also be free virtual lines at some of the rides. So rather than joining a long queue, you can book a slot in a virtual queue. This is in addition to the paid Fastpass system.

Admittedly, for what I’d read a week or so ago, the virtual queue system at DLP seemed to be having a few issues and was still causing big queues.

As loldis says above, the current queues at WDW are not really any longer than normal. It’s just that it’s peak summer period so, yes, people are complaining that the queues are long like they often do. That’s the problem with it being the most popular theme park destination in the world.

I’ve been twice (I think) when WDW didn’t have a Fastpass system at all. You just had to stand in the regular queue with everyone else if you wanted to ride. Admittedly this was over 20 years ago.