Ready to be annoyed. Money grabbing Disney stoop to a new low

[GillyD]

If implemented at WDW, we would forgo staying on-site, book a similar standard hotel at half the price and hey presto we have the cash to pay for any chargeable fast-pass rides. Also further savings by leaving early and having dinner off-site as well whereas if we were staying on-site we definitely would have dinner and extra snacks before going back to our hotel. We will also do fewer days at WDW and move on to Universal/Seaworld. Basically its the same pot of money distributed differently but Disney would lose our hotel and dinner earnings and we wont be the only ones looking at other options.

[DisneyxxSarah]

Personally i'm annoyed. I feel disney is turning even more into a profit making machine at the expense of the amazing customer service and atmosphere you used to get. It's been so long since i've seen that CMs have handed our surprise gifts or made someone's trip extra special.

However, disney us also very smart. There would be a huge team of economists cleverly calculating pricing and financial models for ride charges, all based on consumer research. Unfortunately i am 100% certain that disney have only gone down this route because they KNOW people will be willing to pay.

So now we have the choice of queuing, or paying a significant amount more per ride per person to skip the line. Sadly this is life really. As someone else has said, it may be crazy to some but to others, like those that pay for deluxe accommodation but spend all day in the parks, or those who fly first class when economy will get them there just fine (no judgement at all) - some people weigh up what they want from a hol and what they are willing to pay for it and will see the additional costs as worth it.

[shack69]

This is nothing new and they are still offereing the option of standby or a standby return option.
Paying extra to go on rides has been around for a long time, even at disney. How many people pay for early access or a VIP tour so they can ride the newest rides. Or pay a premium to stay of site to get first pick of Fast passes over those who stay off site.
Other parks including most Merlin parks operate this system and it drives revenue for them, so disney are only following suite.
Personally I will not be paying extra and if I find not doing so impact my visit I will be making a complaint and encourage everyone to do the same.

[YLL]

I'm more interested to see how the standby pass will work at DLP - basically, they are kind of the new fastpasses, you select one time to enter the physical standby queue with a limited amount of people. Those who want to pay enter the old FP line. If they iron out the kinks, seems like it could be good.

[Loosecannon]

Originally Posted by Gill H

Nope, not optimistic, I just know how to work the park.

I have never paid more than 3 figures for a DLP trip except once when the PPI fairy gave us an unexpected couple of grand and we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel.

Our next trip is 3 nights at the Art of Marvel and it’s costing Ł700. We will probably add on a dining plan. No flights booked yet but will go cheapo from Bristol. Our APs (bought in Sep 2019) are still valid.

Our previous trip cost Ł29 each way per person on Eurostar (as we still lived in London) and Ł200 for 3 nights at the Ibis, a 5 minute journey on the RER.

Of course the queues will be crazy during school holidays - I’m just saying there are ways to avoid paying for FPs. We’ve been more than 14 times now and never queued for any of the rides which are open during EMT.

As I said, I really don’t like this move but there are ways to avoid it.

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I would be delighted if you are right…. But looking at your previous trip dates most seem to be outside school holidays (please let me know if I am wrong about this), and it is the effects in peak times that I am most concerned about, which remains to be seen (and to me is very concerning), especially after EMT.

[WAWA]

I think everyone should put claims in against Disney our tickets all all priced the same
so we are all equal we should not be classed as second class citizens because someone wants to pay more to jump a que . Im going for xmas this year and if this is right it will be my last Disney trip. I always get peed of with car parking charges it seems to go up every year there a set of robbers just feeding there greedy share holders .SHAME ON DISNEY AND THERE UNDERPAID OVERWORKED STAFF

[levtweeney]

I would not pay this, with good planning, early hours and a can do attitude you can get on every ride you want to in a day. We as a family often have a great time in the queues as no one does queues quite like Disney.

I have no doubt in my mind however that this system would work fine either in DLP or in Florida. There are so many people in this world with the disposable income willing to pay for the best experience they can get and they will see this as a easy way to do just that. Good luck to them, I don’t begrudge people travelling first class and I won’t begrudge those using these passes.

[lovewdw]

I won't be paying, however I'm looking at it as a positive because less fastpass means the normal queue moves quicker.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by Loosecannon

I would be delighted if you are right…. But looking at your previous trip dates most seem to be outside school holidays (please let me know if I am wrong about this), and it is the effects in peak times that I am most concerned about, which remains to be seen (and to me is very concerning), especially after EMT.

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We don’t have kids so mostly go in term time - but we have been there during February half term with friends, and early September when Spanish schools were still off, and the CMs automatically spoke Spanish to everyone!

EMT still works because most people don’t want an early start on holiday. True, it was better when it was 2 hours long, but if you get to the park gates early enough, you can still get quite a lot done.

[macdonald]

Originally Posted by lovewdw

I won't be paying, however I'm looking at it as a positive because less fastpass means the normal queue moves quicker.

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...unfortunately a lot will pay!