Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

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but it could be to appeal to more people as these EMM don't appeal to everyone (don't want those specific rides, don't want to get up early, etc.) but do to some ... so you can still offer both and some might pay for both but I think more it is more people will pay for one or the other

I feel like this is what WDW is turning into: You have your bare minimum entry to the parks and then a variety of add ons / up charges and while some will still get by with just the regular entry I think many people will start to pick and choose which of the add-ons make the most sense for them

In some ways it is annoying that almost becoming that you *have* to do at least some sort of add on ... but on the other side it is nice to have choice vs just jacking up the main entry cost even more to get to the same total revenue point for Disney


That’s my biggest issue. The gate keeps getting so much more expensive. Like I posted earlier, our summer tickets just went up almost 8%. We didn’t renew our APs as they went up 15% last year. But we are doing EMM this year, but saving elsewhere. We have an amount we are willing to spend, and just have to bobb and weave our way to it. 3 days vs 4, off site vs on, etc....

But pretty soon there’s only so much you can eliminate before you are all the way down to a point where it’s no longer worth it. In our example we’ve gone from APs and on site visits to just a 3 day ticket off site with an add on. We could drop the add on next time, but then we have to evaluate that experience with our others at the price. I’m hoping we are getting close to the price ceiling...but am pretty sure we aren’t....
 
That’s my biggest issue. The gate keeps getting so much more expensive. Like I posted earlier, our summer tickets just went up almost 8%. We didn’t renew our APs as they went up 15% last year. But we are doing EMM this year, but saving elsewhere. We have an amount we are willing to spend, and just have to bobb and weave our way to it. 3 days vs 4, off site vs on, etc....

But pretty soon there’s only so much you can eliminate before you are all the way down to a point where it’s no longer worth it. In our example we’ve gone from APs and on site visits to just a 3 day ticket off site with an add on. We could drop the add on next time, but then we have to evaluate that experience with our others at the price. I’m hoping we are getting close to the price ceiling...but am pretty sure we aren’t....

definitely the balancing act everyone has to do - especially people who have been coming for a long time.

From Disney's standpoint as much as they want to make long time fans happy they also target the big spending once in a lifetime crowd and new fans that are coming for the new things

It is tough as they have continued to raise prices but crowds continue to come. As great as it would be for the parks to be cheap and empty, that is not going to happen without a significant recession or other outside factors
 
Here’s the thing, all us super fans were newbie first time visitors once. Disney needs to keep creating more of us. Waiting 4 hours in the standby line for their feature rides isn’t going to do that. But it’s a mess of their own making (FP in general, not enough people eating rides/attractions, a super complicated system that many don’t have the patience to learn etc etc etc). So they are trying to alleviate the problem by charging for it. They are thinking like bean counters not Imagineers. In the words of my former and disgraced Govenor they’ve got a golden ticket (SW:GE) and they aren’t giving it away for free.
 


its been rumored for some time that WDW will add a paid FP option.

According to Martin at WDWmagic later this year this will go into place.

You will get 1-2 “free” FPs and anything more will be paid add ons. There will be different levels of additional FPs but you can’t get an unlimited FP.

I like it. Not at first, I didn't want to lose my 3 free fastpasses! But when I think about it more, it's actually a better system for everyone. I miss the old ticket fastpass system where you get one at a time once you get to the park. Things were awesome back then; you don't have to plan a zillion days ahead and when the day comes, there is no fastpass left for when you want to change your mind.

As long as everybody gets just one or 2 fastpass (and I assume that after it's used, you get another one and then another one, etc, subject to availablility), you get a lot more fastpasses available and all the fastpasses isn't taken just to be wasted.

For me, for example, I have a lot of what I call "junk fastpasses." I have them assigned for rides that I have no intention of going at the time just to get rid of them. Because currently you can only assign one fastpass per hour at the most, and all 3 fastpasses must be used up before you can use a new one dynamically at a different park, and I often don't do stuff that require fastpasses, and I do park hop a lot. I would say that about 40 percent of my preordered fastpasses are purposefully wasted. Generally, I use about 80 percent of my magic kingdom preordered fastpasses, 30% of my Epcot preordered fastpasses, and 30% of my Animal Kingdom preordered fastpasses. (I don't go to DHS in the morning.) The rest of the time, I go on rides that require little or no fastpass depending on my location in the park at the time. For example, if I happen to walk by the Figment ride and the line is short, I go on it rather than waiting for a fastpass to kick in at some future point and then walk all the way back from some other corner in Epcot.

I know that my junk fastpasses are clogging up the system, but there's nothing I can do about it because I have to get rid of them. Otherwise I hop to a new park and can't get fastpasses! Mostly I get junk fastpasses with rides that I know will need no fastpass at the time, but I don't know that for sure and at times, I've seen long lines of rides that I have junk fastpast to. If Disney allows only one fastpass each, that will get rid of such fastpass waste. And if everybody is on the same playing field, then there will be a lot more fastpass slots open.

And if everybody can get only one fastpass, you can get a lot more fastpasses per hour than the limit now of one per hour for the first 3 fastpasses.

Like last September, I was at MK, when Splash Mountain had a 20 minute wait. In the old days, if that were true, you would be able to get a paper fastpass in about 40 minutes. That day, no fastpass was available all day.

Also, in the old days, I would go to the Buzz Lightyear ride at dinner time, look at the wait time (say 20 minutes), get our paper fastpasses for 40 minutes later, and sit down and eat hot dogs at the lunching pad. when we are done (it takes that long to wait in line for the food and then eat it), the fastpass is ready, and we go on it! That's no longer an option nowadays. (And the hotdogs are no longer worth eating, so it works out.)

What about the paid option? I think most people are not going to pay for it. I'm going to avoid paying, for sure, because I can make it work even for SWGE rides. If just a few people pay for extra fastpasses, that's no different from a slight increase in attendance. It does help, however, if I have a specific, one time need of a paid fastpass due to circumstances, now I can get it whereas in the past, it's not possible. Also, if a person needs a night fastpass (like for the fireworks), he doesn't have to go without dynamic fastpass all day to get it. He has the option of buying one only for the day that he needs it.

So while going down from 3 to 1 fastpass doesn't sound good to me at first, I believe it will lighten the system for everybody and make things better all around.

I am going in September and I hope the new system will kick in by then!
 


definitely the balancing act everyone has to do - especially people who have been coming for a long time.

It is tough as they have continued to raise prices but crowds continue to come. As great as it would be for the parks to be cheap and empty, that is not going to happen without a significant recession or other outside factors

I have been wondering for a while on the impact of a recession. There prices have increased quite a bit, and there are a lot more hotel rooms to fill. I wonder what even a mild recession will do.
 
I like it. Not at first, I didn't want to lose my 3 free fastpasses! But when I think about it more, it's actually a better system for everyone. I miss the old ticket fastpass system where you get one at a time once you get to the park. Things were awesome back then; you don't have to plan a zillion days ahead and when the day comes, there is no fastpass left for when you want to change your mind.

As long as everybody gets just one or 2 fastpass (and I assume that after it's used, you get another one and then another one, etc, subject to availablility), you get a lot more fastpasses available and all the fastpasses isn't taken just to be wasted.

For me, for example, I have a lot of what I call "junk fastpasses." I have them assigned for rides that I have no intention of going at the time just to get rid of them. Because currently you can only assign one fastpass per hour at the most, and all 3 fastpasses must be used up before you can use a new one dynamically at a different park, and I often don't do stuff that require fastpasses, and I do park hop a lot. I would say that about 40 percent of my preordered fastpasses are purposefully wasted. Generally, I use about 80 percent of my magic kingdom preordered fastpasses, 30% of my Epcot preordered fastpasses, and 30% of my Animal Kingdom preordered fastpasses. (I don't go to DHS in the morning.) The rest of the time, I go on rides that require little or no fastpass depending on my location in the park at the time. For example, if I happen to walk by the Figment ride and the line is short, I go on it rather than waiting for a fastpass to kick in at some future point and then walk all the way back from some other corner in Epcot.

I know that my junk fastpasses are clogging up the system, but there's nothing I can do about it because I have to get rid of them. Otherwise I hop to a new park and can't get fastpasses! Mostly I get junk fastpasses with rides that I know will need no fastpass at the time, but I don't know that for sure and at times, I've seen long lines of rides that I have junk fastpast to. If Disney allows only one fastpass each, that will get rid of such fastpass waste. And if everybody is on the same playing field, then there will be a lot more fastpass slots open.

And if everybody can get only one fastpass, you can get a lot more fastpasses per hour than the limit now of one per hour for the first 3 fastpasses.

Like last September, I was at MK, when Splash Mountain had a 20 minute wait. In the old days, if that were true, you would be able to get a paper fastpass in about 40 minutes. That day, no fastpass was available all day.

Also, in the old days, I would go to the Buzz Lightyear ride at dinner time, look at the wait time (say 20 minutes), get our paper fastpasses for 40 minutes later, and sit down and eat hot dogs at the lunching pad. when we are done (it takes that long to wait in line for the food and then eat it), the fastpass is ready, and we go on it! That's no longer an option nowadays. (And the hotdogs are no longer worth eating, so it works out.)

What about the paid option? I think most people are not going to pay for it. I'm going to avoid paying, for sure, because I can make it work even for SWGE rides. If just a few people pay for extra fastpasses, that's no different from a slight increase in attendance. It does help, however, if I have a specific, one time need of a paid fastpass due to circumstances, now I can get it whereas in the past, it's not possible. Also, if a person needs a night fastpass (like for the fireworks), he doesn't have to go without dynamic fastpass all day to get it. He has the option of buying one only for the day that he needs it.

So while going down from 3 to 1 fastpass doesn't sound good to me at first, I believe it will lighten the system for everybody and make things better all around.

I am going in September and I hope the new system will kick in by then!
But you don't need to book 3 FP's before going to another park. You just need to use them all. So you could pre-book one or two, use them, and then book more the day you're there for a different park.
 
I like it. Not at first, I didn't want to lose my 3 free fastpasses! But when I think about it more, it's actually a better system for everyone. I miss the old ticket fastpass system where you get one at a time once you get to the park. Things were awesome back then; you don't have to plan a zillion days ahead and when the day comes, there is no fastpass left for when you want to change your mind.

As long as everybody gets just one or 2 fastpass (and I assume that after it's used, you get another one and then another one, etc, subject to availablility), you get a lot more fastpasses available and all the fastpasses isn't taken just to be wasted.

For me, for example, I have a lot of what I call "junk fastpasses." I have them assigned for rides that I have no intention of going at the time just to get rid of them. Because currently you can only assign one fastpass per hour at the most, and all 3 fastpasses must be used up before you can use a new one dynamically at a different park, and I often don't do stuff that require fastpasses, and I do park hop a lot. I would say that about 40 percent of my preordered fastpasses are purposefully wasted. Generally, I use about 80 percent of my magic kingdom preordered fastpasses, 30% of my Epcot preordered fastpasses, and 30% of my Animal Kingdom preordered fastpasses. (I don't go to DHS in the morning.) The rest of the time, I go on rides that require little or no fastpass depending on my location in the park at the time. For example, if I happen to walk by the Figment ride and the line is short, I go on it rather than waiting for a fastpass to kick in at some future point and then walk all the way back from some other corner in Epcot.

I know that my junk fastpasses are clogging up the system, but there's nothing I can do about it because I have to get rid of them. Otherwise I hop to a new park and can't get fastpasses! Mostly I get junk fastpasses with rides that I know will need no fastpass at the time, but I don't know that for sure and at times, I've seen long lines of rides that I have junk fastpast to. If Disney allows only one fastpass each, that will get rid of such fastpass waste. And if everybody is on the same playing field, then there will be a lot more fastpass slots open.

And if everybody can get only one fastpass, you can get a lot more fastpasses per hour than the limit now of one per hour for the first 3 fastpasses.

Like last September, I was at MK, when Splash Mountain had a 20 minute wait. In the old days, if that were true, you would be able to get a paper fastpass in about 40 minutes. That day, no fastpass was available all day.

Also, in the old days, I would go to the Buzz Lightyear ride at dinner time, look at the wait time (say 20 minutes), get our paper fastpasses for 40 minutes later, and sit down and eat hot dogs at the lunching pad. when we are done (it takes that long to wait in line for the food and then eat it), the fastpass is ready, and we go on it! That's no longer an option nowadays. (And the hotdogs are no longer worth eating, so it works out.)

What about the paid option? I think most people are not going to pay for it. I'm going to avoid paying, for sure, because I can make it work even for SWGE rides. If just a few people pay for extra fastpasses, that's no different from a slight increase in attendance. It does help, however, if I have a specific, one time need of a paid fastpass due to circumstances, now I can get it whereas in the past, it's not possible. Also, if a person needs a night fastpass (like for the fireworks), he doesn't have to go without dynamic fastpass all day to get it. He has the option of buying one only for the day that he needs it.

So while going down from 3 to 1 fastpass doesn't sound good to me at first, I believe it will lighten the system for everybody and make things better all around.

I am going in September and I hope the new system will kick in by then!


If you park hop a lot and only have 1 ride that you want a FP for in the first park, just make that FP and don't bother with the junk ones. As soon as you tap that FP go in and add 1-2 FP's at the other park(s).
 
I would wait for specific details on this before you can say a lawsuit is to be had. Again personally I don’t see a lawsuit holding up.
I think it’s borderline hilarious that anyone would think that ANY company would box themselves in such that they would be prohibited from making this type of change. Baffling.

Additionally, this would spell the end of Disney World in the long term.
You can’t be serious. You’re saying this about a still-in-flux change, yet to be announced, that Disney could tweak or unwind literally at ANY time if it went badly.
 
If you park hop a lot and only have 1 ride that you want a FP for in the first park, just make that FP and don't bother with the junk ones. As soon as you tap that FP go in and add 1-2 FP's at the other park(s).
What are you talking about? You have to use up all your fastpass in one park first because you are not allowed to use the first 3 fastpasses in multiple parks.
 
I have been wondering for a while on the impact of a recession. There prices have increased quite a bit, and there are a lot more hotel rooms to fill. I wonder what even a mild recession will do.

I think they are at such crowd levels and have Star Wars and other new stuff coming that they can survive a bit of a down turn (I mean, just checked and today there was a 210 min wait for Flight of Passage) - and they can market packages and stuff to make it seem like a value if they need to

One thing they tend to do when business is down is come crawling back to the hard core fans and annual pass holders with more offerings for them - so they have that in their back pocket if need be too
 
Nope. You could make 1 or 2 in Park #1, once you tap the first FP you can add in another park even if you still have FP#2 in the first park.
You don't have to make 3 FP's though. You can only make 1 or 2 pre-planned ones. Then you only have to use 1 or 2 of them. After they are used, you can make same day passes for another park. So you are making FP's you don't need to make.

EDIT - quoted the wrong person! Oops!
 
Seems that WDW is learning from the refresh pros, seeing how well it works for those who use it and will now charge for it. We give you one FP per day and now to "refresh" you have to pay. I think there are a lot of questions in regards to any changes to FP. And until actual details of their plan is released, it is all conjecture. Ill wait until they actually give us details on their plan and go from there. If its more like Dls max pass, the cost is minimal daily and AP holders can pay for it as part of their AP. Yes, they are charging for something that was once free, but, wdw is the only property even within the Disney family that doesnt have some sort of paid system for FPs. It will be interesting to see how they frame it. Will there be benefits to staying on property? Will it be based on level of resort? Will Ap holders and DVC members get extra benefits or discounted prices? So many things we dont know until the plan details roll out.
 
Obviously ticket prices will go up anyway, but if they needed to hit the same level of revenue and didn't have any of these add ons they would have to increase them significantly further

I agree completely, just hoping they indeed keep the gate somewhat in check, with this new possible revenue stream. :thumbsup2

Heck I've said for 5 plus years on here they should charge FP for new attractions, and SB the other half. So that revenue stream can pay for new attractions instead of jacking the gate to cover.
 
But you don't need to book 3 FP's before going to another park. You just need to use them all. So you could pre-book one or two, use them, and then book more the day you're there for a different park.
Yes, I do. I need the prebooked fastpasses done by noon, and there's no guarantee there are even fastpasses available in the morning at the right times so that I can get rid of them and get more! They have strings attached -- they have to be at least an hour apart -- and I why do I want to deal with that? Once you get rid of the old fastpasses, you can get more immediately! For example, last fall I was at MK. Once past noon, I got rid of my old fastpasses at 12 p.m. I got another fastpass for the Mermaid ride for within 10 minutes. So we ran to the Mermaid ride, got on, and I immediately got another ride at Haunted Mansion within 10 minutes! So we got out of the Mermaid ride and got on there, and I got another fastpass for Small world within 10 minutes! So we got there scanned in, and I got the Pirate ride for within 40 minutes! So we got out of the Small World ride, went to the quick service place right outside Pirates ride and ate lunch and a took a breather. Then we got on Pirate! Then we left MK. So basically, I used 3 fastpasses per hour per person! Beat that!

(I admit, I spend most of my time on rides staring at my phone booking the fastpass for next ride.:p)

Note: I'm a efficiency expert.
 
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