Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Joe Arkansas]

I've been tempted to stop following this thread because the rampant speculation is just not interesting to me, but I'm afraid I'll miss it whenever they DO finally announce something! So, I'll keep watching and just skimming through posts quickly a couple times a day and just wait until we get solid info.

Same.

(And the news roundup thread is even harder to keep up with.)

 

[rteetz]

Same.

(And the news roundup thread is even harder to keep up with.)

All news is in bold to make it easier.

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm already surprised at what people will pay for the tours and such. And when you read how some people do 3 or 4 up charges for each trip. Now granted I can even see how perhaps a couple with two working, can afford these things, but I don't know how family can afford to even do a basic trip with 3 or 4 kids.

Personally, I don’t see how a middle class family with 3 or 4 kids affords most anything today.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Latest insider chatter from Magic:

Yesterday evening, Len from TP alluded that the FP refresh glitch wasn’t a glitch:
“Reasonably sure this week's My Disney Experience app update (and you saw how well that went!) had some infrastructure pieces for the next version of FP. If I knew anything beyond that right now, I would've been sworn to secrecy.”


Just now Martin dropped:
“Free FP will still be around in some form. But it may not be as available as it is today or for every attraction”

ETA: Len literally just updated his initial comment:
“I think the 'refresh' functionality is back. When it was briefly unavailable, it was most likely a glitch.

The thing I'm referring to is having more 'tiers' or 'categories' in which to segment rides. The first visible evidence of this should be seen when a FP ride goes offline and MDE has to issue "anytime" FPs for another attraction. Those replacement FPs will no longer be for any ride in the park -- they'll be for a comparable experience (e.g., "Fantasyland dark ride" for "Fantasyland dark ride").”

 

[firefly_ris]

Personally, I don’t see how a middle class family with 3 or 4 kids affords most anything today.

Yeah.. 11 and 13 year old cars, hair cut once a year, no cable, 5 year old cell phone, eat out once every 2 months, learn to DIY every portion of home ownership (including electric and plumbing), repair own car when possible -- on the bright side, because of those things, we worked up house by house to own a 2100sq ft home on 2 acres with a big creek with no rear neighbors, good school district, each of 3 kids are able to do 1 extracurricular activity (karate, violin, swimming, etc), food on the table without worry, various small weekend trips throughout the year, and we were able to do a Disney trip for them in Feb, if we are lucky, be back in 2022, but we shall see what the future brings.

So frugality and hump busting paid off in what I consider the more important things. I'm just working part time because child care is out of budget, but things may be a little easier in the future if I return to full time as the kids age. Would be nice to be able to set money aside for my kids college or weddings. Can't have it all, and we jump through hoops every month to keep monthly budget costs down, but not falling for a lot of targeted consumer marketing has helped us, even though it's sometimes hard to not feel kind of bad about myself around other moms in their shiny late model SUVs and fancy purses -- but always have to remind myself that we all pick our priorities in life and make do with what we have. I could buy a nicer car if I didn't have kids, but I'd rather have the kids. I also cut out a lot of social media because it tends to become a big comparison circle jerk (pardon the coarse terminology...) and is not mentally helpful. It is often hard, always exhausting, but overall we are fortunate... my kids are smart, in good health, roof over our heads, cars go from point A to point B... even though I can't afford to pay for FPs or dessert parties...

(Holy off topic off the rails, sorry)

 

[LSUmiss]

Of course they should. Disney is a corporation, it's function is to make a profit.
I realize alot of you have this emotional attachment to it, but it doesn't have one for you. It provides a service for you to pay for.
It doesn't "care" about your feelings. It "cares" about what you are willing to spend.

A company doesn't grow without profit. It doesn't survive in down times without profit.
You want new and exciting things at the parks, it comes from profits.

And that’s the problem today...the attitude that corporations should make hand-over-fist profits at all cost. It should be a balance. Companies should care about their products & image. The problem is greed is just accepted now. Part of why the gap between the 1% & everyone else keeps growing. It’s not just Disney. It’s the whole corporate culture.

 

[LSUmiss]

Yeah.. 11 and 13 year old cars, hair cut once a year, no cable, 5 year old cell phone, eat out once every 2 months, learn to DIY every portion of home ownership (including electric and plumbing), repair own car when possible -- on the bright side, because of those things, we worked up house by house to own a 2100sq ft home on 2 acres with a big creek with no rear neighbors, good school district, each of 3 kids are able to do 1 extracurricular activity (karate, violin, swimming, etc), food on the table without worry, various small weekend trips throughout the year, and we were able to do a Disney trip for them in Feb, if we are lucky, be back in 2022, but we shall see what the future brings.

So frugality and hump busting paid off in what I consider the more important things. I'm just working part time because child care is out of budget, but things may be a little easier in the future if I return to full time as the kids age. Would be nice to be able to set money aside for my kids college or weddings. Can't have it all, and we jump through hoops every month to keep monthly budget costs down, but not falling for a lot of targeted consumer marketing has helped us, even though it's sometimes hard to not feel kind of bad about myself around other moms in their shiny late model SUVs and fancy purses -- but always have to remind myself that we all pick our priorities in life and make do with what we have. I could buy a nicer car if I didn't have kids, but I'd rather have the kids. I also cut out a lot of social media because it tends to become a big comparison circle jerk (pardon the coarse terminology...) and is not mentally helpful. It is often hard, always exhausting, but overall we are fortunate... my kids are smart, in good health, roof over our heads, cars go from point A to point B... even though I can't afford to pay for FPs or dessert parties...

(Holy off topic off the rails, sorry)

But, I don’t think Disney was ever really “affordable” for larger families without either being wealthy or making the sacrifices you make. When ppl complain they’re pricing ppl out, it’s usually a much lower threshold for larger families. My mom grew up in a larger family (8 kids). They weren’t poor, but with 8 kids there were a lot of sacrifices. They never went to wdw or really any major vacation destination. But, they didn’t complain that wdw or anywhere else should make things more affordable for large families like them. It was understood those things were just not attainable b/c they chose to have a large family as their priority. I’m not saying you have been complaining. I don’t recall your posts. I’m just mean in general.

 

[firefly_ris]

But, I don’t think Disney was ever really “affordable” for larger families without either being wealthy or making the sacrifices you make. When ppl complain they’re pricing ppl out, it’s usually a much lower threshold for larger families. My mom grew up in a larger family (8 kids). They weren’t poor, but with 8 kids there were a lot of sacrifices. They never went to wdw or really any major vacation destination. But, they didn’t complain that wdw or anywhere else should make things more affordable for large families like them. It was understood those things were just not attainable b/c they chose to have a large family as their priority. I’m not saying you have been complaining. I don’t recall your posts. I’m just mean in general.

I get you, and I agree. It's always been pricey-- and I expect it to be. I feel like their price hikes have been a lot more frequent than most families income increases though, compared to 30 years ago. I think for me though (I can't speak for other families) is the value you get from the ticket has been diminishing -- that is to say, the value of your experience from that expensive ticket used to be pretty good, but as time goes on, to get that same value experience, you have to buy the ticket PLUS insert upcharge thing (hypothetically fast pass, after hours thing, etc). Then it just becomes frustrating because the family has scrimped and saved for this ticket that does not get them the same experience it used to. The parks are uber crowded so it is what it is. But at what point does it start damaging the brand? I don't know the answer to that personally. I just wonder if they start doing brand damage, if it will have any affect on them during the next recession. Maybe, maybe not...

 

[SaintsManiac]

Latest insider chatter from Magic:

Yesterday evening, Len from TP alluded that the FP refresh glitch wasn’t a glitch:
“Reasonably sure this week's My Disney Experience app update (and you saw how well that went!) had some infrastructure pieces for the next version of FP. If I knew anything beyond that right now, I would've been sworn to secrecy.”


Just now Martin dropped:
“Free FP will still be around in some form. But it may not be as available as it is today or for every attraction”

ETA: Len literally just updated his initial comment:
“I think the 'refresh' functionality is back. When it was briefly unavailable, it was most likely a glitch.

The thing I'm referring to is having more 'tiers' or 'categories' in which to segment rides. The first visible evidence of this should be seen when a FP ride goes offline and MDE has to issue "anytime" FPs for another attraction. Those replacement FPs will no longer be for any ride in the park -- they'll be for a comparable experience (e.g., "Fantasyland dark ride" for "Fantasyland dark ride").”

Thanks for posting this. I've been waiting for some more fuel for this fire.

ETA: it is EXACTLY what we speculated on the MDE thread.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Thanks for posting this. I've been waiting for some more fuel for this fire.

ETA: it is EXACTLY what we speculated on the MDE thread.

I felt better after he clarified that the refresh glitch seemed to be just that- a glitch.

The one interesting tidbit was the possible elimination of virtually any ride FP for the anytime if a ride breaks. I know FoP, 7DMT, FEA, SDD and a few others were always excluded but no more BTMRR after Under the Sea goes down, as an example, was a new concept to me.

 

[evlaina]

Just now Martin dropped:
“Free FP will still be around in some form. But it may not be as available as it is today or for every attraction”

That's an easy way to backtrack on the hysteria he created.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

That's an easy way to backtrack on the hysteria he created.

Yes and no. He’s very careful (as usual) not to expand. It could literally be free IASW but pay for Pan (as a pure speculation example).

 

[Farro]

That's an easy way to backtrack on the hysteria he created.

I don't think it's backtracking at all. Sounds like at the very least we won't be able to use our free fast passes for any of the new or "big" rides. And that's a really, really big change. Unwelcome change at that.

But oh well.

 

[SaharanTea]

Yeah.. 11 and 13 year old cars, hair cut once a year, no cable, 5 year old cell phone, eat out once every 2 months, learn to DIY every portion of home ownership (including electric and plumbing), repair own car when possible -- on the bright side, because of those things, we worked up house by house to own a 2100sq ft home on 2 acres with a big creek with no rear neighbors, good school district, each of 3 kids are able to do 1 extracurricular activity (karate, violin, swimming, etc), food on the table without worry, various small weekend trips throughout the year, and we were able to do a Disney trip for them in Feb, if we are lucky, be back in 2022, but we shall see what the future brings.

So frugality and hump busting paid off in what I consider the more important things. I'm just working part time because child care is out of budget, but things may be a little easier in the future if I return to full time as the kids age. Would be nice to be able to set money aside for my kids college or weddings. Can't have it all, and we jump through hoops every month to keep monthly budget costs down, but not falling for a lot of targeted consumer marketing has helped us, even though it's sometimes hard to not feel kind of bad about myself around other moms in their shiny late model SUVs and fancy purses -- but always have to remind myself that we all pick our priorities in life and make do with what we have. I could buy a nicer car if I didn't have kids, but I'd rather have the kids. I also cut out a lot of social media because it tends to become a big comparison circle jerk (pardon the coarse terminology...) and is not mentally helpful. It is often hard, always exhausting, but overall we are fortunate... my kids are smart, in good health, roof over our heads, cars go from point A to point B... even though I can't afford to pay for FPs or dessert parties...

(Holy off topic off the rails, sorry)

Nice post. You aren't alone.

Being able to afford and have the time and ability to take any type of vacation is a blessing.

 

[saskdw]

Personally, I don’t see how a middle class family with 3 or 4 kids affords most anything today.

My assumption is that middle class people aren't booking $400/hr tours.

 

[saskdw]

I don't think it's backtracking at all. Sounds like at the very least we won't be able to use our free fast passes for any of the new or "big" rides. And that's a really, really big change. Unwelcome change at that.

But oh well.

They could cut out the big rides or they might just scale back the number of "free" FP's available for them. Meaning a lucky handful will get them the rest of us will have to pay. From a public relations standpoint this would work best for them as they could still claim free FP is available for everything.

If they do it this way the people that are able to book at 74 days would get the good ones.

 

[Farro]

Who can book at 74 days? Or is that just something that may happen?

 

[tex1989]

Just my opinion but with what I have seen of demand (how crowded the place is year round now, not just in the busy periods of summer and spring break) I think Disney is looking to squeeze out the incremental dollars where they can. I mean Universal gives the FP varient for Deluxe Resort stays but Disney fills those pretty well without extra's (other than CL pay to play FP's) and so now they want to start adding some income from FP. The Thrill tours that land short of VIP tours was the last effort to squeeze out the money and the $100 plus extra magic parties do it as well. They are just monetizing things that were once part of staying on site. I would bet occupancy rates are higher and now they are looking for more. This is a situation that will not change until attendance starts to falter. Gotta pay for those expansions somehow!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Who can book at 74 days? Or is that just something that may happen?

No but there was an odd glitch for a couple of weeks(?) that allowed some May people to book 74 days in advance.

I was able to book last night around 3:30am (2.5 hours early)

 

[SaintsManiac]

No but there was an odd glitch for a couple of weeks(?) that allowed some May people to book 74 days in advance.

I was able to book last night around 3:30am (2.5 hours early)

I love that you were up at that hour checking.