Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[Monicapfan]

Hoping the ticket price increase today means we will get answers sooner rather than later!

 

[ljmiii]

This has probably been spoken about BUT why would Disney add on all those extra non-Disney hotels to be eligible for the 60 day fp's???

As of now those agreements expire on 12/31. Disney clearly has been pulling out all the stops to get people in the parks this summer and fall and seems to have been taken by surprise by the speed of its own GE construction. Who would have thought you could get free dining AND GE?

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

I wonder if this is why the added hotels do not have the 60 days yet. When it was announced it said within the next 2 months.

 

[kandb]

People have to be realistic and realize once Star Wars Land is open, Disney is not going to want to let people with AP's and people staying value resorts, first dibs at a rides that are in such high demand. Also, I think Disney knows most guests that are regulars know how to use the system to their advantage and get on more rides then most who are new or coming for a once in a lifetime. Those people probably don't get on as many rides as the "educated" guests.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I think this could make rope drop much worse. And I hear it's pretty bad in some cases already.

I agree - I think it definitely will make it worse. I don't think end of night will be quite as effective either.

 

[Sarah1024]

An AP is a big question. I would imagine they offer something for APs. They do for MaxPass at Disneyland.

Why would APs be subject to different rules if they're staying on site? They still can book at 60 days right?

 

[rteetz]

Why would APs be subject to different rules if they're staying on site? They still can book at 60 days right?

Yes. I’m more thinking about APs not staying on site. How will this affect them and what options will be available for them.

 

[kandb]

*

As of now those agreements expire on 12/31. Disney clearly has been pulling out all the stops to get people in the parks this summer and fall and seems to have been taken by surprise by the speed of its own GE construction. Who would have thought you could get free dining AND GE?

As far as I am concerned FD is not that great of a deal. Yes, Disney is probably trying to get people into their parks during the big transition of star wars land.

 

[familyman123]

I agree. There will be those folks who like the option. There will also be other folks who get ticked at being nickel and dimed. This may please one set, but it will anger the other set. That's what I'm saying. Your guess on the percentages of each is as good as mine.

I will add though, Disney is pretty good at guest satisfaction. They have the most popular theme parks in the world because their guests are satisfied.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yes. I’m more thinking about APs not staying on site. How will this affect them and what options will be available for them.

theoretically it could help them ... could be cheaper to just pay for FP vs paying for a room you don't *really* need just to get 60 days to hopefully get a FP (thinking more local APs, or APs who don't stay onsite anyway)

 

[Amy11401]

IF this was implemented only for the major, hard-to-get attractions, I actually would be OK with this. One could always rope drop to get an “extra” ride. But, if this is implemented across the board, I would be sorely disappointed.



And, Martin said there may be three different FP packages available. So, an “All the Mountains!” package at MK may include BTMRR, 7DMT, SM, & Splash. You wouldn’t have to worry about securing those FPs, they would be guaranteed.

The challenge with some of the packages becomes scheduling. That could get ugly in a hurry. Example

Congratulations on your Mountain Package Purchase! Please choose your times

SDMT 9:00 / 9:15 / 9:30 PM only
Space Mountain 12:00 / 12:15PM only
Splash Mountain 9:30 / 9:45 AM only
Big Thunder Mountain 6:15 / 6:30 / 6:45PM only

Hope you were planning on a commando day, not having a good dinner/lunch ADR, or throwing one away.

Honestly, if they evolve down to minimal reserved fast pass and more day of fast pass purchases with a limit of only for next 3 hours. That way no matter what time you show up, you have a chance to start locking in fast pass reservations for rides and minimize the feeling of being captured by a plan you formed 60 days in advance. I doubt the cost would be out of line with what people pay at Universal.

Hoping they don't only make the headline rides come in bundles. I prefer to book specific FPs not a package of preselected ones.

 

[PolyRob]

If FP+ is currently being underutilized by some guests because they aren't sure of how it works or that its currently free, how would putting a sign up monetizing it at any price encourage more guests to buy them?

I can't imagine Disney wants WDW to become less pre-planned. Making CL FP 90+ days actually pushes the window out more. Disney loves it's data to predict park trends for capacity and staffing. I assume whatever FP+ monetization occurs will be cheaper if you buy/add it prior to arrival multiple days/weeks out to get even more data and lock people in.

 

[MyHappyPlace17]

I don't want Disney selected bundles and I don't want to have to book/reserve/schedule. Why do we have to settle for that? Uni is so straight-forward and effortless and they've been doing it for many years now. It works there, there is no valid reason it won't work the same at WDW. Just offer several levels of how many FP entries we get with a reasonable price point for each and let us decide for ourselves where and when they are used.

 

[saskdw]

Exactly, and personally...I like to be rewarded for my hard work. I spend a significant amount of time planning for my Disney trips. I put in the time and generally get rewarded with the fast passes I want at the times I want them. If there are folks out there that are willing to spend the money on a WDW trip, but can't be bothered with doing a little research ahead of time...then their experience will reflect that. Leveling out the playing field by taking away from the enthusiastic planners and letting the "I'll wing it's" buy their top tier fast passes kinda stinks in my humble opinion. I can't really afford to be an "I'll wing it."

I wonder what percentage of WDW visitors are in your camp though? I'm guessing it's 10% or less. Disney isn't going to go out of their way to cater to that group. It will be more profitable to make the experience better for the 90%.

 

[orangecuse]

There is a huge difference to me between EP at Uni where its essentially unlimited and unscheduled and free with a deluxe- and buying packages of one use FP+ for rides. I don’t want to pay several extra hundred to $1000 to get on a few rides each day and still worry about crowds and lines for anything else I’d want to do. Especially if I still have to preschedule and now can’t move them.

My guess (only a guess obviously) is that Disney is trying to figure out a way to level the playing field between the
1. Uber planners
2. The somewhat in the know
3. And the last minute no clue what they are doing folks.

If everyone can pay and play and there is some advantage for the early birds, but the late commers aren’t totally SOL, they’ll probably get an overall positive mark. I mean, like 50% of people are one-time vistors right? So most of those people either would be okay spending $$$ for the “perfect trip” and those that don’t know ahead of time will throw money at the problem when they show up to salvage their trip.

I personally, would be unhappy with most ideas thrown out here. I also don’t get upset and know that Disney doesn’t care if they lose my buisness if they get more $$$ and make a huge portion of their base (the last minute and once a lifetimers) happy.

 

[PolyRob]

Maybe I am biased, but if you're planning a WDW trip on your own there are multiple reminders about dining, FP+, etc. Whenever I make a call to the reservations line even if its just for a question I am asked if I have MDE, if I know how to use it, and if I need to be transferred to dining. If a guest goes through a TA, I would hope the TA would guide them on what should also be done if not already doing it for them.

It would be hard for me to imagine a person who ignores all of these tips would know that they needed to purchase a special FP+ for SDD, FoP, and 7DMT because they are in high demand, especially if the purchase comes before arrival. If you're that closed off, you probably don't even know these rides exist or which park they reside in. If the major change moves towards day of spontaneity, I will honestly be shocked. At the same time, if you're a non-planner and a more go with the flow type of person, you're probably not rope dropping and getting to the park super early so it may even be too late to purchase a possible paid FP+.

 

[Tink_83]

Since I tend to do short trips this could be a benefit for me. Right now I either have to attend a day when they do an EMM or DAH or pay for preplanned tours (which with the age gap for my kids does not work well)... depending on the cost paid FP (or paid extra FP) could be a major benefit to me. The only real question I have is will they actually release this in May during my trip and if so what is the pricing so I can start budgeting. But if this brings value back to shorter trips it would be worth it to me.

And for the record I would hope it wouldn’t impact someone staying on-site for those long visits. I can’t imagine they want to devalue staying 2 weeks on-site with them. But I can see them wanting to keep the value to guests going for shorter periods and depending on implementation this could be a way to do that.

 

[snappy]

I wonder if the FP packages however they are marketed will have static or dynamic prices like flights and hotels. Closer to arrival date, paid FP’s go up up up.

 

[Tink_83]

I wonder if the FP packages are however they are marketed will have static or dynamic prices like flights and hotels. Closer to arrival date, paid FP’s go up up up.

I would expect it to be more like other parks, paid FP are more expensive depending on the day. They already switched to date based ticket prices so that would seem reasonable. If so I could see the packages for a day at the MK with FP being upwards of 75. Saying that I’m sure my inexpensive Memorial Day trip just tripled in price if I want to do anything while I’m there... if they role this out in May.

 

[TammyLynn33]

Interesting..but as we planned to go over Easter a crazy busy time and I decided to book EMM for TSL and MK besides having a breakfast included isn’t that in essence what I’m paying for ? Reduced crowds increased rides ? For what $79 and there’s 3 rides..
I wonder if EMM will be gone as well