Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[JETSDAD]

I'm curious.

People pay $50-75 extra (per person) simply to park hop. Park hopping takes time, but can save you time if you are hopping to a less busy park.
People pay $69+ for EMM which is essentially 3 fast passes (though you can ride things multiple times) and breakfast.

How much would people be willing to pay for:
(I've put them in an order I think would probably "cost" more)

1) The ability to make your normal 3 FP reservations sooner than 60 days?
2) Simply the ability to make three fast passes, as normal, but ignore Tiering?
3) A 4th scheduled Fast Pass? (on top of the normal 3)
4) A single "anytime/anywhere" flexible Fast Pass per day for the length of your trip
5) Three "anytime/anywhere" fast passes per day for the length of your trip?

I think all these things people (like us here) would love to have the option for .. if so .. how much would we be willing to pay?

I'm not a fan of nickel/diming .. but that is just our business economy today. Whether it is for airlines, (charging for more leg room, charging for bagged) or games (a game is "free" to play .. but has tons of microtransactions) .. to this.

If they leave the system the same as it is and offer those options as upgrades, I wouldn't pay for any of them just like I currently don't pay for EMM or DAH. If they take away same day FP's then I would have to reconsider some of the options (but wouldn't be happy about it).

 

[firefly_ris]

I'm curious.

People pay $50-75 extra (per person) simply to park hop. Park hopping takes time, but can save you time if you are hopping to a less busy park.
People pay $69+ for EMM which is essentially 3 fast passes (though you can ride things multiple times) and breakfast.

How much would people be willing to pay for:
(I've put them in an order I think would probably "cost" more)

1) The ability to make your normal 3 FP reservations sooner than 60 days?
2) Simply the ability to make three fast passes, as normal, but ignore Tiering?
3) A 4th scheduled Fast Pass? (on top of the normal 3)
4) A single "anytime/anywhere" flexible Fast Pass per day for the length of your trip
5) Three "anytime/anywhere" fast passes per day for the length of your trip?

I think all these things people (like us here) would love to have the option for .. if so .. how much would we be willing to pay?

I'm not a fan of nickel/diming .. but that is just our business economy today. Whether it is for airlines, (charging for more leg room, charging for bagged) or games (a game is "free" to play .. but has tons of microtransactions) .. to this.

Honestly -- I'm likely in the minority on these boards, but I'd pay zero for any of those. I just wouldn't go anymore if it started getting that crazy, and cherish my memories and move on. I was starting to make loose plans for a 2022 trip but... yeah. I'll just be observing what happens over the next couple of years, but if the planning gets more intense, and with a higher price tag, then I'd have to be done for 2 reasons -- way too much effort (it's a lot of effort now to get your ticket's worth) and secondly way too expensive to have to put in that much effort (where I'd not only PAY, it's more time I have to spend staring at the app, and even further ahead of time). At that point I'd be off to Europe or something.

 

[Carrie Ellis]

But, what if you are going for 8 days? It could get really expensive. Most parks like Universal, Sea world etc.. are 1-2 day parks. Disney has been known for staying longer and the experience of being on a cruise ship like vacation. We enjoying going for 8 or more days and I assume the ticket/day gets cheaper because the money is to be made on food and buying stuff more than the park rides. I just don't understand the cost of FPs for long stays and larger families working out.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

If I'm reading things correctly (and there are a lot of guesses out there) this (getting additional FPs after using 'free' 1 or 2) may no longer be an option without paying.

At least that's what I think I've read. So confused!

Martin has mentioned both as possibilities (though, the latest posting mentioned the option where additional, free, day of FP would be available, but the pot would be smaller as some would be tagged as for fee FP). My take was that if you want a Philharmagic FP as your 4th FP, that would be there for free; 7DMT, that would be for a price.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Has he posted an estimated time of implementation?

In regards to a May roll out, Martin said:

"I doubt it."

 

[PrincessV]

People pay $50-75 extra (per person) simply to park hop. Park hopping takes time, but can save you time if you are hopping to a less busy park.

I don't.

People pay $69+ for EMM which is essentially 3 fast passes (though you can ride things multiple times) and breakfast.

I don't.

How much would people be willing to pay for:
(I've put them in an order I think would probably "cost" more)

1) The ability to make your normal 3 FP reservations sooner than 60 days?
2) Simply the ability to make three fast passes, as normal, but ignore Tiering?
3) A 4th scheduled Fast Pass? (on top of the normal 3)
4) A single "anytime/anywhere" flexible Fast Pass per day for the length of your trip
5) Three "anytime/anywhere" fast passes per day for the length of your trip?

Zero. Absolutely nothing. Couldn't even if I wanted to.

 

[Hikergirl]

I'm curious.

People pay $50-75 extra (per person) simply to park hop. Park hopping takes time, but can save you time if you are hopping to a less busy park.
People pay $69+ for EMM which is essentially 3 fast passes (though you can ride things multiple times) and breakfast.

How much would people be willing to pay for:
(I've put them in an order I think would probably "cost" more)

1) The ability to make your normal 3 FP reservations sooner than 60 days?
2) Simply the ability to make three fast passes, as normal, but ignore Tiering?
3) A 4th scheduled Fast Pass? (on top of the normal 3)
4) A single "anytime/anywhere" flexible Fast Pass per day for the length of your trip
5) Three "anytime/anywhere" fast passes per day for the length of your trip?

I think all these things people (like us here) would love to have the option for .. if so .. how much would we be willing to pay?

I'm not a fan of nickel/diming .. but that is just our business economy today. Whether it is for airlines, (charging for more leg room, charging for bagged) or games (a game is "free" to play .. but has tons of microtransactions) .. to this.

I'd only pay for a modified #5- like 3 anytime/anywhere per day, but only if there was no minimum required. If it was required to be purchased for every day of my trip then I wouldn't, unless it was like $10 a day which judging by the $50 a day for CL guests I highly doubt it would be less than that.

 

[tlmadden73]

I'm curious.
How much would people be willing to pay for:
(I've put them in an order I think would probably "cost" more)

1) The ability to make your normal 3 FP reservations sooner than 60 days?
2) Simply the ability to make three fast passes, as normal, but ignore Tiering?
3) A 4th scheduled Fast Pass? (on top of the normal 3)
4) A single "anytime/anywhere" flexible Fast Pass per day for the length of your trip
5) Three "anytime/anywhere" fast passes per day for the length of your trip?

I think all these things people (like us here) would love to have the option for .. if so .. how much would we be willing to pay?

No one mentioned any specific prices they'd be willing to pay yet?

I personally would like guarantee of getting a certain ride without dealing with how long your stay is where someone staying a day longer than you gobbling up the "good" fast passes.

Just how I am willing to stay onsite (and pay a premium) to get 60 day scheduling, I am willing to pay for more guarantees. As it stands now, 60-day scheduling isn't a perk for getting those high-demand FPs unless you have a long trip.
My trips are rarely long enough to get FoP and SDD (and the only way I got them last trip was "cheating" a bit and having my cousin (arriving 4 days earlier) get FPs for those attractions for me as those days were very late in their trip.

I know not "everyone" would pay for the FP extras .. but Disney knows people are willing to pay for it. (I mean .. obviously there are people pay for premium parking even though most of us probably think that is a waste of money too).

It's going to happen, I just hope disney can find a balance between free and paid .. or make the paid ones so expensive (like the CLub Level ones) where it is such a small percentage of guests using it that it will feel like a "splurge" and not a "necessity".

 

[SaintsManiac]

I won't list an amount I would pay. Not giving Disney any ideas.

 

[dlavender]

I'm curious.

People pay $50-75 extra (per person) simply to park hop. Park hopping takes time, but can save you time if you are hopping to a less busy park.
People pay $69+ for EMM which is essentially 3 fast passes (though you can ride things multiple times) and breakfast.

How much would people be willing to pay for:
(I've put them in an order I think would probably "cost" more)

1) The ability to make your normal 3 FP reservations sooner than 60 days?
2) Simply the ability to make three fast passes, as normal, but ignore Tiering?
3) A 4th scheduled Fast Pass? (on top of the normal 3)
4) A single "anytime/anywhere" flexible Fast Pass per day for the length of your trip
5) Three "anytime/anywhere" fast passes per day for the length of your trip?

I think all these things people (like us here) would love to have the option for .. if so .. how much would we be willing to pay?

I'm not a fan of nickel/diming .. but that is just our business economy today. Whether it is for airlines, (charging for more leg room, charging for bagged) or games (a game is "free" to play .. but has tons of microtransactions) .. to this.

I'd pay $0 as well. The 60 day booking doesn't factor into our decision for onsite at all, already due to the pricing of the hotels. Since we are a family of 5, these things really add up quickly. I'm only doing EMM this year since the other half of my family really pushed for it, and I got them to move the trip off site to offset.

But for fun, this is how I think they would price them:

1.) $35 per ticket
2.) Same
3.) $15 per ticket (depends on tier of ride, perhaps $10 for Barnstormer)
4.) $25 per ticket
5.) $70 per ticket

And I'm probably shooting too low here...

 

[Hikergirl]

No one mentioned any specific prices they'd be willing to pay yet?

For me it would really depend.
I would have no problem paying $50 for 3 tier 1, but I wouldn't for tier 3. So if I paid but then couldn't get my 3 tier 1 choices and was stuck with tier 3's then I'd be annoyed.
I would have to be guaranteed tier 1 FPs for me to shell out ANY extra money.

 

[Marionnette]

But, what if you are going for 8 days? It could get really expensive. Most parks like Universal, Sea world etc.. are 1-2 day parks. Disney has been known for staying longer and the experience of being on a cruise ship like vacation. We enjoying going for 8 or more days and I assume the ticket/day gets cheaper because the money is to be made on food and buying stuff more than the park rides. I just don't understand the cost of FPs for long stays and larger families working out.

The CLFPs are a minimum of 3 days but they do not require a LOS purchase like the dining plans do. Nor do they require everyone on the reservation to purchase it. If the CLFPs are the model for a more widely offered PTP FP program, them it wouldn’t matter if you’re staying 2 nights or 10. You would just buy it for the days you want.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

It's going to happen, I just hope disney can find a balance between free and paid .. or make the paid ones so expensive (like the CLub Level ones) where it is such a small percentage of guests using it that it will feel like a "splurge" and not a "necessity".

There are basically two paths:

Make it very expensive, and capped. So, they make a ton of money, but the effect would be minimal on those who don't purchase.

Make it fairly inexpensive, so everyone buys them (or, at least inexpensive options, such as pay for a single FP). Basically turning the current system into a paid system. As someone mentioned previously, it'll basically be turning back to the old coupon book days. You get a certain number of tickets with your admission ticket, then you have to pay for extra. This would probably cause the greatest uproar, but, objectively, could result in the impact Disney wanted out of FP all along: a greater redistribution of guests to the secondary attractions. FP+ does this better than legacy FP, but a coupon book system (with the A and B rides being "free" tickets) would do it even better still.

Of course, stand by will still be an option, but I'm going to guess that they are going to increase the FP/stand by ratio even more, which would further push people into using FP as opposed to stand by. This would also explain the better 60 day FP availability that's been seen for May. Maybe this is what Martin meant by they are already testing things for this? (or at least part of it)

Didn't they once test a FP only queue for Soarin, with no stand by? I wonder if that may still be the goal; eliminate stand by completely for all rides.

 

[billlaurie]

Honestly -- I'm likely in the minority on these boards, but I'd pay zero for any of those. I just wouldn't go anymore if it started getting that crazy, and cherish my memories and move on. I was starting to make loose plans for a 2022 trip but... yeah. I'll just be observing what happens over the next couple of years, but if the planning gets more intense, and with a higher price tag, then I'd have to be done for 2 reasons -- way too much effort (it's a lot of effort now to get your ticket's worth) and secondly way too expensive to have to put in that much effort (where I'd not only PAY, it's more time I have to spend staring at the app, and even further ahead of time). At that point I'd be off to Europe or something.

I don't know if you are the minority but you certainly are not alone. If the paid FP plan comes to fruition, we will move on and enjoy the memories of past trips. We are not "Disney addicts;" however, we enjoy it immensely when we do come though we come infrequently, because we spend vacation dollar in other ways. Fortunately, we had some good trips when my kids were young. I was hoping to enjoy some trips with the grandkids as we are doing in June but this trip is costing almost $20,000 for 12 people. I don't feel comfortable giving Disney MORE money just for the privilege of getting on rides without waiting a ridiculous amount of time in line.

 

[PolyRob]

It would be very hard for me to put a price on extra FP+. I find the current CL FP+ offerings to be outrageously overpriced for what you get on top of paying rack rate CL prices. I am taking my first CL stay in a few days, but at an AP rate almost as good as my standard room that I picked up just about a week ago. No way 90+ days would have even benefited me.

I would have to see what the FP+ system becomes and what my options are when it rolls out. If I cannot get any current tier-1 attraction in any park without purchasing a plan, I would probably be forced to purchase something. I would think long and hard about which rides I would do it for. Sure, FoP and Na'vi are cool, but I personally cancelled my only FoP FP+ on my last trip because I did not want to wait 20 minutes in a line and pre-show and knew I was going back in a few months and wanted to go back to my room and rest. I would probably pay for 1 Toy Story in HS ride and 1 Mountain in MK during a trip and thats it. I would utilize EMH (if they still exist) or ropedrop. When I purchase add-on events its because they are "exclusive" (party parades, fireworks, characters, etc) or an overall experience (DAH - letting me tour a less crowded parks when I am a night owl and its not as hot and sunny). If its just to get on a ride with a smaller wait and I am still restricted to an hour between my free FP+ and ADRs, its not worth that much to me. Could you also imagine if you purchased FoP access and it was down and the only thing in the same park was Na'vi? Definitely not the same caliber ride. What if you don't have a hopper to use it on say SDD? I am sure GR would make it right and refund you, but thats YMMV because it doesn't have to.

 

[Disneylover99]

Never say never, but at this point I’m not willing to pay any extra money on fp’s. We go for 2+ weeks at a time, so we have time to do what we want. We’ll just do headliners late at night or early in the morning.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

...Didn't they once test a FP only queue for Soarin, with no stand by? I wonder if that may still be the goal; eliminate stand by completely for all rides.

If they eliminated all standby lines for all rides, wouldn’t the new “FP-only lines” then, themselves, become standby lines.

 

[firefly_ris]

If they eliminated all standby lines for all rides, wouldn’t the new “FP-only lines” then, themselves, become standby lines.

Well, unlike standby where anyone can enter the line at any given time, with FP only, you can only enter the line at your designated FP window. In this way they know exactly how many people will be in queue at any particular time of day (and staff it as such?).

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Never say never, but at this point I’m not willing to pay any extra money on fp’s. We go for 2+ weeks at a time, so we have time to do what we want. We’ll just do headliners late at night or early in the morning.

I’m not willing to pay either (we go for about a week, always on site. I like the bubble.)

But if it becomes pay or wait 4 hours, I’m content to head back to Hawaii for a few years again. I’ve only seen 2 islands so far

 

[dlavender]

If they eliminated all standby lines for all rides, wouldn’t the new “FP-only lines” then, themselves, become standby lines.