Rumor: FP (or virtual queue) return

[Hjs33]

That’s fine but once you move off property you have a commute time and parking to deal with.....DisneyLand hotels are not discounted to those around it and you can easily walk from several big brand hotels and it’s shorter than Disneyland hotel. I don’t know anyone who justifies the higher price of Disney hotels by saying they get fast passes sooner.

When my family went for the first time a few years ago this was definitely a factor. When compared to offsite hotels we saw 3 main benefits.... theming, transportation, and an earlier fast pass window. Probably in that order. Is theming and transportation alone enough? Maybe, but I think we might have leaned more towards offsite if that was all we were getting for paying 2x the cost of a offsite hotel. Plus some offsite hotels are just about as close as some Disney resorts.

 

[Shinrai]

That’s fine but once you move off property you have a commute time and parking to deal with.....DisneyLand hotels are not discounted to those around it and you can easily walk from several big brand hotels and it’s shorter than Disneyland hotel. I don’t know anyone who justifies the higher price of Disney hotels by saying they get fast passes sooner.

Exactly. Disneyland hotels are more expensive than off-site hotels (comparably priced to the WDW hotels, and in some cases more expensive than the WDW hotels), and many off-site hotels are actually more convenient to the parks. But they still fill up. People like to stay there, despite that and despite the fact that staying on site at Disneyland has no FP benefits. I think Disney realizes people will stay at the WDW hotels without FP, also.

 

[brich330]

My biggest concern would be widespread use of virtual queues with no standby option. ROTR is never a guarantee unlike something FOP, if you’re willing to wait in standby for it (ride closures aside). If a lot of headliners start coming down to luck and phone reception, even I cannot justify a trip at that point. It starts sounding more like a casino and less like a theme park.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

I think that is very different. Maxpass makes getting a fast pass easier, but everyone in the park has an opportunity to get a fast pass. Once you make it a pay only option, it changes it to a class system.

Plus one of the biggest perks of staying on property in Disney World is the 60 day fast pass window. Otherwise it becomes harder to justify paying 2-3 times as much for staying on property. I could see how some people will make the calculation and decide to pay for fast passes, but offset the cost by staying off property.

The FP window has only been a perk for onsite guests for about 7 years. Disney has been pulling people into their resorts for years before that, both for reasons like location, bubble, transportation, theme, as well as more temporary perks like EMH.

I don’t really think it’s one of the biggest perks, more like a bonus. Like EMH. I think it can go away or change and the resorts would be fine.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

FP+ is actually the opposite of what they need. FP+ works to drive people out of queue lines and into other venues (shops, restaurants, shows, milling about for entertainment, watching parades). The problem is that is exactly where Disney does NOT want them to be right now. They want them to be in the long social queues that eat up crowds and keep them stationary outdoors and away from bumping into each other in indoor areas.

FP+ will come back someday in a different form (put my hat in with genie, since they have been working on that for some time and it's the future of the FP system).

However, until COVID is under control, FP+ is the exact opposite of what they need to do. They need the anti-FP+.

 

[bobby5966]

Just curious if anybody else ran into this at the parks. I’ve noticed twice now a couple fast pass type lines where they scan your band and people go on through, but it’s not fast pass per se. Is this some other fast pass type system folks pay for?

 

[rteetz]

Just curious if anybody else ran into this at the parks. I’ve noticed twice now a couple fast pass type lines where they scan your band and people go on through, but it’s not fast pass per se. Is this some other fast pass type system folks pay for?

Rider swap is still in use, Club 33 gets FPs, and VIP tours can use the FP line.

 

[mamaofsix]

Many sites this morning are reporting more virtual queues coming soon to WDW. They all reference this article:

https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/myma...oarding-groups-at-walt-world-disney-world.htm
I'm going to update the title of the thread to reflect FP or virtual queue

Ugh. If more virtual queues is what Disney has in store, count me out. ROTR virtual queue has been an absolute, rip-roaring disaster if you ask me. Why would I pay so much money to go to a themepark that is just one big game of chance?

No thanks, Disney.

 

[siren0119]

Rider swap is still in use, Club 33 gets FPs, and VIP tours can use the FP line.

And DAS use the FP line

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

Is FP coming back in January? Is it worth it waiting to come back after the New Year?

We were there in September when it got busier. The only park we found unmanageable was HS.

 

[stinkpickle]

I doubt it.

 

[subtchr]

Reinstating FP would be great for those of us who know how to use it and take full advantage. But the issue (and the reason I don’t think it is returning anytime soon) is that it would increase standby times, often very significantly. Those standby times that are already 60 minutes or more.

So a few people (those with FP) would have short wait times, but the majority of the crowd would face two hour wait times. Many of them would decide not to enter a 2-hour queue, so then what happens? More crowds out in the parks, where it will be even tougher to maintain social distancing.

If you have been back since re-opening, you understand just how much work and time and thought they put into reconfiguring and modifying the queues to accommodate social distancing. For many attractions (not all), they would have to rethink or reconfigure FP queues in some of the same way.

Would I like FP back? Yes, of course. But not if it’s at the detriment of the overall park experience. Looking at the big picture, until shows and other experiences are back, to absorb crowds, I don’t think it’s going to happen.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Pretty sure that FP as we knew it is no longer going to exist. It will probably be a new system.

 

[MJJME]

The FP window has only been a perk for onsite guests for about 7 years. Disney has been pulling people into their resorts for years before that, both for reasons like location, bubble, transportation, theme, as well as more temporary perks like EMH.

I don’t really think it’s one of the biggest perks, more like a bonus. Like EMH. I think it can go away or change and the resorts would be fine.

Completely disagree

 

[suemom2kay]

I understand they are using some of the fast pass lines to aid in social distancing for the stand by lines. If that is true, it will be awhile before they convert to fast pass lines again.

I know this is an older post... I was just in WDW and they are absolutely not using the FP lines for social distancing. They remain empty. They are using the Fastpass queues for Fastpasses (saw this on multiple rides) not sure who these people are that have fastpasses (very few and far between). Certainly not the general public.

 

[Eric Smith]

I know this is an older post... I was just in WDW and they are absolutely not using the FP lines for social distancing. They remain empty. They are using the Fastpass queues for Fastpasses (saw this on multiple rides) not sure who these people are that have fastpasses (very few and far between). Certainly not the general public.

They're Club 33 and rider swap I believe.

 

[CarolynFH]

I know this is an older post... I was just in WDW and they are absolutely not using the FP lines for social distancing. They remain empty. They are using the Fastpass queues for Fastpasses (saw this on multiple rides) not sure who these people are that have fastpasses (very few and far between). Certainly not the general public.

They're Club 33 and rider swap I believe.

And guests with DAS passes.

 

[Rush]

I know this is an older post... I was just in WDW and they are absolutely not using the FP lines for social distancing. They remain empty. They are using the Fastpass queues for Fastpasses (saw this on multiple rides) not sure who these people are that have fastpasses (very few and far between). Certainly not the general public.

It’s the general public if they hold a DAS card or the second rider using rider swap. Possibly Club 33 as well, but the vast majority are the first two.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

I know this is an older post... I was just in WDW and they are absolutely not using the FP lines for social distancing. They remain empty. They are using the Fastpass queues for Fastpasses (saw this on multiple rides) not sure who these people are that have fastpasses (very few and far between). Certainly not the general public.

They're Club 33 and rider swap I believe.

And the occasional recovery FP. We were evacuated out of the MMRR line after about 15 minutes of downtime, were comped a FP that we used on SDD, and returned to an empty MMRR as it reopened. Made me miss the old FP days a little, but I understand all the reasons for not having it now.

I will say that having Express Pass in UOR as a RPR guest was a really nice perk this summer, though. It would be nice if Disney could figure something out to balance wait times and that feeling of skipping a line.

 

[Jrb1979]

And the occasional recovery FP. We were evacuated out of the MMRR line after about 15 minutes of downtime, were comped a FP that we used on SDD, and returned to an empty MMRR as it reopened. Made me miss the old FP days a little, but I understand all the reasons for not having it now.

I will say that having Express Pass in UOR as a RPR guest was a really nice perk this summer, though. It would be nice if Disney could figure something out to balance wait times and that feeling of skipping a line.

IMO the only way to do that is make it limit FP even more.