Fast Pass Future? Predictions...

[VandVsmama]

I think they are going to make the switch to paid Maxpass

This. I think that they'll eliminate the whole booking FPs before your arrival.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Never let a tragedy go to waste. Disney is definitely going to charge for fastpass when it returns.

If disney really wanted to they could have fastpass right now but they choose not to. Like @DLgal said It’s not about crowd control at all. They are preparing people for what’s to come IMO.

 

[Lumpy1106]

OK, wading in...
I DO NOT like the pay-for-cuts (PFC) systems that Cedar Fair and Six Flags use. It's not fair and puts the burden on the regular paying visitor. Meanwhile it costs NOTHING for the parks to offer this and that's not right either. case in point, maybe the worst abuse I saw of this; I went to Great America in Santa Clara CA and we wanted to ride Gold Striker one last time before we exited the park (a GREAT coaster BTW!). The line looked to be about 30 minutes - OK. It was then that GA set up a $5 a play, "spin-the-wheel" game right at the entrance to the ride. There were other prizes, sure, but the only reason anyone was playing was so they could get a "golden ticket" to cut the line. I think they were even allowing you to pick the golden ticket if you got another prize - so essentially they were charging people $5 for their group to cut the line.

GA had a constant stream of revenue and us poor suckers in the line? Well, we ended up waiting a full hour. Sure, we could have paid $5 to cut the line too, but I was happy to wait 30 minutes to ride, a lot less happy to wait an hour. If the line cutters had just waited, we would have all waited 30 minutes, so in reality GA was making us wait in line for them.

HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT!!

The FP is different though, in that everyone gets to use it. Flex Pass is a gray area in that the Flex Pass users are getting more FP's but only because they don't have to spend time running back and forth across the park to get the additional FP's. I can live with that. Ask anyone who has been without FPs though and they will tell you, sure, the lines may be long, but they are moving a lot faster now. You do not have to wait while the FP users cut in front of you. Sure, you get to cut in line too, so that's something, but if you do nothing but stand in line for rides, your wait is the same - it has to be. There are only so many people they can put on rides per hour. I will openly admit though, FP is a good thing for us, in that my DW does not like rides like Space Mountain, so I get to ride and not feel so guilty about making her wait while I do that. That's a good thing no matter how you look at it. Families with small kids face the same dilemma and Disney is packed with families with small kids.

OK, so, getting out my Madame Leota magic ball, I would guess WDW is going the direction of DL and will use the Flex Pass exclusively. Yes, I think DL is going to end the regular FPs too. Will we have to pay for it? Well, with the premium price on Disney park passes, it's fair to say we already are, so no, I don't think they will charge extra for it, but instead make it included in the price of admission. That keeps everyone happy.

 

[vacationer1954]

PFC does "cost" the parks in terms of decreased "regular paying visitor" satisfaction and therefore decreased value meaning decreased ability to charge premium prices. Presumably they only offer it because how much they earn for PFC makes up for what it costs them. Let's say that makes PFC a draw. What puts PFC over the top for sure is when you factor in the benefits to the park from making the same money while serving fewer guests: Less overload on facilities; lower costs of maintenance; etc.

It's unfair, like many things in life, especially things that cost money. And it is definitely worthy of hate for those who don't benefit from it. But it is probably the future for Disney, and they'll probably end up being better off for it even after every consequence is taken into consideration.

 

[Blondie58]

I don’t know.
I think it will be similar as before.

I’m going to guess everyone will get 3 to start, but additional fp’s will cost you.

We can only hope we will at least get three. I like your prediction.

 

[disneyguy87]

I shudder at the thought of losing FP+. My wife has plantar fasciitis and the walking and standing in lines is murder on her feet. FP+ helps us get more out of our day. My wife has never stood on line for an hour for anything at WDW due to excellent FP strategy. There's no way we'd go to WDW with that changed for the worst especially with kiddos in tow.

A paid FP+ system means more money. If EMH is also paid then I'm stuck with two extra things to pay for. Not to mention transport with the loss of ME. This puts people like me in an impossible situation.
Sure we could forego the dining plan, but again I like the inclusive feel and this another reason to just have an all inclusive vacation elsewhere.

I'm open to a virtual queue system of some sort but the danger here is wandering around aimlessly until it's time to do something.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I'm open to a virtual queue system of some sort but the danger here is wandering around aimlessly until it's time to do something.

Disney would love that. More time for people to spend more money.

 

[Blondie58]

I shudder at the thought of losing FP+. My wife has plantar fasciitis and the walking and standing in lines is murder on her feet. FP+ helps us get more out of our day. My wife has never stood on line for an hour for anything at WDW due to excellent FP strategy. There's no way we'd go to WDW with that changed for the worst especially with kiddos in tow.

A paid FP+ system means more money. If EMH is also paid then I'm stuck with two extra things to pay for. Not to mention transport with the loss of ME. This puts people like me in an impossible situation.
Sure we could forego the dining plan, but again I like the inclusive feel and this another reason to just have an all inclusive vacation elsewhere.

I'm open to a virtual queue system of some sort but the danger here is wandering around aimlessly until it's time to do something.

I could not agree more with your post!! We are in our 60s and don't want to do all the standing either.

 

[disneyguy87]

Disney would love that. More time for people to spend more money.

Very true. But with all the money for everything else to just have a decent what money?

 

[Timandalicia]

What are people's guesses as to how and when FP+ will return?

Here's mine:

It won't return until the parks are at or near 100% capacity AND all the hotels are open. And when it does, it will be far different- I predict a two tiered system in which you get one FP per day for staying at a resort- no FP's for staying off campus- in tier one.

Then, everything beyond that in Tier two will be- you guessed it- for an additional fee. Best guess would be something like they've tested for some VIP resort guests- 3 additional per guest per day for around $75 each. They can dramatically limit the number versus what it was previously and the standby waits wouldn't be as dramatically impacted.

Companies like Cedar Fair and Universal just bring in too much free money for Disney to keep passing this up.

Love this thread. So fun. Fastpasses are the most valuable product. They won’t miss the chance to make money off it.

-I like your prediction. They gotta call the paid version something different then fastpass to stop the torches and pitchforks.

-I’m curious about the Genie?

-The virtual queue for the free option?

-Also more after hours events.

 

[kwdw]

I know I am in the minority here, but I hope they don't come back.
What you are experiencing in the parks now is how it was before fast pass. Everyone waited in the same lines, but the time went quickly because there was no extra fast pass line, and we visited with others to pass the time. If I didn't want to wait in the line, I would just skip it and go back later.Everyone was equal that way.
You can just wander where you want to, not where you have to be, and do what you want. No pressure to get to a certain area for a certain pass. No stress and more freeing, IMO. So, I hope it never returns.

While I will agree FP takes more planning - park capacity is at like 40% capacity at best right now. If parks were at a much higher capacity - the wait times would be much longer. And for folks who spend big bucks on vacation - spending an hour or more in every line is not how folks want to spend their vacation. My partner's first experience with Disney was when there was no FP of any kind in the middle of the summer waiting in the heat for line after line. That was a horrible memory. He loves FP and ADR's because enough of the day is planned that he can cope with the crowds - because he knows something won't be about waiting in line.

 

[kwdw]

I shudder at the thought of losing FP+. My wife has plantar fasciitis and the walking and standing in lines is murder on her feet. FP+ helps us get more out of our day. My wife has never stood on line for an hour for anything at WDW due to excellent FP strategy. There's no way we'd go to WDW with that changed for the worst especially with kiddos in tow.

A paid FP+ system means more money. If EMH is also paid then I'm stuck with two extra things to pay for. Not to mention transport with the loss of ME. This puts people like me in an impossible situation.
Sure we could forego the dining plan, but again I like the inclusive feel and this another reason to just have an all inclusive vacation elsewhere.

I'm open to a virtual queue system of some sort but the danger here is wandering around aimlessly until it's time to do something.

I'd be okay with a combo of FP's in advance, virtual queues, and standby lines. But I don't want to have to be constantly playing on my phone all day to get into queues - and not KNOW when I'm going to have something to do. I hate that aimlessness "between planned things" - or the "unknown" - it's just stress inducing.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

I know I am in the minority here, but I hope they don't come back.
What you are experiencing in the parks now is how it was before fast pass. Everyone waited in the same lines, but the time went quickly because there was no extra fast pass line, and we visited with others to pass the time. If I didn't want to wait in the line, I would just skip it and go back later.Everyone was equal that way.
You can just wander where you want to, not where you have to be, and do what you want. No pressure to get to a certain area for a certain pass. No stress and more freeing, IMO. So, I hope it never returns.

But those days were not even close to the crowd levels the parks are getting now. Heck I remember when we lived in Orlando in the 80's and 90's, and went to the park. We could get everything done and be home before closing, especially during the, now long gone, off season. We have found FP+ to actually help us enjoy the parks at a more relax pace, instead of going from ride to ride hoping for a lesser line we know that we would need to start walking in the direction of our next FP.

 

[KrazeeK120]

What you are experiencing in the parks now is how it was before fast pass.

No, it isn’t. There’s a 35% capacity cap right now, and that’s not even being hit every day in parks other than DHS. Without the capacity restriction, standby lines would be atrocious.

I’m quite sure there will be some Fastpass-esque service as capacity increases. I don’t even want to guess what it will be though!

 

[yulilin3]

No, it isn’t. There’s a 35% capacity cap right now, and that’s not even being hit every day in parks other than DHS. Without the capacity restriction, standby lines would be atrocious.

I’m quite sure there will be some Fastpass-esque service as capacity increases. I don’t even want to guess what it will be though!

Just to point out that most attractions are not running at 100% capacity.

 

[bookgirl2632]

I think that if and when it returns, it’ll be tiered to your resort category. Those staying DVC and Deluxe will get three to start with, those staying Moderate will get two, and those staying Value will get one. You can make more like before after the initial ones. Somewhere in there, AP holders will get to make them in advance as well. But those staying offsite will have to wait until day of to make them. This would serve to appease people who feel that Disney is taking away so many resort perks.

Or they could go a completely different route and do something like Disneyland that you have to pay extra for. Perhaps the price would be different for the different tiers of resorts.

 

[Farro]

Hmmm.

I think off-site guests will have to pay for all fast-passes.
I think resort guests will give a certain amount for free, then will have to pay for any on top of the free ones.
I think booking will remain same - 30 days off-site, 60 days on-site.

Or perhaps resort guests will be given different options dependent on what package they buy, still working out better than what off-site will get.

Wouldn't a max-pass (available to all, on-site and off-site) have to be really expensive to try and discourage a large amount of people from purchasing it? Otherwise if so many people got it, wouldn't it be rendered useless?

 

[auntlynne]

I shudder at the thought of losing FP+. My wife has plantar fasciitis and the walking and standing in lines is murder on her feet. FP+ helps us get more out of our day. My wife has never stood on line for an hour for anything at WDW due to excellent FP strategy. There's no way we'd go to WDW with that changed for the worst especially with kiddos in tow.

A paid FP+ system means more money. If EMH is also paid then I'm stuck with two extra things to pay for. Not to mention transport with the loss of ME. This puts people like me in an impossible situation.
Sure we could forego the dining plan, but again I like the inclusive feel and this another reason to just have an all inclusive vacation elsewhere.

I'm open to a virtual queue system of some sort but the danger here is wandering around aimlessly until it's time to do something.

would she be able to use the disability option at the parks? the wait for the ride is not reduced, but she could do the wait time seated. YMW to check it out as a possibility.

 

[DebbieB]

There is really no reason, once the pandemic is over and close contact is not an issue that things could not just return to what they were before the pandemic.
If it was working for Disney why would they change it.

They know every other park charges for it. Why would they give it away free, this is the opportunity to press the reset button on a lot of things.

 

[Evita_W]

I still maintain it turns into the system from DLR Maxpass and all and becomes universal across all parks, except maybe Tokyo.