Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[SaharanTea]

As usual, I am baffled by the acceptance and sometimes desire for Disney to charge them more.

 

[Sarah1024]

One thing I've wondered, and I apologize if I missed this in a previous discussion, but were those hotels paying Disney to be able to offer that benefit? Is there some contractual agreement?

Yes, Disney definitely gets a cut from them

This change could be terrible or minor. The way I tour the parks is basically 3 fast passes, then I play roulette with my 4th FP and beyond. I've got 3 small kids, I ain't got no time for standby.

It would be shocking if they actually do this quickly, drastically changing how all the parks work. I can see them layering paid fast passes on top of the current system. They can manipulate the Disney Parks app and have a pop up saying "There are no available fastpasses for this attactions BUT for $20 we can give you one..."

You don't just rip out systems people are used to. You start slowly offering paid fast passes on a one by one basis. You start off by nickle and diming people people for a $5 pass or a $10 pass. Then when people are used to the system or you even get people proud of "finding a cheap $5 FP for FOP!" on social media then you start offering FP packages. Unlimited FP access between 2pm and 6pm for $150. Unlimited FP in Fantasyland for $100. By your own Disney Vacation Weekend and add on a ticket adventure package for $650 which includes 2 tickets for 2 parks and unlimited fastpasses!

Then you take away free fastpasses after a year of doing that. Or you reduce them to 1 free fast pass a day or whatever.

That's the way you play it. If Disney does it in one big swoop, then they're dumb.

I don't know, the thread on WDW magic that I just spent an half an hour catching up on seems to think it is coming very soon. Like Mayish. And that it won't be liked by a lot of people.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I don't know, the thread on WDW magic that I just spent an half an hour catching up on seems to think it is coming very soon. Like Mayish. And that it won't be liked by a lot of people.

And of course my next FP day is May 5th

 

[NJlauren]

I don't know, the thread on WDW magic that I just spent an half an hour catching up on seems to think it is coming very soon. Like Mayish. And that it won't be liked by a lot of people.

I would think, and I could be wrong, but they need to at a minimum plan this more then 70 days out. So that already puts us at May 20th.

Can you really change the rules on people who already have their FP booked? I mean I guess they could....

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Remind me why people should stay onsite any more?

I would guess...

• Still a 60-day window or SOME advantage wrt booking Fps -- that still has A LOT of value -- and this is consistent with what Martin in WDWMagic is saying

And my other reasons...

• Proximity
• Views
• EMH
• Not leaving the bubble

 

[Sarah1024]

I would think, and I could be wrong, but they need to at a minimum plan this more then 70 days out. So that already puts us at May 20th.

Can you really change the rules on people who already have their FP booked? I mean I guess they could....

I would hope they wouldn't do that! That would be horrible for Disney to do.

 

[JaxDad]

Yes, Disney definitely gets a cut from them

I assumed they did, plus I assume that if the FP rules change, Disney has an out for the contract OR will modify it in some way. If not, the DS hotels may end up with a benefit that the onsite resorts don't have???

 

[pkrieger2287]

The Disneyland Paris approach could also be the direction they are headed... My wife brought this to my attention. Here is a chart of how their FP system works and associated cost:

 

[Sarah1024]

I assumed they did, plus I assume that if the FP rules change, Disney has an out for the contract OR will modify it in some way. If not, the DS hotels may end up with a benefit that the onsite resorts don't have???

I assume in all the tickets/packages that Disney sells, whether on site, off site, DS hotels, or deluxe hotels, that there is wording that everything is subject to change. Their lawyers for sure have taken care of that so they can change any program that they want at any time.

 

[NJlauren]

The Disneyland Paris approach could also be the direction they are headed... My wife brought this to my attention. Here is a chart of how their FP system works and associated cost:

But also note only about 15 rides have FP and they use the paper system.

Going in just over two months I’ve studied this!

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

The bigger issue they could face is when they finally hit the threshold and gain that greedy moniker widely. At that point, they’ll have damaged their reputation beyond an easily repairable point. It’s easier to keep current customers than gain new ones, and far harder to regain previous ones. But they haven’t actually found that point yet, and who knows when or if they will. They still generally rank among the top for reputation rankings of major companies. I’d really love for a disruptor to enter the park industry, it needs some shaking up.

But people have been saying this was imminent FOREVER.

And SO FAR, every time they do something and people begin with the doom and gloom predictions, the trajectory of the parks continues to trend upward (with predictable bumps during economic downturns that would happen regardless).

If they've overshot with this, they can tweak or reverse. Nothing irreversible here.

 

[DavidNYC]

I didn’t either until I saw a comment in the previously linked forum (by a poster there who previously in the thread alluded to know about this via CM contacts).

Yeah - that random person who heard it from a CM is 2nd only to hearing it from bus drivers. Kind of surprised how many people in this thread are taking this very unsubstantiated rumor as a given based on basically anonymous sources saying that Disney is going to undo probably their biggest technological innovation for the vast majority of guests. Until we see an announcement that any add'l FP beyond the three booked will be paid, or start seeing a lot more reliable sources, I'm going to treat this as pure speculation.

I don't doubt that we'll see add'l monetization - but not in the way purportedly described here. It would be a terrible business decision on their part to do so and it would be pretty unprecedented.

 

[Cluelyss]

I would think, and I could be wrong, but they need to at a minimum plan this more then 70 days out. So that already puts us at May 20th.

Can you really change the rules on people who already have their FP booked? I mean I guess they could....

My guess is that the announcement will come something like “For stays beginning xxx date, you will now have the option....blah blah blah” with xxx date being at least 70 days in the future (so no FPs booked yet). And ideally, it would be 70+ something so those scheduled to book FPs the day after the announcement aren’t completely blind sighted. But time will tell....

 

[pkrieger2287]

But also note only about 15 rides have FP and they use the paper system.

Going in just over two months I’ve studied this!

Yep - We're headed there in 2020... We elected to not purchase the FP option and will take our chances with paper.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Yeah - that random person who heard it from a CM is 2nd only to hearing it from bus drivers. Kind of surprised how many people in this thread are taking this very unsubstantiated rumor as a given based on basically anonymous sources saying that Disney is going to undo probably their biggest technological innovation for the vast majority of guests. Until we see an announcement that any add'l FP beyond the three booked will be paid, or start seeing a lot more reliable sources, I'm going to treat this as pure speculation.

I don't doubt that we'll see add'l monetization - but not in the way purportedly described here. It would be a terrible business decision on their part to do so and it would be pretty unprecedented.

Do you know of Martin at WDWMagic? He's not prone to sharing second hand bus driver info. Check it out.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I'd be curious to know how many Concierge level guests are taking advantage of the FastPass add-on option currently?

In my opinion if people are paying for it then it stands to reason why WDW would roll this out to everyone. I do however feel the current $50 price point per person/per day is a bit much.

My ideal situation for this would be a system that still allows everyone 3 lower tier FastPasses Free... Then have a MaxPass add-on option around $15-20 per person/per day that allows those 3 to be upgraded to Tier 1, as well as additional passes after those are used (similar to MaxPass in DL).

I’m staying CL in June and have no plans to pay $150 per person for 9 FP over 3 days.

The other flaw is that CL guests are hardly a good representation of the average WDW guest. Most guests aren’t going to pay extra on top of insane ticket prices (either out of principle or financial constraints).

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

If we’ve already booked an on-site trip that states we have access to three free fast passes, is it legal for them to change that? If this were to go into effect before our trip wouldn’t it be false advertising on their part?

I don't know, but doesn't EVERYTHING these days include language about how benefits can change at any time??

 

[jlundeen]

The Disneyland Paris approach could also be the direction they are headed... My wife brought this to my attention. Here is a chart of how their FP system works and associated cost:

Is this per day or for length of stay?

 

[pkrieger2287]

Is this per day or for length of stay?

Per day.

 

[Rschall]

Is this per day or for length of stay?

Per day I believe