State of Fast Pass Return (or replacement)

[dez1978]

That wasn't clear from "people don't always understand the loopholes that allow some to get 12+ per day". There are no loopholes needed to get 12+ per day, just keep booking them in the app.

Maybe you could have read the rest of my post where I said I know its a strategy not a loophole. Or any of the rest of the posts. This is that whole condescending thing I was talking about. I'm well aware how to get a fp. But there are def strategies on how to maximize them. Like if your last scheduled FP of your original 3 isn't until 6 pm, your probably gonna have a hard time scoring 9 more before the park closes in 3 hours.

 

[jhlmendez]

Prevailing opinions seem to indicate that Disney will do whatever they have to in order to have some kind of FP-type option ready for anniversary celebrations starting Oct. 1. Is there any concrete basis for that or is just an assumption?

If it is an assumption, what terrible repercussions do people see Disney suffering if October arrives w/ no FP-like option that have people thinking they need to avoid that possibility at all costs - up to and including temporarily re-activating a defunct system to specifically avoid that eventuality? As has been mentioned, they don't seem to be having any trouble selling rooms and tickets for October.

Earlier in the thread, I was advised to avoid cynicism in the face of uncertain data which me brings me back to the original question. Is the idea that Disney is dead set on having an FP-like option ready by Oct. 1 a just a reasonable assumption or has there been some indication from Disney itself - either official or from inside sources.

Either way, I certainly appreciate all the discussion and different perspectives in this thread.

 

[MadViBe]

Would all this upcharging put even greater demand on the DAS ?
Two ways, those who will lie about needing them and those who just managed without a DAS by utilising FP+ wisely.
From what I understand American parks do not require proof of disability as DAS is given to even the playing field if you cannot be in the queue system for long.
Could it be a possibility that a new system would need to be put in place that replaces or changes the DAS eligibility criteria, like requiring proof. If you are actually getting 'more' than an average guest this is allowed and would limit those shady people jumping from free FP to DAS.
We travel with two dare devil teens and a cognitively and physically disabled adult daughter who likes dumbo. You can only hold one DAS at a time, you obviously can only use the DAS when the disabled guest is riding.
In our case a day without FP is just out of the question. We normally book FP for the big rides or rides we all enjoy so her waiting around is minimal and use her DAS on her favourite rides.
As a family of 5 we cannot pay hundreds per day extra.
We will get in a park, grab a DAS for a ride daughter will ride, one at a time with possible long waiting periods and have no plans in-between. Plans are super important for lots of disabilities that require the DAS. A willy nilly day of not knowing what we are doing, long lines in between and having to either not do any big rides the teens want or make her wait around for those too. That will be meltdown city

 

[Marionnette]

Prevailing opinions seem to indicate that Disney will do whatever they have to in order to have some kind of FP-type option ready for anniversary celebrations starting Oct. 1. Is there any concrete basis for that or is just an assumption?

If it is an assumption, what terrible repercussions do people see Disney suffering if October arrives w/ no FP-like option that have people thinking they need to avoid that possibility at all costs - up to and including temporarily re-activating a defunct system to specifically avoid that eventuality? As has been mentioned, they don't seem to be having any trouble selling rooms and tickets for October.

Earlier in the thread, I was advised to avoid cynicism in the face of uncertain data which me brings me back to the original question. Is the idea that Disney is dead set on having an FP-like option ready by Oct. 1 a just a reasonable assumption or has there been some indication from Disney itself - either official or from inside sources.

Either way, I certainly appreciate all the discussion and different perspectives in this thread.

The only clue that leads me to believe that the old FP+ might be reinstated, even temporarily, is that it has recently been in the testing phase with the current platform. If there were absolutely no intentions of implementing it again as an alternative to its replacement (which has yet to pass testing), then there would have been no testing of FP+.

 

[Axelskater]

I think resort guests will get 3 free ones to soften the blow. After that you pay

I think Deluxe resort and villa may get more...moderate next, and so on. They are already doing it with EMH at night for deluxe and villa. All speculative of course...

 

[Moliphino]

Maybe you could have read the rest of my post where I said I know its a strategy not a loophole. Or any of the rest of the posts. This is that whole condescending thing I was talking about. I'm well aware how to get a fp. But there are def strategies on how to maximize them. Like if your last scheduled FP of your original 3 isn't until 6 pm, your probably gonna have a hard time scoring 9 more before the park closes in 3 hours.

There will always be people who strategize and try to make the most of something and people who don't know what the heck they're doing (or care to learn). That's was true of the old system, too. It doesn't mean they're unfair or don't work.

 

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

Child swap changing beginning 7/16 in preparation for new FP program. Only one extra guest will ride with the one who sat out.

https://www.kennythepirate.com/2021/07/07/major-change-coming-to-child-swap-at-disney-world/

This seems fair. It wasn’t designed for people to ride twice, it was designed to allow a missing party to stay with young or scared kids. This person is making it out to be a perk being eroded, when in reality, it’s simply a hack that allows in the know people to ride twice with only one wait. This gets worse when you stack with Fastpass.

 

[Dis Dragon]

There will always be people who strategize and try to make the most of something and people who don't know what the heck they're doing (or care to learn). That's was true of the old system, too. It doesn't mean they're unfair or don't work.

I don't think it was condescending, Molphino just laid out how people could jump from one FP to the next.

I know some feel like they shouldn't have to have that level of involvement with their phone and their trip but our family actually enjoyed the hunt of the FP... As soon as we could scan in it was on to see the biggest game we could catch for the next FP, it was exciting.

 

[ChipnDale79]

This seems fair. It wasn’t designed for people to ride twice, it was designed to allow a missing party to stay with young or scared kids. This person is making it out to be a perk being eroded, when in reality, it’s simply a hack that allows in the know people to ride twice with only one wait. This gets worse when you stack with Fastpass.

Actually, i believe this was marketed so that a member of the party doesnt miss out on the experience. Meaning, if one person had to sit out with a kid, that person could go with the rest of the group again (or whatever the max number was, i think it was a total of 4 people).

I believe that's how it was explained by Stacey on the resort tv or something like that. I'm not trying to be a jerk about that, but it was a little thing extra that disney did to set disney apart.

Im not going to get bent around the axel on that one, but that was one perk we without a doubt used for a few years when my younger son wouldnt ride any of the big rides (he conquered the mountain range last month for the first time!)

 

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

Actually, i believe this was marketed so that a member of the party doesnt miss out on the experience. Meaning, if one person had to sit out with a kid, that person could go with the rest of the group again (or whatever the max number was, i think it was a total of 4 people).

I believe that's how it was explained by Stacey on the resort tv or something like that. I'm not trying to be a jerk about that, but it was a little thing extra that disney did to set disney apart.

Im not going to get bent around the axel on that one, but that was one perk we without a doubt used for a few years when my younger son wouldnt ride any of the big rides (he conquered the mountain range last month for the first time!)

Awesome about your son conquering the mountains! As a smaller family, it wouldn’t even occur to me to do this or to have the same people ride twice. This is why the different experiences piece matters so much.

 

[cakebaker]

This seems fair. It wasn’t designed for people to ride twice, it was designed to allow a missing party to stay with young or scared kids. This person is making it out to be a perk being eroded, when in reality, it’s simply a hack that allows in the know people to ride twice with only one wait. This gets worse when you stack with Fastpass.

Coming from one who used swap for several years maxing out the perk, we did exactly as you say- some got re-rides and it saved FP's for other rides. I don't call it a hack, it just seemed pretty dumb to waste FP's when by following the rules of swap, we didn't need to. But it did need tightened up, so glad to see it.

 

[Wandering Oaken]

So, any word about fast passes?

 

[cakebaker]

So, any word about fast passes?

FP is about the only thing on my radar right now, so some news one way or the other would be good.

 

[Karin1984]

Would all this upcharging put even greater demand on the DAS ?
Two ways, those who will lie about needing them and those who just managed without a DAS by utilising FP+ wisely.
From what I understand American parks do not require proof of disability as DAS is given to even the playing field if you cannot be in the queue system for long.
Could it be a possibility that a new system would need to be put in place that replaces or changes the DAS eligibility criteria, like requiring proof. If you are actually getting 'more' than an average guest this is allowed and would limit those shady people jumping from free FP to DAS.
We travel with two dare devil teens and a cognitively and physically disabled adult daughter who likes dumbo. You can only hold one DAS at a time, you obviously can only use the DAS when the disabled guest is riding.
In our case a day without FP is just out of the question. We normally book FP for the big rides or rides we all enjoy so her waiting around is minimal and use her DAS on her favourite rides.
As a family of 5 we cannot pay hundreds per day extra.
We will get in a park, grab a DAS for a ride daughter will ride, one at a time with possible long waiting periods and have no plans in-between. Plans are super important for lots of disabilities that require the DAS. A willy nilly day of not knowing what we are doing, long lines in between and having to either not do any big rides the teens want or make her wait around for those too. That will be meltdown city

I think that's very likely.

 

[Kestryl]

This seems fair. It wasn’t designed for people to ride twice, it was designed to allow a missing party to stay with young or scared kids. This person is making it out to be a perk being eroded, when in reality, it’s simply a hack that allows in the know people to ride twice with only one wait. This gets worse when you stack with Fastpass.

Wait, that’s how child swap works?! (Or at least used to work.) Here I was, thinking it was supposed to be an “everyone rides once” type thing, not “everyone rides at least once, some ride twice.” My oh my.

 

[Roxyfire]

But, is it worth allocating resources in order to make this check? Resale owners represent only a small subset of all DVC owners (it’s estimated at 10% by some) and there’s no way to distinguish “renters“ from “guests of DVC blue card owners” because DVC does request that info.. It’s possible to write the code, it’s another thing to incorporate it using Disney’s crappy system.

And I’m not even sure that they can legally carve out an exclusion of white card owners and renters but give the perk to cash guests who are technically DVC‘s renters (either staying on breakage points or developer points which were used to reserve their room and paying cash for the privilege).

Yeah that's a good point, I don't think legally it would work. I just worry they would do things to devalue DVC over time as one of the benefits is being able to resell to someone else, ya know?

 

[mom2rtk]

Heads Up - Universal is testing a new Virtual Queue System today. It's at Islands of Adventure and being tested on Hagrid's for the next week or so. This adds even more pressure on Disney to get FastPass/Virtual Queues/something other than standby only in place asap....

They've been using VQ as needed for a while. Is this something different?

 

[Hamptonite]

They've been using VQ as needed for a while. Is this something different?

Looks like you don't get to pick your time window - it assigns you a time similar to RotR.

 

[Aprilshack]

Wonder if they will announce the new Fp system the same day as the return of character meet and greets so we can curse Disney and gush over being able to meet Mickey again in the same breath?

 

[TinkerBelle_325]

They've been using VQ as needed for a while. Is this something different?

Yup it’s different than the previous versions apparently. Can’t post the blog source as I think it’s a “forbidden” page to post here lol.