Fast Pass of the Future

[lettripp]

This could be useful, especially if you can hold more than one at a time. Will eliminate a lot of the nonsensical "running around" to get to FP machines in the parks first thing when you arrive.

I think this is a REALLY good point. As it is now, people have their own tactics to maneuver the park more quickly - if it works like this, then rather than having one person run to, oh, I donno, Pooh and the rest of the part meet at Splash, the whole FAMILY could go everywhere together. I think Disney knows that if they truly turn the access to rides into some obscene hierarchy without considering all guests in some way, they will lose business...

I think we need to be patient and see how it is executed before we go up in arms about it...

[Dirty Bird Street]

I'll take you through my reactions to this at first:

- "Great, now all the halfway decent rides with long-ish lines are going to be the attraction equivalent of Le Cellier. Want to go on Soarin' next time you're on vacation? Better book it right before or after your seating at Restaurant Akershus 180 days in advance. And now the Tomorrowland Speedway will be more like renting a car than actually renting a car. Gee, how magical."

- "But wait... they can't be so short-sighted as to divvy up advance Fast Passes or show seating without getting the gate admission first—and forcing guests to go to a park for a certain time on a certain date sounds just a tad too jack-booted for the Happiest Place on Earth. Okay, so either this is more akin to making a reservation to make a reservation (like buying stock futures), or maybe it's a service that hotel guests get once they key into the park itself. Still not too crazy about this one, though."

- "Hmm... so if we get enough Disney regulars that are fed up with this system, if it's anything like the above, a vocal and mobile community could bring about its undoing pretty quickly. Have guests in on the sorta-protest request as much as humanly possible prior to their arrival, actually go through with the gate admission, and then just sit on the Fast Passes/reserved seats. This way, Disney sees a lot of their 'preferred guest' services going underutilized, which translates into money down the drain. They won't stand for that very long, will they? And then Disney will be for everybody once again!"

I say bring it on, Disney. If it works and is fair, more power to you. If it's as bad as some of us are fearing... we have ways of making you rethink this policy.

[PirateLover]

I'll try to take the wait and see approach too but I don't like the sound of this so far for 2 reasons. 1. Our lives are becoming totally controlled by technology and it creeps me out to a certain extent, even though I do like technology
2. I've had the most fun on trips that were not tied to a limiting schedule.

[brownie]

I'm not sure it's a good thing to let people reserve attraction times before their trip. There's something about the fairness of it all. The current Fast Pass system seems pretty fair. You have to be in the park and you have to make choices. If you wait to get a Fast Pass or choose one ride over another, that's the chance you take. I'd hate to see that system impacted by a reserve in advance system. Maybe they have it worked out to be fair, so I think we'll have to learn more before rushing to final judgments on this. I am wary, though.

[waymickey]

I don't like the sounds of this at all and I hope disney re think the decision. It is taking the magic out of the parks. Remote fast pass? I don't think I like it!

[Buttercup]

Eek... not liking this at all.
I can just see it... my kids having a temper tantrum because they want to go on Buzz Lightyear but Mom & Dad having to say "No, we can't go on that until 4:00. Right now you MUST go on BTR since that's what we are reserved for."
Doesn't sound helpful to me.

[lovin'fl]

DON'T LIKE THIS 1 BIT!!!!!!! Don't like having to pre-plan sooooo much and I am a very organized, busy-body, control freak type. And I too worry there will be a cost to reserve and if you don't do it, you will be SOL at the parks. No thank you! And Disney spent that much to come up with this system? Are you freakin' kiddin' me!!! Costs have gone up and we are getting less and less for our money....all so they could spend $$$ to create this system. And I absolutley DO NOT like all the tracking big brother stuff. NO WAY!!! Why are they doing it...who will get our info? Big mistake Disney!!!! You're gonna lose so many patrons.

[MongoMil]

The ultimate goal, he added, is "to welcome more and more people, while making their experience more satisfying, more personal and more immersive."



Well add more parks not gimicks to herd people through. Imagin if all the parks around the world was at WDW. It would be huge. Instead of diluting the product keep it together. IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME. Its like they are scared to add to it. The best thing that ever happened to Disney was the addition of the new parks. To chicken to finish the Monorail, PoP and many other little projects they mention.

[gerald72]

I don't like it. The current Fastpass system is what brings me back to Disney, and one of the things that sets Disney apart from other parks.
Preplanning a vacation this much like this new way makes you could make me not return at all.

[Ian]

The best thing that ever happened to Disney was the addition of the new parks.

Funny how different perspectives can be ... I think adding the last two new parks was the worst thing that ever happened to WDW.

It lead to infrastructure and HR costs to great to bear and thus all the cutbacks, reductions, and price increases you've seen in recent years.

And really ... neither DHS or AK are that great as to make it worth the sacrifice. I'd go back in time to the just MK/EPCOT Center days in a heartbeat. The World was a much better place back then.

[princessgirls]

Just my opinion... I think it's a terrible idea!!

I know it doesn't matter what I think...but seriously, how much planning can I put into a trip, down to the times we are riding Splash..

I don't mind planning the meals because we enjoy eating at the various spots around the world, but I can't micromanage every minute of the vacation.

Also, I always thought Disney was extremely fair in regards to fastpass, that it is available to everyone!! Not just those staying at the top shelf resorts. I don't go for that pay more and you get to the front of the line mentality, as I am just a regular ordinary middle class kind of girl.

Julie

[Granny Jill A]

Reservations for showtimes, yes, perhaps.... but not for rides. There are too many variables to consider with ride reservations. What happens when a ride goes down? That throws the whole reservation schedule out the window.

[PlutoToo]

I wonder how fair this system will be to those who don't have access to computers/smart phones? Not everyone can use the internet. At least the current system you have to physically be there and everyone has the same chance at passes if they're willing to get up in the morning. Just my humble 2 cents.

[patandtwins]

The ultimate goal, he added, is "to welcome more and more people, while making their experience more satisfying, more personal and more immersive."



Well add more parks not gimicks to herd people through. Imagin if all the parks around the world was at WDW. It would be huge. Instead of diluting the product keep it together. IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME. Its like they are scared to add to it. The best thing that ever happened to Disney was the addition of the new parks. To chicken to finish the Monorail, PoP and many other little projects they mention.

So funny...my DH and I were talking about Disney's plan and DS-14 heard and his exact response was..."why don't they just build another park?".
Who's running Disney? I'll have to google it, but whoever he/she is gets a thumbs down from me.

[Mousemates]

The one thing that I am worried about is the troubling surveys that have been going around lately regarding removal of onsite resort perks for people using a discount to book the room. I did one of these surveys, and honestly, it really worries me what they are "thinking" of doing...

yeah...that would be the proverbial "straw that broke the camel's back" for us with Disney. if you get less service then its not really a discount anyway...you are simply paying a cheaper price for an inferior product. We have done three surveys over the last two years and never had that particular question pop up...wish it would have so I could have voiced my thoughts.

[Mousemates]

True enough, but the sneetches with no stars on their bellies didn't think much at first when other sneetches appeared with stars on thars.

Please see Dr. Seuss for further clarification.

[Janmac]

There're a couple things about this that puzzle me, especially since it's been a very long time since I was last at Vegas.

How would the room check-in work regarding the room key? They wouldn't actually send you a room key, do they?!? If they did, how is it activated?

I really like the idea of picking your room from the list of available rooms. That's kinda cool. As is a possibility of an upgrade for X dollars.

I'm wondering, tho, if this advance choosing and checking in means that if you arrive at your resort at 2 pm in late January, or mid-September - times you might be able to get into your room, early - are you now not getting into your room until the normal check-in time, because it's all automatic?

Also,I'm okay with fewer fast passes for Value Resorts compared to Deluxe Resorts. Value Resorts have fewer restaurant options and generally fewer transportation options. The argument might be made that is a resort thing and the fast passes are park things, but it's all Walt Disney World Resort - parks and lodging.

We like to avoid early EMH so I always know which park I'm going into on any particular morning of our stay. No big deal. If we could have fast passes in hand before we entered the park, that'd be great. Let's face it, the first 3 things we always do at DHS are TSM, ToT and RnRC.

And I'm kinda wondering how that works too. Will guests get the equivalent of KTTW card that has fast passes entered in to it?

So if Disney is doing all this big brother kind of stuff, does this mean we might be able to skip the ever popular bag (aka security) check at the turnstiles? After all, they already know everything about us.

Jan

[teamblackwell]

Wouldn't be cool to be sitting down for lunch, pull out your web-based phone and reserve FP's for your next ride? Maybe Disney could rent out palm pads with the "Verizon type" app, and look at wait times and grab a FP instantly. Just an idea.

[PopPhan]

Also,I'm okay with fewer fast passes for Value Resorts compared to Deluxe Resorts. Value Resorts have fewer restaurant options and generally fewer transportation options. The argument might be made that is a resort thing and the fast passes are park things, but it's all Walt Disney World Resort - parks and lodging.

If it was all one thing, as you state, there would be one price for each level of resort - including room and park tickets. Instead, there are separate prices for rooms and park tickets, and park ticket prices do not change just because of the resort you book.

Paying less for the room, I expect fewer amenities that there would be in more pricey resorts; paying the same price for park tickets, I would expect, and demand, the same options, bonuses, etc. upon use.

Why don't they remove the FastPass machines altogether and just hand everyone entering that park one of the "Dream FastPass" lanyards that they had for "The Year of a Million Dreams?" THEN, everyone would be treated alike and fairly.

[DizneyRox]

Everything is a revenue stream to Disney.

Picking your room (for a charge) is a nice easy way to get people to impulse into spending more. By highlighting available rooms that might have a better view, or closer to the bus stop is a neat way of influencing that. If you see a big old YOU ARE HERE on the screen 7 buildings away from the bus stop, but a nice little yellow marker with the Fairy Godmother showing you rooms available for only $100 more that are right next to the bus stop, I would bet that people will pay it.

The resorts ARE tiered. While behind the scenes, many will argue they are exactly the same. As a guest, I don't get the same feeling waiting for a bus for the Grand as I do waiting for a bus back to Pop. Worth paying for? Yep, for me it is, although I don't like the Grand. Given the choice, I would pick deluxe over mods over values every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

While I 100% that it would make most people mad (me included) I do think the reality is that people WILL continue to go, and even if just a small percentage of people take advantage of it, it's money they wouldn't have had otherwise. The trick for Disney is going to be pricing it right to maximize the profits, and I think they have a handle on that as well.

Paying less for the room, I expect fewer amenities that there would be in more pricey resorts; paying the same price for park tickets, I would expect, and demand, the same options, bonuses, etc. upon use.

Simply tie the FastPasses to your room key and this argument goes out the window. Your park tickets would probably continue to work as is, but your room card works like those volunteering fast passes they gave out. That was probably a test case for the tiered fastpass system quite frankly. Disney just adjusts down the general public fast pass distribution rate to account for these anytime fast passes and nobody is any the wiser.