Disney's Fast Pass is not free anymore !

[Zarniwoop]

I guess that for next step we'll get three free regular FPs' with one ticket and for more you'll pay ~5 € per extra FP. VIP FP should stay at 50 € because cheaper system would make the system useless.

[Disney_Dad]

The ugly face of capitalism indeed. Although I accept that Disney is a business with the same profit motivation as businesses the world over, I'd like to think that once in the park we could all be valued equally and leave the dirty rat race of the outside world behind for a few hours. Very disappointing.

[BC_DisneyGeek]

Originally Posted by KevinYee

It's not entirely true that the outside world is left behind. The restaurants don't cost the same money, and not everyone is handed the same souvenirs. Those with money will ALWAYS have a better time, better food.

True, but making premium fastpasses available could diminish the value of my admission. If I can't afford a nice meal or souvenir, that's fine. If my theme park admission, which I can afford is affected, not so fine.

Say I spend $50 to enter Disneyland today, and go on ten rides. Tomorrow, the advent of paid fastpasses impacts stand-by lines and access to free Fastpass, and I only get on nine rides. That's not right.

Just a hypothetical example of course. If someone who is wealthy gets extra fastpasses with no impact on me, good for them. The question is, what kind of impact would this have?

[KevinYee]

We're in agreement, except I think that a world of paid fastpasses would yield 11 rides, not ten rides. You'd get MORE rides in a day with paid fastpass, not less.

It's right there to see at Universal... standby lines are shorter in the world where fastpass is not free for everyone.

This is my fervent hope, and until proven otherwise, my belief

[TimmyTimmyTimmy]

Originally Posted by Disney_Dad

The ugly face of capitalism indeed. Although I accept that Disney is a business with the save profit motivation as businesses the world over, I'd like to think that once in the park we could all be valued equally and leave the dirty rat race of the outside world behind for a few hours. Very disappointing.

We are branded in our lives, now also in Disneyland.
There is nothing that can sugarcoat the fact that Disney in France are taking a step into the wrong direction.

[fizzog]

This is all getting very dramatic... As someone rightly said, 100 Euros is an awful lot, so much, perhaps, that it won't have a big impact on anything at all. I don't think it's a matter of principles, I mean, you pay more for a nice Disney hotel, is that unfair? Shouldn't everyone have the same Disney experience? Well, no, it doesn't work that way. There are poorer people and richer people, Disney hotel occupants and Caravanners, Shareholders and AP Holders; forget some weird vision of equality and first/second-class guests, you got more money you have a better trip. Why shouldn't it be true of FP? We're not talking about FP being an exclusively pay-for service, it's just certain hotel guests getting more privelege opportunities. It's not really unfair. I might see someone with a Ferrari and want one, but it's not unfair (unless, of course, they've stolen it...). The regular queue will still exist. On the other hand, the attractions are at the fundamental heart of Disney Resorts, maybe they're something that should be left very base (and free!), but then FP is dodgy to begin with. It's never equal, people might not know about FP. Are they suckers or just innocent tourists? I dunno...sorry, this paragraph got a bit long.

[davewasbaloo]

Will Castle Club and Empire State Rooms still offer the VIP FP inclusive? If so, they now work out cheaper for a family of 4. I was hoping they would one day scrap FP altogether as they have ruined the parks in so many ways. If there is new additional revenue to be gained, that will never happen.

[fizzog]

I know it gets talked about alot and I'm not trying to go off-topic, but how exactly has it ruined the parks in many ways beyond perhaps longer stand-by queues?

[luke7059]

I think it's sad that DLP have decided to introduce this. Although I don't think it will take off in the way they hope, or persuade more visitors to come to DLP. Hopefully it'll fade away sooner than we think...

[KevinYee]

In short, if people are not clustered and neatly ordered into lines, then they are out and about, jamming walkways, filling shops, and making longer lines at restaurants. If you think about it, more than half the "capacity" of a theme park should rightly be folks standing in line.

If they aren't standing in line, because they have a virtual ghost doing it for them with the FP ticket, then they are somewhere else. Possibly making things more crowded on the street, but more likely in a SECOND line somewhere, thus adding to the standby problems.

A person who obtains a FP and then sits on a bench in the shade, thinking this is preferable to standing up in the "regular" line for those two hours, is not contributing to any problems whatsoever. But that person is an exception, big time.

[pussnboots]

I know this subject has been beaten to death, but even knowing all these very valid arguments, I can't shake the thought that if it hadn't been for FastPass, there are a lot of rides I wouldn't have gone on last week — or perhaps in years. Who in their right mind would voluntarily spend an hour or more queuing up for Peter Pan's Flight in the scorching heat? Or an hour and a half for Big Thunder?

I braved one big queue — Crush. (Which of course doesn't have FastPass anyway.) After an hour I felt like killing either myself or someone else.

While of course it doesn't really, people feel FastPass eliminates one of the major dreads of a Disney vacation. Before FastPass, I remember people declining to go in any month but February simply because they didn't feel like standing in line for 80 percent of the time. Now, thanks to a little magic word, people feel in control of things, like they can conquer the problem with a little careful planning. I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

Oh, and about the €100 passes. While the FastPass system has been in place for years, is incredibly simple and explained in a hundred places, a very large portion of guests has no idea what it is. How many people do you suppose are going to know about these new VIP passes? Exactly. You won't even know they exist.

[davewasbaloo]

But Puss, those waits for BTM and Peter Pan were never that long pre fast pass days, and a continually moving line is better than the stop start.

I was king of neutral on FP, seeing both sides of the arguements until last year.

Last August, we were in the Studios when they were testing FP on Crush Coaster. On one day that they were not testing it, the standby for Crush was 60 mins, Cars 15, Tram Tour 15, ToT 10, and RNRC a walk on. The park was pleasant, and the shops and counter service restaurants were moderately crowded.

Fastforward 2 days, we went to the Studios (I had it confirmed the crowd levels through the gate was similar). They were testing FP. Studio 1 was very crowded. Standby for Crush was 1hour 45 min, Tram tour, 40, TOT 60, Cars 40, and RNRC 25. It was the same time frame as well, as Moteurs Action was not interferring. The shops and restaurants were rammed, and the tempers were riding high.

We got in line for FPs, the clock said return time 1pm. we waited 20 mins for FP's and when we finally got them, they were for 4pm which clashed with our dining reservations at Walt's. So we didn't go on Crush.

Bottom line, this proved to me the negative impact FP has on the parks, and the fact they ran several tests during peak and off peak last year, and abandoned the idea of introducing FP to Crush demonstrates the concept is flawed. And now we are getting some carnival rides to up capacity in the area....ughhhhhhhhh

[davewasbaloo]

FP's might be great when you have them, but overall it is a decline in the park experience for all. Therefore I wish they would go the way of the ticket books.

[fizzog]

As much as I can see these arguments for FP, as pussnboots rightly says, personally, I'd rather have it around. In fact, I can't imagine a DLRP trip without it. To be honest, in my admittedly comparatively limited experience, the only line I've ever been unhappy with at the resort is Crush, and that's a capacity thing not a FP thing, so for me it's a system that works, and I don't really feel guilty about that...maybe I should...hehe. I can't see - and I don't really know anything about this - how FP waiters going to other rides really causes a problem significant enough for the abolishment of FP. They don't all head for the same ride, and often the gap between getting the ticket and riding the attraction is much larger than the wait time for the attraction, so they're only adding to the 'problem' for an hour or so, the length of their 'phantom' queueing, let alone the fact they may not even head to other attractions. Maybe it all adds up, but it just seems, well, not a big enough deal to a problem.

EDIT (after the last post): WDS is a tiny park so it's rather different to somewhere like DLP, when really guests have a pathetically small list of options. Also, ticket books would cause an outrage, why should I only get x number of E-Tickets? And you'd end up paying for the privelege of more, then it's a messier situation than pay-for FP!

[KevinYee]

Originally Posted by pussnboots

Who in their right mind would voluntarily spend an hour or more queuing up for Peter Pan's Flight in the scorching heat? Or an hour and a half for Big Thunder?

You're forgetting something. The lines won't *BE* 90 minutes for Big Thunder in a world where there is no FP in the park. (or, as good as no FP, because the only ride reservation system is too expensive for most folks).