Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[TinkB278]

My trip this week was miserable without fast pass. We aren’t going back to the parks until it comes back. Most lines were 40-80 minutes. I don’t want to pay thousands of dollars on park tickets to stand in a line all day and still only end up doing half the rides.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

My trip this week was miserable without fast pass. We aren’t going back to the parks until it comes back. Most lines were 40-80 minutes. I don’t want to pay thousands of dollars on park tickets to stand in a line all day and still only end up doing half the rides.

Uggh. I really wonder if I should cancel my july trip. It’s on dvc points, I’ve got until June 10th to avoid a holding penalty. It really sounds like Disney is going to be a miserable experience with young children.

 

[TinkB278]

Uggh. I really wonder if I should cancel my july trip. It’s on dvc points, I’ve got until June 10th to avoid a holding penalty. It really sounds like Disney is going to be a miserable experience with young children.

Ours was on DVC points too and was the only reason we went. We have an almost 2 year old and constantly debated whether to bring him or not. We ended up not bringing him and kept saying how glad we were that we didn’t bring him because he wouldn’t have been able to make it through a single one of the lines we stood in. If your kids are okay with lines you might be okay! I could hardly stand the waits and I don’t know how kids were tolerating it. Maybe I’m just spoiled by years of fast pass but it made me understand why some people don’t like Disney, they are all the people who can’t work the fast pass system.

Our time at the resorts was great though!

 

[80sTerraceCafeFan]

Blogger videos from the last few days look terribly crowded. I fear we are hitting the un-sweet spot of increased capacity with many crowd eaters still closed (shows, parades, fireworks, etc).

Fast pass would help, but also make the standby lines even longer. If they stick with the tiered fast pass system, you are pretty guaranteed to stand in 90 min+ lines for a couple of rides. Rope dropping becomes an absolute must again to minimize lines.

I personally hope they move to a paid Max Pass system - and don't kill me - higher priced vs the $10/day DL option. Something like $50 per day and $25 for resort guests/APs.

 

[mom2rtk]

Blogger videos from the last few days look terribly crowded. I fear we are hitting the un-sweet spot of increased capacity with many crowd eaters still closed (shows, parades, fireworks, etc).

Fast pass would help, but also make the standby lines even longer. If they stick with the tiered fast pass system, you are pretty guaranteed to stand in 90 min+ lines for a couple of rides. Rope dropping becomes an absolute must again to minimize lines.

I personally hope they move to a paid Max Pass system - and don't kill me - higher priced vs the $10/day DL option. Something like $50 per day and $25 for resort guests/APs.

Just as an FYI, MaxPass was at $20/day when the park closed.

 

[Loro]

Blogger videos from the last few days look terribly crowded. I fear we are hitting the un-sweet spot of increased capacity with many crowd eaters still closed (shows, parades, fireworks, etc).

Fast pass would help, but also make the standby lines even longer. If they stick with the tiered fast pass system, you are pretty guaranteed to stand in 90 min+ lines for a couple of rides. Rope dropping becomes an absolute must again to minimize lines.

I personally hope they move to a paid Max Pass system - and don't kill me - higher priced vs the $10/day DL option. Something like $50 per day and $25 for resort guests/APs.

Definitely not going to kill you for expressing your opinion. I will ask you why you would want that though? Unless you mean as a hybrid of having both Max and FP+?

The crowds are increasing, and that's why they're pushing to bring back shows, other attractions, parades, and such this summer. Why would you want to have to pay more for Max Pass? At least with FP+ everyone gets some access instead of just those that are able to throw even more money at a greedy mouse. Disney is expensive enough.

From everything I'm hearing, I'm pretty confident that by sometime this summer there will only be a few things still not available (character meet&greets and buffets are still questionable, although more buffets may reopen family style a la Chef Mickey's and Cape May right now and they are looking into further modified character experiences).

Also, since the vloggers were brought up, I think Disney may eventually have to do something to regulate them now that the crowds are coming back. You have hundreds of them hitting the parks every day and taking up capacity, and their numbers are increasing rapidly. Don't get me wrong, I love some of the content that some of them provide, but the potential issues are there.

 

[80sTerraceCafeFan]

I will ask you why you would want that though?

Maybe I am jumping the gun, but I am assuming whatever happens will come at a cost at this point.

I prefer Max to Fast, b/c in my experiences at DL I was able to hit all the big rides w/o waiting in the longest of the lines when using MP efficiently. Conversly, going to HS and getting a FP for slinky dog, then waiting in 60-90+ min lines for Smugglers, Railway, Tower sounds like a rough day. FP would work better for us if they limit the number of rides in the top tier to 2 - or allow paid FPs w/o restrictions.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

So I have a trip July 9th. The trip reports lately are terrifying as a parent with young kids. I can't cancel the trip without losing a significant amount of nonrefundable things, but I'm currently researching going to Universal and some of the other parks that have line-skip alternatives (or just aren't as super crowded for kiddie rides). Annoying that I'm going to be staying at a Disney Deluxe resort and not really doing the Disney parks, but whatever I guess. Great Job Disney!

 

[disneypharm]

Blogger videos from the last few days look terribly crowded. I fear we are hitting the un-sweet spot of increased capacity with many crowd eaters still closed (shows, parades, fireworks, etc).

Fast pass would help, but also make the standby lines even longer. If they stick with the tiered fast pass system, you are pretty guaranteed to stand in 90 min+ lines for a couple of rides. Rope dropping becomes an absolute must again to minimize lines.

I personally hope they move to a paid Max Pass system - and don't kill me - higher priced vs the $10/day DL option. Something like $50 per day and $25 for resort guests/APs.

I assume the reason you want a paid Max Pass of $50/$25 is because it will be more exclusive, less people can afford it, shorter standby lines. Well, I am a proponent of the free FPs who has traveled multiple times to WDW pre-pandemic, used 5-10 FPs each day, and never had any issues riding all rides without waiting more than 20 min per ride. $50 per day for a family of 4 is $200/day, $1400 for a 7-day trip! For resort stays, that is $700 in addition to the cost of resort, tickets, dining, and transportation (no Magical Express; added cost of renting a car and parking, paid shuttle, or Uber). I think that is absolutely crazy!

 

[whiporee]

I assume the reason you want a paid Max Pass of $50/$25 is because it will be more exclusive, less people can afford it, shorter standby lines. Well, I am a proponent of the free FPs who has traveled multiple times to WDW pre-pandemic, used 5-10 FPs each day, and never had any issues riding all rides without waiting more than 20 min per ride. $50 per day for a family of 4 is $200/day, $1400 for a 7-day trip! For resort stays, that is $700 in addition to the cost of resort, tickets, dining, and transportation (no Magical Express; added cost of renting a car and parking, paid shuttle, or Uber). I think that is absolutely crazy!

In addition, at $50 a day it would be useless. The number would have to be closer to $200 to weed out enough guests to make it worth any kind of excess payment.

 

[whiporee]

So I have a trip July 9th. The trip reports lately are terrifying as a parent with young kids. I can't cancel the trip without losing a significant amount of nonrefundable things, but I'm currently researching going to Universal and some of the other parks that have line-skip alternatives (or just aren't as super crowded for kiddie rides). Annoying that I'm going to be staying at a Disney Deluxe resort and not really doing the Disney parks, but whatever I guess. Great Job Disney!

Just out of curiosity, what do you think they should do? Did you not think the place would increase capacity beyond 35 percent? That they would leave all the hotel room vacant any longer than they had to? You're staying at a WDW resort, so you know how many there are.

If you think Universal is going to be better, you're simply wrong. They line-skip alternatives are going to run you at least $100 PP, and my experience with them is the line is shorter, but still significant. The world is returning to normal. That means Orlando crowds in the summer. I don't know why you thought it would be different.

 

[GoingSince1990]

So I have a trip July 9th. The trip reports lately are terrifying as a parent with young kids. I can't cancel the trip without losing a significant amount of nonrefundable things, but I'm currently researching going to Universal and some of the other parks that have line-skip alternatives (or just aren't as super crowded for kiddie rides). Annoying that I'm going to be staying at a Disney Deluxe resort and not really doing the Disney parks, but whatever I guess. Great Job Disney!

It’s like the 1990s all over again. To have a tolerable time and get value for what you are spending, you need to get up extremely early, rope-drop a park, then try to zip through all the popular rides like a mad creature before the crowds and lines build up. Doable, but I vastly prefer having FP+.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

So I have a trip July 9th. The trip reports lately are terrifying as a parent with young kids. I can't cancel the trip without losing a significant amount of nonrefundable things, but I'm currently researching going to Universal and some of the other parks that have line-skip alternatives (or just aren't as super crowded for kiddie rides). Annoying that I'm going to be staying at a Disney Deluxe resort and not really doing the Disney parks, but whatever I guess. Great Job Disney!

Not sure how old your children are or if you have been to Universal/IOA, but since you are concerned about access to “kiddie rides,” be sure you look at the Universal/IOA height requirements. There are very few rides without a height requirement. Very limited offerings for the smaller set.

With small children, I personally would choose Disney with longer waits over the incredibly limited options at Universal’s parks.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

or seaworld, bush gardens tampa, or legoland

 

[CaptainAmerica]

So I have a trip July 9th. The trip reports lately are terrifying as a parent with young kids. I can't cancel the trip without losing a significant amount of nonrefundable things, but I'm currently researching going to Universal and some of the other parks that have line-skip alternatives (or just aren't as super crowded for kiddie rides). Annoying that I'm going to be staying at a Disney Deluxe resort and not really doing the Disney parks, but whatever I guess. Great Job Disney!

What is "terrifying" exactly?

 

[npatellye]

So I have a trip July 9th. The trip reports lately are terrifying as a parent with young kids. I can't cancel the trip without losing a significant amount of nonrefundable things, but I'm currently researching going to Universal and some of the other parks that have line-skip alternatives (or just aren't as super crowded for kiddie rides). Annoying that I'm going to be staying at a Disney Deluxe resort and not really doing the Disney parks, but whatever I guess. Great Job Disney!

We booked our trips knowing there was no FastPass and we explained to our kids (ages 8 and 5) that, if they really wanted to go, they would have to wait in line.

We were just there for 9 days with 2 kids (ages 8 and almost 6) and came home Thursday evening (the day before yesterday). We found the crowds to be fine on this trip, as long as you got there early (especially on weekends). They increased capacity (and changed mask rules) right in the middle of this last trip and it was still okay in terms of crowds but we don’t spend all day in the parks. We go early, leave after an early lunch, and head back in the evening.

We went to Epcot Sunday and, in the first hour, had ridden Test Track once and Frozen twice in a row. Nemo had no wait even though the app showed a 25 minute wait. Same for Figment and Three Caballeros.

At MK, we spaced out our time because we had three days there. When we went in the afternoon (around 4:30), crowds were incredibly low compared to the earlier times (even on Friday). These are the longest waits for rides we had across all three days at MK:
-Small World was a 10 minute wait (posted time 30 minutes)
-Peter Pan was a 15 minute wait (posted time 45 minutes)
-Teacups were walk on (posted time 15 minutes)
-Pooh was a walk on (posted time 25 minutes)
-Dumbo was a 5 minute wait (posted time 20 minutes)
-Little Mermaid was a walk on (posted time 25 minutes)
-Buzz was a 5 minute wait (posted time 25 minutes)
-People Mover was a 5 minute wait (posted time 20 minutes)
-Mine Train was a 20 minute wait (posted time 60 minutes)
-Thunder Mountain was a 10 minute wait (posted time 25 minutes)
-Splash Mountain was a 30 minute wait (posted time 70 minutes)
-Haunted Mansion was a 10 minute wait (posted time 30 minutes)
-Flying Carpets were a 10 minute wait (posted time 30 minutes)

Hollywood Studios was fine. We had waits of:
-15 minutes for MMRR (posted wait 30 minutes)
-5 minutes for Swirling Saucers (posted wait 15 minutes)
-10 minutes for Toy Story Mania (posted wait 25 minutes)
-20-30 minutes each time we rode Slinky Dog (we rode it four times across two days; posted wait each time was 70-75 minutes)
-85 minutes for Tower of Terror (completely accurate wait time for when we rode it)
-25 minutes for Millenium Falcon (posted wait 80 minutes)

At Animal Kingdom (where the longest waits were on the weekend days for us):
-Navi River was a 10 minute wait (posted time was 30 minutes)
-Safari was 20 minutes one of three times we rode it across two days (posted wait time of 40 minutes that one time, walked on other two times)
-Kali River Rapids was walk on both days (posted time was 25 mini items)
-Flying Dinos were walk on both times (posted wait was 20 minutes)
-Dinosaur was 20 minutes both times (posted wait was 45 minutes)

I hope that helps ease some of your concern.

 

[TinkB278]

Just out of curiosity, what do you think they should do? Did you not think the place would increase capacity beyond 35 percent? That they would leave all the hotel room vacant any longer than they had to? You're staying at a WDW resort, so you know how many there are.

If you think Universal is going to be better, you're simply wrong. They line-skip alternatives are going to run you at least $100 PP, and my experience with them is the line is shorter, but still significant. The world is returning to normal. That means Orlando crowds in the summer. I don't know why you thought it would be different.

I don’t think the poster ever mentioned that they were expecting any of those things.

 

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

It’s like the 1990s all over again. To have a tolerable time and get value for what you are spending, you need to get up extremely early, rope-drop a park, then try to zip through all the popular rides like a mad creature before the crowds and lines build up. Doable, but I vastly prefer having FP+.

the lines were much longer in the 90s. Plus we went and loved it, despite the waits. And we have cell phones and other awesome distractions that didn’t exist. I think this is just a spoiled mentality.

 

[SMRT-1]

I see a lot of people saying WDW should/could implement "a paid FastPass system like MaxPass." However, that is a fundamental misunderstanding of what MaxPass is. If Disney World does eventually implement a paid FastPass system, it won't be like MaxPass because MaxPass is not "paid FastPasses."

MaxPass is simply paying for the ability to get digital FastPasses from your phone instead of having to physically go to a kiosk at the ride to get a paper FastPass (you also get unlimited PhotoPass, but that's not relevant to this thread). You're not paying for any FastPasses. You don't get any reserved FastPasses for your fee. You're just paying to make it more convenient to get the exact same Fastpasses anyone has access to for free at a kiosk.

 

[disneypharm]

the lines were much longer in the 90s. Plus we went and loved it, despite the waits. And we have cell phones and other awesome distractions that didn’t exist. I think this is just a spoiled mentality.

I disagree. In the 1990s, cost of vacation to WDW was considerably lower. A 1-day ticket for an adult in 1990 was $29-$31 (based on Allears website). Today, you pay about $124. The increase in prices is far higher than the inflation, so I assume these increases were because of extra perks that Disney was giving travelers pre-pandemic. To charge $$$$ for way less than pre-pandemic, then expect $100-$200 per person per day for FP in addition to paying for other things is crazy. Expecting a better experience for your family with FPs is NOT spoiled mentality!
BTW, I remember standing in long lines in 90s and no we didn't love it. It was miserable, especially in Florida summers.