FastPass

[lebeau]

I don't really think they could do this because, Can you say LAWSUIT!!! That is discrimination!!!!!! Just because someone is spending more they get FP's and those who cannot afford to spend the same amount are shafted. I hope the Disney Legals are smart enough to realize they will get hammered in lawsuits if they were to implement it.

There's nothing illegal about it. Disney can flat out charge for FP if they want to. Besides, it's legal to discriminate on any basis other than a protected class like race or gender.

Disney's patents are a matter of public record. They have developed this technology. The odds are that they will implement it in some way, shape or form eventually.

[SWHorn]

I don't really think they could do this because, Can you say LAWSUIT!!! That is discrimination!!!!!! Just because someone is spending more they get FP's and those who cannot afford to spend the same amount are shafted. I hope the Disney Legals are smart enough to realize they will get hammered in lawsuits if they were to implement it.

Wouldn't it be the same kind of thing as casinos who track your spending and give special deals and comps based on how much you spend?

[Cheshire Cat]

I think they would be able to sell fast pass if they want to. Six Flags charges for their Q-Bots..er..I mean "Flash Passes" .

However, Sx Flags and Dinsey are completely different entities when it comes to "spot-saving systems". Almost nobody uses them at the Six Flags parks (Except maybe a handful at Great Adventure). With so few people using them, it almost doesn't effect the stand-by at all. It effects it about the same way as the group of people who cut the line to "catch up with their family". If Disney were to begin charging for fast pass, everybody would be upset, but enough people would buy it to the extent that it still screws up the stand-bys.

[lebeau]

I think they would be able to sell fast pass if they want to. Six Flags charges for their Q-Bots..er..I mean "Flash Passes" .

Heck, if they wanted to, they could decide that anyone wearing a Mickey Mouse shirt gets unlimited FPs whereas anyone who wears a T-shirt for another theme park gets none.

They can do pretty much anything they want with FP as long as they avoid discrimination based on the protected statuses: race, gender religion, etc.

I will be interested to see how people's opinions of FP shift if these changes are implemented.

[Joe90]

I like fastpasses they work just fine unless you stress yourself out with them; Which, it appears from various threads and posts, people do. Lots.

OK.

How about limiting the number of fastpasses you can have in one day but allowing you to choose an approximate ride time.

One problem with this would be you would have to get to the Parks early to get the fastpasses before they all got snapped up. (Problem for the guests that is. Filling up your park early would probably be a good thing for your cash intake.)

[cap396]

I say keep it the way it is now. I went to Disneyland and DCA last weekend for the first time since they started the fast pass system. I did all the Fast Pass rides with a fast pass, and did all the non-fast pass rides while waiting for the fast pass times to come around. I got through all the rides I wanted to do in about half a day (including Space Mountain twice) despite the fact that it was pretty crowded.

[Sleeping Beauty 5]

Yeah, that's something I just realized. If there's tension between the haves and the have-nots now, while the system is free, imagine what it would be like if it started to cost money. The Disney parks could easily turn into a battle ground.

Well, Disney is currently testing a system that will track how much money you spend over the course of your vacation. The new system will be able to allocate FPs based on how much you have spent.

No one knows which features of the patent Disney will choose to utilize. But, they system would allow them to limit FPs to those who are not spending much money and reward those who spend more with extra FPs. Also, some people would be able to reserve their FPs up to a day in advance from their hotel room.

There were other features too fo those who are interested. I think it is unlikely that Disney would invest so much money in developing this technology if they weren't going to use it. So, I imagine we'll see at least some of these things come to pass in the next couple of years.

What I wonder is how it will track things like annual passes and DVC. Certainly annual pass holders are spending less per day than the casual tourists. Something like this could shift FP from something that benefits the regulars to something that benefits the one-time only guests.

So I'm guaranteed a Fastpass then if they start giving them out by the amount you spend there..lol.

[luv2cthemouse]

I do not prefer any of the poll options.

If I was chosing one of them, I would select to leave it the way it is. However, I feel that the FP system should stay the way it is, but only be available to those staying on WDW property.

[RREng77]

I do not prefer any of the poll options.

If I was chosing one of them, I would select to leave it the way it is. However, I feel that the FP system should stay the way it is, but only be available to those staying on WDW property.

Good suggestion. I'd have to agree with this one.

[secondstar]

I don't want to seem unsensitive because I do understand all the drawbacks with regards to FastPass. I've even made comments to my wife on the last trip that FastPass has completely changed the entire experience. You can't "wing it" anymore. The day MUST be planned out. With that said, I still love it versus any other option out there.

Many have claimed if FastPass was removed and Disney returned to its roots the overall lines would be shorter (as FastPass acts as a second, unseen person [i.e. your duplicate] standing in line while you stand in line.) This essentially doubles the number of people in line. I can concede this may be true. But my feeling the reason we go to Disney is not to have the lines shorter but to enjoy as much of WDW as we can while we're there. What advantage is it if eliminating FastPass would mean 75-minute stand-by lines become 60-minute stand-by lines for major attractions, but you have to wait in each line. I don't feel like standing in line for five hours to ride five rides. I'll let my duplicate handle a couple of them for me while I shop, eat, pee!

[meticulus9]

i second what "second" said. dont want to be in line with the full bladder....lol

no seirously: agree with what he said. more eoloquent than i could've written

[MintJulepRoo]

I would be devastated and angry if they got rid of the fast pass system. It is the smartest thing Disney ever did. It helps soo much and you can ride many many more rides during the busy season. PLEASE dont change it!

[secondstar]

i second what "second" said. dont want to be in line with the full bladder....lol

no seirously: agree with what he said. more eoloquent than i could've written

Thank you!

[sgrfunk]

I like the fastpass system. I would be standing in line for hours without it, especially at the more popular attractions. I remember getting fastpasses for Soarin' and we were on the ride in about 15 to 20 minutes maximum wait time, as apposed to if we had not got them, we'd still be waiting in line past that time.

[natatomic]

Since I worked on an attraction that had Fastpasses, I can tell you that 9 out of 10 CMs HATE them and wish more than anything that Disney would just do away with the whole system all together. The merge point of the fastpass line and the standby line was a position that was dreaded by all, especially if the FP line was backed up. When that happened, we were often told to just dump line - after all, the FP guests were guaranteed a shorter wait, and if they had to wait more than 10 minutes, they'd chew us out - but when we did that, the stand by line was held at a standstill for as much as 15 minutes. Then they'd yell at us, especially since we're right there obviously not letting them move. I'm not even kidding when I say this, but I was sworn at, called a racist, had my name taken down so they could "report" me, and one of my fellow CMs even got punched in the face! It's brutal. And I KNOW it sucks to just wait there and watch hundreds of people go by and basically "cut" you, but that was what we were TRAINED to do. If it got too bad, sometimes a manager would come stand with us just so they could be on our side when everyone started b*tching at us.

And yes, those people in the stand by line could technically have gotten a fastpass as well, but don't forget that you can only get one at a time, so they couldn't help it if they had one for BTMR and had to get stuck in the Splash line. And if the FPs were all "sold" out, then that's another thing they couldn't have predicted, especially if they're new to the parks and don't really know which ones to make a mad dash for first thing.

Now, even though I'd like to see the whole FP system done away with, I still chose "Disney should do FastPass packages, in which when you scan your ticket, you get all the Fastpasses for all the rides at different time intervals," only because if they could improve the system and make it work more efficiently on busy days, I might be more of a fan of it.

What makes the current system so awful is that even if people are late for their FP times - even if their late by HOURS - we still let them go. And THAT's when the line starts getting back up. If all the people who had 3:00-4:00 FPs decide to come between 4:00-5:00 when the parade is over, well, suddenly the FP line is filled with twice as many people than it is meant to have. I get that sometimes people get stuck on other attractions, so maybe there could be an exception, but how do you prove that, eh? Yeah, it's a flawed system, and maybe there is no perfect solution.

Yeah, maybe I should have just stuck to voting to scrap it.