Fast Pass, Fireworks and Parking Trams

[reaganbetter]

Multiple Media Sources
Walt Disney World Parks will phase in reopening of The Fast Pass, Fireworks and Parking Trams

THE FAST PASS: Allows park guests to skip ahead of the lone wait-times on ride attractions.
https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/arc ... ay-decades
https://wdwnt.com/2021/06/addition-of-s ... turn-soon/

The Walt Disney World App has added it back to it's online and the app ticketing system to phase it back in from COVID-19 shutdown.
FAST PASS FEE SYSTEM: Walt Disney World is exploring charging guests to use the system. This to be competitive with other area parks including Universal.
The pricing is rumored to be $100 and $300 per guest per day in terms of regular ticketing. There is NO information for annual pass holders in this park chat.

FIREWORKS: Very likely to return to Walt Disney World. Disney is finalizing hiring of fireworks engineers and phasing them back in. July 4th is a good chance.
https://insidethemagic.net/2021/06/epco ... works-kc1/
https://thekingdominsider.com/are-firew ... -june-ja1/

PARKING LOT TRAMS: Currently, in refurbishment. It's likely they will be phased back in very soon. Parking lot attendants are in the works of
putting waiting areas back in. Parking is NO longer being social distanced.
https://wdwnt.com/2021/06/photos-cast-m ... -at-epcot/
https://wdwnt.com/2021/05/photos-parkin ... ney-world/
https://wdwnt.com/2021/05/parking-lot-t ... eme-parks/

[jm1670]

That's outrageous. $100 dollars per guest per day for something that was free a year and a half ago. They really starting to price themselves out of the market. The cost of entrance is already too high.

[Disney Donna]

If Disney start charging to use fast pass I may have to reconsider coming here, we're coming from the UK and it would already cost over £12000 for my family to have a 14 night stay, the old fast pass system would have allowed us to pace out our days, not feel rushed and be able to do all that we wanted to do at a leisurely pace, if they charge for fast pass I would only be able to afford this perhaps 2 maybe 3 days which would mean the rest of the time we would be standing in queues for hours on end and the days we have fast pass tickets we'd feel like we have to race around to get the most value from it.

[Happy2012]

That's outrageous. $100 dollars per guest per day for something that was free a year and a half ago. They really starting to price themselves out of the market. The cost of entrance is already too high.

I agree! That is ridiculous! WHY! If they use the pandemic as an excuse I will scream, I am getting tired of hearing that as an excuse for everything!
I understand that it has been difficult but that's no excuse to charge an arm and a leg for something that was free.
Also I'm going to say this again what is the benefit to staying on property? Unfortunately we may still have to stay on property as getting handicap accessible transportation is expensive. Over $1,000 to rent a van for a week and off property hotels don't have accessible transportation.

[CH-GenX]

Chapek using covid. Anything that resembled free will go away or will have a cost added to it.

[nittanylions]

I wouldn’t mind paying more as long as i can basically walk on rides. My experience has been that WDW can move people onto rides very quickly when they want to, but they can also load people onto rides slowly. If I’m paying more money, I want fast loading, not slow loading. The more I spend, the more I expect to walk on rides. If I’m paying more but not getting more, it’s going to impact my vacation decisions.

[jm1670]

Chapek using covid. Anything that resembled free will go away or will have a cost added to it.

I am getting the feeling that Chapek is going to go down as one of the Disney CEOs that we hate. It might be unfair to judge him because he got his start in the middle of a pandemic but so far it appears that every decision he makes has the same blue print. How can we give the customer 1/3 the experience at 4x the cost.

They can pretend that they are trying to reinvent the way they do things to tailor them to what the customer wants. The truth is they are really just taking already existing services and turning them into micro transactions that would double the cost of going to Disney. Remind me again Bob, why would I stay at a Disney resort now that fastpasses, magic hours and Disney express are not part of the cost?

[Happy2012]

Chapek using covid. Anything that resembled free will go away or will have a cost added to it.

I am getting the feeling that Chapek is going to go down as one of the Disney CEOs that we hate. It might be unfair to judge him because he got his start in the middle of a pandemic but so far it appears that every decision he makes has the same blue print. How can we give the customer 1/3 the experience at 4x the cost.

They can pretend that they are trying to reinvent the way they do things to tailor them to what the customer wants. The truth is they are really just taking already existing services and turning them into micro transactions that would double the cost of going to Disney. Remind me again Bob, why would I stay at a Disney resort now that fastpasses, magic hours and Disney express are not part of the cost?

Unfortunately unless other area hotels start offering accessible shuttle service to and from the parks or wheelchair accessible rental vehicles become more affordable some people may not have a choice Perfect opportunity for the other hotels now with these changes and no benefits from Disney to up their game!

[Just Theo]

Chapek using covid. Anything that resembled free will go away or will have a cost added to it.

I am getting the feeling that Chapek is going to go down as one of the Disney CEOs that we hate. It might be unfair to judge him because he got his start in the middle of a pandemic but so far it appears that every decision he makes has the same blue print. How can we give the customer 1/3 the experience at 4x the cost.

They can pretend that they are trying to reinvent the way they do things to tailor them to what the customer wants. The truth is they are really just taking already existing services and turning them into micro transactions that would double the cost of going to Disney. Remind me again Bob, why would I stay at a Disney resort now that fastpasses, magic hours and Disney express are not part of the cost?

I agree that it’s hard not to think that all of the reopening decisions are now being made with priority given to profit. Chapek seems to be very much a “money man” and as long as people are paying full price for a watered down experience I think he’s going to milk that as long as he can. Personally I hate being kept in the dark about all of this. You call customer service and ask, when will the dining plan come back?, when will annual passes come back? when this? when that? and you get the same vague answer “we have no date, hopefully soon”. It’s frustrating for us and it’s gotta be frustrating for the CMs that work in customer service not to be able to answer people’s questions.

[Wayfinder]

Yeah. I am not liking where all this is heading. Just because people didn't go on vacation over the last year does not mean they saved all that money. A lot was investing in groceries, new computers and other technology. We are limiting more those who have never been able to experience Disney theme parks from coming. Think of even the demographics that are not able to come to the parks. Low-income and first-generation families may never be able to bring their children to the parks without some major sacrifices. To me that is so sad.

[Just Theo]

fireworks back on july 1st, Happily ever after at Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Forever at….well….EPCOT. No word on Fantasmic but I imagine that’s due to the fact that it involves live performers and will involve a lot more rehearsal.

check it:
https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/ ... is-summer/

[T music]

$100-$300 a day for fast past that’s ridiculous almost as much or more as a tickets itself

[Happy2012]

$100-$300 a day for fast past that’s ridiculous almost as much or more as a tickets itself

Exactly!

[Just Theo]

$100-$300 a day for fast past that’s ridiculous almost as much or more as a tickets itself

It’s actually on par with a lot of other parks. I’ve paid over $200 for Six Flags version of fast pass before. Not saying it justifies Disney starting to charge for it, just saying the prices aren’t unusual.

[jm1670]

$100-$300 a day for fast past that’s ridiculous almost as much or more as a tickets itself

It’s actually on par with a lot of other parks. I’ve paid over $200 for Six Flags version of fast pass before. Not saying it justifies Disney starting to charge for it, just saying the prices aren’t unusual.

Currently Six Flags over Georgia is offering the equivalent for $60 for the full year. Annual passes for $49. Only Universal is in the same price ball park as Disney. They charge $99 for an unlimited skip the line pass. However Universal's annual pass is about half of Disney's. Plus when you throw in the up charging for food, hotel rooms and merchandise a trip to Disney for a family of 4 would easily 4 times the cost of going to any other theme park.

There is no justification for Disney doing this. Again this is a massive price gouge for something they were doing for free just a year ago.

[Meridasmom]

Charging for fast pass is a no go for me. I've waited in "fast" pass lines before and a lot aren't significantly faster than the standby queue. And "walk on"? lol- forget about that unless it's been raining and you happen to hit the line just as they open the ride back up. I definitely won't be paying for a fast pass. We were season tix holders for Carowinds (NC/SC) and years ago when they started charging for their system we refused to pay that as well.(yeah I know it's not "D")
Honesty, they're already pricing people out. It's just sad.

[Just Theo]

$100-$300 a day for fast past that’s ridiculous almost as much or more as a tickets itself

It’s actually on par with a lot of other parks. I’ve paid over $200 for Six Flags version of fast pass before. Not saying it justifies Disney starting to charge for it, just saying the prices aren’t unusual.

Currently Six Flags over Georgia is offering the equivalent for $60 for the full year. Annual passes for $49. Only Universal is in the same price ball park as Disney. They charge $99 for an unlimited skip the line pass. However Universal's annual pass is about half of Disney's. Plus when you throw in the up charging for food, hotel rooms and merchandise a trip to Disney for a family of 4 would easily 4 times the cost of going to any other theme park.

There is no justification for Disney doing this. Again this is a massive price gouge for something they were doing for free just a year ago.

A daily flash pass platinum at Six Flags Great Adventure is $125, plus a regular price ticket $79.99 is $204.99, that’s what I got when I went. At six flags over Georgia it is $100 plus regular price tickets.
Hershey Park’s fast track starts at $59 and tops out at $175 plus regular price ticket.
Cedar Points Fast Lane Plus is $101 plus regular price ticket.

and there’s more examples like that.

Again, I’m not trying to justify it, I don’t want to pay for it either, I physically cringe every time I have to pay the $25 parking fee. I’m just saying it’s not an unusual practice to charge extra for offerings like this. All businesses are copy cats to some extent.

It’s natural to have a negative reaction to any price increase or price add-on. But in the end it’s still a business and businesses are in the business of making money. Does it suck for the consumer? Yes. Is it meant to be personal? No. We all don’t have a cousin Eddie to kid nap the boss when they screw you out of your bonus.

Also remember this is all based on speculation and rumor so in reality we could be complaining about nothing.

I find it helps to look at an argument from all sides no matter how angry the answer can make you. Just call me Mr. Devils Advocate today.

[T music]

$100-$300 a day for fast past that’s ridiculous almost as much or more as a tickets itself

It’s actually on par with a lot of other parks. I’ve paid over $200 for Six Flags version of fast pass before. Not saying it justifies Disney starting to charge for it, just saying the prices aren’t unusual.

Yeah and six flags is ridiculous as well

[CH-GenX]

I hope I'm wrong on all of this!

[Happy2012]

I hope I'm wrong on all of this!

I hear you I am hopeful that what I have been imagining is wrong as well and things don't change.