I hear what you are saying. But I’m not sure for the people going once or only every few years based their decision on staying on site on gettting access to FP earlier. But maybe that is just me. As for a high price FP, don’t they have that now with is it the Keys to the Kingdom? Or whatever they call where you get your personal cast member to sjow you around.
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Another solution is to add more attractions. When I was at UOR, Velocicoaster had recently soft opened, and the waits for both Velocicoaster and Hagrid’s were reasonable as a result. I waited only 35 minutes for Velocicoaster each time I rode it, including once in the afternoon and once evening.
There is a “pull” effect that increases crowds when a new attraction is built, but the overall impact of expanding offerings is lower waits for existing attractions in the long term. We need Tron, GotG, Ratatouille, and more in all the parks to keep crowds dispersed and happy. This is true regardless of the FP system they decide on (or if there is none).
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I would need more data to answer most of the poll questions.
But it’s ridiculous to have only physical queues in this day and age. Why should people waste their time standing in infinite lines if there are other areas of the park unoccupied that they would be interested in? Especially if those involve spending money, because that’s just a win-win for the guest and the park. And the little small oddity attractions are what keep the parks fresh after multiple visits.
However, using all virtual lines would make the rest of the park uncomfortably crowded. Some people need to be absorbed in the queues (and fill in fluctuations in virtual crowds returning).
I would think you’d want to try to keep the wait for non-headliners around 20-30 minutes max. That absorbs a good amount of people but is a tolerable wait.
The tiered system probably makes the most sense. Give you one headliner for sure that you don’t need to wait for and a couple other non-headliners.
So I think I’m good with the general premise of the old system, but I’d be curious about the underlying data. What % of FPP even went to club level? Is it enough to really even impact the overall system fir other guests? How much did the “pixie dust” FPs impact the overall system (like we received when we got stuck on Safari for an extra 20 min due to a non-cooperative giraffe)?
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We ended up with 4 bonus FPs on the same day on our last trip. We were only popping in to MK for a couple of hours to do BOG lunch and we ended up being able to do all the mountains. Our actual FPs were for AK in the afternoon. That was one of the best days we ever had! But yes we definitely held up the standby line longer than they would have been if we hadn’t had them.
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I say we go back to the paper fast passes. Bring back that morning cardio to race to the ride kiosks. While we are at it, bring back the ADR kiosks to do reservations same day by doing a video call with a CM while inside the park. (Don’t listen to me. These are terrible ideas and absolutely punish those who don’t rope drop and those with mobility issues.)
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You don’t have to pay for max pass, though. Just for the mobile form. You can still use it like Legacy FP, which is very doable as the parks are so much smaller.
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I think there could be some options to assist mobility impaired?
But I’m all for rewarding the rope droppers. It’s the same as Black Friday or concert tickets, etc.
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I thought you did have to pay for “Max Pass”? Isn’t that the official name that includes photo pass for that day?
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Hmmmm. It’s been three years, so I’m not 100%. But you can get paper fast passes for free.
IIRC MaxPass gave you mobile access, photopass and you could get new FP every 90 mins vs 120 mins.
But to save money we just ran for passes one day and got plenty that way.
@Wahoohokie @lolabear_la @Jeff_AZ @Ms.BarbsWildRide @Julianne_fki ?
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Yes, I didn’t think the paper fads passes were called max pass? Maybe I am confused.
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You are probably correct. I just wanted it to be clear that there was FP access for free as well as a paid option. We did some of both on our trip.
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You are correct. Regular, paper FP were free and just called FP like always. The MaxPass was a bargain when it came out - a $10 add on (or in my case I got the AP with the add on the last time I had an AP). Let you book FP from your phone and included photopass.
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UK WDW tickets already include memory maker and it is being sold for next year including that as a benefit. I’ll be interested to see if they do go to a max pass model if it is included there.
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Sounds like the in-person version of BGs except there they have no Standby line at all.
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At least for me, I clicked 50% knowing that there would be less FP’s available. Less FP’s available also means that the standby line will move faster, so I consider that a good trade-off.
My personal preference would be the DL’s Max Pass system. Second favorite would either be only a super-expensive FP that hardly any one used, or FP+ with 50% of ride to FP. With both of my second favorite options, the standby lines shouldn’t be too miserable.
I do love Volcano Bay’s Tapu-Tapu. What makes it work is that there is lot of fun stuff to do that doesn’t have lines. Even eating, which doesn’t have reservations. You also don’t have a return window, so there isn’t stress about getting the ride by X time. I thought they kept just the right number of people in the line. Enough so that there was never no line, but just short enough so that I’d catch my breath after walking up the stairs.
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Yes, the paid option is MaxPass (or was pre-Covid). And all true that it gave digital FP access AND faster (90 min. vs. 120 being one of the examples, but also, if you scanned into your most recently grabbed FP, you could look to book your next FP right that moment from the FP queue all thanks to Maxpass vs. with paper in that same scenario you would also be eligible to grab your next FP as soon as you scanned in BUT bc you didn’t have digital access on your phone had to wait until you exited the ride to physically walk to the next FP kiosk to grab it). So it’s all sorts of convenient. And then Photopass on top of that.
And having available MaxPass never stopped anyone from being able to still schlep to the FP kiosks to get them for free.
It started off as $10/person/day and was up to $15. There was a price for the whole year too to add to your pass and I don’t remember exactly how much it was but I’m thinking $100 for the year? The highest level of AP that wasn’t both coasts came with MaxPass included (and no blackouts) but that was one expensive puppy.
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I want to say I paid $119 (in December 2019) on my last AP for the MP add on. I loved MP and was one of those die hard people that refused to go without it! I would be ecstatic if they brought it back.
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It’s a really cool option and I love that it gives flexibility and convenience to those who may not have a lot of time and/or are a small group. While we have littles (and therefore a built in FP runner) and with the frequency we were going, it just didn’t make sense (and was a lot extra once I added it up for the family).
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I get that. We added it to our APs which at the time was $79 for the year and was an easy splurge. Paying each time would have waaaaaay too much.
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I even balked at the $79/pass because we had it the option too and we just decided ultimately that while we could have whoever stayed out with the little who isn’t tall enough to ride headliners be the FP runner on their way to something for the little one, it just didn’t make sense to throw more money at Disney. But I’m sure they’ll get us, it’s inevitable!
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