Originally Posted by
MrPeetrie
Before I begin my dissent, let me first say that despite know the original FastPass system lengthens stand-by wait times, I LOVE it and use it whenever necessary. I have little children and, as wait times grow in length, it becomes indispensable. However, on lighter days we rarely use it. It's a "Use-it-as-needed" perk.
Now my analogy:
Assume for a Magical second there were no FastPasses anymore. If at any given time (for this example, let's say noon) there are 5,000 guests in Standby at the Magic Kingdom then there are exactly 5,000 people in line. Fairly simple. But if I am holding a FastPass, then there are actually 5,001. There are the 5,000 seen, plus an imaginary me in line, holding a place until it's my turn for the real me to take the imaginary me's place. And if it's noon and my return time is 2:30 then there is a 2-and-a-half hour wait of imaginary guests in line unseen. So, using our example, if it's noon and there are 5,000 people in standby PLUS another 2,000 FastPasses distributed, there are actually 7,000 people in line. We can only see the 5,000, but the others are imaginary place-holders.
Under the current system, we use FastPass ONLY AS NEEDED. If we go on a lighter season and the park is manageable, we rarely use FastPass. Sometimes the kiosks are covered as the crowd is lighter.
However, three months from vacation, no one knows how the crowd will be. All of us will reserve every FastPass available to us everyday of our vacation -- needed or not. And as a result, they WILL be needed because we've "artificially" inflated the wait times.
So using my example, it's noon and there are 5,000 in standby with 7,000 FastPasses distributed then there are 12,000 guests waiting in line. And if at noon my return time is 5:00 p.m. then there is a 5-hour wait of unseen place holders until its my turn. This will make spontaneous riding very difficult. We will probably only ride the reserve rides because, despite lines looking short, they will be very long due to the imaginary place-holders. Right now, we never use FastPass for Pirates of the Caribbean. But 3 months away, you better believe I'm reserving a ride because I want to make sure I ride it at least once on our trip.
So why do this? It's billed as an enhancement. When you hear the PLUS side, it sounds reasonable. Currently, we've only managed to ride Toy Story Midway Mania once in two 10-day vacations. Why? We never make it there in time and the FastPasses will have been used up by then. So in that case, I see the positive. But I don't think that's the real reason.
Look at the Dining Plan: It, too, is billed as a PLUS -- a way to better budget your vacation. But look at it's practical implementation. It's made ADRs difficult to come by. Spontaneous meals are more rare. The food quality has dropped off, albeit slightly. And I think the real reason and the stated reason are at odds. While it's advertised as a budgeting PLUS, I think it's a clever attempt to separate the guest from more money.
Studies show, guests budget a certain amount for a vacation and usually stay within that budget, during their stay. A large portion of the budget goes to dining. So, if I bring $5,000 to spend, I will dedicate a large portion to dining and the rest is available for shopping. I believe Disney thought if they could get you to pay the dining portion prior to arrival, the guest would still bring $5,000 to spend, hoping to separate the guest from the whole $5,000 on merchandise. I don't think the Dining Plan is a PLUS at all. I think it's a money grab and it's having negative effects. Others will disagree. And that's good to have that debate.
So back to the FastPass+. I think, while advertised as an enhancement, it is merely a way to have your day micro-managed, leaving much more time for merchandise-purchasing at the expense of attraction-attending. You will ride less, be bored more, and hopefully, spend more money in the stores.
Here's an idea: Put better merchandise in the stores and we'll buy it. Disney people are like no other consumer. We LOVE our Disney. If it's something we want, we'll pay for it. But don't coerce us into a purchase by leaving us with not many other options to spend our time.
Now, I'm not ready to throw the baby out with the bath water. I LOVE coming to WDW and I think they'll work the bugs out. But I have concerns. I'm curious to hear others' comments. Help persuade me to be optimistic.
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