I know… I know… many of you are saying, “duh” as you read the title of my article. However, I’m curious if I will change your mind when I offer you a shunned opinion regarding bringing back FastPasses and paying for a front of the line pass as Disneyland Paris recently implemented.
Premier Access at Disneyland Paris
By now most of us have heard the news about Premier Access pass at Disneyland Paris. What went from being a free FastPass service became one where guests now have to pay to cut the line.
Guests will use the app to book an assigned time slot for select attractions. Click HERE to learn more about the app and the attractions that qualify.
This program really comes down to asking the question, “how much money are you willing to fork out to Disney for a front of the line pass?“
Would you pay $17 PER PERSON to ride Astro Blasters? I know my answer. Nope.
Would I pay the same amount for Flight of Passage or Mine Train?
I’ll make the same comment I did before. I’ll pay it for myself, but it’s a free for all for the rest of the family. They can stand in line without me!
With all seriousness, the discussion regarding programs such as the Premier Pass at Disneyland Paris have left many guests speculating if a similar program is headed to the parks in the United States.
Universal Studios
Say for example, that you want to utilize the Premier Access Pass for the day at the parks for yourself. This is for only one person.
If you ride and purchase 6 of the 8 attractions listed you will have spent $84.00.
Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando both offer a same service where they have their own front of the line packages for guests. The prices range anywhere between $80-$150 on top of park admission.
If both of these front of the line programs are equivalent to one another then why are guests upset if this program were to be implemented at Disneyland and Disney World?
Theme Parks such as Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain (I live in California) offer their own version of front of the line passes as well. LEGOLANDⓇ California has a front-of-line pass option called Reserve ‘N’ Ride with different upgrade levels available.
Is it maybe that we became accustomed to the fact that free FastPasses at Disneyland parks were a magical and pixie dust bonus of visiting a Disney park?
The next discussion then would be if the prices of these front of the line passes are overpriced.
Lowering Prices on Front of the Line Passes?
Many people would agree that riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for $18 a person is going overboard!
Perhaps instead of pricing each attraction individually, would it make a difference if the Premier Pass were one price all together while averaging per ride cost?
However, what would happen if prices truly were lowered for front of the line prices?
If the price of these front of the line prices were made more affordable then everybody would purchase them, thus making the entire pass counterintuitive on its original purpose to begin with.
Guests would complain that the lines at attractions that incorporate the front of the line passes are too lengthy.
Max Pass at Disneyland
When I had first purchased my FLEXPASS at Disneyland pre-Covid, I did not purchase the MAXPASS although it was advertised at selling for $100 for the year which also included PhotoPass downloads.
MaxPass was a paid add-on for Disneyland Resort’s FastPass ride reservation system. The $20 per-person-per-a-day add-on grants the user the ability to make FastPass reservations on their phone, as well as access to PhotoPass downloads taken by Disney photographers or on select rides.
I can say with all honesty that by our third visit while using our Flex annual pass, I added the MAXPASS as I found it to be very beneficial when compared to the regular free FastPass.
I no longer had to go over to the ride attraction that offered FastPass physically but rather I could book my ride reservation on my phone. This was ESPECIALLY beneficial when booking a ride reservation that is located in California Adventure when I was inside Disneyland!
Of course, this is coming from my experience at Disneyland in Anaheim. At Walt Disney World, ride reservations for FastPass are readily available through the My Disney Experience app.
Effects of FastPass on Standby Lines
Take for example Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is all hypothetical but bear with me.
Let’s say that there are 1000 guests in the standby line. The attraction is accommodated for 1000 guests to ride each hour of operation. This would average to about 83 guests riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad every 5 minutes.
Now we can take into consideration adding guests who have FastPass. This will obviously change our numbers from solely guests standing in a standby queue.
This then would mean that since those guests that hold a FastPass have priority over those that are in the standby line. Meaning that those 83 guests that were loaded onto the attraction every 5 minutes has now been reduced significantly!
Bringing in our mathematical equation from above, if the majority of guests that hold FastPass for the attraction are let on before those in the standby line, whereas before they were cycling 1000 guests per each hour of operation, we are now adding at least one extra hour of standing in line with no FastPass in hand!
When taking this hypothetical situation into account if Disney were to implement a similar Premier Pass program at the price indicated, then perhaps fewer guests will purchase.
Therefore, this will be a win-win situation for guests waiting in standby lines.
The more front of the line passes sold, the longer the standby line wait time will be. So, maybe it is beneficial to charge the $18 dollars a person to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad?
What are your thoughts? Do you agree with me that bringing back FastPass may not be the way to go when taking into account stand by wait times to ride an attraction? Would you consider purchasing a front of the line pass? Let us know in the comments on Facebook and in our Facebook group.
The only reason we locals or anyone else wants the fast pass back is because we don’t want to spend our entire day standing in line. No idea why Disney would want that either? People standing in line don’t spend money!!
The only people mad about Fast Pass being free are locals who don’t want to wait in line for rides they have ridden over and over, because some once-in-a-lifetime family got to reserve a spot weeks in advance. Disney isn’t just for Florida residents. The rest of us deserve to schedule a ride without an upcharge.
And anyone who thinks Fast Pass makes waits longer doesn’t know how to use Fast Pass.
It’s all about the stock price people. The higher the stock price the more the executives at Disney make. Disney are no longer family friendly parks as Walt wanted it. It’s a greedy money grab organization that cares less about its pass holders. Popular rides, shows and firework displays are replaced by inferior attractions and laser shows. The company is systematically deleting popular shows and not replacing them with similar attractions.
I do miss the free fast pass but I have to say I have enjoyed not being tied to a schedule. I have experienced so many fun things without having to rush across the park to make my fast pass time. I also love that the stand by line is always moving. With the fast pass system you have to wait until so many fast pass riders board before they start letting the standby line board. It’s exhausting and frustrating to finally get to the front of the line and then have to wait while what seems like a million fast pass riders board ahead of you. I am an out of state pass holder who use to schedule every single minute of my trip but have found that there are so many wonderful things to see and enjoy without a schedule
Wow what an uppity snobby comment! We stay at deluxe resorts all the time. ALL resort guests should benefit in someway! Who cares if you’re buying annual passes now!
The amount of money being proposed is outrageous. People save for years to take their family to Disney. Asking people to come up with even more money is nuts! Make it part of the package if you stay on property. Offer it as a perk to DVC Members, or go back to it being a free perk.
I have believed that Fastpass made the Standby lines longer for years. I also believe that any time you save using a Fastpass is eaten up by the longer standby lines on the rest of the attractions you ride.
Fastpass should be killed off forever.
That said, Universal Express is much better than Fastpass ever was. You go to the front of the line on each attraction As You Come To It… On Your Schedule… Without Having To Make Any Advance Reservations. Yes, you have to pay for it, but that’s why it works. The price limits demand, and Universal limits the number sold so that Express has very little effect on the length of the standby lines.
The thing I always hated about Disney’s Fastpass was the fact that you are making a “Reservation”. Now you have to plan your day around a schedule. How much time do you waste because you have a Fastpass? Darn, we don’t have time to do this because we have Fastpass!
Then… When you use your Fastpass… You still have to wait in a long line! Fastpass is free, and because it’s free, there is a lot of demand. To satisfy this demand, Disney issues so many Fastpasses that you still have to wait in a long line that is not as long as the standby line, but still long.
Universal Express is usually a walk on, or a very short wait. I find a day at Universal to be much more relaxing and enjoyable than a day at Disney. I go to Universal twice a year and I am an annual pass holder. I haven’t been to Disney in 5 years!
Doesn’t disney make enough money, there’s parking to pay for which use to be free, now doing away with magical express now they want money for this. When is it going to stop, this was meant for the average family, not just the rich.
Not buying it… in any form. Fastpasses allowed for planning and prioritizing. They made my 6 visits from Michigan each year fun, enjoyable and relatively stress free. Then came the virtual queue. In my last 6 visits I have experienced the opening and closing of boarding parties during an app refresh. I stood in line for over 3 hours for Flight of Passage…1 ride, because it was my last day at AK, and the lines had been longer all week. The sign at the end of the line said we would wait 2 hours… wrong. I read these articles, but see little that matches my experience. I have seen little masking this year, but lots of line jumping. With fastpasses, everyone without one knows they chose to wait over an hour. There is disappointment. I figure the complaints must be coming from locals who want to show up and take their pick, as opposed to those who plan their Disney vacation and want to ride a few A ticket rides. Disney prices, ticket and AP, are outrageous by any standard. To tack on an extra hundred per day per person, just to have the experiences you already paid to enjoy, is ludicrous.
They need to bring it back for free just as it was before. They should also add the equivalent of Universal’s Express Pass for those who stay at the Deluxe Resorts. This lets them maximize profits by adding a new perk for staying on property at the most expensive resorts without ruining things for regular visitors. They’ve taken away SO MANY perks so far that they need to come up with something to compensate for all that is gone. My family was planning to buy Annual Passes, but decided to wait and see.
I think they should bring it back for free just like it was before. That seemed to be working. :-). It was a perk that Disney offered for free that other parks didn’t and it was available for everyone. If you decide not to use it that’s your fault.
IMHO, while I am disappointed with the removal of yet another perk being removed, I think the biggest problem with this whole paid access pass is the way it’s being presented. It’s currently being talked about as a per ride fee. If it were presented like it is on almost every other park, as a daily access fee, it would likely be more acceptable. Another issue, at Universal, the Express Pass is free with top tier resorts. Same is true at Dollywood. If you stay at the resort, TimeSaver is included. Again, just my opinion.