Paid FP options coming soon to WDW?

[DebbieB]

The Universal "Express Pass" is now $325 a day. Crazy.

its date based. As low as $69 for the cheapest option.

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/express-passes

You can get it free with a Deluxe room.

 

[Prouddad]

its date based. As low as $69 for the cheapest option.

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/express-passes

You can get it free with a Deluxe room.

The whole summer season is at least $225 a day. I went mid March, about 6years ago and it was $99, then. Im sure there is "1" day, where it is actually $69. Prob January 23rd or something similar.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

What folks said about Universal's Express Pass not being all it's cracked up to be is true.

I paid for the Halloween Horror Nights one so my kids could get to all the haunted houses.

The night before their tickets, the event was closed for a private event and all those people got moved to the night my kids went. They said the crowds were nuts and they only got through half the houses even with the Express Pass.

 

[80sTerraceCafeFan]

MaxPass is simply paying for the ability to get digital FastPasses from your phone instead of having to physically go to a kiosk at the ride to get a paper FastPass (you also get unlimited PhotoPass, but that's not relevant to this thread). You're not paying for any FastPasses. You don't get any reserved FastPasses for your fee. You're just paying to make it more convenient to get the exact same Fastpasses anyone has access to for free at a kiosk.

True - but the differences in how you use the systems run much deeper. MaxPass puts all guests on an even playing field to start the day vs the race to sell out the most coveted rides during first few minutes of the morning 60 days in advance. It also eliminates the tier system which restricts your usage...i.e. get a FP for Sorin', Frozen, or Test Track - but line up for the other two. MP gives you a better chance of not waiting in the standby line for all.

 

[jodifla]

And last week - our trip was heavenly without FP+ - never a line more than 20 minutes stated and 10 actual...so you just never can tell.

Yes we were there May 10-17. Very manageable crowds for the most part.

 

[New Mouse]

What folks said about Universal's Express Pass not being all it's cracked up to be is true.

I paid for the Halloween Horror Nights one so my kids could get to all the haunted houses.

The night before their tickets, the event was closed for a private event and all those people got moved to the night my kids went. They said the crowds were nuts and they only got through half the houses even with the Express Pass.

Horror Nights express pass and regular express pass are completely different products due to the volume at HHN

 

[SMRT-1]

True - but the differences in how you use the systems run much deeper. MaxPass puts all guests on an even playing field to start the day vs the race to sell out the most coveted rides during first few minutes of the morning 60 days in advance. It also eliminates the tier system which restricts your usage...i.e. get a FP for Sorin', Frozen, or Test Track - but line up for the other two. MP gives you a better chance of not waiting in the standby line for all.

I never said otherwise. MaxPass absolutely gives you an advantage, but that wasn't the point I was making. I was simply trying to point out that using "MaxPass" to mean paid FastPasses isn't accurate because paying for MaxPass doesn't give you any reserved FastPasses, it just gives you a faster, easier way to get them day-of.

 

[StaceyHSD]

According to Len Testa that virtual queue thing is expected to be part of Genie. We shall see...

I wouldn’t be against a virtual queue system replacing FP is that is the intention. Of course, it all depends on how well it works.

 

[KeyLargoCards]

Honestly, I loved the lack of fast passes for these reasons:
1) Everyone is in the same boat, no advanced planning necessary
2) All else equal, a line that moves is better than one that doesn't
3) Everyone goes through the entire queue. Some value here for certain rides (Avatar, Peter Pan, etc)
4) You can actually gauge how long the line is...by how long the line is
5) There is nothing more frustrating that standing in line watching approx 1 million fast passers walk by you. And, there is more of that than the other way around.

I do think a virtual queue could be a great idea, if it works with no major bugs!

 

[npatellye]

And last week - our trip was heavenly without FP+ - never a line more than 20 minutes stated and 10 actual...so you just never can tell.

Agreed. We were there 5/12 to 5/20 and had really low wait times for most things, in spite of Summit being there for cheer and park capacity increasing shortly after we arrived. We were surprised we had shorter waits with increased capacity for this trip than we had for our November trip, which had less capacity.

 

[ForWhomTheMouseTolls]

People saying nearly no wait or deadly waits at the same time? Who is lying?

 

[cgattis]

Also, the Universal Express Pass is not as good a product as Disney’s FP. We’ve waited 45 minutes in Express lines on busy days; when I asked about this I was told that EP guarantees 50% of the standby line wait, not the 15-20 minutes max that FP usually takes.

That’s not been our experience. We’ve been three times, got the EP from our stay at Royal Pacific every time (it just always comes out cheapest), and never waited more than prob 15 minutes. I’m sure YMMV depending on the day, but I believe on average, it’s quite good.

 

[npatellye]

People saying nearly no wait or deadly waits at the same time? Who is lying?

I think it depends on the person and their perception of long. We usually went to parks early (before opening) or in the evening (4 pm or later). When we went early, we were always out by lunchtime when crowds really seemed to pick up. Maybe people who are later morning parkgoers had long waits. We just don’t like being in the parks after lunch and my kids are still young enough that they need a break.

Our longest wait was Tower of Terror and they were only running one side of it but filling all rows. My 8 and 5 year olds still chose to wait 85 minutes for it near park closing. That was their only one and done, partly because the ride is too much for them (even though they insist on doing it) and partly because they probably do not want to wait in a line that long ever again.

 

[TCRAIG]

People saying nearly no wait or deadly waits at the same time? Who is lying?

Nobody is ‘lying’ - it’s all day of the week/park/time of day/ride dependent. For instance, when we got to HS at 9:30 (after they’d open), the line for MMRRR was showing 50 minutes long - we skipped it and did TSMM with no line and Aliens with a 10 minute wait instead. We went back to MMRRR later in the day and the stated time was 30 minutes but we made it thru the line in 20 minutes...

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

My favorite quote from the article about virtual queue patents being filed:

Another drawback of physical queues is that they prevent a guest waiting in line from enjoying other attractions available in the same venue, which may further frustrate the waiting guests while also depriving other attractions of traffic and potential revenue. [emphasis added]

 

[CarolynFH]

My favorite quote from the article about virtual queue patents being filed:

Yes, allowing guests to "wait in line" while at the same time spending money on food and souvenirs has always been one of the primary reasons for FP, FP+ and virtual queues.

 

[DisneyFEB2013]

Maybe you just mean DME, but the transportation system within the World still remains pretty top-notch. (Yes even with the bus delays).

Yes, I meant DME. I think I posted that the day it was announced. I was a little shocked!

 

[Eric Smith]

On top of the ticket price???

Ugh, I sure hope Disney doesn't go that route. No way we can afford to pay about $600 extra for two for each Disney park.

The beauty of express pass is that you don’t need it. That’s the big flaw with FP+. It made the standby lines so terrible that people felt like they needed to have fast passes to enjoy their day. I’d much prefer severely limiting or totally doing away with free fast passes if it would avoid jamming up all of the standby lines.

 

[Eric Smith]

People saying nearly no wait or deadly waits at the same time? Who is lying?

We were at WDW in April. The only ride with a horrible wait was TOT which is because of how lightly they were loading the ride vehicles. We never waited more than an hour for a ride. It was a nice trip.

 

[kc51570]

We were at WDW in April. The only ride with a horrible wait was TOT which is because of how lightly they were loading the ride vehicles. We never waited more than an hour for a ride. It was a nice trip.

I’ve never waited an hour for ANY ride when FP was available. We have always been able to add on multiple extra FPs after we used our first 3. The max waits we encountered using the system or standby in combination the system, a PPO breakfast or rope drop were 15 maybe 20 minutes. We were guaranteed the headliners with little wait with the FP system. We could also schedule the big rides later in the morning/early afternoon if we wanted a day or two to sleep in. Although I am looking forward to my first trip since COVID-I am not looking forward to multiple 1 hour waits with getting up even earlier on vacation to be at the park an hour before opening when they now start letting people in.