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View Full Version : How Much For "No-wait" Access at DL/DCA?



coronamouseman
01-19-2002, 02:15 PM
Suppose DLR was going to impliment a surcharge for any passport (daily, multi-day or AP) that would allow the owner to ride any and every ride in the park without waiting in line?
This would include the ability to ride any ride multiple times without exiting and/or riding as many rides as they wanted with this feature .........

What should that surcharge be?

My initial input would be $50 - expensive enough to scare away most "normal" visitors but not enough to rule out diehard Disney fans or the super-rich from paying the extra surcharge (and generating extra revenue for Disney!)

Mind you, Universal Florida and IOA already allow no-wait access if you stay at their hotels in Florida ...............

LifelongAngelsFan
01-19-2002, 02:46 PM
As a businessman, I like the idea of offering this only to DLR hotel guests giving tourist one more reason to say at the DLR.

I think the concept would be extremely aggrevating to regular guests and would need some limits to it. For example, no, you don't get to keep riding without exiting.

Ace
01-19-2002, 05:00 PM
I seriously hope that this never, ever happens. It would probably be expensive, to scare off normal people like the first guy said, but not over 50, I think. I doubt there'll be any connection to the hotel since they did away with early entry... although this wouldn't cost that much more.... It would probably just be an unlimited fastpass. They couldn't really have it on low-cap rides since loading 8 people through the exit of Alice and Wonderland would increase the wait. HOw much would one night in the IOA hotel cost? I want to go there so bad... and how does there no-wait system work?

Uncle Dick
02-06-2002, 07:07 PM
I don't think this is a particularly good idea. It only hurts those who can't afford the extra surcharge. What happens when 10 people with the "no line" pass try to ride the same ride at once? What might be a good idea, is a packet of, say, 10 no line passes per person for hotel guests. An unlimited no line pass would be disasterous.

innerSpaceman
02-06-2002, 08:09 PM
I don't think $500 would be too much to charge for this insidious system. I think only people who are rich enough to pay the $500 premium will be the type not to care about the cat-calls, spit-wads and death-threats that will be heaped upon them by regular, already-paid-too-much-to-get-in Disneyland guests.

DisneyFiend
02-06-2002, 08:13 PM
The idea of paying for no-wait access is completely absurd and disgusting. When I first read this post, it made me think of a quote from "One Man's Dream" presentation at DCA. In it, Walt says that the idea of Disneyland was to create a place where a dad could take his kids for some fun. Something like no-wait access goes so far beyond his idea that I hope it's never considered.

Just my two cents :)

innerSpaceman
02-06-2002, 08:22 PM
Oh, and I think we already have no-wait access to most attractions at DCA. It's called regular admission to DCA.

driftwood714
02-06-2002, 10:15 PM
You can skip the lines for free at Disney. It's called faking a disability (Its wrong and I do not condone it.)

Uncle Dick
02-06-2002, 11:23 PM
Originally posted by driftwood714
You can skip the lines for free at Disney. It's called faking a disability (Its wrong and I do not condone it.)

On busier days, even the disability lines can get pretty long. And a lot of the newer rides can accommodate wheelchairs in their main queues. I'd assume faking a disability on a busy day would just be too much of a hassle to be worth it. On a day with medium crowds, it might be worth it.

DisneyFiend
02-07-2002, 06:42 AM
I've heard that DL makes it really easy to fake an injury. I mean, they don't ask for some type of proof that you have an injury. Is that true? Do you think a lot of people abuse this rule?

justagrrl
02-07-2002, 08:01 AM
The only way there should be no wait access is for a very rich person to rent out the entire park - and then - without anyone else there - they won't have to wait.

Otherwise, I think it's a lame idea.

DisneyFiend
02-07-2002, 09:51 AM
Has anyone seen the South Park episode where the fat kids inherits a ton of money and buys a them park. He does it so he doesn't have to wait in lines. At first, he realizes that he needs ride operators, so he lets a few people in the park so he can pay for some ride operators. Then he needs some maintenance people to fix the rides, so he lets a few more peopel in the park so he can afford maintenance people. After a while, he has so many things to pay for that the park is as busy as before he bought it, so he sells it back to the person he bought it from.

The episode is pretty funny, and it has a lot of DL references in it. The them park has Fast Passes, which they make fun of. It also has a HM-like ride, as well as a few others.

Gemini Cricket
02-07-2002, 10:13 AM
I know this thread is about a hypothetical situation, but I think it would be a very bad idea if it got into anyone's head at Disney. It would the regular wait in line longer. It would be "no-waiters" first, "FastPass-ers" second and then lastly the regular guests. It would be a financial caste system...
Like "Titanic", the regular guests would basically be steerage.
What a mess that would be...
:mad:

BTW, if they ever started to charge for FastPass, I'd get an AP and not use FastPass at all.

Iceman
02-07-2002, 02:49 PM
I've seen groups of VIPs walked around by Disney suits at all the parks. They bypass lines as well. Now I'm not saying that you can overtly "buy" that kind of treatment, but having money is certainly a required prerequisite.

hbquikcomjamesl
02-07-2002, 03:43 PM
Actually, at various times, certain types of tour groups have been allowed to "backdoor" certain very specific attractions.

For example, when DL experimented with a backstage tour, the afternoon one (the only one I got to take, but I consider myself lucky I got that far, considering as how the experiment lasted, what, two weeks, maybe three?) backdoored you onto whatever train was running with the Lilly Belle private business car on the back end (so did Walt's Footsteps, for the first year or two) at the beginning of the tour, then (after showing you the inside of the control tower) backdoored you onto Space Mountain (my back was quite sore that day, for some reason, so I declined) at the end of the tour. I get the impression the "Welcome to Disneyland" tour backdoors an attraction or two, though I've never actually taken that tour (Hell, I could probably GIVE it). As I recall, the Bicentennial School Program backdoored an attraction or two (but I don't remember a whole lot about it, considering as how it was 26 years ago!), and I suspect the "custom VIP tour" can backdoor some attractions.

Ace
02-07-2002, 07:48 PM
no wait access would suck... They already have fastpasses, and if you skipped every line in the park you'd be done in 3 hours. And that's just not fun, is it?

Iceman
02-07-2002, 08:40 PM
I've also taken the backstage tour at the Magic Kingdom, and we did get to "backdoor" a couple of attractions. But I don't consider this in the same league as coronamouseman intended when he started the thread.

DRIVERJC
02-08-2002, 12:47 PM
Instead of buying a pass that lets you have head of the line priviladges, why not put a bank of fast pass machines in around the gate area and let the guests plan their day out (i.e space mountain @ 10:00 am, thunder mountain @ 11:00 am ect.) make the program issue each pass at least 1 hour apart. They could also have the guests plann their schedule as they buy their tickets.


my 2 cents worth

Gemini Cricket
02-08-2002, 12:52 PM
Originally posted by DRIVERJC
Instead of buying a pass that lets you have head of the line priviladges, why not put a bank of fast pass machines in around the gate area and let the guests plan their day out (i.e space mountain @ 10:00 am, thunder mountain @ 11:00 am ect.) make the program issue each pass at least 1 hour apart. They could also have the guests plann their schedule as they buy their tickets.

That's an interesting thought. I wonder why they didn't do a FastPass Central type set-up. Where you could get your FastPasses all at the same place... That way, they wouldn't have had to change so much of the lines for each ride to accommodate the FastPass dispensers.
:confused:

Iceman
02-08-2002, 01:30 PM
I would guess there are two main reasons. First, a "FastPass hub" would be a huge traffic jam. Part of the design of a theme park is intended to spread the guests out and avoid clogs. The second reason (related to the first, really) is that Disney WANTS you to walk all the way through the park. That way you will get thirsty and hungry and might even buy some souvenirs along the way. I don't mean that to sound sinister; it's actually just good business!

DisneyFiend
02-08-2002, 02:02 PM
yeah, and they could have a fastpass for the fastpass central, so people wouldn't have to wait in line for the fastpass central area.....:)

Ace
02-08-2002, 03:59 PM
Originally posted by DisneyFiend
yeah, and they could have a fastpass for the fastpass central, so people wouldn't have to wait in line for the fastpass central area.....:)

nice. maybe a fastpass for the fastpass line?

coronamouseman
02-08-2002, 11:07 PM
I find it interesting that this thread was dormant for some time and then got a lot of comments.

Personally, I dislike the idea of having ANY means of cutting a line. I believe Disneyland for many years stood as an example of a true meritocracy (is that a word?) where everyone was treated truly equally and access to any ride was done strictly on a first-come, first-served basis.

On the other hand, I understand and can appreciate the marketing and advertising merits of the Fastpass and it's benefits to Disney: (1) it's a technicial solution and thus is fascinating to the public; (2) although it might increase a person's wait times overall if they do go on a large number of rides, it definitely will reduce the wait times for those persons only going on a few rides or will ensure that any guest can get on at least 3 or 4 big attractions on a very busy day with minimal waiting.

Lastly, I proposed the concept of the "instant" fastpass only as a parallel to the Universal Express system currently offered in Orlando - but as the attendance figures published last week for major US theme parks indicated, Universal in Orlando only draws roughly 25% of the visitors that WDW does so it's system probably has a much smaller impact than does one employed by Disney in their parks.

I agree with those who feel any system not of the first-come, first-served variety is wrong and hope as they do that Disney never goes beyond the current fastpass folly to something even worse.

Kuzcotopia
02-08-2002, 11:29 PM
I visited Six Flags Magic Mountian last week, where they have "Fast Lane", merely a paid ticket that for 15 bucks over paid admission, lets you cut into lines. No reservation required, no computer averaging wait times, just a "free cut-sies" that they sanction, because they are on the take. I say, let's just bribe the ride operators directly. Here's 5 bucks, sneak me in the back!

This is the poorest possible item from a customer service standpoint. I thank the stars that this isn't implimented at Disney, and I would complain every day at city hall if it were. All it does is increase the wait for the average visitor.

I've read Disney PR that states that Fastpass even reduces stand-by wait times, which I can understand. Because the load averaging that the computer reservation system does and the choice that every fastpass user makes to either wait now in standby or get a fastpass, the ebb and flow of ride lines becomes more flat throughout the day. That translates to more efficiency when spread over all the attractions at the park, which translates into less time in line, even when you don't use a fastpass.


Customers paying to make others wait longer is the Universal and Six flags system.

Computers making wait time more efficient and managing park traffic to give the guest more time to do the things they want is the Disney solution.

People with the cynical view that Disney only did fastpass so that people would shop more miss out that the cheapest, most-profitable short-term solution is the Universal and Six Flags one. Think about it, it didn't cost them a dime to make that one, just had to add a cash-register to print the "free cut in line" cards.

I do think that the Fastpass is a more profitable solution, but more in the "guest satisfaction" column, not in the "more time to buy more stuff" column. I don't know about you, but I spend my fastpass time riding other rides, which, when you think about it, is more expensive for Disney than having me wait in line!

But Fastpass does increase the number of guests they can happily handle on a busy day, and that's the beauty of it.

The Six Flags system gets WORSE for the average guests during busy days. And the reload time for X is 3 minutes a car ;-(