There’s no two ways about it, a creating a FastPass service in resorts where that perk was free isn’t going to win Disney any popularity contests in a year where it’s already been very tough being a supportive Disney parks fan.
Much like the park pass reservation system it will inevitably become more of hindrance than an asset, and with prices somewhere at the equivalent of between 9 and 12 dollars per-person this could potentially add thousands to a family holiday that just wasn’t in the budget before.
With this in mind, despite preferring the Orlando resorts, the YTT team sent an email expressing our disappointment and a very polite cast member at guest communications replied with the following email:
“Dear Team at YTT,
Thank you for your correspondence.
Throughout Disneyland® Paris, our Disney teams strive to provide our Guests with a high quality service level, and our wish is for each of them to live a magical moment. Bearing this in mind, we sincerely regret your disappointment regarding the introduction of the Disney Premier Access.
Disney Premier Access is an optional digital innovation on the Disneyland® Paris App that allows Guests to enjoy the ability to skip the regular queue line for some of our most popular attractions. From anywhere inside the parks, Guests can use the Disneyland® Paris App to book an assigned time slot for select attractions, with prices from 8€ per person per ride depending on the attraction and day of use. Disneyland® Paris is the first of the Disney Resorts to launch this service which will be available during this summer. We are sorry that the Disney Premier Access does not meet your expectations and apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.
For your information, the free Standby Pass service continues to exist. Further details about this service can be found on the following website: https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-gb/guest-services/standby-pass/.
Please be assured that Disneyland® Paris appreciates the time you have taken to write to us. We would like to assure you that your remarks have been noted and shared with the relevant Management. Indeed, as our goal is to continuously improve the overall Guest Experience, we take Guest feedback very seriously.
We hope to have the opportunity to welcome you to our Resort very soon.”
From this we can see that Disney is going to persist in spinning the idea that the monetisation of the formerly free service is some sort of improvement. We certainly hope their peace offering of standbypass, which seems to be a sort of virtual queue for busy times will allow guests to avoid long lines, which will be made busier by thrifty people who opt out of the paid FastPass system.
That being said, initial reports are not encouraging that this is any sort of improvement worth modifying the already functioning system. https://insidethemagic.net/2021/07/stand-by-pass-crowds-ad1/
But despite Disney being a massive corporation, it’s entertainment venues do depend on guest satisfaction, so if you have an issue with paid FastPasses, we hope you too will join us in
