Paid Premier Access Replacing Free FastPass at Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris has officially announced Disney Premier Access, which replaces free FastPass in those two parks. In this post, we’ll share details & pricing, how the upcharge line skipping service will work, and discuss the potential implications for Walt Disney World, where a paid replacement for FastPass+ feels like all but an inevitability at this point.
In a number of app-related updates, Disneyland Paris shared that the free Standby Pass is returning. This is essentially a hybrid system that combines a virtual queue with a physical standby line. It allows guests to spend the first part of their wait time for select attractions outside of the queue, and then joining the line for the home stretch.
Standby Pass is available at Disneyland Paris certain times of the day, subject to availability and dependent upon operational needs of the parks. Essentially, it’s offered when Disneyland Paris is running out of physical queue space–so during peak times of busier days. When available, guests can use the Disneyland Paris app to book the next available time slot to enter the physical queue line of an attraction, return within the allocated 30-minute time slot, present the Standby Pass QR code, and stand in the queue for the remainder of that time.
You might recall that late last year, there were rumors that Walt Disney World would implement virtual queues for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run and Jungle Cruise. Other attractions, like Peter Pan’s Flight and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, actually cut their queues at some points when demand was high. At Disneyland, Indiana Jones Adventure actually did use a virtual queue for several weeks post-reopening.
This was for precisely the same reason as the Standby Pass is offered–those physical queues were running out of space at certain times. While it has ceased being an issue since physical distancing was dropped, it’s also worth pointing out that Walt Disney World is still capping park capacity. So physical space in standby queues could once again be an issue, albeit for different reasons, come October 2021.
Back to Disneyland Paris, those parks will also give guests the option to purchase Disney Premier Access on the Disneyland Paris App. This digital service allows guests to pay to skip the regular queue line for popular attractions, including Autopia, Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, Star Tours: the Adventures Continue, and the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
From anywhere inside the parks, guests can use the Disneyland Paris App to purchase an assigned time slot for the aforementioned attractions. Pricing for Disney Premier Access will be per ride, ranging from €8 to €15 (~$10 to $18) depending on the attraction and day of visit. Think of it like Express Lanes on toll roads–dynamic pricing that increases with demand.
This is not Disneyland Paris’ first foray into paid FastPasses. Three years ago, those parks rolled out “Disney Access One,” which allowed guests to purchase what was essentially an instant FastPass, bypassing the standard multi-hour wait associated with drawing a traditional FastPass and redeeming it. These Access One passes cost €15 per person per attraction, with discounts for Annual Passholders.
A few months after that, Disneyland Paris debuted two new paid FastPass options: the Super FastPass and the Ultimate FastPass. The Super FastPass bundled together thrill rides or family-friendly attractions for one-time line skipping with no set return times. The Ultimate FastPass granted both immediate and unlimited access to all FastPass attractions. The pricing on these options ranged from around $30 for the Super FastPass during off-season to $175 for the Ultimate FastPass during peak season.
It’s also worth noting that the new Standby Pass and Disney Premier Access combo that Disneyland Paris has unveiled is nothing new. Shanghai Disneyland has been using this exact same system for a little over one year.
However, free FastPass still exists at Shanghai Disneyland, which is obviously a critical distinction.
I’m going to guess that there are a fair number of Walt Disney World fans–who have absolutely zero intention of ever visiting Paris or Shanghai–reading this post with bated breath. There’s understandable, as the writing is on the wall. Some form of monetized FastPass is almost certainly coming to Walt Disney World in the not-too-distant future.
Over the course of the last three-plus years, we have heard a number of rumors about paid FastPass coming to Walt Disney World, ranging from preposterous to highly credible. In the last couple of months, the rumblings have become more frequent and detailed, with some major commonalities as well as minor inconsistencies among them.
At one point, the most credible rumor for Walt Disney World was the per-ride Access One system at Disneyland Paris plus various packs (e.g. “Magic Kingdom Mountain Range”) but no unlimited option. Keep in mind that this was years ago–it even predates the announcement of the Disney Genie app.
Given its use at two other resorts, the combo of Standby Pass plus Disney Premier Access is a plausible route for Walt Disney World. Or at least, that same general infrastructure. If current rumors are accurate, branding would likely be different at Walt Disney World but the mechanics would be more or less the same.
Trying to distill all of the FastPass replacement rumors for Walt Disney World and square those with the above announcement for Disneyland Paris is not difficult. In addition to a lot of similarities, it’s likely such a system will be announced in the near future (July or August) and be implemented shortly thereafter (September or October).
What’s unclear is whether Walt Disney World’s replacement for FastPass will debut with or ahead of the Disney Genie app. Nothing I’ve heard directly indicates the two are tied together, but that has been rumored elsewhere–and appears possible. (Disney has brought up the Genie app on a handful of occasions over the last 6 months, suggesting that app is not dead.)
Don’t be surprised if whatever Walt Disney World launches is more convoluted, has its own branding, and more options. As a general matter, all of those things are safe guesses since that’s just how Walt Disney World does things. It’s more of an extended vacation destination than any of the other worldwide resorts where the average guest only visits for a day or two at a time.
At a minimum, it’s likely that Walt Disney World will offer paid line skipping on a per-attraction basis, with a limit on how many ride reservations can be purchased and return time windows that guests can select. That system would undoubtedly use the former FastPass+ line, and likely have a lower adoption rate than free FastPass.
Paid FastPass with lower utilization would in turn necessitate Standby Pass or some form of virtual queue at select attractions. This is because there simply is not enough physical standby queue at many attractions under normal full capacity scenarios.
In the past, FastPass+ caused standby wait times to balloon, which resulted in more guests balking and not queueing up. This was due to the ballpark 80:20 FastPass-to-standby ratio, which meant far fewer guests were in line for a 30 minute posted wait than would be without FastPass. (Without FastPass, standby lines constantly move and are much more pleasant–but they also take up much more physical space.)
Assuming Premier Access is used by fewer guests (a very safe bet if it’s only directly monetized), the ratio will be more balanced or favor standby lines. That would also mean standby queues would see higher utilization levels and regular wait times wouldn’t be as long. Thus, more guests would queue up and additional standby space would be needed.
That still leaves many unanswered questions, perhaps most significantly whether on-site guests at Walt Disney World would receive any kind of access included as part of their resort stay. There has been a lot of chatter about this–not just recently, but over the course of many years. I have not heard anything credible about whether on-site guests might receive anything, but it strikes me as plausible that they would–perhaps based upon the resort tier. However, that’s entirely speculative on my part.
Whether on-site guests receive some level of line-skipping access likely depends upon the degree to which Walt Disney World feels the “need” to incentivize on-site resort bookings. Given how strong those are right now and with early entry and extended evening hours perks debuting this fall, Walt Disney World might go solely for direct monetization on the FastPass replacement.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Walt Disney World hold off on additional on-site benefits until resort occupancy rates drop. In which case, we might see Disney Premier Access (or whatever Walt Disney World calls it) debut this fall and something more beneficial to guests (Disney Genie?) debut towards the end of the 50th Anniversary. Again, entirely speculative.
With that said, it’s still possible that Walt Disney World and Disneyland will borrow features from the MaxPass system that was in use at Disneyland pre-closure. We really liked MaxPass and would love to see that expanded to Walt Disney World, albeit with a free component.
It remains a possibility that the systems rolling out at Walt Disney World and Disneyland will differ from Paris and Shanghai, as well as from one another. All of these parks have their own unique wrinkles, and Walt Disney World in particular is a more complex operation than the other parks, so it might merge multiple systems.
I don’t want to over-emphasize it, but Walt Disney World switching to this system would also have potential upside for guests who were not FastPass+ power users. Far fewer guests will use the ride reservation system if it costs money, which in turn means standby lines will move faster and those wait times will generally be shorter. There’s no way the ratio will be 80:20, because there’s no way that many people will pay to skip the line.
It’s hard to say what the ratio will be, but I’d be surprised if it’s over 20:80 most days. (Unless some access is included for on-site guests, which would totally change things.) By how much will almost certainly depend upon the day and season. If crowds and wait times are lower, fewer people will likely purchase the paid option to avoid long waits. That in turn will mean even shorter standby lines. Conversely, more people will buy on busier days, exacerbating the problem.
With all of that said, we’re opposed to Walt Disney World charging for something that was previously included free of charge as a matter of principle. Regardless of how we feel about individual changes, Walt Disney World’s overall direction is more than a little concerning, and there has been a proliferation of nickel & diming, cutbacks, and price increases over the last several years. It would be one thing if additions and subtractions netted one another out, but Walt Disney World has been burning the candle of fan goodwill at both ends, so to speak.
FastPass+ was not without its faults, but the system also was not broken. The new system probably won’t be as bad as many fans are envisioning, but it’s also an unnecessary “solution” to a nonexistent problem–and one that, like so many other things, will be monetized. There might be minor upsides to this, but the only real winners here will be Disney and those for whom money is no object.
Ultimately, what Disneyland Paris has announced with the Standby Pass and paid Disney Premier Access replacing free FastPass is likely a window into what’s on the horizon for Walt Disney World. Nothing is official at this point, but we would strongly recommend bracing yourself for the (strong) possibility that Walt Disney World will likewise retire free FastPass and roll out something similar–but probably not identical.
Given the proliferation of rumors on the topic in the last couple of months (where there’s smoke…), plus Walt Disney World gradually scaling up park capacity, plus the World’s Most Magical Celebration starting October 1, it’s likely Walt Disney World will make an official announcement within the next month or two, and have the system ready to roll by sometime in September or October 2021. Who knows–maybe the rumors are all wrong and free FastPass+ will return! That’s not what we expect to happen, but we’ve been wrong plenty of times before.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you think Standby Pass and Disney Premier Access will be rolled out at Walt Disney World? Think it’ll be a similar system, but debut with the Disney Genie app and offer its own branding and unique wrinkles? Or, do you think this is all wrong–that FastPass+ will return unchanged later this summer or fall? Do you prefer fast-moving standby lines only, or the FastPass and standby combo? Interested in how Walt Disney World will implement the new system? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Other thoughts or concerns? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Personally I would be happy to pay for a fast pass line or ride however they choose to do it. I pay at Universal and I love I can experience what I want in minimal time. Well worth it for me. We are annual pass holders and although the lines have been ok since the reopening I can quickly see them getting very long. Before this we would always book our 3 fast passes, go to the park do them and walk around. I am not a fan of waiting in long lines for anything and always welcome the option of paying more.
Ouch, too expensive! I have not been a fan of the Fastpass-MINUS system much at all. It really screwed up almost all lines. WDW is really too big for the old paper FP system, as today’s crowds simply don’t facilitate someone running all over to grab the slips for the whole group. Never been to DL under Maxpass and didn’t like the way it sounded at first but after reading Tom’s piece on it I think that would be much more preferable at WDW than this Paris rollout. We did, years ago, ride California Screamin’ a dozen times in one afternoon under the old paper system, as parents and nieces weren’t going to ride it.
I’m with Maggie; I think this is ultimately a good thing. Previously, if you wanted to ride a headliner (FoP or 7DMT), your choices were to (a) score fastpasses 2 months in advance, (b) show up at rope drop, or (c) wait in a super long and SLOW line. None of those options appeal to me.
Now, the choice will be to (a) wait in a much shorter/faster line, or (b) pay extra to skip it. I like these choices much better, especially because since so few people (myself included) will bother to pay extra to skip the line, so the standby line will move that much faster. If people are cutting in front of me in line, I’d rather it be because they are spending more money than me, not because they had a faster internet connection at the crack of dawn 2 months ago.
Under the old system, they made zero extra dollars from the people skipping the lines with FP, while the have-nots got frustrated seeing that the headliner rides always had three-digit waits. Now, they make some extra money from those doing the line skipping, while the masses have a better experience and shorter waits in line.
Let’s be real. If you’re Disney, and you see every one of your competitors monetizing their ride reservation systems, how could you NOT want to do the same? This isn’t a “Chapek” thing, this is a “we finally have the chance to completely overhaul this system” thing. The reason monetized fastpass feels so inevitable is because it’s weird that it didn’t happen years ago. t
Curious to see if this will be accompanied by a FREE virtual queue option that’s actually easy to use. If so, this might actually be an improvement…so long as this whole thing doesn’t make it even harder to get onto the rides that normally have long lines. Also, if I’m paying extra to skip a line, the wait needs to be SHORT. Like, 5 minutes or less. “Fastpass” wasn’t always very fast.
@Christine and Tom, I completely agree! Based on the outsized participation and emotion seen in the comments section to Tom’s post on Disney resort parking charges, it is easy to predict outraged backlash at a per-ride charge. Personally, I loved MaxPass in DL, but I visited with friends and only had to pay for myself. My next WDW trip will be with extended family, and I cannot fathom adding additional daily cost to 10 peoples’ 8-day park tickets. I just hope that whatever they roll out served to improve the standby experience.
So prior to the shut down I became quite the FastPass ninja – getting them 60 days out, then working diligently to adjust the times and swapping around to get them lined up perfectly. Then in the park being able to grab more as we went through the day. Having said that, I have not missed FP at all during our post opening trips. Some if that may be because of lower crowds and capacities, but glad to not be on the phone spending so much time FP fishing.
I reread the description of new Paris several times now and it sounds overly complicated. If that is what is coming to WDW, then we may just settle for a few rides a day and enjoy other things at the parks and resorts.
“Having said that, I have not missed FP at all during our post opening trips.”
The loudest complaints about the lack of FastPass+ since reopening have come from those who have not visited. To be sure, some current visitors have complained about the lack of FastPass, many who have experienced the parks have preferred the constantly-moving standby queues.
Personally, I’d be perfectly fine if no form of FastPass ever returned. I don’t dislike the system (I can likewise leverage it well), but I’m totally fine with standby lines that move quickly.
However, that’s not in the cards, either.
“I reread the description of new Paris several times now and it sounds overly complicated.”
As with so many systems Disney uses, I suspect this is complicated on paper, but when you use it, becomes fairly intuitive.
A lot of hatred for Disneyland’s MaxPass in the ol’ Comments section. I loved it. If you had an Annual Pass, you could add it on yearly and some of the highest tiered passes had it already. It had a daily rate that was $10 less than parking. One of my favorite things to do with all of my friends after work, of whom there were multitudes as I am very popular at the workplace, was go to DCA at like 7:00 PM and use MaxPass to get a Grizzly River Run FastPass which had about a 2:1 chance of becoming a Multiple Experiences Pass because Grizzly usually broke down around that time, and it’s suddenly a free Guardians FastPass, suckers! (If Disney execs read the Comments on the DTB, please note that no one has ever taken advantage like this, and you should bring back the MaxPass system exactly as it was. If you do the per-ride thing, I would spend maximum one (1) dime per ride.) FastPass+ is awful because you have to like, plan. Everyone knows that p̶r̶o̶c̶r̶a̶s̶t̶i̶n̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ spontaneity is its own reward. I had FOUR FastPasses on a slow day queued up once, a record. Can’t do that without MaxPass. Good times.
Im guessing a digital standby plus fewer fast passes in circulation would mean less overall time waiting in line. As a regular mom planning a regular trip with kids, i’d have a hard time getting too upset about that. Just please find a way to make those of us staying onsite feel special!
I can tell by reading the comments that I’m not in the majority when I say I support this. The old fastpass system did not sit well with me as it seemed to create huge lines everywhere in exchange for (maybe) getting a shorter line for select attractions if you were lucky and planned ahead. This way, there really won’t be many fast-passes sold so the standby lines should be a lot quicker…and if it IS a ride that’s a priority for me then I don’t have to worry about losing hours of my day to ride it. I do agree that having the cost be per-ticket is outrageous for most families…seems to me like it should be a flat cost for the first four (like 20$) and then 10$/person after that. Then it’s still prohibitive but an easier splurge for a family if something is important to them. But…really a flat cost for like…five rides of your choice would be the best.
“I can tell by reading the comments that I’m not in the majority when I say I support this.”
I think the initial impulse to oppose this is predicated on Disney charging for something that used to be free. I totally get that, and agree with those commenters as a matter of principle.
Like so many things, I think actual reactions to this will vary once it’s implemented. Many people are assuming the worst case scenario, which is almost certainly not how this will play out. My gut reaction is that the utilization rate of this upcharge will be fairly low, which would be a net positive for most guests–but probably not FastPass+ “power users” who knew all the tricks, booked several months in advance, etc. Said power users disproportionately read and comment on blogs like this one.
I remember when FastPass+ first debuted, it was vehemently opposed by a majority of Walt Disney World fans who similarly knew the tricks for leveraging the old system. Once the new system rolled out, those power users quickly adapted and were won over. Similar stories have played out with so many changes Disney has made over the years.
so in a sense, it’s possibly going back to the original days of buying ticket books based on what you wanted to ride, and more popular attractions will cost more, rather than having the whole park for one price… i think i’d rather see fp go away completely but i know that will never happen. i’ve said for about the past decade or so that disney regrets ever having made fastpass free. great for guests, but the bean counters seeing money going down the drain they could have had. i’d rather see maxpass but that’s unlikely. between magical express going, with no real replacement, extra magic hours gone with whatever the lackluster replacement is, and now the potential of more pay to play based on what resort you stay at, its all the more likely that we’ll be moving off site next time, whenever that is. i’m not impressed, disney. i’m willing to do something like this if i have a once-in-a-lifetime trip to disneyland paris, but not disney world. there is absolutely no loyalty on disney’s part to returning guests. they just want that 1%.
Maybe I’m not giving Disney enough credit for being clever here. I’ve seen a lot of internet opinions on this topic today and while people are split as to whether or not this is the system WDW will get, the one common theme is that it’s basically hated. So maybe they put this out there, then introduce a different paid system for WDW that isn’t as bad as this one and then people will be relieved that’s it’s not the DLP system. Under promise and over deliver!
Aweful. Chapek needs to go. Catering to the 1%. Walt is rolling in his grave.
I feel like this may push us offsite for WDW trips and we can use the saved money to but our FastPasses. We already were thinking of doing an onsite house instead of 2 BR DVC rental and using the money saved for a VIP tour so it works.
@Kevin, I completely agree and while I don’t like the per ride system, what you just said about the standby capacity is my biggest concern. I do think it’s likely that fewer people will pay for this, at least not more than for a couple rides per day, so if it was just that with a standby line, it might be tolerable. The standby lines do move quicker without FastPass, so reducing FastPass usage is overall good. But I’m worried that most guests will not want to pay, so then the standby virtual queue slots will be in high demand and guests will be locked out of certain popular rides within seconds of park open unless they’re willing to pay. Flight of Passage is just going to be RotR 2.0.
Ugh.
Last summer, Cedar Point was doing a version of Standby Pass due to Covid. It was horrible. I really wanted to return to DLP some day, but those desires just took a dip. I can understand monetized FP and make a choice about whether to participate or not, but not even being able to get in line for a ride would make me very unhappy.
Disney World, I get it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime vacation destination. I don’t like it, but I get it. But whatever you do Mr. Chapek, don’t even THINK about monetizing Walt’s original magic kingdom… leave our FastPass system at Disneyland ALONE! It’s perfect for those parks as it currently stands.
I know it is coming in some fashion. But I cringe on a per ride basis.
If they do this I think like universal or seaworld it should be one price and for all fast pass rides.
Obviously they could break it down for 2 types of passes as 1 could be for unlimited and 1 for a single ride per attraction at front of the line.
I do think it will make the stand by lines suffer more with a with this type more than paying per ride as I don’t think as many people will pay for that option. Disney after looking at bottom line dollar might like the per ride option as it is less people and can generate more cash in my opinion if utilized frequently.
I do wonder if there would be a limit to how many of these they would sell per day for a specific ride as say tron. If fast passes are already booked and people non stop buy places in the fast pass line in addition to regular free ones it could seriously slow or halt stand buy to 2-3hrs of wait.
Will see how it shakes out!!
Disney has always been really good about baking these extra cost options into the package price so guests don’t feel the pain of the spending while on vacation (dining plan, charging to magic bands etc.) I am definitely someone who will pay for convenience, and would pay for fastpass access as part of a package, but if I’m standing in front of Splash Mountain and have to decide whether to pay $40 more for my family to cut the line—the answer is probably no. I know it’s the same thing, but it just feels different.
Totally agree with this.
Since these rumors began years ago, this is precisely why I expected access to be built into resort prices and advertised as a perk. It now seems less likely that’ll happen, which is surprising. I don’t think all the nickel and diming is the best idea, but what do I know.
@Manny: It’s been awhile since we’ve been to Universal Studios, but the last time we were there the Universal version of FastPass was included as a perk for certain upper-tier hotel guests. So they’re not exactly free, but the cost of the hotel upgrade was less than we would have spent on the FastPasses. It’s a good incentive system and we definitely took advantage of it. Maybe Disney is planning something similar?