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Iif you want to upset the fans of Disney‘s (NYSE: DIS) theme parks this week, ask them if they think what Disneyland Paris has just started doing will be imported into American parks. Disney’s French resort is rolling out Disney Premier Access, an add-on offering where guests can use their smartphones to pay between $ 9 and $ 18 per person to access a fast-track queue for a particular ride or attraction. Time is money when you’re on vacation, but this little trick can add up over a day at the park.
The Disneyland in California and Disney World in Florida FastPass platform was available to all guests at no additional cost until the parks closed in March of last year. Neither station reopened FastPass, leading some to wonder if any changes were underway for the once revolutionary system. With Disneyland Paris introducing a paywall for faster access, enthusiasts and investors alike are wondering if Disney World and inevitably Disneyland will be the next to kick off. recharge for FastPass.
It can happen, and there’s no better time to deploy a new system than now, when the original platform has been out of service for 16 months. However, let’s go over some of the reasons Disney may decide not to go this route.
Image source: Disney.
1. Disney World turns 50 in three months
We’re now less than three months away from Disney World which turns 50, and the House of the Mouse has a 18 months celebration in cask. In some ways, it makes perfect sense to launch a premium app upgrade in this climate. There will be large crowds descending at all four of Disney’s theme parks in Central Florida, meaning there won’t be a shortage of people paying to shorten what should be long organic lines. .
There are also so many new attractions and experiences launching in October. A potentially controversial move like this could be lost or bumped into in the major milestone’s positive hedging wave. However, does Disney want to spoil this achievement with a move that could be lucrative in the short term but destructive for the brand in the long term?
No one will flinch if Disney increases its ticket prices and on-site hotel rates before the celebration. Introducing a new layer of classism where every popular ride becomes a toll booth may happen, but now would be less than ideal at a time when the focus should be on celebrating the past instead of shooting profit of the future.
2. Disney World is not Disneyland Paris
There is no amusement park in the world as massive as Disney World. The resort’s flagship, Magic Kingdom, was the only theme park on the planet to draw more than 20 million visitors through its turnstiles in 2019, and that was more than the two Disneyland Paris parks combined. As the smallest of the 100% owned Disney resorts, Disneyland Paris has a bit more leeway in what it can do to monetize the guest experience.
Disney World also has over two dozen on-site resort options, which brings us to the leverage that’s more likely to be pulled here than just grabbing pay-per-view cash. Disney has already given a helping hand by announcing that in December, guests staying at the resort’s more expensive luxury properties will have access to exclusive evening park hours. Disney can sweeten the pot by not only charging more for high-end resorts, but also including additional FastPass benefits.
Boo birds will call it classist, and you already have Disney fans complaining that only luxury resorts get the new hours. However, it’s a way for Disney to brand the FastPass experience without imposing individual price tags on each fast-track queue.
3. Premium FastPass will only make sense after the return of the annual passes
Disneyland canceled their annual pass program in January. Disney World is still retaining existing pass holders, but there is no rush to sell new passes. In other words, instead of annual pass holders paying a few dollars a day to access Disney Parks, an increasing number of day guests are paying full triple-digit retail price.
If this were the days when a bunch of seasoned regulars lined up and mastered the FastPass system, a premium add-on would be a great way to level the playing field. Premium FastPass would give the most lucrative unique visitors a boost. a step ahead of less financially viable pass holders. Everyone would get what they want, including investors in travel actions – because paying participants would subsidize holders of reduced price passes. It won’t happen now, but it might just be a matter of time at this point.
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Rick munarriz owns shares of Walt Disney. The Motley Fool owns shares and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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