Re:The Fierce Legal Battle at the Heart of the Fight over Re...
by danaris on Tuesday August 24, 2021 @08:56AM
(#28288208)
Disclaimer: I'm talking here about the Disney World FastPass system; if the system is different at other parks, I'm not familiar with it.
FastPass is a very interesting example, because for decades, it was not a "pay-to-win" system. Everyone had the same access to it.
For a long time, it was designed such that those who understood the system better, and were willing to purposefully structure their time at a park, could take better advantage of it: as soon as you enter the park (at opening, ideally), get a FastPass for a ride you know will be highly congested, then go and ride one of the other most-popular rides; by the time you're out, your FastPass time will be pretty close. Use your FastPass, and immediately go back and get another one for another ride. Rinse and repeat.
About ten years ago, Disney shifted the system to a limited number of FastPasses per ticket, which you could pre-book online. This was definitely fairer than the previous system, because it made sure everyone was getting the same number of FastPasses. The only people losing out were those who could previously work the system. Worth noting that this was also around the time the crowds in the parks were getting to be excessive—maximum wait times for rides increasing from the 1-1.5 hour range during the mid-2000s into the 3+ hour range in the 2010s.
Now, very recently, they've changed it to be an explicit "pay-to-win" system, where you pay extra for each FastPass.
FastPass is a very interesting example, because for decades, it was not a "pay-to-win" system. Everyone had the same access to it.
For a long time, it was designed such that those who understood the system better, and were willing to purposefully structure their time at a park, could take better advantage of it: as soon as you enter the park (at opening, ideally), get a FastPass for a ride you know will be highly congested, then go and ride one of the other most-popular rides; by the time you're out, your FastPass time will be pretty close. Use your FastPass, and immediately go back and get another one for another ride. Rinse and repeat.
About ten years ago, Disney shifted the system to a limited number of FastPasses per ticket, which you could pre-book online. This was definitely fairer than the previous system, because it made sure everyone was getting the same number of FastPasses. The only people losing out were those who could previously work the system. Worth noting that this was also around the time the crowds in the parks were getting to be excessive—maximum wait times for rides increasing from the 1-1.5 hour range during the mid-2000s into the 3+ hour range in the 2010s.
Now, very recently, they've changed it to be an explicit "pay-to-win" system, where you pay extra for each FastPass.