A free fast pass system, like the days of old, is on balance definitely the best way to accommodate everyone and ensure everyone has an opportunity to ride all rides.
As it is though, think it’s uneconomic to
not buy some ‘fast pass option’ at any theme park. I don’t work for minimum wage, so why would I queue at a price saving that is often ‘minimum wage rates’. By that metric, for every ~hour standard queue, it is worth paying £10 for a fast pass, if you’re willing to spend ~£1 to secure an extra 45 minutes of non-queing time in a park (assuming a fast pass queue of ~15 minutes). That’s not even considering the improvement and value in the whole experience by ‘less queuing’, which for all sorts of reasons is a significant improvement compared to ‘queueing’, even if queues themselves can be entertaining in their own way.
As per my recent trip report of chessington, that would have been a miserable day without fastpasses. If it’s a really good day for £70 per head more, or just a completely stressful ‘no fun’ day with time management anxiety, I’ll pay the premium every single time.
It is unfortunate that the system is set up that way and it’s punitive for those that save up for theme park tickets themselves**. At the same time, there was barely anybody using fast passes at chessington other than us (so minimal impact to the main queue) so in that instance the pricing structure must have been be ‘about right’ to dissuade too many people from using it, so as not to materially impact queue times. It must be tricky for parks to balance - but a problem of their own making.
An unpopular view, I’m sure, but from my perspective it is ‘more expensive’ to
not have fast passes. I’d rather prioritise having a nice day.
Just paying for a single one off fast pass for £10 or whatever it is could dramatically improve your whole day
Edit - sorry to bore people with this viewpoint as I have recently made it elsewhere, it just seemed to naturally flow Tonsko’s post which seemed to suggest the opposite.
Edit** - Actually, I take that back slightly. Even if you are on minimum wage... if you are just paying for yourself, it’s still more or less the exact same cost/benefit analysis as for someone who has more disposable income and it is therefore a choice. It is only truly punitive (or rather, excluding) for low income families, with multiple children (for example) who are unable to afford multiple fast pass tickets on a single or combined ‘low wage’ and are therefore financially excluded from being able to make that choice. Pure speculation now but many people, I think, anticipate and accept queuing as something that is necessary at a theme park and also part of the experience, so may be less inclined to make that choice rather than making a calculated decision on overall value and affordability.