Big changes coming to FASTPASS in March

[MissMorrow]

Does this open the door for centralized fastpass locations? That's something I would really like.

 

[wdwmagic]

I think this result reflects the confluence of Disneyphiles on this board. Many people here think that Disney can do no wrong, and while I am a big fan, too, I think this is one where they are not exactly right.

I know, for example, that some of the distances at WDW make the fast-pass system hard to follow (not all of the times, but some of the time). A good example is, of course, the long dinners discussed above. That very example has happened to me.

The second example is especially relevant at Animal Kingdom, where walks and distances are very far, and where attraction experiences themselves are lengthy. Let's say you walk straight back to Expedition Everest or Kilimanjaro Safaris to get a fast-pass, you can either get whatever time it gives you, or just forget it. So, you get them. Then you go all the way back to your party at the Oasis. It is now thirty minutes later.

In the AK case, I am most likely to do that exact thing for a whole family, which in my case usually involves an elderly person who walks at whatever pace she sets, and that is our pace. I am interested in helping her with those lines, and we have every intention of making that time period. But I am also not going to break my (or her) neck to do it or make her Zig-Zag across that park to do it. And, yes, we do plan. But we also stop to see interesting things, to "smell the roses," so to speak.

So, while I understand the desire to fit the time period, I also understand what makes us sometmes VERY late. And I never see the FP lines so backed up that this lateness is a problem. Perhaps it is in the Spring Break and Christmas week seasons, but not so much at other times.

My point is that this is a nice perk that already works well. Leave it that way, and Disneyphiles should also remember that most people will read and follow the rules, but there is also a value to the customer service of allowing that flexibility (at least most of the year).

How about the possibility thought that by enforcing the policy, the attractions will operate far more efficiently, which will mean that using standby lines once again become a viable alternative to FP.

 

[wdwmagic]

Does this open the door for centralized fastpass locations? That's something I would really like.

This is certainly in the long range plans.

 

[Fractal514]

I think this result reflects the confluence of Disneyphiles on this board. Many people here think that Disney can do no wrong, and while I am a big fan, too, I think this is one where they are not exactly right.

I know, for example, that some of the distances at WDW make the fast-pass system hard to follow (not all of the times, but some of the time). A good example is, of course, the long dinners discussed above. That very example has happened to me.

The second example is especially relevant at Animal Kingdom, where walks and distances are very far, and where attraction experiences themselves are lengthy. Let's say you walk straight back to Expedition Everest or Kilimanjaro Safaris to get a fast-pass, you can either get whatever time it gives you, or just forget it. So, you get them. Then you go all the way back to your party at the Oasis. It is now thirty minutes later.

In the AK case, I am most likely to do that exact thing for a whole family, which in my case usually involves an elderly person who walks at whatever pace she sets, and that is our pace. I am interested in helping her with those lines, and we have every intention of making that time period. But I am also not going to break my (or her) neck to do it or make her Zig-Zag across that park to do it. And, yes, we do plan. But we also stop to see interesting things, to "smell the roses," so to speak.

So, while I understand the desire to fit the time period, I also understand what makes us sometmes VERY late. And I never see the FP lines so backed up that this lateness is a problem. Perhaps it is in the Spring Break and Christmas week seasons, but not so much at other times.

My point is that this is a nice perk that already works well. Leave it that way, and Disneyphiles should also remember that most people will read and follow the rules, but there is also a value to the customer service of allowing that flexibility (at least most of the year).

I think you are overstressing the "Disneyphile" aspect while ignoring the "in the know" aspect. That is, that many posters on these boards are aware of the current flexibility in the policy and therefore take advantage of the way the system currently works, much more so than the general populace. So while they may be some extra positivity from those who are big disney fans, there is also some extra negativity from the in the know gung ho, get every little trick in types.

 

[CoasterKing]

Yeah, anytime you get in a time machine and go back to the Polo Grounds circa 1932 and hear someone say "kill the bums". You probably totally freak out.

LOL !! :ROFLOL: Yeah, that was kind of an old reference. Been watching too much Three Stooges I guess!!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

How about the possibility thought that by enforcing the policy, the attractions will operate far more efficiently, which will mean that using standby lines once again become a viable alternative to FP.

That doesn't make any sense to me. They're still going to give out the same number of FP's per day. If there are an influx of late FP users at any given time, that HAS to be balanced (statistically) by a dip in the FP line at some other given point. If there's an uneven use of the FP line, the standby line would either speed up or slow down accordingly.

The throughput of any attraction doesn't change. It doesn't care if the people are from FP or from standby.

I don't understand how the efficiency of the lines, both FP and standby, can be changed without changing the total number of FP's that are given out in a day.

EDIT TO ADD: The only effect I can think of is short-term, say, at BTMRR when a parade is over. Tons of FP holders pile into the line, and standby ends up standing still for quite some time while that FP line shrinks. But... Who's to say that rush of FP holders aren't returning in their window?? Maybe they're all just waiting for that parade to end.

 

[CoasterKing]

[/B]

I suppose my husband and I are included in your typical guests who are"too stupid to figure out the existing system". We've always assumed that the time frame on the FastPass was our reserved return time to ride the attraction. We've visited WDW 13 times and certainly are not confused about the FastPass system currently in place.

I am so sorry that enforcement of the window will be "inconvenient" for you.
Maybe you could carry a sign--"For my convenience-Step Aside Please". That would probably clear things up for this typical stupid guest.

You go girl!! :sohappy:

 

[Mimi]

Maybe it's just because I am an old fashioned girl who was raised to follow the rules, I don't know, but I would never even think about trying to use a fastpass that is more than just a few minutes expired. If it says it expires at 4 pm then in my mind it expires at 4 pm. :shrug:

I can see allowing an expired pass if someone was held up for a few minutes by a parade or a longer-than-expected line for another ride but even then I personally would not be surprised if I was turned away. Nobody should be upset about the enforcement of fastpass limits, a.k.a. the enforcement of common sense.

 

[wdwmagic]

That doesn't make any sense to me. They're still going to give out the same number of FP's per day. If there are an influx of late FP users at any given time, that HAS to be balanced (statistically) by a dip in the FP line at some other given point. If there's an uneven use of the FP line, the standby line would either speed up or slow down accordingly.

The throughput of any attraction doesn't change. It doesn't care if the people are from FP or from standby.

I don't understand how the efficiency of the lines, both FP and standby, can be changed without changing the total number of FP's that are given out in a day.

Across the entire day, it doesn't change things. What it will do though, is to ensure that you don't get those spikes of FP arrivals (such as post-parade), which cause massive backlogs in the standby line.

 

[Patrick_Ears]

Yes i like this idea!! I'm wondering if they will ever charge for the fastpass???

 

[Nemo14]

I know a number of people have expressed concern for CM's that will have to enforce the "new" rules, but from what I've seen, many CM's will welcome this change. A couple of weeks ago DH and I went to get in line for Jungle Cruise in the evening. The standby line did not seem long at all (maybe 30% use of all the switchbacks in line), but the wait time said 60 minutes. We laughed and asked the CM at the gate about it, and she assured us that it would be indeed about 60 minutes, and added "You can thank fastpass for that." We had a similar experience at TSM the next day, about an hour before closing time, with a similar explanation from the CM's there.

 

[TheJonesys]

I don't like it, it means you have to plan your fastpasses as well as your day. TSM in particular you have to go first thing to get your return time, but supposing thats in the middle of your lunch reservation, during a parade or a show. Sometimes as a family we split up DS and DH will go on RnR and myself and DD will go on Star Wars, if your fastpasses are different times it makes it a bit awkward.

I try and go back during my return time, but sometimes that isn't possible, I don't like being told where I should be and at what time, its my holiday not work!

Finished my rant I'm OK now!

 

[Buried20KLeague]

The issue I have with this is that there are some things during your day in the parks that can't really be worked around. Reservations... The time you have to leave the parks for the day... My littlest one taking an afternoon nap, etc...

So my issue will be this: Say it's noon. I'm at the MK, over by Space Mountain. My littlest one will be needing a nap soon, exactly when I'm not sure. I've got 5PM ressies at Liberty Tree. We can get fastpasses currently because we don't hold any. My older girls want Splash FP's.

So...

Do I walk all the way from Space Mountain to the Splash Mountain FP distribution and hope that just by chance the FP return time will NOT fall in the 2-4 window (nap) or 5-7 window (dinner)?? That's a LOOOONG walk to take to get there and find out the return time is 5:15 to 6:15 and I can't use them.

Do I tell the kids I don't care if they want to ride Splash because it's too far to go just to find out we can't use them?

Centralized FP distribution would help alleviate this, I think... But it seems to me that they would have planned for this and had this up and going before limiting use of the system, for the very example I use above.

Also, a FREE and ACCURATELY updated app created BY Disney (not some 3rd party reliant upon user updates) available across multiple mobile platforms would solve the issue above. That would help most people, but not necessarily foreign visitors that don't want to pay crazy data roaming fees.

Even accurate info boards in each land would help. But again, I'm sure these won't be in place before March.

It seems to me they're putting the cart before the horse on this... Making changes to the policy without compensating what so ever for the repercussions that will most certainly take place.

 

[devoy1701]

Goodness gracious people. You already have 1 hr and 20 mins to "make it back to the attraction during your allotted time" (including the 5 mins early acceptance and 15 mins back end they're allowing). That should cover your longer than expected queues at other attractions, dinners running over, parades cutting your access to the ride...yadda yadda. I'm sure we have all said in the past "well that queue is 40 mins long...we don't have time to ride that if we're going to make it to dinner, or back to that show, or see the parade, or use our FP!"

If you can't make it...oh well...give your FP to someone who can. You've probably been on the ride 1231415252 times in the past and will ride it another 16632414 times in your life!

Thank the gods they're finally enforcing this.

In the years that I have been using FP, I have never, not been able to make it back during a FP window. If I get to an attraction and the window does meet our plans...life goes on. If we get FPs and decide later we don't want to wait for that window and want to do something else...we hand off our FPs to someone who can use them. It's really not a big deal.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Across the entire day, it doesn't change things. What it will do though, is to ensure that you don't get those spikes of FP arrivals (such as post-parade), which cause massive backlogs in the standby line.

But you have no way of knowing if that post-parade spike isn't just people coming to the attraction all at once during the correct window.

 

[Rasvar]

Across the entire day, it doesn't change things. What it will do though, is to ensure that you don't get those spikes of FP arrivals (such as post-parade), which cause massive backlogs in the standby line.

This is the only reason I do hoarding. The post parade/fireworks rush, especially at the end of the evening, becomes down right untenable because of the policy that is in place. I don't really do the hoarding because I want to. I do it because it is the only way for me to get a lot of attractions in during the evening hours when it is cooler.

I'm not sure how many people remember the pre-Fastpass evenings. Even at the height of summer, lines were always reasonable (ie, the wait time of an average evening Fastpass line) for everyone. Fastpass changed the dynamic so I had to change my patterns and adapt.

I have never felt guilty about hoarding because it is how the system is enforced. It is enforced that way for everyone. I challenge anyone here to say that they have never taken advantage of a little extra knowledge for their benefit at WDW.

The problem is 100 times worse at Disneyland because so many people know the system on a daily basis. As someone who takes advantage of it, I have no issue with it being changed. Now, I tend to be spontaneous in the park. So the planning issue is not as big a deal for me. I think the return time window should have some more leeway. I would actually prefer a larger printed window but that also changes the mathematical algorithm. So maybe a larger unwritten enforcement window than what is suggested. Fastpass was a major change when it first came out. People adapted. Same thing will happen again. It's not the end of the world (we have at least another ten months on that).

 

[Buried20KLeague]

I know a number of people have expressed concern for CM's that will have to enforce the "new" rules, but from what I've seen, many CM's will welcome this change. A couple of weeks ago DH and I went to get in line for Jungle Cruise in the evening. The standby line did not seem long at all (maybe 30% use of all the switchbacks in line), but the wait time said 60 minutes. We laughed and asked the CM at the gate about it, and she assured us that it would be indeed about 60 minutes, and added "You can thank fastpass for that." We had a similar experience at TSM the next day, about an hour before closing time, with a similar explanation from the CM's there.

That's caused by fastpass in general... Not necessarily FP late arrivals.

If we were talking about removing FP completely, that would make sense.

 

[lebeau]

Call me crazy but we always made it back within our window. Once we were late by 5 minutes or so and were getting stressed about it LOL.

Makes for a magical vacation, no?

 

[wdwmagic]

But you have no way of knowing if that post-parade spike isn't just people coming to the attraction all at once during the correct window.

We know that isn't the case though, because we know that so many people arrive outside of their window. The argument of being late due to seeing a parade or show has already been used in this thread. The new system will not eliminate the spike, but it could certainly reduce and control it.

It would also even be possible for the system to not distribute FPs for post parade to eliminate that spike. With the current free-for-all, that is not even a possibility.

 

[flynnibus]

What about this scenerio?

Arrive at Epcot at 10:30 am.

Fastpass 1- Sorin' 6-7 pm
Fastpass 2- Test Track 6:05 - 7:05 pm
Fastpass 3- Mission Space 5:50-6:650 pm

When do you get dinner? Do you pong pong back and forth? Do you skip your 7:30 Nine Dragons reservation?

When you pick up your fastpass, you look at that big clock and go 'hrm.. that doesn't work for us. Want to wait in line now or try back later?' Kind of like the same decision process you make when there is no FP. You look at the expected time involved, and make a decision. If you can't get a FP.. oh well.

But there are SO MANY variables that can and DO happen while on a WDW vacation:

-back up at a restaurant and your ADR seats you up to 45 mins late.
-slow wait service/kitchen
-transportation backups in transit when hopping
-that Main Street bottleneck after fireworks/parades
-breakdown and an evacuation


In all scenarios you can leave ample time to make your window, but as a result of hold ups and unforseen circumstances, you are late to your return window.

So.. just like in the rest of life.. plan to be on time vs. planning to get there at the edge of your grace window. Are you the type of person that arrives when scheduled, or do you arrive late knowing your friends will tolerate a 20min wait for you?

The buffer Disney has is quite large. Yes there are some 'max commando' scenarios that are no longer possible. So what.. they were max utlization strategies before, not the 80/20 rule.

And for things like breakdowns/etc.. Disney has had comp systems from the start. They can give out generic FPs, new FPs, all kinds of things.

I don't like the idea of enforcing the return time for a number of reasons [not all of which necessarily apply to me]:

• A fair-sized family has one "runner" go across the park to get FPs for a ride. When he gets there, he finds out the window is for 6:50-7:50, the family has a Le Cellier ADR for 7:10. He's gone across the park for nothing?
• A person gets an FP for Space, an hour before his window for Space he gets in a 20 minute standby line for Pirates, only to find a Castle show finished 5 minutes earlier and his wait is actually 50 minutes... But no worries, he has an hour window... Then Pirates goes 101 while he's in a boat. He finally exits with 15 minutes left in his window and runs smack into a parade on Main Street that he can't get around.
• A person wants TSMM FPs. There is the chance of going, finding out the window conflicts with your ADR and leaving with any hope of returning later and getting a usable window but the second available window conflicts again.

There are many other scenarios that make an enforced window a less than ideal policy.

For the first one.. know before you leap. Pretty simple.
For the second one.. these are referred to as corner cases. Where multiple criteria that is on the edge of probability happen concurrently. They are possible, but are they worth bogging down the whole thing to address?
For the last one... no different then if you passed on getting in line at one point hoping it would be shorter later, and come back to find its not.

People need to get over the thought that not being able to use a issued FP or getting a FP is like someone taking your firstborn child. If a FP can not be used... darn.. make a decision on what is important to you and get in a line.

It's really no different then running across the park to find an attraction 101. What you wanted to do, could not be done. You aren't really out that much, just roll with it and figure out what you want to do next.

I'm sorry, but some of you are being ridiculous. It clearly states, BEFORE YOU EVEN GET YOPUR FP, what the return time is. If you cannot be back in that time frame, then get in the standby line and forego a FP. You aren't entitled to arrive late. It is a reservation system. If the return time is two or more hours away from the time you pick up the FP, then re-adjust you touring plan to accommodate the return time. If the return time is within an hour or so, that gives you two hours to get in line. The system wasn't developed for people to get a FP for Space Mountain and then trek over to Splash Mountain and BTMRR. It was developed so people could be spending money instead of standing in line. At least at the MK there is generally a lot to do in the area of the attractions with FP, so in my opinion that's what people should. And I'm sure they'll make exceptions for people who get stuck on a ride. But as far as I'm concerned, running late because of dining is too bad.

Well said

I dont know if this has been asked before.

What happens when because of the poor maintenance at Disneyworld the inevitable happens and the ride breaks down at some point during the day.[..]

Are these people with an ordinary fastpass now going to be told tough cheese? What about those who were in the stand by line and who got offered a fastpass to return later if there was a breakdown.

Disney has had comp systems long before any FP debut which addressed this problem for inconveniencing guests. And the sky did not fall. For people returning with FP during the breakdown, Disney can issue new FPs with new return times for the guests if they chose. These 'overage' FPs are issued differently so they allow the normal FP distribution to be oversubscribed. This is practical as long as the breakdown is not obsessively long and an expected time back to operation is known. Disney will have to make decisions when a ride goes 101 if they believe it will return that day so they can decide to issue new FPs or not. If the ride doesn't return.. oh well.. your FP is no longer of any use. It's not putting anyone out.