Big changes coming to FASTPASS in March

[Rowdy]

Again, this was Disney POLICY. It was part of Disney's RULES for Fastpass that it could be utilized until park closing.

Irrelevant. That's no longer policy.


7:00-8:00. Not 7:00-come back whenever you'd like.


These excuses people are coming up with are ridiculous. Like most people said, the average guest will not know any different. After going for over 15 years (the past 6 years going once a month at the minimum), I've never, not once heard a CM say "you can come back after the allowed time". Not saying it hasn't been said by a CM. But it's not like everyone who goes up to get a FP is being told to come back as they please.

I see little ripple effect because of this, and I hope it stays.

 

[Rowdy]

If a FASTPASS return window enforcement policy is a real "problem" to you, life isn't too bad.

I beyond agree with you.

 

[mickeysaver]

I answered yes. I have no problem working within the window that is given, even though I have not necessarily stuck with it in the past.

 

[Tigger1988]

Irrelevant. That's no longer policy.

Actually no, it's not irrelevant since you seem to infer that some people weren't "following the rules."

Just because I disputed your point doesn't make what I said false.

 

[ChrisFL]

#1 - Do you have photos or video to support such a claim as "300 people rushing TSMM"?.

I've seen it happen...*cough*Braziliantourgroup*cough*

 

[smw]

ive been going for years and it wasnt until i started reading this forum maybe a year ago that i learned fastpasses were accepted after the window. never had a problem before.


if you get tied up that badly, well, you'll live. go get in the standby line or get another fastpass.

 

[Monty]

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.

In my case, I most often do respect the window on my FPs. Occasionally events or plans interfere, For example we might have an ADR we had to book six months ago and is going to charge my credit card if we don't show. I have on occasion "cheated" the FP system by getting two sets of FPs for the same ride, knowing that friends were joining us later that day who can't afford the expected standby time. By having four FPs instead of our usual two, we can "treat" our friends to a ride they wouldn't otherwise get to ride.

There are ways Disney can make it work. They can expand the return window to two hours, that would solve most conflicts, but not all. They could allow guests to choose from two or three available windows, separated by at least half an hour. They could post FP return windows currently available at each ride all over the park so people can better judge when to go to get FPs that won't conflict. Or they could adapt their "NextGen" plans to allow the status quo of an open return time to continue.

In the end, I'll manage to get by whatever they do. I hope they don't go to a paid-FP system, it wouldn't stop me from going but I wouldn't like the idea. I'd probably be buying it though.

 

[Rowdy]

Actually no, it's not irrelevant since you seem to infer that some people weren't "following the rules."

Just because I disputed your point doesn't make what I said false.

Weren't - past tense.

I haven't said anything about what people HAVE done. I'm commenting on what people feel about having to do in the future. It's a rule now, they have to follow it. It's POLICY now. Deal with it.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

I'm all for this! It's long overdue. FastPass is an option. If it's too regimented for your tastes, don't use it! The choice is yours.

Maybe they should re-name the stand-by line the "Spontaneity" line! :ROFLOL:

 

[dxwwf3]

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.

In my case, I most often do respect the window on my FPs. Occasionally events or plans interfere, For example we might have an ADR we had to book six months ago and is going to charge my credit card if we don't show. I have on occasion "cheated" the FP system by getting two sets of FPs for the same ride, knowing that friends were joining us later that day who can't afford the expected standby time. By having four FPs instead of our usual two, we can "treat" our friends to a ride they wouldn't otherwise get to ride.

So much good stuff in this post :sohappy:

 

[mickeysaver]

When we started vacationing at Disney back in 2001, it never occured to me that I could show up late for a FP and still get in. Somewhere along the way, I learned that we could use those FP's late, so we used them like that some of the time. Now that we are FL residents, we tend to not show up exactly in that window, more so because we have been accustomed to it being ok to put it off, then too we tend to not go back more times than not, so the FP is totally wasted or is handed off to someone else as a pixie dust gift. If anything, I see this as a motivating force for improvement in our own behavior in touring the parks. If we chose to do something else and blow it off the FP, then it's our bad. No biggie.

I wish things were not changing, but the system was not meant to work like this from the start, so I can't complain now that they are going to start making it work like it should have been working all along. And yes, I am also keeping in mind that I will be taking regular vacations there again one day. Hopefully in a little less than 2 years from now, we will be there for a blow out like we used to do at least once each year. This change will affect the way that we tour the parks then, but again, this is not a huge big hairy deal in my mind.

 

[Rabuck]

Not completely sure on the fastpass distrubution process. My understanding is that there is only a limited amount at each return time. Is it possible on high wait rides where fastpasses go quickly that a group of 10 or so could get different return times? Will they honor the whole group with one pass that is within the window? Or will each memeber of the group need to their individual pass to be valid thus decreasing your return window.

 

[CoasterKing]

Yes, it's about time !! :sohappy::sohappy:

Finally, justice for all you scammers.

CoasterKing
:king:

 

[surfsupdon]

Yes, it's about time !! :sohappy::sohappy:

Finally, justice for all you scammers.

CoasterKing
:king:

Was it really a "scam" if the CM welcomes you back, with a smile, despite the pass being a tad late??!

 

[MarkTwain]

I'm tentatively in favor of this. Hopefully it should help the queues, and the park as a whole, to run more efficiently.

I am a little curious, though, what prompted this change. :shrug: Were the numbers of people who arrived late so high that FastPass efficiency was being compromised?

 

[CoasterKing]

Was it really a "scam" if the CM welcomes you back, with a smile, despite the pass being a tad late??!

I think so. Just because they smiled and let you in does not take away from the fact that you missed your window. But I'm referring to people who intentionally hoard the FP tickets through out the day with no intention of hitting their window, and then use them all at once at the end of the day causing the stand by lines to be longer than they should. See Toy Story Midway Mania, for example.

CoasterKing
:king:

 

[Monty]

By the way, it is not the end of the world to wait in the standby lines too. To read some of the comments here, it sounds like people won't ride unless they can use a FP. Oh well!

There are rides I can't ride without using an FP. I'm disabled and can't safely stand in a slow-moving line for much more than 40-45 minutes before I'm hobbled by pain. I used to get a GAC but I decided I could manage through judicious use of FPs and be content.

So much good stuff in this post :sohappy:

Thank you! I gave it a lot of thought before jumping in.

 

[Rasvar]

As a serial Fastpass abuser (I've had as many as six different valid fastpasses in my pocket at one time), I really don't mind this. If the time frames are enforced, I don't necessarily need to be an abuser. I like hitting a lot of rides late at night. I'll come in the park in the morning. Stock up on Fastpass early while riding the rides with little or no lines and then leave the park. Come back in the evening for all of the night stuff and then slam my way through my fastpass. Enforce the Fastpass times and I really won't have to do it because the lines won't be artificially inflated by people gaming Fastpass late in the evening, which I end up contributing to since others are doing it. I do think that the post window is a little too small if that is what they are planning. I would say that 30-45 minute would be a better slide window to cover the stuck on monorail while they change trains delay, among others.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Weren't - past tense.

I haven't said anything about what people HAVE done. I'm commenting on what people feel about having to do in the future. It's a rule now, they have to follow it. It's POLICY now. Deal with it.

Nobody's implying that we won't follow the new policy - obviously, we don't have a choice.

It's the people who keep insisting that we've been breaking the rules all these years and represent the scum of the earth, when we've been following what was accepted as policy and propagated by attraction CM's.

In fact, even with the new change, you still don't have to return within the window. You can actually return both before and after. So once again, Disney demonstrates that following their policy doesn't mean blindly accepting the numbers on the fastpass, as so many people (including you) have suggested.

 

[Nemo14]

There are rides I can't ride without using an FP. I'm disabled and can't safely stand in a slow-moving line for much more than 40-45 minutes before I'm hobbled by pain. I used to get a GAC but I decided I could manage through judicious use of FPs and be content.

and that's why they have GAC's.