Fast Pass: Broken Idea

[Elonwy]

You can get a second FP 2 hours after your first or after the first time on the original FP. So if it's 9:00am and you get an FP that says you can return at 9:30am you can get your next FP at 9:30a. BTW this is what we do in the morning, I go around and collect, Pooh, Peter Pan, Buzz, and maybe Jungle Cruise FPs usually by 10:30am and then we use them that evening after we've stood in the standby line for the Fantasy Land rides in the morning. This way my kids get to go in the AM and then when they're tired in the evening they don't have to wait as long.

I understand what you're saying here (and correct me if I'm wrong) is that you get the FP's for their fave rides in the am and use them in the PM regardless of the return times. I just figured it's not too often that Pooh and Pan etc have a FP pick up of 10:00am and an evening return.

I get your logic of why you're doing this and I suspect for most people (mainly because most people don't know you can do this) that this isn't the norm. Even for me, I know that you CAN use the FP's after the window has closed...I just don't and I've never really had the need to.

My only concern with this is that if word ever gets out to the "average" Disney guest...then EVERY attraction will be out of FP's by 11:00am.

The reason I'm not too worried about this yet is that, to be honest, I think the people that use the FP's your way are more in the know about Disney parks in general and how to navigate them, as well as the FP system and I don't think that is the majority of guests out there (at least in my experience of seeing all the bewildered people walking around) :lol:

 

[EmOhYouEssE]

Just be glad that WDW isn't like DL where half the machines aren't every on the network and you can go crazy stockpiling them during the morning to use (past the window of course) during the afternoon/evening. Not that I took advantage of that at all during my trip last year. :lookaroun

:zipit: shhhh. That was supposed to be a secret! lol. I understand your pain though, I know WE have NEVER gotta a soarin' FP then walked right over to GRR to FP that as well :lookaroun or done that with any of the rides in DL that weren't hooked to the system. p.s. I think BTMMR is now back on the "hooked to the system" mode. It wasn't for a while. RR is still ok though, or so I've heard from those horrible people that would exploit something like that :lol::lookaroun

Em

 

[devoy1701]

Fastpasses allows guests to decrease their own wait times for particular attractions, freeing them up to do other things. Again, the fastpass system does not increase or decrease the wait times for an attraction.

Respectfully disagree. If a large number of people enter the fast passline at the same time, or more people enter the FP line at over a 15 min or so period, the Merging CM is going to pull alittle more from that line to get it down. Changing the 80:20 ratio to 90:10 for even a short time is going to INCREASE the time somebody in the standby line would have to wait. If there was only one line, then this person's wait would not have been affected because the amount of people being drawn from standby line would not have been decreased...hence, increased wait time at an attraction.

 

[durangojim]

The reason I'm not too worried about this yet is that, to be honest, I think the people that use the FP's your way are more in the know about Disney parks in general and how to navigate them, as well as the FP system and I don't think that is the majority of guests out there (at least in my experience of seeing all the bewildered people walking around) :lol:

Shh, and that's the way I like it. :lookaroun Although when we go to WDW next month maybe I'll have a T-shirt that says "Really want to know the best kept Disney secret?" and then charge people for my special info therby paying for our trip and causing a lot of consternation on this board.:lol:

 

[EmOhYouEssE]

Shh, and that's the way I like it. :lookaroun Although when we go to WDW next month maybe I'll have a T-shirt that says "Really want to know the best kept Disney secret?" and then charge people for my special info therby paying for our trip and causing a lot of consternation on this board.:lol:

I like the way you think! :ROFLOL:

 

[MichWolv]

Just be glad that WDW isn't like DL where half the machines aren't even on the network and you can go crazy stockpiling them during the morning to use them(past the window of course) during the afternoon/evening. Not that I took advantage of that at all during my trip last year. :lookaroun

:zipit: shhhh. That was supposed to be a secret! lol. I understand your pain though, I know WE have NEVER gotta a soarin' FP then walked right over to GRR to FP that as well :lookaroun or done that with any of the rides in DL that weren't hooked to the system. p.s. I think BTMMR is now back on the "hooked to the system" mode. It wasn't for a while. RR is still ok though, or so I've heard from those horrible people that would exploit something like that :lol::lookaroun

Em

One of my favorite tricks from my trip to DLR a couple weeks ago. As far as I could tell, DL and DCA had separate systems, so you could always hold one valid fastpass from each park, regardless of how long between them, and GRR was unhooked. And GRR had an hour standby line most of the day, since it was 85 degrees and humid most of the week.

 

[Elonwy]

Shh, and that's the way I like it. :lookaroun Although when we go to WDW next month maybe I'll have a T-shirt that says "Really want to know the best kept Disney secret?" and then charge people for my special info therby paying for our trip and causing a lot of consternation on this board.:lol:

Just take their money and say, "Yeah, I would want to know too." then run...fast :lol:

 

[markjohns1]

Respectfully disagree. If a large number of people enter the fast passline at the same time, or more people enter the FP line at over a 15 min or so period, the Merging CM is going to pull alittle more from that line to get it down. Changing the 80:20 ratio to 90:10 for even a short time is going to INCREASE the time somebody in the standby line would have to wait. If there was only one line, then this person's wait would not have been affected because the amount of people being drawn from standby line would not have been decreased...hence, increased wait time at an attraction.

The wait time for an individual can increase if they are in the standby line. This happens anytime a guest returns with a fastpass though. The wait time for the attraction is unchanged. If 100 people are waiting for the attraction, it doesn't matter if 80 are in standby and 20 are in fastpass, or all 100 are in the same line. It will take the same amount of time to move those 100 people through the attraction.

As far as the ratio goes, it should always be 80:20. The ratio is actually specifically for those times when the line gets backed up. Under typical working conditions the fastpass line is usually empty, which makes the ratio pointless. Whenever I worked the merge position you moved the standby line until someone came up the fastpass line. You would stop the standby line and let those with fastpasses go, and then resume moving the standby line. It is rare that the fastpass line is backed up without some other problem going on with the attraction, which is going to raise the wait time anyways.

 

[devoy1701]

The wait time for an individual can increase if they are in the standby line. This happens anytime a guest returns with a fastpass though. The wait time for the attraction is unchanged. If 100 people are waiting for the attraction, it doesn't matter if 80 are in standby and 20 are in fastpass, or all 100 are in the same line. It will take the same amount of time to move those 100 people through the attraction.

As far as the ratio goes, it should always be 80:20. The ratio is actually specifically for those times when the line gets backed up. Under typical working conditions the fastpass line is usually empty, which makes the ratio pointless. Whenever I worked the merge position you moved the standby line until someone came up the fastpass line. You would stop the standby line and let those with fastpasses go, and then resume moving the standby line. It is rare that the fastpass line is backed up without some other problem going on with the attraction, which is going to raise the wait time anyways.

I haven't seen an empty fastpass line all season....except for CoP! :lol:

 

[slappy magoo]

Respectfully disagree. If a large number of people enter the fast passline at the same time, or more people enter the FP line at over a 15 min or so period, the Merging CM is going to pull alittle more from that line to get it down. Changing the 80:20 ratio to 90:10 for even a short time is going to INCREASE the time somebody in the standby line would have to wait. If there was only one line, then this person's wait would not have been affected because the amount of people being drawn from standby line would not have been decreased...hence, increased wait time at an attraction.

That's why the estimated wait times on the Standbyline are just that - estimates. But if it helps, consider this: The estimated wait time on Standby takes Fastpass into consideration, and bases it on the average amount of people expected to show up in any given 5 minute period. Now a whole clump of period can show up all at once over the course of 10 minutes. Sure, THAT will make the standby line slow down for 10 minutes. But as a result, there might be 10 minutes before or after THAT period where far fewer than average Fastpass holders show up, bringing the wait time back down to near the average. And if you happen to be in the sucky time period where the Fastpass line is deluged, non-stop, for a long period of time (or if an attraction having mechanical problems results in a build up on the Fastpass line), those are the exceptions, NOT the rule. Believe in karma, sooner or later your luck will break even on the other side.

It's an imperfect system, but not quite as imperfect as you seem to think it is.

 

[markjohns1]

I haven't seen an empty fastpass line all season....except for CoP! :lol:

If the fastpass line is always filled with people, obviously they must not all be arriving at once... Anyways, if this really is the case, all they need to do is lower the number of fastpasses being distributed. It's not a problem with the fastpass system, it's a quantity issue.

And since when did CoP have fastpass?

 

[coasterphil]

Honestly though, some of the members here are really overestimating the number of people who return to the ride past their valid fastpass window. 95% of the guests are under the impression that they must be back before their time is up, so it really isn't an epidemic. Even seasoned Disney vets generally don't know about it.

 

[MouseearsDeb]

Interesting enough, I discussed this with DH the other day. I said, "I learned today that you can actually use fastpass after your window", and of course he replied, "I already knew that." :fork: Luckily, I can honestly say that we've only ever gone by our window. We generally plan accordingly to our times and very seldom do we have one any where near an ADR. During the time of the year that we go, there are a lot of times that we don't really need one.

I've also heard about the 'button' on the back of the machines. Never tried it though.

 

[tirian]

I don't find FastPass to be an issue at any of WDW's attractions except for Rock-N-Roller Coaster, where the FP/Single Riders/Standby ratio never seems right. I've stood in very long lines for all three queues, and the mix is never the same.

With few exceptions, FP seems to work very well everywhere else. Some attractions, like BTMRR and Space Mt., use the split queues to direct FP and Standby to different sides. Other attractions that seem long—especially Peter Pan—have always had long lines. As for those "exceptions," several attractions with FP simply don't need it. Philharmagic, Indiana Jones, LMA, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story MM, Maelstrom, and Mission Space come to mind.

Test Track should be the poster child for balancing FP, Singles, and Standby—those CMs really keep all three queues flowing nicely!

 

[markjohns1]

With few exceptions, FP seems to work very well everywhere else. Some attractions, like BTMRR and Space Mt., use the split queues to direct FP and Standby to different sides. Other attractions that seem long—especially Peter Pan—have always had long lines. As for those "exceptions," several attractions with FP simply don't need it. Philharmagic, Indiana Jones, LMA, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story MM, Maelstrom, and Mission Space come to mind.

When you point out the attractions that "don't need it," do you mean the FP at that attraction causes traffic flow problems? Or it is not worth it for guests to get FPs for these attractions because it does not save all that much time, so it may as well be removed? If it is the latter, I'd say that it may be a good thing that some of the FP attractions generally don't have very long standby waits anyways. The savvy park guest can usually identify these and not "waste" their FPs on them, while the typical guest may still get them for this attraction. It certainly spreads out how guests are using those fastpasses, to the point that it takes longer until all fastpasses are distributed. It doesn't really hurt that shows like Philharmagic, LMA, and Indiana Jones have FP, as you can stand far back in the standby queue and still end up standing next to someone who used a FP.

 

[devoy1701]

And since when did CoP have fastpass?

Since they've been giving free bonus FPs for the attraction at most FP machines around Tomorrowland to try to boost the popularity of the ride!

sheesh.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I don't find FastPass to be an issue at any of WDW's attractions except for Rock-N-Roller Coaster, where the FP/Single Riders/Standby ratio never seems right. I've stood in very long lines for all three queues, and the mix is never the same.

With few exceptions, FP seems to work very well everywhere else. Some attractions, like BTMRR and Space Mt., use the split queues to direct FP and Standby to different sides. Other attractions that seem long—especially Peter Pan—have always had long lines. As for those "exceptions," several attractions with FP simply don't need it. Philharmagic, Indiana Jones, LMA, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story MM, Maelstrom, and Mission Space come to mind.

Test Track should be the poster child for balancing FP, Singles, and Standby—those CMs really keep all three queues flowing nicely!

Especially considering they have the whole rain thing to deal with.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

I don't find FastPass to be an issue at any of WDW's attractions except for Rock-N-Roller Coaster, where the FP/Single Riders/Standby ratio never seems right. I've stood in very long lines for all three queues, and the mix is never the same.

With few exceptions, FP seems to work very well everywhere else. Some attractions, like BTMRR and Space Mt., use the split queues to direct FP and Standby to different sides. Other attractions that seem long—especially Peter Pan—have always had long lines. As for those "exceptions," several attractions with FP simply don't need it. Philharmagic, Indiana Jones, LMA, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story MM, Maelstrom, and Mission Space come to mind.

Test Track should be the poster child for balancing FP, Singles, and Standby—those CMs really keep all three queues flowing nicely!

Especially since they have rain to deal with.

 

[markjohns1]

Since they've been giving free bonus FPs for the attraction at most FP machines around Tomorrowland to try to boost the popularity of the ride!

sheesh.

But they don't have FP distribution machines at CoP, right? Are they just using the second ramp as a "fastpass" entrance?

 

[devoy1701]

But they don't have FP distribution machines at CoP, right? Are they just using the second ramp as a "fastpass" entrance?

you completely missed the point of the CoP fastpass joke.

and if you've been to wdw lately. you'd notice that no FP line is empty.

:brick:

the end.