Fast Pass Strategy??

[Jasper Dale]

for those of you who are masters of the "Fast Pass", if you are going to be in one park for most of the day, arriving when the park opens, how many passes will you use for the day?

also, how long does the wait have to be in the standby line before you opt to do a fast pass and come back later?

someone posted for me that for most of our trip the "attendance level" was going to be a 3 or or 4 out of 10. (December 13th to 17th)

from what i have read on this forum, we are going at a pretty good time when attendance is not so high. when the traffic is lighter, do you still utilize "Fast Pass"?

 

[Jeff456]

When i used to go in october when crowds were that light I can't say we ever really had to use fastpass. Might be worth it for soaring or test track maybe, anything else should be fairly ok, if the waits more than 30 mins then i would probably use fastpass but it all depends on how the rest of the park is, if the wait for space mountain is 30 but splash and big thunder are 45 just an example the you may aswell wait in standby for space.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Always use a FP if its available.

Example is Soarin, get there at opening, grab a FP, then ride it through regular line. Head over to TT ride through regular line, by the time you get off your FP will be good to use at Soarin and you will be able to get another FP.

Works best on ToT, grab a FP as you walk past ride RnRC then back to ToT to use the FP. You can ride each attraction two or three times this way in a couple of hours. Same at BTMR and Splash.

If the line is 20 mins or less we would still FP then ride anyway. If the lines that short chance are your FP will be able to be used with 30 - 45 mins anyway so you can get another FP for a different attraction then anyway.

 

[coltow]

For us, if it's a quick moving line (like HM, where a bunc hof people ener at once) we use 30 mns as our guide. If it's a slow moving line (like Pooh or Peter Pan) we use 20 mns.

We typically get to parks when they open and are able to hit our top 3 or 4 attractions without even needing to think about FPs. After about 10am is when we start to get them.

 

[BigRedDad]

Utilize FPs when you can. There is not a single ride or show at WDW that is a "must" do for me. I grew up near there and have ridden the big rides over 100 times (SM, BTMRR, SplMtn, RnRCC, ToT, TT). EE is the only new one. when WDW had the E-Ride nights for $10, it made riding the big rides easy. Everything was a walk on for 3+ hours. I remember not getting off SplMtn for 5 straight rides, followed by BTMRR. Then off to Tomorrowland for much of the same. The key to everything is hit as much as you can ride wise in the first 2-hours, utilize FPs, and shows in the afternoon.

Maximize your use of FPs and standby lines early. We go get FPs for RNRCC, get in standby, ride ToT twice, then use our RNRCC FP. By then, B & the B is starting. This finishes that whole side of the park in 2 hours. Leaving the rest of it to be explored at a leisurely pace. Our strategy may change with TSM now though.

 

[rsoxguy]

for those of you who are masters of the "Fast Pass", if you are going to be in one park for most of the day, arriving when the park opens, how many passes will you use for the day?

also, how long does the wait have to be in the standby line before you opt to do a fast pass and come back later?

someone posted for me that for most of our trip the "attendance level" was going to be a 3 or or 4 out of 10. (December 13th to 17th)

from what i have read on this forum, we are going at a pretty good time when attendance is not so high. when the traffic is lighter, do you still utilize "Fast Pass"?

I usually use between 2 and 5 Fast Passes per day, depending on the park and the crowds. A line would have to exceed a 30 minute wait for me to get a Fast Pass, unless there were something else I would want to get done along with a particular ride. We use the Fast Passes based on our agenda and mood for the day, while also considering the attendance at each park. We generally have a game plan regarding what we do at each park, starting at the front entrance.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Depends on our plans for the day - early morning means two rides in quick succession, a FP later in the day means a ride to look forward to.

 

[MousDad]

Personally, I would use FP regardless of crowd level. Why would you wait, even in a 20-30 minute line, if you don't have to?

And, like Pumbas said, there are some rides that are going to have long lines part of, if not all day, regardless of crowd level (Soarin, TSMM, TOT, RNRC, TT, Splash, Space, etc.).

 

[kimmychad]

for those of you who are masters of the "Fast Pass", if you are going to be in one park for most of the day, arriving when the park opens, how many passes will you use for the day?

also, how long does the wait have to be in the standby line before you opt to do a fast pass and come back later?

someone posted for me that for most of our trip the "attendance level" was going to be a 3 or or 4 out of 10. (December 13th to 17th)

from what i have read on this forum, we are going at a pretty good time when attendance is not so high. when the traffic is lighter, do you still utilize "Fast Pass"?

we use fastpass for anything over 30 minutes or so. the wife isn't a ride person like I am, so we use fastpass alot if the crowds are substantial enough. and I don't believe dec 15th will be a 4 on a scale of 1-10 as according to touring plans.com. hope I'm wrong, as we'll be there from the 5th-10th, and according to that site those days look pretty good too.

 

[ValentineMouse]

I'm one of those people that collect a fastpass even if the ride queue doesn't warrant it (unless of course there's another ride that DOES need fastpass). I've got a nice little collection of unused fastpasses now. :sohappy:

I remember one time getting a fastpass for Dinosaur about fifteen minutes before park closing (they were still available =)). The CM looked at me like I was crazy because the ride was a walk on... I still have those fastpasses though =D

Ooo and a little tidbit for fellow Disney geeks. Didya know that at Disneyland Paris, the fastpass time windows are only thirty minutes, rather than an hour.

 

[coltow]

when WDW had the E-Ride nights for $10, it made riding the big rides easy. Everything was a walk on for 3+ hours. I remember not getting off SplMtn for 5 straight rides, followed by BTMRR. Then off to Tomorrowland for much of the same.

OMG! My mom and I were just talking yesterday about the E-Nights and how great it was for such little money. Extra Hours just aren't the same.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Good observation that a lot of the highly popular FP rides are next to one another! I never really noticed that.

Now, in our case, if you have kids, listen carefully. Here's what we do:

We've got 3 kids, two are almost always too little to ride headliners. So we utilize the FP/child swap combination. What we do is as soon as the rope drops, we split up and we BOTH pick up 2-3 FPs for different rides(usually our favorites), ones that we know we'll have to child swap.

Example: when we go to MK we both go to frontierland, I go to Splash, he goes to BTMRR, we get FPs. Then we get back together, where one of us rides standby w/our older child, gets a childswap and then the other rides w/FPs(again w/older child). Then we move on to the next ride and do the same. As long as the wait is under 15 minutes, we continue standby until it is necessary for FP.

Notice how we haven't even used any child swaps yet? We save them, which allows us to ride later w/no time constraints, and we go ahead and work our way to the next thing we want to do. Child swaps are as good as FPs.

As the day goes on and the crowds accumulate, we switch to just using FP/Child swap and we both still get to ride, and our older child gets to ride each ride at least twice.

I always highly recommend that people with kids especially learn to utilize the FP/Child swap options. Kids just aren't patient when it comes to waiting in lines.

 

[Jasper Dale]

okay, thanks for all the help. i do have another question regarding using Fast Pass.

if we are going to be at Epcot at opening, how would you suggest we use the Fast Pass system first thing in the morning?

is there a strategy regarding which rides to do first and where to grab your first Fast Pass?

by the way, i love this forum. planning a trip to WDW is kinda like working a mystery and playing detective. so many clues, so little time.


:ROFLOL:

 

[Monty]

okay, thanks for all the help. i do have another question regarding using Fast Pass.

if we are going to be at Epcot at opening, how would you suggest we use the Fast Pass system first thing in the morning?

is there a strategy regarding which rides to do first and where to grab your first Fast Pass?

by the way, i love this forum. planning a trip to WDW is kinda like working a mystery and playing detective. so many clues, so little time.


:ROFLOL:

At EPCOT I always go to Soarin' grab an FP, then ride it Standby right away (ignore the posted wait - it's wrong). Then I'll go do other things until the FP window.

 

[MousDad]

okay, thanks for all the help. i do have another question regarding using Fast Pass.

if we are going to be at Epcot at opening, how would you suggest we use the Fast Pass system first thing in the morning?

is there a strategy regarding which rides to do first and where to grab your first Fast Pass?

by the way, i love this forum. planning a trip to WDW is kinda like working a mystery and playing detective. so many clues, so little time.

For an Epcot morning at opening, it depends on whether you are more interested in multiple rides on Soarin or Test Track.

If Soarin', head (with several hundred of your closest friends) immediately from rope drop to the Soarin' FP machines. Hop in standby line after getting your FP. After your 1st ride, hit Turtle Talk and/or Nemo before heading back for your FP ride. At that point, head over to the other side of the park and grab a Test Track FP. Ride Mission Space, SSE, etc. before your Test Track return time. The rest of Future World can be filler.

If you desire 2 Test Track rides, it's a little trickier. Your return FP time for your 2nd FP will be considerably later, or you'll have to walk your butt off. 1st option: head to the Track FP at opening, get FP, ride standby. Catch Mission Space or SSE before TT return. Ride TT FP, and then head to the Land to get FP for Soarin. Problem is your Soarin return time may be very late at this point.

2nd option: Head to Land and get Soarin FP at rope drop but don't ride. Split from there over to TT for a standby. Catch a filler until your Soarin time, ride Soarin FP, and then walk back to TT for a FP. You'll get an earlier return time on your 2nd FP ride, but this option involves a lot more walking back and forth.

Moral of the story, get at least one FP, ride Soarin and/or TT as early as possible. Fill in with what's left.

 

[WDW 3]

Single Rider

If you are willing and able, use the single rider lines. We FP ToT used single rider on RnR. We FP EE then used the single rider line a few times until our FP time.

 

[wvdisneyfamily]

At EPCOT I always go to Soarin' grab an FP, then ride it Standby right away (ignore the posted wait - it's wrong). Then I'll go do other things until the FP window.

That's basically what we do (except we may do stand-by the FP it)

 

[Jasper Dale]

thanks for all the help.

i've heard that the soarin' ride is busy all the time. is it really all that great? looking forward to going in just 27 days! :animwink:

 

[matt88mph]

I have my own strategy in each park:

Magic Kingdom:
Pull for Space Mountain first. It has a tendency to run out of Fastpasses by noon-1 PM.
Second, pull for either Splash Mountain or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Personally, I pull for BTMRR, since I do Splash Mountain at night, right before closing, when it's a walk-on.
After that, pull for either Winnie the Pooh or Peter Pan's Flight, usually Pooh first.
Jungle Cruise depends on the time of day. It may be crowded in the early morning or evening (when it's less hot out), but it tends to be only a 20-25 minute wait midday/early evening.

You really don't need Fastpasses for any of the other attractions, since they have a high capacity or continually load.

Epcot:
Pull for Soarin' first. Same reason as Space Mountain, except they can be gone by 11 AM-noon.
As soon as you can, pull for Test Track. Fastpasses can also go very quickly.
Maelstrom is one that you'll have to see for yourself, sometimes the lines can be long, other times, it will be a 10-15 minute wait.

Mission:Space and Living With the Land have always been no more than a 25 minute wait for me, so I usually don't pull for them.
I can pretty much guarantee that you won't need a Fastpass for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience.

Disney's Hollywood Studios:

Pull for either Tower of Terror, Rock n' Roller Coaster, or Toy Story Midway Mania first. These all tend to have very long wait times, and Fastpasses will go very quickly.
Star Tours all depends on what the crowd looks like. Personally, I've never seen it more than 40 minutes, if that much.
Stage shows probably don't need Fastpasses.

Disney's Animal Kingdom:
Pull for either Expedition: Everest or Kilamanjaro Safaris first, as those tend to have the longest wait times.
Pull for Kali River Rapids after those, because the midday Fastpasses will go quickly.
Pull for Dinosaur after that.
The rest usually don't have that long a wait.