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Fast passes

Crazydisneygirl

Crazydisneygirl

Active Member
I plan for the family. Including all fastpasses, ADR on a cue card for the day. I don't use my phone except to take some photos. Prefer to do all 3 fastpasses in the morning to allow the family to decide what to do each afternoon. We are going in September with only 3 of us instead of the 5; which makes it easier to plan. Part of me misses the old fastpass system as each day we would take turns being the 'leader' deciding what attractions we see. Now it takes more planning and less just do what ever. We save the whatevers for when we go to Disneyland( where you don't plan much except where to stay). The planning pays off I think
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
Javier Antonio Nisa Avila said:
In the MK exists some rides that without fastpass is very difficult to enjoy, as Peter Pan, Big Thunder or Seven Dawrfs, others depends of regular line is quickly or medium and other is faster as Bears or similar atractions.
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I've mentioned this on here before, so please excuse me if you've read it already, but I refuse to FP Peter Pan or Pooh, but I knew I had to do the mine train. So what we did last time... FP the mine train for 10:00. We rope dropped the park and of course that's where everyone headed first, except for us. We rode everything in Fantasyland with hardly any wait by 10:00! Then at 10:00 we went to the mine train, which had a huge line, and we went in with very little wait. It was great!
 
EOD K9

EOD K9

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
A non-zero number of people can't grasp the concept of scanning a Magicband or the dining plan. I would hate to be a CM if they ever went back it A-E tickets.
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Unless, like a FP+, you preload your MB with purchased A-E tickets. They could (but wont) lower the price of admission, and you would buy as many lettered passed you want. It would work similar to your dining credits. Once you're out, you load up your band again.
 
Bartledvd

Bartledvd

Well-Known Member
Oh the good old paper fastpass, if you do not turn up at rope drop fastpass is many many hours later what a system sure do not miss it.
What we have now is not great but its still better than paper system as you know in advance if you can ride specific ride that day Excluding breakdowns without the multi hour wait in standby queue.
Only real solution is to add a large number of new rides while keeping attendance the same or lower that would not be good for profits.
 
BraveGirl

BraveGirl

Well-Known Member
I didn't realize how much I hate the new FP+ and miss the old paper fastpasses until I went to DL two weeks before WDW this January and got to experience both (because DL still has the old system).

Paper FPs are SO MUCH BETTER. Yes, they require being strategic and fast to get from one ride to the next but that is a GOOD thing. Reward people who are willing to get there early and work for their fast passes! ;-) It also keeps the FP lines shorter because not everyone is organized enough to plot their course with FP's in mind. I was able to get 6 FPs for one day in DL. I've never been able to get more than 3 in WDW because by the time my three are done, there are none left to be had. And you aren't limited to only one "top tier" ride in DL - if you can get there and there are still FPs available, you get it. So you can get all your top choices done in a day - again, if you are strategic. So, I feel like the old FP system rewards us seasoned guests who know how to navigate the parks, whereas the current system just rewards people with a smartphone.

Also...I REALLY HATE having to plan out every second of my day 60 days in advance. I'm a planner, I like to plan. But this is even too much for me. And because of the tier system, it often leads to more walking back and forth and back and forth and back and forth....because I can't plan based on location, I can only plan based on ride popularity.

I think DL has the best of both worlds. Paper FPs BUT if you don't want to have to run through the parks to get them, pay $10 more for MaxPass and do it from your phone. Same day, though. I think that's perfect. We didn't wait on a line longer than 20 minutes when I went, and it was during peak time (Christmas break). We got there at rope drop and stayed till closing and did EVERYTHING, some things two times. And we didn't pay for MaxPass.
 
joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
I had these concerns too but when I talked to a few co-workers who just got back from week long trips, they said that they were able to juggle around fastpasses like nobody's business. Even ones they had booked, if the line wasn't too bad, they'd cancel that FP and then grab a different one. They said they rarely waited in the standby queues for anything and when they did it was because they wanted to see the entire queue like in Flight of Passage etc.

Your smartphone is your best friend at the park and while the MDE app does show wait times, they often have delays. I use TouringPlans Lines App and it's the best thing since Shula's Main Lobster dish. It's just so much better.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
BraveGirl said:
Also...I REALLY HATE having to plan out every second of my day 60 days in advance. I'm a planner, I like to plan. But this is even too much for me. And because of the tier system, it often leads to more walking back and forth and back and forth and back and forth....because I can't plan based on location, I can only plan based on ride popularity.
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This is the one argument I don't really understand.

I don't do any more advance planning with the new system than I did with the old.

For every park I go into there are attractions I always fastpass and there are ones that I will do standby. The only difference is now I pull up an app on my phone 60 days out and set this up. Not only is it easier, but I have more flexibility in the FP times I get. With the old system, if the time available conflicted with something else I had to start moving things around or come back later. With the new system there is a good possibility that I will have the option to pick other times.
 
joejccva71

joejccva71

Well-Known Member
BraveGirl said:
Also...I REALLY HATE having to plan out every second of my day 60 days in advance. I'm a planner, I like to plan. But this is even too much for me. And because of the tier system, it often leads to more walking back and forth and back and forth and back and forth....because I can't plan based on location, I can only plan based on ride popularity.
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There are planner web applications that once you put what attractions you're interested in and what times you'll be at the park, it will configure a "plan" that could include lunch or "breaks" and make it so you have "minimal walking" or "minimal waiting" ...or both. It will tell you which rides to do at certain times of the days, which ones to wait on because of statistical data on wait times, etc. It's pretty cool.
 
danyoung56

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
I actually have two opinions on this. For just myself, an experienced park stormer who knows all about ride capacity and when to ride the "people eater" rides, the current system works extremely well for me. But for the newbie who didn't book his FP+s till a week out, who stands in 90 minute lines, who doesn't know how to take advantage of those "people eater" attractions, well, the current system doesn't work in his favor. I've always said that the information is out there for the person who's willing to do a bit of research. But I still feel sorry for that family that's already spent 60 minutes in line, another 30 to go, and I race up and pass them on my way to a 5 minute wait.
 
BraveGirl

BraveGirl

Well-Known Member
joejccva71 said:
There are planner web applications that once you put what attractions you're interested in and what times you'll be at the park, it will configure a "plan" that could include lunch or "breaks" and make it so you have "minimal walking" or "minimal waiting" ...or both. It will tell you which rides to do at certain times of the days, which ones to wait on because of statistical data on wait times, etc. It's pretty cool.
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I didn't know those existed, I'll check it out. Thanks!
 
NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
What I hate is planning which park we have to be at 60 days in advance. It really irritates me because in reality, it’s more like 180 days out because of ADRs (which I don’t mind as much, cause we always do a park hopper)—but we do t always feel like going to the park we set FP for 60 days ago (and trying to change plans spontaneously with a party of 7, forget it! We are pretty much locked in). Love DLs system they currently have!😁
 
DfromATX

DfromATX

Well-Known Member
NelleBelle said:
What I hate is planning which park we have to be at 60 days in advance. It really irritates me because in reality, it’s more like 180 days out because of ADRs (which I don’t mind as much, cause we always do a park hopper)—but we do t always feel like going to the park we set FP for 60 days ago (and trying to change plans spontaneously with a party of 7, forget it! We are pretty much locked in). Love DLs system they currently have!😁
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I agree with this. My feeling is that if we are expected to making dining reservations 180 days in advance (if you want to eat at certain places), then the parks calendars should be finalized then too. We don't park hop, so we "have to" arrange everything around our dining.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
JusticeDisney said:
Wow, that’s insane. And in that case, Disney most certainly does not already have the Express Pass system, lol.
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Well that have it, it just costs a fair bit more.

The thing is, a large scale unlimited fastpass like US has would not work at WDW. They have far too many guests.

To even begin to make it work they would have to eliminate the current fastpass entirely and make it a pay only system with only a certain amount available each day.
 
Andrew M

Andrew M

Well-Known Member
In the paper FP days I didn't have kids, so running all over to grab fast passes wasn't an issue at all.

I do kinda dislike that the randomness is pretty much gone now, and every second of my trip is pre-planned months in advance. However, with 3 children under 5, it makes it alot better knowing we will be able to go on certain rides with minimal wait. Plus we go at a slower pace, so the 3-4 rides we'd have guaranteed for the day might be pushing it towards their limits without have to go back and rest anyway.
 

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