FastPass Disappearing at Disneyland - Is WDW Next?

[Joevn]

Hey everyone,

Sorry if someone has mentioned this before, but I couldn't find anything using search. Apparently, FastPass is being eliminated or used seasonally at Disneyland at various attractions at Disneyland. (An article with more details can be found here.

Has anyone heard if something like this might happen at Walt Disney World? The article says that WDW already uses a limited operation strategy and I guess the parks aren't as saturated with FastPass as Disneyland was. So maybe not.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting news and I personally hope FastPass isn't removed at WDW 'cause it's certainly made my vacations a little better and the Disney powers that be would probably be happy to know that I do sometimes use time waiting to do shopping. :animwink:

Joe

 

[ToTBellHop]

Fastpass isn't being eliminated at Disneyland. It is being removed from attractions that don't need it, like Pirates and the Haunted Mansion, and it is being turned off on days where the lines are no more than 20-30 minutes. I would expect Disney World to eventually remove Fastpass from some rides, but WDW doesn't have it on as many rides per park as the Disneyland Resort does. I could see rides like the Haunted Mansion and some of the 3D shows (besides PhilharMagic) losing it...and perhaps Kali River Rapids after Everest opens.

 

[DisneyFreak721]

It is my understanding that only certain attractions are losing their fastpasses... IE It's tough to be a bug and MuppetVision 3D at DCA where it is not nescessary. As for seasonally...feel free to correct me on this if i may be wrong, but I believe that is Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Its a Small World Holiday. But the Disneyland Resort is not doing away with the fastpass system.

 

[lnsemsf]

It is my understanding that only certain attractions are losing their fastpasses... IE It's tough to be a bug and MuppetVision 3D at DCA where it is not nescessary. As for seasonally...feel free to correct me on this if i may be wrong, but I believe that is Haunted Mansion Holiday, and Its a Small World Holiday. But the Disneyland Resort is not doing away with the fastpass system.

I wouldnt be supprised if they keep it for the holiday Haunted Mansion, as when I was there in October it had a 90 minute wait. Wouldnt have gotten on if it werent for fastpass.

 

[TP2000]

Disneyland has a lot more rides than WDW's Magic Kingdom Park does, so the old Pressler/Harriss executive regime figured it could have a lot more Fastpass. But that was a big mistake, and the narrower walkways and older infrastructure of Disneyland just couldn't handle every E Ticket, and a few D Ticket rides having Fastpass.

So far, they've removed Fastpass on;
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Winnie The Pooh

The rumors are that Star Tours is next, and then maybe Autopia when the new Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear open in 2005.

I would hope they would remove it from Roger Rabbitt's Car Toon Spin next. Even with the extra rides that Disneyland has compared to WDW's Magic Kingdom, it just can't handle all of those Fastpass attractions. This is a good move, and one that is based on common sense rather than worthless blather from the Marketing Department.

 

[ToTBellHop]

It will not be removed from Autopia or Car Toon Spin. Seasonality applies to all rides, including even the Indiana Jones Adventure. On days where the queue line never break 30 minutes, there is simply no need for Fastpass on these attractions. Of course, I'm sure it will go in cycles--I couldn't imagine there ever being a day when NO attractions offer Fastpass.

 

[xfkirsten]

Disneyland has a lot more rides than WDW's Magic Kingdom Park does, so the old Pressler/Harriss executive regime figured it could have a lot more Fastpass. But that was a big mistake, and the narrower walkways and older infrastructure of Disneyland just couldn't handle every E Ticket, and a few D Ticket rides having Fastpass.

So far, they've removed Fastpass on;
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Winnie The Pooh

The rumors are that Star Tours is next, and then maybe Autopia when the new Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear open in 2005.

I would hope they would remove it from Roger Rabbitt's Car Toon Spin next. Even with the extra rides that Disneyland has compared to WDW's Magic Kingdom, it just can't handle all of those Fastpass attractions. This is a good move, and one that is based on common sense rather than worthless blather from the Marketing Department.

Just a minor correction - Pooh's FP isn't gone quite yet, although I believe it is supposed to go soon. But it was up and running on Wed.

-Kirsten

 

[JoeyJoe]

The two hottest fastpasses to get in WDW's Magic Kingdom are (strangely) Pooh and Pan. I used to be a Fantasyland attraction host and remember them telling me that in training. However it is the complete opposite in Disneyland. There was almost zero need for fastpass at Pooh. For whatever reason, Pooh just didn't take off in Disneyland as it did in WDW. From what i hear, most cast members say that Pooh was a bust for the Disneyland park and doesn't handle a fraction of the guests that Country Bears did, nor is there any interest in it. I think this is because it is in Critter Country, not Fantasyland. I have nothing against Pooh, but whenever he is added to a park, a great, classic attraction is removed.

 

[DarkMeasures]

The two hottest fastpasses to get in WDW's Magic Kingdom are (strangely) Pooh and Pan. I used to be a Fantasyland attraction host and remember them telling me that in training. However it is the complete opposite in Disneyland. There was almost zero need for fastpass at Pooh. For whatever reason, Pooh just didn't take off in Disneyland as it did in WDW. From what i hear, most cast members say that Pooh was a bust for the Disneyland park and doesn't handle a fraction of the guests that Country Bears did, nor is there any interest in it. I think this is because it is in Critter Country, not Fantasyland. I have nothing against Pooh, but whenever he is added to a park, a great, classic attraction is removed.

Pooh did bad at Disneyland because of the poor effort in designing and building the ride. If it were to tell story better (WDW) or have an awsome ride system (TD) theride would have had much more popularity.

 

[ISTCrew20]

I wouldnt be supprised if they keep it for the holiday Haunted Mansion, as when I was there in October it had a 90 minute wait. Wouldnt have gotten on if it werent for fastpass.

I love FastPass, and it works out really well down here (on certain rides). However, it was a mistake making Buzz and Living with the Land FastPass accessible. The standby line for Buzz is almost always a 30/40 minute wait on the less busy days. If Fastpass were gone, the wait would probably never go over 15 minutes. Because it's an omnimover system, the standby line would never stop moving. With fastpass though, maybe only 8 people to 30 fastpass people are let through every 5 minutes*.

*(I have no idea if those statistics are true, but I imagine that the actual statistics are somewhat close to that.)

 

[Figment1986]

I cannot wait for FP to get a makeover. They will be removing it from uneedy attractions. Buzz will get it for one year at DL then dissappear...

The major E-tickets will have it... and only the needy rides will get it. If the attraction is not a E... it should be removed. Especially if it is an omnimover like HM or Pooh....

 

[626]

When we went to WDW last September most of the rides that offer Fastpass were not offering them, which really put a crimp in our style I hope it's not like that this year. Personally I wish they'd keep Fastpass around on all the rides they have it on now plus add it to a few more. No skin off my back, and if some family was silly enough to get Fastpasses for the Country Bear Jamboree then that is less people in front of me in the Splash Mountain Fastpass line

 

[TP2000]

Just a minor correction - Pooh's FP isn't gone quite yet, although I believe it is supposed to go soon. But it was up and running on Wed.

-Kirsten

You were there on the second to the last day for Pooh Fastpass Kirsten.

Two CM posters over on the LP boards said it was going away Thursday night after the Park closed. And sure enough, when I was there on Friday (yesterday) Pooh Fastpass had been removed. Splash Mountain now uses the machines that used to be for Pooh, they swapped out all of the signs for both Pooh and Splash, and put the former Splash Mountain Fastpass area into mothballs and covered it all up.

The Miceage article "Buh Bye Fastpass" from a few weeks ago seems to have been right on the mark. Next up... Star Tours.

 

[xfkirsten]

You were there on the second to the last day for Pooh Fastpass Kirsten.

Two CM posters over on the LP boards said it was going away Thursday night after the Park closed. And sure enough, when I was there on Friday (yesterday) Pooh Fastpass had been removed. Splash Mountain now uses the machines that used to be for Pooh, they swapped out all of the signs for both Pooh and Splash, and put the former Splash Mountain Fastpass area into mothballs and covered it all up.

The Miceage article "Buh Bye Fastpass" from a few weeks ago seems to have been right on the mark. Next up... Star Tours.

Ah, thanks for the update! I'm glad it's gone. It was totally unneeded.

-Kirsten