FastPass is the dumbest thing Disney ever did.

[WDWmazprty]

Let me also add that most people here are not considering the parks without fastpass when claiming it's 'saving them time.'

You can't compare the current standby times (which are slowed down considerably by the 80/20 or 70/30 or 90/10 ratio of FP/SB guest) to what you save, time wise, with FP.

You need to compare what you save on FP vs what you would have to deal with if FP didn't exist. THAT's a fair comparison.

Not saying "I saved 10 minutes because I got a FP on BTM and rode Splash while waiting"....since Splash's standby time was inevitably slowed down considerably by FP riders holding back the standby line.

Sorry, I remember very well the days when FP wasnt around...and those lines were looong!

I dont know when you you're talking about, but I rememeber when FP was implemented and I was really happy. Why? Because I knew I didnt have to wait an hour for Splash Mountain anymore. Ever since FP, I've never waited that long since for any of the 'big' rides.

I agree with you on one thing, the lines are still long today, but its the Standby lines that are long.

Everyone has the choice to do FP and get in quicker.

 

[Monty]

Let me also add that most people here are not considering the parks without fastpass when claiming it's 'saving them time.'

You can't compare the current standby times (which are slowed down considerably by the 80/20 or 70/30 or 90/10 ratio of FP/SB guest) to what you save, time wise, with FP.

You need to compare what you save on FP vs what you would have to deal with if FP didn't exist. THAT's a fair comparison.

Not saying "I saved 10 minutes because I got a FP on BTM and rode Splash while waiting"....since Splash's standby time was inevitably slowed down considerably by FP riders holding back the standby line.

Yes it would move more smoothly, but ultimately the wait would be the same.

 

[GMRO]

AREM,

Not picking on you here BUT didn't we read a while back how you so wanted your dream to come true? AND that by you working at WDW it would?

Now you start this? Tired of dealing with guests? REALLY? Has the magic worn off already?

IMO - FP works great. Both the wife and I as well as our friends we’ve vacationed with at the world get it. Yes we’ve seen the time savings and experienced more attractions and gotten more magic in our day by spending less time standing in long que lines. BUT I guess we are all from the competent side of guests who understand the working of FP. YES, we are like some here, likely part of a small select group who never come back before the start date on each FP. Nor do we complain. We are just happy to come back when our time says we can. I hope the CM’s continue to police this. Sorry some of you can’t figure it out.

You can't fix stupid...NOT EVEN DISNEY! Stupid folks visit daily in huge numbers. As a CM you will just have to learn to deal with it.

Hope you still enjoy the magic.

 

[lebeau]

In simple terms, no.

The guests who use FPs are just choosing to wait differently [and usually longer] to get onto the same ride. If there are 6000 people who want to ride Soarin' and its throughput of riders is 500 per hour [numbers entirely fabricated for purposes of example] the ride will process 6000 people in 12 hours whether they use FPs or not. Some will have waited elsewhere is the only significant difference.

If all of those people started in the standby line together, the ride would still throughput the same number of people in the same time. Instead, Disney benefits by having some of those people out in the parks shopping, eating and yes, sometimes riding other rides. I have news for everybody: Disney likes the idea of giving guests more opportunities to spend money. FP is here to stay.

I agree your terms are "simple"...

If most people used FP to shop and dine as Disney originally intended, you'd be right and I'd be wrong. But my understanding (and I have nothing to back this up) is that the majority of guests double dip in lines when using FP. Reportedly, Disney has been disappointed how few people actually took the opportunity to shop and dine when FP was introduced.

I've been through the FP debate often enough not to want to go down this path again. But it's not as simple as FP=good the way most posters around here want to think.

 

[CDavid]

If you know how it works and know how to use it to your advantage, it's amazing. If you do not know how it works (like the people who think they have top pay extra for it ) then shame on you for not doing your research before you took your vacation.

If everyone in the parks were as proficient at effectively using Fastpass as those here, the FP system essentially wouldn't work. There is no free lunch. Your reduced wait time comes at the expense of a slower moving standby line - and not everyone can utilize FP. There can never be sufficient FP capacity for everyone to have one; If everyone who wants to ride Space Mountain today gets a FP, they would be exhausted within a couple hours of park opening, along with every other FP attraction. Now everyone is left with only the slower-moving standby queues.

This is actually what often happens anyway, the only difference being that since some guests (out of ignorance or choice) don't get any FP's, they remain available longer for those who know how to use them most effectively. The system works and is so popular here largely because not everyone uses it. If all WDW guests took the advice of posters here (I'm not picking on anyone in particular) and did the research to learn how to most efficiently utilize FastPass, the system would lose its apparent advantages.

If you hate it, plan your day better

I doubt many WDWMagic members who dislike Fastpass do so because they don't understand how it works or fail to plan, but rather they see the disadvantages. I can and do use FP just fine, since I certainly don't want to wait in a long line any more than anyone else here, but that does not mean I think Fastpass is the right solution to the problem of long, slow moving queues. Even beyond the very real problem of slower moving standby lines (and potentially FP can increase the wait times of non-FP attractions) Fastpass may cause the park to appear more crowded, and while the complaints of those who do not understand FP may be their own fault, it should definitely be a concern for Disney when many people find fault with their WDW vacation.

 

[durangojim]

When I was a kid in the late 80s I could remember standing in line for 2 1/2 hours for Star Tours at Disneyland, this was before FP. FP may have made the standby line longer for some, but it has made the wait times shorter for many as well.

If you know how to work FP, FP will work for you.

Sorry it causes more work for CMs but, eh :shrug:

 

[Stunnerr22]

There are some valid points to the fast pass system being bad for the parks. However, I am someone really likes to have their days organized at the parks and fast pass really allows me to do that. I was at the parks many times before fast passes came in and the lines were just as long. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was almost always 30-45 minutes and Space Mountain was always around the 60 minute mark. My biggest complaint with the system is that I skip pass some of the lines without really getting to enjoy the detail that was put into them. Some of them, like Peter Pan's Flight, really isn't much to miss, but Tower Of Terror on the other hand is a terrific queue. I'm sure I just rambled out a lot of stuff that's already been said, but that's how I feel about fast pass.

 

[_Scar]

That map drew out really makes me sad because I've never experienced the Magic Kingdom one land at a time.

Instead it's go to Space to get FP, then go to BTMRR, then go back and do Peter Pan, then get FP for Jungle Cruise, Etc.


:/

 

[fosse76]

Disney's FastPass is simply a re-distribution of crowds. In theory, a FP holder would physically be in line had he not acquired a FP. However, as was pointed out, that person is now free to get in another line, and therefore DOES make the line for that attraction longer as a result. However, I think that is minimal. Before all these "line jumping" passes existed, it wasn't uncommon for people to wait an hour or two to get on a ride.

What makes Disney's system work is that EVERYONE has the ability ot acquire one. They are free, so it isn't a system of the "haves" versus the "have nots." Is it a flawless system? No. But it is the fairest system, and MOSTLY works.

 

[David S.]

Nope, you just think you can....and that's the point, isn't it?


Without Fastpass, the lines around the park would normalize. You *think* you're saving time by grabbing a FP for R&RC and then racing over to ToT wait 75 minutes to ride it on standby....and then returning to R&RC and waiting another 25 minutes *with* your fastpass on the FP line and post merge.

In the end you may spend 2 hours getting through 2 rides.

But I NEVER use the standby queue for ANY FP attraction. I get there when the parks open and collect enough FPs to get a walk-on on EVERY Fastpass attraction! Therefore, it does save me time. This is a FACT, and I have trip diarys from before the FP era to prove it! I don't have time right now to find all my earlier post in this thread that illustrate this, but believe me it is TRUTH. I know what I can get done now, and it is more than I got done before the age of FP!

 

[David S.]

That map drew out really makes me sad because I've never experienced the Magic Kingdom one land at a time.

Instead it's go to Space to get FP, then go to BTMRR, then go back and do Peter Pan, then get FP for Jungle Cruise, Etc.
:/

Fastpass actually makes it EASIER for me to tour the parks by "land"!

See posts #9 and #55!

If anyone is interested, I would be happy to post sample one-day Touring Plans for the MK, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom that use FastPass and allow the parks to be experienced sequentially by land.

DHS is a hard park to tour by "land" regardless of FP, since so many of the attractions are fixed-time shows that you have to do a lot of backtracking if you want to make sure you see them all!

 

[Tooning]

I agree with you completely I hate Fast pass, but as long as people sre out in the park "waiting in line" and spending there money elsewhere I doubt it is going anywhere

 

[nolatron]

I don't understand what's the hate toward it? It gets you to the ride faster. What's wrong with that? I mean people will have their opinions but fp sure helps people out a lot.

I wouldn't say it gets you on the ride faster, but that it simply gets you through the line quicker since the FP return time wait could be longer than simply standing in line.

How about this.... Send two people to the MK, one does rides stand-by only, one does uses FP. Let's then compare how many rides each person got on before park closing to see if FP really does let you ride more rides, or if simply gives you the impression you are.

I'd be curious to see the results.

 

[Ralphlaw]

You know, I love Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, so I partake on Sunday morning (when MK is less crowded) in November (when attendance is low) and/or during extra magic hours. I go on and on and on. Then I can run around and get my first fast pass.

Now if I want to be sure to ride Splash Mountain, I plan for it, but I do not whine like a baby if I planned poorly and had a two hour standby line. I would fastpass it. Assuming I can fast pass three attractions in one day (let's say Splash in the morning, Thunder Bucket Railroad in the afternoon, and Space Mountain at night) I can see the big three e-tickets with probably less than an hour total standing in between. In between, I do the OTHER STUFF--I grab food a few times, watch the castle show, ride the blue line and the railroad, maybe jump on the horse drawn carriage or double decker bus, visit a few characters with my kids, climb the treehouse, ride Small World, the teacups, the magic carpets, barnstormer and everything else that doesn't have a ridiculous line.

Without fastpass, i'd stand in line for Splash, stand in line for Big thunder Bucket, and stand in line for Space Mountain. A day with at least three hours standing in line for the mountains, and far less of the OTHER STUFF that I love at Magic Kingdom. My way with fastpass, maybe one hour in line total for all three mountains, with one person from our party zipping three times a day around the park to grab our fastpasses.

To me, the choice is obvious.

 

[David S.]

I wouldn't say it gets you on the ride faster, but that it simply gets you through the line quicker since the FP return time wait could be longer than simply standing in line.

How about this.... Send two people to the MK, one does rides stand-by only, one does uses FP. Let's then compare how many rides each person got on before park closing to see if FP really does let you ride more rides, or if simply gives you the impression you are.

I'd be curious to see the results.

I've done this, in a way, by my trip journals from before the age of FastPass showing that I experienced SIGNIFICANTLY fewer attractions per day than I do now with FastPass on days with comparable hours!

And those two people would have to be comparable in their "touring skills". A pro could probably get on more rides without FP than a newbie could with FP!

 

[Grizzly Hall 71]

My opinion:
FastPass rules
Stand By drools.

 

[Krack]

But I NEVER use the standby queue for ANY FP attraction. I get there when the parks open and collect enough FPs to get a walk-on on EVERY Fastpass attraction! Therefore, it does save me time. This is a FACT, and I have trip diarys from before the FP era to prove it! I don't have time right now to find all my earlier post in this thread that illustrate this, but believe me it is TRUTH. I know what I can get done now, and it is more than I got done before the age of FP!

You cannot compare trip diaries prior to the FP system to current trips (with the FP system) and expect it to prove anything because your diaries will not account for variables such as # of guests in the park, # of attractions, # of closed attractions, hours of operation, # of parades and shows, and # of ride cars being run in certain attractions. While I can definitively state the FP system does not increase capacity, you can not definitively state that any (or all) of these other variables couldn't account for you being able to visit more attractions now than prior to the implementation of the FP system. In order for your diaries to be of value to a discussion like this, they'd have to be from a day where exactly the same attractions existed in the park, where the park was open the same hours, had exactly the same weather, etc ... and no Fast Pass system in implementation - such a day does not exist.

 

[ronmeri28]

Fast pass is great if you know how to use it. This past July, we hit Fantasyland, ate lunch, Tomorrowland before 1pm. Never could do this in the past. We would then leave the park for a break, return at dinner time and finish up the other lands.

 

[Monty]

You cannot compare trip diaries prior to the FP system to current trips (with the FP system) and expect it to prove anything because your diaries will not account for variables such as # of guests in the park, # of attractions, # of closed attractions, hours of operation, # of parades and shows, and # of ride cars being run in certain attractions. While I can definitively state the FP system does not increase capacity, you can not definitively state that any (or all) of these other variables couldn't account for you being able to visit more attractions now than prior to the implementation of the FP system. In order for your diaries to be of value to a discussion like this, they'd have to be from a day where exactly the same attractions existed in the park, where the park was open the same hours, had exactly the same weather, etc ... and no Fast Pass system in implementation - such a day does not exist.

And likewise neither can you definitively state there is any increase in standby waits on FP rides simply because they're FP. Which is the point I was trying to make to you earlier.

 

[disneygirl1]

I personally think it is a great idae and works great for us! I'd rather do other things around the parks until my fastpass time comes then wait in lines all day.