Fastpass...losing out?

[twoweirdos]

Ok..I was at another Disney forum and there was a thread about fastpass
SOme people there were saying that you can miss out on elements of preshow...que...etc
Is this true?Ive been to WDW once and w used Fastpass for many attractions
We went to MK for a day and to EPCOT
Since we were so short on time we went with the advice of the guidbooks I had and went with the FASTPASS
Now..this site MAY have been talking for the large part about DISNEYLAND and not so much about DISNEYWORLD
Im rambling but my point is...DO you miss out on anything using FASTPASS besides the wait in line?
Tia

 

[durangojim]

Ok..I was at another Disney forum and there was a thread about fastpass
SOme people there were saying that you can miss out on elements of preshow...que...etc
Is this true?Ive been to WDW once and w used Fastpass for many attractions
We went to MK for a day and to EPCOT
Since we were so short on time we went with the advice of the guidbooks I had and went with the FASTPASS
Now..this site MAY have been talking for the large part about DISNEYLAND and not so much about DISNEYWORLD
Im rambling but my point is...DO you miss out on anything using FASTPASS besides the wait in line?
Tia

It really depends on the que, but the ride I think of most is Expedition Everest. There is so much detail that has been put into that que, that when you zip through the fast past line, 1. you don't get to see as much due to the route it takes and 2. you just don't have enough time to linger and see everything. I can't really think of any other ride where the difference is so drastic.

 

[wizards8507]

It really depends on the que, but the ride I think of most is Expedition Everest. There is so much detail that has been put into that que, that when you zip through the fast past line, 1. you don't get to see as much due to the route it takes and 2. you just don't have enough time to linger and see everything. I can't really think of any other ride where the difference is so drastic.

Agreed with one caveat. I'd suggest waiting standby for E:E, AND lingering through the fastpass line once. Each one has unique things to see that you don't get to experience if you rush through. There are also small details in the lobby of The Hollywood Tower Hotel that are easy to miss if you're speeding past.

 

[stlbobby]

You will miss queue elements at some rides--EE, Soarin', Space Mountain and others--but you will always see the preshow and the entire ride.

 

[wm49rs]

The old Star Tours queue was very detailed as well, but usually the FP line moves so quickly on any ride that'll you're likely to miss details in any queue. Part of the tradeoff I suppose....

 

[Master Yoda]

Durangojim hit the nail on the head. E:E is the most glaring example of a ride that you miss a good bit of using fastpass. TSMM and Kali would round out the list and you could make an argument for Space Mountain and TT.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

The Mummy at Universal must be one of the worst rides for fastpass missing out on the story.

 

[durangojim]

Agreed with one caveat. I'd suggest waiting standby for E:E, AND lingering through the fastpass line once. Each one has unique things to see that you don't get to experience if you rush through. There are also small details in the lobby of The Hollywood Tower Hotel that are easy to miss if you're speeding past.

I agree. I can't think of any other rides besides EE where the FP line is actually dramatically different than standby. The Indiana Jones show might count because there are some cool movie props in the standby/wait area that you don't see if you just use FP and I suppose the same goes for the exterior of Star Tours, but I think that's a stretch.

 

[irmonkey]

I second the E:E and Star Tours standby queue designs. I didn't use Fastpass on ToT so I don't know what you'd miss there. I used a fast pass on Splash Mountain and BTMRR and did not feel that I missed a thing. :animwink:

 

[Bravo 229]

Ok..I was at another Disney forum and there was a thread about fastpass
SOme people there were saying that you can miss out on elements of preshow...que...etc
Is this true?Ive been to WDW once and w used Fastpass for many attractions
We went to MK for a day and to EPCOT
Since we were so short on time we went with the advice of the guidbooks I had and went with the FASTPASS
Now..this site MAY have been talking for the large part about DISNEYLAND and not so much about DISNEYWORLD
Im rambling but my point is...DO you miss out on anything using FASTPASS besides the wait in line?
Tia

I can think of a few places off the top of my head. 1) Soarin - the FP line is on the other side of the wall and you don't get to see/use the game screens. 2) Space Mountain - you would miss the games because the FP line does not stop except for a moment at the turnstiles (and I don't believe they have games on the FP side). And a few other rides take short cuts through the queue (Maelstrom, Expedition Everest to name a few). You would be missing out on seeing a few details in some of the queues, but for the most part you get the same experience (though faster) as the normal queue.

 

[twoweirdos]

i feel dumb now,,,I didnt know i missed out on the preshow
its those silly lil moments that I tend to like...lol
Maybe we will be careful and not use fastpass unless really crowded
I may have misunderstood the entire point of FASTPASS

 

[durangojim]

i feel dumb now,,,I didnt know i missed out on the preshow
its those silly lil moments that I tend to like...lol
Maybe we will be careful and not use fastpass unless really crowded
I may have misunderstood the entire point of FASTPASS

Don't feel silly. If it means going on less rides but seeing everything in the standby line vs going on more rides but using FP and not seeing everything in the que, I'd go FP everyday. I'd try to do standby if the lines are short and FP if the lines are long, and then if you want to go back and see the que, go get in the standby line after you've already rode the ride once.

 

[wizards8507]

i feel dumb now,,,I didnt know i missed out on the preshow
its those silly lil moments that I tend to like...lol
Maybe we will be careful and not use fastpass unless really crowded
I may have misunderstood the entire point of FASTPASS

I don't think that's what anyone is saying at ALL. There may be little tidbits that you don't pick up on by using fastpass, but I don't think anyone is suggesting it would be worth it to wait 75 minutes for Tower of Terror solely to see the theming in the lobby. I'd say use fastpass to its full potential, but go ahead and do the rides standby as well.

 

[twoweirdos]

I don't think that's what anyone is saying at ALL. There may be little tidbits that you don't pick up on by using fastpass, but I don't think anyone is suggesting it would be worth it to wait 75 minutes for Tower of Terror solely to see the theming in the lobby. I'd say use fastpass to its full potential, but go ahead and do the rides standby as well.

what we had done was use it for every ride possible....and hade gone in march when it was i guess moderate attendance
not LOW but not crowded

 

[durangojim]

Also, don't forget, there's no rule that says you can't linger in the FP line and let people pass you before you go on the ride itself. This would be very helpful on ToT.

 

[twoweirdos]

Also, don't forget, there's no rule that says you can't linger in the FP line and let people pass you before you go on the ride itself. This would be very helpful on ToT.

i have heard to catch the pre show on this one

 

[love disney]

i have heard to catch the pre show on this one

In regards to your quote above and your earlier one of ",,,I didnt know i missed out on the preshow"

As was stated in post #4, you do not miss any preshows, all you potentially miss are elements of the queue, so don't worry. Even if you use a fastpass in Tower of Terror you really won't miss much in my opinion, the non-fastpass line usually spends little time in the actual lobby anyway, but BOTH lines see the preshow. Other rides do have queues that are quite good, Expedition Everest for example (though the fastpass queue is good too!), and Toy Story Midway Mania. Long story short, using fastpass will not result in missing any preshows.

 

[JillC LI]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Toy Story Midway Mania yet. We got to DHS late in the day wanting to try TSMM for the first time. There were no FPs left so we waited on the regular queue for an hour, which is something we rarely do. I'm glad it worked out that way though because the decor on that line was amazing, including the talking Mr. Potato Head. But the FP people were being led in through a door that completely avoided the cool decor. I'm glad I got to see it.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Don't forget that it's OK to just linger and soak up details in the FastPass line, as long as you let other people pass you. You might feel a little silly, but...what the heck, right? You're on vacation.

 

[dreamfinder]

i have heard to catch the pre show on this one

It helps to explain the backstory behind the ride. Otherwise it's just another free fall ride. But the backstory fleshes it out some. However, you should still be it even if using FP as to the best of my recollection the lines rejoin in the lobby, before the pre-show.

A rule of thumb is that a new ride (post FP) or one that has had a serious refurb will most likely have something in the standby line for the waiting guests. E:E and SM are two prime examples. Most of the other rides where it was kinda stuck in after the fact, don't have much. Pooh, Peter Pan, etc.