FASTPASS Return Times being Enforced

[nemofinder22]

This has been rumored for a little bit but FASTPASS return times are starting to be enforced.

Space Mountain
http://www.mousewait.com/disneyland...-at-Space-Mountain-just-verbally-confirmed-as

Tower of Terror
https://twitter.com/TouringPlans/status/299973209346961408/photo/1

http://www.mousewait.com/disneyland/lands-talk/453448/News--Fast-Pass-return-times-will-be-enforced

#News- Fast Pass return times will be enforced starting Monday, February 18. This means that a guest must return within the hour printed on the FP, with the exception of the attraction breaking down during the return time.

http://micechat.com/21154-hello/

Also coming this spring, but less exciting than Mickey Mouse in a Foustanella, is the final push to bring the Fastpass system into compliance with its WDW cousins. Next week the Attractions Cast Members will receive training on how to only accept Fastpass tickets within the one hour window printed on the ticket. There will be a short grace period allowed, plus exceptions for any attraction downtimes or late dinner reservations, but by March the Anaheim parks will hold people to the actual time printed on their Fastpass ticket.

 

[G00fyDad]

They've already been strictly enforcing this. At least they have according to other members here.

 

[Californian Elitist]

They've already been strictly enforcing this. At least they have according to other members here.

No. This is pretty much new for Disneyland.

I'm surprised it took this long.

 

[nemofinder22]

For DLR it's just starting.

 

[grunter]

Seriously, where do I lodge my complaint?

This irritates me to no end. I have limited time in the parks and this new enforcement policy completely ruins our typical touring plan.

We're "left-side" park users, meaning we go left at the Partners statue and pretty much spend 80% of our time in Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country. The "right-side" of the park offers little more to us than Star Tours and Captain EO showings. (Nemo Subs is a waste of time, IMO, and California Screamin' is infinitely more entertaining and more comfortable than Space Mountain).

We get to the park at rope-drop, race to Indiana Jones and grab our first pastpass to save for LATER IN THE DAY. We then do Pirates, Mansion, Tiki, grab another Indiana Jones fastpass and then do the single rider line for Splash. Walking back past Indy, if the times allow, we grab yet another Indiana Jones fastpass. By noon, we've pretty much covered our favorite areas of the park, have a fistful of Indy fastpasses for later in the day when the lines become intolerable, and then settle in for a leisurely lunch at Carnation Cafe. If the crowds are huge or its incredibly hot, we may walk back to HoJos to cool off in the pool for a few hours. But at the end of the day, we like to finish off our "tour" with a number of back-to-back rides on the best dark ride in the park: Indy.

Now, we'll be lucky to get a single fastpass for Indy, and will most likely not be able to ride the ride more than once each day. The unlimited return time policy allowed us to use the park in the way that best suits our park preferences. We rarely grab fastpasses for any attraction other than Indiana Jones. (In California Adventure, Indy = Tower of Terror). We never need to, and usually, we don't care to.

Now, we're stuck. No more flexibility. No more leaving the park at the height of the crowds and heat to lounge in the pool. Now we have to hang around stroller-town and get our single sad ride of Indy at noon.

Plus, if as seems to be the case in Florida, the new Fastpass+ system is reserved only for "on property" guests, we will most likely never get to use it to its full potential. We get to Anaheim once a year. We don't have the cash to spend $300+ a night at the Disney "on-site" hotels. Chances are, we'll never be Fastpass+ users as a result.

So, phoey on this whole enterprise. It just sucks.

 

[bsiev1977]

Seriously, where do I lodge my complaint?

This irritates me to no end. I have limited time in the parks and this new enforcement policy completely ruins our typical touring plan.

We're "left-side" park users, meaning we go left at the Partners statue and pretty much spend 80% of our time in Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country. The "right-side" of the park offers little more to us than Star Tours and Captain EO showings. (Nemo Subs is a waste of time, IMO, and California Screamin' is infinitely more entertaining and more comfortable than Space Mountain).

We get to the park at rope-drop, race to Indiana Jones and grab our first pastpass to save for LATER IN THE DAY. We then do Pirates, Mansion, Tiki, grab another Indiana Jones fastpass and then do the single rider line for Splash. Walking back past Indy, if the times allow, we grab yet another Indiana Jones fastpass. By noon, we've pretty much covered our favorite areas of the park, have a fistful of Indy fastpasses for later in the day when the lines become intolerable, and then settle in for a leisurely lunch at Carnation Cafe. If the crowds are huge or its incredibly hot, we may walk back to HoJos to cool off in the pool for a few hours. But at the end of the day, we like to finish off our "tour" with a number of back-to-back rides on the best dark ride in the park: Indy.

Now, we'll be lucky to get a single fastpass for Indy, and will most likely not be able to ride the ride more than once each day. The unlimited return time policy allowed us to use the park in the way that best suits our park preferences. We rarely grab fastpasses for any attraction other than Indiana Jones. (In California Adventure, Indy = Tower of Terror). We never need to, and usually, we don't care to.

Now, we're stuck. No more flexibility. No more leaving the park at the height of the crowds and heat to lounge in the pool. Now we have to hang around stroller-town and get our single sad ride of Indy at noon.

Plus, if as seems to be the case in Florida, the new Fastpass+ system is reserved only for "on property" guests, we will most likely never get to use it to its full potential. We get to Anaheim once a year. We don't have the cash to spend $300+ a night at the Disney "on-site" hotels. Chances are, we'll never be Fastpass+ users as a result.

So, phoey on this whole enterprise. It just sucks.

Either learn to tour differently, or I guess you just don't go back. Most people will and do have no problem following this rule. I'm sure you'll figure it out somehow.

 

[DznyGrlSD]

I don't have an issue with this. That's how the fastpass system was intended to work in the 1st place.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Rules are rules. I always come back when I'm supposed to, so I have no problem with this. You can only abuse the system for so long, and clearly DL guests have gotten very good at it.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Either learn to tour differently, or I guess you just don't go back. Most people will and do have no problem following this rule. I'm sure you'll figure it out somehow.

For now you would still be most likely able to get 2 or 3 FP for Indy in the same day. You would just have to ride at 3 times during the day instead of 3 times in a row.

 

[bsiev1977]

Either learn to tour differently, or I guess you just don't go back. Most people will and do have no problem following this rule. I'm sure you'll figure it out somehow.

I don't have an issue with this. That's how the fastpass system was intended to work in the 1st place.

Admittedly, my last visit to WDW, I held a Space Mountain FP until the end of the night, out of necessity. I did it because that was still allowed then. When I return in December, I know I'll have to follow a different plan. Not a big deal. Like Fallen Angel said, it's how the system should have been enforced from day one. I'm going to guess that the system was relaxed because of guest complaints similar to that of the OP.

 

[bsiev1977]

Rules are rules. I always come back when I'm supposed to, so I have no problem with this. You can only abuse the system for so long, and clearly DL guests have gotten very good at it.

Maybe I'm missing something in what the OP said, but why wouldn't he ride at at least once when getting that first FP of the day at rope drop? Is it that important to ride a ride multiple times in a row at the end of the night?

 

[Californian Elitist]

Maybe I'm missing something in what the OP said, but why wouldn't he ride at at least once when getting that first FP of the day at rope drop? Is it that important to ride a ride multiple times in a row at the end of the night?

Yes, for some guests. Riding multiple times at night is a big thing at DL (I don't know about WDW). It adds to the fun. Plus, rides like Indy and Space tend to have lengthy lines.

 

[G00fyDad]

No. This is pretty much new for Disneyland.

I'm surprised it took this long.

I feel pretty stupid. I thought this was about wdw. Sorry about that.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I feel pretty stupid. I thought this was about wdw. Sorry about that.

No worries, I figured you were thinking about WDW.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Maybe I'm missing something in what the OP said, but why wouldn't he ride at at least once when getting that first FP of the day at rope drop? Is it that important to ride a ride multiple times in a row at the end of the night?

Big Thunder is awesome at night! As is Matterhorn (although I haven't been on since they changed the cars).

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Seriously, where do I lodge my complaint?

This irritates me to no end. I have limited time in the parks and this new enforcement policy completely ruins our typical touring plan.

We're "left-side" park users, meaning we go left at the Partners statue and pretty much spend 80% of our time in Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country. The "right-side" of the park offers little more to us than Star Tours and Captain EO showings. (Nemo Subs is a waste of time, IMO, and California Screamin' is infinitely more entertaining and more comfortable than Space Mountain).

We get to the park at rope-drop, race to Indiana Jones and grab our first pastpass to save for LATER IN THE DAY. We then do Pirates, Mansion, Tiki, grab another Indiana Jones fastpass and then do the single rider line for Splash. Walking back past Indy, if the times allow, we grab yet another Indiana Jones fastpass. By noon, we've pretty much covered our favorite areas of the park, have a fistful of Indy fastpasses for later in the day when the lines become intolerable, and then settle in for a leisurely lunch at Carnation Cafe. If the crowds are huge or its incredibly hot, we may walk back to HoJos to cool off in the pool for a few hours. But at the end of the day, we like to finish off our "tour" with a number of back-to-back rides on the best dark ride in the park: Indy.

Now, we'll be lucky to get a single fastpass for Indy, and will most likely not be able to ride the ride more than once each day. The unlimited return time policy allowed us to use the park in the way that best suits our park preferences. We rarely grab fastpasses for any attraction other than Indiana Jones. (In California Adventure, Indy = Tower of Terror). We never need to, and usually, we don't care to.

Now, we're stuck. No more flexibility. No more leaving the park at the height of the crowds and heat to lounge in the pool. Now we have to hang around stroller-town and get our single sad ride of Indy at noon.

Plus, if as seems to be the case in Florida, the new Fastpass+ system is reserved only for "on property" guests, we will most likely never get to use it to its full potential. We get to Anaheim once a year. We don't have the cash to spend $300+ a night at the Disney "on-site" hotels. Chances are, we'll never be Fastpass+ users as a result.

So, phoey on this whole enterprise. It just sucks.

They implemented the system in WDW about a year ago and it hasn't made things anymore difficult, though I initially ranted about it too. You adjust. You go do Tiki birds, come back, and grab another. Honestly, the crowds in DL were nothing compared to what they can be in WDW, seeing as how DLP has more attractions than Magic Kingdom in WDW. You can still ride the rides multiple times; you just space it out. We've been known to ride Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom 4+ times in one day.

As for Fastpass+, it's still in the early stages in FL, so yes, it's for resort guests only for now. That is not permanent, however. As they expand it, they will make it available to non-resort guests. I assume they will do something similar in DL, especially since the majority of guests are not staying on property over there. In WDW, so many guests stay on property, and because there are more resorts that are inexpensive, they can do that with testing and get away with it.

Nemo is such a waste of time. I only did it once when I was there, and it wasn't worth it. We have something similar in WDW, but it's a dark ride and takes much less time to load, so we ride it on a regular basis. I like SM. I thought it was cool. Our Space Mountain is more comparable to Matterhorn.

 

[bsiev1977]

Yes, for some guests. Riding multiple times at night is a big thing at DL (I don't know about WDW). It adds to the fun. Plus, rides like Indy and Space tend to have lengthy lines.

Maybe it is just a DL thing. Don't think I've ever seen anything about Orlando people hoarding multiple FP for an end of night ride marathon.
Being California we're talking about, might a certain "medicinal" herb have anything to do with it?
Just kidding!

 

[G00fyDad]

Maybe it is just a DL thing. Don't think I've ever seen anything about Orlando people hoarding multiple FP for an end of night ride marathon.
Being California we're talking about, might a certain "medicinal" herb have anything to do with it?
Just kidding!

Oh, it happened. It happened every night. It got to be ridiculous at times. Instead of those people going when they were supposed to they would wait until the end of the day and then the FP lines would be unholy long. I watched several people before shuffling through a handful of FP's that were expired. Some would even scour the ground for them too. Funny thing to see.

I can't wait until we get there in October. I want to be able to ride something after 6pm on a (legitimate) FP.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

Yes, for some guests. Riding multiple times at night is a big thing at DL (I don't know about WDW). It adds to the fun. Plus, rides like Indy and Space tend to have lengthy lines.

Only if by end of the night you mean at the end of Extra Magic Hours.

No, we tend to ride once and move on with our lives. Especially because what is considered lengthy to you is considered about average to us. Our lines are longer just as a general rule. We used to not worry about making it on time as much, but we never hoarded Fastpasses. I don't even get the point of it.

 

[Nicole220]

I wouldn't call it abusing the system when CMs are trained to let Guests in with FPs past their time slot. Disney was allowing this to happen.