Fastpass + will only allow 3 per day?

[satchamo]

The whole reason fastpass was started so that you did not have to stay in line. If we are only allowed 3 per day, we are expected to now stay in line for the majority of the day? Who only uses three fast passes in a day???????

Also, since this is only 3 per day, why would anybody pay extra for a park hopper??????? Hope somebody tells me I'm wrong ...........anyone.....tell me Im wrong and that fastpass+ is addition to the fastpass-just now you can use your arm band instead of paper fastpasses......

 

[Tom]

The whole reason fastpass was started so that you did not have to stay in line. If we are only allowed 3 per day, we are expected to now stay in line for the majority of the day? Who only uses three fast passes in a day???????

Also, since this is only 3 per day, why would anybody pay extra for a park hopper??????? Hope somebody tells me I'm wrong ...........anyone.....tell me Im wrong and that fastpass+ is addition to the fastpass-just now you can use your arm band instead of paper fastpasses......

You've heard correctly.

One Magic Bands roll out in full force, traditional FastPasses will be a thing of the past. Disney will continue to tinker with the distribution of FP+, but you are correct that it's limited to 3 per day, and only in one park.

 

[Disneydreamer23]

My mom who visited in Sept she stayed @ POP and had been chosen to do the testing they had the paper ones as well during that time. She loved it. She would usually get around 6/7 in a bad pre magic bands and she would use 4 of them on her favorite ride PETER PAN. You cant pick the same ride twice either. SO the FP lines will be quicker but the regular lines wont be

 

[satchamo]

My mom who visited in Sept she stayed @ POP and had been chosen to do the testing they had the paper ones as well during that time. She loved it. She would usually get around 6/7 in a bad pre magic bands and she would use 4 of them on her favorite ride PETER PAN. You cant pick the same ride twice either. SO the FP lines will be quicker but the regular lines wont be

Yes, but that is only why they are still testing. The whold purpose of FP was to avoid standing in rides and to be able to ride more rides. This completely goes against this. I ride many rides multiple times a day with FP's in hand from the moment I arrive (in fact, getting a FP is the first thing I do).

Also, why would anybody buy a park hopper now?

 

[ParentsOf4]

Also, why would anybody buy a park hopper now?

Why does FP+ not discourage park hopping?

Right now, WDW has a serious crowd distribution problem. Lots of guests head to Epcot, DAK, and DHS in the morning and then crowd MK during the late afternoon and evening. MK is bursting at the seams many nights even as the other parks become inefficient to operate.

With today's FP system, if you don't arrive in the morning, the chances of getting FP for certain attractions is essentially 0.

FP+ permits guests to book experiences in the evening without having to be at those parks hours before.

For example, select late afternoon or evening FP+ for TSM, TOT, and STII. Then, head to MK in the morning and enjoy the day there, knowing that 3 FP+ selections are secure for that evening at DHS.

If successful, it might help more evenly distribute crowds.

Disney doesn't necessarily want to discourage park hopping. However, they do want to reduce the amount of park hopping to MK in the evening.

 

[Tom]

Yes, but that is only why they are still testing. The whold purpose of FP was to avoid standing in rides and to be able to ride more rides. This completely goes against this. I ride many rides multiple times a day with FP's in hand from the moment I arrive (in fact, getting a FP is the first thing I do).

Also, why would anybody buy a park hopper now?

We'll still be getting Park Hoppers. They have definitely made them drastically less appealing to novice guests, but those of us who have been many times and are efficient planners will have no trouble hopping.

Besides, you can schedule your Fastpasses in certain portions of the day, meaning you can go somewhere else first, or afterwards.

 

[EvilQueen-T]

I hate it too. This spring I was waiting for the afternoon parade and got talking to a cm who told me disney did a survey and that the average family only used 1.5 fast passes per day so they doubled that number to 3 for the new system. My first thought too was who the (insert bad word of choice here) were they surveying?!? But then I got to thinking about how many times over the years we've seen soooo many people who don't get the basic concept of the old fp system, like not knowing to read to the bottom or the ticket to see when they can get the next fp like when you get a fp for tsm that lets you ride between 4-5pm but it's only 9am they often would think they had to wait until the tsm pass was used before they could get another one despite the bottom of the pass saying next fp available at 11am for example, so they just used standby lines. I think it's bad enough that they've limited the number to so few, I guess I would like it more for instance, if you could prebook 3 but once you were onsite day of could add to that (as available) more like the current system. Then staying onsite and getting to book 3 early would be a real perk. And like you we often park hop but without being able to even have a chance to get a fp for the second park you're left knowing you will end up standing in line for an hour or more for certain rides...worse in the peak times of year. Now to make matters worse they're doing the fp+ in tiers, taking away even more choice imo. The youngest member of our family who we travel with is my granddaughter (she'll be 10 in Jan) so we're past the days of riding winnie the pooh for example, so i don't want to be forced to choose from a list of these types of rides or ones i know from experience just don't need a fp (like philharmagic for example). Oh, and make sure your smartphone has great battery life or be prepared to carry a charger, find a plug, and take the time to recharge...or carry a list of when your fp times are (uugghhh) and in my case be ready for the app to run slow so it eats even more of the battery. Soooooo disappointed with the turn of how things are going.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

First of all, this is wrong: "The whole purpose of FP was to avoid standing in rides and to be able to ride more rides."

That might be the purpose for YOU, but the reason, and ONLY reason WDW has ever had for the fastpass system is to distribute riders through the park at peak hours and to make sure that people are spending money in the parks rather than waiting in lines...It has NOTHING to do with being able to ride more rides. That's been your perk, but not the reason they exist.

As to "eating up your battery life" checking fastpasses -- either a) people have poor memories, or b) you should get a different phone that has a better battery life if checking it once or twice is going to eat up your battery. It takes seconds to do that, so exaggerating that isn't going to be helpful to anyone looking for answers here.

I've used the Fastpass+ system on three or four trips now -- and it works great. It is true that those who primarily go to the parks to ride all the rides are going to have some lines to wait in. It is also true that for the vast majority of visitors its going to make life very easy. You can plan in advance - or not -- you can change your reservations and fastpass times on the fly throughout the day -- and for the vast majority of visitors, three fastpasses is probably all they will use. As a season pass holder myself, I used three fastpasses each day, but I programmed them in the morning, based on what my plans looked like. Anyone who knows the park system knows that you do not need fastpasses first thing in the morning or during EMH -- do the headliners then, and save the fastpasses for your second park if you parkhop, or not. You can plan three fastpasses for MK, for example, not use use them in the morning, and completely delete them and select three fastpasses in a different park in the afternoon, for example.

I think the primary people who will be complaining about this is not going to be the regular park goer -- its going to be the teens that run from ride to ride and ignore the rest of the parks' activities, shows, and dining. To them, I say, I get you. It IS going to be different from hereon out.

Based on last weeks visit, it looks like they are just about ready to completely turn it over -- don't be surprised if this happens in the next couple of weeks.

 

[jlsHouston]

First of all, this is wrong: "The whole purpose of FP was to avoid standing in rides and to be able to ride more rides."

That might be the purpose for YOU, but the reason, and ONLY reason WDW has ever had for the fastpass system is to distribute riders through the park at peak hours and to make sure that people are spending money in the parks rather than waiting in lines...It has NOTHING to do with being able to ride more rides. That's been your perk, but not the reason they exist.

As to "eating up your battery life" checking fastpasses -- either a) people have poor memories, or b) you should get a different phone that has a better battery life if checking it once or twice is going to eat up your battery. It takes seconds to do that, so exaggerating that isn't going to be helpful to anyone looking for answers here.

I've used the Fastpass+ system on three or four trips now -- and it works great. It is true that those who primarily go to the parks to ride all the rides are going to have some lines to wait in. It is also true that for the vast majority of visitors its going to make life very easy. You can plan in advance - or not -- you can change your reservations and fastpass times on the fly throughout the day -- and for the vast majority of visitors, three fastpasses is probably all they will use. As a season pass holder myself, I used three fastpasses each day, but I programmed them in the morning, based on what my plans looked like. Anyone who knows the park system knows that you do not need fastpasses first thing in the morning or during EMH -- do the headliners then, and save the fastpasses for your second park if you parkhop, or not. You can plan three fastpasses for MK, for example, not use use them in the morning, and completely delete them and select three fastpasses in a different park in the afternoon, for example.

I think the primary people who will be complaining about this is not going to be the regular park goer -- its going to be the teens that run from ride to ride and ignore the rest of the parks' activities, shows, and dining. To them, I say, I get you. It IS going to be different from hereon out.

Based on last weeks visit, it looks like they are just about ready to completely turn it over -- don't be surprised if this happens in the next couple of weeks.

Well... I am not seeing any benefit in the new FP+ system versus the old FP system. And I wasn't a huge user of the old FP system. If I happen to hit MK park early, I would definitely run to the mountains and get a FP and then ride them as many times as possible in the stand by line until it got past 30 minutes. If I was at Epcot the only thing I ever FP'd was Soaring. That was fairly easy as long as I showed up by early afternoon. And I have only hit AK once and never FP anything there....And HS I figured out how to make early morning ADRS at H&V so I could grab a couple of FP's that day for TSSM....

I think I disagree with the "vast majority of visitors" assumption as to how many FP's in a day visitors grab. I would venture to say at least half the park hoppers do more than 3 FP's per day.

Not to be negative but I think a billion dollars later and the system isn't even fully operational after being rolled out into testing earlier this year kind of smacks that the technology and the implementation and numbers that the actuaries were crunching during the past 5 years of developing this stuff is slightly like garbage in garbage out.

And now with FP+ allowing people to plan their FP choices throughout the day you may find all the old assumptions of when you can walk onto headliners flying right out the window.....

 

[coltow]

Why does FP+ not discourage park hopping?

Right now, WDW has a serious crowd distribution problem. Lots of guests head to Epcot, DAK, and DHS in the morning and then crowd MK during the late afternoon and evening. MK is bursting at the seams many nights even as the other parks become inefficient to operate.

With today's FP system, if you don't arrive in the morning, the chances of getting FP for certain attractions is essentially 0.

FP+ permits guests to book experiences in the evening without having to be at those parks hours before.

For example, select late afternoon or evening FP+ for TSM, TOT, and STII. Then, head to MK in the morning and enjoy the day there, knowing that 3 FP+ selections are secure for that evening at DHS.

If successful, it might help more evenly distribute crowds.

Disney doesn't necessarily want to discourage park hopping. However, they do want to reduce the amount of park hopping to MK in the evening.

That is exactly what we'll be planning to do this summer, more park hopping. Start at rope drop (or close to) & hit some stuff with (hopefully) low wait times, then park hop somewhere for late afternoon/evening fast passes.

In the past we would have used fp's at 1st park & 2nd park (easily using 5-6 a day) so we will need to have a better game plan each morning about which attraction order to go with

 

[EvilQueen-T]

First of all, this is wrong: "The whole purpose of FP was to avoid standing in rides and to be able to ride more rides."

That might be the purpose for YOU, but the reason, and ONLY reason WDW has ever had for the fastpass system is to distribute riders through the park at peak hours and to make sure that people are spending money in the parks rather than waiting in lines...It has NOTHING to do with being able to ride more rides. That's been your perk, but not the reason they exist.

As to "eating up your battery life" checking fastpasses -- either a) people have poor memories, or b) you should get a different phone that has a better battery life if checking it once or twice is going to eat up your battery. It takes seconds to do that, so exaggerating that isn't going to be helpful to anyone looking for answers here.

I've used the Fastpass+ system on three or four trips now -- and it works great. It is true that those who primarily go to the parks to ride all the rides are going to have some lines to wait in. It is also true that for the vast majority of visitors its going to make life very easy. You can plan in advance - or not -- you can change your reservations and fastpass times on the fly throughout the day -- and for the vast majority of visitors, three fastpasses is probably all they will use. As a season pass holder myself, I used three fastpasses each day, but I programmed them in the morning, based on what my plans looked like. Anyone who knows the park system knows that you do not need fastpasses first thing in the morning or during EMH -- do the headliners then, and save the fastpasses for your second park if you parkhop, or not. You can plan three fastpasses for MK, for example, not use use them in the morning, and completely delete them and select three fastpasses in a different park in the afternoon, for example.

I think the primary people who will be complaining about this is not going to be the regular park goer -- its going to be the teens that run from ride to ride and ignore the rest of the parks' activities, shows, and dining. To them, I say, I get you. It IS going to be different from hereon out.

Based on last weeks visit, it looks like they are just about ready to completely turn it over -- don't be surprised if this happens in the next couple of weeks.

I wasn't exaggerating just sharing our experience. As to my memory it's just fine thanks. As to my phone, I use it not just to check fp+ times but as a camera etc... also the app I was referring to was the mde app when trying to do things like change a dining reservation, check ride wait times that sort of thing. People around me heard a conversation between my party and stated they were having similar issues with it being very slow to connect so it's not just mine having issues on our last two visits. I agree with you on how to use the new system as it is now. We've always just hit rides through the standby lines in the morning until the wait times go over 30 minutes. For me, with the way we vacation, still totally hate the tier system.

 

[asianway]

That is exactly what we'll be planning to do this summer, more park hopping. Start at rope drop (or close to) & hit some stuff with (hopefully) low wait times, then park hop somewhere for late afternoon/evening fast passes.

In the past we would have used fp's at 1st park & 2nd park (easily using 5-6 a day) so we will need to have a better game plan each morning about which attraction order to go with

Except FP+ reservations start at park open. They are hoping lines start to form at 9am