I've been withholding my judgement of FastPass+ until the day I was able to experience it myself. Well, that long-awaited day came Sunday (March 16, 2014) when I set off for a quick trip down the Florida Turnpike to Walt Disney World, equipped with my iPhone, My Disney Experience App and 3 FastPass+ selections that were made on Monday March 10.
This would be my first solo trip. My DF had to work and I decided to test it out on my own and report back to her and here with my findings.
Our AP Magic Bands have likely shipped by now (maybe), so for now I traversed the park with my AP RFID card slipped into a hard plastic case and hooked on to pin lanyard — yes I collect pins from time to time, so sue me.
My three FP+ selections were as follows:
POTC: 9:50-10:50 a.m.
BTMRR: 11:05 a.m.-12:05 p.m.
SM: 12:10-1:10 p.m.
I arrived at the TTC at about 8:50 a.m. and promptly parked in Simba 17. I boarded the tram, headed for the ferry boat and enjoyed the view of the lagoon from the upper deck.
Once at the MK gate I strolled through the guest's without bags entrance, tapped my AP RFID at the touchpoint and set off for Adventureland and the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House to kill some time before my POTC reservation.
I descended the tree house at 9:50 a.m. and headed to POTC to officially experience FP+ for the first time. I was a little anxious. Will my card work? Will it take forever for Mickey to illuminate? Will that pirate still will want the redhead?'
Well, it was pretty anticlimactic. I was the only guest walking through the FP+ queue. I tapped the touchpoint, Mickey quickly lit up and I was ushered through. And yes, he still wanted the redhead.
A side note about POTC: The fog effect was working. The mermaids did not. The boats were a little wet but not flooded. And they still backed up right at the treasure scene.
I exited POTC and scored a cool, older Test Track pin from a CM in the shop. With my BTMRR FP+ not for another 40 minutes, i made my way to the Jungle Cruise. Standby was listed at 40 minutes, and the line there usually moves pretty quickly, but I was a little tired so I decided to opt for a relaxing grand circle tour of the MK and headed to Frontierland Station to ride the steam train instead. I enjoyed the ride (as always, I love trains) then exited and went over to BTMRR. I was a little early, so I decided to browse the MDE app on my phone. The park was starting to fill up and the attraction wait times began to reflect that.
It was 11:05 a.m. on the dot and walked up to the FP+ queue. This time, I kept my phone out to record the touchpoint process since some folks here have claimed that it takes 5-6 seconds for the green Mickey to give you the OK. I thought that seemed like a little exaggerated so I wanted to capture it for myself. And it's no where near 5 seconds. What does take some time, though, is getting people to use both of the touchpoints. That's what's causing the initial backups. But after that, its smooth sailing into the attraction.
I also had never noticed before that it actually chimes when it lights up. I heard it for the first time when reviewing the video. Sorry, I forgot to flip my phone on the side (ugh! how embarrassing).
Well, it was about 11:30 a.m. and I had survived all the dangers on BTM so I decided to celebrate with a burger with all the fixins at Pecos Bills before it was bombarded with hungry vacationers.
I rather quickly enjoyed my burger and cheese fries (a healthy snack, you know) and attempted to walk some of it off on my way to Tomorrowland. I made a detour to the Carousel since the line was super short, and in my numerous trips to the MK I had actually never experienced it. And hey, there's no time like the present. It was fun. And now I can check it off my list.
It was about 12:15 p.m. and I could have headed straight for my FP+ at SM, but decided to let my meal continue to settle some more and tooka smooth ride around the COP.
After my trip through the decades, I walked toward the FP+ queue for SM. By this time, the park was obviously packed and the line had extended out under the TTA track. The SM standby line was reading 70 minutes, so i happily hopped into the FP+ queue. I kept track of the time, and in the end, it took four minutes and some change to get to the touchpoint. From there, again, I walked all the way through the indoor queue and up to the second touchpoint. And from there, it was about a five minute wait to board my rocket ship.
Here's the view from the initial FP+ queue:
I arrived back in Tomorrowland from my trip through space and made my way back to the Hub to grab a ice cream sandwich and enjoy it while people watching near the Partners statue.
I finally set off for home at around 1:30 p.m.
No, I didn't stay too long, but I did get to experience 6 attractions in the short amount of time. I didn't experience any hiccups in the system, but I did see a couple of families having some trouble. One had arrived too early to BTMRR and the other walked up to SM, Mickey denied them and the CM said their next FP+ was for BTMRR. They claimed they had just used that reservation. The CM worked on his screen for a bit, asked them to tap the touchpoint again, it illuminated green for them and he then waived them through. Not sure what changes he made. Maybe he was able to override the system?
So as a solo (this time), local AP guest, using FP+ for the first time was a success.
I predicted early on that being able to book the rides in advance will really fit MY touring style. I like having a plan, especially if it means I'll be able to experience my favorite attractions with ease. And I still had time between my reservation times to enjoy other attractions on a whim. Even with them back to back.
I hope that those of you that stuck it out enjoyed this long-winded post, and i'll be sure to add an update once I transition to a magic band.
This would be my first solo trip. My DF had to work and I decided to test it out on my own and report back to her and here with my findings.
Our AP Magic Bands have likely shipped by now (maybe), so for now I traversed the park with my AP RFID card slipped into a hard plastic case and hooked on to pin lanyard — yes I collect pins from time to time, so sue me.
My three FP+ selections were as follows:
POTC: 9:50-10:50 a.m.
BTMRR: 11:05 a.m.-12:05 p.m.
SM: 12:10-1:10 p.m.
I arrived at the TTC at about 8:50 a.m. and promptly parked in Simba 17. I boarded the tram, headed for the ferry boat and enjoyed the view of the lagoon from the upper deck.
Once at the MK gate I strolled through the guest's without bags entrance, tapped my AP RFID at the touchpoint and set off for Adventureland and the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House to kill some time before my POTC reservation.
I descended the tree house at 9:50 a.m. and headed to POTC to officially experience FP+ for the first time. I was a little anxious. Will my card work? Will it take forever for Mickey to illuminate? Will that pirate still will want the redhead?'
Well, it was pretty anticlimactic. I was the only guest walking through the FP+ queue. I tapped the touchpoint, Mickey quickly lit up and I was ushered through. And yes, he still wanted the redhead.
A side note about POTC: The fog effect was working. The mermaids did not. The boats were a little wet but not flooded. And they still backed up right at the treasure scene.
I exited POTC and scored a cool, older Test Track pin from a CM in the shop. With my BTMRR FP+ not for another 40 minutes, i made my way to the Jungle Cruise. Standby was listed at 40 minutes, and the line there usually moves pretty quickly, but I was a little tired so I decided to opt for a relaxing grand circle tour of the MK and headed to Frontierland Station to ride the steam train instead. I enjoyed the ride (as always, I love trains) then exited and went over to BTMRR. I was a little early, so I decided to browse the MDE app on my phone. The park was starting to fill up and the attraction wait times began to reflect that.
It was 11:05 a.m. on the dot and walked up to the FP+ queue. This time, I kept my phone out to record the touchpoint process since some folks here have claimed that it takes 5-6 seconds for the green Mickey to give you the OK. I thought that seemed like a little exaggerated so I wanted to capture it for myself. And it's no where near 5 seconds. What does take some time, though, is getting people to use both of the touchpoints. That's what's causing the initial backups. But after that, its smooth sailing into the attraction.
I also had never noticed before that it actually chimes when it lights up. I heard it for the first time when reviewing the video. Sorry, I forgot to flip my phone on the side (ugh! how embarrassing).
Well, it was about 11:30 a.m. and I had survived all the dangers on BTM so I decided to celebrate with a burger with all the fixins at Pecos Bills before it was bombarded with hungry vacationers.
I rather quickly enjoyed my burger and cheese fries (a healthy snack, you know) and attempted to walk some of it off on my way to Tomorrowland. I made a detour to the Carousel since the line was super short, and in my numerous trips to the MK I had actually never experienced it. And hey, there's no time like the present. It was fun. And now I can check it off my list.
It was about 12:15 p.m. and I could have headed straight for my FP+ at SM, but decided to let my meal continue to settle some more and tooka smooth ride around the COP.
After my trip through the decades, I walked toward the FP+ queue for SM. By this time, the park was obviously packed and the line had extended out under the TTA track. The SM standby line was reading 70 minutes, so i happily hopped into the FP+ queue. I kept track of the time, and in the end, it took four minutes and some change to get to the touchpoint. From there, again, I walked all the way through the indoor queue and up to the second touchpoint. And from there, it was about a five minute wait to board my rocket ship.
Here's the view from the initial FP+ queue:
I arrived back in Tomorrowland from my trip through space and made my way back to the Hub to grab a ice cream sandwich and enjoy it while people watching near the Partners statue.
I finally set off for home at around 1:30 p.m.
No, I didn't stay too long, but I did get to experience 6 attractions in the short amount of time. I didn't experience any hiccups in the system, but I did see a couple of families having some trouble. One had arrived too early to BTMRR and the other walked up to SM, Mickey denied them and the CM said their next FP+ was for BTMRR. They claimed they had just used that reservation. The CM worked on his screen for a bit, asked them to tap the touchpoint again, it illuminated green for them and he then waived them through. Not sure what changes he made. Maybe he was able to override the system?
So as a solo (this time), local AP guest, using FP+ for the first time was a success.
I predicted early on that being able to book the rides in advance will really fit MY touring style. I like having a plan, especially if it means I'll be able to experience my favorite attractions with ease. And I still had time between my reservation times to enjoy other attractions on a whim. Even with them back to back.
I hope that those of you that stuck it out enjoyed this long-winded post, and i'll be sure to add an update once I transition to a magic band.
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