How will FastPass+ affect me?

[Disneyfanatic!!]

Hey all,

So I have not been to WDW since the summer of 2013, just before they fully rolled out all of the NextGen nonsense.

Reading about it has me very confused. So I almost always travel with a large group of about 20 family members ranging in age from five to 75 and we stay offsite. I have a few general questions, and instead of calling customer service for PC answers I came here for some real ones.

- Will we all need Magic Bands?

- Do I have to reserve my FastPasses ahead of time?

- Can I still just go to FastPass kiosks in the park and get paper passes with a later return time?

As you can imagine, traveling with a large group can be difficult if I am understanding the new system correctly. We don’t usually know what park we are going to until the day before, let alone which ride we want to get on.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated and calming to my nerves. Thanks!

 

[mattdenine]

Staying off site you don't get magic bands. You can pick 3 fastpasses each day (has to be the same park each day) 30 days out. You can still go to a kiosk in the park if you wish but the 30 day mark you will have a better chance of getting the more in demand attractions. After you use your 3 fastpasses you can go back and get 1 more fastpass etc

 

[lilclerk]

To clarify: the paper Fastpasses are long gone, there is only FastPass+ now. You don't have to make your selections in advance, you can go to an FP+ kiosk in the park to make your 3 selections for the day. If you want to make them in advance, you have to link everyone's tickets to a My Disney Experience account, and you can make them up to 30 days out.

Magicbands are not required, either. You can use your ticket cards for park entry and FP+.

 

[Nick Wilde]

Hey all,

So I have not been to WDW since the summer of 2013, just before they fully rolled out all of the NextGen nonsense.

Reading about it has me very confused. So I almost always travel with a large group of about 20 family members ranging in age from five to 75 and we stay offsite. I have a few general questions, and instead of calling customer service for PC answers I came here for some real ones.

- Will we all need Magic Bands?

- Do I have to reserve my FastPasses ahead of time?

- Can I still just go to FastPass kiosks in the park and get paper passes with a later return time?

As you can imagine, traveling with a large group can be difficult if I am understanding the new system correctly. We don’t usually know what park we are going to until the day before, let alone which ride we want to get on.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated and calming to my nerves. Thanks!

Not necessarily, yes, No. You can use your tickets/cards as your magic band. If you want FastPasses, you have to reserve them at least a day before you go, and there won't be much availability if you do that. Try and do it 30 days out, since that's the earliest you can. There is no way to get paper FastPasses anymore. But after you use your 3 FastPasses that you had reserved, you can choose more at a kiosk in the park, but only after you've used ALL of your previous FastPasses. There probably won't be many choices left, especially if it's later in the day though. Hope that helps.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Disney has special arrangements for FP+ for groups your size. Call them.

 

[BrerJon]

Give it a try, but I suspect after a day or two you'll just say screw it and only do standby lines. The waits will be long, but the stress much lower.

The new system was specifically designed to work wonders for small families who only visit occasionally, but tends to annoy anyone who doesn't fit Disney's perfect guest profile - unfortunately staying offsite and not deciding a park in advance puts you in that bucket.

Even for small parties, day of options are usually dreadful (think meet and greets or no-line attractions), or very spaced apart, so I can't see how there can be much availability for anything if you're trying to do a very large group booking once you arrive.

The app is pretty buggy too, and the first time you set up an account at a kiosk you have to enter NSA levels of personal information (name, age, who you're travelling with etc.) before the kiosks let you do anything. It's bad enough with a small group, I can't imagine what it would be like for a large one.

My advice would be for everyone to split into smaller parties and do Fastpass booking independently. You only get 3 a day, so maybe concentrate on enjoying other rides together, but do Fastpass rides separately.

One other thing, even if you don't know for sure where you're going, if you have your tickets you can still book the passes then cancel them on the day via the app if you go elsewhere.

 

[Nick Wilde]

Staying off site you don't get magic bands. You can pick 3 fastpasses each day (has to be the same park each day) 30 days out. You can still go to a kiosk in the park if you wish but the 30 day mark you will have a better chance of getting the more in demand attractions. After you use your 3 fastpasses you can go back and get 1 more fastpass etc

You can get magic bands if you stay offsite. You just have to order them online. They are free of charge and will be at your door within 10 days of ordering.

 

[arko]

You can get magic bands if you stay offsite. You just have to order them online. They are free of charge and will be at your door within 10 days of ordering.

Magic bands are not free unless you are staying at a Disney resort or are an annual passholder.

 

[Nick Wilde]

Magic bands are not free unless you are staying at a Disney resort or are an annual passholder.

I didn't realize this. Did they change it?

 

[arko]

I didn't realize this. Did they change it?

its always been this way.

 

[Nick Wilde]

its always been this way.

I must've misread some info on the app. Thanks for clearing this up. Don't want to spread my misinformation to others.