Is fast pass plus making regular wait times longer

[SIMONRTAYLOR]

Hi

We went last November when the fast pass plus was in its testing phase and could still use the paper fast pass machines, so ride times was still quite quiet.

I am just wondering in perpetration for our trip this November and there being no more fast passes if the regular wait tmes are likely to be longer as we was waiting around 20 minutes to get on a ride last year

I lie the idea of fast pass plus but it really needs park hopping features

 

[jlsHouston]

I guess you go during a slow time to the parks ? Because without a FP when I went in November over Thanksgiving most of the popular rides always had more than 20 minute wait times.
I think since they eliminated paper FP and now you select your 3 FP+ per day at one park, the wait times are a little different than before but still manageable.
If you go during low crowd days you should be able to ride without long waits whether you have a FP or not on most rides.

 

[SIMONRTAYLOR]

I guess you go during a slow time to the parks ? Because without a FP when I went in November over Thanksgiving most of the popular rides always had more than 20 minute wait times.
I think since they eliminated paper FP and now you select your 3 FP+ per day at one park, the wait times are a little different than before but still manageable.
If you go during low crowd days you should be able to ride without long waits whether you have a FP or not on most rides.

Hi yes we went durign first 2 weeks of november, goign again this time betwen 5th and 23rd november,normally we find it quite quiet durign this time but was thinking the wait times could be worse with the new system fully working

 

[ParentsOf4]

With the exceptions of a few attractions such as HM and POTC, there is no objective evidence so far indicating that FP+ is making Standby lines longer.

Using data from touringplans.com, I compared December 2012/2013 and January 2013/2014 wait times. Except for a few outliers, Standby line wait times are not longer.

Please see my threads here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/fastpass-impact-on-standby-lines-at-dak.878492/

And here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/longer-wait-times-at-potc-and-hm.879842/

There have been reports that FP+ lines have gotten longer.

 

[SIMONRTAYLOR]

With the exceptions of a few attractions such as HM and POTC, there is no objective evidence so far indicating that FP+ is making Standby lines longer.

Using data from touringplans.com, I compared December 2012/2013 and January 2013/2014 wait times. Except for a few outliers, Standby line wait times are not longer.

Please see my threads here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/fastpass-impact-on-standby-lines-at-dak.878492/

And here:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/longer-wait-times-at-potc-and-hm.879842/

There have been reports that FP+ lines have gotten longer.

What woudl make the fP+ lines longer?

 

[ParentsOf4]

What woudl make the fP+ lines longer?

No one know for sure, although there are a few theories.

One idea is that redeeming FP+ via MagicBands is a slower physical process than the old paper FP. Plenty have observed difficulty scanning the MagicBands whereas the old paper FP process required a quick visual scan of the return time by the CM. This causes bottlenecks at FP+ entrances.

Another idea is that more guests are using FP+ than used FP.

Then there are variations of these ideas.

 

[Clamman73]

No one know for sure, although there are a few theories.

One idea is that redeeming FP+ via MagicBands is a slower physical process than the old paper FP. Plenty have observed difficulty scanning the MagicBands whereas the old paper FP process required a quick visual scan of the return time by the CM. This causes bottlenecks at FP+ entrances.

Another idea is that more guests are using FP+ than used FP.

Then there are variations of these ideas.

Has it been observed that there's no one waiting, or a low number of people waiting at the second fastpass check inside when there's a bottleneck at the first fastpass check outside? Wondering if the bottleneck outside is actually effecting the throughput inside???

 

[ParentsOf4]

Has it been observed that there's no one waiting, or a low number of people waiting at the second fastpass check inside when there's a bottleneck at the first fastpass check outside? Wondering if the bottleneck outside is actually effecting the throughput inside???

If I'm stuck in this "FastPass+" line at BTMRR, do I really care?

 

[JohnD]

What I want to know is this, particularly for day-trippers: How much time is transferred to standing in a queue at a kiosk so that you can get your FP+ times? Are you saving time or not compared to standby lines? I'm sure the answer is "yes" if the standby line has over an hour wait. But what about a standby line with, say, 45 minutes or less?

 

[jlsHouston]

@JohnD I think depending on the day you visit and the time and the kiosk location you can plan on a few minutes to a wait up to 30 minutes to complete a FP+ selection.
I don't know if it is better as a day visitor to start your day at a FP+ kiosk and make your selections for later in the day and then proceed to the rides and attractions that have reasonable stand by lines to do first, or run to popular rides first and do them standby while the wait is short, then go to a kiosk and select your FP+ for the day.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

On three separate trips with FP+, I also have not noticed that standby lines are any longer.
FP+ lines themselves ARE longer -- many bands don't work right at the first scanner -- that requries you to prove you have FP+ reservations by showing your smartphone with your reservations on it -- people stand IN the scanner area not moving out of it until they have found their fastpasses on their phone or iPad....that backs up everyone behind them. Once you clear the first scanner your number is entered into the system and you just easily scan and pass through the second scanner. Its the first one that backs up...
Time wise, I am not sure it makes much of a difference....Jungle Cruise example: in the old days you would enter the FP queue and wait 5-10 minutes to get onto your boat...with FP+ you might wait 5-10 minutes to get through the first scanner, but then walk right onto the boat without waiting in the queue....no difference...

 

[CheshireCat12]

If I'm stuck in this "FastPass+" line at BTMRR, do I really care?

View attachment 46499

This is exactly what I just personally experienced- but the line went very fast once they scanned you in. It took about 10-15 minutes to ride as opposed to the standby time of 50+.

I also would say that I felt a bit sorry for the people using the FP+ kiosks, especially at Epcot. The lines were huge! I feel like many of them would have been better off just to go over to TT or Soarin' on standby!

 

[toasty]

There was actually a post on this very topic on the Touringplans blog today:

http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/02/19/fastpass-affecting-your-wait-in-line-disney-world/

Full disclosure, this addresses standby lines only, and doesn't really go into the extra long FP+ lines, which seems to be the bigger complaint of late.

 

[WendyTinkerbell]

Another reason is that FP+ is now for rides that did have Fastpass before, such as PoTC. While theoretically it shouldn't make a difference, when you make changes do line structure and distribution, it's likely to make a difference (one way or the other) and possibly affect other rides lines as well.

 

[Tremendous11]

I had a mix of experiences on Friday. I noticed no fast pass+ delay due to swiping of bands/admission cards. Recovering from a ride outage was problematic. I think they need to be able to adjust the ratio of standby vs. FP+ riders that they let on. There may or may not have been an outage at PeterPan just before I got there, 70 min after park opening. The line was already out past the queue into the walkway but we foolishly stayed in line. I thought it was nice that a cast member warned us that the wait would be 35-45 min, and figured that was acceptable. Instead the wait was 58 min, including about 10-12 min of no movement while FP+ after FP+ rider streamed on to the ride with no wait whatsoever. My thought was 'it should be fast pass, not immediate pass.' They should value all guests, not treat those in standby as 2nd class citizens. In the afternoon, the standby line was long at Haunted Mansion (40 min?) while my FP+ wait was less than 5 min. I thought to be fair, I could've waited a little longer for entry. Then in the evening with my last FP+, Space mtn, must've had an outage just before I got there because there was NO line at standby and a very long FP+ line out to about the Incredibles Street Party. The standby sign said 70 min wait, then as the FP+ line began to move it changed to 20 min. I figured they'd probably hold up the standby riders, and had no idea if there was a long standby line inside, so we stayed in the FP+ line. It moved along and I think we got on in about 10 min.

 

[Victor Kelly]

UH seriously? All this to supposedly get onto a ride faster? Looks like the sheeple got duped again. While I used FP, I hated the thought of it. Usually ended up waiting just as long as standby that was right next to us. In the end, what is the point? 1 Billion for next gen, and this is what is rolled out? 3 FP+ per day for only 1 park, needing to carry a smart phone to prove reservations, then waiting in a line like that at BTMRR?

Come on Disney. We know people are huffing your pixie dust by the dump truck load, but they are not that dumb, at least we hope not.

One of the reasons Disney is on a 5+ year rotation for us now. With cost, high tech boondoggles, etc, we go to local parks like Hershey PA. Because after 40 trips to Disney, it is now way over priced and over rated. A great get away to be sure, but one we can only afford every 5+ years.