Is the new fast pass as bad as it sounds?

[Pluto401]

You only get 3 a day now or something? And are restricted into how you do it

I dunno the fastpass system makes things a bit bearable and being able to do it on the fly is very nice and allows you to not plan your whole trip.

I don't know if I've used more than 3 fast passes a day before but I just don't like that it feels so limited.

 

[HRHPrincessAriel]

It's changed. You get a rolling 4th

 

[Tom]

Here's a great place to learn everything you need to know about it:

http://www.wdwmagic.com/other/mymagicplus.htm

 

[RonAnnArbor]

Your already behind the times -- so read down a bit and see the long long long long threads on the new updates to the system

You can reserve three in advance, but once used up, you can add one more at the kiosks, then add one more when that is used up, and add one more after that one is used,,,,etc.....and the same holds true for parkhopping, so you can still get fastpasses in the next park at the kiosk one at a time

IN many ways, this is now a BETTER system...the 3-FP only was universally hated (their market research indicated 97% dissatisfaction rating among annual passholders and DVC members-- probably the lowest score they have ever seen in their research for anything they have tried to implement)

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Honestly, we found the new fp+ too efficient! LOL
We arrived at each park after 12 sometimes as late as 2pm and used all 3 fastpasses in the first two hours. Then continued to utilized the rotating 4th fp+ for pretty much anything that had more than a 20 minute wait. We rarely walked through any regular queue. We landed Soarin, Maelstrom, Space Mountain, Splash, and BTMRR all as 4th fp+.
On our second MK day we had a 3:00 - 4:00 pm fp for Haunted Mansion, rode it, then moved up our Pirates fp+ to 3:20pm - 4:20pm, rode it, did hall of presidents & country bear jamboree , used our BTMRR 5:15 - 6:15 fp+ (@ 5:10), then grabbed a fp for Space (all slots were available) we took a 7:50 - 8:50 pm time. Rode everything in Tomorrowland (except Astro Orbiter), had dinner at BOG, rode Little Mermaid, then used our Space FP+, grabbed a BTM fp+ for 8:15 - 9:15, rode it again and camped out for Main Street Electrical Parade (which got cancelled) so we went back to POR for a swim!

That is quite a lot in just 6 hours, over 13 rides & attractions (17 if you count, BTM twice and TTA 4 times)

 

[rob0519]

Honestly, we found the new fp+ too efficient! LOL
We arrived at each park after 12 sometimes as late as 2pm and used all 3 fastpasses in the first two hours. Then continued to utilized the rotating 4th fp+ for pretty much anything that had more than a 20 minute wait. We rarely walked through any regular queue. We landed Soarin, Maelstrom, Space Mountain, Splash, and BTMRR all as 4th fp+.
On our second MK day we had a 3:00 - 4:00 pm fp for Haunted Mansion, rode it, then moved up our Pirates fp+ to 3:20pm - 4:20pm, rode it, did hall of presidents & country bear jamboree , used our BTMRR 5:15 - 6:15 fp+ (@ 5:10), then grabbed a fp for Space (all slots were available) we took a 7:50 - 8:50 pm time. Rode everything in Tomorrowland (except Astro Orbiter), had dinner at BOG, rode Little Mermaid, then used our Space FP+, grabbed a BTM fp+ for 8:15 - 9:15, rode it again and camped out for Main Street Electrical Parade (which got cancelled) so we went back to POR for a swim!

That is quite a lot in just 6 hours, over 13 rides & attractions (17 if you count, BTM twice and TTA 4 times)

It's going to be some time before we get back to try the system for ourselves, but it's good to hear it worked well for you. That's pretty impressive for 6 hours.

 

[Gabe1]

My DD and I are early risers. We kinda had a strategy that seemed to work for us, we were on the tail end of only 3 FP+s for the day last month. We opened the busiest park, got on the E tickets that we either wanted to ride twice or ones we didn't have FP+s for those first two hours while the parks were pretty empty. When the park was getting more crowded we scheduled our FP+s. After we then hopped to the least crowded park. We didn't need to stay and polish off a park because we were there for almost a couple weeks. When we were in the least crowded park of the day we didn't have to wait too long.

My concern for the new system is this is being tested during a slow time. When the parks are crowded during the summer months I will be curious what FP+s will be left to pick up mid day or evening, especially for those who have their 3 FP+ scheduled Mid day or later. Sure there will always be CoP and the Tiki Birds in the crowded times but I do wonder about the Soarin's, TT, Space etc.

 

[cw1982]

My DD and I are early risers. We kinda had a strategy that seemed to work for us, we were on the tail end of only 3 FP+s for the day last month. We opened the busiest park, got on the E tickets that we either wanted to ride twice or ones we didn't have FP+s for those first two hours while the parks were pretty empty. When the park was getting more crowded we scheduled our FP+s. After we then hopped to the least crowded park. We didn't need to stay and polish off a park because we were there for almost a couple weeks. When we were in the least crowded park of the day we didn't have to wait too long.

My concern for the new system is this is being tested during a slow time. When the parks are crowded during the summer months I will be curious what FP+s will be left to pick up mid day or evening, especially for those who have their 3 FP+ scheduled Mid day or later. Sure there will always be CoP and the Tiki Birds in the crowded times but I do wonder about the Soarin's, TT, Space etc.

My guess is that it will depend on the park, to an extent. MK may be less likely to run out of passes for the headliners because there are more options and a bigger mix of people (more people there who may not ride the headliners at all if there kids are too little, etc). I would think this will be more of an issue at the two parks with the tiers in place, but that's just my best guess.

We'll be there in three weeks and they are already extending hours at the MK for the night we plan to be there. I'll be sure to post how that works out!

 

[Weather_Lady]

We were there last week, during a low-to-average crowd time.

Obviously, 3 FP+ isn't going to get you on every headliner in a park, so if you want to do all the most popular attractions, you'll have to combine the FP+ with rope drop arrivals (and/or evening EMH).

In our experience, the best use of your FP+ is to schedule attractions for mid-morning through evening that you otherwise can't get to after rope drop (e.g., if you're going to the MK and you plan to do Splash, BTMRR, POTC, Jungle Cruise and HM after rope drop, you can make your FP+ for the biggies on the other end of the park that you won't get to until later -- 3 choices from Space Mountain, Buzz, Peter Pan, Pooh, Dumbo, Mermaid, etc.)

Also, making those FP+ as soon as they become available for you is really important. If you want to change any of your initial three later, "on the fly," for the most popular attractions, be warned that this is really only works at the Magic Kingdom, which has enough headliners that it doesn't tend to "run out" of meaningful FP+. Whenever we attempted to make any changes to our FP+ for headliners (or first-tier attractions) in Epcot, HS or the AK, we found that those attractions had little or no availability. (For example, TSMM was totally "sold out" several days in advance, while Rock 'n' Rollercoaster only offered times late in the evening. Kilimanjaro Safaris was totally "sold out" at least a day before. Second-tier (or less popular, high-capacity) attractions like Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Dinosaur were more readily available, and of course, we could always find FP+ for attractions where we didn't need it!

Same thing for the "additional FP+ after your first three are used" option -- to the extent it "works" (and it almost doesn't, because it's so inconvenient to have to go to a kiosk and wait in one line, so you can theoretically save yourself time in another line), only the Magic Kingdom had sufficient FP+ availability to make it worth our while.

We had more than our fair share of head-scratching moments, watching other guests try to make sense of FP+, like the people who showed up at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad immediately after rope drop and proudly scanned their MagicBands and entered the FP+ queue. (Meanwhile, standby was clearly displayed as 5 minutes and the attraction was a walk-on for everybody.)

Honestly, for me, the biggest change was having to readjust my idea of what a "popular" or "long line" attraction is. Thanks to FP+, many of the former "anytime" attractions (POTC, HM, Dinosaur, Aladdin's Magic Carpets, Great Movie Ride, Journey into Imagination) now have long enough wait times that they've actually become reasonable FP+ candidates during certain times of day.

 

[DisneyCane]

The bad thing about FP+ is what it does to Standby. First of all, since they allow FP+ to be booked from the time the park opens, gone are the days where you could ride before the FP line bogs everything down. Even on busy days, you used to be able to go to Epcot at rope drop, head to Soarin', get a FP and jump into standby. There would be essentially no wait. When you were done you could scoot over to Test Track and ride with very little wait (maybe 15 minutes) since the FP line hadn't started yet. Then you'd have your second ride on Soarin'.

We were there last week on a very light morning. We arrived at Epcot around 9:10. Maybe half of the first parking lot section was full (they were only parking 1 car in each row instead of 2). We went straight to TT and the wait was 50 minutes. Maybe there were morning EMH, I don't know but that is crazy. We rode single rider and walked right on because there is no way that ride is worth almost an hour of waiting.

The prior day we had afternoon FP+ booked at MK so we went to AK at about 10 AM. We were able to ride EE on standby with about a 35 minute wait which wasn't too terrible. Then we went to Dinosaur (which used to be almost walk on no matter how busy it was). There was a 30 minute posted wait but it did only take around 15 because there was a period with a lull in FP riders. The Safari was 90 minute posted and we didn't even bother. I've never seen that long of a wait on a relatively light day.

At MK, FP+ has ruined POTC and HM. On a light day HM would always be 15 minutes or less and POTC 5-10. Last week HM was 35 and POTC 20. Of course, strangely SM was only 20 minutes and Splash was 25.

 

[DizneyPryncess]

We loved the FP+, we used it every day on our recent trip and had no issues at all. We scheduled all 3 in a row between rope drop & 11:30. Then DD goes back to the resort for a nap from 12-2. When we would come back into the parks after that, we would either get a 4th fastpass, or walk on something with a small wait. With all the rain, and it being a lower crowd time, we really hardly needed more fastpasses. I wasn't worried that I would hate the new system but found it really easy to use.

 

[dadddio]

Honestly, we found the new fp+ too efficient! LOL
We arrived at each park after 12 sometimes as late as 2pm and used all 3 fastpasses in the first two hours. Then continued to utilized the rotating 4th fp+ for pretty much anything that had more than a 20 minute wait. We rarely walked through any regular queue. We landed Soarin, Maelstrom, Space Mountain, Splash, and BTMRR all as 4th fp+.
On our second MK day we had a 3:00 - 4:00 pm fp for Haunted Mansion, rode it, then moved up our Pirates fp+ to 3:20pm - 4:20pm, rode it, did hall of presidents & country bear jamboree , used our BTMRR 5:15 - 6:15 fp+ (@ 5:10), then grabbed a fp for Space (all slots were available) we took a 7:50 - 8:50 pm time. Rode everything in Tomorrowland (except Astro Orbiter), had dinner at BOG, rode Little Mermaid, then used our Space FP+, grabbed a BTM fp+ for 8:15 - 9:15, rode it again and camped out for Main Street Electrical Parade (which got cancelled) so we went back to POR for a swim!

That is quite a lot in just 6 hours, over 13 rides & attractions (17 if you count, BTM twice and TTA 4 times)

Wow. That's far more efficient than I think that we ever were with FP-.

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Wow. That's far more efficient than I think that we ever were with FP-.

We are not the commando park type either. We much prefer the slow go and relaxing pace. So for us to get that much done in 6 hours is unheard of! I was stressed about fp+ but after the first night using it, I loved it. Using it completely changed my opinion of magic bands and fp+. I think it was an excellent choice.

 

[dixiegirl]

We are not the commando park type either. We much prefer the slow go and relaxing pace. So for us to get that much done in 6 hours is unheard of! I was stressed about fp+ but after the first night using it, I loved it. Using it completely changed my opinion of magic bands and fp+. I think it was an excellent choice.

I'm hoping thats the case when we go in August as well..We are far from the commando types either..Having gone every yr (knock on wood) for the past 18yrs we like to take it at a nice pace...Yes we make some dining reservations but nothing crazy..So this whole thing of planning our days in advance is already making me itchy...As we're getting closer to the 60 day mark to make our fp selections i'm hoping i'll feel better once we get to actually to see it in action !

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

I'm hoping thats the case when we go in August as well..We are far from the commando types either..Having gone every yr (knock on wood) for the past 18yrs we like to take it at a nice pace...Yes we make some dining reservations but nothing crazy..So this whole thing of planning our days in advance is already making me itchy...As we're getting closer to the 60 day mark to make our fp selections i'm hoping i'll feel better once we get to actually to see it in action !

You sound pretty much like me a few weeks ago! I got to the point where I figured I'd done my research on it and had my 3 fp+ picked and whatever happened once we got there, oh well. We didn't have any plans to even use the 4th fp+ but after finding out we could move up our fastpass times after using one it made using the 4th fp worth it. We don't bother with touring plans or anything like that, we have always been the type to arrive mid afternoon and stroll on whatever has a short wait. The 4th fp was just announced before we got there, so I'm not sure how many people even knew about it because the kiosk were pretty empty and lots of popular rides had hour waits and fp+ was still available. So I hope it works out for you as well as it did for us.