My hypothesis on why some love and some hate fastpass.

[Goofyernmost]

We are not at all saying the same thing. I am looking at the bigger picture as to what FastPass is doing, not the emotional responses at the individual attractions. I also do not think the emotional responses are the basis for much of the dislike of FastPass.

If by bigger picture you mean what it means in the long run to Disney Parks, their popularity, their ability to continue to have a high volume of return guests, making their first trip now, not 30 years ago, then we are talking about the same thing. What happens to people and how they feel at "a particular attraction" does not become frozen in time. It carries forward and affects future planning and many other thing in life as well.

If that is not what you mean, please elaborate, because I am just guessing here at what you consider the bigger picture and felt by the wording in your response that you meant it had a negative affect. If that isn't the case, please tell us, what point you are making.

 

[ddbowdoin]

I like Fastpass, in fact I love Fastpass.

The reason why I love it is that it in many ways guarantees I'll enjoy specific attractions. Our 11 day Disneymoon this past July was really dependent on FP's, just because the crowds were really, really immense.

What it allows us to do is experience and notice all of those small details and nuances we all come to love at WDW. Rather than spending a majority of my day waiting in line for attractions, I can sit... study the architecture of WDW, or small details of the theme, etc etc etc. It's those small details that I have come to love, not necessarily the attractions.

 

[midwest_mice]

I do enjoy fastpass, I just wish people would abide by the return times instead of holding up the return line trying to let a CM let them in early.

 

[bamillerpa]

My husband loves fastpass when he has one but is the first one to complain when people are flying by us in line. I agree that it's frustrating to be waiting in a long hot line and watching TONS of people fly on by. I wouldn't mind if it wasn't more even. Perhaps for every 4-5 fastpast people some standby people would be allowed in but when 20-30 people are going in at once and maybe only 2-3 standby people it's pretty miserable. I have not been back to Disney since they started enforcing the return time so I'm hoping that this will improve things. I don't mind the idea of fastpast IF it's being utilized correctly, meaning enforcing start and end times. I think that way only the amount of fastpast people that Disney has already thought the ride could handle are actually using it which means that the standby line won't be as bad. I know that watching a few people added to the line instead of 20 would go a long way with me since I don't personally like to use fastpast because I don't want to keep crisscrossing the park.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I enjoy the current FP system because it rewards those who make the extra physical effort. If I want a FP I know I have to arrive at an attraction by a certain time. So either I arrive at a theme park for opening or, if it's later in the day, take a break from my current instant gratification and walk to a particular attraction to get the FP I'd like. Call me old-fashioned but I like the idea that I'm being rewarded for actually doing something.

I'm nervous Next Gen FP will start rewarding people who press a few buttons, with no physical exertion involved.

I suspect people who don't like the current FP system somehow view it as being unfair. IMHO, it's eminently fair.

 

[EOD K9]

I think the problem with FP is how the CM handles it. FP is advertised as little to no wait. 5-10 minutes wait in FP is within that realm I think. When the CM lets 30-40 people with FP go, then 5 or so on Stand-By, there is a huge back up. While waiting for Soarin the CM held us up for about 40 seconds as she observed 1 person in FP line walking towards that area. I underatand the FP line get some preference, but why would you hold people up for 40 seconds for 1 person. 40 seconds does not seem like a lot, but you can get more than a handful of people on Stand by through the gate. Its rare I've seen a CM let one or two minutes of SB go through. SB could move quicker if the CM is a little more proportional.

 

[fosse76]

No, that isn't it at all. Line cutting, authorized or not, is something that kids are taught as wrong from a very early age. Remember back in school, in the cafeteria, when someone would cut in line? Remember how upset you got even though you hated the food they were serving?

It's not line-cutting. FP is a reservations system, or virtual queue if you will. The theory is that a guest who gets a FP would otherwise have gotten in line. In fact, a FP-holder is technically waiting longer than someone without the FP. Not only are they waiting (at minimum, but usually longer) the amount of time of the standby queue, but they also wait an additional amount of time once they get in the FP queue. If someone gets a TSMM FP at 9:30am for a return time at 5:30pm, that's an 8-hour wait plus the wait time in the FP queue. If I get in line at 9:30am, I will be done by 10:30am, and can enjoy the rest of the park at my leisure without worrying about the return time, or forcing myself to stay longer to enjoy the attraction. The purpose of FP was to get guests out of line to spend money. It's definitely made standby queues longer, since people go on other rides, or get a FP for an attraction and then get in the standby queue, but I think the overall re-distribution of guests makes it to where in general the standby queues aren't unmanageable.

Universal's system, on the other hand, IS line cutting. Though they've also started using a system that is virtual queueing as well, which is the system Six Flags uses.

No one thinks you are breaking the rules, they just think that they are standing still and others are enjoying the ride. By now, I'm sure that we all know that not everyone can have a FP. Yes, everyone is eligible to have one, but they do not issue enough for everyone to get one. So when they get almost there, and the CM tells them to stop and then they let FPers ahead, they just get upset and a little jealous and feeling like their timing is awful.

I am sure that's most of what the looks from the standby queue are for. But also, the use of FP requires SOME planning. The average guest will get to an attraction and simply want to experience it at that time (wait and all). They will experience the attraction more quickly than they would have had they had gotten a FP. The difference is they could have used the time in line experiencing other attractions had they gotten a FP. However that requires some planning, and many visitors probably don't want to have to do such limited planning.

It's hot, they want to ride and so on. I don't hate or even dislike anyone with a fastpass, I've used many myself, but I do sometimes get frustrated with the system, when it doesn't seem like I am making any progress. When you have a FP you love the system, when you don't, you hate it. Not the people with them.

I personally think that they issue too many FPs. I've been in line for an attraction where it seemed like they allowed 5 standby guests in for every 100 FP guests. I've spent most of my travels at Disneyland this year, so I don't know if the return time adherence has mitigated that problem or not.

 

[fosse76]

I enjoy the current FP system because it rewards those who make the extra physical effort. If I want a FP I know I have to arrive at an attraction by a certain time. So either I arrive at a theme park for opening or, if it's later in the day, take a break from my current instant gratification and walk to a particular attraction to get the FP I'd like. Call me old-fashioned but I like the idea that I'm being rewarded for actually doing something.

This is exactly what I liked about FP, as opposed to Six Flags' system, where you can be anywhere in the park and queue-up for a ride with the push of a button.

I'm nervous Next Gen FP will start rewarding people who press a few buttons, with no physical exertion involved.

Exactly. Part of the experience is just being there. And in my opinion, the easier it is for people to experience the attractions in less time, the less time they will spend in the park, which means the less money they will spend (which means Disney will start charging extra for this "perk" to make up for the now-lost income).

I suspect people who don't like the current FP system somehow view it as being unfair. IMHO, it's eminently fair.

Unlike Universal's or Six Flags' system, EVERYONE has the ability to participate without additional cost. That makes it extremely fair.

 

[Goofyernmost]

It's not line-cutting. FP is a reservations system, or virtual queue if you will. The theory is that a guest who gets a FP would otherwise have gotten in line. In fact, a FP-holder is technically waiting longer than someone without the FP. Not only are they waiting (at minimum, but usually longer) the amount of time of the standby queue, but they also wait an additional amount of time once they get in the FP queue.

I hope that this doesn't come across as rude, because that isn't how it is meant. What I'm about to say is my opinion, but to me you can give it any fancy name that will help rock ones boat, but it is line cutting. It is authorized and a positive form, but line cutting nonetheless. Virtual really means nothing in real life. No one was standing in a line until they get into the line, be it standby or FP. If they had gotten in line before me, well, that would be because they got there before me, no harm, no foul. Luck of the draw, but that isn't what happened. What they did was walk past the line, go to a machine, got a piece of paper and then left the area to do whatever, and returned when the ticket said they should. I was in the line before they were, in reality not virtual and didn't have a fastpass so they, with one were legally, morally and ethically allowed to "cut" in front of me. I understand the rules and do not hold it against anyone that they used something that was available to them as well as to me. It's just that I have trouble with all the justification of title changing. Reservation system or virtual queue are just fancy names for the same thing.

So, again, when we have one of those little pieces of paper in our hands it is the most wonderful thing on the planet...when we don't, it is sometimes frustrating and upsetting. Nothing wrong with it, it is a sanctioned system used in one form or the other by many places now, but it is not the actual process that is or can be a problem it is the mental side effects that are incorrectly implanted in the mind of those without.

 

[lazyboy97o]

If that is not what you mean, please elaborate, because I am just guessing here at what you consider the bigger picture and felt by the wording in your response that you meant it had a negative affect. If that isn't the case, please tell us, what point you are making.

FastPass further emphasized the focus on marquee attractions at the expense of the greater experience being created by the immediate theme. The system encourages moving back and forth from land to land, not staying in an experiencing a land, including not just its marquee attractions but also the smaller attractions, experiences and details that give any themed experience a depth of place.

 

[Britt]

I think people love FastPass when they have a FastPass for their favorite ride and can zoom past everyone else in line.

I think people hate FastPass when they don't have a FastPass for their favorite ride and are watching people zoom past them in line.

MMMMMHMMM....This exactly.

Love it when you have it, hate it when you dont!

 

[Goofyernmost]

FastPass further emphasized the focus on marquee attractions at the expense of the greater experience being created by the immediate theme. The system encourages moving back and forth from land to land, not staying in an experiencing a land, including not just its marquee attractions but also the smaller attractions, experiences and details that give any themed experience a depth of place.

Yet, another angle I hadn't thought about. Thanks for responding. In a vague way, perhaps it is a multiple unseen side effect situation. I have felt for years that even though it wouldn't show up immediately, the use of Fastpass would have a negative impact on those that were in the 70% with no choice but to be in standby lines due to the limited numbers of FP's that are available. Delayed lines would create a somewhat less than magical feeling amongst them and therefore influence a decision as to return visits over the long haul. Yours points out yet another, probably even stronger problem. Instead of Disney Parks being an overall experience it is concentrated on rides rather then overall substance. If all anyone concentrates on is how to get a Fastpass, they cannot focus on the entertainment venue that lays out in front of them. The very thing that made me the fan that I am. Without having to focus on FP's or FP times, I could just soak in and appreciate all of Disney, the attractions and the themeing. Good points, Lazyboy97o!

 

[Rasvar]

I've never been thrilled with Fastpass. I prefer to be spontaneous. I learned to use it. I know I am one of the few who actually like the time enforcement. Since I usually like being in the parks in the evening, I appreciate that there are now fastpass available later in the evening for most of the attractions. On a good regular summer day, I think Fastpass helps. On the ultimate crowd times, Christmas to New Years, I refuse to go anymore because it just makes the standby lines insane. That was the time when the Fastpass hoarding, not as major at WDW as it is at DL, caused the most issues in the evening. It's funny how at some parks for some attractions, rope drop means go get a fastpass instead of go get in line quickly. I almost think something like RSR in DCA would be better served to not have Fastpass due to demand. Just go regular and single rider lines. That is where Fastpass bothers me. If you aren't at DCA by 9:30 - 10:00, you aren't getting a fastpass for it.