rides that used to not be fastpass

sbkline

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We are a little more than 80 days out, but I was looking at the My Disney Experience app on my phone and was checking fastpass availability for 30 days out just to get an idea of what to expect when I get to the 30 day mark. I notice that FP+ is available for several rides that used to not be FP at all, such as Small World, POTC and several others. My question is, has the new FP+ system made these rides busier such that I may want to plan to get a FP for such rides, or should I expect them still to be walk ons and not waste my fastpasses on those rides? We are going from May 24-June 3.
 

JasonDeyoung

Well-Known Member
I only use them on the major attractions or a ride that I really want to go on. Lines aren't normally bad when I go but it's always good to have them FP just to be safe
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
We are a little more than 80 days out, but I was looking at the My Disney Experience app on my phone and was checking fastpass availability for 30 days out just to get an idea of what to expect when I get to the 30 day mark. I notice that FP+ is available for several rides that used to not be FP at all, such as Small World, POTC and several others. My question is, has the new FP+ system made these rides busier such that I may want to plan to get a FP for such rides, or should I expect them still to be walk ons and not waste my fastpasses on those rides? We are going from May 24-June 3.

The short answer is, yes, for some. The attractions for which wait times have grown most significantly (e.g., doubled, at their peak) since the introduction of FP+ are Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Dinosaur (which may have had FP before, I don't recall) and Spaceship Earth, and to a lesser extent, it's a small world. POTC and HM, in particular, are now best enjoyed early, late or with FP+, especially during higher crowds, although the longest waits (and best uses for FP+) are still found at the Mountains, Jungle Cruise, Kilimanjaro Safaris, all rollercosters, and other headliners from days of old. Spaceship Earth is a nice way to use a second-tier FP+ at Epcot.
 
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sjhym333

Well-Known Member
I agree. I will also say that I have been using one of my FP's each trip to the park to catch an attraction that I normally would skip in the past because of the lines...like Peter Pan's Flight. So we usually grab 2 of the biggies and then throw in a smaller one we don't normally ride.
 

DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
I'm sure I'm going to get lambasted for this, but according to all the research I've seen, including the touringplans.com research, FP+ has almost had no effect on lines at all, with +/- a minute on most attractions. Just throwing it out there.

I know a ton of people around here think FP and FP+ are akin to the devils work, but I haven't seen official numbers to support this. In fact, the headliner wait times are about a minute less on average than they used to be according to the lovely people at touringplans.com.

Let the vitriol begin!
 

DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
Hey, all I'm saying is the scientific data over the past 6 or 7 years doesn't support that. I just look at the numbers.

I'm only there once a year or so, so thats all I have to rely on
 

DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
It's not that I don't believe anyone or I'm looking to start arguments, I've just come to put stock in the statistical analysis that the touring plans people do. I wish someone had some other proof other than it looks that way to me.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I wish I could link to it, but easy wdw has done the math, as well, and has come to the same conclusions regarding wait times that I've seen through personal observation. (I like touringplans too, but on this point, I respectfully disagree with their numbers -- not because of any subjective feeling, but because I actually keep track of wait times when I'm in the park and all I can say is, the numbers touringplans gives don't quite jibe with the numbers I've seen and recorded. Perhaps my experience is anomalous, but perhaps touringplans' "adjustments" to their calculations, meant to account for increased crowds and other factors, end up skewing the results.)

I think the reason most people don't really notice or have an issue with the wait time changes is that if you tend to experience each attraction in a park once (rather than doing the same 3 or 4 over and over), your daily wait times are going to be about the same in total -- the waits may be redistributed, but overall, you're spending about the same amount of time in lines. (Notable exception: anyone who used to consistently use legacy FP for all the headliners is going to be spending quite a bit more time in lines, while those who didn't use it before but are now using their allotted 3 will wait a little less. But that's all water under the bridge...)

Those to whom it makes the biggest difference are those (like my DH and DD) who liked to do traditionally non-FP attractions like Pirates and Haunted Mansion, e.g., over and over when they were near-walkons all day long (typically while DS and I were doing more intense attractions). Now that they consistently have a 15-30 minute wait, DH and DD can't help but notice the difference. Again, it's not a huge deal, but it's definitely different: instead of DH and DD doing POTC a couple of times while DS and I are on Splash Mountain and then waiting for us at the Splash exit, they do it just once -- and find DS and I already finished with Splash and waiting for them when they come out.
 
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ULPO46

Well-Known Member
Technically, the lowest wait time currently used by WDW is 15 minutes. So even though it may say it's 15 minutes its still an easily accesible walk on ride. How ever i don't think it was necessary to make seperate lines for things like POTC and other smaller attractions. Just be alert when using the app, sometimes if the big ticket attractions have no more fastpass tickets, the fastpass will be put for these smaller classes.
 

Ben_since_1971

Well-Known Member
I put a lot of faith in what TP says as well and to some degree I agree with their evaluations. I was there in December (12-23) and outside of POTC, do not remember seeing any ride that had significant increases in SB times due to now having FP. And for POTC, part of the increase could be attributed to the fact the ride was suffering some significant breakdowns and delays which could contribute to line times.
 

Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
I'm sure I'm going to get lambasted for this, but according to all the research I've seen, including the touringplans.com research, FP+ has almost had no effect on lines at all, with +/- a minute on most attractions. Just throwing it out there.

I know a ton of people around here think FP and FP+ are akin to the devils work, but I haven't seen official numbers to support this. In fact, the headliner wait times are about a minute less on average than they used to be according to the lovely people at touringplans.com.

Let the vitriol begin!

No vitriol at all, my friend. There's nothing wrong with wanting people to back up their posts with data when it's available. I wondered though, have you seen touringplans' most recent estimates? I think what you're thinking of (when you cite to changes of a minute or so) is their earlier blog post from just after FP+ came out. Their more recent data indicates that wait times at attractions like POTC, Dinosaur, and HM are up at least 5-10 minutes on average, which could be considered a deliberate understatement, since they opted to "adjust for increased attendance" by artificially increasing the prior wait times (the ones they used to compare with the "new," post-FP+ wait times) by 8%. http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/06/23/fastpass-lowering-waits-disney-world-popular-rides/ I realize that 10 minutes isn't the end of the world, but when it effectively doubles the prior wait time, it does have an affect on guest's experiences and perceptions (as does, of course, the correspondingly shorter wait times at many headliners).

Here's some other data that suggests even bigger increases in some of the formerly-FP-less attractions, if you care to stitch this link together by taking out the spaces: http: //www.easy wdw. com/uncategorized/ how-fastpass-is-affecting-wait-times-at-disney-world-attractions/
 
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DisneyMusician2

Well-Known Member
No vitriol at all, my friend. There's nothing wrong with wanting people to back up their posts with data when it's available. I wondered though, have you seen touringplans' most recent estimates? I think what you're thinking of (when you cite to changes of a minute or so) is their earlier blog post from just after FP+ came out. Their more recent data indicates that wait times at attractions like POTC, Dinosaur, and HM are up at least 5-10 minutes on average, which could be considered a deliberate understatement, since they opted to "adjust for increased attendance" by artificially increasing the prior wait times (the ones they used to compare with the "new," post-FP+ wait times) by 8%. http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/06/23/fastpass-lowering-waits-disney-world-popular-rides/ I realize that 10 minutes isn't the end of the world, but when it effectively doubles the prior wait time, it does have an affect on guest's experiences and perceptions (as does, of course, the correspondingly shorter wait times at many headliners).

Here's some other data that suggests even bigger increases in some of the formerly-FP-less attractions, if you care to stitch this link together by taking out the spaces: http: //www.easy wdw. com/uncategorized/ how-fastpass-is-affecting-wait-times-at-disney-world-attractions/
I'll certainly check it out! Thank you for that, it sounds like exactly what I've been looking for.
 

MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
I'm sure I'm going to get lambasted for this, but according to all the research I've seen, including the touringplans.com research, FP+ has almost had no effect on lines at all, with +/- a minute on most attractions. Just throwing it out there.

I know a ton of people around here think FP and FP+ are akin to the devils work, but I haven't seen official numbers to support this. In fact, the headliner wait times are about a minute less on average than they used to be according to the lovely people at touringplans.com.

Let the vitriol begin!
I think this is true to an extent. I think if crown levels were the same as they were 4 or 5 years ago the wait times would be the same if not a little less. The problem is that about the same time FP+ rolled out the economy started to improve and crowd levels started to increased and now the wait times for smaller rides are a little longer. Most people focus on the FP+ and blame it for the wait times but I think it has more to do with the increased crowds.
 

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