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View Full Version : Highly recommended use of the fast pass system!


madison66
05-30-2006, 01:12 PM
HI all,

I am always amazed at the number of people in the stand-by lines for popular Disney attractions, most with average wait times over an hour!

Dh and I visited Epcot on Sunday, May 28, 2006. We had a great time. We got fast pass tickets for Soarin’ at about 10:30 a.m. to return between 2:03 pm – 3:03 pm. We weren’t able to get another fast pass ticket until 12:37 pm., which seemed strange to me (2 hours later, even though we couldn’t return to the ride for nearly four hours). We luckily found easy entry into Honey I Shrunk The Audience in the interim. Journey into Imagination with Figment was closed when we exited Honey I Shrunk the Audience. As we were walking away, a cast member shouted, that they were just then reopening. We walked right in..yay!!!

We had lunch and returned to the park. The line for Soarin’ was about 90 minutes when we returned. We still had to wait let’s say maybe 12 – 15 minutes for the attraction, but it wasn’t the length of wait for the stand by folks. However, as of 2:30 pm, when we returned, a sign outside the Land pavillion announced that all the fast passes were gone for the day. Oh well, no luck for the rest of the folks for the next 6 hours!

After Soarin’ we headed over to Test Track, intentionally to get the fast passes. We got the tickets at let’s say 3:30 pm-ish for return between 7:40 pm – 8:40 pm. Similarly, we breezed right to the entrance of the groups to view the pre-show at about 8:20 pm. The park was closing at 9 pm that night, yet the sign at the entrance boasted the stand by wait time as 50 minutes. I guess you still get to ride once you are on line. And there was also a sign outside the attraction that stated the fast passes had already been distributed for the day.

We went on the boat ride in the Mexico Pavillion without incident. Just walked up and boarded…no wait at all. But the boat ride next door in Norway was again a 50 minute stand by wait. We passed since we had other attractions to visit.

I think one of the first tips I ever read on this board was to get and use fast passes. I still, several years later, wholeheartedly agree…get the fast passes! Although the return times were much longer into the future than what we’d been previously assigned in the early May trips we normally take to Disney, fast passes still remain an asset!

Madison :)

kelisshopping
05-30-2006, 07:29 PM
I totally agree! We were at Epcot on Sunday, too. If the wait said more than 20 minutes we got fast passes. That is the only way to go. I was also there when it said all the fast passes were gone and by the time we left the wait for soarin was 2 hours. I also recommend to get to the parks when they open if you want to try all the popular rides in a timely manner. We just got back late last night from our first trip to the World. I am exhausted!

juligrl
05-30-2006, 08:11 PM
FastPass Rocks!

DH, DD(2 almost 3 then), MIL, FIL and I very pregnant at the time went down this past January. Husband and father in law went on Mission Space with no wait (just opened) while us girls went and got FPs for Soarin'. Since they weren't good until later, we hit Spaceship Earth, found our Leave a Legacy tile from our honeymoon trip and caught the Jamminators!

Three of them went on Soarin' (15 minutes tops instead of the 1 1/2 hr line) while DD and I went over to get 4FPs for the Land (1hr wait). After they got off of Soarin' we had a bite to eat then headed back to the Land and walked right on!

We loved FP when we went down in 2000 and we swear by it now with our daughter in tow.