Does anyone else know about FastPass?

[ConvenientTruth]

We have to understand that not everyone is going to have a large amount of research on the parks that many here do. They may have an idea about the buses, the parks, and ADR's, but inside the parks plans is usually reserved for a much smaller group. I use them as I see fit...on many rides we will roll with the single rider option and try using a fast pass for those rides.

As for Rope drop....bleh....getting up early on vacation and working hard to have fun...why does that not make sense to me?

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

Those aren't the latest park maps. The maps starting in January 2013 no longer have the Fastpass descriptions.

http://allears.net/tp/maps/Epcot-map.pdf

Ok, but my bigger point is that it's a system that has been in place for more than 10 years & isn't some new-fangled technology that Disney should have to continually re-explain, IMO. So if it fell off the park maps a few months ago, I don't think it should be a big deal.

A guest can inquire about it to ANY CM in any park, restaurant, hotel, ANYwhere on property, on the web or via the telephone by just ASKING. It's not some big secret that only us Dis Nuts are aware of or that Disney tries to keep on the down-low.

 

[darnheather]

I'll admit that until I started heavily researching our upcoming trip I thought FP cost money. The last time I went to the park they didn't have FP (not sure about the two parks I've been to recently, but never waited more than 30 minutes) and I'd heard reviews about Uni that talk about the cost of FP. I'm so glad to be a planner and to have figured this out! Then again my family doesn't do coasters or scary rides so there won't be much FP for us anway.

 

[RedHeadedFairy]

We have to understand that not everyone is going to have a large amount of research on the parks that many here do.

I agree but I always have to wonder, why WOULD anyone expect to get everything out of a Disney trip without doing the research? It is a large & expensive vacation destination, bigger in fact than most cities & offering more variety than any other theme park in the world.

I wouldn't go to another country & expect things to fall into place for me without putting some work in ahead of time to understand what I should expect. If they go into something as big as Disney without so much as a basic understanding of the parks, they likley WILL get frustrated, WILL wait in longer lines & may not get everything out of the trip that they had hoped.

 

[gwmort]

Then again my family doesn't do coasters or scary rides so there won't be much FP for us anway.

Don't assume that, there are plenty of family friendly rides where they are great, like doing Buzz instead of Space Mountain, or Winnie the Pooh instead of BTMRR, or Jungle Cruise instead of Splash Mountain.

 

[Tormania]

IMHO the more idiots in SB and not using FPs the better!! Granted some might have them for other rides or just want to relax in a line for some reason and don't want to zoom all over the park, but I love hearing stories of disgruntled visitors comments about FP users. Warms my heart! But I'm a cynical, sarcastic person who has little time for folks that don't bother to educate themselves on even the rudimentary aspects of touring WDW.

Only my 2nd trip ever this Dec and I'm only been researching stuff for oh....about 7 months already, not including an aborted trip from 4 years ago and we had planned a lot for that one too so already had a headstart on the planning for this year.

 

[brerrabbit]

Being a somewhat admitted statistics and numbers sort of geek, I think about these things often. When I do this is what I come up with. I am not sure of the total numbers because Disney does not release them but it is acknowledged that they have the highest attended amusement parks in the country. If you add up all the "regulars" on this board and the others like it I am sure that it adds up to a fraction of the number of people that visit the world each year. Factor in first time trippers, off site folks, short visits, and a lot of others that think it costs extra and you come down to a significantly reduced number of folks that confidently use the system.

Also consider that when you FP past me at Buzz I really don't mind because a 30 minute wait there per the sign is really more like 20 and I have a FP for SM in 25 minutes so it's either ride Buzz or shop. I'll wait the line and I am okay with that. Also consider that we never ride Spaceship Earth at EPCOT before 5:00 PM. Enter the park and it's a long wait because its the first attraction. We bypass it for Soarin after getting a FP for it and maybe a quick hop to TT. Many folks wait lines because they believe they have to while fewer like the posters here know how to work the system.

 

[Tangled21]

I did some pretty rigorous planning for my last WDW trip. I made an itinerary for each park which included rides we would get fast passes for and at which times so that way DBF and I didn't have to criss-cross the parks. I also have the undercover tourist app on my cell phone and was checking that to see the wait times for each ride while we were walking in the parks. It sounds like a lot work, but I loved planning the whole process! And we never waited in line longer than 20 minutes! Hoorah for the Months-in-advance planners!

 

[Tangled21]

IMHO the more idiots in SB and not using FPs the better!! Granted some might have them for other rides or just want to relax in a line for some reason and don't want to zoom all over the park, but I love hearing stories of disgruntled visitors comments about FP users. Warms my heart! But I'm a cynical, sarcastic person who has little time for folks that don't bother to educate themselves on even the rudimentary aspects of touring WDW.

Only my 2nd trip ever this Dec and I'm only been researching stuff for oh....about 7 months already, not including an aborted trip from 4 years ago and we had planned a lot for that one too so already had a headstart on the planning for this year.

I concur, I'm not complaining that they are in SB lines!

 

[rachel09985]

People just automatically assume you have to pay for it! I have had so many talk to me about Fastpass as something they have paid for before. I had no idea what they were talking about.

 

[darnheather]

Don't assume that, there are plenty of family friendly rides where they are great, like doing Buzz instead of Space Mountain, or Winnie the Pooh instead of BTMRR, or Jungle Cruise instead of Splash Mountain.

Thanks. I'm still in the early planning stages, but I work on it at least an hour a day so it will come together.

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

IMHO the more idiots in SB and not using FPs the better!! Granted some might have them for other rides or just want to relax in a line for some reason and don't want to zoom all over the park, but I love hearing stories of disgruntled visitors comments about FP users. Warms my heart! But I'm a cynical, sarcastic person who has little time for folks that don't bother to educate themselves on even the rudimentary aspects of touring WDW.

Only my 2nd trip ever this Dec and I'm only been researching stuff for oh....about 7 months already, not including an aborted trip from 4 years ago and we had planned a lot for that one too so already had a headstart on the planning for this year.

Wow. Seriously?