Fast pass questions

[MaryannF]

Am I the only one having trouble wrapping my head around the new fast pass process? In the past DH and I have used standby or gotten fast passes depending on how busy the parks are. We take things at a much slower and easier pace and don't like to feel rushed like we used to when the kids were little, trying to cram everything in. When the new fast pass system was instituted we decided that it didn't matter as we could always use the standby line. Now I see that WDW has decided that they are suspending the standby line for some rides meaning that you need to have a fast pass to ride. The thought of having to book well in advance to ride a favourite ride seems ludicrous to me. The thought of trying to get this all co-ordinated for our trip next year with our family of 8 is terrifying. Is it possible to go to the parks without FPs and still have an enjoyable experience?

 

[Donald - my hero]

That is a question I've been posing to myself just this week! We leave 2 weeks from Saturday and I'm having rotten dreams already about missing something! The only thought i can give you is to perhaps approach it like we have. I'm actually pleased that we will get to do the attractions that we want at least once. We figure an alarm and a holiday simply do not belong in the same ROOM! We have never done a rope drop so we've never been on Toy Story and this trip we will since i made FP+ for mid-afternoon. None of ours are even schedule for before 11 am and i figure if we are actually at a park before that time we'll behave like we normally do ... wander and check out whatever doesn't have a long line.

Take a deep breath and ask everyone what is on their "must-do" list and be sure to work that in at least once. Have you looked at Mesaboy's thread regarding FP+? You can find all the tips you need there. Good luck and have tons of fun!! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3326057

 

[chelseabun76]

I'll let you know how stressed about the whole fp+ thing I am after my window opens up to book them. lmao! Right now I am telling myself my plans are awesome, my fp+ that I WANT are awesome, and that I'm awesome. If I don't get the fp+ I want at the times I 'need' to make my plans go smoothly, then we'll talk.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Like most things in life, it's all a matter of perspective. Yes, WDW is moving towards becoming a more pre-planned vacation, but not significantly more so than when they instituted the "if you want to eat on property, you'd better book your restaurant six months in advance" policy.

To me, deciding what I feel like for dinner six months out is more stressful than trying to pick the rides I really want to go on in a particular park sixty days out, where I have the benefit of knowing park hours and being able to look at crowd calendars.

Have to say that I also like FP+, not just because it gives my family the ability to sleep in or enjoy a character breakfast without having to worry about fast passes running out, but also because it allows us to hit a park at rope drop, ride the headliners we want before standby lines become too crazy, and then head over to another park knowing we have three guaranteed rides by way of FP+.

 

[dancin Disney style]

I will say that I'm a little stressed about it too. After many years of having things down pat I'm not enjoying having to do all the research again. At this point I think that I've got FP+ figured out. I agree that in the end it could work better for a lot of people. I like the ideas that the PP's have put forth...sleeping in and having FP+ for later or RD and then park hopping with afternoon FP+. In my mind this is the only way that the new system has an advantage. I'm sure I'll always wish for the old way.

My next visit is for March Break and I've already told my DD that she will need to get up early on park days to try to make RD. It's going to be a busy week...8 level crowds. We only want 1 FP+ (7DMT) all others will just be gravy. I think I will go with the plan of doing stand by in the morning and having the FP's for after lunch.

 

[SnowWhite12]

Now I see that WDW has decided that they are suspending the standby line for some rides meaning that you need to have a fast pass to ride.

Am I understanding this correctly? Does this mean that there are actually rides that no longer have a regular line you can wait in?? That there are rides that only have FP lines?

 

[bdoyledimou]

i was stressed until i got there and lived it -- it works well -- its not as awesome as the paper fast passes were -- but just dont stress it --- and it wont stress you.

 

[Doylemom22]

Am I understanding this correctly? Does this mean that there are actually rides that no longer have a regular line you can wait in?? That there are rides that only have FP lines?

We just returned and there are still standby lines. I can't imagine that they will get rid of standby lines completely - there will always be guests that haven't planned or researched.

However... Standby lines for the top rides were running 90-150 minutes!!! (7DMT, TSM...)

 

[scrappinginontario]

Am I understanding this correctly? Does this mean that there are actually rides that no longer have a regular line you can wait in?? That there are rides that only have FP lines?

When this thread was originally started there was a short period of time (a few days to a week I believe) where Toy Story Mania was a FP+ only ride. The test was completed long ago and all rides and character greetings currently have stand-by lines.

We have visited WDW 4 times since they started the FP+ system and we love it!! We're able to secure FP+ reservations for the rides we like and then use standby lines at other times. It's so nice not to race to the park at RD to get a TSMM FP when it's a day my DD wants to sleep in. I've easily switched FP+ times and attractions from our resort room, within a park and at a kiosk. We give the new system two thumbs up after using it for more than 20 days in the parks.

It is rumored that the Toy Story test was because they are working on a 3rd track for the ride. Hopefully we will see in the future the current ride becoming a FP+ only portion and then the 3rd track will be a standby queue. It's such a great ride and I'm excited that more people will be able to enjoy it!!

One other plus we've found to the new FP+ system is that after our 3rd FP+ is used for the day, we use the kiosks to book more. We were passing a kiosk on our last trip on our way to Pirates of the Caribbean. On a whim I went to the kiosk as there was no line and sure enough there were FP+ options available 5 minutes later! We snagged them, walked to the ride and then strolled past a 40 minute standby queue using our recently acquired FP+ ressies.

I'd give yourself time to try out the new system and see if you like it! Some don't but many do!

Hope this helps.

 

[SnowWhite12]

Thanks ya'll! I was just panicking a bit when I read that. Can't wait until spring break to go "home". haha!

 

[MaryannF]

We are leaving in 6 weeks for a week at WDW. I got a card in the mail reminding me to book our fast passes for rides and attractions, parade viewing areas, character greetings and stage shows. All the while telling me that "the number of selections you can make and available arrival windows are limited". NO THANKS!!

 

[minnie mum]

We are leaving in 6 weeks for a week at WDW. I got a card in the mail reminding me to book our fast passes for rides and attractions, parade viewing areas, character greetings and stage shows. All the while telling me that "the number of selections you can make and available arrival windows are limited". NO THANKS!!

So you aren't booking any FPs at all? Good luck with that then. I hope you'll come back and report your experiences after your trip. Just be aware that many of the standby lines are now much longer than they used to be, because they now also have FP (HM and POTC spring to mind).

I'm not a fan of FP+, since our family are typically park commandos who on previous trips would maximize FP- use and ride our favorites multiple times daily. So FP+ is a major adjustment. But we are also not content to spend a ton of money for only 3 fps followed by standing in long standby lines for the rest of the day. And we definitely don't go just to soak up the pixie dust and wander around the parks. Adding additional FPs after your 3rd may work during low crowd days, but according to current reports, it sure as heck doesn't work during heavy crowd times. Even switching times for existing FPs isn't possible under those circumstances.

We are going at the end of Feb too,which has low to moderate crowds predicted. I have our FPs booked for our must dos and will hope for tolerable standby lines. I hate that one of us is going to have their nose stuck to their smart phone checking wait times. This trip may be our breaking point.We'll see.

 

[kiford]

Because we usually go at low season (early December) we haven't used fastpasses much in the past. Maybe one or two for a 3-4 trip. However, last December (2013) I did book FP+ for our 5 day trip. The only three I ended up using were for Soarin, Test Track and TSMM. It's the first time we were ever able to get onto TSMM. Usually, by the time we would get there, the lines just to get a fastpass for TSMM were long so we never bothered. So I am quite happy about the system. We aren't rope drop people. Breakfast is usually booked for 9-9:30 am so we get to the parks well after 10 am and we take our day leisurely. It was nice to know that we would be able to get on what we wanted even though we ultimately didn't end up using most of them because the lines weren't terribly long. We'll probably still continue to go at low season and I'll book my FP+ and use them if necessary or change as required once we're there. I find that there's so many other things to do there that don't require going onto the attractions that it doesn't stress me at all to have to book FP+ and contemplate changing when there.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

It is rumored that the Toy Story test was because they are working on a 3rd track for the ride. Hopefully we will see in the future the current ride becoming a FP+ only portion and then the 3rd track will be a standby queue. It's such a great ride and I'm excited that more people will be able to enjoy it!!

It would make more sense for the 3rd track to be the FP line, and the current two tracks to be SB. If they do it that way, TSMM would suddenly be something you could ride multiple times a day if you had that desire (or had a young kid who did).

Honestly, I enjoy the ride, but it is like many of the rides in WDW, once is enough for a trip.

 

[bankr63]

I think the hardest thing for us is that we don't plan which parks we will do which days until we actually arrived in Florida. We always have a beach day in Siesta Key and a waterpark, and we choose the days for those based on the weather. We also usually plan IOA for a rainy day if there is one; figure we are going to be wet anyway. Once those are set, we work the other parks and attractions into the schedule based on the Touring Plans app crowd levels.

This new system is terrible for us, but I will be seeing what FP+ reservations we can make a day or two before we hit the parks. We might even have a slight game plan a week or so out if the long range weather forecasts are stable. Otherwise, we'll let touring plans guide us and take what we can get.

I have to say that for our touring style, Universal looks better and better all the time. I'm starting to wonder if we will ever completely use our existing 10 day NE WPFAM tickets; in two trips we've only about half used them. May take another 4 or 5 trips to finish all those visits.

 

[dancin Disney style]

At this point I'm 7 days away from booking my FP+. I will sit down today and try to work out a touring plan....FP+ and stand by. We have 2 days that no park is planned because we want to just wing it and I may or may not add PH to my tickets....again we want to wing that a little. If we decide we want to hop I'll add it but it may not be needed.

I guess at this point....it is what it is. We will have fun regardless. It will be a different sort of trip anyway, we usually visit during low season. This year March Break, which also happens to be the FL break week. We have been there once before on MB but only went to DTD and it was PACKED.

 

[suziespice]

I like the fast pass + because I can ensure that we are going to get onto the rides that we want, like TSM and meet and greet with Anna and Elsa. I don't have the patience to wait in line for 2 hours or more to meet them with my small kids (did that last time, but the queue was outside where they could meet up with me later and join me in line). The hard part is definitely commiting to what park you will visit on what day 2 months in advanced...it takes the spontanious-ness out of it for sure..

 

[dancin Disney style]

I booked my FP+ Saturday morning...12am. It ended up being harder than I thought it would be. The online system is actually very easy but it was hard to make the choices....rides and times. I tried to book things that would not make us criss cross the parks and so that there were not huge gaps in time. Also, so that our 3 were finished mid day so that there would be some hope of getting more. I didn't book anything before 10am...we will go early and ride stand by until then.

The only ride that we REALLY wanted was 7DMT and I got it on 3 different days and felt like I pretty much had my choice of time. I found the tiering at Epcot and DHS is not the best for us. I was about to only book 2 FP+ at Epcot but at the last minute threw in TTwC....my DD has been laughing about it ever since. There really was nothing else that we even slightly wanted on that same side of the park...we will go to Soarin(stand by line) at RD and then stay in that side until around 11am. We then will head over to go on TT and MS.

I also booked FP+ for one of my open days. We had planned to just get up and see what we felt like doing that day but while I was online I thought that I would book the FP+ for an extra day in MK. We may not end up going there, and probably won't, but at least I have them booked in case. Should we change plans some lucky person will score a last minute 7DMT and PP.

 

[chelseabun76]

I leave in less than 2 weeks now! ACK!! My fp+ bookings went well... I have tweaked a few of them once or twice since that night but things on paper seem to be nicely placed. We do have 3.5 MK days so that was making things a bit easier for me, as one of the days I have alloted extra down time to fill in with things we might have missed our first 2 days, I have fp+ for our favorite rides (some more than once) so I think our trip will go ok. Knowing we will for sure get on those rides every park day is a relief, and everything else will be a bonus.

 

[courtneylynn]

Okay so I am finding something to be quite confusing. I have booked a Disney Vacation Package (this is my first ever trip, ahhhh!) and I go on to the My Disney Experience Page to link my tickets but I can't since I don't have a magic band or anything with the ticket number on it. I know Disney does not ship magic bands to Canada so does that mean I cannot link them to my account until I get there? That being said, I want to make FP+ reservations 60 days before my trip but I can't do so unless I have a ticket number to link to My Disney Experience. So since I a not getting my magic bands shipped to me that means I will not have a ticket number, and since I do not have a ticket number that means I can not make FP+ reservations right? This all seems very circular and confusing and help is much appreciated!