Disney testing centralized FASTPASS at AK

[toledo13]

WOAH! I hadn't heard about that!

 

[kmk1180]

do the same rules apply and you can only get one at a time?

or can you gete multiple for diff. times?

 

[jemlover]

I hope they keep this. It's a good centralized location. I about passed out in June when I was the "fastpass runner" for my family. I went to EE at rope drop to get fastpasses and then walked quickly to the Safari to meet the rest of the family. I was trying to get there as quickly as I could but with the heat and humidity I became very overheated and nauseous. Luckily I had the bright idea to call on my cell and have them buy me a water or I would have been really done in. We then got in line for the Safari and I felt better by the time we got to the ride.

It would have been nice to get the fastpasses at a central location. I still think they should follow the same rules about not getting a fastpass until your ride window opens up or two hours later whichever comes first. Otherwise the people who show up in the morning would take up all the fastpasses for the day very early.

 

[GrillMouster]

Could someone post a pic of the new machines?
How do you select which fast pass you want? Is there a touch screen? If so, what kind of information does the screen provide for each ride? It would be nice if it provided the current standby wait time in addition to the fast pass return time.

 

[safetymom]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2009/07/...nimal-kingdom/

There is no touch screen at any fastpass machine.

 

[SaraJayne]

I think it's a good idea in theory, but not so great in practice.

There are no return times listed, so I don't know why anyone would bother getting a FP to begin with ~ if return times are going to be added later, they should have been added from the beginning.

And it won't cut down on walking/running through the parks. You'll just be going back and forth, back and forth to the same place.

Not to mention if they remove FP machines from the actual attractions, the lines will be horrendous and frankly, not worth it.

So, good idea in theory, but bad idea when it comes to fruition.

 

[GrillMouster]

Thanks, safetymom. The link didn't work (it got truncated), but it gave me enough info to find the site.

So, the machines at the central location are identical to those at the attractions. Each machine at the central location only gives FPs to one attraction, and no return times are posted.

I like my idea: each machine would have a touch screen, provide FPs for any attraction (still 1 at a time), provide current standby wait time and FP return time, and they would be located around the park, not just at one location. A future enhancement that might be nice is to allow you to get more than one FP at a time, but they cannot be for overlapping times and they would be spaced out.

 

[Rip]

I'd like to see all the fast pass machines at all the attractions become "universal" fast pass machines with touch screens. The current fast pass rules would still apply; you could only get one at a time, but you could print up a fast pass for any ride from any other ride.

Then we wouldn't have a bunch of people running back and forth across the parks just for fast passes.

I'm not sure if the irony was intended, but Universal actually had something very similar (usually with 2-3 rides per machine instead of every ride) before they went with the pay option.

 

[brenda1966]

I love the idea of a central fastpass location, but the fastpass machines have to remain in front of the attraction as well.

Also, unless the return times are posted at the central location, I will probably still end up running to the attraction to get my FP depending on the situation. But if it could save even one run across the park, that would be great.

The touch screen idea is good too, but with hundreds of people touching it every day, I'm not sure how reliable they'd be. I predict a lot of malfunctions. But perhaps the airlines have already worked out the touch screen issues? They seem to use them effectively.

 

[KigerKat]

Cast member said this is second week of 4 week trial.

Bummer...we'll be there 3 weeks from Saturday, and I would LOVE to have this available for us!!

I think it's a good idea in theory, but not so great in practice.

There are no return times listed, so I don't know why anyone would bother getting a FP to begin with ~ if return times are going to be added later, they should have been added from the beginning.

And it won't cut down on walking/running through the parks. You'll just be going back and forth, back and forth to the same place.

Not to mention if they remove FP machines from the actual attractions, the lines will be horrendous and frankly, not worth it.

So, good idea in theory, but bad idea when it comes to fruition.

The return times can be added, and I'm sure they've received a lot of feedback on that already.

As for cutting down on walking/running through the park, I have to disagree with you. As I stated earlier, when I get to the AK my top 2 rides are EE and Kilimanjaro Safari. We will get a FP for one and then ride standby for the other. If we enter the park and get all the way back to EE only to find out that they are out of FPs for the day, then we have to trek all the way over to the Safari ride to get FPs there (if available) and then go all the way back to EE to ride standby. If these were centralized, we could easily see right away that EE was out and walk 10 feet to the FP machine for the Safari. Probably saved about 15 or 20 minutes. Granted, not a great deal of time, but it still did save some time.

I'll all for it! And it would be nice if they keep the FP machines located near the attactions as well - good to have 2 different locations to get a FP for a ride.

 

[ShannonMB]

I think it would be great. I would get an EE FP when entering the park, head to Safari standby, do Asia, then when it's lunch time and heading back toward the tree anyway (flame tree?) , grab a Dino FP. Perfect! I'm not one to need to go on rides multiple times or to bank a bunch of FP in my pocket. Just want one for each of us for the super-biggies without having to trek back and forth. I think it would work really well for me. I'll be interested to see how if they go with it permanently!

 

[iheartpeterpan]

Could someone post a pic of the new machines?
How do you select which fast pass you want? Is there a touch screen? If so, what kind of information does the screen provide for each ride? It would be nice if it provided the current standby wait time in addition to the fast pass return time.

I wish I had taken pics, but it looked just like the regular fast pass machines, except there was an 8 1/2 x 11" laminated paper above each machine indicating which ride it was for. The return times were not listed, but frankly I get a new pass for whatever ride I am planning on when my window opens, so really don't care what the return time is; however, I did ask the folks leaving the line before I got mine.

 

[iheartpeterpan]

I think it's a good idea in theory, but not so great in practice.

There are no return times listed, so I don't know why anyone would bother getting a FP to begin with ~ if return times are going to be added later, they should have been added from the beginning.

And it won't cut down on walking/running through the parks. You'll just be going back and forth, back and forth to the same place.

Not to mention if they remove FP machines from the actual attractions, the lines will be horrendous and frankly, not worth it.

So, good idea in theory, but bad idea when it comes to fruition.

It was great in practice. I used these machines on Tuesday. I am willing to bet it saved me at least 30 mins of running around AK to implement my touring plan. My feet were most appreciative.

I wish they'd implement something similar everywhere, IF they keep the machines at the rides as well.

 

[allyphoe]

We were at AK on the 29th, and missed rope drop by a few minutes. Stopped at the centralized kiosk on the way to EE to get EE FPs (DD's favorite ride), and wound up with 8:35 return times. The centralized kiosk was just being opened as we walked past, so wouldn't have been available to the people at the front of rope drop.

Earlier in the week, we'd been towards the front of rope drop, and gotten EE FPs at EE - and those already had 9:50 return times (non-EMH morning, so the equivalent of 15 minutes later).

For the first ride of the morning FP, the centralized kiosk gives the back-of-the-pack crowd, who would have a longer standby time, a shorter FP return time, so IMHO evens things out some.

I liked it.

 

[Sawhiskey]

Ill be there Monday to check it out...

 

[Cookie Princess]

I can't wait to try these! I will be at AK on 8/8 & 8/12. As the fast-pass runner who is now "over 40"...I would welcome a centralized fast-pass area to cut down on my running/race-walking around. I do think they should keep the machines at each location as well.