Do most people just not know about FastPass?

[abookworm]

I was so glad to know about FPs when we went on our first trip 2 weeks ago. I honestly can't imagine riding some of the rides we did without them since there was no way we were going to stand in line for an hour.

They are such an awesome thing and not hard to do so don't why more people use them? I don't want everyone to use them of course otherwise the concept wouldn't work I suppose

Of course, I knew from here that you didn't have to go back during the printed window of time, you could use them anytime after that too which we did most of the time.
But for rides like Indiana Jones and Space Mountain where the waits were 60 min or more we stood in line for maybe 10 min
I'm just so dang happy to have known about them!

I forgot to add that when going on Space Mountain on a Sunday night I got the dirtiest look from this woman that they had held back while the few FastPass people went by....I'm sure some people don't know what the passes are and think we pd for something special? shrug

 

[PattiPB]

Yup---I love FastPasses with all my heart, too. Now.....................


HUSH YOUR MOUTH!!!!!!!!!!! If they don't research and read the DIS, that's not our concern!!!

Glad you had fun!

 

[HydroGuy]

There are still many people who think you need to pay to use FP, so they avoid it. Of the people that know it is free, there are many who think it is too confusing or too much of a hassle to use. So they avoid it. Of the people who use FP, most do not care if you can use the FPs after the window. On numerous occasions when standing in line and having casual conversation, I have mentioned that DLR does not enforce the end of the FP window. Every time the response has been apathy - they just do not care. I no longer mention anything about FP to people at the parks because it is a waste of effort IMO. The vast majority of people DO NOT CARE. That is why FP tricks will always work.

 

[abookworm]

There are still many people who think you need to pay to use FP, so they avoid it. Of the people that know it is free, there are many who think it is too confusing or too much of a hassle to use. So they avoid it. Of the people who use FP, most do not care if you can use the FPs after the window. On numerous occasions when standing in line and having casual conversation, I have mentioned that DLR does not enforce the end of the FP window. Every time the response has been apathy - they just do not care. I no longer mention anything about FP to people at the parks because it is a waste of effort IMO. The vast majority of people DO NOT CARE. That is why FP tricks will always work.

You mean they just don't care to know about fastpass or they don't care that they have to wait in line? Or both?

I know some people just think it's too confusing to deal with....why? I don't get it-too bad for them!

The cool thing for us is that we got fastpasses with all 4 of our tickets even though we knew my son and I were the only ones riding the "thrill" rides. This way we got to go twice without waiting to get another fast pass

 

[HydroGuy]

You mean they just don't care to know about fastpass or they don't care that they have to wait in line? Or both?

Believe it or not, I do not think many people make the connection. They are at DLR to "relax" and be "spontaneous", and do not want to have to think about it...

 

[snoodledoo]

I just don't get it. When my FP & I breeze past this huge line of people in stand-by, I am trying to figure it out...
"Why are you standing there so long?"

 

[MaBelle]

I'm glad to hear that Fast Pass is really worth it at Disneyland. I was just talking to someone on Friday who went a couple summers ago, and she said that the Fast Pass line was still a long wait (20-30minutes). But maybe she was there on a busy summer weekend. We've used Fast Pass at Disney World on 2 vacations and LOVED it! I was afraid that maybe it was advertised better at Disneyland or something. We'll only be there for 2 days in May, so I hope it's not too crowded!

 

[HydroGuy]

I'm glad to hear that Fast Pass is really worth it at Disneyland. I was just talking to someone on Friday who went a couple summers ago, and she said that the Fast Pass line was still a long wait (20-30minutes). But maybe she was there on a busy summer weekend. We've used Fast Pass at Disney World on 2 vacations and LOVED it! I was afraid that maybe it was advertised better at Disneyland or something. We'll only be there for 2 days in May, so I hope it's not too crowded!

There are two potential lines for FP. One is the FP Distribution line when you actually get your FP. The other is the FP Return line when you give your FP and are merged into the regular line.

There is no difference in wait times on average between DLR and WDW in either of these two lines from what I could tell. Your friend misinterpreted what happens at DLR. Even a busy day at DLR will not work like your friend described. At worst there can be long FP lines for a particular ride - usually because the ride broke down or it is extremely popular at the moment. The most recent situation like this was when Space Mtn re-opened in 2005. It was very popular that summer. But that was only one ride. Since so many folks sucked up the Space Mtn FPs, if anything that made all other FP lines shorter. Your friend might have seen only the situation at Space Mtn that summer and generalized to an incorrect conclusion.

 

[Leofoenget]

There are still many people who think you need to pay to use FP, so they avoid it. Of the people that know it is free, there are many who think it is too confusing or too much of a hassle to use. So they avoid it. Of the people who use FP, most do not care if you can use the FPs after the window. On numerous occasions when standing in line and having casual conversation, I have mentioned that DLR does not enforce the end of the FP window. Every time the response has been apathy - they just do not care. I no longer mention anything about FP to people at the parks because it is a waste of effort IMO. The vast majority of people DO NOT CARE. That is why FP tricks will always work.

Before I read these boards, I felt like it was a pain to mess with FP. I didnt feel like messing with it. Now after reading the many Disneyland boards I'm into it and can't imagine not using them.

 

[momlady]

Our new saying after last week's DL adventure is "gotta love them FastPasses!!" (as we scooted up to the front of the lines!! ) At first the kids were freaking out because we had "missed" our FP time

 

[nurse.darcy]

Two things about fast passes - 1. They have completely removed the fastpass machines from Haunted Mansion, Pirates and Star Tours. These lines really move fast anyway and are basically unnessary so don't look for them there. Matterhorn does not have fastpass either but it never did. 2. At DL there are only 7 rides that have fastpass - Space Mountain, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, RR Cartoon Spin, Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and Splash Mountain. Take note of the rides that don't have fastpass and ride those in the morning hours and get fast passes while out doing that. 3. DCA only has 4 rides with fast pass (correct me if I am wrong folks) Soarin, Grizzly River Rapids, California Screamin and Tower of Terror. Grizzly river rapids does not need fast pass except during the summer. The single rider line at California Screamin is faster than fastpass if you don't mind splitting up the group a little bit. The fastpass line at Soarin is separate from the main line and fills its own theatre first, then it is filled up with those from the regular que.

Also, please note that Soarin is now linked with the fastpass regular system (in case no one mentioned that before)

 

[disneyfanatic4]

There are also some people, like me, who enjoy standing in some of the lines. Call me crazy but some of our funnest times at Disneyland have been standing in line conversing with each other or meeting new people. After getting a fastpass, you usually need to wait awhile before getting another one so standing in some of the lines is necessary. Don't get me wrong , I love fastpasses too I use them when I can but I don't mind standing in a 40 - 50 minute line. I usually am there only in the summer time too which makes a difference.

 

[JennyW]

Mulholland Madness also has Fastpass

3. DCA only has 4 rides with fast pass (correct me if I am wrong folks) Soarin, Grizzly River Rapids, California Screamin and Tower of Terror.

 

[nurse.darcy]

Mulholland Madness also has Fastpass

Thank you. I thought I might be missing one at DCA but wasn't sure. I don't necessarily go on all the rides at DCA since I just love walking around there and seeing all the sights. . .

 

[DLR29]

I just don't get it. When my FP & I breeze past this huge line of people in stand-by, I am trying to figure it out...
"Why are you standing there so long?"

Well, i can think of a couple good reasons:

1) If they already have a FP for another ride and can't get one for that particular ride

2) If that ride has run out of FPs

3) If the FP distribution is for really late in the day

 

[fidoprincess]

I think one of the main reasons people don't use FP is because they don't know they can go after the time window. One time, a mother was actually crying because her family missed their return time!! When I told her she could still go, her whole face brightened up and she was thrilled.

If you don't know that piece of information, it really is a pain to try and "schedule" the whole day around "appointments" at the parks!

We would never do the parks without the FP but we learned a long time ago to collect them all in the morning and then use them all afternoon when the park crowds soar.

 

[auntyjenn]

We actually gave away two fastpasses to people who were waiting in the regular line, then they got out of the regular line, then got back in because they noticed the FP time had expired. We finally convinced them to just give it a try (they didn't want to lose their spot again, bless them). But once they were flying past everyone else in line they cheered up a lot.

 

[PoohBearFriends]

We just returned from DL Tuesday and did FP a lot. We get a lot in the am because the return times are 30 minutes. We also figured out which ones to get early, i.e. SM vs. BTMRR because the return is much quicker on the second.

The girls loved Rockin SM and we had no more than a 6 minute wait on the 8 times we rode it in 3 days. We either walked on in am or FP in evening.

Another trick that was great was Double FP at DCA with Grizzly being disconnected we had soarin and Grizzly at the same times. It was 90+ degrees so we loved riding Grizzly.

We ended up doing 32, 26, 21 rides plus 3-4 characters a day. Kids are inbetween age we did Big thrill and little rides also.

The girls were getting a kick out of walking on SM when there was an 80 minute wait.

Long Live FP.