Do some people just NOT know that their park ticket can get fastpasses??

[maggiew]

Lots of people don't understand it.Last trip I tried to explain it to this nice older British couple and they looked at me like I was nutso.Alot of people have no idea,and haven't done any research on Disney before going and I think since other parks charge for it,it confuses things further.

One time while we were at WDW and I was getting fast passes, I overheard this conversation:

Wife: "Let's get these fast pass things. (return time 1 hour later)

Husband: "No, I don't want to come back in an hour. Let's just stand in line." (wait time 90 minutes).



Maggie

 

[smidgy]

AND these people are the ones who typically do not want advice from us "Disney Fanatics"... "I just want to go with the flow on my vacation"...Let them wait as far as I'm concerned!

Yes I have a friend who thinks I am commando, we are so not, but because I am a Disney freak and try to explain some things she doesnt listen. She says that doesnt sound like a vacation. I say well a vaction for me is not standing in 2 hour lines either. So I rather do rope drop and learn FP and make ADRS, then stand in long lines and starve!

lol! i had friends who were going. she told me her mom booked through a TA who was a "disney specailist",. so she didnt' need my advice.

did you make ADRS? food is included. well, actually, it's not "included" you are paying for the DDP, and you get so many credits. but your credits will be wasted if you can't get into any restaurant.

no, we don't have any sort of "disney dining plan" my mom didn't book through disney. she booked through a travel agent, and all the food is "included".

I treid to explain that she should at least make reservations for a few TS dinners. her"I don't know what I feel like eating 6 months from now! it doens't matter, it's included in our deal."

she kept thinking that, becuase it was "included" they couldn't be turned down! sigh!

they ended up eating one meal with the whole extended family at coral reef (that the mom booked) and the rest they either ate at their resort (POR, either BOatwrights, or the food court.)or at CS at the parks.
they were happy, they liked the food, they said on return, "we just ate at our resort, it was good food." they ate at the food court a lot, using TS credits! and left a lot of credits unused.
at that point (their trip was over and they were happy) I didn't even bother trying to expalin (again) what they missed. they thought they had unlimited food, their resort had food, and didn't realize they had PAID for food they didn't get, and could have experienced nice restaurants,so I just left them be happy.

 

[Pooh Bear Hugs]

TBH the first time we went we didn't have a clue, the internet wasn't around back then and the TA were clueless. We did as much research as we could yet still managed not to find out about ADRs we tried to go to the Rose and Crown for lunch only to have the CM snap that we should have made reservations 365 days ago. No wonder some people complain about the Brits, she was the only rude CM we met that trip.

On a positive note we went to the R&C years later and it was awful so we were most likely lucky to have not got in

 

[Timmy Boy]

I am shocked that other parks charge for fast passes. This is why I only go to Disney parks

And Disney's glad to have your money.

 

[starlionblue]

To the OP, I beg you to not inform the masses of FP!! Last time I went, EVERY FP kiosk had a line! That's no fun! Some attractions I tried to get a FP for had such a long return time that I skipped it and waited in line because it was actually faster! Example: at Test Track, the return time was 3 hours! I skipped the FP and waited in line only 19 minutes! Ugh.

 

[Robo]

To the OP, I beg you to not inform the masses of FP!! Last time I went, EVERY FP kiosk had a line! That's no fun! Some attractions I tried to get a FP for had such a long return time that I skipped it and waited in line because it was actually faster!

That will be the case, say, 80% (90%?) of the time.

The idea is not to ride "faster" or "sooner," it is to be able to spend less time just standing in line, so that you can do other things as you await your FP Return Time.

On a popular attraction, the Return Times jump out in the distance pretty quickly...
and that's to make sure that not too many guests' FP will "come due" at the same time and
increase the FP line's length.

 

[starlionblue]

That will be the case, say, 80% (90%?) of the time.

The idea is not to ride "faster" or "sooner," it is to be able to spend less time just standing in line, so that you can do other things as you await your FP Return Time.

On a popular attraction, the Return Times jump out in the distance pretty quickly...
and that's to make sure that not too many guests' FP will "come due" at the same time and
increase the FP line's length.

Sorry, I forgot to add something: you can only have ONE FP once you punch your ticket. Therefore, I would punch my ticket for ride A at 11:30. The return time is 3:00. I punched my ticket again for ride B at 11:32. The return time was much closer: 12:30. I wound up re-punching my ticket quite a bit that day! I didn't say that I was expecting it to make the lines go away. I did skip FP since the sign at the entrance said the wait time was 30 minutes and the FP return time was 1 hour. I would ask myself: wait 30 minutes or try to run to another attraction and hope I can get back before the FP time expires? The margin of error was too narrow to deal with so I didn't get the FP for ride A. I waited in line 30-40 minutes after punching my ticket for ride B because the return time was only one hour. I hope that didn't sound too complicated for you.

 

[angierae]

I would ask myself: wait 30 minutes or try to run to another attraction and hope I can get back before the FP time expires?

You can use your fast pass any time after the return time. It doesn't expire. It says to use it, say, between 11:30-12:30, but you can use it at 6pm that night, according to multiple posts here on disboards.

 

[doconeill]

I hope that didn't sound too complicated for you.

Heck, you've even lost me on that one...

What do you mean by "re-punch"?

 

[wehavesix]

Sorry, I forgot to add something: you can only have ONE FP once you punch your ticket. Therefore, I would punch my ticket for ride A at 11:30. The return time is 3:00. I punched my ticket again for ride B at 11:32. The return time was much closer: 12:30. I wound up re-punching my ticket quite a bit that day! I didn't say that I was expecting it to make the lines go away. I did skip FP since the sign at the entrance said the wait time was 30 minutes and the FP return time was 1 hour. I would ask myself: wait 30 minutes or try to run to another attraction and hope I can get back before the FP time expires? The margin of error was too narrow to deal with so I didn't get the FP for ride A. I waited in line 30-40 minutes after punching my ticket for ride B because the return time was only one hour. I hope that didn't sound too complicated for you.

Wrong. You can have more than one fp at a time. Check the bottom of the fp to see when you are eligible for another one. Usually it's either 2 hours after getting the previous one or after the ride time for the previous fp comes up. You CAN use fps after the designated window. I've done it many, many times. Once used a fp for Soarin' 4 hours after the time on the fp.

 

[wehavesix]

My FP pet peeve is when people line up at the FP return line too early, putting those of us who are there within our window at the end of a HUGE line! One trip we marched to the front, showed the CM our FP and they let us right in in front of a mass of people. We probably got some dirty comments that time!

I'm so with you on this. We were in MK a couple of weeks ago and this very thing happened to us at Space Mtn. The cm was very young and obviously new so was having a hard time getting people to move out of the way for the riders with current fps. It was very annoying at the moment but I have to say I forgot all about it as soon as we got past them.

 

[SanFranciscan]

On our very first trip the FP system was either in testing, or just rolled out. I remember using the face pass line at Splash mountain. There was a 45 minute wait. As we're going through the line we can over hear a conversation between a wife and husband.
Wife:" where are those people going?"
Husband:"It's some kind of fast pass line. It's STUPID, you miss all the good stuff."

This guy knew what it was but acted like we were idiots for using it. Meanwhile we rode Splash and Big thunder and had lunch probably before they were off the ride.

Yet I do think that the lines should be part of the entertainment. As others have said here, imagine the backup if everyone used fast pass.

We did not use or understand fast pass during our only trip to WDW so far. We are skipping the dining plan next trip because it sounds complicated as can be as well. Disney regulars know all of the ends and outs I am sure. Yet while you are sneering at those not in the know about Disney for not doing their research, how well would your knowledge of their favored destinations be stacked up next to theirs? For those of us who don't get much opportunity to travel at all, just researching things like airport security can be overwhelming. Think about it.

HoopFamily, now that I look at what I just posted it seems rather snide. It was not aimed at you personally. I am sorry. I just don't think that experienced travelers realize how daunting it is for those of us who are not experienced travelers to go anywhere at all.

 

[doconeill]

As others have said here, imagine the backup if everyone used fast pass.

Except on those attractions that aren't really popular enough for Fastpass to be effective (less Fastpasses taken per hour than available), nothing would actually change.

There are a fixed number of Fastpasses given out per attraction per unit time. Even if every single guest in the park knew about and intended to use Fastpasses, they couldn't get more from an attraction that was already planned. It might mean that they would run out sooner, however.

This happens every day at TSM.