Extra Special Double Secret Fastpasses

[ZephyrHawk]

Okay, it turns out I have something really cool on my hands, and I was wondering if anyone else had run into these before. We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge this December and because of the construction, and my complete unwillingness to change hotels, we were offered "extra fastpasses" as compensation. I just assumed this would be a 4th pass available for scheduling per day. Well, last night was my fastpass registration date and I was only getting 3 options. But when I looked in the "Itinerary" section of MDE it said that we could "Select up to 2 experiences" per guest for fastpass even after I'd maxed out our days. There didn't seem to be any way to access this, though, so I called Disney today. After confusing the poor CM on the phone for awhile we finally figured out what was going on. Apparently, these are equivalent to the old "golden fastpass" that used to be given out from time to time. I can just walk up to any ride (ignoring teiring restrictions) at any time, and just get in. Twice. Per day.

So, my first question is, has anyone else had these before? Because if the CM I was talking to was wrong, I won't know it until the day I arrive and the super-secret 4th and 5th fastpasses aren't working.

Second, how bad is the construction at WL going to be? Cause this is a pretty nice perk!

 

[BrianL]

Second, how bad is the construction at WL going to be? Cause this is a pretty nice perk!

They are going to park a bulldozer in your room every night and fire it up at 5 AM every day. Plus a giant crane will be in ALL of your pictures, no matter where you are when you take them.

Seriously, that is nice. I hope they work for you, but I have no relevant information on them.

 

[larryz]

Plus a giant crane will be in ALL of your pictures, no matter where you are when you take them.

That's one of the new "Magic Shots" -- for $4.95 per photo, they'll Photoshop them out...

 

[BuckeyeBama]

On our last trip we had VERY noisy guests next door to us. VERY. A whole lot of people complained and we got 3 extra FP per day for the rest of our stay. These were the ones that you could use for any ride. It was pretty awesome!

ETA - To be clear, we had to pick a park for those FPs and use them in that specific park on each of those days. We had 4 days left and used them in each of the 4 parks.

 

[5Hfan]

That's one of the new "Magic Shots" -- for $4.95 per photo, they'll Photoshop them out...

you meant $14.95 right?

This is brilliant on their part though, "compensate" you with shorter waits, give someone else longer waits, and they still get all their $$$ from both of you!

 

[foohpah]

We had some of those Fastpasses via our DVC guide for a special situation on our trip last summer. They work just like they said. Scan and go whenever. I think there are still a few restrictions like no Anna/Elsa, etc. but they worked great for RNRC, TSMM, PP, TT, etc..

 

[Coacheller]

They gave us a bunch of those after we complained about the Premier AP price increase. (We had bought WDW AP vouchers to be upgraded upon arrival in Orlando)

 

[jpeden]

One note on these - I heard a CM explaining how to use them to a guest while I was in line at the AKL one day at the desk. Let's say you have a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from 3:30-4:30. Make sure when you go that do NOT use that five minute buffer regarding being early/being late. The CM at the desk informed this guest that if she was not exactly within her window, the system would automatically use one of her "extra" fast-passes and not her planned fast pass. Just wanted to let you know this in case you tried to get on a ride early.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

They are going to park a bulldozer in your room every night and fire it up at 5 AM every day. Plus a giant crane will be in ALL of your pictures, no matter where you are when you take them.

Well, at least I won't have to worry about the in-laws over-sleeping and being late for our early Crystal Palace ressies.

One note on these - I heard a CM explaining how to use them to a guest while I was in line at the AKL one day at the desk. Let's say you have a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from 3:30-4:30. Make sure when you go that do NOT use that five minute buffer regarding being early/being late. The CM at the desk informed this guest that if she was not exactly within her window, the system would automatically use one of her "extra" fast-passes and not her planned fast pass. Just wanted to let you know this in case you tried to get on a ride early.

Yikes! Good thing to know!

 

[LATJLP]

That's one of the new "Magic Shots" -- for $4.95 per photo, they'll Photoshop them out...

But don't complain, because your new double the cost APs includes free Photopass photos of the cranes, construction walls and mess....especially in DHS. Enjoy!

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

The fastpass is Disney's version of the hush puppy. Staying in a resort under construction? How about an extra fastpass? You didn't like your meal? Here's an extra fastpass! Other guests bothering you? We are pleased to offer you an extra fastpass.

Giving out extra fastpasses costs Disney nothing, and it is a way to pacify unhappy guests.

The problem is, they have been giving out way too many fastpasses and the attractions can't handle them. Fastpass lines are often out of the regular queue and into the walkways. On our last trip, we waited 20 minutes with our fastpasses for two different attractions that had posted 25 minute waits.

Giving out too many kills the value of the system. I would rather have 2 fastpasses that actually prevent me from waiting in line altogether than 4 or 5 where I shave 5-10 minutes off the wait.

I am not disparaging you, OP. I know it is nice to get an extra FP- especially one that is not strict on time. We got one of those for our September trip. It was nice to have, for sure. I just think Disney needs to find a way to limit how many people have them so people don't get so frustrated with the whole system.

 

[thornton0511]

OP we just got back from a quick visit to WDW and had 4 free day passes to any park with 3 anytime FP attached to them that we received from a mishap a few years ago. DH and myself decided to go without kids for a weekend getaway and used them for one day at Epcot and one day a MK. From our experience at Epcot we had to choose between TT and Soarin and had to use the same tiered system that the regular FP+ system uses. The reason for this, as explained by a CM at guest relations, was it wouldn't be fair for us to get to do both with FP. It was what it was. So we had 1 bonus to use at any Tier 1 FP and 2 that could be used at any Tier 2 or 3. But we were able to go up to any ride at any time to use them. With MK we could use them for anything EXCEPT for meet and greets and also could not use them at 7DMT. This was on top of the 3 regular ones you can schedule ahead of time. Not too shabby, but I will admit I was caught a little off guard with having to use the tier system at EP and not being able to use it for 7DMT.

 

[ArwenMarie]

The fastpass is Disney's version of the hush puppy. Staying in a resort under construction? How about an extra fastpass? You didn't like your meal? Here's an extra fastpass! Other guests bothering you? We are pleased to offer you an extra fastpass.

Giving out extra fastpasses costs Disney nothing, and it is a way to pacify unhappy guests.

The problem is, they have been giving out way too many fastpasses and the attractions can't handle them. Fastpass lines are often out of the regular queue and into the walkways. On our last trip, we waited 20 minutes with our fastpasses for two different attractions that had posted 25 minute waits.

Giving out too many kills the value of the system. I would rather have 2 fastpasses that actually prevent me from waiting in line altogether than 4 or 5 where I shave 5-10 minutes off the wait.

I am not disparaging you, OP. I know it is nice to get an extra FP- especially one that is not strict on time. We got one of those for our September trip. It was nice to have, for sure. I just think Disney needs to find a way to limit how many people have them so people don't get so frustrated with the whole system.

I don't know if they have been giving out too many, but I agree, they are giving them out to help rectify all kinds of situations.

 

[disney world dreamer]

i'm staying at all star sports in early december and apparently they are doing construction on the homerun pool area. (got a letter in the mail about it a few days ago)
it would be great if we got "secret" FP+ especially if we end up having to stay in that part of the resort.
i don't see anything on MDE about still having FP+ selections though so i doubt we are lucky enough.

but thats awesome for you!

 

[DanneyMouse]

We just returned a few days ago. On the third to last night of our trip we got stuck on a broken down monorail for two hours, so we were offered one of these for the final two days. It just appeared on my app and had absolutely no restrictions. One day we used it to go on Mine Train repeatedly. We had three each for a party of 5, but they could be split up any way we wanted, two of my daughters were able to go on Mine Train 5 times (we already had a Mine Train booked on our normal Bands). Also, contrary to what has been posted above, we were able to do both Test Track and Soarin' at Epcot and Toy Story Mania and Rock n' Roller at Hollywood Studios. And hop from park to park (if you already have parkHopper). On that day we used the special passes for Soarin', Test Track and then took the boat to HS for TSM. We already had Rock n' Roller booked on the normal Bands. So pretty awesome to be able to do all 4 of those Tier 1s in the same day within a 3-hour window. Of course, it was horrible to be stuck on the monorail and miss the Luau at Polynesian, so we did not feel bad about our good fortune. Not sure if Disney is over-issuing these or not, but certainly feel like it was justified in our case.

 

[EvieBug]

We just returned a few days ago. On the third to last night of our trip we got stuck on a broken down monorail for two hours, so we were offered one of these for the final two days. It just appeared on my app and had absolutely no restrictions. One day we used it to go on Mine Train repeatedly. We had three each for a party of 5, but they could be split up any way we wanted, two of my daughters were able to go on Mine Train 5 times (we already had a Mine Train booked on our normal Bands). Also, contrary to what has been posted above, we were able to do both Test Track and Soarin' at Epcot and Toy Story Mania and Rock n' Roller at Hollywood Studios. And hop from park to park (if you already have parkHopper). On that day we used the special passes for Soarin', Test Track and then took the boat to HS for TSM. We already had Rock n' Roller booked on the normal Bands. So pretty awesome to be able to do all 4 of those Tier 1s in the same day within a 3-hour window. Of course, it was horrible to be stuck on the monorail and miss the Luau at Polynesian, so we did not feel bad about our good fortune. Not sure if Disney is over-issuing these or not, but certainly feel like it was justified in our case.

I'm sorry you missed your Luau! They didn't charge you for missing, did they? (Just curious - I'd imagine they'd assume the cost when it's something like a two hour monorail breakdown!)

 

[GeneralTso]

We received the "all access" Fast Passes two different times during our trip. Once was when we had to leave Soarin' because we were going to be late for our dinner reservation. They gave each person in our part one and it was fantastic.

The other was when Pirates went down and we got stuck for a bit. The CM at the end of the ride gave us two each. Really nice!

 

[cjparker0110]

They are going to park a bulldozer in your room every night and fire it up at 5 AM every day. Plus a giant crane will be in ALL of your pictures, no matter where you are when you take them.

This is seriously the greatest response I think I've ever seen

 

[Lehuaann]

The comp FPs are not a "secret" perk. And I hope guests don't start creating issues to take advantage of them.

But, yes (and without giving too many details), there are different versions of the comp FPs. Most are restricted to one particular park only (usually whichever park you are visiting the next day) and, from what I understand, parades and fireworks are excluded across the board on all. It also depends on the level of issue and CM.

 

[Accident]

Generally there is a reason for the compensation and I wouldn't consider it a perk. There is a reason disney didn't want you to remain at the resort and your going to be impacted in some way.

The only place I would call it a perk is club level or better accommodations can easily get a 4th fastpass added on by the concierge while your there. Maybe taking the DVC trip to hear more or sign up, the "booth" can offer you fastpasses to compensate for your time to visit and hear more about it. Note this is not stopping to talk at the booth but taking the trip to see the model rooms and talk to a castmember who is going to try to get you to sign up and buy into it.

To be honest, there's a couple rides on most days/nights where fastpass helps do the park more casually and I personally don't need more and it fits how we enjoy the parks. TBH, there is so much being added to queues to be interactive that more often than not, part of the ride is the extra stuff in the non-fastpass line.