Magic Fanatic
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 5, 2004
Normally my family and I take the motorhome down to Fort Wilderness and stay for 7 or 8 days at a time. We usually purchase the meal plan and a 5 or 7 day park hopper, depending on the trip, and spend much of our days in the park waiting for the next fast pass window to open. We have been doing this for many years.
This past week my wife and I had the opportunity to tag along with some friends for a 4 day weekend trip to Disney (Presidents Weekend). Because we were not actually on the room reservation, my wife and I bought a simple 3 day single park ticket as we were not going to be hopping around.
What I experienced has me looking at the Fast Pass Plus from both sides of the coin. First as a long time visiter to Disney World, I can certainly see how I can make it work for me and my family in the future. I know every inch of all of the parks and I know what is popular and what is not, thus where a Fast Pass would be beneficial.
However, my experience this past week with just a simple ticket has shown me how bad this new system can be for a random visiter to the park or someone who does not know enough about the parks to thouroughly plan a head.
On Friday when we entered, I went to buy our two 3-day tickets (at a cost of over $600). The lines were so long to purchase, it took us over an our just to get a ticket. There is simply just two much information being asked during the sale of a single ticket to move the lines efficiently. By my unscientific estimation (my watch), it took aproximatly 13 minutes for a customer to approach the window and leave with a ticket. There has to be a better way. Yes, I know I could have preordered tickets and that is a great option but there are still many who make spur of the moment visits that cannot plan that far a head.
The Fast Pass Plus kiosks are great in theory, but this past week end was a big mess. Granted presidents day weekend is the first real busy weekend of the new year, but the crowds are typical of a normal summer day. The kiosks where lined up 30-50 people deep. Very long wait to get a fast pass. I will credit the cast members, they were very hdlpful and did the best job they could to move the line.
The technology still seems to be very buggy. There were many times that the ride card readers had a hard time reading the imbedded chip. Not a huge issue, but still adds to frustration.
I can see this being a very frustrating experience for anyone visiting for the first time and not being aware of the layout of the parks and the more popular attractions. As for me, when we go back again for a full family vacation, I look forward to planning my days with Fast Pass Plus. It will mean I can get into the park on my schedule, ride the rides and see the atractions that I want to see and then get out and return to the pools or do other things away from Disney. I imagine this is going to keep more of my cash in my pocket because if I am able to plan well, I will be spending less time in the parks.
Just my observation....
This past week my wife and I had the opportunity to tag along with some friends for a 4 day weekend trip to Disney (Presidents Weekend). Because we were not actually on the room reservation, my wife and I bought a simple 3 day single park ticket as we were not going to be hopping around.
What I experienced has me looking at the Fast Pass Plus from both sides of the coin. First as a long time visiter to Disney World, I can certainly see how I can make it work for me and my family in the future. I know every inch of all of the parks and I know what is popular and what is not, thus where a Fast Pass would be beneficial.
However, my experience this past week with just a simple ticket has shown me how bad this new system can be for a random visiter to the park or someone who does not know enough about the parks to thouroughly plan a head.
On Friday when we entered, I went to buy our two 3-day tickets (at a cost of over $600). The lines were so long to purchase, it took us over an our just to get a ticket. There is simply just two much information being asked during the sale of a single ticket to move the lines efficiently. By my unscientific estimation (my watch), it took aproximatly 13 minutes for a customer to approach the window and leave with a ticket. There has to be a better way. Yes, I know I could have preordered tickets and that is a great option but there are still many who make spur of the moment visits that cannot plan that far a head.
The Fast Pass Plus kiosks are great in theory, but this past week end was a big mess. Granted presidents day weekend is the first real busy weekend of the new year, but the crowds are typical of a normal summer day. The kiosks where lined up 30-50 people deep. Very long wait to get a fast pass. I will credit the cast members, they were very hdlpful and did the best job they could to move the line.
The technology still seems to be very buggy. There were many times that the ride card readers had a hard time reading the imbedded chip. Not a huge issue, but still adds to frustration.
I can see this being a very frustrating experience for anyone visiting for the first time and not being aware of the layout of the parks and the more popular attractions. As for me, when we go back again for a full family vacation, I look forward to planning my days with Fast Pass Plus. It will mean I can get into the park on my schedule, ride the rides and see the atractions that I want to see and then get out and return to the pools or do other things away from Disney. I imagine this is going to keep more of my cash in my pocket because if I am able to plan well, I will be spending less time in the parks.
Just my observation....
for us. This wasn't a really planned out trip for us, so we expected the place to be packed Presidents week, kids off from school and all the snow lately from we are from, I expected crazy. 
I did FP last night for today and got into Sorin, Mission Space, and Crush for DS. 
