EAWildman
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2008
- Messages
- 226
Hey everyone! Just got back from a spring break trip from March 26th through March 29th. I went to all 4 parks, did some park hopping, used all my Fastpass Plus reservations each day, and did it all with spring break crowd levels (Touringplans called these days as 7's and 8's).
As has been discussed, the new Fastpass Plus system seems to favor those who sleep in and arrive at a park after rope drop, or those who book Fastpasses late in the day and visit another park earlier in the day. Here is a description of how I did during my vacation. To summarize: Fastpass Plus worked well and we had a great time!
Sunday, March 23rd.
Arrived at MCO airport around 8:00AM. Picked up bag, headed to Magical Express. Got to Art of Animation about 9:20AM. Checked in. Waited about 30-45 minutes until room ws ready. Found room, unpacked and headed to the Magic Kingdom. Arrived there a little after 12PM. Headed straight for Be Our Guest. Had a Fastpass reservation for 12:15-12:45PM. Walked right by huge line and right into the ordering area. Lunch was fantastic. Highly recommend the Potato Leek soup. Magic Kingdom had extra magic hours until 2AM that day, but we left at 1AM, so we were in the park for about 13 hours. In those 13 hours we were able to do 18 different attractions. That included seeing the new daytime parade (loved it), Mainstreet Electrical Parade, the castle projection show and Wishes. It also included our three Fastpass Plus attractions: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. We wound up doing Space Mountain twice (in a row) as we just happened to walk by after it came up after being down, so the line was short, when we got out our Fastpass window was open, so we jumped right back on. We also did Haunted Mansion twice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, Philharmagic, Under the Sea, and Jungle Cruise. Longest wait we had was about 30 minutes for Pirates of the Caribbean. Never hit any kind of long wait at a Fastpass Plus line. None.
Monday, March 24.
Ate lunch with family at Magic Kingdom, then headed to EPCOT. Used all three Fastpasses right in a row at Test Track, Mission Space, and Space Ship Earth. Didn't think I would need a Fastpass for Spaceship Earth but the advertised wait was over 30 minutes and we were able to walk right on. Also checked out Captain EO and Finding Nemo. Had dinner at Sunshine Seasons at the Land pavillion, but we never did Soarin'. That was a bit of dissapointment, and where the tiered Fastpass Plus system failed us. Then we hit World Showcase and the flower and garden show. Enjoyed desert at the Germany pavillion and watched Illuminations from Norway over coffee. Then we headed back to Magic Kingdom as it was open until midnight. We got another ride on Space Mountain in. Then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain which we were able to ride 4 times in a row until close. Very fun.
Tuesday, March 25.
Our Hollywood Studios day. Slept in and got to the Park around 11AM. Went straight to the first showing of Beauty and the Beast show. Then headed straight over to the first Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Had lunch at the ABC Commecary. Then proceeded to use our Fastpasses at the Tower of Terror. Then we went to use our Fastpasses at Star Tours. Here was the first very long Fastpass line we encountered. When we got to the point where you could scan your Magic Band, the cast member mentioned that many people in line either did not have Fastpasses for that ride, or were too early for their Fastpass window. Like 2 to 6 hours early! So, the line would have been shorter and moved faster if guests would have known more about their own Fastpasses. After Star Tours we saw Muppet Vision 3D which supposedly had a 30 minute wait. But after a short wait in line, everyone in the que line was ushered right into the pre show area, so I didn't feel like we waited long for that at all. Then we headed over to Toy Story and used our last Fastpass there. At the Jack Sparrow Pirate Adventure, there was no line, since they were handing out paper "fastpasses" for later shows. So we picked up that on our way over to the animatoin court yard. We did the animation academy where you learn how to do character drawings. In fact, we liked it so much, we did it twice in a row! Then we saw the Little Mermaid show. By then it was time to take our Pirate Adventure. Then we hit up the Great Movie Ride which was basically a walk on. Then we had dinner on Sunset Blvd. After dinner we headed into the second Fantasmic show. We didn't get to do Rockin' Rollercoaster, which was another failing of tiering the Fastpasses.
Wednesday, March 26.
Checked out of the hotel and put my bags at the luggage check. Then headed to Animal Kingdom to use up my last three Fastpasses. The Safarri had a 50 minute standby line, but I used my Fastpass and got right on. After the Safarri, I had an hour until my Fastpass for Expidition Everest became active. So, I hit the single rider line and got to go on Everest twice before my Fastpass became active. Everest Fastpass line was very long. When I got to the front, I scanned my Magic Band but the Mickey didn't turn green. The cast member gave me a paper pass to get through the next check at the end of the line. I think the scanner at the front of the line was having problems and causing the huge line. After riding Everest three times in a row, I had lunch at Flame Tree. That was very good. Then I used my last Fastpass at Dinosaur. Then I hopped over to EPCOT and rode Ellen's Energy Adventure and Spaceship Earth with family members before heading back to the hotel to catch my Magical Express bus back to MCO.
All in all, a great trip. We didn't get to do everything, but we did so much, and all of it with huge spring break crowds. So, frankly, I think the new Fastpass system worked very, very well. The only tweeks I would make would be to get rid of the tiering and allow Fastpasses to parkhop. And while there were huge lines at the FP+ Kiosks in the park, that should get better once off-stie guests can make advanced reservations starting next month.
So, everyone calm down...the new system actually does work just fine, even in big crowds.
As has been discussed, the new Fastpass Plus system seems to favor those who sleep in and arrive at a park after rope drop, or those who book Fastpasses late in the day and visit another park earlier in the day. Here is a description of how I did during my vacation. To summarize: Fastpass Plus worked well and we had a great time!
Sunday, March 23rd.
Arrived at MCO airport around 8:00AM. Picked up bag, headed to Magical Express. Got to Art of Animation about 9:20AM. Checked in. Waited about 30-45 minutes until room ws ready. Found room, unpacked and headed to the Magic Kingdom. Arrived there a little after 12PM. Headed straight for Be Our Guest. Had a Fastpass reservation for 12:15-12:45PM. Walked right by huge line and right into the ordering area. Lunch was fantastic. Highly recommend the Potato Leek soup. Magic Kingdom had extra magic hours until 2AM that day, but we left at 1AM, so we were in the park for about 13 hours. In those 13 hours we were able to do 18 different attractions. That included seeing the new daytime parade (loved it), Mainstreet Electrical Parade, the castle projection show and Wishes. It also included our three Fastpass Plus attractions: Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. We wound up doing Space Mountain twice (in a row) as we just happened to walk by after it came up after being down, so the line was short, when we got out our Fastpass window was open, so we jumped right back on. We also did Haunted Mansion twice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Winnie the Pooh, the People Mover, Buzz Lightyear, Philharmagic, Under the Sea, and Jungle Cruise. Longest wait we had was about 30 minutes for Pirates of the Caribbean. Never hit any kind of long wait at a Fastpass Plus line. None.
Monday, March 24.
Ate lunch with family at Magic Kingdom, then headed to EPCOT. Used all three Fastpasses right in a row at Test Track, Mission Space, and Space Ship Earth. Didn't think I would need a Fastpass for Spaceship Earth but the advertised wait was over 30 minutes and we were able to walk right on. Also checked out Captain EO and Finding Nemo. Had dinner at Sunshine Seasons at the Land pavillion, but we never did Soarin'. That was a bit of dissapointment, and where the tiered Fastpass Plus system failed us. Then we hit World Showcase and the flower and garden show. Enjoyed desert at the Germany pavillion and watched Illuminations from Norway over coffee. Then we headed back to Magic Kingdom as it was open until midnight. We got another ride on Space Mountain in. Then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain which we were able to ride 4 times in a row until close. Very fun.
Tuesday, March 25.
Our Hollywood Studios day. Slept in and got to the Park around 11AM. Went straight to the first showing of Beauty and the Beast show. Then headed straight over to the first Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Had lunch at the ABC Commecary. Then proceeded to use our Fastpasses at the Tower of Terror. Then we went to use our Fastpasses at Star Tours. Here was the first very long Fastpass line we encountered. When we got to the point where you could scan your Magic Band, the cast member mentioned that many people in line either did not have Fastpasses for that ride, or were too early for their Fastpass window. Like 2 to 6 hours early! So, the line would have been shorter and moved faster if guests would have known more about their own Fastpasses. After Star Tours we saw Muppet Vision 3D which supposedly had a 30 minute wait. But after a short wait in line, everyone in the que line was ushered right into the pre show area, so I didn't feel like we waited long for that at all. Then we headed over to Toy Story and used our last Fastpass there. At the Jack Sparrow Pirate Adventure, there was no line, since they were handing out paper "fastpasses" for later shows. So we picked up that on our way over to the animatoin court yard. We did the animation academy where you learn how to do character drawings. In fact, we liked it so much, we did it twice in a row! Then we saw the Little Mermaid show. By then it was time to take our Pirate Adventure. Then we hit up the Great Movie Ride which was basically a walk on. Then we had dinner on Sunset Blvd. After dinner we headed into the second Fantasmic show. We didn't get to do Rockin' Rollercoaster, which was another failing of tiering the Fastpasses.
Wednesday, March 26.
Checked out of the hotel and put my bags at the luggage check. Then headed to Animal Kingdom to use up my last three Fastpasses. The Safarri had a 50 minute standby line, but I used my Fastpass and got right on. After the Safarri, I had an hour until my Fastpass for Expidition Everest became active. So, I hit the single rider line and got to go on Everest twice before my Fastpass became active. Everest Fastpass line was very long. When I got to the front, I scanned my Magic Band but the Mickey didn't turn green. The cast member gave me a paper pass to get through the next check at the end of the line. I think the scanner at the front of the line was having problems and causing the huge line. After riding Everest three times in a row, I had lunch at Flame Tree. That was very good. Then I used my last Fastpass at Dinosaur. Then I hopped over to EPCOT and rode Ellen's Energy Adventure and Spaceship Earth with family members before heading back to the hotel to catch my Magical Express bus back to MCO.
All in all, a great trip. We didn't get to do everything, but we did so much, and all of it with huge spring break crowds. So, frankly, I think the new Fastpass system worked very, very well. The only tweeks I would make would be to get rid of the tiering and allow Fastpasses to parkhop. And while there were huge lines at the FP+ Kiosks in the park, that should get better once off-stie guests can make advanced reservations starting next month.
So, everyone calm down...the new system actually does work just fine, even in big crowds.
