fast pass getting less useful

[kittythepoohbear]

To say that you didn't deprive anyone else of a chance by using multiple tickets for the same ride is just justifying your usage of it. If the computer is programed to give out 100 tickets per day and you took two of them then you indeed did deprive someone of one. Could they have gotten there earlier or at a different time just before you and gotten one, perhaps, but the fact remains that once you took the second one someone else couldn't get it and you had two.

I do not want to get into the middle of this debate as I see both sides. I myself have used more than one fastpass for my favorite attraction and have had to stand on a standby line since there were no more fastpasses. I would like to see the statistics on this however. I would be surprised if Disney hadn't taken into account guests using more than one fastpass for the same attraction in calculating fastpass distribution. I personally would think this would be balanced out by guests that don't utilize fastpass for whatever reason.

I really like fastpass and think it has been a good thing for the parks. Perhaps it is because I go during off season, but the only fastpasses I have seen run out or with insane return times are Soarin', Winnie the Pooh, and Peter Pan. Otherwise it is usually only an hour or so wait for me. And just to chime in with my own pre-FP story - in July of 1995, my two friends and I waited for 2 hours to get on Splash Mountain. Funny thing is, when we finally got on the ride, I spent the entire ride with my eyes closed anticipating the drop. I don't remember anything about it and haven't been on it since (I hate drops). I guess it was a waste of 2 hours! Thanks to fastpass, I might give it another try since this time I would only waste about 15 minutes.

 

[MelanieC]

I personally think they are super useful. We often wonder why people stand in lines anywhere for 40min -90min or more lines when you get right on using the fast pass lines. MK was one example (and this was in the past two weeks). We would go to tomorrowland and get FP's and ride spacemountain 2-4 times with no lines. Ride buzz and a few more lines before heading over to Splash & Big THunder. With FP's you could get a FP with time 30 minutes away. We would get one, ride Pirates, Haunted Mansion or something else, get a FP for the other Mtn and go do our FP for the first one we got. On both BTMR and SM there would be huge lines. We just don't under stand why people wait in those long lines when FP's are available for times 30 minutes away?

 

[KimberlyC]

Just remember to have a little respect for others at the park. Someone like me may be waiting behind you only asking for one fastpass while you hold up the line pulling out a bazillion. Getting in and out of the line as quickly as you can is just a kind thing to do for everybody.

I'm not trying to be flip but I don't understand how this is possible in order to be a problem? I mean you can only get one FP per ticket. So whether one person gets the pass for his/her family or drags the whole family up to each get their own pass (which I would think would take longer), the same number of passes are still being acquired and that number is limited to the number of ticket holding people in a party. I guess it could be a problem if you stood behind the person in a FP machine line thinking they were one person when they were really getting 15 FP's for everyone in their Grand Gathering, but I know when I see a person carrying a stack of cards I just choose a different FP line - no biggie.

 

[KimberlyC]

I'm not trying to be flip but I don't understand how this is possible in order to be a problem? I mean you can only get one FP per ticket. So whether one person gets the pass for his/her family or drags the whole family up to each get their own pass (which I would think would take longer), the same number of passes are still being acquired and that number is limited to the number of ticket holding people in a party. I guess it could be a problem if you stood behind the person in a FP machine line thinking they were one person when they were really getting 15 FP's for everyone in their Grand Gathering, but I know when I see a person carrying a stack of cards I just choose a different FP line - no biggie.

OOPs. I double posted instead of Editing. My BAD! Just add the following to my above post.

EDIT TO ADD: Others were posting at the same time and I didn't see their responses. I guess I wasn't the only confused person but I didn't mean to be redundant.

 

[CindyAnn]

I don't think that GarrettJD was talking about getting a "bazillion" fastpasses. It sounds like he's getting two at a time, i.e. one for each member of his party. Like the rest of us, he's not eligible to get another one until (generally) just after his fastpass window opens up. Like GarrettJD, we often choose to acquire another fastpass right away, and then go to the fastpass return for the first ride. As far as I'm concerned, that's intelligent use of the fastpass system.

If you choose to arrive at a park later in the day, you'll encounter larger crowds, longer standby lines and later fastpass return windows. That's just a fact of life. The same general concept is often true if you visit a mall, a zoo, a movie theatre or any other type of recreational facility.

I also agree with AUDramaQueen about the lines to get a fastpass. My DH generally gets fastpasses for all 4 of us. I fail to see that anyone's wait in the fastpass line would be enhanced by adding three extra bodies to the crowd, and then waiting while the children get their own fastpasses. Trust me, he's much more efficient!

I have vivid memories of touring at WDW before fastpass, and I LOVE FASTPASS!

 

[pixiewytch]

Well, I didn't realize that people were only allowed one FP per ticket so I guess that was my mistake. I've always thought people were just taking advantage and getting multiple FP's for themselves. It also seemed that other people were insinuating that here as well. Sorry about the confusion. I've been up since early and probably just need to get back to bed.

 

[Silverraindrop84]

Yeah I wanted to get a Fast pass for soarin and when we finally went to Epcot at 2:30 the fast pass was already out! And i'm certainly not gonna wait in the line for 2 hours again... for a 2 minute ride

 

[brerrabbit]

I don't know what world some people were in pre Fast Pass but it sure as heck wasn't the same world I was in. Pre Fast Pass the line at Space Mountain was out the front entrance solid, and the queing lines right before you got on were full. You snaked back and forth for 20 minutes while you could see the other guests getting in the cars. Additionally the stand by line was what is the Fast Pass line now so the aisle was much wider which meant you could pack even more peopl into the line. We went to Disneyland in the summer of 97 when Indiana Jones opend and they had no Fast Passes and road it numerous times with waits of over an hour. The Fast Pass system is here to stay and so I would suggest using the system and going with the flow. We maximize the use of it and in no way feel I am "cheating". At MGM we will enter the park get a fastpass to TOT and ride standby on Rockin Rollercoaster. When we get off the coaster out time for TOT has come so we get another FP for it, go ride TOT and come back to the rollercoaster. We get three rides in a short time with no wait. We can then spend the rest of the day taking MGM at a more leisurely pace. Usually we will not get another FP that day unless we want to do a late ride on TOT or Rockin Rollercoaster before we leave for the day. Granted the ability to maximize the system comes from experience and going almost every year but since the majority of amusement parks now offer some variation of the FP theme I think it is here to stay. I am just thankful that Disney enacted the system withoout trying to collect additional money from me for it. We went to Universal for one day several years ago without understanding that you needed a multiple day ticket or to be a resort guest to utilize their system and it was a very frustrating day as it took almost an hour for every ride which made for a very long and tiring day.

 

[GarrettJD]

Well, I didn't realize that people were only allowed one FP per ticket so I guess that was my mistake. I've always thought people were just taking advantage and getting multiple FP's for themselves. It also seemed that other people were insinuating that here as well. Sorry about the confusion. I've been up since early and probably just need to get back to bed.

No problem. I undertand the feeling. I should be taking a nap now, actually, rather than sitting here and posting.

The fact of the matter is, the FP system can be confusing, and that's one of the big problems. Disney has tried their best to explain FP to everyone, but it's still hard to remember everything. I still run into people in the parks who think that you have to pay extra for FPs or that they are only available to WDW resort guests, similar to what Universal now does with their Universal Express system.

One of the reason FP works so well for so many of us is that we know how to use it to its fullest advantage (within the rules, of course.) For example-- say you have a party of 4, but only 2 people in the party are tall enough or want to ride the FP attraction. You can get FPs with all 4 tickets and let the 2 people that want to ride use both sets. This is controversial also, but it's within the rules. We've never done this because our party is just 2 adults, and we ride everything.

 

[Evil Queen]

Actually if everyone in my party went to the Fastpass machine to pull one Fastpass at a time, then aren't we making the line more unorganized with more people and taking up more time?

Think about it, one person pulls the pass, puts their tickets up then moves out of the way, then next person in my party comes up then pulls a ticket, etc etc. To me, that would take up more time then one person with all the tickets pulling passes for a whole party. I'm not talking whole tour groups, of course. Just my opinion...

Also, I've been mostly during summer and have never had to stand in line that long to get a Fastpass. Maybe 5 minutes tops.


(oops GarrettJD types faster than I do)

That's what I was thinking......I will even as far as to tell the person behind me, if there is one, I've got 4 tickets to get, so if they don't want to wait behind me, they don't have to. I think if I saw someone getting several, I might would ask, "Is this going to take a bit?" polite, of course.

I'd rather wait behind 1 getting several, then several individuals getting them. Less congestion in the area.

 

[AUDramaQueen]

Well, I didn't realize that people were only allowed one FP per ticket so I guess that was my mistake. I've always thought people were just taking advantage and getting multiple FP's for themselves. It also seemed that other people were insinuating that here as well. Sorry about the confusion. I've been up since early and probably just need to get back to bed.

No problem. That's why the Dis is here.

Like others have said, you're only allowed one FP at a time. Some will use theirs after the expired time and that's how they might have two at one time. But that's a whole other thread...

 

[oldcrow]

I don't think the Disney fastpass system was ever designed to make it more fair for the guests. Disney doesn't care if one person rides one ride 10 times and another never gets the oppourtunity because they ran out of fastpasses. The point of the fastpass is to distribute riders throughout the day, rather than having periods of low ridership and periods of high ridership. They want to try to keep the number of guests in line consistent throughout the day. For the most part, fastpass accomplishes that goal.

I don't believe it is exploiting the system when a guest gets a fastpass for a ride, then as soon as their next window opens, they get a new fastpass for the same ride. I plan on doing the same thing. To those people who never get the chance to use a fastpass because the machine ran out for the day, tough, you'll just have to wait in the standby line. Some of the best theming in Disney is in the standby line, enjoy yourself.

 

[ImagineEar]

My family has used FP and enjoyed doing so. But if you really think about it... isn't it really robbing Peter to pay Paul?

By offering FP for X, Y and Z rides that causes lines for the non FP attractions to build up - so you wind up waiting longer for all of those attractions... right? And then the people who are waiting in line at an attraction that has FP are forced to wait longer due to the the ride vehicles being filled up quicker by the FP line....Right?
So you get a FP for Splash and go wait for BTMRR. You end up waiting longer for BTMRR because of it's FP users right? And all those little " extra " wait times add up over the course of the day right? So does FP just create an illusion of a smoother / quicker park visit by removing the stress of waiting in long lines?

Is FP just a clever technique Disney is using to make us think we are having a better time by disbursing crowds better? Having said that I still plan on using FP on our upcoming trip! I'll admit that if it is an illusion, I've bought into it!

 

[WDWguru]

Theoretically on its most basic level, a fast pass is really just a placeholder. It is meant to estimate your wait time as if you got in line now and the return time is the time you would reach the front of the line. You start exponentially stacking all the placeholders and actual waiters virtually and that's what gives you the late return times. So technically those who wait in standby aren't waiting any longer with than without fast pass, since it's calculated on the fp user's held spot in line. Without fp, that person would actually be in the line with you and you would still have to wait for them to ride. FP just allows them to not physically occupy the space while waiting.

 

[pixiechick]

Theoretically on its most basic level, a fast pass is really just a placeholder. It is meant to estimate your wait time as if you got in line now and the return time is the time you would reach the front of the line. You start exponentially stacking all the placeholders and actual waiters virtually and that's what gives you the late return times. So technically those who wait in standby aren't waiting any longer with than without fast pass, since it's calculated on the fp user's held spot in line. Without fp, that person would actually be in the line with you and you would still have to wait for them to ride. FP just allows them to not physically occupy the space while waiting.

and it's going nowhere. While your place is "being held in line" you are possibly buying food and shopping. Disney would rather you be out and about instead of stuck in a line with your money in your pocket.

 

[goofyernmost]

Sure you can have your own opinion even if there is no validity to your statements. "A decline in repeat business of the masses" because someone used 2 fastpasses on the same ride? I don't think so./QUOTE]

Gee, thanks for the kind, open minded words. I kind of expected people to do the math (silly me) and picture that it isn't just one person using 2 passes but a much larger number.

Just stand in standby and listen to the comments being made by the folks in the line. There is real anger there. Is it justified...probably not! Is it real...you bet it is! These people are not happy. It may be their own fault, ignorance of the system, whatever...they are still not having a happy time. Will this effect future visits? I don't see how it couldn't! At least without FP, although the lines were long, you always knew that as soon as the people in front of you got on the ride, you were next. It's just not the case anymore.

I won't post on this thread anymore because I don't want to waste everyone's time with anymore invalid statements. Besides I have only been going to WDW, as an adult, for 24 years, what would I know?

 

[alicenwonder99]

Thanks for the explanation on using the baby swap with the Fast Passes!!!! It really seems so simple. We will definitely be taking advantage of this.

Mary

 

[Allison]

Sure you can have your own opinion even if there is no validity to your statements. "A decline in repeat business of the masses" because someone used 2 fastpasses on the same ride? I don't think so./QUOTE]

Gee, thanks for the kind, open minded words. I kind of expected people to do the math (silly me) and picture that it isn't just one person using 2 passes but a much larger number.

Just stand in standby and listen to the comments being made by the folks in the line. There is real anger there. Is it justified...probably not! Is it real...you bet it is! These people are not happy. It may be their own fault, ignorance of the system, whatever...they are still not having a happy time. Will this effect future visits? I don't see how it couldn't! At least without FP, although the lines were long, you always knew that as soon as the people in front of you got on the ride, you were next. It's just not the case anymore.

I won't post on this thread anymore because I don't want to waste everyone's time with anymore invalid statements. Besides I have only been going to WDW, as an adult, for 24 years, what would I know?

But you are ignoring the people who are very happy using the fastpass system and who feel their visit is more enjoyable because of it. So, will this effect future visits? Of course. I know I can go to Disney during busy times and if I time things right, have very little waiting in line.

So, you are saying people would rather wait in a long line knowing they are next when it is their "turn" than use fastpass? I just don't believe that at all.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. If people don't use the fastpass system to their advantage, that is their choice. But, to then be upset at the system because others do is silly.

 

[goofyernmost]

OK, I'm breaking my promise not to post but this has to be answered. I am not ignoring those that are happy. Again do the math, compare the lines! Where are the majority of the guests? In the standby lines...because there are only a comparitive few FP's available. In other words a small minority (not enough to keep Disney supported) are happy. The majority are not. Sure all those happy people will return, but are they enough?

There has been talk of declining attendance, could that be a result, at least partially, of this unhappiness? I do not know, but, it is possible.

One last time...I, personally, do not like FP. In my opinion, it has generated more bad feelings then good. That opinion is not based on my ability to get a FP (I don't even try). It is based on my observations coupled with my 20+ years of attending the parks and not on if I can get multiple rides on the same attraction. No one needs to accept that opinion, it is mine and I have tried to explain why I feel that way. I never expected the FP lovers to change to my way of thinking, I merely wanted to point out what I consider to be flaws in the system and hoped that someone would respect my right to have that opinion regardless of finding it valid or invalid.

Nuff said! Moving on!

 

[bluejasmine]

You know, I have to say my family loves FP we use it often but I think its alot more fair than what Universal Studios does for their resorts guests, they get pass that allows them to by pass all lines at all rides. So goofyernmost what do you think of that?
I do remember WDW before FP and I am very grateful WDW came up with a fair way to help their guests out.
I know most of us are happy with FP and will continue to use them. Of course there will always be ppl who abuse the system just like they abuse everything else but dont make the rest of us suffer because of their selfishness.