Fast Pass, Max Pass, Instant Return...HELP :)

lori123

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 9, 2007
Messages
858
Hi all!
I am far from a Disneyland rookie - I've been numerous times in the past 10 years the most recent being in April. I am however learning there have been several changes to the FP system. I read that you now need your ticket or annual pass to get in the FP line. And I know that the parks are now connected. But what are the other changes? And what are max pass and instant return? Thanks in advance for taking the time to explain
 
Max Pass is a digital paid service that has not started, yet. It is basically FP on your mobile device so you can book any ride from anywhere at the parks. Currently announced at $10/person/day. No start day yet.

Immediate FP or instant return simply refers to FP return times being within minutes of when you pulled the FP instead of 40+ minutes out. In the past the rides had a 40 minute minimum wait (though some had 35). So if you showed up at 8:05 right after the park opened the soonest your FP could be was 8:45. This has been dropped. So you could pull your FP at 8:05 and it could be good for 8:10. This allows for another 40 minutes of FP use each day for every ride so that increases availability. On less popular rides (those that don't run out in a few hours) this could mean FP return times within minutes throughout the day. It's 4:00 and all the lines are busy, but you don't have any FP you're waiting on. Oh look Matterhorn has a FP window of 4:05-5:05. Just grab it and hop in line.

In most cases the times are so close you can just get right in line. You can also pull another FP for another ride. So you could pull that Matterhorn FP at 4:05 and then go to Buzz and pull one for 4:10. Then ride Matterhorn and then ride Buzz. You used FP for both and everyone else waited in line.
 
Based on my understanding, given that I haven't been yet since the changes (some of which have not yet rolled out):
  • FP works the same, it's just that rather than turning in a paper FP return ticket, you scan your park ticket/pass. There is also a second scan point toward the front of the line, which prevents line jumping and also allows Disney to monitor the line and maximize the number of FPs issued.
  • Because they can now monitor the FP return line, they aren't bumping back the FP times artificially. This means that at the moment, return times for less popular/higher capacity rides are often sooner- often instantly. So Instant FP isn't a different program or perk- just a benefit of the system operating more efficiently (and possibly the fact that many people haven't yet caught on!)
  • In practice: if you're eligible to pull a FP, always check the FP times when you arrive at a ride that offers them. You may be able to pull one that is valid immediately, or certainly sooner than the standby line would have you on the ride.
  • Because the parks are now connected, you can no longer hold concurrent FPs for each park (other than WOC and F! when it opens).
  • I believe all the tickets have to be scanned into the particular park you want a FP for- so no more sending a runner over to DCA to grab FPs while the rest of the party eats lunch in Disneyland, for example.
  • MaxPass has not yet started, but is rumored to start as early as next week. For $10 per person per day, you can book FPs through the Disneyland app on your phone instead of having to walk across the park. Another perk is access to Photopass pictures.
  • MaxPass should work via expanded wifi (hopefully!) and cellular data. It is speculated that MaxPass users could pull FPs from the park that they are not currently in as well.
  • If you choose not to purchase MaxPass, you will still have access to FP as it currently stands.

Others please correct me if I'm wrong about anything!
 
  • FP works the same, it's just that rather than turning in a paper FP return ticket, you scan your park ticket/pass. There is also a second scan point toward the front of the line, which prevents line jumping and also allows Disney to monitor the line and maximize the number of FPs issued.
This isn't really a change. In the old fast pass system, someone would check to make sure the time was right on your fast pass as you entered the line and then someone further down closer to the loading area would take your fast pass ticket. Instead of handing it over, you scan your ticket instead. So, line jumping prevention was always there. :)
 

This isn't really a change. In the old fast pass system, someone would check to make sure the time was right on your fast pass as you entered the line and then someone further down closer to the loading area would take your fast pass ticket. Instead of handing it over, you scan your ticket instead. So, line jumping prevention was always there. :)

True, but the system being able to monitor how long people take from getting in line to that second check is new- and that would make it possible for them to issue more FPs sooner, if the line isn't building up. Before that it was just the low-tech system of handing someone a lanyard and having them turn it in when they got to the end.
 
As mentioned above. the instant return times are a side effect of the recent changes and nobody knows if they will continue as Disney makes changes and more people catch on. But they are awesome for the moment. We were able to ride Big Thunder 4 times in under an hour using them.

Just make sure to check return times on the app before getting a FP that will lock you up for two hours. We decided one day to grab FP's for Splash that were 2 hours out and then go to Big Thunder which had a 20 minute standby. We should have grabbed Big Thunder FP's first, rode it instantly and then grabbed Splash FP's.
 
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Based on my understanding, given that I haven't been yet since the changes (some of which have not yet rolled out)
  • I believe all the tickets have to be scanned into the particular park you want a FP for- so no more sending a runner over to DCA to grab FPs while the rest of the party eats lunch in Disneyland, for example

Others please correct me if I'm wrong about anything!

When we were there in April you could still do this. As long as your group was scanned in at either park you could still send a runner. The parks were connected so you couldn't hold a fast pass for each park at the same time, you could still send someone over if you didn't hold a current FP. Was this a recent change?
 
As mentioned above. the instant return times are a side effect of the recent changes and nobody knows if they will continue as Disney makes changes and more people catch on. But they are awesome for the moment. We were able to ride Big Thunder 4 times in under an hour using them.

Just make sure to check return times on the app before getting a FP that will lock you up for two hours. We decided one day to grab FP's for Splash that were 2 hours out and then go to Big Thunder which had a 20 minute standby. We should have grabbed Big Thunder FP's first, rode it instantly and then grabbed Splash FP's.

Good strategy. I'll remember that. You could also pull FP for thunder and then send a runner to splash before riding so as to ma ke your Splash return window a bit sooner.

When we were there in April you could still do this. As long as your group was scanned in at either park you could still send a runner. The parks were connected so you couldn't hold a fast pass for each park at the same time, you could still send someone over if you didn't hold a current FP. Was this a recent change?

I think the change is that in the past we could all go to Disneyland and send DH to DCA to get FP. Some are reporting that you all have to go to dca before someone can pull you a FP. That the computer knows which park you're in. Not sure how that will work with max pass as you're supposed to be able to pull from either park at any time. Perhaps it's a trick to incentivize buying max pass.
 
  • I believe all the tickets have to be scanned into the particular park you want a FP for- so no more sending a runner over to DCA to grab FPs while the rest of the party eats lunch in Disneyland, for example.
Others please correct me if I'm wrong about anything!
A clarification on this based on my personal experience today. DW and I started at DCA this morning and got GOTG FPs. Then we hopped to DL. Then we hopped back to DCA to ride GOTG.

At this point we had both obviously been scanned into both parks. DW's final scan was at DCA and after GOTG she headed back to the hotel. I went to DL to grab Space Mtn FPs for this evening (windows was 5:20-6:20PM FWIW) before returning to the hotel. Obviously I had to re-enter DL myself so I knew I could get a FP for SM. But I wondered if I could get a FP for DW since her last park of entry was DCA. No problem. I got FPs for both of us at around 2PM.

Bottom line is as of today, as long as the entrance ticket has been scanned into each park at least once, you can hop to the opposite park to get FPs for that entrance ticket even if the owner of that ticket is not with you.

:wizard:
 
A clarification on this based on my personal experience today. DW and I started at DCA this morning and got GOTG FPs. Then we hopped to DL. Then we hopped back to DCA to ride GOTG.

At this point we had both obviously been scanned into both parks. DW's final scan was at DCA and after GOTG she headed back to the hotel. I went to DL to grab Space Mtn FPs for this evening (windows was 5:20-6:20PM FWIW) before returning to the hotel. Obviously I had to re-enter DL myself so I knew I could get a FP for SM. But I wondered if I could get a FP for DW since her last park of entry was DCA. No problem. I got FPs for both of us at around 2PM.

Bottom line is as of today, as long as the entrance ticket has been scanned into each park at least once, you can hop to the opposite park to get FPs for that entrance ticket even if the owner of that ticket is not with you.

:wizard:

Thanks for clarifying! Since I don't plan to hop on my upcoming trip, I hadn't paid too close attention to the nuances of the current system when it applies to park hopping :)
 
Confirming that the time restraints will remain the same with MaxPass - only one FP at a time until two hours have passed or the window has opened up for your current FP?
 
A clarification on this based on my personal experience today. DW and I started at DCA this morning and got GOTG FPs. Then we hopped to DL. Then we hopped back to DCA to ride GOTG.

At this point we had both obviously been scanned into both parks. DW's final scan was at DCA and after GOTG she headed back to the hotel. I went to DL to grab Space Mtn FPs for this evening (windows was 5:20-6:20PM FWIW) before returning to the hotel. Obviously I had to re-enter DL myself so I knew I could get a FP for SM. But I wondered if I could get a FP for DW since her last park of entry was DCA. No problem. I got FPs for both of us at around 2PM.

Bottom line is as of today, as long as the entrance ticket has been scanned into each park at least once, you can hop to the opposite park to get FPs for that entrance ticket even if the owner of that ticket is not with you.

:wizard:
I loved the detailed description! Thanks! Sometimes the minor details make a big difference on how things work and this is very clear.
 
Just make sure to check return times on the app before getting a FP that will lock you up for two hours. We decided one day to grab FP's for Splash that were 2 hours out and then go to Big Thunder which had a 20 minute standby. We should have grabbed Big Thunder FP's first, rode it instantly and then grabbed Splash FP's.

The ability to cancel FPs with MaxPass will definitely be beneficial in such scenarios. You could just cancel the Splash, book BTMRR and then rebook Splash before even riding BTMRR. Then when you exit ride, if its FPs are still immediate, "rinse and repeat".
 
Confirming that the time restraints will remain the same with MaxPass - only one FP at a time until two hours have passed or the window has opened up for your current FP?

I don't know what it will be like next week when Max Pass starts, but I want to clarify about when you can get a new fp. Yesterday, with instant fp, I was able to pull a fp that opened 5 min after I pulled it. I assumed I could then pull a new one for another ride once my window opened. I was wrong. According to the reminder card I needed to wait 19 minutes to pull a new one (meaning 24 min after my window opened.)

This happened all day. Sometimes I had to wait 29 minutes after my hour window opened to pull a new one, sometimes 15, sometimes 90.

Bottom line, the days of getting a new fp as soon as the window opens might be over. The system seems to be regulating the amount of time you need to get wait even if your fp window has opened. This was for getting a fp on different ride than the one the window opened for.

I asked several CM about it. They said they are told to tell guests that they need to wait two hours before they can get a new fp. And guests should read the bottom of th reminder card because it could be sooner. The plaid I spoke with had no clear explanation for the new system or if it would continue next week.

It's still less of wait that the previous 40+ min wait but I can no longer assume when I can get a new fp. I need to read the reminder card.
 
We've noticed this as well. It definitely seems like they are messing with the system. Honestly, I'm glad Maxpass doesn't start until the day after we leave.
 


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