Fast Pass phasing out?!

[paulh]

not read all wya througth,but think disney will stop orrering FPs in parks,and offer for onsite guests only
The ddp keeps them onsite,garanted FPs will make more stay.We did unervisal hotels for this reason
Paulh

 

[Mikelly1221]

The way that TT loads is there are two briefing rooms to load the guests into. The 1st can hold around 60 guests at a time and the second can hold 40. If the FP line has 100 people in it when loading begins 60 will be loaded into the 1st room and then about 20 will be loaded into the 2nd, while another 20 are taking from the standby line and placed into the second room. That is 80 FP for 20 Standby and the FP guests don't stop coming they continue to enter the line which means that the 1st room will continually be filled with 60 FP guests while everyone else has to wait. There have been times where this has resulted in the standby line extending out to the marquee sign and creating a wait of 90 mins or more.

Thank you sharing this with us! I have a question that will probably seem silly, and I'll use TT as an example. Why wouldn't you load FP guests into say, Room #1, Standby guests into Room #2, and Single Riders into Room #3? Since the rooms open up at around the same intervals, I would think it would help the standby line situation. If there wasn't enough FP riders to fill the room, you could just take from the standby line. (I'm saying "you", but I mean "TT employee", not "YOU!" ) Basically, match up rooms & lines.

I've wondered this about many rides, not just TT.

 

[Mennamachine]

I both love and hate fastpass.

I love not having to wait in line, but I still think it's stupid. You go to an amusement park, you wait in line. That's how things are. I go to Cedar Point? I expect to wait an hour or two for Dragster. I go to Disney World? I expect to wait an hour or two for the hot ride of the moment. My boyfriend (G) and I have discussed this before, he made numerous trips to the world as a child. They spent at least a week or two at DW almost every summer in addition to trips during the school year. With a plan, he never had a problem hitting the attractions he wanted on any day, be it early February or mid July.

I hope Disney continues to reduce the rides which offer fastpass. It's completely and totally unnecessary on rides that are continuously loading. (Peter Pan, I'm looking at you!) G's mom loves Peter Pan. It's her favorite ride. She hardly ever rides it anymore because of fastpass. It used to have relatively short waits, since it loaded fast and continuously. With fastpass, what used to be a 20-30 minute wait is now a 45-60 minute wait. For no reason. What was the point of having a fastpass that let you come back in an hour or two when you could be on the ride in 20 minutes? Just because you don't feel like waiting in line for 20 minutes? It's asinine. They need to take it off the continuous loaders entirely. (Buzz, Peter Pan, Primeval Whirl, etc.)

Other parks have tried out the free fastpass system like Disney has and almost all have either eliminated it or changed it to something you purchase. Cedar Point tried it out one summer, hated it, and went back to the old system. Universal used to have the same system as Disney and went to the for-purchase express pass. I've never used the express pass at Universal, and never had a problem there. Also, the number of people (even including hotel guests!) with express pass seems to be significantly less than the number of people with fastpass. I've never noticed my Universal line halt for large chunks of time while EP holders are let in the way that Disney rides do.

So yes, I'll continue to use FP as long as it's offered. The way Disney has things set up, you HAVE to use them. I wouldn't cry if they eliminated it, though.

 

[Pete W.]

So yes, I'll continue to use FP as long as it's offered. The way Disney has things set up, you HAVE to use them. I wouldn't cry if they eliminated it, though.

Interesting POV. And I see a similarity between this and the EMH vs. non-EMH debate. Some people swear by EMH and others (us included) avoid them -- we jokingly refer to them as 'extra crowded hours' because that's basically what they are, especially evening EMH.

But at least with EMH you have the choice of using or avoiding. With FP, you really don't have the choice but to use them even if you don't like the system. Maybe they can just offer FP during EMH days!

 

[tfc3rid]

The way TT loads its FastPass folks is exactly why I hate it... That causes the standby line to easily be 90 minutes long and it feels like it is never moving... It always seems like the ratio of FP'ers entering past the 'merge' is about 4:1 compared to standby line people... Thus, it feels like the standby line is tremendously long... For TT, this is the case... I would imagine a 90 minute wait that you see on a normal operating day, minus the FastPAss would be close to 45 minutes...

 

[KYMickey]

The way TT loads its FastPass folks is exactly why I hate it... That causes the standby line to easily be 90 minutes long and it feels like it is never moving... It always seems like the ratio of FP'ers entering past the 'merge' is about 4:1 compared to standby line people... Thus, it feels like the standby line is tremendously long... For TT, this is the case... I would imagine a 90 minute wait that you see on a normal operating day, minus the FastPAss would be close to 45 minutes...

Unfortunately, that's the point of FP, to make ride times shorter for riders that use it and longer for others. This way people are encouraged to use FP and spend the time they would be standing in line to do something else (ie. spend money). When you're standing in line you're not spending money I'm something else. Fast pass wasn't created to save people time, it was created to make Disney more money.

 

[SanFranciscan]

A better way to get people to shop instead of stand in line for rides would be to make the shops the last thing to close. I remember one trip to Disneyland during which Main Street was the first thing to open and the only thing for maybe an hour. We are advised not to eat before certain rides so that eliminates food sales to many of the people arriving early to get on popular rides. I think peope wanting to buy merchandise to take home would be less inclined to buy before they were ready to go home.

The suggestions that Disney sell fast passes or use them as an incentive for people to stay on Disney property might put a damper on the sale of annual passes to Disney theme parks on both coasts, and it is my understanding that a rather high percentage of Disneyland's clinetele are annual pass holders.

I still think that if we all just waited our turn we would all have a better time because we would enjoy seeing each other have a good time instead of racing each other from ride to ride as if this were a battle for survival of the fittest. That is Disney's theme park out there, not Darwin's.

 

[WDWFan4Life]

Thank you sharing this with us! I have a question that will probably seem silly, and I'll use TT as an example. Why wouldn't you load FP guests into say, Room #1, Standby guests into Room #2, and Single Riders into Room #3? Since the rooms open up at around the same intervals, I would think it would help the standby line situation. If there wasn't enough FP riders to fill the room, you could just take from the standby line. (I'm saying "you", but I mean "TT employee", not "YOU!" ) Basically, match up rooms & lines.

I've wondered this about many rides, not just TT.

That is pretty much how we do do it, if we don't have any people in the FP line we will take from the standby line. If there are people in the FP line though we need to take them first and will load up room #1 and then if there are still more we will put at least 20 of them in room #2. I don't think its fair and think we should just put all standby into room #2 but the FP guests feel like they have more rights and should be going first. There have been many times when FP people come to the front of the line and we have them wait while we load from the standby line and they get pissed and cause a guest situation.

 

[tfc3rid]

Unfortunately, that's the point of FP, to make ride times shorter for riders that use it and longer for others. This way people are encouraged to use FP and spend the time they would be standing in line to do something else (ie. spend money). When you're standing in line you're not spending money I'm something else. Fast pass wasn't created to save people time, it was created to make Disney more money.

Of course it is supposed to be a moneymaker but the problem is that the number of passes given out per day is finite... Therefore, there will never be an opportunity for some people to ever get an avaialble fastpass...

A line is a line... The benefit of Fastpass is that while you are 'waiting' for your FP to become active, you can do other things... You should not be penalized for not being able toget a FP...

 

[Mikelly1221]

That is pretty much how we do do it, if we don't have any people in the FP line we will take from the standby line. If there are people in the FP line though we need to take them first and will load up room #1 and then if there are still more we will put at least 20 of them in room #2. I don't think its fair and think we should just put all standby into room #2 but the FP guests feel like they have more rights and should be going first. There have been many times when FP people come to the front of the line and we have them wait while we load from the standby line and they get pissed and cause a guest situation.

Got it. Thanks for the inside info!

 

[Krissy Marissy]

I agree that FP should only be offered to those staying on property. Would cut down the FP line and hopefully not slow down the stand by line as badly...much more incentive and a perk to being an on property guest. Which I think they have lost a lot of those perks...and it shouldn't be that way. FP was a mistake and while a great thought it didn't pan out and causes issues. I wouldn't be overly upset to see it go since I was just fine before it came along. I would still visit disney at least once a year as I did before.

 

[Orlando313]

You all are getting way too detailed with this whole thing for me to follow! Haha!

All I know is when we went before FP era, we could go on attractions much more often with a lower wait. After FP, longer waits. That is my personal experience. I would not debate any mathematical equations because I hate math, this is just based on my family's personal experiences.

I hate FP and I would love if they ripped it out of the park completely. And for the ones saying they would lose business, no offense, but you're crazy! Haha! People went to Disney before FP and people would go to Disney if FP were gone. None of you can honestly sit there as a true Disney fan and say you would consider taking your business elsewhere to PAY to use a FP system just because FP is not there. They will not lose business from taking FP out.

I pray everyday that FP will be removed.

 

[CanadianGuy]

You all are getting way too detailed with this whole thing for me to follow! Haha!

All I know is when we went before FP era, we could go on attractions much more often with a lower wait. After FP, longer waits. That is my personal experience. I would not debate any mathematical equations because I hate math, this is just based on my family's personal experiences.

I hate FP and I would love if they ripped it out of the park completely. And for the ones saying they would lose business, no offense, but you're crazy! Haha! People went to Disney before FP and people would go to Disney if FP were gone. None of you can honestly sit there as a true Disney fan and say you would consider taking your business elsewhere to PAY to use a FP system just because FP is not there. They will not lose business from taking FP out.

I pray everyday that FP will be removed.

That's true.. (longer waits) but this simple comparison doesn't take into account that Disney parks have significantly increased overall attendance (entrances) since pre-Fastpass days ... so the lines would be longer without Fastpass ... because there is more people.

I'm not saying that FP doesn't add to that.. but it's not the 'sole cause'.

Knox

 

[Orlando313]

Yea, like I said, I'm not going to make any calculations or anything, because I'm just not that good at math.

I'm not saying that it's longer wait times now compared to right before they switched to fastpass, because you're right, obviously, there are more people now. But we compared it for the first year or two afterwards, and wait times were significantly up. We were very disappointed when they installed it.

For example, we used to go in the evenings and be able to ride splash mountain over and over and over, and sometimes they would even let us stay on it. Both lines were open and people loaded from both sides. Now only one line is open, the other is for fastpass, so you have to stop at the standby and wait for fastpass tickets to be checked. It would be more efficient to open up both lines for passengers and just load instead of stopping to check fastpasses, and holding up the one line that has been waiting.

I'm not sore about people that have fastpasses, more power to them, that's what it's there for, by-passing the line. However, for me, as a resident, by the time I get there in the evenings after work, most of the time there aren't any fastpasses left. I think everyone should be afforded the same opportunities whether you get there at 8am or 8pm, you get in line and wait like everyone else.

 

[paulh]

Yea, like I said, I'm not going to make any calculations or anything, because I'm just not that good at math.

I'm not saying that it's longer wait times now compared to right before they switched to fastpass, because you're right, obviously, there are more people now. But we compared it for the first year or two afterwards, and wait times were significantly up. We were very disappointed when they installed it.

For example, we used to go in the evenings and be able to ride splash mountain over and over and over, and sometimes they would even let us stay on it. Both lines were open and people loaded from both sides. Now only one line is open, the other is for fastpass, so you have to stop at the standby and wait for fastpass tickets to be checked. It would be more efficient to open up both lines for passengers and just load instead of stopping to check fastpasses, and holding up the one line that has been waiting.

I'm not sore about people that have fastpasses, more power to them, that's what it's there for, by-passing the line. However, for me, as a resident, by the time I get there in the evenings after work, most of the time there aren't any fastpasses left. I think everyone should be afforded the same opportunities whether you get there at 8am or 8pm, you get in line and wait like everyone else.

if they do phase it out,to be replaced.as an added perk for onsite guests.Yor still stuck with same situation
Paulh

 

[Orlando313]

I didn't say anything about it being phased out to be used for onsite guests. Not sure where that came from.

I said I pray everyday for FP to be removed.

 

[YoHo]

That's true.. (longer waits) but this simple comparison doesn't take into account that Disney parks have significantly increased overall attendance (entrances) since pre-Fastpass days ... so the lines would be longer without Fastpass ... because there is more people.

I'm not saying that FP doesn't add to that.. but it's not the 'sole cause'.

Knox

Actually, this isn't entirely true.
According to the unofficial attendence numbers, Disney peaked at the end of the 90s and fell off tremendously and only recently has hit attendance higher than the former peak.

So really, attendance hasn't been higher since pre-Fastpass, so if wait times are longer, that can't be a factor.
Fast pass and changing operating patterns and shuttered attractions, those are factors.

 

[aurora23]

I can completely see Disney going to a pay for fastpass system like Universal...which would be unfortunate. I love Disney...but it is becoming unaffordable. At least with the current system everyone who plans ahead has a chance to get fastpasses. I will not pretend I can do the math on capacity and line times, etc. but I have enjoyed the ability to use fastpasses for shortened wait times. I have always felt that the fact you could buy your way to the front of the line on top of the exorbitant Universal ticket prices was wrong and greedy. I hope Disney does not adopt this practice too.

 

[Orlando313]

I can completely see Disney going to a pay for fastpass system like Universal...which would be unfortunate. I love Disney...but it is becoming unaffordable. At least with the current system everyone who plans ahead has a chance to get fastpasses. I will not pretend I can do the math on capacity and line times, etc. but I have enjoyed the ability to use fastpasses for shortened wait times. I have always felt that the fact you could buy your way to the front of the line on top of the exorbitant Universal ticket prices was wrong and greedy. I hope Disney does not adopt this practice too.

Plus, Universal wait times are really not that bad anyway, I don't think they warrented an Express Pass line. An advantage to my annual pass with Universal is that I have the Express Pass everyday after 4pm. It's really nice, but when I look at regular wait times, they really aren't that bad. The worse I've seen is at the Simpsons ride, just because it's new. And I really don't think that Universal's prices are TOO exhorbitant, maybe a little, but not too bad. I think their annual passes are a good deal for all that it comes with. But I agree with you that making people pay extra is kinda mean and greedy.

 

[paulh]

I didn't say anything about it being phased out to be used for onsite guests. Not sure where that came from.

I said I pray everyday for FP to be removed.

i assumed that this roumer was common place
Paulh