Fast Pass question I've never asked...

[addicted2dizney]

I NEVER do EMH, so the day I did was a 9am rope drop. That's early enough for me! lol.. My teenagers hate that I pull them out of bed for the 9am opening. However after last summer, they shut their mouth when they saw how outrageous the lines were mid day. We had not only gathered most FP's for a nice evening but had gotten rides on many of the most popular attractions before 1pm.

 

[Guzzi]

we have been to the world three times each during july which the guide books peg as highest crowd levels (would love to see the parks when they are not crowded) and have never had a problem using fast passes after the time window on the passes

 

[RMulieri]

I was refused entry late on both Splash and Soarin . I think I had some new Cms though and it was very busy in the parks

 

[Day-Day]

I have been told my CM's never throw out your FP's if not used in the hour, they are good for the whole day. Last year I probably gathered 9 sets in my morning venture to MK, the we went back to the room, went swimming, had dinner and went back at night and used all the FP's when the lines were long. It was great!

This is one reason why the standby lines can be so slow late in the day. The FP line can get really backed up with all the "late" returns coupled with the "regular" returns causing the standby line to barely move.

 

[Kayka]

This is good information to know. I've always been a stickler for getting back to use the FPs within the appointed hour. I didn't realize that I could just collect them and use them at will. Of course, I suppose it's a good thing that the majority of patrons do follow the time guideline, because if everyone collected FPs and used them in the evening the Fast Pass line wouldn't be very fast.

 

[doconeill]

First, as far as the two hour rule:


Rule #1: You can get a new Fastpass when it says you can get a new Fastpass on the Fastpass you most recently obtained.

Rule #2: How long it will be varies, but the general rule of thumb is either the return time of the previous Fastpass or two hours after you obtained the previous Fastpass, whichever is sooner.

Rule #3: There are always exceptions, so always refer to Rule #1.

Now, as for collecting them rapidly...not counting technically issues (commonly referred to as "disconnected" kiosks), the minimum amount of time you'd generally have to wait is 20-30 minutes. 30 for sure, but I think it can be as low as 20. The FP return time will always stay ahead of the current time by a certain amount. This means that the soonest you could get another FP is that amount as well.

IF, at rope drop, you managed to hit several attractions where the clock had NOT advanced very far, you could probably get 3, maybe 4 in the first hour.

As for using after the window and reports of refusals, most of the reports I've seen as of late still center around Soarin' and TSM, and are often third-hand reports so it is uncertain whether being "late" was the real reason in those cases. The reports do still trickle in though.

 

[allbluezoo]

forgive the newbie please, but I have a question. If I get a FP for Peter Pan and then walk immediately over to Dumbo (just a hypothetical here) I cannot get a FP for Dumbo? There is a time limit even if it is a different ride? Here I was thinking I could just zip around the park real quick w/everyone's ticket and get FPs so we could have a leisurely day LOL! Am I understanding correctly. Thanks for helping out the new girl.

 

[addicted2dizney]

forgive the newbie please, but I have a question. If I get a FP for Peter Pan and then walk immediately over to Dumbo (just a hypothetical here) I cannot get a FP for Dumbo? There is a time limit even if it is a different ride? Here I was thinking I could just zip around the park real quick w/everyone's ticket and get FPs so we could have a leisurely day LOL! Am I understanding correctly. Thanks for helping out the new girl.

Is there a FP for Dumbo? I've been to the MK too many times to count but I usually by pass the ride. If my memory serves me correctly Dumbo is a traditional "wait in line ride".

In reference to the FP portion of the question. The answer would technically be "no" you cannot immediately get the FP for the next ride. On your first FP there will be a time printed in small text that lets you know when you are eligible for your next set of FP's. It all depends on the crowd levels that day, the FP return time you are given and the amount of FP's already given out what your actual time you can get your next set of FP's would be for any attraction. Hope thats not too confusing, I understand the system but I stink at explaining it!

 

[TMWilson7196]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but to me its not fair to be able to use your fp's after the time frame is up. I go get a fp for Splash and it says return between 4pm and 5pm. I return at 4:55pm to find the fp line is long because everyone infront od me is usung expired fps. Here I am at my correct time and now I have to wait? If you can do that then what is the point have having a return time? I never use fps after there return time. Just my opinion. Please dont flame me.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

forgive the newbie please, but I have a question. If I get a FP for Peter Pan and then walk immediately over to Dumbo (just a hypothetical here) I cannot get a FP for Dumbo? There is a time limit even if it is a different ride? Here I was thinking I could just zip around the park real quick w/everyone's ticket and get FPs so we could have a leisurely day LOL! Am I understanding correctly. Thanks for helping out the new girl.

Only certain attractions have Fastpass, Dumbo is not one of them. Once you get a Fastpass, the pass itself will tell you when your next FastPass "window" opens. Could be 2 hours, could be less - depends on the time of day and the time of year. If you tour during an extremely busy time you could get at Fastpass at 11:00 a.m. that has a return time of 6:00 p.m. or later.

 

[addicted2dizney]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but to me its not fair to be able to use your fp's after the time frame is up. I go get a fp for Splash and it says return between 4pm and 5pm. I return at 4:55pm to find the fp line is long because everyone infront od me is usung expired fps. Here I am at my correct time and now I have to wait? If you can do that then what is the point have having a return time? I never use fps after there return time. Just my opinion. Please dont flame me.

No flames needed! I agree with you and I do use the FP's at the later time! But I have actually had CM's tell me this and seen them encourage people to do this practice. I agree it can slow up the lines later in the day but until Disney decides it's not a good thing it will continue. I look at it as one way to beat the stress on my trip. If I have a BTMRR FP for 1:50-2:50 and I will have to rush to make it there, then there's no worries if I don't. Everyone here is entitled to their opinion and I think your is a valid point. I've seen the FP lines backed up early in the day as well and gone back several times to see them empty. I think it's really the luck of the draw. I'll be back in the world in 34 days so I can't wait to get back and report to you all how it went and what the lines looked like!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but to me its not fair to be able to use your fp's after the time frame is up. I go get a fp for Splash and it says return between 4pm and 5pm. I return at 4:55pm to find the fp line is long because everyone infront od me is usung expired fps. Here I am at my correct time and now I have to wait? If you can do that then what is the point have having a return time? I never use fps after there return time. Just my opinion. Please dont flame me.

Accepting late Fastpasses has hardly any bearing at all on the flow of the park or the wait times for anyone. Yes, you could argue that if everyone held their fastpass for 1 hour then flooded the ride, there may be some fluctuations in wait times, but that is simply not realistic. Additionally, if everyone did that, many more standby riders than normal would get to ride earlier. If there's an influx at a Fastpass line, the CM is able to adust the number of riders at a time so, how or when you use your FP does not affect the number of people in the park or how many people ride the ride. Remember, FP's are not intended to move you to the front of the line, they are to allow you to spend your waiting time somewhere else (like buying food or merchandise). Disney is a business and people can not spend their money in line. FP is a win-win idea that reduces your standing in line time. When you use it does not affect the flow of the ride or the dynamics of the wait for ANYONE else.

 

[andrews_dad]

Dumbo does not have a FP, but needs one. One of the slowest loaders in the park. I wanted it to be the first ride ever for my 1 year old, but the wait was very long.

 

[robinb]

I had an issue a couple of times. Twice at Buzz Lightyear the CM looked at the Fast Pass and gave me a hard time for being "late" ... once I was only 20 minutes late! The other time was on Peter Pan. The CM didn't refuse to let us on the ride, but did a passive aggressive "I'm in charge of you" number on us and made us wait at the head of the FP line (inside the queue) for about 5 minutes while he allowed standby people to go ahead. The CM at Pan made me angrier by making us wait around while he showed us who was boss than if he just refused to accept the FP. I reported his butt on my way out of the park.

 

[vicki_c]

I had an issue a couple of times. Twice at Buzz Lightyear the CM looked at the Fast Pass and gave me a hard time for being "late" ... once I was only 20 minutes late! The other time was on Peter Pan. The CM didn't refuse to let us on the ride, but did a passive aggressive "I'm in charge of you" number on us and made us wait at the head of the FP line (inside the queue) for about 5 minutes while he allowed standby people to go ahead. The CM at Pan made me angrier by making us wait around while he showed us who was boss than if he just refused to accept the FP. I reported his butt on my way out of the park.

Sometimes you still have to wait with a FP -- at any attraction. Just because you have a FP doesn't mean they won't let a group of standby people on in front of you. They work both of the lines simulataneously, to keep both flowing. I agree you shouldn't get any attitude, but I don't necessarily think your 5 minute wait was about using your FP late.

 

[doconeill]

I'm probably going to get flamed for this but to me its not fair to be able to use your fp's after the time frame is up. I go get a fp for Splash and it says return between 4pm and 5pm. I return at 4:55pm to find the fp line is long because everyone infront od me is usung expired fps. Here I am at my correct time and now I have to wait? If you can do that then what is the point have having a return time? I never use fps after there return time. Just my opinion. Please dont flame me.

No flame here...but in actually using them late has very little effect on wait times, and in fact benefits the standby line. Yes, if a whole bunch of people waited and then got in the Fastpass line at the same time, there would be some delay on the Fastpass line - but given the preference of loading to the Fastpass line the actual delay is more than likely negligible. Perception is another matter, both for the Fastpass and Standby lines.

Don't forget - a whole lot of people can get Fastpasses that cover the same time period - say 6pm - and could all show up at 6pm - WITHIN their 1 hour windows - and have a similar effect.

For a really complicated, over the head analysis, check
Why using a late FASTPASS doesn't matter

but please don't ask me to explain it any further...I'm in the "going to SWW tomorrow" zone, not the "explain really complicated maths that I don't even remember how I came up with them" zone...

I had an issue a couple of times. Twice at Buzz Lightyear the CM looked at the Fast Pass and gave me a hard time for being "late" ... once I was only 20 minutes late! The other time was on Peter Pan. The CM didn't refuse to let us on the ride, but did a passive aggressive "I'm in charge of you" number on us and made us wait at the head of the FP line (inside the queue) for about 5 minutes while he allowed standby people to go ahead. The CM at Pan made me angrier by making us wait around while he showed us who was boss than if he just refused to accept the FP. I reported his butt on my way out of the park.

Note: A sometimes a CM will appear to give you a hard time, but are trying to do it jokingly - a few of them are very unsuccessful though. Some do seem to cop an attitude, which frankly no CM should do.

As for making you wait, this is actually not uncommon at any attraction. There is some sort of load ratio in effect (which is different for every attraction) that FAVORS the Fastpass line, but Fastpass is not 100% Front Of The Line access either. Still no excuse for copping an attitude about it - 5 minutes is an aweful long time waiting in that situation. Are you sure it was that long, or did it feel that way? Often times our perception of time differs, especially when waiting like that.

Did the CM let other FP holders past you? In 5 minutes there typically would be some more FP holders in line...

 

[addicted2dizney]

Ok all this talk about lines and the parks is really getting me excited! Can't wait to get there!

 

[robinb]

Sometimes you still have to wait with a FP -- at any attraction. Just because you have a FP doesn't mean they won't let a group of standby people on in front of you. They work both of the lines simulataneously, to keep both flowing. I agree you shouldn't get any attitude, but I don't necessarily think your 5 minute wait was about using your FP late.

I go to WDW 2-3 times a year and use FP every time. I understand that sometimes I have to wait for a FP and it's not a big deal . This was not the case. It was clear that the CM made us wait as punishment for using a FP late. There were 7 of us total and I was not the only one who felt the CM was being a snot.

Note: A sometimes a CM will appear to give you a hard time, but are trying to do it jokingly - a few of them are very unsuccessful though. Some do seem to cop an attitude, which frankly no CM should do.

As for making you wait, this is actually not uncommon at any attraction. There is some sort of load ratio in effect (which is different for every attraction) that FAVORS the Fastpass line, but Fastpass is not 100% Front Of The Line access either. Still no excuse for copping an attitude about it - 5 minutes is an aweful long time waiting in that situation. Are you sure it was that long, or did it feel that way? Often times our perception of time differs, especially when waiting like that.

Did the CM let other FP holders past you? In 5 minutes there typically would be some more FP holders in line...

It was pretty close to 5 minues. I timed it because I began to get annoyed after a minute or two. We were the only people in the FP line as it was quite late (a late EMH) so the only people who were waved past us were standby people. In fact, he finally let us go when other people came in behind us.

 

[Day-Day]

We use the FP's after the initial window has "expired". I agree for the most part that it doesn't make a difference to the total wait times of all guests, especially on busy days when the standby queue never empties. However, there are other dynamics involved, espececially if guests are deciding on whether to ride an attraction multiple times.

One problem that I see is that many guests will enter a standby line based on the estimated wait time posted at the ride and may skip the ride if the posted time is too high. The standby line may not be any longer (same # of people) later in the day, but it may move much slower. WDW may not be able to predict the mass influx of FP's in time to warn the standby riders and the actual wait time can go up much higher than the predicted time.

This seemed to happen to us in the Splash Mountain standby line (40-minute wait estimate) about an hour before the nighttime parade; the standby time ended up being 80 minutes... Normally I don't wait 40 minutes for a ride, but we wanted to make this our final ride and leave to pack our bags. We had FP's for SM which came into effect while we were in the standby line, so we skipped over to the FP line (not our usual mode of operation for efficient use of park time).

I'd like to see a longer window of time for the FP's but have WDW enforce it. I don't think this would work very well though because too many of the rides shut down (mechanical, weather, etc.) during the day. Someone with a FP may not get the chance to use it because the ride is down during their time window.

 

[doconeill]

We were the only people in the FP line as it was quite late (a late EMH) so the only people who were waved past us were standby people. In fact, he finally let us go when other people came in behind us.

Was this an EMH where they were not issuing Fastpasses, and the Fastpass was for a regular hours time? A lot of times they do not issue Fastpasses during evening EMH, and Fastpass line may not technically be open any longer...

We use the FP's after the initial window has "expired". I agree for the most part that it doesn't make a difference to the total wait times of all guests, especially on busy days when the standby queue never empties. However, there are other dynamics involved, espececially if guests are deciding on whether to ride an attraction multiple times.

That's why I include various caveats in my analysis

One problem that I see is that many guests will enter a standby line based on the estimated wait time posted at the ride and may skip the ride if the posted time is too high. The standby line may not be any longer (same # of people) later in the day, but it may move much slower. WDW may not be able to predict the mass influx of FP's in time to warn the standby riders and the actual wait time can go up much higher than the predicted time.

I expect that Disney actually has a LOT of data about how fast the lines move at different parts of the day on different crowd levels. There are probably not many more people using their Fastpasses late today than there were this time last year compared to the whole. But Disney can change their policies whenever they feel like it if it became an issue.

This seemed to happen to us in the Splash Mountain standby line (40-minute wait estimate) about an hour before the nighttime parade; the standby time ended up being 80 minutes... Normally I don't wait 40 minutes for a ride, but we wanted to make this our final ride and leave to pack our bags. We had FP's for SM which came into effect while we were in the standby line, so we skipped over to the FP line (not our usual mode of operation for efficient use of park time).

Having the standby wait time be nowhere near reality is not unusual, and rarely has anything to do with the Fastpass line.

First, the standby time is measured by those red cards they occasionally give out to guests entering the line. They are read by a proximity reader at the front, the CM hands them to the guest, and then the guest carries it to another CM at the other end, who scans it again. The time is recorded and the updated on the clock. I don't know if they do some funky math with those times, but I suspect it simply updates to be the time it took that card to get through the line, rounded to the next 5-10 minutes. So, says it says the wait time is 30 minutes, and I get a card as I enter, and I get through the line in 40 minutes and hand in the card, the clock is updated to 40 minutes - how long it took ME to get through the line. But a large group of 100 Bohemian Football Pep Squad Gymnasts got in line behind me. Is the guest after them going to have a 40 minute wait?

Second, maintenance issues. Especially at Splash Mountain. It shut down no less than three times while we were there - once while we walking by, and then twice while in line, and we didn't get to ride that day. But it went from a near walk-on to 60 minutes.