Fast Pass return times

[blondietink]

Having just returned from parks, I will say that I don't like it. We usually used the FP's in the past during the time specified on the FP. We tried to do this this time, but because of long lines on other rides, were unable to get back to the FP ride when the FP specified 3 different times. We missed our favorite ride, Soarin', because of this.

I will say, however, that with the new policy, when we were able to get to the ride and use the FP during the time period specified, the line went much faster than in the past.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Don't like. We'll see how it goes in June. I am another who cancelled adrs due to this new policy. Don't need the headache of worrying about losing $$$ vs riding rides. I am hoping return times are shorter....we'll see. A Fp runner will be of utmost importance, which will be me, so I'll do some extra walking.

 

[smidgy]

We always adhere to the rules, so we are fine with the change.

we, too, always adhered to the rules. we really dislike it that they changed the rules.

 

[smidgy]

I posted this poll to hopefully learn a better strategy for our upcoming trip in Sept. I didn't want to come off negative, but we I really feel that we were much more focused on time than I like to be during vacation.
Example. We got a fp for the safari in AK, then planned to do Rafiki's Planet watch and do the safari on the return. Our FP was for a sooner time than we had hoped, so we were quite rushed at rafikis. For the first time we saw a show in the little theater but had to forefit a pic with rafiki and petting zoo time since our fp time was coming up and didn't know exactly when we would get a train back. Also, it was close to earth day and tehre were many more exhibits inside than we were use to that we missed.
My point, there are too many variables, out of our own control that can cause you to be late for the small window of 1 hr. Maybe two would be better???

Rides stopping caused me stress, concern a line was taking longer than posted did also. It made me feel like the wait time was longer because I kept checking the time.

As I said in my post, there was little I could do in the amount of time I had between gettting the fp and the retrun time. I used to be able to take a fast pass when it was close to a dinner ressie, know I don't because I lose that fp if I dont make it and can't take another if I have it. ugh

The wait times for fp seemed no shorter than any other visit and they still were all gone just as quickly so I have yet to see a benefit personally.

you make some GREAT!! points. there isn't much you can do in that time frame, except hang around. no, disney will not "make" me spend money at a shop during that time. if I
m hanging around, I might as well be IN that line.

as for later fast pass times, I might not even be IN that park at that time... some people have hoppers, some want to eat at a resort hotel, some want to actually ENJOY the PERKS of the onsite resort they are staying at. what is the point of staying at beach club if you can't enjoy storm along bay cause your fast pass is for 2 pm????? or you can't enjoy the new nemo pool for the same reason?


I guess, if the new XDgen is what people THINK it is, at least we can CHOOSE our fast pass time. which will help us, so we can do the dark rides at night.

but, still, makes the entire vacation a lot more stressful, too much down to the wire planning. IMHO, disney dropped the ball on this one.

 

[kaligal]

you make some GREAT!! points. there isn't much you can do in that time frame, except hang around. no, disney will not "make" me spend money at a shop during that time. if I
m hanging around, I might as well be IN that line.

as for later fast pass times, I might not even be IN that park at that time... some people have hoppers, some want to eat at a resort hotel, some want to actually ENJOY the PERKS of the onsite resort they are staying at. what is the point of staying at beach club if you can't enjoy storm along bay cause your fast pass is for 2 pm????? or you can't enjoy the new nemo pool for the same reason?


I guess, if the new XDgen is what people THINK it is, at least we can CHOOSE our fast pass time. which will help us, so we can do the dark rides at night.

but, still, makes the entire vacation a lot more stressful, too much down to the wire planning. IMHO, disney dropped the ball on this one.

ITA. It's one of my biggest problems, the whole having to stay in the park until 2:00 thing. I want to leave and come back later and use it. And I don't want to keep making trips over there to get a FP for the time I want.

It's just getting ridiculous.

Uni's system is sooooooooooooooooooo much better.

 

[pinkerbell]

When I had one that conflicted with other plans, meals, shows or whatever, I just returned, briefly to the FP kiosk and swapped for later ones. Took a couple of minutes and other than that no real hassle. I'm fine with it.[/QUOTE]

how do you swap out a fast pass. I though once you had it, you couldnt get another for 2 hrs or after your return time, whichever came first.

Hmmm...don't "Like". My main concern..possible conflicts with ADRs, so we didn't book any. I doubt, Disney will miss my $$$$..just a couple TS per day. Although, it's saving me $400-$500 per day.

you make some GREAT!! points. there isn't much you can do in that time frame, except hang around. no, disney will not "make" me spend money at a shop during that time. if I
m hanging around, I might as well be IN that line.

as for later fast pass times, I might not even be IN that park at that time... some people have hoppers, some want to eat at a resort hotel, some want to actually ENJOY the PERKS of the onsite resort they are staying at. what is the point of staying at beach club if you can't enjoy storm along bay cause your fast pass is for 2 pm????? or you can't enjoy the new nemo pool for the same reason?


I guess, if the new XDgen is what people THINK it is, at least we can CHOOSE our fast pass time. which will help us, so we can do the dark rides at night.

but, still, makes the entire vacation a lot more stressful, too much down to the wire planning. IMHO, disney dropped the ball on this one.

I too am thinking of making some changes to our next trip. doing qucik service only, with no table service. This could save me big time as I may then change our resort from a moderate to value since you can get the quick service dining plan free during our time at a value and no need to pay upgrade or stay at mod.

I am curious about this XDgen you mentioned.. what is that?
sounds like it may really help when you do things that you have no time control over like Jedi training etc..

 

[TowMater92]

In some ways I like it and others I don't like it. I don't like it because I know I've had extra long waits in standby lines while a ride is flooded with people after a show(fantasmic, wishes, parades etc.) and you know its has to be past the return time for some of those people. Everyone has been in a standby line that doesn't move for 20-30min because the fast pass line is flooded and thats not the way the system was set up.

But in other ways I do but like it. I usually was back within the window but every once in a while I was a little bit late so I have used it to my advantage but it was rare so I doubt I'll miss it.

I'm also one of those people that wouldn't care if they got rid of fast passes. It makes standby wait times longer then they were without it. Yes I know you get on rides faster when you have a fast pass but average out your longer wait times in standby and your shorter times with fast pass and your probably right where you were before fast pass(also add in the time spent getting fast passes). But if there were no fast passes you would have less walking because you wouldn't have to walk back to the ride when your window comes up. Think about it, it makes sense. The one real advantage is when you have young kids that can't ride and you can get a ride swap. BTW yes I went to WDW 6 times before there were fast passes.

What happened to the central fast pass distribution system they were talking about putting in, a place in the middle of the park where you can get a fastpass for any fast pass ride in the park? I thought they even had one setup at AK for a while

 

[Robo]

how do you swap out a fast pass.

I assume you just show your FP(s) to another guest who is there to get a FP(s,)
and offer to swap YOURS (with an earlier Return Time, since it's been counting down since you got it) for the other guest's NEW FP (with a later Return Time, since it was just issued.)

I am curious about this XDgen you mentioned.. what is that?
sounds like it may really help when you do things that you have no time control over like Jedi training etc..

The actual name that Disney has used is "NextGen."
And, while it's been hinted that the system would allow "pre-arranging" for
FP and other events (maybe Jedi Training,) we have no real knowledge
of what it will do, or when (or if) it will be fully implemented.

 

[Robo]

What happened to the central fast pass distribution system they were talking about putting in, a place in the middle of the park where you can get a fastpass for any fast pass ride in the park? I thought they even had one setup at AK for a while

FWIW, I never heard that they were seriously talking about putting in a system like that.
But, yes, it was tested at AK a couple of times.
And, they had some limited experiments with handing out
FP's for "show" attractions at AK, as well.
That's been the extent of it, at least so far.

No indication that they'd actually make these changes as part of the new system.

But, stay tuned.

 

[Wee Annie]

I just returned and we thought the fastpass lines were MUCH quicker than in the past. Very noticeably. It also seemed like we were eligible to pick up more fastpasses than in the past, but not sure why that would be.

Disclaimer: we were a family that always used our FPs in the one-hour window. I didn't pick up a fastpass when the window didn't work for us, and at times gave away fastpasses when we couldn't use them (ie leaving the park). So we are used to this touring style, and it honestly never bothered me. Being a family who toured the same way in the past, it was truly striking how much shorter our fastpass lines seemed this year (and we've been at similar times of the year in the past, including my daughter's Make-A-Wish trip when were allowed constant access to FP lines).

We were there the third week of April and rode Soarin' four times (one with fastpass, three without -- never waiting more than 10 minutes, as it was either at rope drop or after 9 pm). We also rode Splash Mountain 4 times (all with easily gathered fastpasses), Expedition Everest four times (three with easily gathered fastpasses and once in a 20 minute standby line), TSM twice (fastpass and once in a 10 minute standby line at rope drop) and Space Mountain a couple of times (again, fastpasses). We never stayed in the parks after 2:30 pm -- we like to go back and swim (but clearly returned to do Soarin' twice after 9 pm -- walk on). We did end up with unused fastpasses once or twice, but I love handing off fastpasses to Soarin' to families walking up to the ride I honestly never felt like our touring style was crazy, or felt like I couldn't get a fastpass for too long. We did rope drop always, and utilized a well-thought out touring plan. We went during a northeastern spring break, but clearly it was less crazy than Easter and other major holidays. I know that if you're not used to touring this way it must be every upsetting to be forced to change, but my family has never felt confined by returning within the one-hour fastpass window.

 

[MrsDuck]

Personally, we don't like it. BUT, I understand why Disney is doing it.

 

[Butterbunkins]

We didn't k now they weren't enforcing it until they started enforcing it. So it'll be no different for us.

 

[Robo]

I understand why Disney is doing it.

Great!
Could you tell the rest of us why?

 

[Mom-2-2Princesses]

We were there Easter week and had no problem at all with the enforcement. We did have to crisscross the parks a bit more, but that wasn't a big deal, and it certainly seemed like FP's were available longer in the day than in previous trips (notwithstanding the crowds). The FP lines moved quickly and smoothly. While I did miss not having to worry so much about the return times, it didn't really impact our trip. We were careful about pulling FP's around our ADR's, and I did make good use of the various phone apps (Mobile Magic was especially helpful). Overall, I don't think the change had any significant impact and I'm looking forward to seeing what Disney comes up with next!

 

[princess_ariel_85]

Can't say I'm actually bothered either way.

Me & DH rarely made use of fast passes on our last visit. On occasion we were given them by random passers by, which of course was nice but we never really went out of our way to get them.

We still enjoyed our trip and fit in everything we really wanted to.

Also to add though, that we have gone in quieter times so maybe the need to use a fastpass wasn't really there. I suppose if we went during peak times they may have come in handy & we probably would have gone during the rides return times - I don't like being late. In all reality me and the White Rabbit would probably never be friends!

 

[goofyernmost]

I assume you just show your FP(s) to another guest who is there to get a FP(s,)
and offer to swap YOURS (with an earlier Return Time, since it's been counting down since you got it) for the other guest's NEW FP (with a later Return Time, since it was just issued.)

Correct...for example, I went to TSM while my grandson was signing up for Jedi Training. I was too stupid at the time to use my cell phone and find out what time he was scheduled. When I returned and met my party I found out that the two were exactly the same time. Remember this was 8:40 in the morning and my return time was 1:30 PM. So was his training time. I walked, to old to run, back to TSM and stood by the FP Kiosk. The first person that got 4 FP tickets I approached and asked if they wanted to trade for 4 earlier ones. The immediate response was a resounding YES. The new time was 3:30 PM and this was all before 9 AM.

I actually did that three times during my stay because while touring we decided that the times we had on some would not work for us. Simply went back over and in less than 30 seconds I had new FP's in my hands for a time that worked better. Everyone was happy.

 

[shellym]

I voted don't care either way, as we normally used our fastpasses in the time window we were given anyway.

 

[cm8]

I voted don't care either way, as we normally used our fastpasses in the time window we were given anyway.

This!! I voted yes

 

[RMulieri]

Indifferent...Doesn't effect us, we always used them within the window anyway or gave them away

 

[mesaboy2]

I think the difference between people deciding between "Don't care either way" and "Like it" is an interesting one.