Fast Pass return times

[origin62]

I was not a consultant on the FP development, I am only giving my professional opinion.

It is as much conjecture to claim that Disney's intent was to enforce FP times from the get go (despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary), and to say that late FP use harmed others (which can argued against with mathematical theory).

My intent was not to change minds, but to present a logical explanation for for printing a window that Disney never intended to enforce, using anthropological constructs commonly employed in the business world.

My degree has to be good for something, right?

I worked in attractions during the testing and implementation of FP. It was always Disney's intent that guests use their FP during their designated time, and for the first few years, it was the policy as well. The practice of allowing late arrivals evolved over time as a way of avoiding conflict at the FP return queue.

Also, while I understand that mathematically it could be argued that late arrivals should not impact the queues or the guest experience, I can tell you from experience that they do.

 

[origin62]

I may be late to the party with this, so I'm sorry if it's old news.
This week we saw that new hardware had been installed at several FP attractions in the MK. The CMs said they had not yet been told what they were. However, they are located at the exact spot where guests enter the FP line, and inside at the FP collection point. The CMs guessed that they would soon start scanning FPs as guests came through the line.

 

[pinkerbell]

Thanks for the info. I statrted this thread but have not had the time to keep up (just got back when I posted and much to do) so this is news to me.

 

[mickeymouse108]

Hi all I just got back from disney and had not been for a couple of years and I did not know they had changed to being picky about you being there for the time on your fast pass we did always try to get back when it was the time to use but like others it was not always easy because of having to cross the entire park to make a time. I have a knee problem and it made it hard on my leg so that is why i get fast pass and it would have been nice to be able to use even if my time was expired but we followed the rules and it was ok.


I did however find that the fast pass lines seemed longer than when they used to now hold you to the correct fast pass time everyone shows up at the same time and the lines for fast pass were much longer than when they did not hold to the 1 hour it was good for did anyone else notice the lines were longer not sure why but they def were longer then when they did not hold to the fast pass time.

 

[mickeymouse108]

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

I can see your point about getting rid of fast pass and just having standby but for some people this will not work I have a knee problem my doctor says i will eventually have to have surgery but for now i manage but i can not stand in one place for a long time if i do my knee swells and kills me the fast pass make it so i do not have to stand for long periods of time in a hour long line that moves slow my knee will be done for the rest of the day if i walk or move it is ok its just weight and standing still so this is why i use fast pass to save my knee. I could i guess just get a handycap pass and pass all people but i prefer not to do that because i feel like its not fair so the fast pass system is best for me but i like it better if you can be late.

 

[goofyernmost]

I can see your point about getting rid of fast pass and just having standby but for some people this will not work I have a knee problem my doctor says i will eventually have to have surgery but for now i manage but i can not stand in one place for a long time if i do my knee swells and kills me the fast pass make it so i do not have to stand for long periods of time in a hour long line that moves slow my knee will be done for the rest of the day if i walk or move it is ok its just weight and standing still so this is why i use fast pass to save my knee. I could i guess just get a handycap pass and pass all people but i prefer not to do that because i feel like its not fair so the fast pass system is best for me but i like it better if you can be late.

I suppose that there is some legitimacy to what you have said but the vast majority of attractions do not have FP. What do you do in that case? Just not go? And what about the other alternatives like a scooter that you can sit in, in line, and although it would upset the walking part of your visit, the standing part would be taken care of.

Besides, I am one that firmly believes that 1 hour standby lines would all but completely disappear if FP didn't exist. It's an hour or more long now because that is the only way some can attend it. If they had the option of moving past a long line and coming back later with a better chance of a shorter line...as it used to...it would regulate itself.

 

[mickeymouse108]

I suppose that there is some legitimacy to what you have said but the vast majority of attractions do not have FP. What do you do in that case? Just not go? And what about the other alternatives like a scooter that you can sit in, in line, and although it would upset the walking part of your visit, the standing part would be taken care of.

Besides, I am one that firmly believes that 1 hour standby lines would all but completely disappear if FP didn't exist. It's an hour or more long now because that is the only way some can attend it. If they had the option of moving past a long line and coming back later with a better chance of a shorter line...as it used to...it would regulate itself.

if i have to get a scooter i am just going to get a handycap pass so that is how i feel about that i prefer to walk a scooter slows you down because you have to park and transfer to ride and then its hard to get around when its crowded and i can walk i walked ten miles a day during our trip i just cant stand for long periods of time in one place during parade and fireworks i have to sit. as long as i dont have to wait longer than aobut 20 min i am ok and yes if a ride has a 20 pluss wait time i do not rid at that time i come back latter or just skip it my family is understanding about this and that is why i use fast pass and i do try to use when it is time for it but before if you were a little late it was not big deal and i would still like it if they would let you use it latter.

 

[mickeymouse108]

this happened to us we went back to use our fast pass on test track and the ride was down and instead of saying we could come back latter they put us all in the fast pass line that was really long already becsuse ride was down if we could have used latter it would have been nice instead we had to wait and it was like we had waited in stand by line. but the ride did start back up and we did get to ride but after a long wait.

 

[mickeymouse108]

I'm weighing into the thread late but figured I'd try to contribute anyway.

I never really thought about late fastpass returns as a problem until our last visit. We try to use crowd calendars to predict the best times to go, so waiting was never really much of an issue. Until the last visit!

It was May in FL. BFor some reason, HUNDREDS of people waited until 8pm to use their Big Thunder fastpass. I'm not kidding. We were in about the middle of a 25-30 min wait when we watched the fastpass line rapidly turn into a second HUGE standby line. Our wait turned out to be (I think) about 75 minutes by the time we were seated on the ride.

A few people in our line gave up and squeezed back through that tiny little corral we were all trapped in (the boxy one up above, not in view of the vehicles) but once you've waited a certain amount of time, it feels like a waste to just give up. We're kind of easy going anyway and there was no way we could have predicted just how long the wait would be. At least we got to see some parade action in the distance? haha

So I, for one, am really thankful that fastpass times will be enforced. That said, I kinda wish it was a two hour window, not one!

i could live with a two hour window it would be a good compromise

 

[KellyNY]

if i have to get a scooter i am just going to get a handycap pass so that is how i feel about that i prefer to walk a scooter slows you down because you have to park and transfer to ride and then its hard to get around when its crowded and i can walk i walked ten miles a day during our trip i just cant stand for long periods of time in one place during parade and fireworks i have to sit. as long as i dont have to wait longer than aobut 20 min i am ok and yes if a ride has a 20 pluss wait time i do not rid at that time i come back latter or just skip it my family is understanding about this and that is why i use fast pass and i do try to use when it is time for it but before if you were a little late it was not big deal and i would still like it if they would let you use it latter.

But you can still aim for the beginning of the window and hour and 15 min should be more then enough to get there.

 

[siskaren]

Besides, I am one that firmly believes that 1 hour standby lines would all but completely disappear if FP didn't exist. It's an hour or more long now because that is the only way some can attend it. If they had the option of moving past a long line and coming back later with a better chance of a shorter line...as it used to...it would regulate itself.

One hour (or longer) standby lines existed before FP was created; I would assume that that's why they created it in the first place.

 

[goofyernmost]

One hour (or longer) standby lines existed before FP was created; I would assume that that's why they created it in the first place.

They did exist, but only on select rides...not many. I do not recall spending more than 30 minutes in any line, anytime before FP. The ride in particular that had the line was Space Mountain. At rope drop there would be a literal race to Tomorrowland. But after a couple of hours the line was down to way less than an hour. That was when there was just two parks and EPCOT was new and not drawing a lot of people away from MK. Back then the Racetrack didn't exist in the middle of the MK parking lot and let me tell you...those parking lots were full. Lot's of people.

FP was created to calm down the commando tourists and give them one more thing to help the obsession and it was thought that the time that was not spent in line would be spent, spending money in the gift shops, food courts, etc. It would be illogical to think that FP shortened the Regular line, time wise, so what was gained for a few was a loss for the many. The motivation for FP had nothing to do with conveniencing the public unless at the time they felt it was more important to make a few happy and anger everyone else was a good marketing strategy.

As witnessed by the multitude of FP posters, it has become the 900 pound Gorilla in the living room. They can't ignore it but they cannot shoo it away either.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

They did exist, but only on select rides...not many. I do not recall spending more than 30 minutes in any line, anytime before FP. The ride in particular that had the line was Space Mountain. At rope drop there would be a literal race to Tomorrowland. But after a couple of hours the line was down to way less than an hour. That was when there was just two parks and EPCOT was new and not drawing a lot of people away from MK. Back then the Racetrack didn't exist in the middle of the MK parking lot and let me tell you...those parking lots were full. Lot's of people.

FP was created to calm down the commando tourists and give them one more thing to help the obsession and it was thought that the time that was not spent in line would be spent, spending money in the gift shops, food courts, etc. It would be illogical to think that FP shortened the Regular line, time wise, so what was gained for a few was a loss for the many. The motivation for FP had nothing to do with conveniencing the public unless at the time they felt it was more important to make a few happy and anger everyone else was a good marketing strategy.

As witnessed by the multitude of FP posters, it has become the 900 pound Gorilla in the living room. They can't ignore it but they cannot shoo it away either.

Comparisons to pre-fastpass days may not be applicable as it has been about 13 years since the creation of fastpass. It seems that Disney has done a better job of bringing in people to the parks at times that, 13 years ago, were considered low capacity times. They have created events and provided incentives to bring up crowd levels. Since Disney does not release crowd data it is difficult to determine exactly what impact this may have.

One thing for certain is that FP is available for the most popular attractions, and the creation of FP neither increased nor decreased the capacity of those attractions. If lines are longer then more people must be attempting to ride those attractions at that time.

 

[UNCFanatik]

this happened to us we went back to use our fast pass on test track and the ride was down and instead of saying we could come back latter they put us all in the fast pass line that was really long already becsuse ride was down if we could have used latter it would have been nice instead we had to wait and it was like we had waited in stand by line. but the ride did start back up and we did get to ride but after a long wait.

OK, I am confused. Test Track??? When exactly did you go recently?

 

[Robo]

OK, I am confused. Test Track??? When exactly did you go recently?

Test Track only closed for refurb 12 days ago.



The new FP rules went into effect over 7 weeks ago.

(My, how time flies!)

 

[KellyNY]

Test Track only closed for refurb 12 days ago.



The new FP rules went into effect over 7 weeks ago.

(My, how time flies!)

OMG, Robo, you crossed 60,000, congrats!!!

to you !!!

 

[UNCFanatik]

Test Track only closed for refurb 12 days ago.



The new FP rules went into effect over 7 weeks ago.

(My, how time flies!)

Yes, I am well aware of that fact. That is why when Mickeymouse108 said: "Hi all I just got back from disney" and then relayed their experience about Test Track, I just wanted it to be clarified exactly what time frame they were talking about.

 

[seashoreCM]

this happened to us we went back to use our fast pass on test track and the ride was down and instead of saying we could come back latter they put us all in the fast pass line that was really long already becsuse ride was down if we could have used latter it would have been nice instead we had to wait and it was like we had waited in stand by line. but the ride did start back up and we did get to ride but after a long wait.

You need to pro-actively seek out a higher level CM and tell him/her you wish to come back later when the line is shorter.

 

[MissionMouse]

This post should illustrate to Disney the need to make policies they plan on enforcing from the start, otherwise people perceive a right they actually never had.

 

[Robo]

OMG, Robo, you crossed 60,000, congrats!!!

to you !!!

Thanks!