Fast Pass Wait Times !

[a_port90]

Hi again guys!

We will be in the parks the last week of May and will be using MaxPass/FastPasses each of those days, I wondered though what to expect as far as wait times in those FastPass line ups? Thanks in advance I am getting so excited!

 

[agamble]

Hi again guys!

We will be in the parks the last week of May and will be using MaxPass/FastPasses each of those days, I wondered though what to expect as far as wait times in those FastPass line ups? Thanks in advance I am getting so excited!

FP waits seem longer now than they used to. I feel that they are now distributing more FP than they used to causing the standby lines to be even longer. That being said, the FP lines are still fairly reasonable. Some rides like Matterhorn and Space Mountain seem to back up more than others. The CM definitely favor the FP lines though and they move very consistently as opposed to the standby lines where they only let in one or two groups at a time.

 

[GatorChris]

Since MaxPass came, the FP lines are definitely all longer. I've hit Splash Mt FP line and had to stop nearly after getting up the stairs. And Radiator Springs Racers has been backed up nearly to the main entry. That kinda stuff will get under your skin fast.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

If you haven't already, download the DLR app. Then you'll be able to monitor the FP availability and return times starting the week before your trip dates. That will give you the most accurate idea of what to expect when you arrive.

 

[Niltiac]

Huh, every time we've been to the parks since they introduced MP we found the majority of FP lines to have no wait at all prior to merging with standby. We thought they must have changed the system to prioritize FP more than before. Apparently that's not what others have experienced though so maybe we were just lucky.

 

[az4boys]

We've been a few times with MP. I didn't think the FP lines were terribly long. There were a couple exceptions for Matterhorn (after it had broken down) and RSR (probably a break down too), but when the stand by line for RSR is 2 hours, I'm not going to complain about a 20 minute FP line. Whenever the FP line backs up, they heavily favor it over the stand-by line. It might look long, but it moves quickly.

 

[agamble]

Space mountain has switch backs on the FP side now, and they use them regularly. That and the FP line backs up down the hill as people take forever to scan to get in. Many people think they're in the standby queue because it is long and they expect the FP queue to be short. I've told a few people they were in the wrong line a few times.

 

[Mousequake]

I found on our recent trip that FP lines look longer at first glance because there's a backup of people waiting to scan their ticket at the kiosk. But once you get past that kiosk, they're about the same length as before MP.

 

[sherilaine]

We went early last month and the Fast Pass lines were great. Now it depends on the ride though as to if there is an additional wait once the FP line merges with the Standby line - Soarin is a good example of this - you merge with the standby line and there can still be a decent wait to get on the ride but that is not due to more fast passes being out there it's just due to where they choose to merge the two. I also found that when the FP line was longer the CMs tended to favour it - for GOTG and Space especially. MaxPass is awesome though - even if the price goes up we will use it our next trip for sure!!

 

[cruisehopeful]

Huh, every time we've been to the parks since they introduced MP we found the majority of FP lines to have no wait at all prior to merging with standby. We thought they must have changed the system to prioritize FP more than before. Apparently that's not what others have experienced though so maybe we were just lucky.

I've had the same experience. The only time I've been backed up in a fast pass line is when a ride has been down for a while and it just reopened during my window. They seem to let everyone who missed their turn go when the ride reopens, creating a very big backup for those with the current return time

 

[Malcon10t]

I found on our recent trip that FP lines look longer at first glance because there's a backup of people waiting to scan their ticket at the kiosk. But once you get past that kiosk, they're about the same length as before MP.

THIS. Usually, the hold up is people trying to figure out how to scan their FP, or people in line too early or too late arguing with the CM.

 

[Niltiac]

THIS. Usually, the hold up is people trying to figure out how to scan their FP, or people in line too early or too late arguing with the CM.

That is true, I did see a lot of FP lines backed up at the ride entrance, usually because someone at the front was talking to a CM and the rest of their group was standing around blocking the FP scanners. I wondered why the CM's didn't make a point of asking a group to step off to the side if they need to discuss something. But by and large once we were actually in the line, most of the time we were able to walk straight up to the point where the lines integrate. Of course there's still a bit of a wait, depending on the ride, once the lines integrate.

 

[agamble]

The FP scanners are too close together. They want guests to use both, but oftentimes there is such a crowd around one machine that people don't realize there is a second machine. Although backups at the machines are a problem, we have still noticed backups once we've gotten into the FP queue that are noticeably longer than they were a few years ago. Example above is the switch backs in usage at Space Mountain. And someone else mentioned the Splash queue often backing up to just after the staircase. Those things were not common 2 years ago.

 

[Niltiac]

Example above is the switch backs in usage at Space Mountain. And someone else mentioned the Splash queue often backing up to just after the staircase. Those things were not common 2 years ago.

I've never seen switchbacks at space mountain - in fact I've never seen more than a handful of people waiting on the FP side, and this is a favorite that we often ride multiple times per day. But admittedly we haven't been since December, and it sounds like we might have had a fair bit of luck. I'm glad I read all this so I know more of what to expect next time. It's unfortunate because one of the reasons I always get a FP for space is because I hate standing around on that boring concrete roof.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

Depends on how busy the park is. During our October trip, no waits in the fastpass line. First week of April, we waited 25 min for Matterhorn in the fastpass line. The problem is the scanning. People were blocking the line not moving in order to wait a few min until their pass activated. Seems to happen a lot at Matterhorn and Space. One of my two (only two) frustrations with Maxpass/Fastpass. The other is people blocking/not using all available scanners. Our last trip someone was having issues at Big Thunder scanning from their phone, another person in the party was leaning up against the other machine blocking it for everyone. i tried a few polite excuse me's to no avail. Even a "hey dude your blocking the scanner" did not seem to work. I guess some people think that if they are having a problem, no one should pass them, and maybe some in line don't like passing others up as well.CM's encourage using all machines though, just dont do enough to stop people from blocking them in my opinion.

 

[wdwfan22]

I was there for 10 days in Oct and 10 days in Jan/Feb. I have never seen a switchback at Space. In fact, I think that is one of the fastest FP lines. I think RSR probably has the longest FP line. But GotG can get pretty long too and actually Buzz because it frequently has an immediate return time. But even so, they are significantly shorter than the standby. And Disney does not call them a no wait pass for a reason. It is faster than the standby. That's all they promise.

 

[Katems]

What's a switchback??

 

[agamble]

What's a switchback??

Where they rope or chain off an area and the line winds back and forth. Common example would be Peter Pan. I thought I had a picture of the switch back at Space FP line but I can't find it. Any case three times this year on different visits we've walked up the ramp to find a line in a chained off switch back. We've also walked up and gone straight to the second scanners. It just depends. All FP uses have required we wait in the line at the entrance to scan the first time as that backs up.