Fast Passes Have Lost Their Luster???

[Silly23]

On our last trip in October we started to notice that fast pass lines were much longer then usual.(especially at MK) We heard a couple in line for Soarin discussing how they knew how to work the system for fast passes. We also noticed that we were being offered fast passes far too often. Our reservation at Liberty Tree Tavern was running late and once again offered fast passes which we declined and politely asked for a table and to be seated.

Was this a fluke perhaps or is this a trend (fast pass long lines) other visitors have noticed as well???

 

[Lashed34]

The only FP I wasn't able to get (30 days out) were FOP & SDD, which I expected anyway. All other FP I wanted I got and for good times in the morning so I can get more for the afternoon.

As much as I would have loved to get FOP & SDD FP it hasn't frustrated me at all. The queues will when we get to them though

 

[Silly23]

Years ago when SDMT 1st openned we were staying at CB got two rooms. 1 for grandma and one for the 4 of us at the time we only had two kiddos. Our magic band would not work and eventually the scanner/lock had to be changed out, we were frustrated by the 3 hr process. Only slightly as we are from the suburbs of chicago and in February we were glad to be in warm weather and among palm trees. We were grateful for the fast passes offered for our troubles and fastpassed SDMT and our daughters met all the princesses and it was great! Fast forward to our last trip in October and we were being offered fast passes frequently. It seems as though fast passes are being handed out as quickly as MM stickers. And in my opinion causing longer fast pass lines.

 

[JETSDAD]

We use FP's for pretty much everything and rarely have a long wait. If there is a longer than normal FP wait then it means the standby line will be longer as well so you're still ahead of the game.

 

[emily nicole]

I was at Wdw Oct 26-30 and only noted a long FP wait for Soarin. It was 35 minutes. The standby was 65 minutes so I was still fine with that wait. FP lines were super short everywhere else.

 

[Silly23]

I was at Wdw Oct 26-30 and only noted a long FP wait for Soarin. It was 35 minutes. The standby was 65 minutes so I was still fine with that wait. FP lines were super short everywhere else.

Same here at Epcot but Mk was a different story, long long long fast pass lines...

 

[Jennasis]

Haven't noticed extra long FP lines. Have been 4 times this year.

 

[Bjkandma]

Disney seems to be offering fast passes, all the time to compensate guests. We had an incident with a bus, and their immediate solution to the problem was 3 fast passes, per person in our party. I declined.

 

[DisneyRobin]

We were just there for 4 days and the fast passes worked well in all of the parks for us. The only ride that had a long fast pass line was jingle cruise. It was a 30 min fp line! The standby time was 120 mins!! All other lines were reasonable.

 

[SG131]

Saw some very long fp lines for splash mountain and buzz back in August. I had a fp for splash but it weaved in and out a bunch of times then went all the way across the bridge. I ended up skipping it. It does seem like a downside of them handing them out so frequently is longer fp lines.

 

[Disneylover99]

Fp’s have been given out to appease people for years. It’s nothing knew. It’s a quick, easy and free way to placate guests when something goes wrong. I don’t think this is what causes long lines.

What I’ve noticed is that fp lines get long when people try to scam their way through the fp lines. I’ve noticed this happening more and more. People scan blue and play dumb, hoping they’ll be waved through the line, sometimes they are stopped (which is good) but often they block the line while a CM explains that they don’t have a fp.

 

[yorkieteacher]

I guess to each his own, but if you have gone through an inconvenience, and fast passes are offered, why not accept them? Isn't it rare (from what I have read on these boards) that when complaints are made, that anything else is ever done? Doesn't it have to be something really traumatic, like the skyliner "incident", for any monetary discounts or gift cards to be offered? I agree that for the most part, FP lines are shorter than standby. I guess I'm not noble enough to spend longer in line for the principal of protesting poorer service in WDW. That's something else it seems from these boards that we are experiencing more of lately, but I feel helpless to do much about it other than stay away. I'm not ready to give up WDW completely yet!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Longest FP line I've ever seen was when 7D came back up after it was closed for lightning. We were on the ride in 15 minutes.

 

[tguz]

Haven't noticed extra long FP lines. Have been 4 times this year.

We were there in July/Aug and did not notice long fastpass lines at all.

 

[tguz]

Fp’s have been given out to appease people for years. It’s nothing knew. It’s a quick, easy and free way to placate guests when something goes wrong. I don’t think this is what causes long lines.

What I’ve noticed is that fp lines get long when people try to scam their way through the fp lines. I’ve noticed this happening more and more. People scan blue and play dumb, hoping they’ll be waved through the line, sometimes they are stopped (which is good) but often they block the line while a CM explains that they don’t have a fp.

That happened while we were in line for Kali River Rapids in July. We were in the fastpass line and we saw a whole family crossover from standby. We knew there was a second fastpass check and just waited to see what happened. You could see the shock in the parents faces when they saw the second fastpass check but went ahead anyway and tried to say there must be a problem, mistake, and I don't know what is going on......credit to the young castmember who politely explained that they do not have fastpasses and sent them back to the end of the line.

 

[Christine]

I was there last week and didn't note any real issues with the FP lines. I think my longest was Jungle Cruise where I waited about 20 minutes to get on a boat. Just about every other FP was a walk on. FoP took about 15 minutes. We had 14 in our party going on one ride (two in ECVs) so we had to wait a little longer for a particular room.

One morning my parents had to wait a little longer for the monorail at the GF to get over to MK and they were given anytime FPs for the day.

 

[jimim]

Years now fast passes have been handed out. Even before trips. I work with people who find something to complain about even before trips and get phone cast members to add fast passes before even getting there which I find wonky in general.

I’m at the point we go so often a few fast passes for the rides they offer aren’t needed or worth it. If we r with other people who haven’t been to Disney as often and we have some extra ones for some reason we use them for the people we are with so they can experience some quick rides.

if something blows up for me on a trip which is rare and they offer me fast passes I usually say instead of the added ones via computer pull out that fold fast pass booklet in ur pocket and give me one for say pandora or something else not on the computer listed ones.

 

[Capang]

I have found that many times those FP lines may look long but they move quickly. The longest I've found were Jungle Cruise and Space Mountain. Those always look the worst, but they tend to usually move quickly.

I have been offered FP as a form of compensation for things that have gone awry. I always take them. It costs Disney nothing and makes my party happy. I don't expect them, but when offered we use them. I don't see it as a detriment to the wait times.

 

[Tomh]

I have seen some very long FP lines, however, that does not make FP useless. If the FP line is very long, CM's will increase the ratio of FP riders to standby riders that they let into the attraction, and move the FP line faster. No matter how long the FP line is, you will get in quicker than you would in standby. Our family had great success using FP during our August trip, even managing to get a number of high demand FP's day of in the parks. In Epcot, we rode Soarin' Test Track, and Frozen Ever After on the same day with very little wait every day we were in the park. In AK we were able to ride Navi River Journey, and Flight of Passage multiple times as well as ride the safari in the morning, and again at twilight, and again all with little wait time thanks to FP.

 

[mullysisters]

I assumed that the end goal was for everyone to prebook and have a fp+. In the same way you book a time for a museum exhibit or dinner at popular restaurant. Yes you have to start weeks in advance, Disney is that popular. I havent experienced any problem except for SM, but then I havent been since before SWGE or Pandora. Fp+ at least means I can be assured of having one ride on those. I think there should be 4 fp+ (or more) at DHS becaue of all the headliners instead of making people pay $100+ for the privilege of a special event.