FASTPASS a thing of the PAST?

[SD33]

Anyone hear any rumors about Disneyland phasing out FASTPASS? I saw a thread on this a while ago on another site and it wasn't very conclusive. I realize that there are some new attractions that have FASTPASS but what about Toy Story and Little Mermaid? And is Cars supposed to have it when it opens? How does Disney decide what to make FASTPASS available for anyway?

Sorry if this has already been hashed out before. Feel free to post a link to prior threads.

 

[blabbermouth]

Well, FP is mostly for popular rides that are slow loading or have a low capacity.

Buzz doesn't need FP because it's never busy partly due to the fact that it has continuous loading. I think they might have screwed up with Toy Story, assuming it will only be as busy as Buzz, but it also is slower to load because the cars come to a stop for loading.

But anyway, I haven't heard any rumours about this! I don't know why they would?

 

[Disney Dreams]

...I think they might have screwed up with Toy Story, assuming it will only be as busy as Buzz, but it also is slower to load because the cars come to a stop for loading....

Before you hold tight to that conclusion... take a look at TSMM at WDW. It has FP and the lines can be expected to have incredibly long wait times. So much so that WDW regulars laugh at what people familiar with DCA consider a wait for TSMM.

TSMM with a FP at DCA would be a mistake, imo.

- Dreams

 

[skiingfast]

I have heard these rumors since last winter more often. They started because they took something Bob Iger said very much out of context.

I doubt there is any truth and it's all rumors.

As far as RSR there are rumors it will get FP but nothing I've seen that solidly indicates it will.

 

[MAH4546]

Radiator Springs is confirmed for FastPass. Toy Story was set to get FP, as well, but that's on hold.

 

[HydroGuy]

Anyone hear any rumors about Disneyland phasing out FASTPASS? I saw a thread on this a while ago on another site and it wasn't very conclusive. I realize that there are some new attractions that have FASTPASS but what about Toy Story and Little Mermaid? And is Cars supposed to have it when it opens? How does Disney decide what to make FASTPASS available for anyway?

Sorry if this has already been hashed out before. Feel free to post a link to prior threads.

Well obviously LMAUA does not need FP. And TSMM is tight on space and does not really get the super long lines other FP attractions have at DLR at 60-75 minutes. With lines often of 30-45 minutes at TSMM it does not really require a FP.

In any case rumors are that RSR will have FP. I asked one of the RSR imagineers about FP for RSR at the D23 Expo and they said it was still undecided. But that might have just been the company line.

 

[HydroGuy]

Radiator Springs is confirmed for FastPass. Toy Story was set to get FP, as well, but that's on hold.

I have heard rumors but nothing "confirmed". What makes you think it is confirmed?

 

[Saylan]

Before you hold tight to that conclusion... take a look at TSMM at WDW. It has FP and the lines can be expected to have incredibly long wait times. So much so that WDW regulars laugh at what people familiar with DCA consider a wait for TSMM.

TSMM with a FP at DCA would be a mistake, imo.

- Dreams

Having been to both parks this year, this is fairly accurate.

DCA: our wait time was about 40 minutes.
DHS: the FPs were gone well before 10:30 am and the line never dropped under 60 minutes, even into the 3 extra magic hours that evening.

 

[aan1701]

Well I know a long time ago there was a interview with John Lasiter now that he is almost in charge of WDI. he stated he hates FP because it takes away from the story that sometimes the line tells. Look what happened at Indy. That line told a story, now you just rush through it. FP ruined that line. I am ready to wait forever for RSR, in a way I hope it does not have FP.

 

[ukstitch]

The "criteria" for what makes a good candidate for a fast pass ride is generally that it's a fast loading ride that's highly popular, though it's not always quite that simple.

Although this seems odd, it needs to be a fast loader because otherwise the main standby line gets delayed too much by the fast passes. Either that or they can only issue a very small number of fast passes, in which case they sell out crazy fast.

Over in Disneyland Paris, they've regularly experimented with fast pass on Crush's Coaster (very popular, but very slow loader). Whenever this has happened, it's made things worse because it's resulted in even longer queues than there already are due to the slow loading and also longer queues on all the other slow loading rides around it (all the fast pass people who would normally be queuing for Crush's are suddenly now free to walk around and join other lines while they wait for their fast pass time).

 

[Vexorg]

It doesn't matter whether you use a Fastpass or not, chances are you're still going to rush through most of the themed portion of the queue at Indiana Jones anyway, since the regular and FP lines mix before you enter the long corridor, and from there you pretty much just walk straight through until you reach the film room.

With just a few exceptions, Fastpass lines all seem to merge into the same queue as the regular standby lines before any of the "interesting" stuff in the queue happens anyway. About the only Fastpass ride that I've seen where the system really doesn't seem to work was on Peter Pan at WDW, where the really slow loading made the Fastpass line take almost as long as the regular line would have. I have noticed that BTMRR seems to have its Fastpass machines turned off frequently when crowd levels are low lately, I suspect that one wouldn't be too much different without having Fastpasses.

 

[sweetlovin']

The "criteria" for what makes a good candidate for a fast pass ride is generally that it's a fast loading ride that's highly popular, though it's not always quite that simple.

Although this seems odd, it needs to be a fast loader because otherwise the main standby line gets delayed too much by the fast passes. Either that or they can only issue a very small number of fast passes, in which case they sell out crazy fast.

Over in Disneyland Paris, they've regularly experimented with fast pass on Crush's Coaster (very popular, but very slow loader). Whenever this has happened, it's made things worse because it's resulted in even longer queues than there already are due to the slow loading and also longer queues on all the other slow loading rides around it (all the fast pass people who would normally be queuing for Crush's are suddenly now free to walk around and join other lines while they wait for their fast pass time).

Crush's Coaster breaks down a lot more often than most of the Disneyland or WDW rides. It broke down at least 4 times the first day and 3 times the 2nd day. Fastpass would work better if they could keep it going, but I LOVE that ride. It was worth the 70minute wait we had. (and that was a Thursday on an off season day!)

 

[LisaCat]

Well, FP is mostly for popular rides that are slow loading or have a low capacity.

Buzz doesn't need FP because it's never busy partly due to the fact that it has continuous loading. I think they might have screwed up with Toy Story, assuming it will only be as busy as Buzz, but it also is slower to load because the cars come to a stop for loading.

But anyway, I haven't heard any rumours about this! I don't know why they would?

I asked one of the CMs at Toy Story when I was there last month. She said that because that ride is ALWAYS busy, Fast Pass would be a moot point because it would either "sell out" in the first hour of opening, or the FP line would be so long that it would negate having a FP.

 

[SD33]

This has been helpful...I think, lol. I'm pretty sure FASTPASS isn't going away, but I really don't know why FASTPASS exists for any given attraction. The logic of FASTPASS seems to be debatable.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I have heard rumors but nothing "confirmed". What makes you think it is confirmed?

Don't know what info that poster is going by but I did just notice the 2012 edition of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland says it will be a fastpass attraction.

 

[cmwade77]

Ok, so here is the general rules about what gets FP from my observations:

• For Omnimover attractions, FP tends to make the lines longer for everyone due to how many they can load and how quickly. (This is only true up to a point, see below about Haunted Mansion Holiday)
• If the attraction has a fairly low load capacity, it is a good candidate for FP because you manage the line so that people are spread out a little bit. Splash mountain is a good example of this.
• If the attraction has restrictions on how long you can take to get into/out of the vehicle, it is a good choice for FP, because you can manage the line so that there are always people ready to ride. Space Mountain is a good example of this.
• If the attraction has too low of a loading capacity, it is not a good choice for FP, because you will cause the standby line to backup and interfere with other park operations. Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is a god example of this.
• If the capacity is ultra high, so that the maximum wait is two-three ride vehicles or cycles, it is not a good choice for FP, as spending the money would yield no benefits.
• If the line would interfere with other park operations, even if it doesn't meet the other criteria, it will get FP. This is why HM Holiday gets a FP.

In addition, as the construction continues, I would imagine that we are going to see some temporary FP closures at DCA, because by offering FPs it will make walkways a lot more crowded with the limited dining and shopping options available.