Fastpass advise, please

[Daisy]

We have never used Fastpass but this is our 1st summer trip. We have always gone during the kids Mardi Gras vacation from school and didn't need to use it.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kbkids]

Best advice is to always be holding a FastPass in your hands for something.

 

[sugermouse]

Don't do WDW with out them...............

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

DON'T lose them!

(keep them somewhere safe and waterproof!)

Also . . .

Remember you can't get another Fastpass until you've used your most recent one (or it's 3 hours later- can someone tell me the exact amt of hours, can't remember!)

Fastpass is a great tool. Basically I start my day by getting a Fastpass, hten doing standby for a different ride. By the time I get off the first ride , my Fastpass is usually up (or close to it) so I use it! Then, I get a new Fastpass for another ride, and go in a shorter line as standby.

The "always have a Fastpass in your hand" is great. Just remember to take advantage of short standby lines, too.

You'll get the hang of it!

Enjoy your vacation!!!

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

You can get a FP for another ride as soon as the return time of the FP you are holding. So, if you have a FP for Soarin' at 9:40, you can get a test track FP at 9:40, even if you haven't ridden Soarin' yet.

If you are going to EPCOT, I would recommend going to Soarin' as soon as the rope drops and get FP's, then ride Soarin' in the standby line. As soon as your FPs for Soarin' come due, have 1 person hot foot it over to test track and get FPs for it. Then come back and use your FPs for Soarin'.

Another tip : Designate one person in your party to keep all the tickets together and make that person get all the FPs together. I kept them in a special section of my wallet, or some people were keeping them on a lanyard. To keep my family from having to walk so much, I would often go get FPs at locations around the park while my family got drinks or took a bathroom break, etc.

 

[Elk34]

In our family of 4, I will usually take everyone's tickets and go and get the fastpasses as they head over to a standby line ride. I can always go faster by myself than it would be for all 4 of us to get there. usually I can get the fastpasses and be back at the standby ride by the time they are showing up to get in the standby line. Bottom line: you only need 1 person to go and get the Fastpasses as long as they have all of the tickets.

 

[SCOTTOHIOCPA]

Be sure to look at the signs that show when the FPs will be set to return. The return time might be too far in the future or during some event like dinner reservations or the parade, so you would not want to get them.

During our recent trip I went over to Peter Pan around 11:15 to get FPs, but the return time was around 2:15 already. I decided it wasn't worth tying up my FPs for so long for this ride, and was glad I hadn't because I later got FPs for Space mountain around 1:00(?) that had a 6:00(?) return time.

 

[melaniemiller2002]

Yes, I was stupid enough to do this. On a second day of a 5 day stint in DL, I used our 5-day Park Hopper passes to obtain FastPasses. I mistakenly left the last Park Hopper pass in the FP machine and didn't realize it until later! Park Hopper pass was gone and thank God Disney was nice enough to replace it, but they said they didn't do that on a regular basis and to consider ourselves lucky. I now make sure I check the machines and have all tickets accounted for....and also make copies of front and back of our admission tickets in case I lose the real ones.

Melanie

 

[seashoreCM]

The worst case time between fast passes is about two hours. So if you get a fast pass for Space mountain at 1 PM and the return time is 6 PM, you can get another fast pass for something else at about 3 PM.

The worst case time could be shorter than 2 hours if the park is not so busy.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/fastpass.htm

Some shows, notably Lights, Motors have a "hidden earlier next fetch time". So if you got a fast pass for Rock 'n Roller Coaster at 11 AM and the next fetch time shown was 12:30 PM, you will succeed in getting a fast pass for Lights, Motors at around 11:10 AM just by trying (I think its hidden next fetch time is 10 minutes later). If you got the fast pass for Lights, Motors, first, you will see the next fetch time around 10 minutes later. Some rides may also have hidden next fetch times during less busy days although here we are talking 45 minutes to one hour later rather than ten minutes. Note that the visible next fetch time for your third fast pass as printed on your second fast pass will not be earlier than the visible next fetch time for your second fast pass as printed on your first fast pass.

 

[rifamtrav]

for the uninitiated, a brief description of the fast pass machines: there's usually a bank of the machines somewhere near the entrance to the ride, you may actually have to wait in line to get your chance at the machine. You have to insert each park pass in separately, and a slip of paper will spit out with the FP time. It can be a little daunting at first, especially if there are alot of people waiting for the machine and you are doing several passes, just take your time, keep track of both the park passes and fast passes and make sure you have everything with you when you walk away from the machine.
The plan to send one member of the party ahead to fast pass works really well, when you have kids/strollers/slower walking members of your group. Also nice way to give the rest of the group a rest while one dashes around the park. I am always the "runner" in my family, not sure if its a martyr complex, need to be in control, lack of trust that anyone else can handle it, or just a great way to work off all the extra calories from the big meals, but it works for me!

 

[cranbiz]

Yes FP times do vary. Yesterday I FP'ed KS at 12:30 and had a retuen time of 2:05 and a new FP "fetch" time of 1:46. I was able to get a FP for Dinosaur then with a return time of 2:05 and a new "fetch" time of 2:15. It was possible to have 3 FP's yesterday for me at AK and it was pretty busy.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

Whew! I thought I understood this whole FP thing, but I guess I was wrong! Now I'm even more confused...I didn't know you could have more than one FP at once and this fetch thing really has me confused?????

We've never needed them before, but we will be there in one week... guess I'd better get some more info...

 

[AnaheimGirl]

Some shows, notably Lights, Motors have a "hidden earlier next fetch time". So if you got a fast pass for Rock 'n Roller Coaster at 11 AM and the next fetch time shown was 12:30 PM, you will succeed in getting a fast pass for Lights, Motors at around 11:10 AM just by trying (I think its hidden next fetch time is 10 minutes later). If you got the fast pass for Lights, Motors, first, you will see the next fetch time around 10 minutes later. Some rides may also have hidden next fetch times during less busy days although here we are talking 45 minutes to one hour later rather than ten minutes. Note that the visible next fetch time for your third fast pass as printed on your second fast pass will not be earlier than the visible next fetch time for your second fast pass as printed on your first fast pass.

I've never heard of "hidden earlier next fetch time"? Am I understanding you correctly, in that certain shows allow you to get a FP earlier than the next fetch time printed on the FP? So, say if I was holding the FP for RnRC, I could get the FP for Lights, Motors before I could get one for ToT? Is this time hidden somewhere on the FP? Or is it just something you need to know? How can I find out which rides/shows have hidden earlier next fetch times? (couldn't find this in the link).

Thanks!

 

[seashoreCM]

How can I find out which rides/shows have hidden earlier next fetch times?

It is impossible unless a CM volunteers the information. You can make an educated guess that a ride might have a hidden earlier next fetch time if its standby wait is relatively short. Also, if you see someone else get a fast pass with a next fetch time before maturity and less than 2 hours away (or whatever the park wide worst case next fetch wait is at the time), that ride probably has a hidden earlier next fetch time. However if you try another fast pass kiosk and fail, the slip of paper with the black spot and error message will simply restate your visible next fetch time. There was a rumor that fast passes may some day show different next fetch times for different rides, and then these next fetch times will no longer be hidden.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

That's interesting. So, it seems these rides/shows with hidden fetch times change based on park/ride attendance, is that right?

Thanks for this info. I'm going to have to remember this one.

 

[fishy_mouse]

CM on the Backlot tour told us that because the Motor show is a stadium attraction with limited showings, the FP for it does not affect your FP status for other attractions. The FP for the show only guarantees you a seat, if you arrive at the scheduled time. There was some kind of statement about being able to get other FPs printed at the bottom of our FP for the show.