FastPass+ Basic Info, Attraction List, and Suggested Priorities--Part I

[LindaLou]

We have AP's, but have not stayed onsite, in years. I did however, link our AP's and ADR's for our trip in April on MDX. When I signed in today it says I can chose Fast Pass + reservations in one day. Can this be true? Has anyone else been able to take advantage of FP+ without having stayed onsite, or being invited to "test" magic bands? Trying not to get my hopes up while reading all I can about which to choose.

PS Thanks for the wonderful thread!

 

[mesaboy2]

We have AP's, but have not stayed onsite, in years. I did however, link our AP's and ADR's for our trip in April on MDX. When I signed in today it says I can chose Fast Pass + reservations in one day. Can this be true? Has anyone else been able to take advantage of FP+ without having stayed onsite, or being invited to "test" magic bands? Trying not to get my hopes up while reading all I can about which to choose.

PS Thanks for the wonderful thread!

Let us know tomorrow.

There are rumblings that this is coming soon--maybe even tomorrow--but I don't think anyone's actually been able to do this yet.

 

[Mazzy]

OK, that totally stinks, but if its what it is now, then we'll make it work!!

We are planners...I have spreadsheets and there is a plan, so we will make it work..

THANK YOU for clearing up my confusion!!

I admire your positive attitude. We are planners too, and I also am determined to make it work for us.

 

[MrsMud]

Hi Fellow DISers! Been a long time since I was on these boards. Last trip to the World was...2010 I think? Anyway, a lot has changed! I was one who always knew how to work the Fastpass system perfectly, so learning about the new FP+, I'm more than a little discouraged. Especially since this trip will likely be the most crowded time we've ever been to WDW.
We are going in May, the weekend before Memorial weekend, which I have now learned is a SWW!!! Oy! We are splitting the trip between WDW and Universal for my daughter's graduation present, so only 2 days at Disney this time. She has chosen AK and MK. So for the FP+, Animal Kingdom is pretty easy. We will get Everest, Kali and the Safari. Magic Kingdom, OTOH is more difficult. There are so many rides that we love! I'm guessing we should get the 3 mountains and just hope we get to enjoy some other rides without long waits. On our other trips to MK we have usually ridden Space and Splash numerous times with little to no waits. I fear it won't be possible this time around. Does anyone know or think they will be instituting a tiering system at MK? Oh man, I hope not!!!

Anyway, I called WDW reservations the other day (had to change our trip by one day), and had the nicest CM on the phone. She was telling me about FP+ and I said yes, I had heard about it and knew that a lot of people didn't like it. We talked about that for awhile and she said she completely understands. She said this is really still in the testing phase and Disney is always interested in the guest's happiness (which means more money for them, lol). She said when you stay at the resort make sure you fill out the survey and voice your displeasure with the system if you feel that way. She said the powers that be DO take these into consideration. So, everybody: Let your voice be heard!!!

 

[LindaLou]

We have AP's, but have not stayed onsite, in years. I did however, link our AP's and ADR's for our trip in April on MDX. When I signed in today it says I can chose Fast Pass + reservations in one day. Can this be true? Has anyone else been able to take advantage of FP+ without having stayed onsite, or being invited to "test" magic bands? Trying not to get my hopes up while reading all I can about which to choose.

PS Thanks for the wonderful thread!

Alas, it was too good to be true. When I logged on after midnight to MDX it changed the date that I will be able to make Fast Pass + reservations from Feb 11th to April 17th. That is the day before we come home. Back to plan "B".

 

[Robo]

Alas, it was too good to be true. When I logged on after midnight to MDX it changed the date that I will be able to make Fast Pass + reservations from Feb 11th to April 17th. That is the day before we come home. Back to plan "B".

How can anyone be sure if this info is accurate or if is it just another glitch?

You might want to call and ask.
You could ask which info, posted just two days apart by the same source, is the info to believe.

Call WDW Ticketing at
(407) 566-4985 (option 5) or

Call the WDW IT Dept. at
(407) 939-3471 or
(407) 939-7849 or
(407) 939-4357 or
(407) 939-7765 (option #2)

If you are in the UK, call-
0800 16 90 749

 

[LindaLou]

How can anyone be sure if this info is accurate or if is it just another glitch?

You might want to call and ask.
You could ask which info, posted just two days apart by the same source, is the info to believe.



I did call first thing this morning. The CM was very polite and apologetic, but he had no idea why this happened. According to him, since I do not have a magic band I am unable to book FP+ in advance. "Although new opportunities come out every day, and you could check back on a regular basis to see if this changes." So no real answer. I may call again later. Maybe a new person will have a new answer, that I will like better.

 

[ckelly14]

There are a number of reports of this exact same thing happening. Off-site and AP's not quite ready without a prior on-site stay, it seems. Hopefully this changes soon!

 

[theworldneedscolor]

With the disappearance of tiers in DHS, I am considering changing my Star Tours to Rockin' Rollercoaster. Would this be a good idea? We are going Sunday March 23rd. We had previously just thought we would ride Rockin' in the single rider line, but it would be nice to ride it together. However, if the Star Tours line will be long, it might be better to keep that FP+. Thoughts?

 

[mesaboy2]

With the disappearance of tiers in DHS, I am considering changing my Star Tours to Rockin' Rollercoaster. Would this be a good idea? We are going Sunday March 23rd. We had previously just thought we would ride Rockin' in the single rider line, but it would be nice to ride it together. However, if the Star Tours line will be long, it might be better to keep that FP+. Thoughts?

Definitely switch to RnRC if the tiers will let you. Star Tours has monster capacity so it rarely sees waits in the neighborhood of RnRC.

 

[eeyoreland]

No more tiers at DHS? When did this happen?

 

[ougrad86]

No more tiers at DHS? When did this happen?

There was a glitch yesterday which allowed some users to bypass the tiers. I heard it was back to normal late yesterday. I was able to make the changes I wanted, and they haven't gone anywhere. Haven't heard anything more about it.

 

[eeyoreland]

There was a glitch yesterday which allowed some users to bypass the tiers. I heard it was back to normal late yesterday. I was able to make the changes I wanted, and they haven't gone anywhere. Haven't heard anything more about it.

Ahhh, thank you. I was half terrified at the idea of redoing everything.

 

[Joey04]

Hi Mesaboy,

Thanks so much for putting together the list! We intend to use it as we plan for our trip in August. Without having been to the park in a year and a half, I would like to know how you rated "Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot" as a C.

From our previous visits, this was one of the longest and slowest lines in Disney. But the photos were so important to my DW, so my DW would wait for 2 to 2.5 hours in that line while me and the kids would hang out around Future World until she would call us and let us know she was close (which has always been a norm for this line that one parent would wait while the rest of the family would be doing things, my DW treasures the pictures.)

The kids are older, I am not sure she would want to do that again, but I saw Undercover Tourist does actually put it in there top 3. (Or maybe it was because we went in September that this line was among the longest with all of the little kids?)

So can anyone following forum comment if this is a worthwhile FP+ to family's that get these pictures, or will it save us no time?

Thanks!!!

Joey

 

[mesaboy2]

Hi Mesaboy,

Thanks so much for putting together the list! We intend to use it as we plan for our trip in August. Without having been to the park in a year and a half, I would like to know how you rated "Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot" as a C.

From our previous visits, this was one of the longest and slowest lines in Disney. But the photos were so important to my DW, so my DW would wait for 2 to 2.5 hours in that line while me and the kids would hang out around Future World until she would call us and let us know she was close (which has always been a norm for this line that one parent would wait while the rest of the family would be doing things, my DW treasures the pictures.)

The kids are older, I am not sure she would want to do that again, but I saw Undercover Tourist does actually put it in there top 3. (Or maybe it was because we went in September that this line was among the longest with all of the little kids?)

So can anyone following forum comment if this is a worthwhile FP+ to family's that get these pictures, or will it save us no time?

Thanks!!!

Joey

ECS has changed a bit since you were last here. Remember you used to be able to see 5 characters, plus it was highly visible through windows from a high-traffic area. This naturally led to long wait times.

The new location has reduced the number of characters to 3, has doubled its capacity thanks to what I will only refer to as "Disney magic", and is no longer in a highly-visible location. All of this translates to much shorter waits than before.

In my original priority list, I had it as a "B", but one or two knowledgeable character sources here have advised me since that waits are rarely longer than 15-20 minutes or so anymore--so shortly after I downgraded it to a "C". I've not see enough contrary reports since to change it again.

Also, with ECS being a Group 1 attraction along with Soarin' and Test Track, it is highly unlikely that sacrificing a FP for one of those--with waits easily exceeding 60 minutes most times of most days--for ECS is a good decision.

I hope that helps in your decision.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Hi Mesaboy, Thanks so much for putting together the list! We intend to use it as we plan for our trip in August. Without having been to the park in a year and a half, I would like to know how you rated "Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot" as a C. From our previous visits, this was one of the longest and slowest lines in Disney. But the photos were so important to my DW, so my DW would wait for 2 to 2.5 hours in that line while me and the kids would hang out around Future World until she would call us and let us know she was close (which has always been a norm for this line that one parent would wait while the rest of the family would be doing things, my DW treasures the pictures.) The kids are older, I am not sure she would want to do that again, but I saw Undercover Tourist does actually put it in there top 3. (Or maybe it was because we went in September that this line was among the longest with all of the little kids?) So can anyone following forum comment if this is a worthwhile FP+ to family's that get these pictures, or will it save us no time? Thanks!!! Joey

Hi. We did this in October and it totally was worth it in my view. I could never do this before as I am disabled and just couldn't wait in line. We approached. Swiped our bands, walked passed all the others in stand by line waiting and went straight in. It was such a nice 'spend' of a FP+ experience. Would def recommend.

 

[DCDisney]

The line at ECS was never longer than 20 mins and usually 5-10 so unless you don't want to ride Soarin or TT it's not worth it. We did use a FP+ for the character spot at AK bc we had 1 to waste and it saved us 5 mins

 

[Joey04]

Thanks both of you for the fast replies. I think we will skip this one for FP+, and will just see what the lines are like when we are there. This entire fp+ where we only get to pick 3 passes per day could also only be described as "Disney Magic"... I actually look forward to seeing a CM with a clipboard for this trip!

 

[rcarman213]

How much does this add to the cost of a ticket?

 

[Joey04]

How much does this add to the cost of a ticket?

It doesn't cost cash. It just costs against every guest's allotment of 3 FP+ per day, or one premium FP+ per day at Epcot. So this sounds like it would only be a good FP+ for a group that does not ride soarin or test track.