Fastpass Disappointments

[mom2aandj]

Back then in PFP time, (pre FastPass) the lines existed but they flowed steadily.

sorry, totally disagree. All that happened was that everyone stood in hours long lines. That was the reality of pre FP WDW. I love fast pass and have no desire to return to those days where long lines were a requirement.

 

[camdensmom]

Is this a summer thing? I can't imagine waiting in line that long to ride Space Mountain after midnight and I don't recall ever seeing that many large tour groups as described.

 

[MOmousefan]

Our Fastpass experience in June was quite the opposite. The judicious use of the FP helped us to experience everything we wanted. We also took advantage of PM EMH and will do it again as we saw a small crowd after midnight. Maybe it is the time of year that determines this.

 

[cinmell]

E-Ride nights and Extra Magic Hour nights are a bit different. With E-Ride nights, you had to purchase a wristband and there were only a limited # given out--there were fewer people in the park on those nights. With EMH nights, anyone staying on property is allowed to stay in. And regardless to if they have a fastpass or not, when the normal park hours end and the EMH hours begin, fastpass or not, if they don't have a wristband, they won't be allowed on the ride.

(And for what it's worth, I LOVED the E-Ride nights and would gladly pay if they would bring them back! Wishful thinking, I know...)

I miss the E-nights and wish they'd bring bring them back!! I am not crazy about the EMH at all. I would much rather pay for the wristband for the E -night than get in free for EMH.

 

[hoosll]

If we don't use a FP, we will often give it to another guest ... is it possible that during EMH, the groups are pooling unused FP? So I would guess that many tickets are well beyond their "window".

Tour guides would know to hold unused tickets or even share with other groups. Disney would need to do a better job with screening return times, enforcing their own policy and making it clear to tour group leaders that FP return times WILL be enforced.

The FP return window should be 2 hours to add some flexibility and strictly enforced. Enforcement can be strongly noted on the FP and on boards and maps.

I would like to see Disney invest in a few more e-ticket rides at MK or a new large scale show to siphon more guests. Isn't there an old amphitheatre at MK that is rarely used - create a great High School musical production like MGM Beauty which is designed to lure guests to a venue for 1+ hour at a time.

 

[KYDisneyFanantic]

If you've ever waited 2 hours with a 3 year old to ride Peter Pan's Flight you have nothing but praise for Disney for inventing fast passes!

 

[fla4fun]

I have seen a lot of threads discussing the problem of people holding on to their fastpasses until the very last minute and then at park closing, the headliner attractions are hit with massive lines of people (most of the complaints have been about Soarin). I agree that Disney should enforce their fastpass return times better. I don't think anyone with a fastpass should be admitted any later than the window immediately after their own. That way, the crowds would be more evenly distributed during the day and there wouldn't be so many people running to the attractions at the last minute. Considering that even some of the touring plan sites advise doing this, I don't doubt the 3500 count at all. I bet they all made a run for it about five minutes before park closing.

As to the tour group leaders getting fastpasses, those fastpasses would be subject to the same guidelines as anyone else. You can only get one until either your window opens or (I believe) two hours after getting the first one. So although it may seem like the tour director is just running from one fastpass machine to another, they can't get passes any more frequently than anyone else. I do doubt that they had 200 tickets though (although in the heat of the day, it probably felt like it) because I've never seen a group quite that large going around together. Usually I see 50-75 going around together, although there may be multiple groups from different tour operators so it feels like the park is full of tour groups. Can you imagine the looks on the faces of the people in the standby line when that group hits the fastpass line?

I also don't like the fact that during the really busy seasons (which I avoid) the fastpasses for the entire day can run out by mid-morning. It's all well and good to say "be there when the parks open" but we all know the best laid plans can go completely by the wayside without warning. I think there should be a morning distribution and then around 1pm, an afternoon distribution for the rest of the day. With all the new signboards they are putting up, it wouldn't be difficult to communicate when the second batch was available, and it would be another way to help everyone have a magical park experience.

Fastpass in theory is a good idea, and if it were operated as it should be, it would be a great asset. Right now, it's just a good one. Hopefully as the parks are getting busier, they will realize they need to tighten up some of the loopholes.

 

[goofyernmost]

If you've ever waited 2 hours with a 3 year old to ride Peter Pan's Flight you have nothing but praise for Disney for inventing fast passes!

Well there you go...that's precisely the reason why kids shouldn't be allowed in the parks. They ruin it for the rest of us. But that's another thread entirely!

 

[SixBits]

Well there you go...that's precisely the reason why kids shouldn't be allowed in the parks. They ruin it for the rest of us. But that's another thread entirely!

I really hope for your sake that was meant to be sarcastic...

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I love Fast Pass. The trick is always having one so you can get as many as possible during the day. MK is the easiest park to do this in. I can get about seven or eight a day, and never wait more then ten minutes all day for any attraction with or without Fast Pass.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

Check it out now and listen to the comments of the people waiting in the standby line when they stand in the sun for ages while others pass in front of them and make them wait. It wouldn't hurt for Disney to listen either. Anger does not make for a happy experience. An unhappy experience does not make for a desire to return. No desire to return means the "magic" is gone for many.

BTW, please don't start up with the "everyone can get one" argument. That has been proven wrong more times then George W. Bush.

But everyone can get one.

 

[tinkerbelle_rox325]

wow that doesnt sound good... we are going in late august, so i hope this doesnt happen to us! it would totally ruin our trip! (we are HUGE fastpass users)

 

[daisax]

We used up nearly an hour and a half of our precious extra magic hours to ride Space Mountain only once.

For me, there's NO ride in WDW worth waiting more than an hour for (and even that's a stretch!), so I don't get it when people choose to wait in endless lines, then complain about waiting in line.

As for the tour groups, even if it's 50 people, I think they should have to work with some kind of Disney concierge person to get fastpasses for their group. Think about it -- say it's a group of 50. Do we think that every single person in the group is going to ride Space Mountain? Probably not, but it's easier to get one for every single person. Which ends up taking tickets from the overall pool available to everybody else. Maybe 10 won't ride SM. But multiply by each ride they get fastpasses for the entire group and that's a pretty significant hit on each park total, especially when there's more than one group doing it at a time. How many FP are available on any given day? If 5 tour groups of 50 scoop up their fill on each FP attraction, that's a big chunk of that total.

And yes, while they've paid their entry like anybody else, there are group sales windows (as I recall) for park tickets, so as not to slow down hundreds of other families, so it makes sense to have a similar policy for FP for groups over a certain size (10, say).

 

[Laz]

I just got back from 6 days at WDW. The fast pass machines were NOT opened for night EMH at any park. The fastpass return lines were closed. In fact, the used the Fast Pass return line to extend the wait line for Soarin.

During Night EMHs, I noticed the wait lines moving much faster and smoother at all parks.

For the major rides, I would plan to get fastpasses early in the day. By later in the afternoon the fastpasses would be gone for the day. So our plans were to ride the big rides with fastpasses. Then we would do the little things that did not take much waiting time while waiting for our fast passes to come up.

I loved getting a AAA package for Disneyland. With an AAA package that included a stay in a disney hotel, you could get as many fast passes as you want at one time, as long as they were for different rides. For example, at the opening of the park, I would take all the tickets and go from ride to ride collecting fast passes. When I completed my tour of the park, my family and I would go on every ride with little or no waiting. As we exited each ride, I would get another fast pass for that ride. The ending time on the fast pass was not adhered to. So we could stop for lunch or dinner and start right back up again. The questions become 1) whether this is fair, and 2) should WDW offer this option.

Should WDW offer what Universal offers: If you stay in one of their hotels, you get front of the line access for each ride. You just show your hotel card and walk to the front of the line. Is this option even possible with the amount of WDW resort guests?

WDW had good intentions when starting the fast pass system (IMO). People who plan and use the system wisely can get the most from each park during the most crowded times. But as with any good plan, some one finds a way to abuse the system.

 

[disneyheaven]

Well there you go...that's precisely the reason why kids shouldn't be allowed in the parks. They ruin it for the rest of us. But that's another thread entirely!

What an awful awful thing to say!! Shame on you! Sarcasim or not, that was uncalled for. Nevermind the arguement of "Fastpass or no fastpass"...how about "Class or no class" ?

 

[HockeyChick]

Wow. It never, ever would have occured to me to be "angry" that some people had fastpasses while I was waiting in line. I just do not get that line of thinking. I had a choice of whether or not to get a fastpass, and I had a choice of whether or not to get in that standby line. Why should I resent those who made a different choice?

And so I got to the park late and missed the fastpasses for whatever ride...well, I got there late. Tickets sell out. I just do not understand why anyone would get worked up about something like that.

Angry at yourself for not planning ahead or sad that your plans went awry but why be angry at Disney because you had the same opportunity everyone else did? Maybe people who stay off property should be angry for getting thrown out of the parks, which they paid the same price for as anyone else, while resort guests are allowed to stay.

Just like I don't understand why anyone can't just ignore joking political comments and joking comments about kids. Guess I just don't belong on this planet. It's all just so silly to me.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Oh, please. goofyrnmost's post about kids wasn't even sarcastic - it was a just plain JOKE!

 

[chipscinderelly]

I loved getting a AAA package for Disneyland. With an AAA package that included a stay in a disney hotel, you could get as many fast passes as you want at one time, as long as they were for different rides. For example, at the opening of the park, I would take all the tickets and go from ride to ride collecting fast passes. When I completed my tour of the park, my family and I would go on every ride with little or no waiting. As we exited each ride, I would get another fast pass for that ride. The ending time on the fast pass was not adhered to. So we could stop for lunch or dinner and start right back up again. The questions become 1) whether this is fair, and 2) should WDW offer this option.

We loved this too, but they stopped it in 2006 which is a reason we may not go to DL before the 2008 repo cruise... Saturdays are SO CROWDED!

 

[eeyore45]

(And for what it's worth, I LOVED the E-Ride nights and would gladly pay if they would bring them back! Wishful thinking, I know...)

BamaFan I agree with you 100 percent. Bring back E-Ride nights!!!! I would be more than happy to pay the $12 extra per person to enjoy an empty park. EMH at the park is way too crowded.[/QUOTE]

ITA - and imagine my surprise at my first MNSSHP - I was thinking it would be like the enight!! I'm afraid to go back to another "party"!!

 

[WickedWench]

Disney has created this problem by not enforcing return times. I can see allowing some slight wiggle room (15 minutes to a half hour) because little things can delay you from getting back when you planned. But unless a ride goes down for part of the day, there's no way people should be allowed to enter rides hours after the return time has passed. I always go back during my return time, even though I know I could go back later, because it's not how the system is intended to be used.

Keep in mind that these people are only hurting themselves too.. when I get a fast pass, and return on time, I walk right on. If I held onto it like others and go at the end of the night... my wait time would be really long, even with a fast pass! Maybe Disney should eliminate the last hour from the fast passes they issue (since they won't enfore return times), so that people who properly use the system don't get stuck in the long waits these abusers of the system create at closing time.

I miss E-ride night too. I enjoyed that. I will never go to an EMH.