Fastpass Enforcement coming?

[TLSnell1981]

They will not be enforcing fastpass return times because fastpass is ending. Xpass will replace fastpass and it will be a whole new system.

Pete said that 150 something pages is the max, because at that point, it begins to adversely affect the network.

There can always be a Part Deux!

 

[smidgy]

we liked to , some say "hoard", I say "collect" fastpasses to use at night. that way hubby can experience the dark rides and actually SEE on them ( he can't see anything in Haunted mansion, Nemo, Dinosaur, etc etc during the day, coming in from the sunlight.) without waiting in the nighttime long standby line.

yes, we can wait in the line, but he doesn't have the option of using the fast pass that "expires" at 3 pm, or going on these rides in the morning, when it is slow.

 

[KDilly]

My personal experience is that we are riding rides/attractions while accumulating FP's. The first 2 - 3 hours the park is open are the SLOWEST of the day - so we hit as many as we can while lines are low to non-existent. And we can accumulate more FP's by getting them early. So we'll get a FP and then ride Standby the biggest 2 rides at that park. Then we'll get our next FP and likely ride Standby at another couple of things. Then we'll get another FP. Then it's just about lunch time. Our general rule of thumb is to try to ride as many of our favorites that have a wait of 20 minutes or less. If it gets to be more than that - we will use the FP to ride it after lunch. So even though we have a FP for Rock N Roller...Since the Standby line is still 20 minutes - it doesn't make sense to use it. We'll ride Standby and then use the FP later when the wait is 90 minutes. We will occassionally use a FP or two earlier in the day - but only on really busy days.

Hey, nothing beats a really good system!! lol

 

[heyitsmejosh]

we liked to , some say "hoard", I say "collect" fastpasses to use at night. that way hubby can experience the dark rides and actually SEE on them ( he can't see anything in Haunted mansion, Nemo, Dinosaur, etc etc during the day, coming in from the sunlight.) without waiting in the nighttime long standby line.

yes, we can wait in the line, but he doesn't have the option of using the fast pass that "expires" at 3 pm, or going on these rides in the morning, when it is slow.

then why not just get on the ride? or get a fast pass at the time, its not like they dont have passes for those ones later, or even long standby lines for that matter

 

[smidgy]

then why not just get on the ride? or get a fast pass at the time, its not like they dont have passes for those ones later, or even long standby lines for that matter

or why not take advantage of disney's policy to allow you to use fastpasses anytime during that day?

I don't get what you mean.(but love your empathy ) why not Just get on the ride". in the daylight? so he won't see anything my hubby has macular degeneration, and many attractions he used to enjoy are now just to dark (or even dim) for him to see.. unless his eyes have adjusted already to the dark, ie. nighttime.
the fastpasses are usually for sometime in the afternoon. or many are gone by that time. or the line is very long.. whereas the line for that same ride was short earlier in the morning while we were there. and yes, we could have ridden it with a short wait
but he would like to see it, too. now a GAC "might" let us bypass a linhe like Nemo or Splash (where he has to walk so slow through the line,e veryone behind gets al angry and rude), but most of the lines are ok, just the wait is very long.

therefore (sigh) we are actually at a disadvantage, as in not having the option to do many things in the morning, when the lines are shorter. and we always had been rope drop people.
so our system was to go to rope drop, do the things he could see in , and collect fastpasses for later for the others.

and it worked out great and I will be very sad to see it go.

(and I still say, all we did was let a whole bunch of people cut in line in front of us)

 

[Alesia]

or why not take advantage of disney's policy to allow you to use fastpasses anytime during that day?

I don't get what you mean.(but love your empathy ) why not Just get on the ride". in the daylight? so he won't see anything my hubby has macular degeneration, and many attractions he used to enjoy are now just to dark (or even dim) for him to see.. unless his eyes have adjusted already to the dark, ie. nighttime.
the fastpasses are usually for sometime in the afternoon. or many are gone by that time. or the line is very long.. whereas the line for that same ride was short earlier in the morning while we were there. and yes, we could have ridden it with a short wait
but he would like to see it, too. now a GAC "might" let us bypass a linhe like Nemo or Splash (where he has to walk so slow through the line,e veryone behind gets al angry and rude), but most of the lines are ok, just the wait is very long.

therefore (sigh) we are actually at a disadvantage, as in not having the option to do many things in the morning, when the lines are shorter. and we always had been rope drop people.
so our system was to go to rope drop, do the things he could see in , and collect fastpasses for later for the others.

and it worked out great and I will be very sad to see it go.

(and I still say, all we did was let a whole bunch of people cut in line in front of us)

I get your frustration, but Disney is not going to be able to meet every single person's needs. Have you considered switching your strategy to arrive later in the day and take advantage of evening EMH? That would give you more time in the parks after dark and the lines tend to get shorter later at night after many families have left the park.

 

[brerrabbit]

There is a lot of opinion and speculation around Disney's policy but from having read all 89 pages here and prior discussions over the years there are certain things we can accept as truths. You can agree or disagree as you choose:

1. Internally Disney has announced to CM's that on or about March 7, 2012 they will begin enforcing FP return time windows.

2. Prior to that date whether by policy or action Disney allowed the use of FP's up till closing on the day they were issued.

3. Regardless of the number of FP's issued in a day with no break downs rides will operate at capacity using riders in line from the FP, stand by, or single rider line. (this is an important part of many examples so I felt it worth mentioning)

4. Speculation based on statements from Disney suggest that they will at some date in the future implement a new type of FP that posters here are refering to as the x-pass. In conjunction with this as far as I know they have not said a. the current FP will no longer be available, b. we will have to stay in a Deluxe resort to book x-passes, c. we will have to pay for x-passes. I belive all references to how to obtain x-passes have been speculative.

5. This one is not fact but it has been referenced in several posts and statements attributed to Disney. Disney would like for more people to utilize the FP system. And why would'nt they? Less time in line means happier guests and more time to spend money shopping, eating, and snacking.

So if I take these observations into account (this is where I speculate a little) it would seem that Disney will enforce FP return times in order to allow more people to use the system. Those who defend the current late return policy say what difference does it make? The same number of riders ride. If I come back late then someone in the SB line got on earlier than they would have if I had come back during my window. That is true but think about it, Disney knows all the major rides will be full all day even if there is no FP system. How many riders ride in a day is of little or no concern to them. How much time they spend in line is. So in another example I made the point that if their current data suggests they isse 500 FP's for the time slot from
10:00 am till 11:00 am but only 250 are used then today the programing of the FP machines has to account for the fact that 250 people could conceivably show up later in the day. This means that the programming will take a statistical average of how many FP's are still outstanding for the day and reduce the issuance of FP's for later in the day. It is programed to give fewer FP's at later times anticipating more late returns. In other words if you graphed FP usage you would see an increase in FP usage in the form of a severely upsloping line as you plotted it over time. By enforcing the window you allow the system to issue more FP's later in the day. The issue is not about whether a rider rides, but rather are the FP user's distributed more equally throughout the day.

I do not know this to be a fact. I am certainly speculating here but is a logical inferance from the data provided.

Beyond the short term of the enforcement of return windows there could be consiquinces towards the further development of some sort of x-pass, but I have no idea what they might be. However I do think that a major part of the March 7 change will be an effort to change perception and expectations of guests. Call it "detox". We need a period of change to overcome our addiction before we move forward to whatever the next process may be.

I think the results of this initial change will be factored into the next generation of FP they create.

 

[doconeill]

Beyond the short term of the enforcement of return windows there could be consiquinces towards the further development of some sort of x-pass, but I have no idea what they might be. However I do think that a major part of the March 7 change will be an effort to change perception and expectations of guests. Call it "detox". We need a period of change to overcome our addiction before we move forward to whatever the next process may be.

You've hit the nail on the head...this is what I've been saying for a while. Although we do not know the precise details of the new system, it has long been rumored, and now even announced, that a "ride reservation booking system" in essence is coming. Logically, for such a system to work, there needs to be more strict enforcement (otherwise everyone would just try and book the earliest times to come back any time later). To provide one, consistent rule be it under the old or new system, they are moving to enforce in all cases.

This helps the guests in a sense because they don't need to think, "Oh, we have an X-Pass for Splash, we need to get there quickly!" vs. "Oh, we got regular FPs for Spash, we can just show up late..." Everything is the same regardless of source.

It helps the CMs, in that they likewise don't need to make decisions based on the source of the pass.

And they do it now, so everyone is used to the idea by the time X-Pass is rolled out.

 

[nytimez]

I wonder if this has to do with the supposed next-gen queues as well... if they are adding interactive elements into the queues that are supposedly part of the attraction itself, they may need to better regulate how many bodies are in that space at any given time. Don't know... but just a thought. The next next-gen queues might not all be optional like at Haunted Mansion or skippable from the FP line like at Soarin'.

It seems to me that each queue addition we've seen thus far has been an experiment -- putting games in Soarin', making it optional at HM, putting some of it completely apart from the line itself at Pooh and the upcoming Dumbo... this is all building up to something, it seems, that will likely combine what they've been learning from the queues they've built so far.

 

[heyitsmejosh]

or why not take advantage of disney's policy to allow you to use fastpasses anytime during that day?

I don't get what you mean.(but love your empathy ) why not Just get on the ride". in the daylight? so he won't see anything my hubby has macular degeneration, and many attractions he used to enjoy are now just to dark (or even dim) for him to see.. unless his eyes have adjusted already to the dark, ie. nighttime.
the fastpasses are usually for sometime in the afternoon. or many are gone by that time. or the line is very long.. whereas the line for that same ride was short earlier in the morning while we were there. and yes, we could have ridden it with a short wait
but he would like to see it, too. now a GAC "might" let us bypass a linhe like Nemo or Splash (where he has to walk so slow through the line,e veryone behind gets al angry and rude), but most of the lines are ok, just the wait is very long.

therefore (sigh) we are actually at a disadvantage, as in not having the option to do many things in the morning, when the lines are shorter. and we always had been rope drop people.
so our system was to go to rope drop, do the things he could see in , and collect fastpasses for later for the others.

and it worked out great and I will be very sad to see it go.

(and I still say, all we did was let a whole bunch of people cut in line in front of us)

i was talking about just going on them at night, are acting like those rides have 3 hour waits but those rides you mentioned do not have very long lines typically day or night unless you are at the park on a Saturday in the middle of the summer and even then they aren't bad. i have stayed at the parks 5 times in the past year and have gone for day trips another 3 and i have never had to wait long for any of those

even if you are in the park at the parks peak times of the year why not use the evening EMH, rather than rope drop? at that time MK they go until 3 am and you can walk on to most attractions.

while i do have sympathy for your husbands condition, i do not understand someone complaining about having to wait 10-20 minutes for a ride. according to your sig you are coming in sept, the only rides that will even have lines really are like soarin, RnRRC, TSM and peter pan

BTW you cant really ride dinosaur at night since AK usually closes before dark.

 

[going/again]

Weird. I can't find where it says that. All I see is "A guest has missed the return time window" followed by "Honor the FASTPASS ticket and allow the Guest(s) to enter the FASTPASS Return Queue."

Is there some fine print I'm missing?

Can't find what, what did I say was on the ticket you can't find, give you a clue NOTHING.

All you say you see is , a guest missed the return time honor the fastpass, what we are talking about is not a guest missing the return time, but from the start having no intention of returning on time totally not the same.

But you knew what I meant your other posts show you have, a modicum of intelligence, so why the pretence, I'll agree that is weird

 

[going/again]

But a CM using the phase, "they are good until the park closes," seems pretty definitive to me. I've heard that personally more than a dozen times from different CMs in different parks.

Am I disputing this no, merely pointing out missing, and having no intention
are two completely differant things, if you cant admit that, fine

 

[Princess Sleepy]

Am I disputing this no, merely pointing out missing, and having no intention
are two completely differant things, if you cant admit that, fine

Actually intention does not come into the definition of miss. According to dictionary . com, for the purposes of this discussion to miss is to fail to be present at or for. It does not specify that you have to fail to be present accidentally. Therefore, the past policy of honoring all FPs after the window opens is accurate.

 

[sunshinehighway]

we liked to , some say "hoard", I say "collect" fastpasses to use at night. that way hubby can experience the dark rides and actually SEE on them ( he can't see anything in Haunted mansion, Nemo, Dinosaur, etc etc during the day, coming in from the sunlight.) without waiting in the nighttime long standby line.

yes, we can wait in the line, but he doesn't have the option of using the fast pass that "expires" at 3 pm, or going on these rides in the morning, when it is slow.

Are Nemo and the Haunted Mansion even Fastpass rides?

 

[Albytaps]

or why not take advantage of disney's policy to allow you to use fastpasses anytime during that day?

I don't get what you mean.(but love your empathy ) why not Just get on the ride". in the daylight? so he won't see anything my hubby has macular degeneration, and many attractions he used to enjoy are now just to dark (or even dim) for him to see.. unless his eyes have adjusted already to the dark, ie. nighttime.
the fastpasses are usually for sometime in the afternoon. or many are gone by that time. or the line is very long.. whereas the line for that same ride was short earlier in the morning while we were there. and yes, we could have ridden it with a short wait
but he would like to see it, too. now a GAC "might" let us bypass a linhe like Nemo or Splash (where he has to walk so slow through the line,e veryone behind gets al angry and rude), but most of the lines are ok, just the wait is very long.

therefore (sigh) we are actually at a disadvantage, as in not having the option to do many things in the morning, when the lines are shorter. and we always had been rope drop people.
so our system was to go to rope drop, do the things he could see in , and collect fastpasses for later for the others.

and it worked out great and I will be very sad to see it go.

(and I still say, all we did was let a whole bunch of people cut in line in front of us)

Why not take advantage of the disability and get a disability pass? You'd pretty much have unlimited pastpasses all day/everyday.

 

[smidgy]

actually, we already took the sept trip. next trip is early may. hubby is an early bird, and we love the opening show at MK. and you can get a LOT done in the AM.

Iam hoping the next gen or whatever will include choosing in the AM your time for pm. that would be fine. I don't beleive the GAC cards are fotl or like fastpasses. been trying to avoid doing that. hubby felt like it was unfair. and didn't want to admit having a "disablility".

of course disney can't cater to every single person (but thanks for your understandig, ALesia!) but I was justexplaining why the way disney's policy worked really well for us, with our certain needs, and I hate to see it end.

If i could get hubby to try to stay awake long enough for nighttime EMH, we might try that. but we just usually do the night time fast passes, see the fireworks and leave, cause he hates not seeing anything around the actual park (only the inside of the rides ) kinda a cath 22, having to have me lead him around. oh well

but lines in sept, may, dec, etc can be quite long at night for the headliners. we have been there during those times, longer than 20 minutes for sure!

I thought the system worked well, and I'm not big on change. but we'll see what they come up with. geuss we'll try it out in may, so that when we have to go in the summer with our grandson (hubby's wife is a teacher) we will have already experienced it.

 

[magicbob]

I don't think you're an immoral person for using FPs beyond the intended time, and I don't disagree with some of your other observations.

I'm just saying that part of the debate on this subject is rooted in the fact that some people choose to ignore Disney's request, and then absolve themselves of all personal responsibility for it because Disney doesn't call them out.

I think that Disney has unintentionally created this (probably unexpected) situation by not enforcing the rules in the past. It's obvious to everyone how the system is intended to work. Some people elect to do otherwise. It's that choice that gets people riled.

It is not a case of WDW not "enforcing" or "turning a blind eye" or "calling anyone out." The CMs regularly ENCOURAGE guests to use the FPs after the window. I have ben there numerous times when CMs were dispensing this advise (completely unsolicited) to the masses. If Disney asks me not to use my FP outside the window, then I (as a moral person) will comply. Up to this point, Disney has told me in no uncertain times that there was absolutely nothing immoral with coming back after the suggested window.

As others have pointed out, coming back late is the same as letting others in line ahead of me. Far from being "inconsiderate" as some have claimed. In fact, because we arrive at the parks early, our FP return times are often between noon and 3 pm. Guess what? That is the busiest time of the day! If I use my FP on time, I will cause the folks who are already in a 60+ minute standby line to wait even longer. But when I come back later in the day to use the FP, all of the lines are much shorter, so someone maybe has to wait 15 1/2 minutes instead of 15 minutes. By using a FP that entitled me to a shorter wait when lines were at their LONGEST of the day during a time when the lines are much SHORTER, I have voluntarily given up much of the FP's "value" (i.e., I saved only 10-15 minutes waiting in line rather than saving an hour or more earlier in the day). And for this I'm called selfish, inconsiderate, immoral, and a rule breaker. Perhaps those CMs proclaiming to everyone at the FP machines that they can be used anytime after the window opens realize that using them late will ease the clogging of the lines that occurs between midday and early afternoon?

 

[mcd2745]

Actually intention does not come into the definition of miss. According to dictionary . com, for the purposes of this discussion to miss is to fail to be present at or for. It does not specify that you have to fail to be present accidentally. Therefore, the past policy of honoring all FPs after the window opens is accurate.

Now we're getting into a "letter-of-the-law" vs. "spirit-of-the-law" kind of debate. But the problem for people citing that they are playing within the letter of the "law" is that the "law" was not meant to be shared with the general public. So, as for the spirit, I don't think it's any great stretch to believe that it wasn't intended for people to integrate collecting multiple FPs for use at the end of the day as a major part of their touring strategies.

 

[doconeill]

Now we're getting into a "letter-of-the-law" vs. "spirit-of-the-law" kind of debate. But the problem for people citing that they are playing within the letter of the "law" is that the "law" was not meant to be shared with the general public. So, as for the spirit, I don't think it's any great stretch to believe that it wasn't intended for people to integrate collecting multiple FPs for use at the end of the day as a major part of their touring strategies.

Unless you were the designer of Fastpass, or worked in the group the decides how to handle Fastpass, it's a bit of stretch to believe you know what the intent actually was.

If they really didn't want it known to the general public, they probably long ago should have said, "You know, this is getting out there too much...let's tell the CMs to quiet down on when FPs can be used..."

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

This is an example of social engineering. Even though Disney admittedly allowed fastpasses to be used at anytime after they become valid, due to the presence of the return window most people will return within that window, even if they know of the policy, so as not to be a rulebreaker. Perhaps the original intent was to enforce the return window and they found that they saved a lot of problems and whining from guest by allowing the late use of FP's without a significant impact on the system as a whole.