fastpass & family's

[dana0069]

hi, i don't mean to sound stupid..but have never seen/used the fastpass system before. If i want to use this system for our family of 5, would i swipe it once and that would cover all of us? or does each family member have to get their own designated time slot? and if so....i guess that would mean we all couldn't ride together at the same time?

 

[myboysmom]

It is easy for the whole family to use the system. It requires however each person's ticket to issue a fastpass. What we do is send one member of the family with all the gate admission tickets. That person gets all of the fastpasses together and then rejoins the group. The fastpass issues a time to return, usually an hour block. You then can all ride together. It is not uncommon to see one person getting several people a fastpass at once. Have a great time!

 

[DizBelle]

Also, there is no risk of one member of the family getting a time slot that won't allow them to ride with the rest of the family.

The worst that could happen is that 3 out of 5 family members get a return slot of 11am - 12pm and the remaining 2 get something like 11:15am - 12:15pm. There is still plenty of overlap such that the family can enter the fastpass line together.

 

[dana0069]

tks for the reply's, i appreciate it! but i guess that means if i have a time slot of say...1:00 - 2:00, i come back to the fast pass line up at 1:00, and sometime between 1:00 and 2:00 we get on, sooo still an hour wait even with fastpass...i'm not familier with the line ups there, so i guess an hour wait is considered good?

 

[dreamscometrue47]

If you have a return time slot of 1:00-2:00 pm, you can return to the fast pass line ANYTIME during that one hour window. Once you are in the fast pass line, the wait is usually no more than 5-10 minutes, and it's not unusual to just walk on also.

We will usually get a fast pass for a ride if the standby wait time is more than 30-40 minutes. If 30 minutes or less, we usually choose to wait in the standby line.

Hope this helps.

 

[KAMommy]

Keep in mind too, that you can get multiple fast passes, even for rides not everyone likes. In our family of four, 2 of us are NOT roller coaster people. We will still get four fast passes to, say rock n roller coaster, and my husband and son can easily ride twice during the fast pass time. Since my daughter and I wouldn't be getting another fast pass during that time anyway, it is a really easy way for part of the party to get their thrill ride "ya-ya's" over and done with.

 

[my3girlstoo]

KAMommy- Thanks for that tip. We have used fastpass but I would have never thought to get them for the rides I won't do. My DH and DD will ride SM, TOT, etc. but me and my 5yr.old won't. So I can use my ticket and 5yr.old's to get two more fastpasses for my DH and DD to get off the ride and FP again?

 

[SueM in MN]

Originally posted by my3girlstoo
KAMommy- Thanks for that tip. We have used fastpass but I would have never thought to get them for the rides I won't do. My DH and DD will ride SM, TOT, etc. but me and my 5yr.old won't. So I can use my ticket and 5yr.old's to get two more fastpasses for my DH and DD to get off the ride and FP again?

Yes, we've done that.

 

[dana0069]

k, if i have a hopper pass, is the fastpass free? or is there a charge for that service?
sorry for all the stupid question tks/dana0069

 

[B'rer Karen]

Fastpass is ALWAYS free. Any ticket used to gain admittance to the park can be used to get a Fastpass.

 

[kparc]

We also would get fast passes for each member of our party even if they all would not ride. We either used the extras to ride again or we handed them off to others about to enter the stand by line if we weren't going to use them. We also realized that the fast pass line can be long at times at the start of the fast pass time but if you wait until later in your hour than you usaully have little to no wait. This happened to us on Buzz Lightyear. When we first arrived at the start of our fast pass time the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. We decided to ride the Carousel of Progress and when we returned we walked right onto BUZZ. Timing is everything!!!

 

[kparc]

Also, I carried all the passes in a zippered pouch that would hook onto the inside of my bag(were it was easy to locate) or on a belt loop. We just handed the pouch off to whoever was going for the fastpasses and the rest of our group would walk to the entrance of the next ride and wait. That way not all 6 of us were rushing in and out of the crowds. And as soon as we spotted our fast pass runner we could jump into line.

 

[myboysmom]

One thing that you may also want to use depending on your family situation is "baby swapping".

This is a FREE service for guests whose party includes a child not big enough to ride the ride. It allows for a parent/adult to stay behind with the child while the remaining members of the group go on the ride. Then when they get off the ride the adult waiting at the ride "swaps the baby off" and gets to go on the ride right away (using the fast pass line). Great thing is, they can take up to three other people with them! My 11 year old son got to ride Mission Space this way 6 times as he has a little brother and mom and dad each did it 3 times.

Just ask the CM at the start of the line to do a "baby swap", they will give you the pass at that time.

 

[pilotmono]

From time to time I see in these threads that one should return sometime other than at the beginnig of the return window. It is mentioned above that the wait may be longer if one does. The system is set up to issue a certain number of fastpasses before the return time moves forward 5 minutes. Every five minutes, say at Space Mt., 100 tickets become valid. There is no control when these 100 Guests return, however it evens out over the course of the day. The Cast Member working at merge point, where the standby and fastpass lines merge, has the task of keeping the fastpass return wait between 5 and 10 minutes implementing a variable ratio of 4/1. When the fatpass return line backs up, it is because: 1. The ride is experiencing operational or technical problems (ie. unusual number of ride stops due to slow moving Guests); 2. The Cast Member at merge point is not responding to the back up by adjusting the ratio; 3. The moon, stars, earth & sun are lined up in a way that has a whole bunch of fastpass riders showing up at the same time (the number of tickets distributed is reduced when pent up demand is antcipated such as at parade break); 5. When there is heavy demand in the fastpass return line, stanby Guests must still be allowed through so that line does not come to a complete stop. Therefore, it does not matter when one returns, as long as it is not early. Gate huggers waiting for their fastpasses to become valid are a cahallenge for all concerned.