Fastpass line being managed differently?

[DisneyParkLover]

OP returning. We are headed home now, but continued to find what I originally posted about to be true throughout the rest of our trip. I agree that a 5-10 min wait with FP is great, but 20 and especially 30 minutes (happened on multiple rides) seems excessive, particularly when that isn't much less than the standby time. Test Track was over 30 minutes with FP+ when posted standby time was 45. And this seemed to be most rides where the FP line took at least 15 minutes and usually longer. Maybe it is just more crowded than I am used to. Haven't been in May since 2008.

ETA: And as far as tea cups, they did not take any people from the FP line for that turn. We were in line prior to when they started pulling people for that run and no one from FP got in that run. It was all standby. They may have taken some FP for the run before that one and I missed it.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I noticed Universal's Express Waits are longer than Disneys FP waits. For a ride that has an hour standby wait at Uni, the Express Pass will be 15 min or so IME

Maybe WDW is trying to balance the wait times with the FP waits, which would make sense I guess.

 

[Astridia]

I noticed Universal's Express Waits are longer than Disneys FP waits. For a ride that has an hour standby wait at Uni, the Express Pass will be 15 min or so IME

Maybe WDW is trying to balance the wait times with the FP waits, which would make sense I guess.

I hope this is what they're aiming at. It sure wouldd be nice if SB lines were reduced.

 

[DisneyParkLover]

I think it would be great if they could find a good balance between FP and standby waits. But if that is what they are trying to do, they still have some work to do! 1/4 of the wait mentioned at Universal seems very reasonable. 2/3 or even more of the posted standby time in the FP line is not reasonable in my opinion.

 

[Astridia]

I think it would be great if they could find a good balance between FP and standby waits. But if that is what they are trying to do, they still have some work to do! 1/4 of the wait mentioned at Universal seems very reasonable. 2/3 or even more of the posted standby time in the FP line is not reasonable in my opinion.

Agreed. I wouldn't have been happy with the waits you experienced on your FP+ attractions. When we were there, the SB line had to wait while people trickled in from the FP+ line.

 

[Alli76]

Went last week.. The only long wait we had with FP was soarin. Couldn't believe how long that wait was. Still much better than standby but can't wait til they expand theaters

 

[Astridia]

Went last week.. The only long wait we had with FP was soarin. Couldn't believe how long that wait was. Still much better than standby but can't wait til they expand theaters

How long was your wait with FP+?

 

[goodgodmrsmolly]

is anyone including the line to get into the FP line in there totals? It amazes me how long the lines get to just get into the FP line. With only two scanners and a whole lot of people who don't know how to use them, then if there is a problem, no plan to get the people off to the side in a timely manner to work on the problem, it can take 5 minutes or more just to get to the first FP scanner, then still have to go through that line, scan again and then into the final ride line.

 

[mamaode]

I did notice a combination of a few of the experiences noted above. I was at DW March 26th-30th 2015. We never waited more than 20mins for FP+ and typically 5-15mins. The longest was test track. I did notice that for most rides the stand by line barely moved the entire time. Most of the SB waits were 60-180 mins. TSMM had crazy long wait times the entire day we were there. We finally were able to snag a late night FP+ for it around 8:40pm. We had a great trip and were able to book multiple FP+'s one after the other.

 

[JanaDee]

How are people calculating the FP+ line wait time? Once I pass the merge point with standby, I consider that the end of the fastpass wait. Are people timing how long it took to get on the actual ride or how long it took to merge with standby?

 

[Astridia]

I'm counting from the time I enter the line (even if I am waiting in line at the first scanner) to the time I am on the ride.

 

[Pleglech]

is anyone including the line to get into the FP line in there totals? It amazes me how long the lines get to just get into the FP line. With only two scanners and a whole lot of people who don't know how to use them, then if there is a problem, no plan to get the people off to the side in a timely manner to work on the problem, it can take 5 minutes or more just to get to the first FP scanner, then still have to go through that line, scan again and then into the final ride line.

They really need to tweak the system so that people who don't know how to use the scanners/want to negotiate/don't have FPs/whatever get shuffled off to a separate idiot corral instead of bringing the FP line to a halt.

 

[goodgodmrsmolly]

They really need to tweak the system so that people who don't know how to use the scanners/want to negotiate/don't have FPs/whatever get shuffled off to a separate idiot corral instead of bringing the FP line to a halt.

Trap doors come to mind. No green, down you go.

It really does bug me though that they had to make a queue line.... to just get in line, on many attractions.

 

[lugnut33]

Josh wanted me to delete his photo, even though I gave him credit. So I have deleted it.

 

[JanaDee]

This photo is from Josh at easywdw.com and shows a random weekday FP+ line at BTMRR. I don't get how some people say this is OK and I don't care if it's because there is some knucklehead who doesn't know how to tap Mickey to Mickey. This line goes from the first tap point, through a new FP+ queue they built, and out to what you see here. Ridiculous.

Yes, that is ridiculous and unfortunately, the new reality with FP+. The Safari at AK tends to have a much longer line than the one shown.

 

[ExBellhop]

I remember seeing similar lines in the early days of FP- as well. People just didn't get the "Don't come back until your window opens" part. Now obviously, we have no idea how many people in that line are actually supposed to be there right then, but either way it sucks. Not sure what the process is to properly educate them. The old way was for CMs to yell. No magic there. What's the solution? Time? IMO, that was the solution with the similar FP- problem, but I'm confused why it didn't carry over. Or is there more usage for FP+, and thus a higher percentage of people who don't get it? Anyone have any science on this?

 

[larryz]

Something definitely seems different this trip and not good different.

I'm sure Walt would approve -- it was his philosophy that the parks would not remain static and changeless.

With fixed ride capacity, and record steady-state crowds, what's "not good" for FP+ holders is "good" for SB line waiters. Considering people pay nothing for the privilege of FP+, I'd say they don't really have the option to complain too much.

Contentment lies in realizing that WDW is still tweaking the FP/SB line mix to find that magic "sweet spot" that keeps the rides completely full while allowing the SB lines to move while still accommodating the FP+ holders.

And as we've seen above, you get the occasional "off script" CM who will vary the mix to suit his/her own whims...

 

[Astridia]

I remember seeing similar lines in the early days of FP- as well. People just didn't get the "Don't come back until your window opens" part. Now obviously, we have no idea how many people in that line are actually supposed to be there right then, but either way it sucks. Not sure what the process is to properly educate them. The old way was for CMs to yell. No magic there. What's the solution? Time? IMO, that was the solution with the similar FP- problem, but I'm confused why it didn't carry over. Or is there more usage for FP+, and thus a higher percentage of people who don't get it? Anyone have any science on this?

I think it is that more people are using FP+ than ever used legacy. But I think Disney is always going to be educating the masses, since a lot of their customers are infrequent or first time visitors. I also think there are people that pretend to be ignorant in hopes that an unsuspecting CM will give them a pass.

 

[cakebaker]

This photo is from Josh at easywdw.com and shows a random weekday FP+ line at BTMRR. I don't get how some people say this is OK and I don't care if it's because there is some knucklehead who doesn't know how to tap Mickey to Mickey. This line goes from the first tap point, through a new FP+ queue they built, and out to what you see here. Ridiculous.

Do you happen to have the link to where Josh actually posted this pic. It would be nice to know when it was taken and I'd like to see what he had to say about it.

But honestly, a picture, while interesting to look at, just doesn't mean much. I could easily post a dozen pictures of absolutely no lines whatsoever. It wouldn't mean that it's typical of what happens on a daily basis.

 

[Delilah1310]

This photo is from Josh at easywdw.com and shows a random weekday FP+ line at BTMRR. I don't get how some people say this is OK and I don't care if it's because there is some knucklehead who doesn't know how to tap Mickey to Mickey. This line goes from the first tap point, through a new FP+ queue they built, and out to what you see here. Ridiculous.

so this is the FP+ line?
where is the SB line?
What is the area to the left of the CMs? Isn't that another entrance to the attraction?