Fastpass Observations on July trip

[puffkin]

Just returned from 8 days in the world (July 19-26). I made some interesting observations about Fast Pass. It is still a great thing and we used it quite frequently. However, it appears that it has caught on and many more people are using it. On all our prior trips, I always heard comments about why are they getting to front of the line, what are those machines, ect. On this trip, I only heard ONE guest inquire about it. Now this is a very UNscientific observation, but I frequently heard people planning out their day on busses or in the parks and usually their plans included obtaining a fast pass for something.

Also, it appears that they are giving out a lot more fast passes for each time slot. This ensures that more people can use it, but it also leads to longer lines in the fast pass queues. We usually had to wait at least 5-10 minutes in all the fast pass lines. Now, compared to the standby line, this isn't bad, but it didn't push us to the front of the line as in previous trips. Now this may have just been because we were there during a busy time, but fast pass definitely seems to have become a well-known thing outside of the Internet forums.

 

[nativetxn]

I suppose that was inevitable. With the resort television telling everyone about fastpass it was bound to become more popular.

This is a good thing to know, thanks.

 

[buzz2400]

We went 4th of July week and used the fast pass on many rides and did not really have a wait at all. The only one was Test Track and the wait for that one was only a few minutes.

 

[mmgrdg]

we used some fastpasses in July and only for Star Tours was there a wait. We did Winnie the Pooh twice in 10 minutes!
Maybe we were just lucky since our kids are little and we didn't hit the big adult attractions.

 

[pygmymom]

We also noticed more people using Fast pass in July, and experienced a couple of waits, like at RNR. It varies in wait length and where you're going to end up, not always right at the front of the line. Overall, though, it still beats the stand by line.

One trick that worked for us, especially on EE, we'd get in the stand by line of a favorite before too many people got there and send one of our party to get a FP for something else. It was very effective, especially for popular rides we wanted to do twice, like Test Track.

I still heard some comments about "why don't those people have to wait?" It was especially fun at Dinosaur in AK when we breezed by a group of troublemaking teens that had been nasty during the previous day's Beauty and the Beast show.

 

[BarbaraMB]

I noticed fastpasses were for HOURS later or they ran out of fastpasses on a few things we wanted them for such as The Little Mermaid, TOT and RRC. When you are over at MGM get them in the morning. By afternoon it gets tough and lines are LONG.

 

[Badger Brent]

We really love the FP when they work into our plans. But with afternoon breaks, the return times don't always fit into our schedule. I've noticed that TT FP's really tend to go fast in the past. Until the FP lines become longer than the standy by lines, it's FP whenever it fits in. Will be interesting to see how FP lines are in Aug.

 

[KATMK]

We were there over the July 6-July 8 and used the fast pass frequently. Lots of people still don't know about the fast pass but I don't see how they possibly can't know. It's all over the internet, and if you get a map it's on the map. We used the fast pass every chance we got, as soon as time permitted us to us to get another we got one. The pass tells you when you could get another fast pass, in some cases, you could get another pass before you could redeem the pass you already have which happened several times. We never had to wait more than five minutes and it beat waiting in the standby line anytime. My husband always went to go get it while I either got in a line without fast passes or tended to the children.

 

[geetey]

Puffkin,
We returned July 20th and noticed higher usage as well. Particularly in MK. When we returned to Buzz to use our Fastpasses, a CM was holding everyone back from the Fastpass line because the line inside had gotten to long. We weren't going to be allowed to enter the FastPass line for 15 minutes! This was around 2:15 pm.

 

[pigby]

Puffkin

Returned same day as you and agree totally with what you say. Longest wait we had for fastpass was 30 minutes on TT. Also had pretty long waits - 20mins plus on RNRC, Splash and Buzz. Much better than the 2 hour waits in some of those standby lines, though.

 

[Minniespal]

Fastpasses seemed to be really popular last summer when we were there. At about 10 in the morning fastpasses were being issued for TT for like 7 in the evening and on one occassion we went to SP at 11 in the morning and the fastpasses for that day had all gone. That was the fourth of July so I don't know if that played a part.

 

[laurabelle]

What happens if your FP time expires while you're waiting in line?

 

[pigby]

Laurabelle

Happened to us on more than one occasion this time - didn't seem to matter - one CM looked at the ticket as you entered the line to check the time and another CM just collected the ticket just before you rode without checking the time.

One large family managed to get through the fastpass line without tickets. Buzz had broken down just before and the family pleaded/argued with the CM that they had waited 40 minutes in the standby line and had not rode.