fastpasses--strange question

[smartestnumber5]

Do they allot fastpasses based on how many people are in the park or not use them at very slow times? I'm just wondering because we were in Epcot and Magic Kingdom right before and during Ernesto and things seemed extremely empty, yet the fastpasses for Test Track and Buzz Lightyear were all gone. We stopped by MK around 5:45 pm and the line for Buzz Lightyear was 5 minutes long, yet the Fastpasses were all gone. The next day at Epcot (around 1 pm) the standby line for Test Track said 30 min (though we waited, and it was shorter than this) yet all of the Fastpasses were gone.

I know the fast passes on these rides tend to run out early, but given the parks seemed so empty, we were wondering how so many fastpasses could have been snatched up. We thought maybe they just stopped using the fast passes because they weren't making things any faster for those using them (well, they probably would have at Test Track). For instance, the day before we used one for Rockin Roller Coaster around 2:30 pm. When I got the FP the standby line was posted as a 40 min wait. When we came back to use it the standby line was completely inside the building, but they took our FP about 50 feet before we got to the building, and after the point where they took them the two lines merged. In other words, it made no difference at all to our wait time that we had FP.

 

[Robo]

Many times when crowds are low, they stop issuing FP's.
On some days, they simply don't ever issue ANY on certain attractions.
If the standby lines are short, they will accept a FP from guests, but they route them into the standby line either up front, or later in the queue.

Nothing unusual about it, really.

FP's are a "flexible operation" in lower-crowd days.

 

[smartestnumber5]

Many times when crowds are low, they stop issuing FP's.
On some days, they simply don't ever issue ANY on certain attractions.
If the standby lines are short, they will accept a FP from guests, but they route them into the standby line either up front, or later in the queue.

Nothing unusual about it, really.

FP's are a "flexible operation" in lower-crowd days.

Ah, I didn't realize this was a normal part of their operations. Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the info!