First day using Fastpass+

[mtmbyck]

Ok, so I was at MK yesterday. March Break crowds haven't quite arrived but by 1pm park felt busy. We arrived for rope drop and I had an itinerary that worked like magic! Kids rode Space while I got Fastpasses. The line for these gets big very fast and people get to the kiosk or staff member with no firm plans which drove me nuts, they browse and window shop all of the attractions - unfair though as they no doubt haven't been there a million times like me. The machine automatically gives you times much later in the day but you can change the time to earlier. The machines are slow and don't recognize a finger touch as well as a pen pointer (which the cast all have). The cast clearly hate doing this but I had the cast member make all my selections and it even took him about 4 minutes (not long but if you multiply by 30 people in line.......). You need to take a picture of the times selected (and you must select al 3 - if you don't, it gives you rides and times you don't want so you have 3). They photo serves as proof if the scanner doesn't work at the ride - ours worked well every time. You need to scan both at entrance to ride and just as you are getting close to boarding the ride ( a bit of a pain as you need to keep those park passes handy). I'm an offsite guest so do not have magic bands but they look cool.

We did not wait for anything more than 15 minutes except Jungle Cruise - we were standby on that.

We had a fastpass for Buzz and the line looked enormous......went outside the building and wrapped cues but it was only a 10 minute wait so don't worry about how long the fastpass line looks! BTM fastpass line was about a 7 minute wait and we actually had a fastpass for monster Inc and didn't need it. This was our schedule:

Space mountain (while mom gets Fastpasses)
Little mermaid
Peter Pan (we did not ride as the line was already ridiculous at 10am - 30 min wait)
Haunted mansion
Pirates
Jungle cruise
Big thunder (had a fastpass for 11-12) - standby was 30 min
Ate lunch
Philharmagic
Photos with characters at big top circus (Minnie and daisy - only about 15 min wait surprisingly).
People mover
Buzz (fastpass for 1-2) - standby was 55 minutes
People mover (love this ride)
Monsters Inc (had a fastpass and didn't need or use it)
Shopped on main street

We left the park by 3:15 feeling we had done everything we wanted to. Arriving at rope drop is kEY! And it was exhausting (lots of walking).

My take on fastpass plus......not an improvement at all for offsite guests but also not a big deal once you get your passes. Much more of a perk for resort guests who get to make these plans ahead of time. It was nice not to have to run to a ride to get a fastpass to use for hours later!

 

[bababear_50]

Hi Hon
I'm glad you have arrived safe.
Thanks for posting,,I am leaving soon and have been wondering how the whole FP+ is going to work out this trip. I am staying on site but I have heard FP+ has increased the wait times at stand-by lines.
Have a GREAT time and if you have time please keep us updated.
Enjoy that Spring weather-yes it's still "Frozen" here.

Hugs Mel

 

[mtmbyck]

Yesterday went to Hollywood Studios. Temps here seriously cooled off and we saw guests wearing parkas at the park (it was 57 degrees in the afternoon but forecasted to warm up now for the remainder of the trip).

Plan was to arrive for rope drop, head to RnRC and ToT while I get Fastpasses. Of course Hollywood Studios is tiierd so you cannot have a fastpass for more than one of the top attractions. Since everyone heads to Toy Story at rope drop, we chose to head to the other rides first - good choice. The cue for Fastpasses outside ToT was non-existent. I was able to get times for Toy Story (10am), great movie ride (12pm) and little mermaid (2pm). We didn't really need Fastpasses for anything but Toy Story which was an 80 min wait by 10am. Did not wait longer than 10 min for anything. Park felt busy but lines (even for Characters) were manageable.

I had a staff member create my fastpass times.......again, the machine randomly gives you a time that May or may not work with your plans.....show times, dinner reservations....etc. I cannot see Disney ever removing these staff as everyone needs their assistance. Even a staff member who uses the system daily takes a few minutes to manipulate the system.

I still see no advantage in the system but it hasn't been a challenge either.

 

[grantclaire]

Hi, We used fastpass+ for the first time this past Monday (March 10) at Epcot. We arrived at the park late around 10 am and did not think we would have a chance to get a fastpass for Soarin. We were going more for the World Showcase. The first Fasspass kiosk had a long line so we headed towards Mexico in the showcase. There we found another small kiosk that had CM's with tablets so we stopped and they were able to get us a Fastpass for Soarin for just just a couple of hours later. They also booked 2 other attractions for us that we could use in the hour after Soarin. Only took about 5 mins and we were on our way.