FP - allowed returns later than 1, 2 or more hours??

[magicbob]

The line was like the old fastpass lines used to be---short. Less than five minutes and we were riding.

I just got back yesterday, and I had noticed that most fastpass lines were very short, compared to other recent vacations. It didn't dawn on me why, though. I just greatly appreciated not having to wait in a FP line that was as long as the stand-by line.

Good to see some reports that the FP lines seem to be normalizing. Hopefully, they've ironed out the apparent kinks in executing the change that they experienced last week and this trend will continue.

 

[KellyNY]

I had no idea we still discussing if old rules were policy or loophole , does it really matter now?
Can we set this aside along wih all the "punishment" talk.
It is very possible that we will all benefit from new system, lets wait till Spring Break is over and people will adapt.

 

[germ539]

The debate on this is just amazing, I've never used the Fast Pass, we just wait in line, like it used to be, before Fast Pass. It's too bad people can't remember how it used to be years ago when there weren't any fast passes, just stand in line and wait.

Think of this, Disney could have just completely done away with the fast passes and everyone would just have to wait in line like in the beginning.

Disney enforcing the return time, etc is probably the best thing to do IMO.

 

[goofyernmost]

When did it become a place the college students went to on spring break? Pass up partying and fun at the beach for Mickey and Friends. What has become of the world today? I'm so disappointed.

Now back to the regularly scheduled train wreck.

 

[KellyNY]

From what others are posting, apparently I was correct in stating that you can get another FP at the START of your window or 2-hours (whichever comes first).

I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

Here's a curious thought. I wonder what happens if FP distribution is very light (i.e., not many being taken). You said it was 9:15 am when you got the FP for 10-11 am. Normally, you could get another at 10 am. I can recall many times when my next FP was available 45 minutes later because the return time was that soon after I pulled a FP. But what if it's already 10 am and the FP machine is still giving away 10-11 am FPs. You could then use the FP immediately, but they might make you wait an hour before getting another. Theoretically, that could happen if very few people were taking FPs for that attraction. That is, unless the computer automatically prints FPs for further in the future at some point, whether or not they gave away all of the FPs for that window. Obviously, there has to be a mechanism to advance the clock automatically at SOME point. Otherwise, if no FPs were being taken (of course, that would NEVER hapen, right?), they would end up with FPs bine distributed for a time in the PAST. The shortest time I've ever seen between pulling FP and return time is 45 minutes. Does anyone know if the computer always prints FPs for a minimum of 45 minutes in the future?

They distribute per time frame. Unclaimed FP do not roll into new time frame. FP return time is always later then present time, so you can never pull FP at 10 for return window 10-11.

 

[mesaboy2]

They distribute per time frame. Unclaimed FP do not roll into new time frame. FP return time is always later then present time, so you can never pull FP at 10 for return window 10-11.

Yep.

Off to the doctor--clearly something's seriously wrong with me.

 

[magicbob]

I figured that they would have to advance the clock regardless of distribution to prevent the current time from "catching up" with the return time. The question is: how far in advance does the clock move? In other words, could you theoretically get a 10-11 am FP at 9:55 am? 9:59 am? Or does the clock move ahead earlier than that (i.e., maintaining at least a 45 minute buffer... or some other length of time, for that matter)?

 

[scion5220]

Yep.

Off to the doctor--clearly something's seriously wrong with me.

 

[KellyNY]

Yep.

Off to the doctor--clearly something's seriously wrong with me.

 

[raidermatt]

The real test on all of this is when xpass begins. After all, that's what brought about the changes in the first place. Just enforcing the FP window is a tiny part of the whole scheme.

That said, there is nothing wrong with asking if exceptions are being made and under what circumstances. Not just so one can intentionally try to get around the rules (which isn't really even getting around the rules if Disney is allowing it), but since you never know when you will find yourself in a circumstance that is covered in the exception policy. Ride breakdowns, for example.

 

[KellyNY]

The real test on all of this is when xpass begins. After all, that's what brought about the changes in the first place. Just enforcing the FP window is a tiny part of the whole scheme.

That said, there is nothing wrong with asking if exceptions are being made and under what circumstances. Not just so one can intentionally try to get around the rules (which isn't really even getting around the rules if Disney is allowing it), but since you never know when you will find yourself in a circumstance that is covered in the exception policy. Ride breakdowns, for example.

This is why they have Guest Relations. So far no official exceptions, so if you had problem, go and explain you situation, that is all.

 

[raidermatt]

This is why they have Guest Relations. So far no official exceptions, so if you had problem, go and explain you situation, that is all.

Inevitably there are going to be exceptions that do not require a trip to guest relations. When a FP ride breaks down, for example. They are not going to send hundreds of people to guest relations for something out of the guest's control. Those are the kinds of experiences that would be helpful to the rest of us so we know what to expect.

 

[Jennasis]

I think a problem with exceptions may be that it's up to the CMs. there doesn't appear to be any official list of acceptable exceptions, so people are just going to have to give their personal reasons a shot and see what happens. I could have a long ADR and have the Soarin' CM let me in with an "expired" FP but a different CM might not be so lenient. Unless someone (preferably a CM) comes in here and says "Here's the official list of exceptions" I think people will just have to see what happens in their onw situations.

Then again, you just know that if there is an "official list", the very second it becomes public the "Darker Side of Disney" folks will be using those excuses as part of their touring strategy. (I'm not referring to people with ACTUAL issues...)

 

[KellyNY]

Inevitably there are going to be exceptions that do not require a trip to guest relations. When a FP ride breaks down, for example. They are not going to send hundreds of people to guest relations for something out of the guest's control. Those are the kinds of experiences that would be helpful to the rest of us so we know what to expect.

Perhaps but point is there are no official exceptions now. When there will be any and if there will be any we will learn about it as we learn about everything else.

 

[WDSearcher]

Inevitably there are going to be exceptions that do not require a trip to guest relations. When a FP ride breaks down, for example. They are not going to send hundreds of people to guest relations for something out of the guest's control. Those are the kinds of experiences that would be helpful to the rest of us so we know what to expect.

Well ... not really. No two situations are ever going to be exactly the same.

The types of situations that everyone wants firm answers on are the situations that are dealt with when they happen. Because there are too many variables to know exactly what will be done. Even now, we hear stories about how this ride or that ride went down and Disney didn't offer anything. And then someone else chimes in by saying that when that happened during their trip, they got free FPs. And then someone else says that when it happened to them, they got VIP seating at Fantasmic!

Sometimes you just have to voyage blindly in, grabbing your FP and forging bravely ahead, ready for any adventures the day may hold! Huzzah!

 

[kaytieeldr]

And that's why there likely won't ever be an "official list of excuses".

 

[Jennasis]

And that's why there likely won't ever be an "official list of excuses".

I'm referring also to CM instructions from management. Either management is going to tell their employees "Here are acceptable reasons for allowing someone to use an expired pass.." OR they're going to say "No reasons are acceptable" OR they're going to say "Use your judgement" (God help them).

I would HOPE that any lateness due to an overrunning ADR would be handled by the restaurant manager (like a validation stamp that would make your FP good for use after it expired). The same for any ride that has a break down. They could have CM's with a stamp there to validate FP that are negated by the broken ride.

Any other excuses should have to go to the Guest Relations window at the park the FP originated in and let a manager deal with it.

 

[raidermatt]

To say that it wasn't causing some kind of problems is apparently not correct either. It must have been or they wouldn't have made this controversial a change or they needed to get it in line for the next incarnation.

Sure it's correct. At least in as much as it was causing far fewer problems than enforcing the window causes. That's why they went years without making any attempt to enforce the window. They made a mistake in thinking enforcing a 1-hour window was the right thing to do, so they corrected the mistake. Their original intent is irrelevant because they clearly made some bad assumptions. It happens.

Nothing has changed in that regard. What has changed is the new product they want to sell, and THAT is the only reason for the enforcement change. And of course none of us know how it will all work out since we have very little info on how the new system will work.

The only thing we should keep in mind is that this is clearly a fluid situation. As Xpass goes live and ramps up Disney is likely going to make changes as they go. After all, they had to do it with FP, and Xpass certainly appers to be a more complicated system. So I wouldn't assume that anything is set in stone, even including the new FP enforcement. If once they get XPass up and running they find the enforcement still causes more problems than it solves, they will backtrack again. I wouldn't count on it, but you never know, and that's the point as far as the future goes.







Under the current system, not enforcing the window was causing fewer problems than enforcing it. So Disney stopped enforcing the end time. Once they make that choice, their original intent becomes irrelevant. They made a mistake in thinking enforcing a one hour window was the best way to go, so they corrected that mistake.

So any problems it may have been causing have nothing to do with the change. The reason is the new xpass system, period.

 

[KellyNY]

I'm referring also to CM instructions from management. Either management is going to tell their employees "Here are acceptable reasons for allowing someone to use an expired pass.." OR they're going to say "No reasons are acceptable" OR they're going to say "Use your judgement" (God help them).

I would HOPE that any lateness due to an overrunning ADR would be handled by the restaurant manager (like a validation stamp that would make your FP good for use after it expired). The same for any ride that has a break down. They could have CM's with a stamp there to validate FP that are negated by the broken ride.

Any other excuses should have to go to the Guest Relations window at the park the FP originated in and let a manager deal with it.

That is exactly how I see this.

 

[goofyernmost]

I figured that they would have to advance the clock regardless of distribution to prevent the current time from "catching up" with the return time. The question is: how far in advance does the clock move? In other words, could you theoretically get a 10-11 am FP at 9:55 am? 9:59 am? Or does the clock move ahead earlier than that (i.e., maintaining at least a 45 minute buffer... or some other length of time, for that matter)?

In order for the system to make any sense at all, I would have to think that the time advances based one two things. One would be what the present time is in relation to when the last FP window issued indicates and, for most of the day, when the limit for that time frame has been reached in regard to distribution it will go to the next time frame previously loaded. In other words...If it is 9:30 and the current window is showing as 11:00 to 12:00 it will continue to issue FP's, for that window time, until the window limit for that time has been reached and then change to the next one. So it is possible that someone could get an 11 to 12 window at 9:30 and someone arriving at the kiosk at , say 10 oclock, could get one for the same time. The numbers, BTW are ficticious...I have no idea what span of time that it is set up for from issue to ride. Likewise..they also have a predetermined minimum time between issue and use all nicely loaded in the computer. If the minimum time closes in without all the FP's issued it will automatically change the window time to reflect the pre-determined gap between issue and use.

Inevitably there are going to be exceptions that do not require a trip to guest relations. When a FP ride breaks down, for example. They are not going to send hundreds of people to guest relations for something out of the guest's control. Those are the kinds of experiences that would be helpful to the rest of us so we know what to expect.

If BTMR breaks down and you are holding a FP for that time, the ride operators know what time it was inoperative and can easily make that exception. Let's not read more into this then is necessary. There are probably a number of legitimate reasons that the time might be extended. The ones that this prevents are those that just wanted to ride later, so they show up later and for no other reason. Taking time out to dine, in my mind is not a reasonable argument. That is something the the individual can plan around, not an unavoidable delay. It will remain Disney's choice what is avoidable and what isn't. It's their playground and they make the rules. A cruel fact of life.