I think Disney should start enforcing end times on fastpasses

[ben1993]

I was just surprised that they don't, every other Disney resort I've visited (okay, I've only visited another 1 so far, but I'm pretty sure they follow the same rule) the FastPass time you are given is the time in which you have to return. I don;t know whether it makes a difference or not though.

 

[larryz]

Hi Everyone
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[iheartdisney]

I was just surprised that they don't, every other Disney resort I've visited (okay, I've only visited another 1 so far, but I'm pretty sure they follow the same rule) the FastPass time you are given is the time in which you have to return. I don;t know whether it makes a difference or not though.

Nope... it works the same at Disneyland. And the parks are close enough together that you can feesibly collect Fastpasses from two parks at once!

 

[disneymom0104]

I love the way they do the FP system. It cracks me up every time I read people getting so up in arms over them and feeling that people are breaking rules. I guess these are the same people that will stand outside the gate for a party to start until 7pm, even though Disney lets party ticket holders in at 4pm- since that is also "unofficial" policy. It is okay- I will gladly go in and collect all my Fastpasses for the evening while you are waiting outside for the "official" start time of the party!

Really though, it is hard for me to understand how people cannot see that it DOESN'T MAKE A DIFFERENCE. If it did, Disney would not allow it. The biggest rushes in the FP line I have seen are the countless people waiting at the FP enterance for their allotted time to start. That is when that line fills up quickly. It is not when I come trickling in hours later, alone (or with my family). I do go at slower times of the year, though, so maybe there are other times when the FP queue stays filled. But I guarantee that you (either in the stand by or FP queue)- you have NO idea whether my FP is past its time or not. The only people that ever know are myself and the CM's that let me through. And it makes no difference to either of us

 

[KSDisneyDad]

I regret starting this thread and wish it would die.

Have you considered changing the Thread's Title so that it is not so controversial? That may cause people not to click on the thread and it may move down quickly and simply fade away.

Okay, a story from my trip this last week. We got out of the first Fantasmic Show and, with it being early, decided to stick around. Upon walking over to Tower of Terror we saw a 20 minute wait time and hopped in line. After wating forty minutes we were still not in the door, but could now see it and feel that lovely air conditioning. The stand by line had not moved in some time. A party behind us asked a passing CM, very polietly, what she guessed the our wait time would be from then on, as they were hoping to catch the second Fantasmic showing. The CM told us that the FP line was actually longer than the stand by line at this point in time so the progress of the stand by line would be little to none. She then told us that her best guess was that the wait time for us, where we were, would be about thirty minutes factoring in the FP line. Let me just say I don't think the FP is working as well as it could when the FP line ends up longer than the stand by line.

I am against using expired fastpasses. We were there for ten days and never left a fastpass unused and always returned during our time window because I feel that it is the polite thing to do for waiting guests, nor did we ever just sit around and wait for the time to come around. There was not a single time in which we used our fastpass within the first ten minutes of being able to use it either. If you know you have a dining reservation, don't get your fastpass for that time, and yes, you know about what time will be spit out when you get your fastpass.

I am all for them making the window larger, even four hours because no dining or show or parade lasts four hours, but I also think they should not allow someone with a time between ten and eleven in the morning to redeem the fastpasses at ten at night. Sorry if something happened, I know it sucks, but think about the other guests.

Now, the above Tower of Terror expirence is the worst I've had, by far, and after leaving the line to see the second Fantasmic myself I would have no believed how much longer the FP line was than the stand by line, but I have had other, similar, moments on other attractions. When the wait time you're given says twenty minutes (and, seeing the line, I would have guessed about twenty as well) and then waiting what would have been seventy due to people using expired fastpasses I think is a little extreme and should be cause to pay more attention, and a little more respect to people with differing opinions.

Sorry that you feel that way and I have to completely disagree with not taking a FP if you know you have an ADR during that window. By not taking a FP, you are hurting yourself as Disney allows you to return anytime after the start of your FP time. Even the Park Maps that explain FP don't explicity state that you have to return during your Window (they used to). The Park Maps currently only tell you that you have to return after the time shown.

Johnny come lately here, sorry I haven't read a single post, but the Podcast team was completely wrong on this one and the OP is completely right. There are as many excuses for missing FP return times as there are people in the TSM standby line on Saturday at noon. I'm sorry, but FP return times need to be strickly enforced period No excuses.

Honestly, it is people that believe that FP times should be strictly enforced and that follow those rules themselves that help those of us who fully utilize Disney's own policies to further minimize our wait times. Thank you for your help!

I have never went past my fast pass time. Hmm now I may consider it if my dining interferes with it as that is impossible to plan accordingly.

One of our favorite strategies is this. Arrive at rope drop or shortly after. Ride a major attraction and grab a FP immediately for later (generally it is about an hour later). Look at your FP and determine when you can get another. Ride another major attraction and when you can get another FP, find one with a short FP return time (i.e. less than 2 hours) and grab yet another FP and ride it if the Standby line is short. By lunch, you should have at least 4 FP's and sometimes more. By this time, one may even be "expired".

Go back to your resort and swim and relax during the hottest and most crowded part of the day. Or go to a waterpark or DTD. Or do shows or attractions with minimal waits (Hall of Presidents, Indiana Jones, American Adventure, etc.) in the heat of the afternoon.

When you return to the park or are ready to start riding more attractions, simply use all of your FP's for an evening of minimal waits. This keeps your family relaxed and you don't have to spend a lot of time in the long standby lines.

Enjoy your next trip!

 

[skater]

I love the way they do the FP system. It cracks me up every time I read people getting so up in arms over them and feeling that people are breaking rules. I guess these are the same people that will stand outside the gate for a party to start until 7pm, even though Disney lets party ticket holders in at 4pm- since that is also "unofficial" policy. It is okay- I will gladly go in and collect all my Fastpasses for the evening while you are waiting outside for the "official" start time of the party!

Good point !

 

[MikeandReneePlus5]

That's odd. I've been given FP's at random by characters. How would they know these are our FP's or someone else's??

On our last trip, we gave our unused FP's to random guests entering the queue. The CM at the front of the queue actually told a couple entering the queue to see us for some "magic" to get a FP. He also thanked us for sharing kindness with other guests.

Yes, this rule probably gets broken more than refillae mugs! I myself break jt every trip multiple times both giving and receiving.

 

[wcpamotm]

Fastpasses work great because Disney does strictly enforce the rules that matter:

1) Only a certain percentage of the attraction's daily capacity can be given out as Fastpasses
2) Fastpass return times are always at least 45 minutes away. You will always wait longer to experience an attraction by getting a Fastpass than you would by joining the standby line at that time (under normal operational conditions of course)
3) You can never join the Fastpass line before your window opens
4) Fastpasses are no good at all after they day they are issued.

 

[rmm7e]

That is probably the most untrue thing I've ever read here! Most people on the DIS are all about following the rules. Using a FP after the written return time is not against the rules as far as I can tell .

LOL! So all those threads are people agreeing with each other?

This is my last post to this thread out of respect to the OP. No hard feelings towards anyone.

 

[LBIJim]

We can want all we want, but what it boils down to is the Disney Big Wigs call the shots, and what they say is, "you can use expired fast passes".

I'm not sure if the Bigs Wigs actually SAY that, but they do allow the practice.


They don't advertise it because they know 99% (estimate) of park guests have no idea you can use fast passes after the window time. I did the Disney College Program, have been to Disney several times, and it wasn't until I joined DisBoards, that I knew you could use expired fast passes. I would be at least 25% of the 99% percent of people who don't use expired fast passes, don't even know that the whole fast pass thing is free. What it boils down to, is Disney wants to keep folks happy, and keep them back. Many times people miss their window time because they are held up at an ADR that took longer than expected, or in a line that was longer than expected. Disney isn't going to ruin the day of a person who waited 5 hours until their fast pass window to tell them, nope sorry, too late.

!

In the beginning, at Disneyland anyway, they did enforce the time window for fast passes. Maybe for the first six months to a year after the passes were introduced. I suspect there were many such cases of people missing their time slots due to whatever legitimate reasons. Once they analyzed that honoring fast passes late didn't really make a difference, they started allowing it to avoid unpleasant scenes.

Jim

 

[hookedonears]

Why?

What's the purpose of the whole Fast Pass system? Why not let people in early? If you have a FP ticket, why don't they let you in at any time? It's called a Fast Pass, because it's suppose to be Fast. When you walk up to a FP machine, it tells you what the return time is. If you have dinner reservation that will make it impossible to return at that time, too bad. You should have come earlier, or you need to come back another time, or enjoy the stand-by line.

 

[mom2rtk]

What's the purpose of the whole Fast Pass system? Why not let people in early? If you have a FP ticket, why don't they let you in at any time? It's called a Fast Pass, because it's suppose to be Fast. When you walk up to a FP machine, it tells you what the return time is. If you have dinner reservation that will make it impossible to return at that time, too bad.

Because everyone would just want in NOW, as soon as possible. That would be far more likely to bunch people up in a way that would affect traffic patterns.

The "fast" part of the name refers to the shorter wait you will have when you return at the appointed time.

 

[Robo]

What's the purpose of the whole Fast Pass system? Why not let people in early? If you have a FP ticket, why don't they let you in at any time?

It only matters that the FP pushes you off (for a calculated amount of time) from when you first get the FP (instead of riding immediately.)

It doesn't matter much at what time AFTER that initial wait the FP holder returns.

The initial wait window:
That's how FP works.
That's why FP works.

 

[hookedonears]

Because everyone would just want in NOW, as soon as possible. That would be far more likely to bunch people up in a way that would affect traffic patterns.

The "fast" part of the name refers to the shorter wait you will have when you return at the appointed time.

Letting people in late does the exact same thing.

 

[mom2rtk]

Letting people in late does the exact same thing.

I disagree. People are impatient and want everything as soon as they can get it. So if you had instant access with FP, everyone at the machine would go NOW. After all, it's far more inconvenient to have to make your way back across the park to even get back TO the ride.

Letting them come back later disperses them throughout the rest of the day. Heck, some of them never even make it back at all.

 

[hookedonears]

Let me put it another way. On Space mountain, if there are 800 people in the stand by line and 200 in the FP line and 50 of those came in after there FP time expired, that means there are 50 people standing in front of me that shouldn't be. Over the course of an entire day, considering all of the other FP attractions that I would have used, quite a bit of my time has been taken standing behind people that shouldn't be there, and time that I could be enjoying other attractions.

 

[mom2rtk]

Let me put it another way. On Space mountain, if there are 800 people in the stand by line and 200 in the FP line and 50 of those came in after there FP time expired, that means there are 50 people standing in front of me that shouldn't be. Over the course of an entire day, considering all of the other FP attractions that I would have used, quite a bit of my time has been taken standing behind people that shouldn't be there, and time that I could be enjoying other attractions.

But your FP line would have been backed up even farther if those people had come earlier at their specified time.

And based on the now nearly identical thread concurrently running here.......... most people........ even those who hang out here on the DIS......... don't even know they can use their FP late.

 

[hookedonears]

But your FP line would have been backed up even farther if those people had come earlier at their specified time.

And based on the now nearly identical thread concurrently running here.......... most people........ even those who hang out here on the DIS......... don't even know they can use their FP late.

Obviously they couldn't have because they were late. Many of them wouldn't have gotten FP's to begin with because they knew they weren't going to make their return time. But then on the other side of the coin, that means there would have been (more, earlier) FP times available which probably would have been taken by other people, so it may be a wash in the end. But the bottom line is, people should follow the rules, and not just the rules that are convenient to them.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Let me put it another way. On Space mountain, if there are 800 people in the stand by line and 200 in the FP line and 50 of those came in after there FP time expired, that means there are 50 people standing in front of me that shouldn't be. Over the course of an entire day, considering all of the other FP attractions that I would have used, quite a bit of my time has been taken standing behind people that shouldn't be there, and time that I could be enjoying other attractions.

The main flaw in this logic IMO is that you say those people "Shouldn't be" there. If Disney has designed their FP system in a way to create a start time, rather than a window, then those people have every right to be there. Why are you trying to fight what Disney already permits? If you don't agree with it, why not write Disney about it.

For your convenience, here is a link to contact Disney:

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/contact/

But your FP line would have been backed up even farther if those people had come earlier at their specified time.

And based on the now nearly identical thread concurrently running here.......... most people........ even those who hang out here on the DIS......... don't even know they can use their FP late.

Good points!

I agree that by showing a "window" on the front of the FP tickets does tend to cause most guests to actually show up in that window. This is why you see herds of people blocking entrances to FP queues all the time. As soon as the clock ticks over, a new group of people enter the queue causing the FP line to back up. This happens all throughout the day, especially after a large capacity show lets out near a FP attraction.

It is my understanding that Disney limits the number of FP's issued per day. For popular attractions, FP's can run out as early as noon. Because the start time will be late at night (8:00 pm or after), it's not affecting FP queues throughout the day even though there are a lot more FP that have been issued.

If you hold onto your FP's until late at night, you run the risk of having a longer line as more people use them before they leave for the night.


To me, these threads should be more educational vs a debate. There are so many tips, hints, secrets out there that Disney doesn't publish. Most guests are unaware of them. Thus, those who take the time to plan and research their vacations may discover some things that make their trips more enjoyable.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Obviously they couldn't have because they were late. Many of them wouldn't have gotten FP's to begin with because they knew they weren't going to make their return time. But then on the other side of the coin, that means there would have been (more, earlier) FP times available which probably would have been taken by other people, so it may be a wash in the end. But the bottom line is, people should follow the rules, and not just the rules that are convenient to them.

Where is this rule that you have to use FP's during the allotted hour published?

TIA!