Invitation-only Fast Pass+ Test at Magic Kingdom Park

[Castaway Dave]

I know it's been a long time since I made a post but I had to share.

I just received a email inviting me to participate in an invitation-only test at Magic Kingdom® Park that will allow me to select four FastPass+ experiences before I arrive for my vacation the last week of September.

FastPass+ enables you to select your "must-do" rides, shows, and character meet and greets in advance, so you'll have more time to spend with your friends and family while you're here.

Just select your test date, between 09/18/2012 and 09/24/2012, and you'll be able to enjoy your favorite experiences with minimal wait.

Get started now!

Log on to https://fastpassplus.disney.go.com

It gave me a login code which I will not share. Sorry.

I can't wait to try. Can't do it now since I'm typing this from work (shame on me).

 

[WaltD4Me]

Well that is pretty cool. I have a really hard time envisioning planning out your attractions before you get there, so I'm really curious to hear how this will work.

 

[Splat25]

We got one yesterday as well and I can share what it's like so far. They are only testing those times and only for Magic Kingdom. When I got logged in, a few of the earlier dates were gone and only 4 were left. When you pick a date they have two groups of attractions/parades. Group 1 had about 8 things like splash mtn, space mtn, space ranger spin, peter pan, some other parade like electromagic, wishes fireworks viewing, big thunder mtn, and 1 or 2 others. Group 2 had other attractions/stuff like haunted mansion, jungle cruise, goofini, day parade, philharmagic, and a few others.

Now for the not so great part for us. After you pick 2 from each group, they give you 4 option groups (A-D) where they have preselected times. They pick the times. They do not have much flexibility and you cannot specify the times, you can only choose from the 4 groups that have assigned times. Granted they have different times, but none worked for us really.

We decided to wait and call today to see if the earlier dates they said might be available would be. I talked with cast member Skip and he let me know that those dates must have already been distributed and they are still working out the bugs with the system as it's still in test phase. However, when I went to just select one of the option groups today, I was informed on the screen the that fastpass+ options have expired and I can't select anything now.

It seems they have some things to work out. In my opinion they need to offer some flexibility since many of us have made dining arrangements 6 months in advance and need to specify times to allow for dining and travel. That being said, I also think this system could work out great for planners once the bugs are ironed out.

 

[WaltD4Me]

It seems they have some things to work out. In my opinion they need to offer some flexibility since many of us have made dining arrangements 6 months in advance and need to specify times to allow for dining and travel. That being said, I also think this system could work out great for planners once the bugs are ironed out.

It's too soon to say since we really don't know everything Next Gen will be and what it can do, but I think they are going to have a hard time marketing the "plan out your day from home" thing...other than like you said to planners. Everyone I know that are "casual" visitors are still horrified that you have to make dining reservations ahead of time, let alone picking when you going to go on an attraction.

 

[Splat25]

Update on my experience:

Logged back on later that day after having problems and found I could select 2 attactions from each group without an error. SO we did that, even though the times were horrible for our needs and dining reservation times. My main complaint was that you could not pick your times in the process. After you have picked and submiteed your times for fastpass+, then you can modify the time for the attraction/parade. THe options were still lacking with times only between say 9-5pm or so. I think it would have made my day if they look at park hours and opened up later times, but it's a much better start.

 

[jackieinJuneau]

As a chronic planner I am so jazzed by this idea! I wonder how far in advance the reservations will be able to be made? I would love it if it was the same as dinning that way you could plan it all at once, even better if they could get the two systems to work together! We shall see.

 

[Castaway Dave]

Well. I just sign up for all the evening fast passes. It went smooth so far.

 

[disneyholic family]

admittedly, i was in favor of the pre-booked FP idea when rumors first started a long time ago.

But now i'm not so sure.

That's way too much planning.

What happened to the casual, go with the flow visit?

i'm not sure i can handle this much regimentation.

 

[OKW Lover]

admittedly, i was in favor of the pre-booked FP idea when rumors first started a long time ago.

But now i'm not so sure.

That's way too much planning.

What happened to the casual, go with the flow visit?

i'm not sure i can handle this much regimentation.

We are pretty much on the same page with you Beth. Of course we visit so often that the whole FP thing really doesn't matter to us any more. I can think of only two attractions that I enjoy enough to plan my vacation days around.

 

[WaltD4Me]

admittedly, i was in favor of the pre-booked FP idea when rumors first started a long time ago.

But now i'm not so sure.

That's way too much planning.

What happened to the casual, go with the flow visit?

i'm not sure i can handle this much regimentation.

I love planning and still I really just can't imagine this amount of planning. I think back on our trips and while I did have a plan, I had no problem ditching it for one reason or another and some of the best things came out of a change in the plan. So, yes, I love the planning, but loved the flexibility to change the plan even more.

 

[vmb123]

Has anyone else had a hard time with the date selection? It onlycame up as 2 days (showed all 6 )but would not allow the others to be selected...our dinner reservations are for other parks ont he dates they gave us...

 

[*NikkiBell*]

This is something that I'll be covering in a blog next week. I think it's an interesting test.

 

[Castaway Dave]

Got my fast pass card yesterday. However, I haven't received my confirmation email that they accepted the times I choose.

 

[magchavez]

I got my FastPass + cards in the mail today. I never received an email so I was surprised that we were included. I just logged in to make our fast pass reservations. After you select your 2 rides in each category, it gives you 4 'Options' of fastpass return times. I wasn't thrilled with any of the options. Each of the 4 Options had at least one (if not more) ride with a return time of mid afternoon. We like to go back to the hotel after lunch so these times have no appeal to me. I finally selected an option that had decent return times for our 2 top rides. After I selected that Option, I was able to go in and change the return time for each of the rides I had selected to something that works better for us. I was able to move all of our return times to the evening.

We will be doing the test on Tues 9/19 so we'll see how it goes. So far, I'm not overly impressed. I was expecting to be able to select a ride, then select your return time from a list of available times. I wasn't expecting to have to pick a 'bundle' of return times where some work for us and some don't and then go in and modify each ride.

 

[disneyholic family]

We are pretty much on the same page with you Beth. Of course we visit so often that the whole FP thing really doesn't matter to us any more. I can think of only two attractions that I enjoy enough to plan my vacation days around.

which two? we have quite a few must dos for each trip since we at most get there once a year, but sometimes much less than that (the whole family that is, not just me)...
but i'm still not sure i could plan around our favorites.

let me see...what are our must dos:
MK - splash mountain and wishes
AK - finding nemo the musical and festival of the lion king
DSH - tower of terror (and for DD the street theater and that street band, forgot the name)
epcot - soaring (and for DS mission space)

i think that's it for must musts...

I love planning and still I really just can't imagine this amount of planning. I think back on our trips and while I did have a plan, I had no problem ditching it for one reason or another and some of the best things came out of a change in the plan. So, yes, I love the planning, but loved the flexibility to change the plan even more.

i love planning too - it's half the fun for me....but as you said, this amount seems too extreme for me..

although i guess it could be a good thing for the once in a lifetime visitors who want to be assured of a few big attractions...i guess...maybe........

 

[dyak]

I thought the emails were jokes or spam. I'm skeptical about everything. I deleted several emails then here they came in the mail.....not sure what to do with them I can't see planning fast pass on top of the dinning. I still hav a few days I'll check them out tomorrow......maybe......

 

[Pleakleyfan]

We got our Fast Pass + cards in the mail. The process was very easy and I was able to change the times on 2 of them to accommodate our plans.

We have:
Sunday, September 23, 2012

Haunted Mansion®
Liberty Square

Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Fantasy land

Space Mountain®
Tomorrowland

Wishes™ Nighttime Spectacular
Rose Garden next to Tomorrowland walkway

The wishes one.... I wasn't sure what it was, but the other choices we did not want to do. Is not wishes the fireworks show? How can you fast pass that?

 

[MODisFan]

We received our cards in the mail and "activated" them today. I like to plan but this actually stressed me out a little. What attractions do we pick? What order do I do the attractions? What meals do we have scheduled and will this conflict? I think picking the park for the day and having ADRs planned is enough scheduling for me.

My question: can you still get a traditional fast pass using your park ticket once you arrive?

 

[disneyholic family]

We got our Fast Pass + cards in the mail. The process was very easy and I was able to change the times on 2 of them to accommodate our plans.

We have:
Sunday, September 23, 2012

Haunted Mansion®
Liberty Square

Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Fantasy land

Space Mountain®
Tomorrowland

Wishes™ Nighttime Spectacular
Rose Garden next to Tomorrowland walkway

The wishes one.... I wasn't sure what it was, but the other choices we did not want to do. Is not wishes the fireworks show? How can you fast pass that?

i guess they must have a special viewing area there with limited access. I think i remember seeing private parties in that area - roped off from the public.

 

[Castaway Dave]

I received my email saying my Fasspass times had been approved. I was able to make 2 of them. The lines for it were virtually non-existent. They had the Haunted Mansion line that bypassed the graveyard blocked off for only the FassPass+ people. That was not one of my choices so I had to go through the longer line. Overall it was a nice experience to be greeted by name on check in at the ride?