March 7th Fast Pass Experiences

[brymolmom]

They also recently reported being denied 22 minutes past the return time.

But on this I would love to know what exactly happened. Did they give an explanation 'why' they were late? Did the CM ask? With the special considerations where late FP use is allowed (per the memo posted in another thread) - I would hope that they are asking people if they qualify for late entry based on ride issues, ADR issues or 'family emergencies'. So, if this 22 minute late person said they had an emergency and they were stuck in the bathroom for an hour - would they have been allowed entry?

Would just love to know if it is no across the board or on a case-by-case basis as the memo seemed to indicate.

 

[KellyNY]

If by chance you think I am one of this group, prepare to be...disappointed.

I am not one to get my knickers in a twist over such a thing. I only got passionate when it was implied that returning late as part of a premeditated strategy impacted others significantly, was "wrong", and that Morales would not approve.

Looks like there's a new normal, and that's okay by me.

And in case you pointing at me, I only get passionate when some people screamed how ruined their vacations will be because they do not want to waste few moments to look at the clock but refuse that at the same time they affect others, even if it by little. I did not like compassion talk when none was shown to those in line. I never cared much about late FPs, you found way out, it worked for you, it was allowed, good for you but attitude from some screamed entitlement and that is what I really have problem with.

Now that we are clear, I am sure that people will get use to changes, after all many did it with no problems.

 

[audrey2580]

This had to start on my birthday!!!

Happy B-Day

 

[Goofy's_Biggest_Fan]

But on this I would love to know what exactly happened. Did they give an explanation 'why' they were late? Did the CM ask? With the special considerations where late FP use is allowed (per the memo posted in another thread) - I would hope that they are asking people if they qualify for late entry based on ride issues, ADR issues or 'family emergencies'. So, if this 22 minute late person said they had an emergency and they were stuck in the bathroom for an hour - would they have been allowed entry?

Would just love to know if it is no across the board or on a case-by-case basis as the memo seemed to indicate.

Unfortunately, what many folks consider an "emergency," the CM's (or a manager/supervisor) are put in a position of having to make a judgement call. And there will always be those folks who will be a little less than honest about the reasons for their delay.

Honestly, I don't think the unexpected emergencies, line waits, attraction break-downs, restaurant delays, etc. are the problem. IMO, allowances for those kinds of situations were built into the Fast Pass system (before today's enforcement). But the additional strain of accommodating (did I spell that right? ) guests who strategically planned to use the FP's much later than their assigned windows, tends to overloads the que lines and delays both the FP and the stand-by lines for the times when they do show up.

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out over the next few weeks as Spring Break hits.

 

[Bob NC]

I would hope that they are asking people if they qualify for late entry based on ride issues, ADR issues or 'family emergencies'. So, if this 22 minute late person said they had an emergency and they were stuck in the bathroom for an hour - would they have been allowed entry?

I wonder what definition of 'family emergency' they would use.

If I had a family emergency I would not be riding a theme park ride 20 minutes later.

 

[Suellen]

But the additional strain of accommodating (did I spell that right? ) guests who strategically planned to use the FP's much later than their assigned windows, tends to overloads the que lines and delays both the FP and the stand-by lines for the times when they do show up.
.

No..... sorry this CAN'T be right! Has Robo has said over and over (and over?) again.... late FP's have NO EFFECT on either line. Ever.

 

[missy120]

Even after I heard they'd accept them late I never bothered. I just felt like they had the return time for a reason and I felt funny getting in line after my time had passed.

I felt the same way, I heard you could get on the ride anytime even hours late and that people collected them until later but I always used them in the time frame stated on the Fastpass. Most of the time when the time hit we headed towards that attraction to ride.

 

[magicbob]

I just wonder how many on this board are going to go out of their way to obnoxiously express their displeasure for the change in policy, to the Cast Members manning the FP lines. Or how many are going to wait until 20 minutes past and then obnoxiously test the waters, complain, beg and plead.

I'd guess very few if any. Contrary to popular opinion, those of us who used FPs late are not inconsiderate jerks. We understand that using a FP late is no longer allowed and we'll continue to behave as we always have... in accordance with standards of conduct that Disney deemed acceptable.

I think it's more likely that first time guests who don't know much about FP are more likely to complain if they are just a little late for legitimate reasons. I think it is wise of Disney to print directly on the FP that late arrivals cannot be accepted as this should make it clear to almost everyone that you cannot be even a little bit late.

I'm working feverishly on adapting our touring plan for next month to accommodate this new practice and I can assure you, if we miss a FP window, I won't be complaining to CMs. We will just try to be on time the next time.

 

[poohj80]

I wonder what definition of 'family emergency' they would use.

If I had a family emergency I would not be riding a theme park ride 20 minutes later.

I can give you an example that happened to us...

Grandma came to MK with us on a rather hot, humid day. She didn't want to admit that she needed a break and kept going along with us until she got light headed and almost passed out in the ladies restroom. We found a cast member who got medical services and we got her to First Aid to lay down and rest. She didn't want all of us sitting around wasting our day staring at her so she sent us back to have fun and we kept checking on her until she was able to go back to the room.

Had this happened during our FP window, we would have missed our time unless we were given special consideration.

 

[poohj80]

Double post.

 

[poohj80]

Tripel post...need to restart computer I think.

 

[seashoreCM]

I can give you an example that happened to us...

Grandma came to MK with us on a rather hot, humid day. She didn't want to admit that she needed a break and kept going along with us until she got light headed and almost passed out in the ladies restroom. We found a cast member who got medical services and we got her to First Aid to lay down and rest. She didn't want all of us sitting around wasting our day staring at her so she sent us back to have fun and we kept checking on her until she was able to go back to the room.

Had this happened during our FP window, we would have missed our time unless we were given special consideration.

Someone at the first aid station could probably have had your fastpasses re-issued.

No..... sorry this CAN'T be right! Has Robo has said over and over (and over?) again.... late FP's have NO EFFECT on either line. Ever.

Thinking it over for the third time I now (3/7/12) claim that late use of fastpasses does affect the standby line.

Let's imagine that during the hour 5 to 6 PM the ride can handle 1000 guests and that 700 fastpasses were issued with time windows starting in that hour. This leaves 300 "slots" (or seats) for standby guests. If 100 guests from an earlier time had delayed use of their fastpasses until that hour then there are now only 200 slots for standby guests.

One time when we got to HS the FP's were already gone for TSM so we got in the standby line. The wait time was 60 minutes. After we'd been in line for about 15 min. one of those HUGE Brazilian tour groups came back with like 100 FP's!! We had no idea what would happen then to our wait time. It ended up getting doubled to over 120 minutes - but there was no way to predict how messed up the line would get.

I think there should be "truth in waiting". There should be a fudge factor put into the standby wait time as posted to avoid unexpectedly long wait times over and above that posted.

 

[magicbob]

One time when we got to HS the FP's were already gone for TSM so we got in the standby line. The wait time was 60 minutes. After we'd been in line for about 15 min. one of those HUGE Brazilian tour groups came back with like 100 FP's!! We had no idea what would happen then to our wait time. It ended up getting doubled to over 120 minutes - but there was no way to predict how messed up the line would get.

Keep in mind... this can (and probably will) still happen with FP enforcement. In fact, it's very likely that tour group was not using FPs late but DURING their window.

At any given time (let's use 12:30pm as an example), everyone with a valid FP COULD all show up at the same time. It's not just people with a return time that STARTS at 12:30pm. This would include everyone with FP return times of:

11:30am-12:30pm
11:35am-12:35pm
11:40am-12:40pm
11:45am-12:45pm
11:50am-12:50pm
11:55am-12:55pm
12:00pm-1:00pm
12:05pm-1:05pm
12:10pm-1:10pm
12:15pm-1:15pm
12:20pm-1:20pm
12:25pm-1:25pm
12:30pm-1:30pm

So you can see that at ANY given time a LOT of people could show up and not be late (anyone happen to know how many FPs are distributed before the return time clock moves ahead 5 minutes?). If there happen to be tour groups at the park, the odds increase of a lot of people showing up all at once. But, if you just happen to have bad luck, lots of individual families could all show up at once by coincidence.

Regardless of the reason the posted wait time increased, I can understand being frustrated because you got into the line on good faith, expecting to be done in time to make your next FP window. If there are complaints, these are the kinds of circumstances most likely to elicit them. It will be difficult for CMs to make a judgment call if a guest is telling them the sign said 30 minutes, but I waited an hour and a half!

 

[poohj80]

Someone at the first aid station could probably have had your fastpasses re-issued.

They probably can now but doubt they would have thought of it before.

 

[Que_Sarah_Sarah]

Remember the good old days when you could use fast passes from different days? We had STOCKPILES at our house, lol.

Remember the GOLDEN DAYS when you could get a fastpass with your room key AND your annual pass? Man, good times, lol.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

i'd guess very few if any. Contrary to popular opening, those of us who used fps late are not inconsiderate jerks. We understand that using a fp late is no longer allowed and we'll continue to behave as we always have... In accordance with standards of conduct that disney deemed acceptable.

I think it's more likely that first time guests who don't know much about fp are more likely to complain if they are just a little late for legitimate reasons. I think it is wise of disney to print directly on the fp that late arrivals cannot be accepted as this should make it clear to almost everyone that you cannot be even a little bit late.

I'm working feverishly on adapting our touring plan for next month to accommodate this new practice and i can assure you, if we miss a fp window, i won't be complaining to cms. We will just try to be on time the next time.

+1

 

[MELSMICE]

Interested to see if there are any more experiences today.

 

[elphie101]

I would say the amount of people in the FP line absolutely contributes to the standby wait time. There's a certain ratio of FP-using guests to standby guests determined by upper management that CMs are expected to follow.....and when there's nobody or very few numbers in the FP line, then the standby line can run free and bring down the wait time. Especially when the FP lines get out of control (if you've ever seen a FP line for something that wasn't TSM or Peter Pan winding around buildings and out into the street you know what I'm talking about) that puts pressure on the CMs and the managers, who make the call to change up ratios to get the situation under control - which jacks up the standby wait.

 

[WillAustin]

THIS. I really thought this would be the case when the announced the enforcement. I thought they would extend the window a bit. Like you said, perhaps they will in the future.

I'm guessing an extended window will be a feature of X-Pass. One more thing to distinguish it as different from a FP.

 

[MartinaC]

This had to start on my birthday!!!

Happy Birthday. Have a blast on your special day.