March breakers - fast pass changes beginning March 7th

[mtmbyck]

According to WDWMagic as of March 7th the posted fast pass time will be strictly enforced. No longer will you be able to return anytime after the posted time. If you miss the window of time your fast pass is void. Bummer!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Thanks, rarely ever did this but glad you told me!

 

[iamadisneynut]

I'm wondering how this is going to change the flow of things in the parks, we'll be there March 10th-17th, so not much time for things to get worked out...

 

[tinkbell13]

Thanks for posting this. We are there March 11-17 so it will be interesting to see what that does to the flow of things.

 

[tone.def]

Shouldn't change anything much at all

 

[mtmbyck]

I'll admit I was an offender. We'd gather as many as needed to keep us riding all evening. I can live with the changes but it will affect how we move in the park. The big issue will be getting to TSM and getting a fast pass for 4 hours later and who the heck knows where you'll be or if it spits out a time where you have a reservation at a restaurant. There will no doubt be growing pains!

 

[Cdn Gal]

That is going to be a royal pain in the butt! I dont really see what the big deal was, it wasn't like it affected all kinds of people or anything... None that I could see anyway. We will have to bring a watch now. Thanks for letting us know!

 

[maryliz]

The big issue will be getting to TSM and getting a fast pass for 4 hours later and who the heck knows where you'll be or if it spits out a time where you have a reservation at a restaurant.

I totally agree about the whole "what if we have dining ressies during that time?" So does this mean that when I show up for my 5PM dining ressie that they are going to guarantee me my table AT that time? Seriously doubt it! LOL A 30 minute delay in getting seated could mean that I miss my Soarin' FP time ... or heaven forbid, if Test Track breaks down which puts you behind schedule.

I think it's really stupid to enforce this now, and how are they going to let everyone know of the changes ahead of time? So people who have been going for years have their March Break park touring strategies worked out, only to be told "sorry, that FP is VOID now" ... me thinks there are going to be some very irate guests during a very busy time. Maybe they need to change the FP window to be at least 2 hours in duration to assist with these new guidelines.

Disney is probably gearing up to a PAID FP system like the "front of the line" passes at Universal.

We usually do use our FP's in the window given, because we incorporate it into our touring strategy ... but I've always enjoyed having the flexibility of knowing that we can go back later in the day if it doesn't happen to work out for us at that particular hour.

Not a happy consumer with this latest.

 

[mtmbyck]

Agree MaryLiz and I was thinking the same as you - they'll try to charge for fast passes eventually if your aren't a resort guest. The site I saw seems to indicate there will be new signage clearly stating you must return within your ride time and there will be an attendant reminding you about the new policy.

Hoping it doesn't make scheduling too crazy.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Hmmmm .... resort bookings where down 3% last period, so the theory of resort guests getting fast passes only is plausible.

 

[bankr63]

I totally agree about the whole "what if we have dining ressies during that time?" So does this mean that when I show up for my 5PM dining ressie that they are going to guarantee me my table AT that time? Seriously doubt it! LOL A 30 minute delay in getting seated could mean that I miss my Soarin' FP time ... or heaven forbid, if Test Track breaks down which puts you behind schedule.

I think it's really stupid to enforce this now, and how are they going to let everyone know of the changes ahead of time? So people who have been going for years have their March Break park touring strategies worked out, only to be told "sorry, that FP is VOID now" ... me thinks there are going to be some very irate guests during a very busy time. Maybe they need to change the FP window to be at least 2 hours in duration to assist with these new guidelines.

Disney is probably gearing up to a PAID FP system like the "front of the line" passes at Universal.

We usually do use our FP's in the window given, because we incorporate it into our touring strategy ... but I've always enjoyed having the flexibility of knowing that we can go back later in the day if it doesn't happen to work out for us at that particular hour.

Not a happy consumer with this latest.

I have seen this enforcement announced as a preparation for the new "advanced" FP system. Hopefully one of the advances will be that when you put your KTTK card into the FP machine it will be smart enough to know about your registered ADR's and spit out a time that doesn't interfere. Wouldn't that be nice?

Another nicety might be to do advance capacity planning. If you are collecting for the evening, perhaps you could tell the FP machine at 9:00 am that you want a return time around 7:00 pm. That might be nice too for those who have a strong touring strategy. Just thinkin' out loud about some of the things they could do the make the system even better!

These changes could be made in such a way to benefit all. Or they could just be in preparation for a blatant cash grab like they do over at the evil empire. I'm hoping for that Disney decides to use the force for good and stays away from the dark side.

 

[Agent555]

I always went during the alloted time for fast passes, I am glad they are enforcing the rule. It may be a little inconvinient at the start but soon everyone will be used to it.

 

[Dimples1973ca]

I always thought that we had to use them at the allotted time. That could explain why we still had an hour wait for TSM using our fast passes. I am sure people will get the hang of it and it should all run smoothly.

 

[Disney-Chick]

I wish they would keep it the same. We would collect them for my daughter and she would use them and ours if we decided not to do the ride. Now she may not be with us this year so it will not affect us as much. I understand why they are changing and knew it would come sooner or later...I was just hoping later.

 

[cey]

Yesterday at HS, we saw covered boxes at the entrances for RNRC and ToT. As they are right at the entrance, I have a hunch that these will be new fastpass readers that will allow you admittance based on your fast pass time slot.
The park was fairly busy yesterday and there were several glitches slowing down things! They had to restart Lights Motion Action due to a mechanical glitch with one of the cars that they had to sub out. We were about 10 minutes late for TSM, but they still accepted our fast pass. Both times we rode ToT, there were only two elevators working. Our fast pass the second time involved a 40 minute wait!

TSM seemed to be busy as usual, as the fast passes were completely gone by 1:00 pm!

 

[mtmbyck]

The post I saw said the fast pass changes start March 7th so guessing Mon and Tues will be business as usual. We are there on Friday.

 

[Alderbrook]

Agree MaryLiz and I was thinking the same as you - they'll try to charge for fast passes eventually if your aren't a resort guest. The site I saw seems to indicate there will be new signage clearly stating you must return within your ride time and there will be an attendant reminding you about the new policy.

Hoping it doesn't make scheduling too crazy.

I think they used to do this or something like it. My inlaws went years ago on tickets that my husband & I didn't use (this was before they expired) & there was an extra cost or something to use FP's if you weren't a resort guest (they were staying in their timeshare) or they were only available for resort guests, I can't quite remember. This was probably 11-12 years ago.