Not impressed with the current fastpass system

[Butterbunkins]

We have always used FP's the way they are doing them now and never had an issue. We always came back in the window on the ticket.

We have been there at some very crowded Times, Spring Break, Easter, and have always used more than 2 fast passes in a day. And before phone apps!

I really don't get all the problems.

Same here.

If FP return times didn't work for us we just skipped that ride. My level of enjoyment involves not making myself crazy to do everything!

Our next trip will be our first one with the phone apps. Before now we just had to wing it like the old days. Of course in the old, old days there wasn't even FP!

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

DD and I were in MK yesterday.
We struggled with using fastpasses.
Just not a good system for us!

~Thanks for the update! I am one of the few people who feels that Fastpass does not fit my park touring style when used as originally intended and it can stand to be greatly improved upon. FP is dated, the parks and attendance have grown substantially since its inception almost 13 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I love Fastpass(it's much better than the old way), but right now with the current system, I have to adjust my preferences in order to benefit and use FP properly.

 

[Hannathy]

Before now we just had to wing it like the old days. Of course in the old, old days there wasn't even FP!

And remember how fabulous we thought fast pass was ! (I still think it is great)
And no one expected to use them any way other than what was on the slip.

 

[jenfromjersey]

I was there May 6-9 and we really made use of the Disney app to know if we should rush to get a fastpass or if standby was short enough that we didn't need it. For example, upon entering MK we saw that Buzz and Space had just about the same standby time of 30 minutes, but Buzz had a FP return time of less than an hour away. So we did Space on standby (turned out to be significantly longer than the posted 35 minutes), but by time we were out it was time for our buzz FP return. You just have to plan better. Our first day we didn't grab a FP for Soarin because the window was 1:05-2:05 and we had an ADR for 2:05 and that was just too close for my liking. So we did standby for 30 minutes

 

[disneychic2]

Same here.

If FP return times didn't work for us we just skipped that ride. My level of enjoyment involves not making myself crazy to do everything!

Our next trip will be our first one with the phone apps. Before now we just had to wing it like the old days. Of course in the old, old days there wasn't even FP!

Same here! We never used the fast passes except as intended, just because it always worked for us and we felt no need. So I believe we are at an advantage with the new enforcement since it changes nothing from what we've done. I don't think the system is dated at all. I still love it!

We just got new iPhones, so next trip we'll be taking full advantage of those puppies! Can't wait!

 

[disnut8]

Way back when, my son was 14. My husband and I were in our 30's. I planned everything to death. And there were NO FastPasses. After the first day, I chucked my carefully hatched plan into the garbage. It's much more fun to just be with your family and enjoy things than to tally up how many attractions you've been on.

Fast forward to January of this year. My now grown son, with his wife and two kids, went with us to Disney World. The "new" system of FastPasses wasn't in place but we used all of the FastPasses we got the entire week in their real time. We didn't go over anything. In fact, at the Studios, I had three valid FastPasses for myself (and my husband) all at the same time.

You CAN make this work. It's what it was intended to do. You just have to decide on what is important to you. Food, pool time, FastPasses, whatever. Heck, I might have to decide between Off Kilter and a FastPass next weekend. *flips coin*.

It's called a choice, people.

 

[Twende]

I know this has been discussed to death, but this experience is exactly what I'm afraid of on my upcoming trip. I have a very basic cell phone that has no apps, so without crossing the park there's no way to know what the current FP return time is? So I could end up crossing the park and finding out that Splash Mountain's window falls smack into an ADR.

Yes, yes, first world problems, but for the compulsive Disney planner in me I feel like it's a whole new world.

I've actually been contemplating getting an iPhone just so I can use the fastpass ap! How insane is that. I've also made way less ADRs than I did last time and I'm thinking that I'm going to reduce them even farther. Hoarding fastpasses for use after a sit down meal allowed me to feel better about the park time being wasted, but now it feels like every minute must be accounted for! I wish they would at least let you choose a return time you want until that one fills up, so you can work the rides around your schedule instead of the other way around.

~Thanks for the update! I am one of the few people who feels that Fastpass does not fit my park touring style when used as originally intended and it can stand to be greatly improved upon. FP is dated, the parks and attendance have grown substantially since its inception almost 13 years ago. Don't get me wrong, I love Fastpass(it's much better than the old way), but right now with the current system, I have to adjust my preferences in order to benefit and use FP properly.

Thanks for understanding how it made us feel. The current system may work well for some styles of touring but it was not good for us this trip in this park.

In fact in thinking on it we only got one other FP the entire trip and that was for Soarin' and that return time was fine for us.

We also thought about the cell phone app but our phones do not have that capacity. Acutally it was rather annoying to see so many people stop dead in the traffic so they could check their cell apps. Disney needs a pull over lane for people to step into so they can stop and look at their phone screens!

 

[Cafeen]

I'll stay out of the debate on FP usage , but I think it would be GREATLY helpful for Disney to put up some LCD screens around the park now with FP return times. It would save on the running back and forth just to check the return time, and not be horribly expensive nor difficult to implement. They already have something similar in Epcot, so the baseline data stuff is there, now just to implement that same thing (with several more smaller screens) property-wide.

Perhaps this should be a written suggestion by someone who's recently been there and wore their feet out checking times .

 

[mesaboy2]

I'll stay out of the debate on FP usage , but I think it would be GREATLY helpful for Disney to put up some LCD screens around the park now with FP return times. It would save on the running back and forth just to check the return time, and not be horribly expensive nor difficult to implement. They already have something similar in Epcot, so the baseline data stuff is there, now just to implement that same thing (with several more smaller screens) property-wide.

Perhaps this should be a written suggestion by someone who's recently been there and wore their feet out checking times .

Absolutely. I can't believe they haven't done this already. Would give those without smartphones a fighting chance.

 

[mossy1]

Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences. I do expect more running around the park this time at least in MK. I really have no worries for the other parks because of the way I am going to approach things. It will be a much more "grouped" touring for us but in a way that makes sense. This will be my first trip under the "enforcement". I think the pull time and distribution is key and it is really difficult to plan around. Other than don't take a FP if you know you will be at restaurant XYZ at such and such a time. I also think it will become easier after some real time data is gathered on pull and return times throughout the different seasons. It is definitely a change, but I do think it will be for the better once the next gen system is in place.

 

[seashoreCM]

Anyone know of a number you could dial from a dumbphone to get fastpass return times and posted wait times?

 

[MickeynMinnie]

We just returned from WDW last week and i have to say that i didn't mind the new FP rules. FP lines were ALOT shorter than i have seen in the past and with a well planned out day we were able to get fast passes for all the rides we wanted during our day in any park.
For the 100 people waiting in the line, we ran into this at SM too, but it was people waiting for the FP time to click over to their FP time. we just worked our way to the front and got past the CM and then got right on the ride!! )

 

[tessa67]

Just got back from the parks today and we also struggled with the "new" FP rules at both Epcot and MJ. At Epcot, made ADRs 180 days out, grab a fast pass and then seated 30 minutes late for ADR. Missed FP window.

 

[Planogirl]

We always used the return window so we were used to it. It just usually worked better for how we tour. It can be a pain occasionally but usually it seemed to work just fine for us.

I suspect that the new nexgen stuff will be an even bigger headache for many.

 

[DeaverTex]

I just wish we'd see something about how to make best use of the current FP system that was actually useful, instead of variations on, "This is how it was always supposed to work, and I've never had any problem."

I'm glad that you wonderful people have a foolproof strategy for using FP. No, really, I am. Wanna share, hm? I'd sure like to have at least some sort of clue for my first ever trip.

 

[BillBrasky]

From a longterm view this is a weird adjustment period for the fastpass system. They have started enforcing the rule because they'll need to enforce it when the rest of the nextgen projects come along. Pre-selecting fastpass times for certain rides before your trip, ordering quick service meals through your phone and having them ready at certain times, etc. When these things are in place, fastpass enforcement will be totally necessary to prevent huge bottlenecks. As of right now, Disney is just training the guests to get used to it, so it's kind of awkward. Hopefully another nextgen improvement will be picking up fastpasses through your phone instead of having to go to the attraction to get them... because with the system as it is now, it definitely creates more walking if you want to ride as much as possible.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I was at Disneyland Paris last month. Fastpasses there are only for a 30 minute window.

You may get additional fastpasses at the earlier of the opening time of your window or two hours after you have received you fastpass. There are no grace periods.

And this policy has been in effect since the start of fastpasses there. They do not have problems with fastpasses there.

 

[mom2rtk]

From a longterm view this is a weird adjustment period for the fastpass system. They have started enforcing the rule because they'll need to enforce it when the rest of the nextgen projects come along. Pre-selecting fastpass times for certain rides before your trip, ordering quick service meals through your phone and having them ready at certain times, etc. When these things are in place, fastpass enforcement will be totally necessary to prevent huge bottlenecks. As of right now, Disney is just training the guests to get used to it, so it's kind of awkward. Hopefully another nextgen improvement will be picking up fastpasses through your phone instead of having to go to the attraction to get them... because with the system as it is now, it definitely creates more walking if you want to ride as much as possible.

The problem of course is that the easier the FP distribution is, the more people will actually use it. And no matter what they do, the ride capacity is a constant. I think there are some definite downsides to making this system too user friendly.

Everyone assumes they'll just get an appointment for TSMM ahead of time and can finally sleep in on a day they go to DHS. That will work for some. Others will be completely shut out of the FP system because of it. Yes, there will still be FP's distributed in the parks, but for every XPass assigned ahead of time, there will be one less regular FP or Stand-by slot available to others.

 

[mossy1]

I was at Disneyland Paris last month. Fastpasses there are only for a 30 minute window.

You may get additional fastpasses at the earlier of the opening time of your window or two hours after you have received you fastpass. There are no grace periods.

And this policy has been in effect since the start of fastpasses there. They do not have problems with fastpasses there.

Thanks for the perspective. Interesting to know. My daughter is going to France next year I will have to tell her just in case...

 

[YankeePrincess]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand why the FP system is flawed? You get a fastpass, you return at the time you are told to. If you can't make it, don't get a fast pass.