Question about Soarin' fastpasses and little kids

[HappyMommy2]

Just back from a great week at WDW. We rode Soarin' several times with our small kids (5 and 3), usually using Fastpass. What an incredible ride!
I'm just wondering, out of sheer curiosity, if anyone knows why, on this particular ride, the CMs are adamant about little kids holding their own individual Fastpasses. Each time we used Fastpass, the initial CM asked us to give our little ones their Fastpasses to hold (which we didn't do, knowing our rambunctious 3-year-old would probably lose his somewhere along the way--DH would hold his Fastpass and DS3's, and DS 5 and I would each hold our own) and then the CM who took the Fastpasses would usually tell us, "Please let both of the kids hold their own Fastpasses next time." Not that I minded this always smilingly given request, but it just struck me as odd since on every other ride we'd hold the kids' Fastpasses for them and no one ever said anything.

Any ideas why Soarin' might require little kids to hold their own Fastpasses?

 

[Traveliz]

Hmm no idea but I am with you - there is no way I would be giving little ones their own fastpasses to hold!

Liz

 

[disneymama73]

That's interesting! We have just started trusting our 6-yr-old with her own Fastpass, but it still makes me nervous. LOL! We've never been asked to have the kids hold their own pass. There's no way I'd want my 4-yr-old holding hers!

 

[VSL]

I'd be interested to see if anyone knows the reason for this too.

 

[bdcp]

Well, believe it or not, some people who don't have children, think they're just little adults. LOL. I wouldn't trust any kids at that age to not lose it. They're always dropping or putting something down somewhere and hours can go by without them even noticing. My bet is the CM knows next to nothing about children.

 

[NCombs]

That is interesting because I have read on another board that the CM's at Soarin are very strict about every detail and really seem to want to keep everything very tightly controlled. I'm not implying that is a bad thing. I just think it is interesting in context with your comments.

 

[TSR6]

The CM's on Soarin' are very strict over the FastPass Policy ( more so than any other ride on WDW property ) because of the popularity of the ride. They have so many people going through the ride that they need to be sure that each person truly does have a FastPass. When large groups come through, often times the group leader will hold anywhere between 10 and 80 fastpasses, and say "these are for all of us."

So it's more so just to have some consistancy with policy, and to make sure they don't miss someone.

 

[seashoreCM]

If you feel your child is not mature enough to hold his own park pass, you should feel free to hold his fast pass also. Hand out the fast passes when you get to the monitor.

The last thin you need is for your child to drop the fast pass and then you get tot he fast pass monitor. Now what?

Don't obey that rule.

(Outside you could give your child an invalid fast pass coupon you picked up off the ground if he wants something of his own to hold)

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[TSR6]

If you feel your child is not mature enough to hold his own park pass, you should feel free to hold his fast pass also.

The last thin you need is for your child to drop the fast pass and then you get tot he fast pass monitor. Now what?

Don't obey that rule.

Disney hints:

Hand your child the fastpass when you get to the ride.

Obey the rules, make the line move smoother, and get on the ride faster. The CM's do stop the line until each person is holding their fastpass.

 

[goodferry]

I thought that the CMs working on Soarin and in the general area were very difficult. I never saw so many unhappy, not smiling, unhelpful and difficult CMs anywhere in Disney, not sure what the reason is, but it definitely stood out.

 

[DadOf2Princesses]

Just back from a great week at WDW. We rode Soarin' several times with our small kids (5 and 3), usually using Fastpass. What an incredible ride!

Not to change the topic a bit but - how tall is your 3 yr old?
Mine didn't make it on Soarin. After I rode it with my DD6 I didn't think it was anything that she couldn't do (perhaps the seatbelt would be an issue?) Heck DD3 went on Goofy's Rollercoaster and wanted to go on and on and on.

This turned out to be a great find - we had originally gotten FP for her but when we returned we realized she was too small. They didn't take her FP, instead they gave us 1 pass good for 3 people that works like a FP. So DD6 got to ride it 3 times in a row!

 

[TSR6]

I thought that the CMs working on Soarin and in the general area were very difficult. I never saw so many unhappy, not smiling, unhelpful and difficult CMs anywhere in Disney, not sure what the reason is, but it definitely stood out.

goodferry - It's probably not that they weren't happy. Most of them like working there.

It's just that Soarin' has such a high volume of guest flow, and has the longest wait time of just about anywhere in any of the parks. This actually makes a lot of guests angry that Soarin' almost always has a wait time, and/or has run out of FastPasses half way through the day.

When one in ten guests comes up and asks if the wait time is truly that long, why fastpasses are out, that the person is privelidged for "X" reason and shouldn't have to wait, "can you just let me slide without a fastpass," or "but I leave for the airport in an hour, you MUST let me on" - it becomes a hard job. They hear it all! Just stand next to the FastPass checker for about 10 minutes.

 

[irish dancer]

This must be relatively new. When we were there in August our kids did not hold their own fastpasses. We did have trouble though with them measuring our DD4. We were on our second time through the ride for the day and they told us she was too short. Now she had ridden it that morning, about 1/2 hr before was on Test Track and the day before rode Splash without barely a second look. I admit she was right at 40in so it was close but they seemed to be especially picky. When they weren't going to let her ride they "called someone down", he hemmed and hawed but finally said it was OK only to be pulled again just before loading. I said not again! Thank goodness by next Dec when we go again we won't have to worry about that whole height issue.

 

[wdwlver]

We were on Soarin the first week of October and my son DID NOT hold his fastpass.....and he's seven!!!

 

[Philly81]

The CM's on Soarin' are very strict over the FastPass Policy ( more so than any other ride on WDW property ) because of the popularity of the ride. They have so many people going through the ride that they need to be sure that each person truly does have a FastPass. When large groups come through, often times the group leader will hold anywhere between 10 and 80 fastpasses, and say "these are for all of us."

So it's more so just to have some consistancy with policy, and to make sure they don't miss someone.

Bingo! I believe you are right. We were in line at Space Mt. last summer in the fast pass line and there was a large group ahead of us. I clearly heard "Mom" say "But we don't have fast passes for ..... and ..... Her dh (or I assume that's who he was) said not to worry he would get them in. He handed the young man several fast passes and the whole group hurried through. I KNOW the poor kid didn't have time to count the people vs. the fast passes he was given. BTW, my dh always holds all our fast passes (even mine) since he knows we might lose them along the way.

 

[chip1]

Off topic, I know but we are leaving in a few days for Disney and this will be our first time on Soarin. Because we are planning on going on an early entry day, I'd like to know the location so we can run and get our fast passes. I am picturing it to be near Fast Track. Is this the right area? Thanks!

 

[VSL]

I believe, looking at the map, that Test Track and Mission: Space are on the left and Soarin' is on the right. (I think, anyway!)

 

[kmkja1]

Soarin is inside "The Land". It is on the lower level on the left hand side if as you go in.

 

[Wendy1953]

It is inside the Land Pavillion, downstairs. Have a great time!

 

[OntFamily]

Echoing the response of an other responder, when we were on Soaring 2.5 weeks ago, I held the FastPasses for all three of us. No issue.