Seems like new fastpass rides aren't a good thing

[gottalovepluto]

That's crazy for those rides for this time of year! If you're in the parks you can file a complaint at city hall. I'm sure they're watching all of that closely now. What a way to push MaxPass though: Pay up or we'll make every ride like RSR!

 

[HydroGuy]

Adding FP to a ride ALWAYS increases the standby wait time. It has to. It's inevitable.

Let's say that TSMM averaged 40-45 minutes before. Everyone who rode it (mid-day at least) waited roughly that long. Now, no one waits in the 40 minute range. You either prioritize it as a FP and wait for 10 minutes, or you wait 75-90 minutes. FP creates extremes. It's just what happens.

I don't really mind for TSMM because DCA doesn't have *that* many FP rides and it was a disproportionate line to the rest of the park... but when they start adding Pirates and Jungle Cruise and things like that, I'm going to be annoyed...

I have not found this to be universally true and the part that is true is not nearly as extreme as you indicate. In my experience.

Touring Plans has done studies at WDW on how adding FP to most all of the attractions (for FP+) has affected wait times. They concluded it was minimal. On average.

FastPass+ is having a minimal effect – so far – on lines at Walt Disney World. That’s according to our initial analysis of 330,000 standby wait times collected at Walt Disney World since FastPass+ went into effect in January. We compared those to 3.9 million standby wait times collected across Walt Disney World since 2009.

This is good news to families concerned that they’ll wait in line longer because of FastPass+’s various restrictions, and even better news to those who hoped standby lines would be shorter because of better guest distribution throughout the parks.

For more info see http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/02/19/fastpass-affecting-your-wait-in-line-disney-world

 

[Spintopbeach]

When wdw introduced fp+ lines at poc and hm went from 10-20 minute wait to 35-60 regularly. That is why I am going to Disneyland. I hate fp+ and am hoping Disneyland doesn't do that.

 

[DLgal]

True, but remember that DCA is down a headliner. Once GotG is open and sucking people in to that line (and using up FPs), I bet TSMM will stabilize.

ToT has been down for six months. TSMM has had consistent 45-55 min waits even with the loss of a headliner. The waits have been slightly longer, on average, since the crowds have swelled due to the So Cal promo ticket offer started. But lines have hardly ever gotten past the 60 min mark.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

ToT has been down for six months. TSMM has had consistent 45-55 min waits even with the loss of a headliner. The waits have been slightly longer, on average, since the crowds have swelled due to the So Cal promo ticket offer started. But lines have hardly ever gotten past the 60 min mark.

TSMM wait time has been over 60 a lot of times when I've looked

 

[goooof1]

DEFINITELY NOT A GOOD THING!!!!!!

 

[Congo Queen]

I may not bother with TSMM anymore. It's a great ride, but not worth that time and effort. Matterhorn though...does anyone know if Single Rider is still available?

Matterhorn was still closed when I visited last weekend, but I've been reading threads on various sites since it opened this week and people are reporting single rider is still available.

I used FP for TSMM last weekend and it was great. It gives you the option of not having to do TSMM at rope drop. Only sad thing was that the ride itself is in serious need of a refurb. The resolution on the gaming screens is seriously muddy now.

 

[danceanddisney2010]

Those wait times I never felt like the Matterhorn needed a fast pass as the line always seemed to move pretty quickly (at least to me) even when it looked rather long.

 

[HydroGuy]

When wdw introduced fp+ lines at poc and hm went from 10-20 minute wait to 35-60 regularly. That is why I am going to Disneyland. I hate fp+ and am hoping Disneyland doesn't do that.

I don't want to be argumentative as you have your own experience. Mine has been different at WDW. I went to WDW before and after FP+ and I have not seen a big a difference on POTC and HM. There may be a small difference but I have not seen it as big as you have.

The link I posted to TouringPlans had a statistical analysis they did based on 3 million data points. And they said FP+ by itself did not make a big difference in wait times on average. Remember that WDW has seen growing attendance so not all increases in wait times can be blamed on FP+. TP just posted a new study here http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/04/26/long-term-wait-time-trends-walt-disney-world/ where they said that the increased wait times seen receently appear to be caused by WDW staffing - not FP+.

In any case, it sounds like DLR is the right place for you!

 

[msteddom]

As a local, I am happy about the new rides added to FP. It takes some of the load off the existing FP attractions, making FPs slightly easier to get. I also absolutely detest the Toy Story standby line, so I am glad FP is now an option.

 

[Blue32]

When wdw introduced fp+ lines at poc and hm went from 10-20 minute wait to 35-60 regularly. That is why I am going to Disneyland. I hate fp+ and am hoping Disneyland doesn't do that.

Well....I believe there is a rumor DL may add FP to Pirates anyway. So there is that...

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't want to be argumentative as you have your own experience. Mine has been different at WDW. I went to WDW before and after FP+ and I have not seen a big a difference on POTC and HM. There may be a small difference but I have not seen it as big as you have.

The link I posted to TouringPlans had a statistical analysis they did based on 3 million data points. And they said FP+ by itself did not make a big difference in wait times on average. Remember that WDW has seen growing attendance so not all increases in wait times can be blamed on FP+. TP just posted a new study here http://blog.touringplans.com/2017/04/26/long-term-wait-time-trends-walt-disney-world/ where they said that the increased wait times seen receently appear to be caused by WDW staffing - not FP+.

In any case, it sounds like DLR is the right place for you!

That analysis can address the change in standby wait times for a given ride. For me though, the big change at WDW is how many more rides I have to access by standby now instead of by FP because of tiering, no rerides on initial selection and less availability.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

When wdw introduced fp+ lines at poc and hm went from 10-20 minute wait to 35-60 regularly. That is why I am going to Disneyland. I hate fp+ and am hoping Disneyland doesn't do that.

HM is a walk on every single time I go. I went on 4/13/17 and MK was nearly as busy as NYE and still a walk on.
Not sure why the FP+ debate must carry on on this thread anyways since we are talking about DL.

 

[mom2rtk]

HM is a walk on every single time I go. I went on 4/13/17 and MK was nearly as busy as NYE and still a walk on.
Not sure why the FP+ debate must carry on on this thread anyways since we are talking about DL.

Because people are concerned whether the big change coming in DL's FP system will have a similar effect?

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

Wait time for Matterhorn is currently over 2 hours

 

[HydroGuy]

That analysis can address the change in standby wait times for a given ride. For me though, the big change at WDW is how many more rides I have to access by standby now instead of by FP because of tiering, no rerides on initial selection and less availability.

Yes tiering does have an impact no doubt. I tend to ride 1-2 less headliners a day at WDW as a result. And that is a bummer compared to the good old days. But that was getting harder to do anyways once they closed the legacy FP late acceptance policy. The positive side (for me) now is much less walking to get all the FPs and much less stress trying to get to the parks at rope drop to start the FP collection cycle.

Also, I think you can easily guess that tiering at WDW was necessary because they just do not have the number of headliner rides that DLR has per park. MK does and so FP+ works pretty well there without tiering. But the other parks do not. That will be changing a lot over the next two years. With Pandora opening at AK with two new headliners, plus Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land at DHS, I suspect tiering will be loosened quit a bit. Epcot is the only park that will need it at that point.

Anyway, you and I have exchanged our ideas on this before so I am sure we are repeating ourselves. At least I am sure I am!

Who knows where FP is going at DLR? Disney appears to be smart enough to not try to force FP+ into DLR. So give them some credit for that. MxPass may be an experiment. Or it may be something that grows. The legacy FP system at DLR has morphed a lot over the last 15 or so years.

 

[HydroGuy]

HM is a walk on every single time I go. I went on 4/13/17 and MK was nearly as busy as NYE and still a walk on.
Not sure why the FP+ debate must carry on on this thread anyways since we are talking about DL.

I admit I was highly surprised by the long wait times at WDW when we were there for 6 days in early March. Your experience with HM does not surprise me based on what we experienced the month before you. Who knows what the real story is? TouringPlans did an in-depth study last week and concluded it was related to cutbacks in WDW staffing of rides.

I am not sure how long you stayed on that trip a few weeks ago past Apr 13, but I did read from some DIS posters that things changed dramatically for the better starting on about April 14.

 

[dleyel]

Early this afternoon the Disneyland app said the standby line for Matterhorn was 45 minutes. Waited about 25 in single rider line.

 

[Xenorye]

As for data points, no one's pointed out that it was pretty busy today. Mickey and Friends was closed for a while.

 

[alvernon90]

But that was getting harder to do anyways once they closed the legacy FP late acceptance policy.

This is exactly right. All of the other FP technology, even if you hate it, has not done as much to destroy the fun of the FP system as enforcing return times. The good old days of gathering half a dozen FPs in the morning to use during the more crowded evening hours are long gone, and the FP system has never been the same since then. All of their tinkering can't make it as good as it used to be.