Soarin' Fastpass / Standby Question

[Maverick]

Hello everyone....

We typically go to Epcot only in the evening and typically spend two evenings there every trip. One evening is spent in Future World and the other in World Showcase. We typically see Illuminations both nights.

Usually we will arrive around 4:00 PM to start our evening in Future World.

We don't have small kids, so we can do the single riders line for Mission Space and Test Track (as needed) and usually the other lines are very short by that time of the day. But.............

My biggest fear for our upcoming trip is Soarin' because everyone says the Fastpasses are gone early in the day and the standby line is 40+ minutes up to 3 hours. (3 hours?????).

Anyway..... We are planning to be at Epcot on the evenings of December 15th and 20th.

Our typical park touring day is:

1. Be at a park for opening
2. Stay until lunch or just after
3. Head to the room for rest / pool
4. Back to another park for the evening

I'm not opposed to everyone running over to Epcot before nap time to get fastpasses for Soarin' if absolutely necessary, but I'm not even convinced there will fastpasses remaining at 1:00 PM based on some of the threads I've read on here.

Can anyone give their perspective on evening standby times and the latest time of day they were able to get fastpasses for Soarin' before they ran out?

Any thoughts or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Mav

 

[ciera321]

When we were there in June, a long linr formed about 8 or 8:15 in front of the fastpass machines. They opened up the fastpasses for the EMH till they ran out, which wasn't too long. The fastpasses do go extremely fast for Soarin and I am sure that by 1pm they'd be gone for the day... By the way, I'm pretty sure that you can only get fastpasses for people that have activated their park ticket upon entering the park. You'd be able to get one, but unless everyone went into Epcot, you'd only get one fastpass. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken!!!

 

[magicaldisney]

We were there in October, normally a slower time but it seemed to be much busier this year. Fastpasses were always gone early in the day. We did it twice going through the standby line. If it said more than 60 minutes we walked away. I can tell you that when we did wait in line, it was about half of the time they said it was. I believe both times we waited it said 40 or 50 minutes and we didn't wait in line longer than 20 minutes.

Maybe they didn't have their timing down.

Here's what we observed.....if you can't see people waiting in line when you get to the entrance of the ride, definately go in, it will be a short wait. If you can see any of the line ahead, still go in. We were a little ways in from the entrance and only waited about 20 minutes. If the line is out the door...you're on your own.

I hope I made sense. Just remember if you do go and get fastpasses and luck might have it that your fastpasses will be 1 - 2 hours from then, what will you do? Go back to the resort and try to get back within an hour or so, or will you stick it out and wait for your fastpass to come up. (I have heard they are cracking down on fastpasses, they might not let you use them if the time expired)

Good Luck!!

 

[aquaticmom]

We were there a couple weeks ago fastpassed as soon as we arrived at noon, our return was for 1:45 to 2:45 Pm. As soon as we exited at 3:00 Pm we fastpassed again and our return was for 7:45 to 8:45pm. When we exited at 8:45 they were still allowing people to enter the standby line. The parks were fairly busy that day, because it was after Wilma and alot of Southern Floridians had evacuated to the area and were also enjoying the parks.
Good Luck, Enjoy Soarin' - We LOVED it!!!!

 

[Kath816]

Hi, we were there this past Friday. At park opening we dashed right to Soarin. The line was to the door of the pavillion. When we got down the stairs, we decided that we weren't waiting anymore. My sister went to the fast pass machine. Our return was for 3:45. It turns out that one theater was not working, or so we're told. Most of the family went back, but I opted for the Boardwalk pool instead!

 

[cara76]

We went a few weeks ago and didnt get to Epcot till 3 ish and got Fastpass to Soarin with a time frame from 6-7pm.

 

[KathylovesPooh]

Late October we got there on a Friday around 2ish and got a fastpass for 7:40-8:40 (standby was longer than an hour). I've been told that as long as you are in line before they close that you will be able to ride it. If you don't get the fastpass, it could be your strategy to go near the end of the day (or night - whenever closing time is). By the way, it is as cool as everyone says - a MUST see.

 

[runner26.2]

We just returned from WDW today.

Last week was rather busy with Jersey Week and wait times for Soarin were in the 50 minute range by lunch time and over 60 minutes in the evening. We went at park opening got a FP and also went then as well. FP returns for about 10:30 and we used them much later in the day.

 

[SWVA BGSU Fan]

We were there last week. On Wednesday at 10 a.m. we got FPs with a return time of 2:40. There was only one theater working at 2:40, because they were directing everyone to Concourse 2. All FPs for the day had been issued at 2:40, but they also had a sign outside the entrance saying that Soarin' would be operating until 10:00 p.m. that night. In August, we waited in the standby line, and we saw it quicker than the sign indicated.

 

[Maverick]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far!!!! Based on this I'm not sure I know WHAT to do. LOLOL I don't suppose anyone came home with 4 Soarin' fastpasses they'd like to mail to me????? I'll pay!

That's a good tip though.... Disney NEVER checks the date on fastpasses. They might look at the time, but never the date.

You could certainly let your mind wander if you were... ummmmmm... arriving several days before.... say.... ummmmmmmmm Thanksgiving (when it's not so busy) and were staying through Thanksgiving weekend (when it is busy).

Not sure if I want to open up that can of worms as there is plenty of debate to be found on these boards.... it could be another refillable mug quandary, I tell ya!

Anyway... Thanks again for the replies.

Mav

 

[buckylarue]

Not sure why nobody has mentioned it yet, but Soarin' also has a single riders line. When we were there in June we never waited more than 15-20 minutes in the single rider line, and a couple of times walked right on, and even got on the same 'glider' a few times!

 

[susan1]

hi
you can usually reckon the time in the queue will be 2/3rds of the time stated. unfortunately the single riders line for soarin is not always in use! also for some bizarre reason unless it has been altered the default time for soarin was 70mins! once you have been on it a couple of times you can judge the wait time quite accurately by where abouts in the quiz pictures you are lining

 

[safetymom]

Most times the single rider line is not used. They will pull single riders out of the regular line. Many cast members do look at the date on the fast pass so it doesn't always work.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Don't depend on the CM ignoring the date. I've seen them turn people away. IMHO, it depend on the CM and how busy the attraction is at that moment.

 

[DisneyAdamUK]

For our last day (Thursday last week, 10th) me and my gf decided to go back to Epcot to ride Soarin one last time as it was our favorite ride this trip, after going to downtown disney and dropping our luggage off at the virgin desk then getting a bus and monrail to Epcot it was just after 11, we got to Soarin and the queue said 80 mins at the fastpasses were for 5.45-6.45, we had to queue as we has to leave the park by 2.30 ish to get our bush from riverside the the airport at 3.30. So we had to queue, it didn't take as long as said, it was about an hour queue, give or take.
So it depends on what you feel is best for you, we could have just left it but we both really wanted that one last smell of the orange fields!!

 

[2boyshere]

Got home yesterday, went to Epcot Sat. Got fastpass first thing when opened and then another at 10:45 for 4pm return. By 4pm, standby wait was 110 minutes. YIKES, thank god for FP! Loved it

 

[shanealaina]

I had no idea that the fastpasses were running out! I am glad I read this post!!

 

[greg126]

UG shows TT, Mission Space, Soaring sequence for morning arrivals. Does that still hold with the kind of backups talked about here? I'm looking at an early Dec weekend, crowd level 5.

 

[safetymom]

I would hit Soarin first and ride or get a fass pass then go to the other side of the park for TT and Mission Space.

 

[Maverick]

greg126,

I think you should do Soarin' first, but it all comes down to arriving at opening. There are usually a few hundred people there for 'rope drop' and you want to be at the head of that group because they will ALL go to Soarin' as will most everyone else that comes in after them. If you are 10 or 15 minutes late, your wait time will go up exponentially. (I.E. - Your wait will be much more than 10 or 15 minutes when you are 10-15 minutes late.)

We always take advantage of the singles lines at Mission:Space and Test Track when necessary, so I would highly recommend being at the front of the cattle line right at park opening and go straight to Soarin'.

Since we do Epcot Future World in the evening, we'll have to play it by ear to see exactly when will be best to ride.

This must just be some kind of unbelievable ride!

Mav