Time to bring back fast passes!!!

[Pats Dragon]

There are blogs stating that Disney will make fast passes a separate cost. Right now, there are pictures of crowds and long lines and with no fast passes and limited attractions it makes for a not so great day. Yes, people will still come. Just like turning a huge cruise ship it will take loyal followers some time to see that the old Disney isn't coming back and there are better vacations elsewhere. When that happens, Disney will still be solvent and make money but something special will have vanished. Its a shame.

 

[Meglen]

Due to the 6 ft distance per party it has everyone so spread out, lines look so long. They need to open more shows and restaurants to eat some of the crowed. Also I don't think fast passes will help. The standard line would just take longer thus look more crowded and not move.

Don't get me wrong I love fast passes. We only road rides with fast passes and planned it out everyday than used it as a game to get more after our 3rd. But I don't think it would help right now .

 

[subtchr]

I’m always amazed that people think that bringing back fastpasses will solve the problem of long lines. In reality, it will make it worse.

Having a fastpass line always lengthens the standby queue. So yes, you would shorten your wait for attractions you have a FP for, but lengthen it for any you don’t.

And right now, there are many attractions where the modifications that have been made to allow for social distancing would preclude using the current FP queue for significant numbers of guests (they are already used for DAS, rider swap, Club 33, guest recovery passes, etc., but that is a relatively small number of guests).

People do realize that there was a time when there were no FP, right? And the “magic” was still there?

My guess is that FP will return, when pandemic protocols are eased. I do think it will be modified, and likely include a paid element, similar to DL MaxPass (which I love). There may also be benefits to staying in an eligible resort beyond the previous longer booking window.

It’s all speculation at this point. I have visited twice since reopening and have another trip planned for June. And yes, I will be back in the years to come. We also do other types of vacations, and enjoy them all. Every family needs to decide how best to use their time and money!

 

[FCDub]

Ok.

 

[Leigh L]

Fast pass would not work right now with social distancing. And I'd guess there would likely be a lot of ticked-off people since capacity would only allow a small percentage of people who would get FPs. Everyone else would be standing in really long lines that wouldn't move constantly like they do now.

Even with the recent crowd uptick, most of the lines still move far more quickly than it looks. You can still get through a park in one day. We've visited several times since August and have still done everything we've wanted. Last week was the most crowded we've seen it though. I agree with @Meglen, it's time for Disney to open more things. Like attractions, shows, snack carts, and restaurants. Also, I think some rides they aren't always running at full capacity, but that's just a guess/observation. If that's happening, maybe that should change too.

Honestly though, I'm kind of liking the impulsivity of a park day and not knowing what we're doing until we're doing it.

 

[holden]

FP changes probably would have come eventually whether we had this pandemic or not.

 

[winterwhite]

1. I'd be fine with paid fastpasses IF they operate like the virtual queue at ROTR, where everyone gets a shot on the same day they want to use it. Nothing booked in advance.
2. I'd be more fine with Fastpass never coming back because it makes regular lines impossibly long. I don't appreciate having to battle it out for ride times two months out from my vacation or never being able to ride. So either same day, everyone has a fair chance, like they did with the old fastpasses where you had to actually show up at the ride to get a return time, or no fastpasses at all and everyone waits with their group.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I’m amused that people dislike fastpasses because they “lengthen the standby lines”. Why are you getting in a long standby line. Pre-pandemic we had not gotten into a standby line of over 20 minutes in years. Learn how to use the system. We easily get 8+ Fastpasses in a day and routinely can get FoP, SDD, Seven Dwarfs, Frozen, and other e-rides on the day of. I just shake my head at the people in a 2 hour long stand by line. It just makes no sense with the Fastpass system, although I do feel some pleasure in knowing I don’t have to get in those lines because so many don’t know how to effectively use FP+... I know, shame on me.

 

[subtchr]

I’m amused that people dislike fastpasses because they “lengthen the standby lines”. Why are you getting in a long standby line. Pre-pandemic we had not gotten into a standby line of over 20 minutes in years. Learn how to use the system. We easily get 8+ Fastpasses in a day and routinely can get FoP, SDD, Seven Dwarfs, Frozen, and other e-rides on the day of. I just shake my head at the people in a 2 hour long stand by line. It just makes no sense with the Fastpass system, although I do feel some pleasure in knowing I don’t have to get in those lines because so many don’t know how to effectively use FP+... I know, shame on me.

We are also FP "pros", as the system was before the shutdown. All of what you wrote applied to us -- we never waited in a long standby line, because we knew how to get FP throughout the day.

But many of us realize that when it does return, the system will be modified. Whether our old tips and tricks will still be effective is very much up in the air. I do not expect things to ever be the same as they were.

And whether you would wait in them or not, it is an absolute truth that standby lines are longer when FP is offered. It's the nature of the system.

I guess we will see!

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

I’m amused that people dislike fastpasses because they “lengthen the standby lines”. Why are you getting in a long standby line. Pre-pandemic we had not gotten into a standby line of over 20 minutes in years. Learn how to use the system. We easily get 8+ Fastpasses in a day and routinely can get FoP, SDD, Seven Dwarfs, Frozen, and other e-rides on the day of. I just shake my head at the people in a 2 hour long stand by line. It just makes no sense with the Fastpass system, although I do feel some pleasure in knowing I don’t have to get in those lines because so many don’t know how to effectively use FP+... I know, shame on me.

Agreed - FP was amazing for those of us who knew how to maximize it. I'll be at WDW in 3 weeks and not looking forward to waiting in stand by (although shorter) lines. I do not expect FP to ever return in the same form. It was on it's way out before Covid, this situation just have Disney the push to eliminate it sooner. Will be very interested to see what replaces it (as I'm sure there will be a paid option in the future).

 

[Wdwfan2016]

Fasttpass isn’t returning until social distancing goes away.

 

[Leigh L]

We are also FP "pros", as the system was before the shutdown. All of what you wrote applied to us -- we never waited in a long standby line, because we knew how to get FP throughout the day.

But many of us realize that when it does return, the system will be modified. Whether our old tips and tricks will still be effective is very much up in the air. I do not expect things to ever be the same as they were.

And whether you would wait in them or not, it is an absolute truth that standby lines are longer when FP is offered. It's the nature of the system.

I guess we will see!

This!
We never waited in line either, we also knew very well how to work FP. Realistically though, this isn't coming back during the pandemic and I agree, it's highly likely not coming back even when social distancing requirements ease.

Once capacity is increased I know I won't like standby lines so much anymore, lol. Right now though, I'm liking it a lot.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I agree FP+ will change but I doubt it will be a massive change. I suspect Disney will monetize it to lessen the numbers in the fastpasses queu and therefore making standby lines move faster. I’m willing to pay as long as it is not the MaxPass system that has you running all over Disneyland with e-ride passes running out early in the afternoon.

 

[subtchr]

I agree FP+ will change but I doubt it will be a massive change. I suspect Disney will monetize it to lessen the numbers in the fastpasses queu and therefore making standby lines move faster. I’m willing to pay as long as it is not the MaxPass system that has you running all over Disneyland with e-ride passes running out early in the afternoon.

Wow, we LOVED MaxPass, because you did NOT have to run around, it was all in the app. And I had luck even on a holiday week, stacking FP with MaxPass so that I had 5-6 lined up to use in the evening. Just like at WDW, it was a learning curve to figure out how to maximize the system.

 

[Gehrig1B]

Wow, we LOVED MaxPass, because you did NOT have to run around, it was all in the app. And I had luck even on a holiday week, stacking FP with MaxPass so that I had 5-6 lined up to use in the evening. Just like at WDW, it was a learning curve to figure out how to maxim

You may be right... We generally only go once a year.

The running around was per crisscrossing the park to get from one MaxPassed ride to another, not from kiosk to kiosk.

 

[foolish-mortal]

I've never been a fan of FPs or any system where you have to have lots of inside knowledge or experience in order to maximize it. That leaves lots of people who don't eat, breathe, and live Disney out. It's like their terrible system for Rise of the Resistence right now. For those who don't spend countless hours researching, watching Youtube, reading forums....wonder how they feel when they find out they actually had a window of 5 seconds to get a boarding pass. That's a seriously broken system. I much preferred MaxPass to FastPass when I was in DL.

 

[Gehrig1B]

I've never been a fan of FPs or any system where you have to have lots of inside knowledge or experience in order to maximize it. That leaves lots of people who don't eat, breathe, and live Disney out. It's like their terrible system for Rise of the Resistence right now. For those who don't spend countless hours researching, watching Youtube, reading forums....wonder how they feel when they find out they actually had a window of 5 seconds to get a boarding pass. That's a seriously broken system. I much preferred MaxPass to FastPass when I was in DL.

I'll just have to beg to differ... To best maximize any trip you need to do some research. I am always amazed when someone in a queue asks which Disney park are the Harry Potter rides or maybe we should have purchased those FastPasses.

If I'm spending thousands of dollars on a holiday I am doing some research. Matters not if it is Disney, Hawaii, Europe, or where to park at the local museum.

If I want a carefree need-to-know-nothing vacation I would book an all-inclusive in Jamaica... (What, I need a passport?)

A 5 minute Google search will get you all you need to know about getting a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance.

 

[foolish-mortal]

I'll just have to beg to differ... To best maximize any trip you need to do some research. I am always amazed when someone in a queue asks which Disney park are the Harry Potter rides or maybe we should have purchased those FastPasses.

If I'm spending thousands of dollars on a holiday I am doing some research. Matters not if it is Disney, Hawaii, Europe, or where to park at the local museum.

If I want a carefree need-to-know-nothing vacation I would book an all-inclusive in Jamaica... (What, I need a passport?)

A 5 minute Google search will get you all you need to know about getting a boarding pass for Rise of the Resistance.

I understand what you're saying but think about how much time people on the Dis spend on their trips. Most casual guests aren't going to do that or realize that they need to. And, how would someone know to even google how to get a RoR boarding pass? Many of them are going to do their "research" on the WDW website. All that it tells you is the mechanics of it. What system to use, whether or not you need to be in the parks. How would someone know that there's so much more to it than that? They may know what buttons to push...but not that they literally have a 5-second window of securing it and how cut-throat and insane the actual process is.

 

[JakeAZ]

People do realize that there was a time when there were no FP, right? And the “magic” was still there?

While, yes, this is true, there was a huge difference in daily attendance then too.

 

[slpybeartx]

We did DW last August for the first time with No FP's. We were thinking it would be a big problem. It wasn't. Avg wait times were shorter across the board. Significantly. So we still rode all we wanted to and waited less time that day. I think each day we had hours at the end where we could go back and ride again things we loved.

They will come back, but it's not a bother to us that they are gone for now.