Using Someone Else's FastPass

[Plip]

I'll be at Disneyland later this year with my wife, our daughter (9), and one of her friends. We'll have 5-day Park Hoppers with MaxPass. So I'll have all four of our tickets scanned into my phone in order to manage our FastPasses.

It wouldn't surprise me if my wife and the girls go back to the hotel for a couple hours in the afternoon. But I'll probably stay in the park to check out some things that don't appeal to the rest of them.

It occurred to me that with all four tickets on my phone, and all of us signed into the park that day, I could get four FastPasses to anything I wanted to ride and then ride it back-to-back-to-back-to-back. Or I could split those FastPasses over several attractions and go from one directly to another.

Of course, this would hinge on FastPasses being available during that window of time while the others were gone. And a potential downside would be not having FastPasses ready to go when they did return.

Obviously, I'm not the first one who's thought of this. So I have a couple of questions:

1. Would Disney recognize that I was scanning someone else's ticket in the FastPass line, and would they care?

2. Even if Disney didn't know/care, would you consider this unethical or unfair to other guests?

 

[lalasmama]

1- Disney wouldn't notice... Cast Members will, but they can't really do anything about it.

2-PERSONALLY, yes, I feel like it's unfair for another guest to do this... One ticket = one fast pass, so it seems unfair that a oerson would be using 4 tickets for FPs. No, it doesn't affect my ticket at all, nor my group. But it *feels* like cheating the lines to me... Kind of like sending Granny into a line and having 4 people meet up with Granny at the front of the line. Not the same exactly, but it's the best comparison I can give.

 

[SteveH]

I don't know Disney's approval of this, but my wife and I took a ride break in Disneyland and our son used some of our fast passes to go on Star Tours a few time trying to get on the different variations. In reality is was so slow that day it really didn't matter much. But as lalasmama said it's technically cheating.

 

[CateinPhoenix]

My DH or DS will use mine occasionally as I have back issues and can't ride some attractions.

 

[Plip]

Thanks, lalasmama. I appreciate your perspective. I don't want to "game the system" in any unfair way.

And thanks, SteveH. I appreciate you response, too.

A few years ago, when FastPasses were all still paper, there were a couple of times when two people in our group of four wanted to ride something that the other two weren't interested. So we got four FastPasses, and the two rode it twice. And it never occurred to me then that there was anything wrong with it. It never dawned on me (then) that it mattered who used the the FastPass once we got it out of the machine.

But when I thought about doing this, it just didn't feel quite right. I did seem like it was cheating somehow. And yet, I'm not sure how it's any different at all from what we did before. That's why I asked.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

1. No, they don’t see a picture. Not even CMs would be aware.

2. I don’t see an issue with this - and I’m very much a “rule follower” personality to the point that I never used FPs outside of their windows even when the windows weren’t enforced back in the day.

Traditionally, FPs haven’t assigned to any particular person - until two years ago, they were paper slips that you could pass around. We used to love “gifting” our unused FPs to other guests. On my daughter’s fourth birthday, we only rode Space Mountain because some people gave us their FPs. Was that “cheating”? I’ve never seen it referenced as such. A FP is a FP. Using a FP is not cheating or gaming the system.

I have Maxpass on my AP, but I’m currently unable to ride big rides for medical reasons. On Friday, I booked a FP for myself and my daughter, but sent a friend to use mine (my daughter is six and can’t ride unaccompanied). I really don’t see how that hurts anybody.

 

[Plip]

My DH or DS will use mine occasionally as I have back issues and can't ride some attractions.

It's funny, because that doesn't seem wrong to me. Any yet, what I suggested is technically the same thing, but it doesn't seem quite right.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

2. I don’t see an issue with this - and I’m very much a “rule follower” personality to the point that I never used FPs outside of their windows even when the windows weren’t enforced back in the day.

Traditionally, FPs haven’t assigned to any particular person - until two years ago, they were paper slips that you could pass around. We used to love “gifting” our unused FPs to other guests. On my daughter’s fourth birthday, we only rode Space Mountain because some people gave us their FPs. Was that “cheating”? I’ve never seen it referenced as such. A FP is a FP. Using a FP is not cheating or gaming the system.

This is how I feel about it. It wouldn't bother me if you did this. People didn't seem to have an issue with it when FPs were in paper, so I don't really see it as any worse just because it's digital now. Sometimes when I was younger my mom and sister would go back to the hotel while I stayed in the parks with my dad, and before they left for the hotel we'd often use their tickets to pull FPs that my dad and I could use later.

 

[Malcon10t]

Quite frankly, Disneyland doesn't care. And I don't feel it is wrong. We frequently will come to the park, and the adults hang out, while the kids ride. They usually use our MaxPasses. In my opinion, we've all paid for MaxPass, so if we pull a FP time and I use it, or I let my Granddaughter use it for a 2nd ride is up to me.

1- Disney wouldn't notice... Cast Members will, but they can't really do anything about it.

Cast Members will not notice, all they want is to see the green light light up.

2-PERSONALLY, yes, I feel like it's unfair for another guest to do this... One ticket = one fast pass, so it seems unfair that a oerson would be using 4 tickets for FPs. No, it doesn't affect my ticket at all, nor my group. But it *feels* like cheating the lines to me... Kind of like sending Granny into a line and having 4 people meet up with Granny at the front of the line. Not the same exactly, but it's the best comparison I can give.

Totally different. I have paid for Max Pass. It is MY 1 ticket. My granddaughter has 1 ticket (with MaxPass). We are each allowed to book a FP. If I opt to allow my granddaughter to ride in my place, that is my option.

 

[midnight star]

I don’t see a problem with it, and I’m also a rule follower. I’m an only child, so when I was a kid and teen taking Disney trips with my parents, they didn’t always want to do the thrill rides. My parents would let me use their tickets for fastpasses. Made it easier to be alone since I didn’t have anyone to be in line with most of the time, and didn’t have to be in lines for hours alone.

 

[Pamela M]

The other thing to consider is to look into single rider lines. sometimes the single rider line can be faster than Maxpass.
No matter what people say on this forum no one will know when your inline if you are using yours or someone else's fastpass so go for it!

I'm personally more bothered by the people that hold the place for their group and then their group tries pushing there way to the front to meet up with them.

 

[DLgal]

I don't think this is actually a rule that Disneyland has. I'd do it. The CMs have no way of knowing. The only time they see a picture is when DAS holders scan in. A photo pops up on their handheld device and they have to click something on there to turn the light from blue to green. Regular FP only indicate the green light. It is only when the light turns blue that a CM gets a popup on their iPhone that then shows what FP the person has. This is how they know the person is too early, too late, or at the wrong attraction.

 

[JohnR5101]

I see nothing wrong with using the passes that you PAID for in this manner. In other words, you paid for 4 passes for your family. If they were all in the park all day then they would be getting fastpasses all day. Since you paid the price and they are not using it for a couple hours there is no harm done if one person uses all 4.
It would be similar to one person buying 2 park tickets for themselves and using it to get multiple fast passes. Of course, I don't know anyone who would pay that price just to get additional fastpasses, but how could you deny them the right to do that. Of course it may be a challenge to activate both tickets when you enter the park. They would probably not let you do that. Or, maybe it would look like identical twins???

Anyway, bottom line I don't feel that its gaming the system in any way.

 

[WonkaKid]

I'm personally more bothered by the people that hold the place for their group and then their group tries pushing there way to the front to meet up with them.

I agree. What if everyone did that? 100 parties of four simply sent a lone representative of their group to get in line for Peter Pan while the rest go and eat. Then as their rep gets close to the front of the line, those 400 extra people rush in. I've never seen anything like this happen (or even come close, of course). But I think the idea is that other parties of multiple guests waited in line and it doesn't feel right that others ate, relaxed or rode a different attraction instead of standing in the hot sun.

The main rule I hate to see violated is running -- at rope drop especially. That, to me, is a form of cutting. When I was at the rope moments after the park opened and then someone who just arrived runs ahead of me to snatch first place for Peter Pan, that's not cool. Especially -- especially -- when their party of five then joins them at the front of the line. It's like they all ran. Lately there seems to be less running but it still happens. Also, there's the issue of safety, of course. CMs have told me that they see guests fall when they run at rope drop regularly. You hurt yourself because you ran and tumbled? OK. But what if other guests then trip over you? Or if when you jump up, you slam into someone and topple them? Not cool.

Every once in a while I'll see a guest at a full-on, top-speed sprint. That last time I saw that happen at rope drop (about ten weeks ago) was with a guest who was in his mid 20s -- not a child -- but I also see parents do it on occasion. A security CM stepped in front of the guest, held out his hand in a "stop" motion and called for the guest to "Walk, please!" The guest simply ran around him and into the line for Peter Pan. As you can imagine, the security CM didn't like that one bit. Neither did I or any other of the guests. So he pulled the runner out of the line (yea!) and scanned his pass. I believe that a note went into the guest's "Magic File," which, I'm told by a well-placed CM, is where notes about problematic "Treasured Guests" are kept. Some guests have pages of them.

 

[lcp9]

Yes, we were there with my 3 kids plus my parents and brother. My parents and brother left early in the day, which gave us 3 extra fast passes. This allowed my husband to take the oldest two, and then I could take the oldest two, without dealing with rider switch. I think I actually paid for their maxpass that day, so I paid for maxpass for 8 people. To me that means I'm entitled to 8 spots at any given time, regardless of who is actually using them. To use rider switch, they scan passes and add a fastpass to be used later. Every single CM said "I just need 3 passes to add the FP to; it doesn't matter which ones. Just remember which have the FP." To me that says, they don't care. You paid, you use them.

 

[dieumeye]

I'm also from the days of the paper FPs that you could easily swap, trade, and give away to others. People used to hide them around the park and post their location... "two Space Mtn FPs behind the sign in Frontier land"... stuff like that. And a lot of times you'd leave the park with a FP for later in the day, so you end up giving them away to someone on the way out. In those days, it wouldn't even cross my mind that using a FP from someone else would somehow be considered cheating.

On a visit earlier in the year I had 10 tickets all with MaxPass, and by the evening, everyone but me and one other person had left the park, and I felt kind of weird booking so many FPs so easily from the app for just two of us. In that case, using "someone else's" FP did feel a little like cheating to me, but maybe it shouldn't have. I guess, really, there's no difference except the FPs now seem more linked to you personally - especially on the app since it has your name attached - and since you pay money for MaxPass.

I suppose that as long as it's not a violation of terms that'll lead to getting put on some list one day, there's no reason to worry about using "someone else's" FP.

 

[Water Man]

1- Disney wouldn't notice... Cast Members will, but they can't really do anything about it.

2-PERSONALLY, yes, I feel like it's unfair for another guest to do this... One ticket = one fast pass, so it seems unfair that a oerson would be using 4 tickets for FPs. No, it doesn't affect my ticket at all, nor my group. But it *feels* like cheating the lines to me... Kind of like sending Granny into a line and having 4 people meet up with Granny at the front of the line. Not the same exactly, but it's the best comparison I can give.

A fast pass is a fast pass, what difference if it is you using four or four different people using it. All comes out in the wash. Use the system to your benefit and enjoy your time in the park!!!

 

[Pamela M]

I'm also from the days of the paper FPs that you could easily swap, trade, and give away to others. People used to hide them around the park and post their location... "two Space Mtn FPs behind the sign in Frontier land"... stuff like that. And a lot of times you'd leave the park with a FP for later in the day, so you end up giving them away to someone on the way out. In those days, it wouldn't even cross my mind that using a FP from someone else would somehow be considered cheating.

On a visit earlier in the year I had 10 tickets all with MaxPass, and by the evening, everyone but me and one other person had left the park, and I felt kind of weird booking so many FPs so easily from the app for just two of us. In that case, using "someone else's" FP did feel a little like cheating to me, but maybe it shouldn't have. I guess, really, there's no difference except the FPs now seem more linked to you personally - especially on the app since it has your name attached - and since you pay money for MaxPass.

I suppose that as long as it's not a violation of terms that'll lead to getting put on some list one day, there's no reason to worry about using "someone else's" FP.

I miss those days when you could make a vistors day by giving them your fastpass.

 

[Plip]

Thanks so much for all the responses! It sounds like the consensus is that it's not a problem.

I like the idea of maximizing our time at Disneyland. I just want to be able to do it with a clear conscience (and without worrying I'm going to end up in the Magic File).

 

[wowsmom]

I miss those days when you could make a vistors day by giving them your fastpass.

It was always great, whether you were giving or receiving!