Why Fast Pass TSM?

[Uno Mas]

I was at DHS Monday at rope drop and followed the CMs to TSM as usual. When we got there, I was nearly trampled to death by people trying to cut across to run to the Fastpass line. I don't get it! I was the second person on the ride, was out by 9:10, and then got a Fastpass. Waited maybe five minutes for it? The line looks long but it really took no time at all. But by then the standby line was already packed. My fastpass was for an hour later. I've done this on every trip to DHS and I've never waited long for a fastpass. I'm just wondering why you would jump to get a fastpass and then wait in a much longer line to ride standby.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

We don't want everyone to know!!! LOL

 

[Uno Mas]

Darn! Good point!!!

 

[bdiddy]

Well, for us it is one of our favorite rides and we try to ride it 3 times. We get a FP then get in stand-by line....ride it, get off, go see a show - by that time the FP time has usually past so we can get another FP. So, now we have two FP to ride later times in the day for a total of 3x.

 

[realityland]

Option #1 - Stampede in an all-out free-for-all to the FASTPASS line

Option #2 - Use brain. Ride attraction. Get FASTPASS. Ride again.

 

[marie1203]

The same thing happen to us. We were the that morning 10 min after rope drop we saw the fastpass line was really long and the waiting time to ride TSM was 10 min. I still don't get it but I think most people go without a plan and when they see everyone rushing they just follow.

 

[seals]

Was heading over to the standby line to ride TofT and then Aerosmith, which I don't ride. I took all th tickets to get FP for TSM so we could all ride it together later. That's why I was there. But I would have been walking calmly, not trying to trample you.

 

[Swank]

You are not taking into account people at rope drop who want to spare their family the madness and go alone to get fast passes for later in the day. That is what I did. If I think my young ones would not freak out then I would do as you suggested.

 

[perfectparanoia]

I have never been with children (just me and hubby and maybe some adult friends) so our rule is to always have a fastpass. Our MGM mornings look something like:

Get a FP for TSM
Ride TSM
Ride ToT
Get FP for ToT
Ride TSM
Get FP for RnRC
Ride ToT
Ride RnRC

...repeat

We slide in MuppetVision and the Great Movie Ride in longer FP wait.

Usually we can ride all three at least twice with once on the other two attractions and finish around 12:30 (1 if we needed to eat lunch, too.)

So, why get the FP first? That way it is the earliest possible (and they go fast for TSM) and we can get our next one sooner!

 

[fairestoneofall]

We always divide and conquer. One of us takes the kids through stand-by and one of us grabs FPs for later.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Getting FPs before riding keeps you FP window from being bumped later. BUT after having been caught up in the TSMM stampede on our last trip, I have sworn off getting in that madness any more. I'll be riding first next time as well. The later FP window may cost me some convenience throughout the rest of the day, but that's a trade I'll make until the daily stampede calms down.

 

[ppan77]

We do it bc we have small kids and are not sure about our afternoon plans/nap schedule. Our ds loves Toy Story so we want to be guaranteed another ride before lunch!! But knowing your secret now helps to know its not the end of the world if we get one after!

 

[MerryFlora]

We've only been to HS once and the FP's were gone by 10am and the line was 90 mins all day, SO we did not get in. Next time, we will go at rope drop. My question is, does it have a good queue? Do you miss it on FP?

Like, Everest, we only did FP and felt we missed some interesting stuff in the queue areas. Does this make sense?

 

[kayla87]

My question is, does it have a good queue? Do you miss it on FP?

Yes, I think it's worth going through the stand-by line at least once. There is a lot to look at. I've actually never been through the stand-by line at EE, but I wish I had.

A few weeks or months ago someone posted a poll asking whether people did FP first or rode stand-by first on TSM. I was stunned by the amount of people who FP first. The FP line gets very long very quickly.

Last Jan we rode stand-by at rope drop, but there were enough people in front of us that we probably had a 15 or 20 minute wait.

Two weeks ago my husband and I woke up late, so we didn't get to DHS until 40 minutes after opening. Fastpasses were already to 1:15. We didn't want to be in the park that long, but we did for our FPs.

When we returned for our fastpasses at 1:15 there were still FPs available for 7:00-ish. (This was a Fantasmic night, by the way)

So what am I trying to say? Depending on how you want your day to go, there are advantages and disadvantages to both strategies. Personally, I think my time is better spent in the stand-by line than in the FP line first thing in the morning.

 

[Rose&Crown]

You are not taking into account people at rope drop who want to spare their family the madness and go alone to get fast passes for later in the day. That is what I did. If I think my young ones would not freak out then I would do as you suggested.

I can see that, but why don't you at least ride. Before TSM, we would go for RnR and I wouls see someone getting the passes and think the ride is like a minute long (five with the film), go ride, family will never know.

 

[Racknack]

It seems to me like the standby line for any attraction that has fastpasses is going to be faster in the standby line early in the morning because the fastpass line is empty early on.

Given that fact, it also seems to me that if one wants to ride twice, it would be smarter to jump onto the standby line as fast as possible, and then, after riding the fiirst time, get a fastpass.

But then, what do I know?

One could, I suppose, argue that by getting a fastpass early on, the time for getting another fastpass would roll around a bit earlier, but I doubt that there would be that much of a difference.

But then ....

Karnak

 

[iluvhawaii]

We do TSM standby and then get FP on the way out to RnR and ToT. Every time we've gone to HS at rope drop (albeit not at the very front of the line), we've had the intention of getting FP for TSM first, but the FP line has always been HORRENDOUS. So we've happily gone to standby, waited for 15 minutes or so, and then gotten a FP on the way out (usually to return around noon). Works for us. On one lucky day, we were able to watch our FP return times carefully and ride TSM 4 times in one day!

 

[jamstew]

If I'm traveling solo, I'll sometimes ride first, depending on how long the FP line is. As others have said, I like to try and ride it three times, so I want the earliest return time possible. I also want to be able to get a FP for ToT sooner in case it's necessary.

If I'm traveling with kids & grandkids, though, I'll go ahead and get the FP for everyone while they're making their way to the ride. By the time they get there, I usually have the FP in hand. I think on our last trip, the stand-by was 15-20 minutes when my family got to the ride. As a pp said, the queue is well worth spending some time in line to see, and this was the first trip for my DGC and first time on TSM for my kids, who hadn't been since 2005.

 

[MaxsDad]

Not really an answer to the question, but I have to share this story.

The last time we went in Sep. we got FP first, we weren't in a hurry so we figured this way we would get some and wait in line, so no big deal. While we were waiting in line there was an individual in front of us getting fast passes for his whole group, like 10 people or something.

One of his friends came over and started yelling at him to hurry up because the standby line was getting longer. We just laughed because there was still about three people in front of this guy so there was really nothing he could do to speed it up.

I think Disney really did pick an appropriate name for this ride Toy Story MANIA

 

[Fairiebee]

I was at DHS Monday at rope drop and followed the CMs to TSM as usual. When we got there, I was nearly trampled to death by people trying to cut across to run to the Fastpass line. I don't get it! I was the second person on the ride, was out by 9:10, and then got a Fastpass. Waited maybe five minutes for it? The line looks long but it really took no time at all. But by then the standby line was already packed. My fastpass was for an hour later. I've done this on every trip to DHS and I've never waited long for a fastpass. I'm just wondering why you would jump to get a fastpass and then wait in a much longer line to ride standby.

You know you mkae a very good point! I think I'll keep this little observation in mind and take the kids for a leisurely ride first ad then get a FP for later and move on to something else.