Wwyd if your fastpasses disappeared?

[Crl1817]

I'm in the planning stages of a trip. And from reports here, it seems like most of the time the system works. But sometimes it doesn't. And it sounds like trying to fix things is hit or miss and a pita.

Obviously if our magic bands won't let us into parks, we have to get that fixed. And we have free dining so I guess we have to get them fixed if they are not working for the dining. And we have to be able to get into our room so if the two adults bands are not working for that we would have to address it.

But if our fastpasses disappear or if charging isn't working, I'm wondering if we are better off just writing it off and moving on. The amount of time it seems to be taking and the remedy or lack thereof from Disney, suggests to me that we might be better off just spending that time waiting in standby lines as a general matter. It would probably mean missing out on A & E and SDMT altogether, but it sounds like total time doing rides might come out ahead by skipping the guest relations experience.

We will be going at a very, very busy time of year. I assume that means the guest relations process would be longer, just like the stand by lines will be longer.

Anyone have any opinion or experience?

 

[jco_direwolf]

It depends 100% on the FPs I lost.

Pretty much it seems if you lose your Dumbo or even your SpaceMountain FPs there is a good chance they can look at your account and replace them for you. If they are for A&E or TSM, I'd just move on.

GS is very busy during the busy times of the year, but ironically they seem less busy due to more staffing. Last Thanksgiving I was in MK late on Turkeyday, I went into GS for something (at this point I don't remember what the question was) and it was me, one other couple, and EVERY STATION manned. The previous Aug I was there for something else, and they had a line of maybe 5 people and 2 haggard looking CMs.

The busses seem to be the same. The longest waits for a bus I've had were in the off season. Busy season the buses are almost pulling in as soon as one pulls out.

 

[Lyndarella]

I had it happen to me several times on my trip in Feb. The CMs at the blue mickey would say I had no FP set, and I would say I made them before I left home and checked them several times. They let me ride anyway, but I could tell they didn't know if they should believe me. It was very uncomfortable. I reset them 2 more times and it kept happening randomly. (Some days the FPs were there and some days not there.) Once when I complained to a FP CM he gave me a ride-anything FP. I am dreading having to use MB again on my trip this September.

 

[Aurora0427]

I swear, if this happens to us and we lose an Anna & Elsa FP, they are going to have to drag me out of MK kicking and screaming in absolute fury. Seriously.

 

[Crl1817]

I swear, if this happens to us and we lose an Anna & Elsa FP, they are going to have to drag me out of MK kicking and screaming in absolute fury. Seriously.

I admit this is part of the reason I am trying to figure out a strategy ahead of time. I would not get very upset by the initial glitch. But if a CM implies I am lying, I will probably be pretty upset. And if I am already disappointed and upset and I arrive at guest relations and I have to wait and they don't fix the situation. . . . Well, that would really piss me off. And I don't want to waste my vacation feeling that way.

So I'm thinking it might be a reasonable strategy to just accept the situation and wing it. No wasting time and energy with guest relations, especially since the outcome is far from certain as best I can tell. Make any new fastpass reservations we can on the fly and move on to having as much fun as we can.

I am definitely NOT telling dd we are meeting A & E even if we have fastpasses. I will wait until we get the green Mickey, if at all possible. And if I absolutely can't avoid it, I will tell her we will try, but I can't promise it will happen.

 

[Aurora0427]

I admit this is part of the reason I am trying to figure out a strategy ahead of time. I would not get very upset by the initial glitch. But if a CM implies I am lying, I will probably be pretty upset. And if I am already disappointed and upset and I arrive at guest relations and I have to wait and they don't fix the situation. . . . Well, that would really piss me off. And I don't want to waste my vacation feeling that way. So I'm thinking it might be a reasonable strategy to just accept the situation and wing it. No wasting time and energy with guest relations, especially since the outcome is far from certain as best I can tell. Make any new fastpass reservations we can on the fly and move on to having as much fun as we can. I am definitely NOT telling dd we are meeting A & E even if we have fastpasses. I will wait until we get the green Mickey, if at all possible. And if I absolutely can't avoid it, I will tell her we will try, but I can't promise it will happen.

I would probably show up at guest relations sobbing and begging for fast passes. LOL We couldn't meet Anna & Elsa when we were there in February- 4 hour waits at EPCOT. This is my three year old daughters third trip to Disney, so she knows you can meet Anna & Elsa. I'm not going to bring it up in case something happens, but she knows they're there.... Here's hoping for no glitches for both our trips!

 

[Josh Hendy]

I guess the only strategy, other than begging or demanding your FP's, is to go for the rope-drop (a.k.a. commando) strategy. I think there was a quote from the unofficial guide several years ago about planning your days in WDW parks. They said that the most important factor in getting on the rides you want regardless of crowd level is to have a good touring plan, hit the park at rope drop, and stick to the plan. The unofficial guide people (hello, Len Testa!) are very methodical and thorough ... they design test plans on a computer and then test and tweak them by actually trying them out in the parks.

I'm not sure if the latest edition of the UG has help for "touring without FPs" but I think that their general advice would be applicable: get to the park before rope drop, know which rides you really want to do, and plan to visit them early in the morning in a logical order which saves time and walking.

I have one more idea ... I hesitate to bring this up because I'm sure it's not for everyone, and I'm not even sure it would work for me. When I was around 19 I went to a local theme park with my friends. There was no FP obviously, and I remember literally waiting 1 to 1.5 hours for some of the coasters because we really wanted to ride in the front car. We were there for the whole day and we barely noticed the time going by ... we just chatted mindlessly like teenagers do, and amused ourselves by listening to the mindless chatter of the other teenagers around us. We weren't worried about ADRs, or the next ride, or going shopping later, or getting back to the hotel for a swim. IF (and it's a big "IF") it's possible to just zone out, chat with your group or text your friends, and not worry about what else you could be doing, maybe you can have a fun day at WDW even at a very busy time with no FPs. It's the exact opposite of the commando strategy.