FastPass+

[Scott W.]

I'm finally getting to grips with it and I hate it. I really hate it.

Looks like I won't be riding Seven Dwarfs or Frozen (Not that I really care for either but I've never been on them before) unless I'm prepared to wait 2 hours.

Dining reservations are equally as bad with the only place I actually want to go to (Be Our Guest) being completely booked and that's after a week of trying every day and every time.

I understand the business reasons for doing this and that popular restaurants and new rides will always have a longer wait or more difficult to get a reservation but this feels like you're being punished for not staying on site or being prepared to try every hour of every day to find the scraps left over from the early bookers.

The only benefits I see is that it's easier to make reservations and with the popular rides being booked well into the night time, the majority of the other rides are more accessible if you use your passes wisely.

Once you use your FP for a ride, I'm assuming you can book another ride straight away?

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm finally getting to grips with it and I hate it. I really hate it.

Looks like I won't be riding Seven Dwarfs or Frozen (Not that I really care for either but I've never been on them before) unless I'm prepared to wait 2 hours.

Dining reservations are equally as bad with the only place I actually want to go to (Be Our Guest) being completely booked and that's after a week of trying every day and every time.

I understand the business reasons for doing this and that popular restaurants and new rides will always have a longer wait or more difficult to get a reservation but this feels like you're being punished for not staying on site or being prepared to try every hour of every day to find the scraps left over from the early bookers.

The only benefits I see is that it's easier to make reservations and with the popular rides being booked well into the night time, the majority of the other rides are more accessible if you use your passes wisely.

Once you use your FP for a ride, I'm assuming you can book another ride straight away?

After you use your first three, then you can choose a fourth....All that pre planning is a pain in the butt. It's one of the main reasons I cut down my Disney vacation time drastically. Who needs hassles when you're going on vacation. I love the parks, but I strongly dislike what you have to go through to visit them. No leisure & relaxation there.

 

[JoeCamel]

Check day of, people reserve what they might use and then drop them out when they change plans. If you check a couple of times a day (Thanks Disney!) you might find a slot open

 

[Teebin]

After you use your first three, then you can choose a fourth....All that pre planning is a pain in the butt. It's one of the main reasons I cut down my Disney vacation time drastically. Who needs hassles when you're going on vacation. I love the parks, but I strongly dislike what you have to go through to visit them. No leisure & relaxation there.

Yeah, appointments are real life. I don't want appointments at a theme park. I'd rather never ride an attraction again and just wander around...

 

[bob albert]

People will complain either way. There is no way to make the fast pass system perfect. Disney is a popular place with a lot of people and a fixed ride capacity. People complain about whatever system they feel benefits them less. For every person who gobbled up fast passes on the old system there was a person who didn't get one too. People constantly miss the point in that fast pass is a crowd management system made to free up the average guest's time in line so they spend more money in the parks.

We should complain about Disney building low capacity rides, not act like it is a fast pass problem that you can't get a ride on the mine train.

And to add. Disney has always favored on site guests and people who booked early before fast pass+. They spend the most money. this is not news.

 

[Scott W.]

After you use your first three, then you can choose a fourth....All that pre planning is a pain in the butt. It's one of the main reasons I cut down my Disney vacation time drastically. Who needs hassles when you're going on vacation. I love the parks, but I strongly dislike what you have to go through to visit them. No leisure & relaxation there.

Do you need to use all 3 before you get a 4th?

 

[bob albert]

Do you need to use all 3 before you get a 4th?

Yes. I think you still have to go to the fast pass+ kiosk to do it, unless they let you on the app now.

 

[jtsalien]

Yes. I think you still have to go to the fast pass+ kiosk to do it, unless they let you on the app now.

You do not. That was in the app update this Spring. All additional selections can be made on the app.

 

[bob albert]

Ah good to know. Those kiosks were hard to find.

 

[sjago13]

Do you need to use all 3 before you get a 4th?

You can book the 4th the second you scan at the outside of the 3rd FP. Also if you get a 4th fast pass for 8:00-9:00 and use it at 8:00 you can then book a 5th one for right away if there are more available. Back in spring I think we got 7 FP's going to MK from like 5-11pm. Even was able to get back to back Space where I literally walked out of the exit and right back into FP. Of course it all depends on how busy it will be. Also beware that day of the FP's are very fluid and you can get some good stuff if you are constantly checking. Just beware of the battery drain. I've grown to enjoy the system since the update, but since I'm a local if I can't do something there is always next time... which I know people making the long trip don't have that luxury.

 

[Skipper Justin]

The line for test track tends to get longer than frozen. Although, test track does have single rider.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I really hate the idea of FP+. It does seem like a pain. But, I think it spells something bigger for the industry as a whole.

Disney is realizing (and Universal too, but not at the same rate) that theme parks are losing their ability to attract middle-class visitors. The middle-class doesn't have the vacation money they used to. Disney managed to do something despicably amazing. They managed to still make the parks accessible to everyone, yet offer the wealthy a distinctly better experience. I mean, sure, the rich have always had the ability to buy better merch, eat better food, and stay in better hotels. But, this is impacting the theme parks at their most fundamental level. Wealthier folks get earlier FP reservations and I imagine they'll soon get more FP reservations.

I don't think this is all bad. I think that the small segment of wealthier individuals are going to see more customized, individual, cooler experiences than would've ever been possible at usual Disney World scale. But, it's definitely a sad passing of theme parks as a equalizer.

 

[bob albert]

I really hate the idea of FP+. It does seem like a pain. But, I think it spells something bigger for the industry as a whole.

Disney is realizing (and Universal too, but not at the same rate) that theme parks are losing their ability to attract middle-class visitors. The middle-class doesn't have the vacation money they used to. Disney managed to do something despicably amazing. They managed to still make the parks accessible to everyone, yet offer the wealthy a distinctly better experience. I mean, sure, the rich have always had the ability to buy better merch, eat better food, and stay in better hotels. But, this is impacting the theme parks at their most fundamental level. Wealthier folks get earlier FP reservations and I imagine they'll soon get more FP reservations.

I don't think this is all bad. I think that the small segment of wealthier individuals are going to see more customized, individual, cooler experiences than would've ever been possible at usual Disney World scale. But, it's definitely a sad passing of theme parks as a equalizer.

Fast pass plus is not just some rich vs poor thing. You could always do a vip tour at Disney. Disney rewards those who plan a whole vacation around Disney. Remember, they also punish you for going a single day, which is more expensive.

*The middle class doesn't have money like they used they these prices. I could make up any ridiculous price and claim the middle class is broke for a lot of things. They aren't losing their ability to attract anyone so much as they can directly control the demand by what they want to price it at. Lower the price and the parks will be swamped.

And universal having express while having prices nearly on par with disney depending on the situation is frankly much worse depending on the time of year. At least they are building good capacity rides though.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

People will complain either way. There is no way to make the fast pass system perfect. Disney is a popular place with a lot of people and a fixed ride capacity. People complain about whatever system they feel benefits them less. For every person who gobbled up fast passes on the old system there was a person who didn't get one too. People constantly miss the point in that fast pass is a crowd management system made to free up the average guest's time in line so they spend more money in the parks.

We should complain about Disney building low capacity rides, not act like it is a fast pass problem that you can't get a ride on the mine train.

And to add. Disney has always favored on site guests and people who booked early before fast pass+. They spend the most money. this is not news.

Any widely available cut the line or virtual queueing option will not be honest or totally fair.

Still FP+ is a terrible implementation that is cumbersome, has weird online profiles, weird hook ups to tickets and hotels, and such a long lead time that it destroys the practical use. Paul Pressler used FP and yearly attraction overlays as a substitute for new attractions, Disney realizes they can't do that when everything has FP+ and you can book rides months in advance.

 

[bob albert]

Any widely available cut the line or virtual queueing option will not be honest or totally fair.

Still FP+ is a terrible implementation that is cumbersome, has weird online profiles, weird hook ups to tickets and hotels, and such a long lead time that it destroys the practical use. Paul Pressler used FP and yearly attraction overlays as a substitute for new attractions, Disney realizes they can't do that when everything has FP+ and you can book rides months in advance.

I could agree the money spent could have been on large capacity rides. I could also make an argument that FP+ could be considered the most fair system they could have for the average disney guest.

 

[martymcflyy85]

Our most recent vacation was a "Universal" vacation with ONE DAY at the Magic Kingdom. At MK, we booked all 3 of our fast passes before 1pm, and then we were able to continue booking all day long, going from ride to ride, using my wife's phone. There was no planning involved. We got to ride all of the headliners and we never had to wait for anything at Disney the entire day. I guess we got lucky, but man I loved it.

At Universal, because we stayed at Cabana Bay we had to wait in a long line for everything and didn't get nearly as much done. We were so tired at Universal from waiting in those long lines. (Please note I am not a Disney fan, I'm a Universal guy...but I'm just stating my experience).

My family SPECIFICALLY enjoyed Magic Kingdom much more because of this and now they want us to take a "Disney" vacation next time. I had to break it to them that the rest of the Disney Parks don't have the same number of rides as MK and that we would need to wait until Star Wars and Avatar gets built.

As for Universal, I'll never stay onsite again without staying at one of the 3 fast pass hotels. Its just a shame that they cost so much. I wish there was a way for non onsite people to get access to a small number of fast passes at Universal without having to pay extra. (Yes, I understand the argument of how fast passes make the lines go up for everything, but I still like it myself because this "broken system" really works better for people like me who can't afford to stay in the fancy hotels).

 

[OLSinFLA]

Fast pass plus is not just some rich vs poor thing. You could always do a vip tour at Disney. Disney rewards those who plan a whole vacation around Disney. Remember, they also punish you for going a single day, which is more expensive.

*The middle class doesn't have money like they used they these prices. I could make up any ridiculous price and claim the middle class is broke for a lot of things. They aren't losing their ability to attract anyone so much as they can directly control the demand by what they want to price it at. Lower the price and the parks will be swamped.

And universal having express while having prices nearly on par with disney depending on the situation is frankly much worse depending on the time of year. At least they are building good capacity rides though.

But it does make a nice way to suggest onsite hotels for next visit. Spending $400 for a family for 4 for an Express Pass? get a room at the Royal Pacific for $150 and get free passes.....

 

[MrRoamer]

I really hate the idea of FP+. It does seem like a pain. But, I think it spells something bigger for the industry as a whole.

Disney is realizing (and Universal too, but not at the same rate) that theme parks are losing their ability to attract middle-class visitors. The middle-class doesn't have the vacation money they used to. Disney managed to do something despicably amazing. They managed to still make the parks accessible to everyone, yet offer the wealthy a distinctly better experience. I mean, sure, the rich have always had the ability to buy better merch, eat better food, and stay in better hotels. But, this is impacting the theme parks at their most fundamental level. Wealthier folks get earlier FP reservations and I imagine they'll soon get more FP reservations.

I don't think this is all bad. I think that the small segment of wealthier individuals are going to see more customized, individual, cooler experiences than would've ever been possible at usual Disney World scale. But, it's definitely a sad passing of theme parks as a equalizer.

I'm not sure if this is really as big of a hit to the middle class as you think. This is still a more fair system than Universal has for Express where you get passes for everything. At least Disney is limiting it to 3 right now, instead of giving full blown reservation to everything. FastPass+ waits are generally right around the same as what an Express wait is so for the time being I see this as being more fair to everyone. That said the system is a super pain in the butt when it doesn't work, and having to do the reservation thing totally contradicts vacation in my mind.

 

[LieutLaww]

When I went to Disney last year (did the whole vacation thing via UK holiday company) I could access FP+ 180 days out as its all linked into MDE, but even then I really struggled to get some stuff I wanted and trying to book Be Our Guest was a nightmare I had to try multiple times to find any sort of decent time to go. Also the searching leaves a lot to be desired, when I did it you could only search for a day and the times within, would have made life much easier if you could just plug in the days you wanted and it list everything avail for those days but hey I am sure that may come sometime if it hasn't already.

 

[IzzyB]

There is very mixed opinions on this board and I think it has to do with how you use the system or how you do or do not plan. I also think it depends on the type of person you are where people who got there at rope drop loved the old paper system and those of us who wandered into the park around 2 PM much prefer the new system.

My advice, reservations for places to eat get cancelled around the 24 to 48 hour mark. I have been able to find any place (including BOG) I want by looking around the 24 to 48 mark. I look a couple times a day and normally eventually find what I want. Fast passes are pretty much the same, but looking on the actual day gets me what I want. Also, random weeks in advance. I normally check once a week, because sometimes they release blocks of fast passes in advance. But I normally am able to get what I want with just having my smart phone and checking during boring times of life.

Unless you have used the new system where you can book more after 3 and book everything on your phone, you shouldn't judge it. Because honestly almost everyone I talk to who has used it now that they fixed it, really like it. We make last minute trips to the parks all the time and tend to always ride the rides we want to ride. I did a let's go to Disney 2 weekends ago and we even managed to get fast passes for Mine Train. Normally while my husband drives I just keep refreshing the FP screen to see what pops up.

On a side note, if you still can't get tickets for Mine Train the best time to get into line is right before park closing. The line moves super fast because at park closing the FP lines shuts down and you are only dealing with the people in the Standby. Last time I did that we waited 25 minutes.

I get the price tag does not justify the outcome. They paid way too much for what they got. So I totally agree Disney botched this one. However, the end product is starting to be better and better with each update. It will never be a $2B system, but I am just over that. We can't go back in time and make a $.5B system and $1.5B towards rides. I think Disney probably wishes they had a time machine. But I also feel they needed this dark period because without it and the rise of Universal we wouldn't be getting the next 10 years with Disney. I thin the next 10 years are going to be very interesting for Disney. The number of rumors out there says they do plan to do more. It is just a matter of which rumors come true.