Fast Pass

[Duck143]

I was a huge advocate for FP and after 8 days in the parks, there were moments I wished I had one! However, I have to say that NOT having FP was such a wonderful thing for myself and my family. We went on everything we wanted and waiting in lines (much of them were significantly shorter wait times than posted). We enjoyed the standby line theming and the time off the phones looking for future fp's were spent with each other and getting to know the other people waiting in line. I found this to be one of the most enjoyable trips to Disney ever. This is really saying alot coming from me, I had the spreadsheet with all the FP drop times and we always got just about every FP we ever wanted.

 

[MMR76]

I was a huge advocate for FP and after 8 days in the parks, there were moments I wished I had one! However, I have to say that NOT having FP was such a wonderful thing for myself and my family. We went on everything we wanted and waiting in lines (much of them were significantly shorter wait times than posted). We enjoyed the standby line theming and the time off the phones looking for future fp's were spent with each other and getting to know the other people waiting in line. I found this to be one of the most enjoyable trips to Disney ever. This is really saying alot coming from me, I had the spreadsheet with all the FP drop times and we always got just about every FP we ever wanted.

I am happy to hear you say that and hopeful I will feel the same after our upcoming trip.

 

[Duck143]

I am happy to hear you say that and hopeful I will feel the same after our upcoming trip.

Yes, it was so much more enjoyable! We also found that if a ride wait was posted at 45-50 minutes, the actual time was around 25. The lines look really long because of social distancing, so for example Frozen line wraps all around into the China pavilion. The lines went really quickly and even long ones didn't seem bad at all, because you're constantly moving. My kids complained that when they found a place to sit in line, we would start walking away too quickly.

 

[disneypharm]

Again...not normal and you know it.

Actually, I DO know it. Why do you assume that other people can't do something because YOU don't know something?

Yes, it was so much more enjoyable! We also found that if a ride wait was posted at 45-50 minutes, the actual time was around 25. The lines look really long because of social distancing, so for example Frozen line wraps all around into the China pavilion. The lines went really quickly and even long ones didn't seem bad at all, because you're constantly moving. My kids complained that when they found a place to sit in line, we would start walking away too quickly.

Glad that you had a great time, but I am sure you know things will change with increased capacity. Yes, more things will be opened to spread the crowds throughout the parks, but we know from before the pandemic that most of the main rides still will have long lines. Remember FOP with 3-hour lines? Yes, the standby lines will be shorter without FPs but I guarantee you that it will not stay 25-60 minutes. We managed to ride FOP 4 times in one week pre-pandemic (all with FPs). Imagine now with full capacity and no FPs.

 

[bashuck]

Recently returned from a 8 day trip. I loved the FP system but we all thought the very long lines moved so much quicker with no FP.

Long lines move faster without FP, how could they not. But I don't want to be in a long line at all. I'd rather hit my 3 rides early using FP after hitting one or two attractions first, then leave and hit the pool, and book one decent FP for a different evening park. Was always able to get Soarin' or Test Track day of for the evening.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Again...not normal and you know it.

This was absolutely normal for me. Granted they weren’t all headliners, but even knowing I could get IASW or barnstormer without having to wait on a 40 minute line was really nice.

 

[DSLRuser]

Actually, I DO know it. Why do you assume that other people can't do something because YOU don't know something?

Because I have been there so many darn times. I know what is exaggeration and what is reality.

 

[gharter]

Because I have been there so many darn times. I know what is exaggeration and what is reality.

Or others were much better at utilizing FPs. While in the FP line, I would nearly always have our next one lined up before before we got on the ride.

 

[ST1TCH]

I'm always a bit taken back when I read these threads. Maybe it's because of my age, but I spent so much time in all types of amusement parks growing up well before FP was even a notion. I just find it kinda funny to see the idea of "we never wait in a line" or "we do 2-3 FP and then leave the park". To me, the waiting in line for attractions was always just part of the experience. Now I've probably had 4-5 trips at Disney with FP and while it is great it also becomes a time suck and takes your attention away from enjoying time with family etc while your nose is buried in your phone trying to find the next great FP. Have seen many posts on here in this thread and one in the news forum that are talking about how much better it has been to not worry about FP and really enjoy the parks and the attraction themed waiting areas and time with family and not stressed about finding the next great FP in your phone or determining how good your trip was going to be based on things you booked 60 days out.

For all the benefits and virtue extolling of FP, you do have to stop and realize the negatives it was creating for those who could not get FP (locals, staying offsite, etc) as it doubled or tripled the waiting times for them. IMHO, I think Disney was allowing way too many FP to be distributed per day and per ride. If it does return I hope that it's better controlled and provides a balance that wasn't there before.

 

[ellbell]

I'm always a bit taken back when I read these threads. Maybe it's because of my age, but I spent so much time in all types of amusement parks growing up well before FP was even a notion. I just find it kinda funny to see the idea of "we never wait in a line" or "we do 2-3 FP and then leave the park". To me, the waiting in line for attractions was always just part of the experience. Now I've probably had 4-5 trips at Disney with FP and while it is great it also becomes a time suck and takes your attention away from enjoying time with family etc while your nose is buried in your phone trying to find the next great FP. Have seen many posts on here in this thread and one in the news forum that are talking about how much better it has been to not worry about FP and really enjoy the parks and the attraction themed waiting areas and time with family and not stressed about finding the next great FP in your phone or determining how good your trip was going to be based on things you booked 60 days out.

For all the benefits and virtue extolling of FP, you do have to stop and realize the negatives it was creating for those who could not get FP (locals, staying offsite, etc) as it doubled or tripled the waiting times for them. IMHO, I think Disney was allowing way too many FP to be distributed per day and per ride. If it does return I hope that it's better controlled and provides a balance that wasn't there before.

I took 2 to 5 minutes while walking in a line to line up a new fastpass. I don't understand why people think it sucks so much time. My family and I get much more enjoyment and spend much more time together at the pool or shopping because we didn't spend it waiting in line.

 

[disneypharm]

I'm always a bit taken back when I read these threads. Maybe it's because of my age, but I spent so much time in all types of amusement parks growing up well before FP was even a notion. I just find it kinda funny to see the idea of "we never wait in a line" or "we do 2-3 FP and then leave the park". To me, the waiting in line for attractions was always just part of the experience. Now I've probably had 4-5 trips at Disney with FP and while it is great it also becomes a time suck and takes your attention away from enjoying time with family etc while your nose is buried in your phone trying to find the next great FP. Have seen many posts on here in this thread and one in the news forum that are talking about how much better it has been to not worry about FP and really enjoy the parks and the attraction themed waiting areas and time with family and not stressed about finding the next great FP in your phone or determining how good your trip was going to be based on things you booked 60 days out.

For all the benefits and virtue extolling of FP, you do have to stop and realize the negatives it was creating for those who could not get FP (locals, staying offsite, etc) as it doubled or tripled the waiting times for them. IMHO, I think Disney was allowing way too many FP to be distributed per day and per ride. If it does return I hope that it's better controlled and provides a balance that wasn't there before.

Sorry, but I am confused. Why waiting in line for attractions is part of the experience but FP is a time suck that takes your attention away from enjoying the park because you are using your phone? I don't think standing in line for every ride is enjoyable. I rather spend my time looking around the park or going back to the resort to swim rather than standing in line!!

 

[gharter]

Without FP, our last trip was very different, but enjoyable.
With FP, I do miss some of the fun queues they have - Peter Pan, 7 Dwarfs, FoP, Frozen and others

 

[VAtink]

So my recent trip (end of April) had me really missing FP+, and we are not people who usually get more than 4 FP+ a day (although we try!). Refresh and I have not been friends! Anyways, the main reason I missed it this last trip was because I found having FP+ really helps us slow down and not have to rush so much and really gives us a chance to enjoy the little things around the parks.

When we had FP+, we could stroll into the park at opening, taking pictures around the park with hardly anyone in them (and before our hair got frizzy ), enjoy the atmosphere, and not have to worry about rushing to the headliners since we had FP+ for them later. Even with our leisurely entry, we would still be able to ride a handful of rides with no waits before our first FP+ kicked in that we typically scheduled for about an hour after park opening. There was one year we were able to get on Splash 4 times in the first hour with no wait, it was awesome! Being able to have a relaxing morning exploring the park AND get on all the rides we wanted was amazing. This was, by far, the thing I missed the most this past trip without having FP+.

In April, every morning was spent running around the park to try to beat the crowds to each ride, and rides that I had come to expect to be walk-on at park opening during the days of FP+ already had waits (albeit not horrible waits, but walk-on is still better than 15-20 minutes!). After the first hour or so the lines built to longer waits than I ever saw when FP+ was around in the morning. The parks really seemed be more crowded earlier in the day than I have seen in past years. My theory is that more people are trying to get there at park opening now without FP+ to avoid long lines. Plus when FP+ was around, people would schedule theirs for later in the day and wouldn’t get to the park until later around when they kicked in which helped distribute the crowds better throughout the day. Just a theory, but makes sense to me!

 

[MMR76]

Because I have been there so many darn times. I know what is exaggeration and what is reality.

My experience is not an ounce of exaggeration.

 

[DisneyFive]

@ST1TCH

You are correct. There is no denying that more time was spent on our phones when FP+ rolled out on the my Disney experience app. That is probably the biggest negative I can think of. That was a real negative.

Most everything else were benefits though. Actually being able to sleep in knowing that you have three great rides already scheduled, that was A game changer for us. That is my biggest concern about our upcoming trip. It reminds me of back when paper FP existed and you had to be there for rope drop if you wanted to get the precious FP.

Now, if you want to get rides with little to no wait you need to get there 45 minutes before the park even opens, and combine that with parks like the Magic Kingdom are officially opening even earlier than we ever experienced. 8 AM park opening, so having to be there at 7:15 AM? Multiple days of parks like that. That’s killer.

Dan

 

[GoingSince1990]

So my recent trip (end of April) had me really missing FP+, and we are not people who usually get more than 4 FP+ a day (although we try!). Refresh and I have not been friends! Anyways, the main reason I missed it this last trip was because I found having FP+ really helps us slow down and not have to rush so much and really gives us a chance to enjoy the little things around the parks.

When we had FP+, we could stroll into the park at opening, taking pictures around the park with hardly anyone in them (and before our hair got frizzy ), enjoy the atmosphere, and not have to worry about rushing to the headliners since we had FP+ for them later. Even with our leisurely entry, we would still be able to ride a handful of rides with no waits before our first FP+ kicked in that we typically scheduled for about an hour after park opening. There was one year we were able to get on Splash 4 times in the first hour with no wait, it was awesome! Being able to have a relaxing morning exploring the park AND get on all the rides we wanted was amazing. This was, by far, the thing I missed the most this past trip without having FP+.

In April, every morning was spent running around the park to try to beat the crowds to each ride, and rides that I had come to expect to be walk-on at park opening during the days of FP+ already had waits (albeit not horrible waits, but walk-on is still better than 15-20 minutes!). After the first hour or so the lines built to longer waits than I ever saw when FP+ was around in the morning. The parks really seemed be more crowded earlier in the day than I have seen in past years. My theory is that more people are trying to get there at park opening now without FP+ to avoid long lines. Plus when FP+ was around, people would schedule theirs for later in the day and wouldn’t get to the park until later around when they kicked in which helped distribute the crowds better throughout the day. Just a theory, but makes sense to me!

Maybe with no FP+ people are on their phones less in the parks. But for non-morning people like me and my family, the leisurely late breakfasts and lingering coffees with no need to rush to the parks for rope-drop provides much more of a benefit in terms of quality time together.

 

[DavidNYC]

Without FP, our last trip was very different, but enjoyable.
With FP, I do miss some of the fun queues they have - Peter Pan, 7 Dwarfs, FoP, Frozen and others

Peter Pan is our standard rope drop ride at MK for exactly that reason - we love the queue. We often have to let some people walk by us in line at rope drop because we want to walk more leisurely through the house.

 

[VAtink]

Maybe with no FP+ people are on their phones less in the parks. But for non-morning people like me and my family, the leisurely late breakfasts and lingering coffees with no need to rush to the parks for rope-drop provides much more of a benefit in terms of quality time together.

From my own experience, I found I was on my phone more this past trip constantly checking wait times, whereas before I would only get on my phone after the third FP+ was used up to see if I could get another one, but back then it was only a minute or two here and there, I've never been one to be glued to my phone while in the parks. If I got a 4th or 5th (rarely) FP+ awesome, if not, usually the waits weren't ridiculous at that time of day and I could ride something standby with less than a 30 minute wait.

And as for touring styles, to each their own! I was simply explaining why I missed FP+ for my touring style, obviously everyone has touring styles that work for them, some work better with FP+, other work better without it. For my morning touring, FP+ just works better for me, nothing wrong with that!

 

[luv2cheer92]

8 fast is not the norm and you know it. We go during busy times of the year, and don't stay in the park all day long. and most of the times, the 5th or 6th fast pass is for something like philharmonic or COP.

Waiting in line for 40 minutes any time I want to ride 7DMY is so much more enjoyable then 90 minute standby or hinging your entire trip off a FP+ reservation 60 days out.

Completely normal. If my family doesn't get at least 8-10 FPs in a day, something's wrong. At MK it's usually closer to 12. I don't use it as a comparison much, since I know solo visits are an anomaly, but on my solo trips I get closer to 15, with my record being 19 in one day.

ETA: My extra fastpasses are usually for mid-tier to top-tier rides, occasionally for lower tier rides that I enjoy. Plus, there's no FPs for COP.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Because I have been there so many darn times. I know what is exaggeration and what is reality.

I mean, I don’t know what to tell you, I’ve gone a lot with my kids too. My MK generally went like this: Three fastpasses in the morning, usually moving the third one up with the modify route. Then grabbing a fourth one in the morning. Then lunch and grabbing a fifth one for early evening then back to the room. Then back to the park, do the 5th one, and generally grab a 6th, 7th, and sometimes 8th depending on how late the parks were open. The later ones weren’t headliners, but we didn’t care, I have young kids.