Will the new FastPass rules change your touring strategy?

[Babe the Blue Ox]

It sounds like it time to make a change to the standard touring plans. For years, I've preferred to play FastPass Poker and accumulate a deck of 40 or so passes (8 sets of 5) before playing them throughout the afternoon and early evening when it gets really hot and really crowded.

I learned about this while reading the 2001 "Unofficial Guide" and have now been following the same strategy for over 10 years. Looks like the times, they are a-changin'.

[brad192]

I've always played by the rules & returned during my window. If I miss it, oh well.

I'm really glad they've decided to enforce the "window rule" as it was developed. I'm certain that, once the initial adjustment period is done (I feel for the FastPass CM's), things will become much more efficient regarding the FastPass lines.

[K8screen]

It sounds like it time to make a change to the standard touring plans. For years, I've preferred to play FastPass Poker and accumulate a deck of 40 or so passes (8 sets of 5) before playing them throughout the afternoon and early evening when it gets really hot and really crowded.

I learned about this while reading the 2001 "Unofficial Guide" and have now been following the same strategy for over 10 years. Looks like the times, they are a-changin'.

How do you accumulate 5 FPs? I thought you could only get one every 2 hours, so even if you got every one asap, and entered park at 9am it would take you till 5pm. If however I am missing something, and it IS possible (very likely, I do miss A LOT these days ) I would think you could still accumulate them, you would just have to use them sooner, and the fastpass lines would be shorter as there wouldnt be people still there from earlier slots

[Pirate Granny]

We too would accumulate and use towards the end of the day...now, we'll use the I phone to check what times the FP return is and decide if we'll get one. Hummmmm... We only used for TSM, Soaring and Peter Pan...sometimes TM.

[mgmnut]

No change, we always have abided by the return window times.

Hopefully with new the change you will see shorter fastpass return lines.

[CajunDisneyDad]

I like most people obeyed the window. It is because of people who played...fastpass holdem that the evening EMH were almost a waste of time. Some people cry about oh what if I have a meal reservation at that time...well they have this little clock above the fast pass dispensors that says return time...if that return time is too close to your meal time...guess what...COME BACK LATER!!!! lol. I mean come on, they almost make it too easy. I think the people that are crying the loudest about it are the people who were abusing the system. Its about time Disney started enforcing its own rules. If you cannot abide by it, dont use it! Its that simple The only ride I can see the come back later not working is TSM, but that is a Disney problem Have a nice day!

[Butters]

Looks like this thread is going to turn into another "I follow the rules"...."It's not the rules if they allow me to do it"..."I'm a good person" thread that seems to happen every time this subject is brought up.

Ok, off my soap box, I think this will change touring strategy for a lot of people, we may now pass on getting a fast pass because of ADR's or may realize we won't want to zig zag across the park in 2 hours to catch that window... This is all fine, but just more to consider before grabbing a set of FP's

[ChipNDale79]

Regarding the "I follow the rules" comments.



It's been discussed at length and a thread has been closed regarding it. So why keep up with the comments?

As far as touring plans, there's no question it'll change touring plans, you've got to plan around windows and ADRs, so yes it will.

[thrillme]

I know it's made Disney a LOT difficult.

You either get fast passes in a 2 hour window or AFTER your return time...so yes you can collect them all! I'm really growing tired of having to strategize so much on vacation. First it was reservations for dining, then they took away the CHARGE on the evening extra magic hour (now it's packed) and now Fast Passes. I really didn't see it was that HUGE of a problem before.

It made it easier if you had reservations, if ride "A" broke down then you could ride "B". Fast passes have no specific time you can request so you could be at one part of the park then have to dash back to the other side then back to the first side...remember you could get a fast pass at 10:00 in the morning and get a 6:00 return time.

[Scar]

The question is:

Will the new FastPass rules change your touring strategy?

... not "who followes the rules?"

It will not change my touring stategy as I never really have one.

[Jared]

How about this? Let's just eliminate Fastpass altogether! Shorter lines for everyone and then we can stop having this ridiculous argument.

[Gregandmel]

We will simply be more tuned in to what time it is. We are the people who get there first thing in the morning, obtain a fast pass for a ride, go ride our favorites, obtain another fast pass as soon as we can, etc... We follow this until around lunchtime and then relax. We typically have another FP sometime early afternoon and we leave anyways around 3pm for the day.

That said - our very first trip was in 1997 and they did NOT have the FP system in place. We went in the summertime and waited in line for 45minutes to 1 hour for nearly EVERY ride. Because of that memory - it took us 11 years to come back, and it was largely due to the fact that the FP system was in place so we knew we at least had a better shot of a shorter wait time if we understood what we were doing and might enjoy our time better.

We have used our FP within the "return window" only to find a 25 minute wait because of the number of people in line. I always wondered how that was possible, but now maybe it's because of this very issue. Once rules start to bend, why even have them in the first place? It might create a bit more anxiety at times though due to constantly looking at your watch. We just plan on following our normal strategy for part of the day, and then the rest of the day can be more spontaneous!

[thrillme]

I just read an article that said they're doing this to make way for the Xpass system for property guests so they can make their ride reservations MONTHS ahead of time.

I'm soooooo tired of "reservations"...

I guess this will be "nice" in one way (will require MORE stratigizing, everybody will have to walk around with a schedule or iPhone app).

I HATE the dining reservations alas I found out the hard way if you don't do it...you're hosed. Pretty much stuck with counter service.

I didn't see when they were planning the Xpass system to start.

[AgentC]

I don't think it is really going to make a difference to me. We are local and visit frequently. I gave up on formal touring plans years ago. I do visit some of the crowd calendars and take into consideration "best parks" for the day, but that is about it.

[PopPhan]

To the original topic....

No, this will NOT affect our touring 'plans' in the slightest. We tend to visit during 'slack' times and rarely use FastPass at all. On those rare occasions that we DO get a FastPass, we make sure to arrive within our allotted time frame. When we didn't think we were going to make it to the designated attraction in time - for whatever reason: meals, fatigue, etc - we would find someone to give them to so they would not be wasted.

Never gave a single thought to NOT returning during the window printed on the ticket, so whether or not the window is enforced would not make a difference to me.

[faline]

The vast majority of the time, when we have used fast pass, we have returned within the window identified. The times that we have not done so would be when our dining reservation fell right into the fast pass window and, on a couple of occasions (though rarely) when we left the park before our window and returned to the park later in the day.

The only change I would make would be to not get a fast pass if I found that the return time would fall into our scheduled dining time.

[c&d]

Won't change our plans. We always returned during the assigned time. If something came up so that we couldn't make the time, one of us would go to the ride and give our fastpass to someone in the line.

[SBETigg]

This won't change anything for us. We always use passes close to the time. We're usually right there ready to ride as soon as our time window approaches. We have been a little late for the window a few times, but it's rare for us. We don't stay in one park all day, so accumulating passes is a strategy that never really worked for us.

[floridamom]

We will simply be more tuned in to what time it is. We are the people who get there first thing in the morning, obtain a fast pass for a ride, go ride our favorites, obtain another fast pass as soon as we can, etc... We follow this until around lunchtime and then relax. We typically have another FP sometime early afternoon and we leave anyways around 3pm for the day.

This also pretty much describes us in MK. If you go early, it's amazing how many rides you can do without fast passes. There have been times when we were 15-20 minutes late for our return window, usually because we tried to finish up in one area to avoid criss-crossing the park multiple times with young children in tow. So we will either have to do a little more walking (they are older now so no big deal), or plan differently to ensure we make it on time.

On those occasions when we head to MK in the afternoon and plan to stay late to see Wishes, etc. we don't really count on doing too many rides. We might get a FP for Splash or Thunder Mountain, but other than that, we stick to attractions like Pirates, Small World and Philharmagic that accommodate large numbers pretty easily. In my mind it's all about the expectations. Even our DDs know that when we go to MK in the am, it's all about the rides, but in the afternoon, we just do what we can, explore and enjoy.

At Epcot, I don't anticipate much change in our strategy. We usually arrive early, grab FP's for Soarin' first, head to Sum of All Thrills and then maybe Mission Space if there is time before our Soarin' FP window. Once our window opens we grab a FP for Test Track, and then ride Soarin'. While we wait for TT FP window we ride Spaceship Earth, Nemo, and check out the marine life in the Seas. Once we ride TT, we head over to World Showcase- it's usually lunch time by then. No FP's necessary there-- we just take our time going through the countries. DDs love the Donald Duck ride in Mexico (no FP), and there is usually very little wait. There is also Maelstrom, which offers FP's, but if you need one there you know you're visiting on a crazy busy day!!

At DHS, we go early and either ride standby or grab Toy Story Mania FP's like thousands of others. When we're eligible for another FP, we get them for Rock N Roller Coaster, then see a show, go to the Animation Academy, One Man's Dream, etc. We usually do Star Tours standby. Again, the FP changes aren't likely to affect us in this park.

AK- Hmm, haven't been here in a while, but don't remember doing much with FP's. I think DH and I split up, with one speed-walking solo to get Everest FP's while the other makes a slower trek to Kilmanjaro Safari with the kids. We meet up there, ride the safari and then stop and see the sights as we make our way back to Everest. When we are able we grab Kali River FP's (I like to wait until it's a bit warmer in the day to get wet anyway) and that's about it for FP's. So the changes won't be a big deal there either.


I was a little apprehensive about the FP enforcement, not because I am against abiding by a window, but more because I would feel more bound to a tight schedule while on vacation. But having detailed everything above, I can see that it will only impact us a bit at MK. The availability of smart phone apps that provide FP return time info before we shlep over to the ride should be a big help.

[#1donaldfan]

Yes, it'll change my way of thinking a bit. We have known for years that CM's would accept "expired" same day FP's. If we had a FP and for some reason and couldn't return in time we knew it was ok and to not stress and have to run to that particular ride to use up the pass. I suppose I'll just have to use 'em as I get 'em....it's not a big deal in the large scheme of things !!!