Fastpass Return Enforcement Signs at IJA

[Rastuso]

Nonsense. If they went back to the "old" way, people would truly realize how much better it is now.

Fastpass is only better now because of 2 things:

1. People ignorant to Fastpass, so they don't use it, leaving their FPs for those that do (go to TDL and see how FP works at parks where this group of people is very small).

2. You can hoard FPs early for later use, which is gone at WDW, and soon to be gone at DL.

That's it. If those two things go away, and I'm not sure if 1 will, as I see FP+ as making that an even larger group. "Hey honey, let's use one of our 3 FP+s to get a good seat for the parade."

The norm has changed during FPs lifespan. Rides have added/left. Crowds have increased. But a rigorously enforced FP system does nothing for you. It gives you a small number of short lines, at the cost of all other lines being longer.

To review: FP did not change ride capacity at the parks, ergo it can not impact the number of rides you get in a day, unless you are gaming the system, or using the system more shrewdly than others. That's it.

-R

[9oldmen]

And as for resort guests, you vastly underestimate it. Touringplans says there are over 30,000 onsite rooms. Let's say they average 2 guests per room, and 90% occupancy, which is likely low. That's roughly 50,000 guests (a big underestimate), or about 12,500 per park, times 4 FP+ per day.
-R

The only number we can be sure of is the number of onsite rooms, maybe to the nearest 10,000. Your numbers about occupancy sound suspiciously made up, though they could be spot on. Also, your assuming that every hotel guest is actually going to Use the system, which we don't know. Plus, are there not Disney onsite guests at Sea World and Universal? Not every onsite guest is even going to be in a Disney park every day. (some of you seem awfully confident that this new system, a system which you think is sure to fail, is going to be universally accepted). There may even be people in town for, say, a convention, who may not even go to the parks at all, but just happen to end up in a Disney property, though that can't be many. On the other hand, I remember hearing that the system may not be exclusively for onsite guests. Lot's of variables.

[Ukulele Guy]

They should make it more themed.

"Mara does not take kindly to the late comers..."

Unfortunately, no one would get it. It would require thought.

[G24T]

They should make it more themed.

"Mara does not take kindly to the late comers..."

Unfortunately, no one would get it. It would require thought.

Or CMs would become frustrated at all the guests who ask to speak to Mara about why the magic voodoo box gave them all "not valid" tickets.

[SiRocket]

are they enforcing "rider switch passes"?

[explodingboy]

Not really happy about it, but I think it will be interesting to see how it affects the lines.

Why are you not happy that the Fastpass system is being enforced, as it should have been since day one?

[hollywood1939]

Sigh.....f lines go down then great...but if they stay the same..then this sucks

FastPass period makes lines just about double. The best way to keep the lines down is to get rid of FastPass altogether.

[Garrett240]

Soooo.... Are they enforcing the FP return times now? I know people have seen the signs. Has anybody been to the parks in the last couple days? Are the return times being enforced? Are they allowing people who miss their time on the ride?

I haven't seen any "on the ground post Feb 18th" reporting in the two threads I've read.

[DisneylandDragon]

I just had a friend who is a CM post on fb that fastpass is now enforced.

[Stormy]

Soooo.... Are they enforcing the FP return times now? I know people have seen the signs. Has anybody been to the parks in the last couple days? Are the return times being enforced? Are they allowing people who miss their time on the ride?

I haven't seen any "on the ground post Feb 18th" reporting in the two threads I've read.

A bit of a surprise to me, not seeing any real first hand reports. Guess all the debate & 'vociferous-ness' leading up to this was 'all sound & fury, signifying nothing'. In true MiceChat fashion, voices were heard here expressing their displeasure, but when it came down to it, MCers behaved with their usual good manners when enforcement started.

Not a first hand report, but I have seen posts on other forums (second hand report? LOL) that they are apparently being enforced and that people are seeing other people being turned away, presumably with a late FP. No word about grace periods, ride breakdowns, etc.

[Seawolf]

Wow, that must be a rare occurrence because I have never seen that happen. Even with Space Mountain, I've seen some long FP lines at night but they were never longer than stand-by. I think it would take some extraneous circumstances for that to happen - most likely the ride being down for a large part of the day and a good number of the people who missed their FP times coming back once the ride is up and running again. And if that is the case, enforcing return times won't make much of a difference in such a situation, unless they don't allow later returns for those whose FP times were during ride closures.

That's because the CM is instructed to take the fastpass line as a priority to prevent a very long backup. Sometimes the ratio is crazy and stand by comes to a halt during peak hours, Space Mountain is a perfect example. Just because there isn't a very large visible line in fastpass doesn't mean a ridiculous number of people haven't passed through it. This is definitely a good move to help stand-by after 6 PM.

[KiMcHeEfOrLiFe]

FastPass period makes lines just about double. The best way to keep the lines down is to get rid of FastPass altogether.

Hmm, I'm not sure if this is necessarily true. If Disney decides to get rid of Fastpass, in my opinion, it won't change the wait times. It'll probably be more or less the same.

The way I see it is that everyone has a limit on how long they are willing to wait in a line for an attraction. Wait times are constant. When somebody sees a wait time, they will judge if that time is worth waiting for that attraction. If somebody is willing to wait in line for an hour, they will wait in line for an hour. If not, they'll move on to something else. The difference between having Fastpass and not having Fastpass is that with no Fastpass, the standby line will increase with more guest but you will move through the line at a better pace than you would if Fastpass existed. So really, it'll only make you feel like the line is moving faster, but in reality, it'll still be an hour wait. It'll be filled with an hour worth of people. I think not having Fastpass will just have a psychological effect on people. Not having Fastpass will just make the line 'fair-er', I suppose.

[Pinrar]

No word about grace periods, ride breakdowns, etc.

Indy broke on valentines day and they said you have an hour after the ride reopens when CM will take late FP.

[Illusion0fLife]

Indy broke on valentines day and they said you have an hour after the ride reopens when CM will take late FP.

While I'm fully on board with enforced FastPass times, I'm not sure I agree with this particular solution. If a ride breaks down during your return time, I think they should honor your FastPass for the rest of the day. There's no way of knowing when a ride will be operational again so if you wanted to guarantee that you could use your FP you'd have to circle back around to that attraction every hour.

As long as the FP return time was during the window when the ride was closed it seems only fair to accept it for the rest of the day.

[calsig31]

As long as the FP return time was during the window when the ride was closed it seems only fair to accept it for the rest of the day.

Why? The people who gave up their place in the stand by line don't get to come back to their same spot any time during the day. It is more than generous the way Disney is doing it.