Fast Pass Pet Peeve

[shilohmm]

"It's just 5 minutes"

I have never understood that argument. If it's "just" five minutes for you, why isn't it "just" five minutes for them? My kids don't bother with that sort of argument because I always reply with, "Yep, good thing you don't have that long to wait" kind of things.

Their real argument, of course, is that you're wasting their valuable time, but the argument as stated always seemed goofy to me. And if their time is that important, why didn't they do something else that took ten-fifteen minutes and THEN show up for their ride? They're the ones wasting it, not the person telling them the rules aren't going to be bent in their favor.

[SmartGuest]

"I'm going to stare at you until we can go in"

I hope you have a funny comeback for that one. Something like, "I'm so good looking, I don't blame you." Sheesh, I don't know how you can keep your mouth shut with some of the really stupid guests.

[Natural Selection Fan]

Something like, "I'm so good looking, I don't blame you."

That's outstanding! lol.

The only park I'm sure enforcing the FP hour window is Tokyo. With those
crowds they don't have much of a choice. And when their regulars visit here
they are always out front 2-3 min. before the window with FP's in hand. I like that. :D:

What used to bug me the most back in my DL Monorail days were the
SG's that would plow through to the front of the queue and want
to be put on the next train because they had 10 min. to make their
Goofy's Kitchen reservation. LOL, sure. I'm all about rewarding poor
planning and stupid stunts to avoid waiting in line. yeah.

[Giraffe44]

I realize I'm changing the subject a bit but on Wednesday the other half and I were getting fast passes for the dinosaur ride at DAK when we saw something odd. A man was standing at the next machine with what looked like about 100 park passes (tickets) and was feeding them in as fast as he could. I suppose he could have been with a large group but he seemed furtive. Could he have intended to sell them? Has anyone heard of this? Just curious. As we walked away a large CM was heading in his direction but we didn't stick around to see what happened.

[SmartGuest]

I doubt he had any intention of selling the FPs. He probably was just the FastPass Volunteer for a large tour group. I think it might be "Brazilian Tour Group" season? We do that within our own family, send someone with all the park tickets to the FP machine while the rest of the group does another attraction. I'm usually the FPV for my group as I know where all the attractions / shows are and their accompanying FP machines. Good exercise and it gives me some "alone time." ;)

[knitster]

I doubt he had any intention of selling the FPs. He probably was just the FastPass Volunteer for a large tour group. I think it might be "Brazilian Tour Group" season? We do that within our own family, send someone with all the park tickets to the FP machine while the rest of the group does another attraction. I'm usually the FPV for my group as I know where all the attractions / shows are and their accompanying FP machines. Good exercise and it gives me some "alone time." ;)

Yep, I'm usually the FP runner for my group as well. No sense in having the whole family tag along when I can get the job done in half the time while they do something else.

[DragonFox98]

It depends on which ride, but hubby and I take turns as the FP runner. If it is for Expedition Everest, that would be me. For Space Mountain, me. For Toy Story Mania, hubby. It just depends.....but lest we drag our poor children all through the parks for no reason, that's why only one of us goes.

[Amphigorey]

Obviously I don't have access to Disney's statistics, but here's my off-the-cuff analysis of why it's fine to use FastPasses late.

Disney distributes a certain number of FPs for each time window. This number is based on how many guests can enter the attraction and keep the FP wait time under 15 minutes. Once that number is reached, the FP distribution time moves up, and so on throughout the day.

So let's say 100 FPs are issued for a 1 - 2 pm return. Most - let's say 60 - of those people will return within that window, which means the wait time falls as expected. Of those 40 people who don't, some won't use the pass at all, and others will return at a later time. The people who come back later will be distributed throughout the day; some will come back at 3, some 4, some not until 7, and so on. Some people will also assume that if they miss the time window, they can't use the FP, and won't try. The point is that for any given time, only a couple people at most will be using those 1 - 2 pm passes.

Someone earlier made the point that the later you wait to ride, the more people will have FPs from earlier in the day. That's true and is a good point, but I don't think the number of people returning with late FPs is significant enough to really make much of a difference in your wait time. I think the only time it will make a real difference is if you are visiting on a very crowded day and Disney is pushing that FP 15-minute wait to its very limit - and even then, hey, you're still only waiting 15 minutes on a crowded day, which is a pretty good outcome.

Anyway, my point is that late-returning FPs don't make a statistically significant difference in the wait times for the other time windows, which is why Disney continues to allow them. If that ever changes, they can always start enforcing the end time.

[Shorty82]

I realize I'm changing the subject a bit but on Wednesday the other half and I were getting fast passes for the dinosaur ride at DAK when we saw something odd. A man was standing at the next machine with what looked like about 100 park passes (tickets) and was feeding them in as fast as he could. I suppose he could have been with a large group but he seemed furtive. Could he have intended to sell them? Has anyone heard of this? Just curious. As we walked away a large CM was heading in his direction but we didn't stick around to see what happened.

Most likely getting Fast Passes for a large tour group. To expedite things and prevent one tour group from clogging up the Distribution area, preventing other guests from getting FPs, tour guides handle their entire party's tickets while getting Fast Passes. It is Brazilian tour group season again so sights like that aren't uncommon right now. The CM was probably just heading over to take over Distribution or something.

While nearly all attractions will accept late Fast Passes at this time be aware that with the way the Fast Passes are worded you can be denied entry if your window has passed. It is up to the powers that be if late FPs will be accepted and if they decide to get strict about it they can at any time. Chances are they won't but you never know, they might decide to. I know when I worked attractions I appreciated it when people came back within their window.

[SmartGuest]

Anyway, my point is that late-returning FPs don't make a statistically significant difference in the wait times for the other time windows, which is why Disney continues to allow them. If that ever changes, they can always start enforcing the end time.

Well said! :)

I know when I worked attractions I appreciated it when people came back within their window.

Just out of curiosity, why did you appreciate it if guests came back within their assigned FP window? Did you see a significant difference in the flow of the line?