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Was recently at Magic Kingsom and standing in The standby line for the Speedway. The line was moving at a exceptionally slow pace and when I looked up the Fast pass line was jammed and the CM was just letting I go them flow in unregulated. When anyone would come up to the fast pass line they were let in and they were given immediate access to the ride while the standby by line was halted until the fast pass line was empty. This of course never happened and on a Very limited basis ( less then 8 people at a time) were allowed on the ride while the fast pass line just flowed freely. This is the part that bothered me, I asked the CM what was the deal and she said " they have Reservations and as such are given priority"
What!? I was under the impression that Fast pass was to "shorten your wait time but not eliminate it! This is why the Standby waits are getting longer not more people in the parks more promote in the fast pass lines!
i was a clear abuser, or as I like to think of it, optimizer, of the old FastPass system. My family visited under the new system and I realized how packed the place actually is. 8-9 rides per visit? Yuck, and no advantage to staying on property. The Polynesian gives you Monorail access to ... 8-9 rides per day? We did Universal on site with their Express Unlimited pass and got our ride fix in. We love the Disney parks, but will have to decide between riding ride efficiently and waiting in line next time we visit Orlando.
I have been twice on the new fastpass+. I have witnessed what I think is "dumping." In June our 4th pass was to the Jungle Cruise. FP+ line was about 30 min long. Stand by was 45. That's not how it's supposed to work. In Jan of 2014 we were enjoying ice cream on the bridge at Splash when a huge crowd of FP users came upon Big Thunder. The line for just the FP was over the bridge. Is Disney "dumping" FP+ into the system to appease complainers? "Sorry you're having a problem - here's an extra FP to Big Thunder, ma'am."
I did not experience shorter lines either trip. I remain unimpressed.
The issue is that while Disney assigns X number of fast-passes startung every 5 minutes, because a fast-pass is good for 60 minutes, in any given 5-minute period, 1-hour's worth of legitmate fast-pass holders can enter the FP queue. For example, a parade ends at 3:00, and anyone holding a fast-pass from 2:00-3:00 can join the queue. I would hope that when the computers recognize the FP queue filling up, they send a message to the "gate-keeper" to prioritize the FP line.
While being able to choose your fastpass before you step into the park is nice I don't like fastpass+ at all. It is way too random with your choices and you end up having to criss cross the park just so you can make your fastpass times. Whereas before, especially Plus limiting the number of fast passes you can get means that it is now almost impossible to do everything you want to do in a day as you are forced to use stand by lines a lot more than before. And no I don't think you have questionable morals if you take advantage of the system within the rules established by the system. I really doubt that cheating of the fastpass system was really that rampant.
If you let the website or app choose your FastPasses, there's nothing random about it. It will always set your FastPasses times so that you're going clockwise or counterclockwise in the park to prevent you from backtracking your steps. The problem comes when you may have made a reservation for a restaurant off the path or you decide to change the land you're in between FastPasses.
And, yes, abuse of the old FP system was a problem. There were Guests who even knew about a lever that could be pressed in the back of the FP machine to print tickets during maintenance. You'd be amazed at what the security cameras hidden in plain sight will show Guests doing when they think no one is watching.
Fraud is a huge issue at Disney that MyMagic+ is solving. Why do you think you can't make double/triple book dining reservations and have to put a credit card on the reservation? Or why does Cinderella Royal Table require the name on the credit card match the name on the reservation along with ID verification, or that paper admission tickets are no longer used? What people consider minor violations extrapolated out hundreds of thousands of times over the course of weeks/month/years turns into thousands of fellow Guests inconvenienced and potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars lost by Disney.
All this to say that Disney has turned it's back on the day visitors, likely Florida residents, who at one time were needed to keep the Disney parks full(er) during the tougher times. Now, many who decide to visit the park for a day, randomly, usually cannot even get a Fastpass for any of the Tier 1 attractions.
While I understand that Disney wants to cater to the $10K - $15K per week families who come from abroad or within the US, it's a slap in the face to those who would visit more regularly throughout the year, but on a day-to-day basis.
Shame on all of Disney for shunning the loyal Disney-goers, have stood by the parks from the beginning.
"Progress" isn't always progress.
Actually, Disney has taken day Guests into account. Most people don't realize that the availability of FastPasses open up at midnight on the 60-day mark for resort Guests for a limited number of passes so that there will still be some left at the 30-day mark for off-property Guests. The next set of FastPasses are released on the day of for day Guests who may not have planned up to 30 days in advance. In theory, you should still be able to get a FastPass for Toy Story Midway Mania at midnight the day you want to go to the park, but savvy people in the know usually would have taken the remaining passes by the time the park opens.
In short, Florida residents haven't been overlooked. It's just more than 60 percent of Guests are now using the system rather than 30 percent. As a local, you still have an advantage over most Guests because you're not spending $10k on tickets, food and lodging to go to the most magical place on Earth on a whim.
As a over 65 grandparent, the 'fast pass' system greatly reduces my grouch factor according to the wife and daughters.More importantly though, the evolving data system allowing adding passes via smartphone as well as checking real time wait times is real plus. The grandsons range in age from 4 to 9. We can split the 2 older ones from the younger and utilize passes for one pair while taking the others to a relatively short line.The addition of a park hopping capability for the FastPass+ system would really enhance the total experience.
Slightly off subject, the dining data base has been good for us and WDW.At least three times during our last two visits, a last minute res. spot has shown up at a favorite restaurant (two of those character meals). Win- win.
At first I really likes My magic +. However, this year I rode less rides than ever and wasn't happy about it. Granted it was very busy this past June, but some rides such as Rock n Roller coaster I didn't even get on this year, do to fastpass rules. I scheduled all my fastpasses early in the day each day, and did my best to get more at kiosks after they were used, and most often everything was gone I wanted a fastpass for. Very disheartening.
Nice history of the Fastpass system. However, you keep referring to Walt Disney World as the "Happiest Place on Earth." That phrase actually refers to Disneyland in California, which still employs paper Fastpasses. Disney World is referred to as the "Most Magical Place on Earth" and employs MyMagic+.