What do you think of Disney's Fastpass?

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Andrea S

In my opinion, the Disney Fastpass system as it is now is fair because it applies to everyone, not just those that are staying on the property. I believe Walt Disney himself would not be too upset with the idea because the fastpasses allows people to manage their time and be able to ride the more popular rides with ease. Hence it makes people happier and that is what Disney always intended is to make people the happiest that they can be. Now on a side note, the Universal Studios theme park's fastpass system, to me, is very unfair. You have to buy their "speedpass" ontop of your ticket, unless you are staying on the property. Who wants to dish out $45 more dollars per ticket just so they can skip the line and go straight to the front. If you have ever been to Universal Studios, you will understand what I am talking about. The guests with the Speedpass can walk up at anytime and get on while the rest of you wait hours. For example, you could of been waiting 3 hours and a group could come up and take up the whole ride infront of you. If anything, that is line jumping with a price. To me, Disney is doing it right and should keep it that way.

tech_fanatic

Since Fastpass is available to anyone in the park and doesn't cost anyone, I think it is very fair. The system that was created for Disney's fastpass system is very advanced and detailed to prevent the lines from becomming just as long in the Fastpass line as they are in the regular line. They have been very successful with this and for most rides you can basically walk right on or have a few minutes to wait. Universal, on the other hand, didn't use such an advanced system and all their different lines seem to have long lines, although in many cases the regular line seems to be shorter. The difference with Universal is that you have to pay extra for theirs or stay onsite.

Everyone is pretty much entitled to the same amount of Fastpass for their visit to Disney. You take your ticket, get a pass for the ride you want to ride, and then you can go ride other rides, have dinner, etc. You can't immediately go get another Fastpass for another ride, you have to wait the amount of time listed on your ticket before you get the next one. That way no one gets every Fastpass right away or does something else to cause problems with the system.

I guess you could consider it cutting in line, but I don't really think of it that way. The person with the Fastpass had to take the time to get the pass, wait for their time to ride the ride, etc. So, they just used their time more wisely and rather than waiting an excessive amount of time in one line, they went and did some other things and came back out.

If the Fastpass was not available to everyone, or was a charge, etc. then I could see it being a bad thing. But in such a popular place where the weather is hot, the lines are long and the people often get angry, I think it is the perfect thing to have. If people don't want to take advantage of the Fastpass system, that is their choice, but they shouldn't get mad at the people that do.

Michelle L

I love them! especially in the heat of summer when you don't really want to wait 70 minutes to be cooled down by splash mountain. THey are very fair, in that everyone can get one, and that it can make your experience even better since you are not waiting in line 70% of the time! They only give out a certain amoutn of fastpasses per hour, that's why especially at MT Everest, they run out at like 1pm. ONce they have given out let's say 100 passes for each time slot they most on to the next time slot until they have all been handed out, therefore it's not like an unlimited number of passes are available. Universal on the other hand you have to pay like 50$ extra plus your ticket to get the fastpass, ummm no thanks! unless you are staying on site. I love them, I would never not use them.

sonfai81

It's fair for the reasons the woman suggested. The system also disallows people from basically running round the park making unlimited reservations. You have to use one before you can make another. This means that a small number of individuals can't clean out the fastpasses leaving everyone else with none. And it also means everyone is going to have to spend some time in the lines. What we normally do is reserve a fastpass for one ride and then in the waiting time, line up for another. I actually LIKE the lines in disney rides though, I think they're an important part of the rides. They help immerse you in the experience and there's a lot of detail put into the surroundings.

Lisa

I think its fair like everyone else said...its free and available to everyone!!!! As long as it stays that way then it's great. Like someone else said..places like Universal and Six Flags have passes you can buy that will get you to the front of the line. It's such a joke too because those parks are nearly as big as Disney world and you have to PAY for a pass.

Just another reason why Disney tops the rest!

Lady D

Fastpass is great! And NO, it's not like cutting in line. You take your admission ticket up to a little kiosk, you get it scanned and then you get another ticket that tells you what time to come back to the ride. When that timeframe comes along, you get to go thru a special line that dramatically reduces your wait time. Personally, I'd think you'd be crazy NOT to take advantage of the Fastpass since you'd very often be standing in line for over an hour before getting on the ride.

It's a wonderful device and for a change, Disney doesn't charge for it.

Shiksa Goddess

I think they're fair, since like the woman said, they're available to everyone, not just an exclusive group. I myself have never had one, so I'm not partial to fast passes. But I can't deny that it is pretty freaking annoying when you've been waiting in line for an hour and you see people with fast passes getting in after 10 minutes.

crazydaisy7410

i loved it when I used it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its not necessarily cutting.

the lady behind you is right.

NOLA guy

FastPass is available to everyone at no extra charge. It doesn't even require any planning - just grab a FastPass ticket if the line is really long (never stand in line) and return at the time on the FP ticket. Even if you just go around the corner and wait at a cafe it's better than standing in line.

Stinky Feet

I think it's fair. Basically you got in line at the time you got your Fastpass and Disney is "holding your spot" so you can go do something else. Disney is a business and they figured out if you are waiting in line you are not buying stuff soooo they created Fastpass. (It also helps your wait in line) It's smart on Disney's part because now I can go buy food, shop in the shops or ride another ride. And it makes the customer happy because they can do something else instead of being hot and grumpy in line with a bunch of kids.

I do think improvements need to be made to Fastpass. They should have a central place where you can get your Fastpass for any ride (like on Main Street or something) so you don't have to trek all the way over to rides like Splash Mountain to retrieve your fastpass and then back again to ride on it. Also they need it for all new rides, like the new Nemo ride. I would love to go on that ride but there is no way I am going to wait 2-3 hours with a 2 and 5 year old. Also...they need it on a lot more rides. Someone told me they can't have it on slow rides but it seems to me they have it on slow high capacity rides at Walt Disney World. Also they should make it so you can get more than one at a time (but not the same timeslot). It should just put you down for the timeslot after your first one has expired.

rael ramone

To go along with what has been said:

Fastpass is a system available to ALL in the parks, not just those staying on property (if you saw someone stick a room key card in it was because they had a room/park admission package where their room key also worked as their admission medium).

And it doesn't always give your next fastpass time after the one you are holding comes up, sometimes if you draw a fastpass that says come back several hours later they give you a much shorter time when you can pick up another.

And Disney is, in the end, a bottom line business. Just like they will close rides that are relatively popular but are expensive to run (like the original 20,000 Leagues submarine ride), thinking that since that specific ride doesn't bring them in and it costs lots of $$$ to run, lets close it. Fastpass gives people more time to shop and eat. But it is also visitor friendly in you can do more stuff while you are there (which encourages people to go who otherwise would be weary of long lines).

In the end, since Fastpass is available to everyone, and is designed to prevent abuse of it by a few, it is a fair system. Perhaps it can be tweaked to be more fair, but the system isn't the problem here, it's those who don't adapt to an obvious improvement designed for all, including them, to (in addition to spend more money) have more fun. Then again, it's one less person using the system taking passes that can be used by the rest of us...

Halo Mom

I like Fastpass
My only problem is that fastpass are not on every ride.
I think the women behind you is right

CEO&LittleLeagueMom

Fast Passes are great - frankly, I don't get the 'unfair' argument, since anybody can have one.

The only thing I don't like about FastPass is that you can only hold one at a time. When the FastPass time has gotten outrageously extended (e.g. you pull the pass at noon and it turns out to be for a ride slot at 6pm) this is dopey (and I don't mean the dog).

I'm sure the reason for this is so that people can't run around getting loads of FPs and then hoarding them (would screw the system up royally, since there would be slots 'blocked' and probably never used). But surely there must be another answer to this. The system should just prevent the holding of more than one FP within an hourly slot or something.

With a child in tow, a series of well selected FastPasses spread throughout a set of hours would make a Disneyland (or DisneyWorld) experience much easier for tired parents! And I would think being able to schedule people in this way would allow for tighter scheduling of rides.......

Steve

I think Fastpass is a good system, but you have to use it strategically.

It also allows the park to maximize the number of riders and to spread them out throughout the day.

P?e?A?C?e?O?u?T?!

i love those fast passes!

<3

well some of the things they said are true, while others were not. you can only get a fastpass if you are staying at a dinsey hotel, or in other words one that is on site. you simply place your room key or keys into the fastpass machine and you recieve a tiny piece of paper that says a time period for you to return to that ride, for example return between 12:00pm-1:00pm. then you simply return to the ride and get into another line designated for fastpass only. personally, i love the fastpass system because i live in NY and always stay on site when i go to disney. they allow you to get onto rides faster, saving you time. they might have just been upset that they couldn't get one or something, but it is a nice system and they are free, so who can argue with that? at universal you have to pay for them! they have their own opinions while i have mine. hope this gave you some insight on what i think about this.

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