The latest Disney World buzz surrounds the announcement that cast members must now enforce both the start and ending times on Fast Passes. While I haven’t read all of the online comments to hear the various reactions, I have talked to my local group of Disney friends. And despite reassurances from the top executives that most guests abide by the printed time and will never notice a change, our gang is disappointed.
Why, you may be asking, would we be disappointed when a rule that has always been in place is now merely being enforced? In large part, our Disney fanaticism and familiarity are the reasons we knew we could use those Fast Passes after the time expired. Many guests will not notice a difference simply because their Disney World knowledge and experience is limited. Therefore, Disney is primarily penalizing its biggest fans and supporters, including those who positively promote the happiest place on earth to countless family members and friends.
We always travel to Disney World during the value season when the crowds are lighter. During many of our earlier trips, we rarely needed a Fast Pass. Often the machines were even shut down and covered! However, as word spread about “Free Dining”, the crowds picked up. The last few years, we learned to make wise use of those helpful tickets.
I will miss the “old way” of using Fast Passes on Toy Story Mania the most. This attraction seems to be one of Disney’s most popular. The line is always long and the Fast Passes run out halfway through the day, if not sooner. We appreciated being able to grab Fast Passes throughout the morning as allowed and using them at our convenience later in the day as we passed back by the ride. Rarely did we ever return during our allotted time.
Another attraction on which we used Fast Passes in this manner was Test Track in Epcot. Near the end of the morning, before heading to the World Showcase for lunch, we always grabbed passes for Test Track. We would then take our time eating and exploring the countries, circling the lake in a few hours. We never felt pressure to watch the clock and rush back in time to use those passes and usually saved them in order to ride our favorite Epcot attraction just before leaving the park.
Rumor has it that Disney is now enforcing this rule in part due to a program in the works in which guests can order Fast Passes (or a similar type of pass) to make reservations for certain rides and attractions well in advance of their vacation. In addition to making plans for when to visit the World, where to stay, which parks to attend on particular days (based on Extra Magic Hours, of course), where to eat, when to make dining reservations, and so forth, the “good Disney planner” must now also plan what time of day she will ride Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, Soarin’, and other favorites.
Whew! That’s a lot of planning, even for someone who enjoys it as much as I do! While our family always takes time to prepare for our Disney vacation and has a general agenda in place before ever leaving our home, we also appreciate some flexibility within our days. After all, it is our vacation! Tying us down to the minute or even hour for certain rides on certain days is over the top – yes, even for us!
Although the news is disappointing, the enforcement of the Fast Passes is likely to only be a minor inconvenience for our family on our next Disney trip. Perhaps we will miss an extra ride on a favorite attraction or two, but I suspect we will still have a magical vacation. After all, it’s still Disney!
I have always followed the Fast Pass time. We have Annual Passes (We live in Indiana) we go as often as we can. I did not even know that you could go outside the time…lol…I just know that when we have the passes and we don’t use them we give them to someone as they are coming into the park…:)
We have loved FastPasses because of their flexability. Too many times you end up in line at another ride or waiting longer than expected for dining. This is a HUGE mistake on Disney’s part! I have NEVER run into a backlog in a FastPass line longer than any other time they are used, so obviously the current system works and shouldn’t be changed. (i.e. you can come back any time after your pass is effective). If I have to schedule my entire day around a FastPass system, I will rethink my entire trip to Disney and go somewhere else that is a more relaxed trip….and I LOVE WDW!!!
Just returned last week. The tickets definitely say you must return within the one hour time period on them and if a cast member is attending to the Fastpass machines, they will make a point to mention using it between those times.
We have often used our Fastpasses after their allotted time, not by much usually, but we didn’t rush back to use them if we were across the park. The differences for us: We made sure we could actually use the tickets at the times posted (no dining reservations in the way) before obtaining them and made sure to be back during that hour, once cutting it kind of close to the end because a wait for another ride went longer than posted. We did find we didn’t seek out Fastpasses quite as often during our stay but I’m not sure why this was.
We never tried to use one after the expire time, so I can’t say what would have happened. We didn’t see anyone turned away at a Fastpass entrance during out trip either.
Well written – I feel the same. Really disappointing and we will have to re-learn our touring strategies (and we’re going over Easter!). I also don’t think I want to plan my rides way in advance, it seems to remove the spontaneity that late FPs allowed, doesn’t it? And I’m a planner too. I’m sure it will all work out fine, but I wish they wouldn’t have changed it.
Thank you for your comments. I would like to add that multiple cast members told us that arriving after the expiration time was okay and confirmed it every time with their actions, so we never felt we were breaking a rule. We always appreciated Disney’s flexibility in this area and considered it a bit of their “magic”, especially consider the expense of the vacation.
We also go in value season and always use the FP during the stated window. If I don’t think it will work out with our plans, I try to give it away or just don’t take it in the first place. I personally don’t have a problem with them enforcing it (and I bet if you are 2 minutes late, the CM is still going to let you in, given that guests’ watches are unlikely to be synchronized with the FP clock) since otherwise, if you allow guests to return whenever, you will ends up with bunches arriving unpredictably in the FP line.