The End of FASTPASS Forgiveness

by josh on February 6, 2012

http://www.wdwmagic.com/Other/FASTPASS/News/06Feb2012-Big-changes-coming-to-FASTPASS-in-March.htm

Good luck out there.

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Peaches February 6, 2012 at 2:56 pm: That is so stupid, IMOP!
josh February 6, 2012 at 2:57 pm: LIGHT UP THE INTERNET BABY!!!

IT’S DISBOARDS.COM TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peaches February 6, 2012 at 3:01 pm: I am worried for the health of the Dissers, seriously they will be having heart attacks over this.
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:03 pm: I still haven’t seen a memo and Disney rarely starts doing anything on a Wednesday.

But you never know.
Katie February 6, 2012 at 3:12 pm: The poor people on the Dis… I wonder how many threads will be going at the same time. I bet there are people that demand resort upgrades since it is just being announced and it is so close to their departure. I mean … it will RUIN entire trips!
Craig February 6, 2012 at 3:14 pm: I wonder if this has anything to do with that new “pay extra and reserve a time to ride attractions” deal they’re supposed to be rolling out?
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:17 pm: Yeah, most likely. I mean, you can’t have us riff-raff riding whenever we want with FASTPASSes from 9am!
Linda February 6, 2012 at 3:20 pm: Wow – a real game changer!
Peaches February 6, 2012 at 3:23 pm: Any moment now I predict a surge of ” I am selling my DVC it is now useless”.
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:24 pm: Haha

DVC points for 72 cents each.
cupcake February 6, 2012 at 3:24 pm: This won’t affect me too much…we’re ardent RDers and occasionally we get FPs for “one last ride later on” with the idea of utilizing the time-forgiveness, but inevitably we don’t even wind up using said passes.

I know this will definitely have a huge impact on the late risers and the spend-10-hours-at-a-time-in-one-park crowd, and I feel bad for those who utilize the current system to great effect. This will surely put some kinks into many tried and true touring plans.

I think I’ll avoid the DIS for the next few months though…who knew those weekly rumor threads would wind up getting it right?!
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:27 pm: For me at a park like Epcot, I might grab FASTPASSes for Soarin’ at 10:30am with a return time of 1pm and plan to head up to World Showcase for lunch and a walk around the Pavilions, maybe ending at 5pm. It’s a huge hassle to return all the way back to the Land Pavilion from even the United Kingdom Pavilion. So I’ll walk around and hit Soarin’ on my way out. It just seems like the number of people using late FASTPASSes would even out over the course of the day. Not everyone returns “late” at the same time, so the distribution should still be similar.
mousehelper February 6, 2012 at 3:28 pm: argh.
cupcake February 6, 2012 at 3:34 pm: Josh, that kind of scenario is generally the reason why we never wind up using our “one last ride” FPs, haha! But in the situation you described I’d scrap Soarin’ and ride the superior LWTL anyway! No, that’s not sarcasm.
Stephanie February 6, 2012 at 3:35 pm: Well, I’m sure that this will have worked itself out into a new “system” by the time I get to visit WDW again.

“New coke” anyone?
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:35 pm: Yeah, I don’t want to ride Soarin’ either. It is just the best fictitious example possible!
Vicki February 6, 2012 at 3:55 pm: I’m hoping it’s not true. That’s all I have to say. Is wdwmagic really super reliable? I don’t read that site unless someone points me to something there.
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:57 pm: Yeah, they are as reliable as they come.
Sandy February 6, 2012 at 3:58 pm: So sad to hear this! Going in April so I’ll have to see how it works. Now I’m tempted to try one of UOG sample tours….
josh February 6, 2012 at 3:59 pm: An Unofficial Guide Touring Plan based on being able to use FASTPASS whenever you want? If anything, all current “touring plans” are void. This website’s included.
Stephen February 6, 2012 at 4:00 pm: No bueno. If this turns out to be true, it might actually cause me to consider park hopping. I haven’t done that in the past because I collect FP in the morning and then take an afternoon break. In the evening, we go back and use late FP’s, so there was a big incentive to go back to the same park vs hopping.

Disney is finding a way to get more $$ from me…
Peaches February 6, 2012 at 4:04 pm: Josh,
Carpe diem!!
whitestavern February 6, 2012 at 4:12 pm: How much do you think this will affect visitors between now and March 7? We’re heading down 2/25-3/3 and I’m wondering if they’ll already be warning or refusing people.

Frankly, they can only bleed so much money from their visitors…I would think if people end up paying for this NexGen thing they’ll be cutting their spending in other areas, ie fewer ADRs, more CS vs TS meals, more people staying offsite, etc.
RebeccaMcK February 6, 2012 at 4:28 pm: Argh! Hopefully this is just a phase, lol. Once the new attractions in Fantasyland are done, I hear they’ll have 11 rides (and shows if you include Philharmagic and, technically, the 2 meet’n'greets in Town Square Theater I think) that offer FPs, so maybe they’re jumping the gun and trying to enforce the return times all around. I can’t remember if Little Mermaid will offer FP, but the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster is supposed to have it. This is going to affect ADRs in the park (and at the nearby hotels). Will someone go some time and try to use a FP late and see what happens? Maybe not all CMs will be sticklers.
Rhonda February 6, 2012 at 4:42 pm: I want to cry………..
Heidi February 6, 2012 at 4:53 pm: Whoa! Shut the front door:) Josh, will you be checking this out for us on the 7th of March? I’m anxious to see if the FP’s have an expiration time noted and any details you can give would be greatly appreciated!
josh February 6, 2012 at 4:55 pm: Yeah, I would guess I’ll find myself there on March 7th.

As to what will happen between now and then, it would just be speculation. I haven’t seen anything officially documented about this yet.
Cinderelly February 6, 2012 at 5:03 pm: I don’t even know what to say. We arrive on March 10.
Ann February 6, 2012 at 5:14 pm: All I can say is Ugh! This will make coming up with touring plans very interesting.
Susan February 6, 2012 at 5:22 pm: I wouldn’t want to be around when guests are turned away when this is first implemented. I don’t think it will be pretty.
josh February 6, 2012 at 5:24 pm: Yeah, but you have to consider that most of the people that are aware that FASTPASSes can be used anytime are also the people that frequent websites like this one. Most “casual” vacationers see the 3:15pm – 4:15pm window and do whatever they can to get there. If they don’t, they’re happy that an exception was made for them. Most people don’t know it’s currently the rule.
Brandi February 6, 2012 at 5:32 pm: I’m interested to see how this plays out. My son has sensory issues and we usually can’t tour like most families. This is really going to complicate things for our family.
Hilary February 6, 2012 at 5:32 pm: But … they’re going to let us use them five minutes earlier! That’ll be such a big help. /sarcasm
Terri in So Cal February 6, 2012 at 5:35 pm: Do you think this will apply at Disneyland as well? I hope not. While it won’t ruin a trip for us it will make this a little trickier. And I can see guests complaining to the poor CM manning the FP return entrance that they couldn’t get back in time because ….. (our meal took too long, we got stuck on a ride, the parade blocked our return, our return time conflicted with parade, fireworks, Fantasmic, you name it) All valid reasons. (I for one have been stuck on the Indy ride at DL for over an hour). I guess time will tell if they continue this new stricter policy (after all the complaints they are sure to get!)
Rusty Shackleford February 6, 2012 at 5:41 pm: GOOD!

Love the complaining on the DIS boards….
Claire February 6, 2012 at 5:46 pm: March 7 is towards the end of our trip. It will be interesting!
bowbat February 6, 2012 at 6:13 pm: We don’t really use FPs, as we’re early-in/early-out park goers, but I will admit I appreciate this announcement for the sheer entertainment value. I love a good message board freak-out.
Betty February 6, 2012 at 6:17 pm: Oh man! On our last trip, I don’t think we ever actually used our FP’s during the appropriate return time. Just when I thought I had it all figured out . . .
@Aaron_Ardle February 6, 2012 at 6:32 pm: EVERYBODY PANIC!

I don’t understand what the big challenge is to show up somewhere on time. Days where I’m not on vacation I show up on time for stuff like crazy.

We happen to really dig the Animation Academy. We go there first thing in the morning and find out times for the characters we want to draw, and somehow, despite the best efforts of Disney to distract us with a bunch of other totally fun things, we make it back over there to draw Daisy.

If you really want it you’ll make it happen. If The Universe decides you’re missing your return time, um, you’re at Disneyworld, you could be having a real life problem instead, be grateful.
Anonymous February 6, 2012 at 7:04 pm: Wow, this throws a huge wrench into our touring style……ugh
Monica February 6, 2012 at 7:41 pm: Saw this on the DL board on DIS (they are more civil than the WDW side) and figured Josh would have covered it here. This same rumor comes up every couple of months, but this is the first time I’ve seen it given an exact date and first time I’ve seen it on WDWMagic.

If true, it will definitely change how I tour, but not enough to ruin my trips.
Becca February 6, 2012 at 7:49 pm: This falls right in the middle of our trip and will split our MK days in half… one with the “old” FP rule and one with the “new” FP rule. Erg. Assuming this is all true, you think Disney will flip a switch on 3/7 and make a clean cut / be sticklers about the time or kind of gently transition to the new policy?
Brian February 6, 2012 at 7:52 pm: At least this will push the seaworld info onto the back burner.

This may balance with those people not returning on time, should make the fp wait times even less towards the end of the day.
Mike February 6, 2012 at 8:02 pm: Will rider swap passes have enforced return windows too?
Wei February 6, 2012 at 9:21 pm: This throws a crimp into just about any “planners” touring plans, but it’s really a bummer for families with young children (kind of an important demographic maybe?). Trying to please different aged kids, and to stay on a schedule through the day with little ones is hard enough… and losing the flexibility that open ended FP’s provided is only going to increase the stress level. So glad we were able to visit the parks recently before this goes into effect.

If it ain’t broke…
Mike February 6, 2012 at 10:48 pm: Man that sucks if it’s true.

Granted I usually go during the slow times of the year so it’s not a HUGE deal with me, when my wife and I went we easily could have done every ride in the park in 1 day if we wanted to, but grabbing a few fastpasses here and there so we could maybe ride something more than once was nice.
Patty February 7, 2012 at 2:56 am: Wow…I hate this. We always use our FPs late in the day. This will significantly impact how we do things.
nini February 7, 2012 at 4:42 am: While I hate to see this, it really won’t be that much of a big deal to us…since we use a GAC with my son. However, it will be a big deal for those rides where they want us to use the FP as opposed to GAC…flexibility is the only reason we can go to Disney.
bnoble February 7, 2012 at 5:21 am: “Is wdwmagic really super reliable?”
As Josh mentioned, the ‘front page’ of WDW Magic doesn’t post something unless the site owners can confirm it with someone inside the company that they believe “speaks for” the issue at hand. I haven’t read the thread over there yet to see exactly what the provenance is. I would have assumed this came from the HUB, but if Josh hasn’t seen anything “official”, that’s probably not it.

Will this change touring styles? Yes. Will it make Disney trips less fun? No. Honestly, this is no big deal. Heck, I’m able to tour “regular” parks without any sort of virtual queueing system, and still can have great days. You probably will only ride Space Mountain once or twice in a day rather than three or four times, but that can be a good excuse to see some of the other attractions we never seem to have time for.
Julie February 7, 2012 at 5:35 am: I can’t think of a single time that we’ve used our FP during its stated return time. If this is true, it will really impact how we tour as a family. We probably won’t use FP all that much, but will have to focus on the times that we tour. My 3 year old is going to continue to want to eat, sleep, etc. on his own schedule and to heck with the FP. And my teenagers will NOT want to rush one side of the park to the other just because a FP says we have to.

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