Sell me on Max Pass.....

[peterpanandwendy]

I am not sure I really understand the value of Max pass....

Here is the situation... DD5 (severe autism), DS7, hubby and me (both 30 somethings). We are leaving in just over a week. We will be there July 16 -22. We plan on doing Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday as park days.

DS7 is at the age and height were he can do EVERYTHING (and this is basically his first trip, because he was 3 the last time we were there, and he doesn't remember anything at all. That's him in my profile pic, the cute little red head). DD5 is probably going to need breaks and some extra rest. I will look after her, while my hubby does all the fun stuff with DS.

So, I was thinking of getting Max Pass just for hubby and DS.....

Thoughts? It is worth it? Can someone please tell me exactly what Max Pass is all about and sell me on it's value?

Thanks!

 

[palmtreelover08]

I was a skeptic on Max Pass- but just got back from using it and am a big fan. You can make fast passes- and make additional ones while still in line for that ride, once you go they the turn style, unless of course you have anfirther it fastpass already booked. If your fastpass time is booked close to the current time, you may be able to book another FP in half hour— and without having to walk across the park to get it! If you decide to go back for breaks, you can book FP’s for when you plan to return- while out your hotel- and keep booking them as soon as you are allowed. I had four-five FP’s booked for evenings after our breaks. I would say Max Pass is dang near perfect. You may want if for your younger son as well- that way you can book some rides that he likes while your husband and older son run around. Just make sure hubby knows to book new FP as soon as he is able.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The value is pulling them more often because you don’t have to wait as long between pulling FPs and not making somebody walk to the attraction to pull the pass. In your shoes I’d let the boys have it for Day 1 and just see how it goes before deciding on other days.

ETA: My last few trips I used MP but by the end I was kinda over it and didn’t purchase anymore. Love it for the beginning of the trip, but I don’t want it at the end when I’m tired.

 

[peterpanandwendy]

The value is pulling them more often because you don’t have to wait as long between pulling FPs and not making somebody walk to the attraction to pull the pass. In your shoes I’d let the boys have it for Day 1 and just see how it goes before deciding on other days.

Yes, this is what I was thinking. I was thinking it might be useful for DD and I, if there are fast passes for the stuff she likes... we will have to play it by ear.

 

[peterpanandwendy]

I was a skeptic on Max Pass- but just got back from using it and am a big fan. You can make fast passes- and make additional ones while still in line for that ride, once you go they the turn style, unless of course you have anfirther it fastpass already booked. If your fastpass time is booked close to the current time, you may be able to book another FP in half hour— and without having to walk across the park to get it! If you decide to go back for breaks, you can book FP’s for when you plan to return- while out your hotel- and keep booking them as soon as you are allowed. I had four-five FP’s booked for evenings after our breaks. I would say Max Pass is dang near perfect. You may want if for your younger son as well- that way you can book some rides that he likes while your husband and older son run around. Just make sure hubby knows to book new FP as soon as he is able.

I think your post was the one that inspired this one I just read about your good experience and I thought "hmmmmmmm, maybe I can be talked into this... but I'm not sure I understand the concept of it."

So if I take advantage of it, we get more fast passes in the day? Is that how it works?

 

[McPhoenix]

I think your post was the one that inspired this one I just read about your good experience and I thought "hmmmmmmm, maybe I can be talked into this... but I'm not sure I understand the concept of it."

So if I take advantage of it, we get more fast passes in the day? Is that how it works?

You can get more fast passes, but it does depend on how you use it. After you book a fast pass with it, you can get another one in 90 minutes, which is a bit shorter than using the ticket machines. But the biggest advantage is that you don't have to run over to the ticket machines to get a fast pass. Just grab them from your phone wherever you are. It's great.

It tells you when you can get another, too, so I always book them and then tell my phone to remind me at that time, so I can check to see if there are any good options. Often rides will have fast pass times that are immediate or in 5-10 minutes (rides like It's a Small World, for example), so you can grab a fast pass while walking to the ride and then just head straight into the fast pass line. It ends up cutting out a lot of walking and makes it more likely that you'll not have to spend as much time waiting in lines.

 

[palmtreelover08]

You get “more”- because you don’t have to walk back and forth across the park to get new passes, you can make More fast passes after you go the turn style for the current ride (while still in line)- and can make fast passes while at lunch, swimming at your hotel pool in the afternoon, or for a different park then you are currently in. Some examples. First thing in the morning, you walk they turn style, but your Max Pass and set up FP for Space Mt. at 9:30. You go directly to Peter Pan, then alice, then Dumbo, Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio. It is now 9:30- as you are walking toward space my to go use your Pass, you book a FP for Indiana Jones- let’s just say is gives you - 11:00-12:00 return time. (opposite direction of Space Mt)- saves you time/steps walking back and forth. You then decide to go on Nemo, autotopia, small word- and it is 11:00. You can make a fast pass while on Small world for Big Thunder with a fast pass return time of day 10:45-11:45- and you didn’t have to walk across the park t do it- and you now have over lapping fast passes for the same area of the park. You go to Bug Thunder and then right into Indy. Guess what- time to make another FP... you get the idea.

Second example. It is early in the morning (within two hours of park opening). Big thunder shows a 20 minute wait but there is a fast pass available for rift then and there. You book that FP, saving yourself the 20 minute wait, and can immediacy book another FP- for something close by, or something across the park.

Ex 3. You want to go on RSR at night- but FP’s run out of them pretty quickly. So you are at DL, keep an eye on the FP return time for RSR, then when it is at a desirable time, you book that FP, and continue to book fP’s for DL when the time on your difital FP tells you thatyou can do so- and you didn’t have to leave the park. You can also do this from your hotel room, while eating lunch, etc.

 

[palmtreelover08]

Also- longest time I had to wait was 90 minutes, shorted time was immediate!

 

[SeattleMom]

Others have explained why, but I’ll add that on our trip last week with my daughter who is also significantly impacted by autism, I LOVED the MaxPass feature on the days we were utilizing FastPasses (she doesn’t enjoy the thrill rides). It was a game changer for us when combined with the Disability Access Service; the longest we ever waiting in line was 15 min and many times we went right on. No running, no hassles, I just booked from our table over lunch or during a show. The shows were a fantastic way to take a break while still having a great time. There were enough Guest Relations stands that obtaining DAS return times was easy, too.

Have fun!

 

[kappyfamily]

I’ve used max pass for 2 different trips, honestly people are nuts for not getting it. It pretty much rocks.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You get “more”- because you don’t have to walk back and forth across the park to get new passes, you can make More fast passes after you go the turn style for the current ride (while still in line)- and can make fast passes while at lunch, swimming at your hotel pool in the afternoon, or for a different park then you are currently in. Some examples. First thing in the morning, you walk they turn style, but your Max Pass and set up FP for Space Mt. at 9:30. You go directly to Peter Pan, then alice, then Dumbo, Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio. It is now 9:30- as you are walking toward space my to go use your Pass, you book a FP for Indiana Jones- let’s just say is gives you - 11:00-12:00 return time. (opposite direction of Space Mt)- saves you time/steps walking back and forth. You then decide to go on Nemo, autotopia, small word- and it is 11:00. You can make a fast pass while on Small world for Big Thunder with a fast pass return time of day 10:45-11:45- and you didn’t have to walk across the park t do it- and you now have over lapping fast passes for the same area of the park. You go to Bug Thunder and then right into Indy. Guess what- time to make another FP... you get the idea.

Second example. It is early in the morning (within two hours of park opening). Big thunder shows a 20 minute wait but there is a fast pass available for rift then and there. You book that FP, saving yourself the 20 minute wait, and can immediacy book another FP- for something close by, or something across the park.

Ex 3. You want to go on RSR at night- but FP’s run out of them pretty quickly. So you are at DL, keep an eye on the FP return time for RSR, then when it is at a desirable time, you book that FP, and continue to book fP’s for DL when the time on your difital FP tells you thatyou can do so- and you didn’t have to leave the park. You can also do this from your hotel room, while eating lunch, etc.

Actually the reason I say you get more Fastpasses is soly because MaxPass lets you pull another FP at a max of 90 mins from when you pull one, paper FP have a max wait time of 2 hours.

 

[ExcitedMama]

When we went in the fall I MP’d everyday for just me. That way I could use it for PP and the ride photos. We were in a similar situation with one younger child who didn’t meet all the height requirements and an older who hadn’t been on a lot of the thrill rides because it was his first trip meeting the requirements. On your first day I’d check out the crowds and wait times to decide if you need to MP. If you want MP for PP then it’s not a big deal to add your oldest as well to MP thrill rides. From there you can find out if he likes those rides and wants to keep doing them. My oldest insisted on doing ToT at 4 and absolutely hated it so I was skeptical when we brought him back at 7 how he would do on thrill rides. Turns out he couldn’t get enough. Unfortunately he loved Screamin and Guardians but Screamin kept going down and Guardians had horribly long lines. MP was essential to get him on his favorite rides. If yours is the same it will depend on crowds and wait times if you think it’s worth it.

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

For us, the ability to manage FP on the fly makes it totally worth it. We avoided crowds like the plague in the past. Went during spring break this year, we had a blast. Never waited over 30 min for something the whole time.

 

[Howry]

Maxpass is fantastic. We have an 8 year old with autism and we went in May. It was a godsend as it really cut down on the wait time for rides. We could pull a fast pass, wander around, do stuff, see things and then go hop on a ride with very little wait time.

We could go back to our hotel in the afternoon and then pull fast passes for the evening. Every 90 minutes you can pull a fast passes so we could have 2-3 rides stacked up ready to go in the evening so we would go back and go from ride to ride to ride with almost no wait time.

Try it one day and if you don't like it then don't get it the rest of the days.

 

[Winnowill]

We just got back from five days, four of them using MaxPass. It was great. Crowded though it was, we didn't wait very long for anything, and I never even looked at the wait times on any of the rides because we had FPs for everything. Monday morning, we arrived at 7:20 for 8:00 am opening. We got MP and immediately booked RSR for 8:15-9:15. We rope-dropped GotG, then checked in for RSR and immediately got a 9:10-10:10 FP for Incredicoaster. Then we rode Soarin' with a 10-minute wait, and then Incredicoaster. Four headliners done by 9:30 (actually, my DD10 rode IC twice because her friend melted down and didn't want to, so she used that FP). We could have done TSMM, too, because I had a pass from the previous night when one of our screens was down, but we didn't have time because we wanted to do Animation Academy at 10:00 before going to our 10:50 breakfast reservation.

 

[HydroGuy]

Reasons for getting MP...some of these points have been raised by others already.

1. If you want to get ride and photopass photos, those are included. So for a small group that can almost pay for MP.

2. It saves you from walking to pick up FPs

3. It allows you to get FPs at most every 90 minutes vs. 120 minutes for legacy paper FP

4. It allows you to get FPs at the opposite park without having to walk over there to get the FP (that used to me, I was the FP runner)

5. It allows you to get FPs when you are away from the parks (back at the hotel but the pool ), or sitting at lunch somewhere or even in line for another ride

6. It allows you to cancel a FP and get something different if your plans change

7. It allows you to get FPs after they have run out when someone else cancels theirs. We did this multiple times on our trip in June. The smaller the group, the easier it is to find cancelled FPs.

 

[jmangum100]

You get “more”- because you don’t have to walk back and forth across the park to get new passes, you can make More fast passes after you go the turn style for the current ride (while still in line)- and can make fast passes while at lunch, swimming at your hotel pool in the afternoon, or for a different park then you are currently in. Some examples. First thing in the morning, you walk they turn style, but your Max Pass and set up FP for Space Mt. at 9:30. You go directly to Peter Pan, then alice, then Dumbo, Toad, Snow White and Pinocchio. It is now 9:30- as you are walking toward space my to go use your Pass, you book a FP for Indiana Jones- let’s just say is gives you - 11:00-12:00 return time. (opposite direction of Space Mt)- saves you time/steps walking back and forth. You then decide to go on Nemo, autotopia, small word- and it is 11:00. You can make a fast pass while on Small world for Big Thunder with a fast pass return time of day 10:45-11:45- and you didn’t have to walk across the park t do it- and you now have over lapping fast passes for the same area of the park. You go to Bug Thunder and then right into Indy. Guess what- time to make another FP... you get the idea.

Second example. It is early in the morning (within two hours of park opening). Big thunder shows a 20 minute wait but there is a fast pass available for rift then and there. You book that FP, saving yourself the 20 minute wait, and can immediacy book another FP- for something close by, or something across the park.

Ex 3. You want to go on RSR at night- but FP’s run out of them pretty quickly. So you are at DL, keep an eye on the FP return time for RSR, then when it is at a desirable time, you book that FP, and continue to book fP’s for DL when the time on your difital FP tells you thatyou can do so- and you didn’t have to leave the park. You can also do this from your hotel room, while eating lunch, etc.

If you for instance find a desirable time for RSR that is in the evening, are you able to get a FP for another ride before then as long as it's been 90 min since you made that one?

 

[McPhoenix]

If you for instance find a desirable time for RSR that is in the evening, are you able to get a FP for another ride before then as long as it's been 90 min since you made that one?

Yep!
You can't have two fast passes for the same ride at the same time, but if it's ~11am and you grab a RSR fast pass for 6pm, at 12:30pm you can make another fast pass reservation for any other ride except RSR. And then another one at 2pm, and another one at 3:30pm, etc, all while that RSR fast pass is waiting for its time.

 

[Winnowill]

Yep!
You can't have two fast passes for the same ride at the same time, but if it's ~11am and you grab a RSR fast pass for 6pm, at 12:30pm you can make another fast pass reservation for any other ride except RSR. And then another one at 2pm, and another one at 3:30pm, etc, all while that RSR fast pass is waiting for its time.

It gets even better. Yes, you have to wait 90 minutes before you can make your next pick after grabbing the RSR FP, but, if the next one you get has a return time that's closer than 90 minutes, THAT becomes the time you can get the next one. So, if you grabbed the RSR FP at 11:00 per the example given and then, at 12:30, you grab one for BTMRR with a return time of 1:15 (which is the current return time for that ride at 12:23 today), at 1:16 you can get your next one. It's only 90 minutes if the return time for the last one you picked is farther out than 90 minutes.

 

[jmangum100]

Yep!
You can't have two fast passes for the same ride at the same time, but if it's ~11am and you grab a RSR fast pass for 6pm, at 12:30pm you can make another fast pass reservation for any other ride except RSR. And then another one at 2pm, and another one at 3:30pm, etc, all while that RSR fast pass is waiting for its time.

This is much better than the FP+ at WDW. One of the reasons I like DLR is due to the more laid back feel.