Should there be a Fastpass wait time?

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Happened to me in June at HM. Waited in the FP line for 30 minutes. It had rained and a lot of people got anytime FP’s, so it overwhelmed the system. I have a feeling they will be tweaking the FP system to account for the growing lines.

 

[GillianP1301]

Inclement weather can definitely cause some chaos in the FP wait times because you end up with a lot of people with anytime fastpasses for rides that are closed down temporarily who descend on the rides that are open. That type of influx is not factored into how they calculate how many fastpasses to release for any given time.

We've been fortunate and never had any extended wait times for any fastpass (I can't think of any longer than 15 minutes), but we go during a more moderate crowd time, so that probably helps. If anything an influx to the fastpass line usually means an extension to the wait time in standby because they will keep that fastpass line moving, at the expense of standby people, to keep the fastpass line down to a more acceptable wait.

If I get to an attraction with a fastpass and notice an abnormally long line, I usually go away and come back a bit later (assuming I'm not already at the end of my FP window). Even a 1/2 hour can really make a difference.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

We have experienced all of the above.

The FP line may be held up for a wide variety of reasons, among them:
a clueless guest
a guest with a legitimate FP problem
a problem with the FP scanners
weather backups
post-parade or post-fireworks crowds
ride closures/breakdowns/stops


Sometimes the FP line just looks long, like especially when the front of the line is held up by one family. Other times, we have had to wait more than 15minutes in a FP line.

 

[cps17]

If it’s a rainy day, you can count on rides like Space Mountain and other super popular indoor rides to have packed FP lines. You can also count on the standby times being longer than posted too as they try to clear the FP lines.

 

[LSUmiss]

Before this trip (leaving tomorrow), I would have said no, but honestly after this week I see a reason for it. The Space fastpass line on Thursday evening was insane, rode twice with fastpass and it took over 45 mins. both times. -I had never experienced that before and def. threwa wrench into our plans.

This was mentioned in July crowds thread too. We just were there this past week too & I have been at very crowded times. My last trip was thanksgiving & this is the first time I have experienced this. I didn’t think it felt anymore crowded than previous trips. If anything, it was less. I think there is something up with it like they’re making more Fps available. With the rumors of paid Fps on the horizon, I think they’re pushing the limits to see what they can get away with.

 

[dreiwhit]

It happened to us back in early February 2018. There were several times that we had 30 minute FP waits.

I don't believe it was due to low CM staffing. There were a lot of people in the parks. Disney's pack the park in the off season strategy has worked for them. Not so much for us, though.....

 

[SaintsManiac]

It happened to us back in early February 2018. There were several times that we had 30 minute FP waits.

I don't believe it was due to low CM staffing. There were a lot of people in the parks. Disney's pack the park in the off season strategy has worked for them. Not so much for us, though.....

If I waited 30 minutes for a FP I would be doing some complaining. Even when lines look long they should move quickly.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Fast Pass line? More like Slow Pass line. I'm an advocate for most Dad jokes but this one is so lame and overrun.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Fast Pass line? More like Slow Pass line. I'm an advocate for most Dad jokes but this one is so lame and overrun.

Yeah it's terrible. I also heard someone in the 7DMT FP line saying stand by would have been quicker.

 

[westie55]

I have NEVER encountered fp lines like I did last week. The splash mountain fp line was out of the queue entirely and all the way back to Thunder Mountain. It took about 30 min. Buzz was also really long, as was 7DMT. I go in summer every year and have never encountered anything like this. If do lines are that long, they need to stop taking any stand by guests, period, until the fp waits are reasonable again. They should never be over 15 min. People without fp should just wait longer. I'm not sure why this isn't done.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I don't think posting the times will help since Disney regularly inflates wait times anyway.

Last trip a CM at the FP+ entrance was telling everyone the FP+ wait was 25-30 minutes. We went anyway and were on within 7 minutes.

 

[bdarling]

In 2017 March trip we we walked off and out behind the scenes of Splash Mountain at 9:30am. We were given anytime FP paper slips to try again. But the ride was down until after 3PM, so the FP line even at 7P was 30 minutes with everyone from the day trying to use the FP.

We also stopped entrance to a ride, maybe Nemo, because my son’s wheelchair did not quite fit in the accessible car. The CMs were great first slowing, then stopping it to make it work, but we couldn’t. The line got backed up from 10 to 30 people that day

 

[Dracoa Dragoon]

Don't worry Disney is implementing the FastPass++ line shortly. For a small fee, you can get a Fastpass++ ticket for your favorite ride that lets you skip the people in the standby and Fastpass+ line.

 

[MomOTwins]

We held up the FP line one time at Toy Story Midway Mania because I had 100% made a fastpass and it showed up in my app, but our bands were getting the blue swirl of rejection. I felt really bad, but it also didn't seem fair that we should just leave and give up on our fastpass because of their technical issue (they did figure out I was right in the end, but it was super embarrassing and I'm sure everything thought I was just trying to sneak my way into the shorter queue).

But those are the kind of delays that add at most 5 minutes while they get figured out. For it to be a substantial wait like 45 minutes, I think what must be going on is rain or ride shutdown closures causing greater "anytime FP" usage.

 

[sandalwood]

We just got back from the 12th-20th. We were at the parks all but the 20th. We found the fast passes we wanted to do incredibly long on some things. Like 'Soarin one night was about an hour (fast pass). We used to live in FL, we have been many times so we are used to the layout and crowds and when we lived in SC we went more frequent. We had not been in several years until this week (guessing5-6). I have never encountered crowds at Disney like we did last week but we do not go usually in summer. I told my husband I am not sure I am up to go in summer again. We had a blast but the lines were long to us it seemed. When we got up and went early, early, we found the security check lines long----bus lines long, etc. but we could get on some of the rides right away then without a fast pass. We enjoyed it don't get me wrong---but I thought the fast passes would work "fast" and that was not the case for us this past week. In fact, Magic Kindgom was so jam packed the couple of days we went there, we stuck mostly to Epoct later. A bad example we had last week of fast pass was for the Lion King at Animal Kingdom. We waited in line an hour to get in the theater in all that heat. When we got in, they had let all the other people in first (those not doing the fast pass). It was hot and the show was great, but that kept us from seeing Nemo---didnt want to fool with it. Never could get a ride on the river ride there. I sound negative, I don't mean it that way at all. I just think it was crazy busy from about say Monday or Tues. on last week---maybe others had different experiences. We did have fun. I just will rethink the months I go next time if all the kinks aren't out of the fast pass. I did get a survey from them today and very nicely mentioned it. Some of the rides had glitches, too so that was probably a lot of it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't think you'd want a sign though. I mean yes we all would realistically want to know how long we'll be in line but the Standby wait times already can be off or at times inflated. Just like the Standby line things like weather, mechanical/ride down issues, reduced capacity for multiple reasons (like ToT running with one side down to refurb it, etc), confusion at the tapstile (for FP line only not Standby since Standby doesn't have a tapstile), anytime FP given out, etc all can make the time longer. People already complain enough about the ride waits listed for Standby lines being off (lower wait time of course doesn't yield complaints lol).

I think the complaints I'm reading here aren't so much of wanting a sign (for the most part) but rather other things that are interacting with how long one is waiting in the FP line at any given time. I don't think those issues unfortunately will go away since they are unpredictable.

 

[Pooh2]

We also experienced fast pass lines of 15-30 minutes the second week of June.
The regular lines looked much longer though so it still saved us time.
We are going again next month, curious to see if we have the same experience.

 

[wilbret]

Generally speaking the FP line doesn't snake around as much, so even if it's out the door... it's not as long as the standby line that wraps around, under, and over creation. That being said, last time we were at MK, the FP line for Space Mountain was so long, you could have bought an ice cream cone while standing in line.

 

[LSUmiss]

Don't worry Disney is implementing the FastPass++ line shortly. For a small fee, you can get a Fastpass++ ticket for your favorite ride that lets you skip the people in the standby and Fastpass+ line.

They better if they intend to ask ppl to pay for fps. Waiting in line for fp is one thing when they’re free, but it better be actually walk on if I pay. But, there are no indications that they’ll b a 3rd entry so I don’t see how that’s possible.

But, again, if they do, they have again created a situation where some of us would be willing to pay for an extra. Traveling with a toddler makes waiting in any line over 10 min a challenge. I’d be willing to pay to mitigate that situation. And, I’m not naive, I know it’s like being in an abusive relationship. I just keep allowing wdw to mistreat me and keep going back for more. But, when DS enjoys it as much as he did, they got me . And then probably when I’m finally ready to walk away they’ll be a recession & I won’t be able to pass up the deals lol!

 

[LSUmiss]

We held up the FP line one time at Toy Story Midway Mania because I had 100% made a fastpass and it showed up in my app, but our bands were getting the blue swirl of rejection. I felt really bad, but it also didn't seem fair that we should just leave and give up on our fastpass because of their technical issue (they did figure out I was right in the end, but it was super embarrassing and I'm sure everything thought I was just trying to sneak my way into the shorter queue).

But those are the kind of delays that add at most 5 minutes while they get figured out. For it to be a substantial wait like 45 minutes, I think what must be going on is rain or ride shutdown closures causing greater "anytime FP" usage.

That happened to us just Saturday at jungle cruise. But they took us aside to discuss it. That’s what they should do & not hold up the line.