Should there be a Fastpass wait time?

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

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!

Universal's EP costs $$$ but it can't guarantee walk on. They do operate differently than Disney's FP but regardless you're likely to wait in a line in some attraction paid 'get ahead of the line' or not. Only time I could see not is paying for a VIP tour.

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

We noted much longer FastPass lines this trip (week after the 4th) and we are used to spring break, Christmas, etc. The worst was the time we had to wait 10 minutes in line at splash mountain before we even wound our way up to the first tap point to check in for the ride. The ride claimed over 100 minute standby, but we didn’t run into any standby people until we were inside, up the stairs, and winding through the cave/dirt tunnel area. There has been a definite shift towards higher fast pass distribution it felt like, and not the best estimations of standby at times. We joked about going standby instead to go faster, and while we probably still got in quicker, I really think it was only about a ten minute difference between the two- we waited 30 minutes, and judging from the ratio they were letting through and how short standby was, they couldn’t have waited much more than 40.
The fast pass lines were long enough to warrant our attention and some picture taking, and this is coming from a family that has done the squeeze by small world on Christmas week!

 

[NoTime42]

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.

It may have been others using the anytime FP+ trick, but in June I had the longest Space FP+ line ... the queue was stop and go the entire inside queue...it almost made me want to download the Disney Play app.
But I also had my Splash FP+ line start way back at the bridge that gets wet when the logs drop...but BTMRR was down for that day.

* the “trick” I used was getting a barnstormer 4th FP+ during a thunderstorm which kept turning into an anytime FP+

 

[AngiTN]

No. People that think a FP means no wait are simply incorrect in their thinking. That isn't a fault of the FP program. It's the fault of the person who is wrong. No one has ever said there are zero waits with the FP. Not sure how that idea gets out.
FP lines are always shorter than the stand by. Or better put, never longer wait than the stand by line. We have seen many instances where both lines had no wait. But even when the FP line is backed up, typically because someone doesn't know what they are doing, it's still shorter.

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.

had to be bad luck timing on your part. Having returned today it was significantly less crowded than past summers and we never found a long wait for FP, even when we were in the parks during the bad storms over the weekends and outdoor rides went down.

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

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

Example of the thought that FP means no wait. That's simply wrong. The lines are moving quicker than Stand by.

 

[AngiTN]

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.

Does that mean you waited 45 min to merge with stand by or 45 min total?
The FP wait time does not or should not count any time where you've merged with stand by.
If there was an outage you can't really fault the FP system either.

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.

I know we returned today from our trip that began last Wednesday. We never had a long wait on any ride using FP.
Long waits with FP are still the exception. We had a very different experience with FP and waits.
Crowds were very low for this time of year in comparison to past years. Or even in comparison to our trip in June.

But the bottom line of it all is people have to get out of their heads that FP means no wait

 

[brockash]

Does that mean you waited 45 min to merge with stand by or 45 min total?
The FP wait time does not or should not count any time where you've merged with stand by.
If there was an outage you can't really fault the FP system either.

I know we returned today from our trip that began last Wednesday. We never had a long wait on any ride using FP.
Long waits with FP are still the exception. We had a very different experience with FP and waits.
Crowds were very low for this time of year in comparison to past years. Or even in comparison to our trip in June.

But the bottom line of it all is people have to get out of their heads that FP means no wait

Hmmm... I'm not sure where you thought that my post implied an "outage," nor am I sure what you mean by that, but the 45 mins. was the amount of time it took us from entering until gettin on the ride. - Like I said in all our trips and many many times riding SM we have never had to wait 45 mins. in any fastpass line, and def. not SM (Test Track to me is one of the hardest rides to get in/out of in under 30 mins. with a fastpass, but Space has always been around 15 for us.) Nor have I ever seen the fastpass line backed up to the turn right after the steps as you enter (after the first fastpasd scan). Usually we are able to walk pretty close right up to the 2nd scan, so that was def. a big change, but I do think a lot had to do with the Villains Party that night and just the pure mass amount of ppl. once they were allowed to enter.

ETA: When I think of fastpass time I think of total time from entering to riding (obviously if the ride goes down or something that's different, but otherwise fastpass time for us means total time in the line). I understand you may think it means something different to you, but just to clarify when I was talking about the amount of time we spent in line with a fastpass I was talking about from the time we entered the line until the time we got on the ride...and yes for us 45 mins. for Space especially is much longer that what we normally experience.

 

[Castlequeen5]

In my case with TOT and Kilimanjaro Safaris, the wait was before the merge. So we waited around 30-45 minutes in the fastpass line. In both instances as soon as we went through the merge, we were either in the pre-show or about to board. I agree that the fastpass line is faster and sometimes it does take longer than normal. But when the wait is unusually high for the fastpass line, I think it would be nice to have an approximate wait time for it as well. Idk how it would be done, nor would it be necessary most of the time. I just figure they know how to gauge the standby line, so I figure they can estimate the fastpass line too.

 

[brockash]

No. People that think a FP means no wait are simply incorrect in their thinking. That isn't a fault of the FP program. It's the fault of the person who is wrong. No one has ever said there are zero waits with the FP. Not sure how that idea gets out.
FP lines are always shorter than the stand by. Or better put, never longer wait than the stand by line. We have seen many instances where both lines had no wait. But even when the FP line is backed up, typically because someone doesn't know what they are doing, it's still shorter.

had to be bad luck timing on your part. Having returned today it was significantly less crowded than past summers and we never found a long wait for FP, even when we were in the parks during the bad storms over the weekends and outdoor rides went down.


Example of the thought that FP means no wait. That's simply wrong. The lines are moving quicker than Stand by.

While your last statement is generally true it is not always. There are rides that it has taken longer to go through the fastpass line than it would have to go standby due to the initial backup at the first scanner. We have experienced this a handful of times, most recently at Nemo last week. The standby ride was virtually a walkon, however you can't tell that from the outside and while we waited behind others to scan their bands once we got inside we realized that ppl who entered the standby line after we got in line to scan at the first point had easily gotten ahead of us because they didn't have to wait to scan. This has also happened at Figment, Star Tours, once at Kali when ut had been down and they reopened and even once at Tower or Terror, so while in general the fastpass line is almost always faster, there are exceptions... which we never saw with the paper fastpasses.

 

[brockash]

No. People that think a FP means no wait are simply incorrect in their thinking. That isn't a fault of the FP program. It's the fault of the person who is wrong. No one has ever said there are zero waits with the FP. Not sure how that idea gets out.
FP lines are always shorter than the stand by. Or better put, never longer wait than the stand by line. We have seen many instances where both lines had no wait. But even when the FP line is backed up, typically because someone doesn't know what they are doing, it's still shorter.

had to be bad luck timing on your part. Having returned today it was significantly less crowded than past summers and we never found a long wait for FP, even when we were in the parks during the bad storms over the weekends and outdoor rides went down.

- It could have also perhaps been just good luck timing on your part. - Maybe a little extra pixie dust for you this go around.


Example of the thought that FP means no wait. That's simply wrong. The lines are moving quicker than Stand by.

- It could have also perhaps been just good luck timing on your part. - Maybe a little extra pixie dust for you this go around.

 

[brockash]

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.

This is a good point and unfortunately reality in the Disney world. While accurate and genuine information would be helpful; it's generally not the Disney way, so you'd still be at the mercy of "ok, so when they say this amount of time it actually means this, with the exception of this, this, and this."

 

[SaintsManiac]

No. People that think a FP means no wait are simply incorrect in their thinking. That isn't a fault of the FP program. It's the fault of the person who is wrong. No one has ever said there are zero waits with the FP. Not sure how that idea gets out.
FP lines are always shorter than the stand by. Or better put, never longer wait than the stand by line. We have seen many instances where both lines had no wait. But even when the FP line is backed up, typically because someone doesn't know what they are doing, it's still shorter.

had to be bad luck timing on your part. Having returned today it was significantly less crowded than past summers and we never found a long wait for FP, even when we were in the parks during the bad storms over the weekends and outdoor rides went down.


Example of the thought that FP means no wait. That's simply wrong. The lines are moving quicker than Stand by.

Consistent 30 minute waits at all 4 parks for FP isn't good. Personally, I have never waited longer than 15 minutes with the exception of FoP when it's a busy time.

 

[AngiTN]

Consistent 30 minute waits at all 4 parks for FP isn't good. Personally, I have never waited longer than 15 minutes with the exception of FoP when it's a busy time.

I am not believing that there is ever a consistent 30 min wait with FP at all 4 parks. Sorry. There's exaggeration in play if someone reports that. An occasional wait that long, sure but no, not regular/consistent.
Even when we've found very long lines, like once BTMR was backed up all the way to the water's edge and the launch to Tom Sawyer and it still moved very fast and no significant wait while moving through line. Or HM has been backed up to the Liberty Boat launch. Anytime there's an excessive FP line, it's Stand By that pays for it. They move fewer guests through it while the FP line is so over extended.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I am not believing that there is ever a consistent 30 min wait with FP at all 4 parks. Sorry. There's exaggeration in play if someone reports that. An occasional wait that long, sure but no, not regular/consistent.
Even when we've found very long lines, like once BTMR was backed up all the way to the water's edge and the launch to Tom Sawyer and it still moved very fast and no significant wait while moving through line. Or HM has been backed up to the Liberty Boat launch. Anytime there's an excessive FP line, it's Stand By that pays for it. They move fewer guests through it while the FP line is so over extended.

It's just what was implied in this thread. Like I said, I have never experienced that.

 

[dreiwhit]

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

We didn't complain, but maybe we should have. The one ride that I remember best that had a 30 minute FP wait was Spaceship Earth! And, we also had a 30 minute wait in line at Guest Services at Epcot. The park was very crowded that day.....

 

[tinkermom_of_two]

I am not believing that there is ever a consistent 30 min wait with FP at all 4 parks. Sorry. There's exaggeration in play if someone reports that. An occasional wait that long, sure but no, not regular/consistent.
Even when we've found very long lines, like once BTMR was backed up all the way to the water's edge and the launch to Tom Sawyer and it still moved very fast and no significant wait while moving through line. Or HM has been backed up to the Liberty Boat launch. Anytime there's an excessive FP line, it's Stand By that pays for it. They move fewer guests through it while the FP line is so over extended.

I can't speak to the experience of others, but while I would agree that saying it is the norm now would be quite an exaggeration, there does seem to be an increase in long FP waits, at least with our anecdotal experience.

We normally have not had FP waits that cross the 30 min line, but we had 2 experiences on the same day at MK that hit that (Splash and Space) and a really long, but quick moving, line at others. We came across a similarly long FP line at Splash on a second day, and we ended up just switching the FP because we did not want to wait 30+ minutes yet again. The biggest upset to me was the 10 minute wait to even get to the scan-in point - with the length of wait followed by the longer ride length of Splash, that one definitely has the potential to cause problems further down the line with follow up fast pass times. In fact, we had to head straight to our next fast pass after a quick bathroom stop just to ensure we got to it within our grace period. I should not have to start at the beginning of my window just to guarantee being able to get my follow-up fast pass in also

Interesting to note, the times we experienced the very long waits also seemed to coincide with large 15's tour groups also being in line - I don't know if the group planners are working hard to overlap FP times just right, which then allows for large groups to hit the line all at once, (I know, there is always the potential for ups and downs, but with tour groups there is potential for higher impact) or if was simply a coincidence.

 

[blbrodger1]

Fast pass lines were long for us, too! For Spaceship Earth we waited in direct sun for about 30 minutes! Buzz Lightyear also seemed to be a really long FP line. I wonder why this is happening? Too many fastpasses being distributed? I wonder if VIP groups are maybe being sent to a secret entrance because a long FP line takes value away from one of those tours, private or part of the day of thrills, etc...