Here’s What You Miss By Using FastPass at Walt Disney World

FastPass+ makes it so easy to get on our favorite rides that we often forget (or maybe try and avoid) about the Standby line. We get it: it’s not fun waiting for potentially hours in line (especially if it’s the Space Mountain tunnel). But standing in a queue for does have its benefits.

The biggest benefit is the details and story development that can happen before you even board the ride. In most queues, Disney tries to set the scene with props, music, vignettes, and more to keep you occupied while you’re waiting to board your vehicle. If you use the FastPass line, you can miss out on some of these amazing details, so we decided to take a look at four attractions with highly-detailed queues that you miss by using FastPass+.

Expedition Everest

This is a great example of how Disney sets tone and builds anticipation in its theme parks. As you weave through the Himalayan Escapes Tour offices and Tashi’s General Store and Bar, there is a sense of foreboding as prayer flags flap in the wind, and you pass by the shrines to the Forbidden Mountain’s protector, the yeti.

The final stop before you board your train is the yeti museum, where you see even more evidence of what you can expect to find on your adventure. If you use FastPass or the single rider line, you skip the general store and outdoor shrine area.

Avatar — Flight of Passage

You make your way up into a cave-root system behind the floating mountains and waterfalls. Inside, the banshees are depicted in cave paintings as reverential figures. You continue on to an old RDA facility that has been re-purposed by Alpha Centauri Expeditions for healing the Pandoran ecosystem.

In the lab, you see an impressive Avatar audio-animatronic floating in a tank. You are on Pandora, my banshee-riding friends. And if you use FastPass, you skip it all, jumping straight to the genetic testing chamber with no set-up or world-building. You want the world-building (sometimes).

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

This queue lets you look and play at the same time. You begin by walking past the dwarfs’ cottage and then into the mine proper. You can have tons of fun panning for gems or running your hands under the animal fountains to create melodious music.

Inside, try spinning the barrels to make the dwarfs appear on the roof of the cave (make sure you get all seven up there!). If you use FastPass here, you’ll jump straight to the load zone without getting to experience any of these fun, interactive elements.

Peter Pan’s Flight

The standby queue for this classic attraction was renovated back in 2014 to be more immersive and get you in the Peter Pan spirit. You make your way into the Darling’s house, past portraits  of Wendy, John, Michael, and Mr. and Mrs. Darling, and into the nursery. The room is rigged with effects, and if you’re looking at the right time you can spot Tinker Bell and Peter’s shadows flying around the room.

 You can even create shadows of your own to ring bells and catch butterflies. As you leave the queue, you are sprinkled with pixie dust so you can fly! If you use FastPass, you walk through the old festival-style line and never see this interactive area.

These are just four attractions whose detailed queues and stories you will miss out on if you use FastPass+. While we love using FastPass and expediting the fun, part of that fun can also be found in the Standby line, enjoying the crafted stories that Disney creates.

What did you think of our list? Let us know down in the comments!

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