Reviews of FastPass+ (Retired)
Reviewed by WDWinMD Review Date: 04/24/2016
Rating: (7) Recommended
This is the second trip I have taken with FastPass+ and found it much easier to use this time with the changes made in April. I still prefer the old paper system even though I generally select my parks ahead of time - it just doesn't leave much flexibility for weather, etc. My biggest frustration was I couldn't see FastPass availability for another attraction once I had 3 selected. Soarin was not available for Fastpasses when I made my initial selections but until I cancelled Test Track I couldn't see Soarin availability. Thanks to All Ears I saw the updated 17 June opening announcement before the FastPasses were gone.
Pros:
Seeing all available times, one Fastpass at a timeCons:
If you try to change attractions you must cancel existingReviewed by allec999 Review Date: 10/09/2015
Rating: (5) Recommended
I'm not a fan of the concept of the new fastpass system, for a number of reasons pointed out in numerous reviews here, but we're stuck with it. So in terms of how it worked, it pretty much worked as advertised. I had no problems making changes, and even adding new ones after we used our original 3. I did not like how it assigns you 3 when first setting them up, making you then change the ones you don't want. I also did not like that when park hopping, you have to be in that park to get an additional fastpass. We were in Epcot and about to head to MK, and wanted to get a fastpass for the one thing we could not do at MK the day before. But we would have had to travel all the way to MK without even knowing if any fastpasses were left. No thanks. Here's hoping that Disney continues to make improvements.
Pros:
Worked as advertisedCons:
Park hopping ineffectiveReviewed by brian222202 Review Date: 08/24/2015
Rating: (5) Recommended
Well, first off you have to recommend it, b/c there is no other alternative to waiting in line.
First time with FP+, and while I was apprehensive, it did OK. Just okay.
The website worked flawlessly for me, I changed before trip, in the park, at hotels...all on my Iphone 6. No problems ever getting on site or switching.
I did enjoy not having to run around the park to get FP tickets at the various stations. However, in the past, I could organize using 10-12 FP per day, this trip the most used was 6 one day in MK. That is not good for the guest.
NEGATIVES: you will have to wait. For instance, you cannot get both Test Track and Soarin' at EPCOT so you have to wait for one. Never had to wait for either in the past. I would fondly walk across EPCOT to get a FP ticket to avoid 50 minute wait in Soarin'. Waste of time.
***SAME with DHS & Tower of Terror & RnR Coaster, you will have to wait for one of them, and those lines are dreadful too in the Florida sun.
ALSO, after using first 3, you should be able to get 3 more, not just 1. That is ludicrous. Get one, use it...go get another one, use it...etc. etc. Not user friendly after first 3. And at MK, the station at Adventurland/LibertySquare is ridiculously crowded with regular 30 minute wait week of July 24-31. Tomorrowland worked more efficiently.
All in all, not a disaster, but the old way worked just as well, and they could have saved alot of $$$ by leaving it.
Pros:
Planning ahead--of course; Save from walking around so much, Web SiteCons:
Only 1 at a time after first 3Reviewed by mawdryn Review Date: 07/02/2015
Rating: (9) Recommended
I like FP+. I like knowing that I have 3 attractions booked to ride ahead of time, like 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, and Peter Pan at MK. I like being able to plan those ride times. It has allowed me to sleep in on park days without the mad dash to rope drop. I have always been able to get everything I want to get in regardless of the late start. That being said, I don't like having to wait to book the 4th FP+. Even if I have my first 3 FP+ done by lunch time, there's rarely anything good left and there aren't enough kiosks around the parks. This means standing in long lines to get a 4th FP+ to It's a Small World or It's Tough to be a Bug. These are 2 attractions that never have a wait anyway...
Pros:
Guarantee of Specific AttractionsCons:
Wait to Book 4THReviewed by dreams Review Date: 05/19/2015
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
I like to plan my vacation ahead of time but this is too much. I agree with the other posts. Between the FPs and the ADRs you are locked into one park and you spend the day running from one ADR to the first FP, to the next FP before your next ADR, etc. It has taken all the magic and fun away. Not being able to get another FP until your last one is used, then you need to find a kiosk and nothing is left anyway. I do not have a smart phone so changes are not that easy. I too, miss the old system.
Pros:
noneCons:
no flexiblilityReviewed by lfellows Review Date: 04/13/2015
Rating: (4) Recommended
The FP+ system works fine, BUT forget about any spontaneity. For starters, here's some insight I wish I had early on; FP+ assigns you your return times when you make your initial selections. You can ask it to give you different return times, but what you really want to do is select the return times. Guess what? You can immediately revise your return times individually - it just makes it look like you can't. Do you schedule all of your FP+'s early so you can get more or later when it is crowded? I HIGHLY recommend scheduling them @ peak crowd times unless you want to leave the park and come back during those times. Reason being, ALL of the FP+'s for the good rides will be gone before you even get to the park. You can get more than 3 in a day, but you have to stay in that same park, and the times you can get once you've used your first 3 will be extremely limited, and will likely be for long after the crowds have left and you don't need them.
Now for the real negative though; you can't get FP+'s for everything, so you WILL be waiting in standby lines. Since everyone has 3 FP+'s, there are A LOT of FP+'ers cutting ahead of you in line on every ride. The more crowded the park is, the more this is true. The standby lines JUST CRAWL!! To see the effect this has, just get to the park before the FP+ return times start. We saw what looked like 60 minute lines breeze by in 20 minutes in that first golden hour. The exact opposite is true in the middle of the afternoon. Seriously, bring a chair. The lines feel like the simply don't move.
More advice;
DO get a FP+ for Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Soarin', Toy Story Midway Mania and Jungle Cruise
DO get to the park early or stay late for Space Mountain and Test Track
DON'T get FP+ for Big Thunder or the Haunted Mansion. The lines fluctuate enough on these that you can always find a bearable standby wait, and the standby lines aren't that bad.
DON'T sleep in! The first hour is still a prime time to ride all of the rides with a minimal wait.
Pros:
Easy to useCons:
UNBEARABLY long standby lines, no flexibilityReviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 04/10/2015
Rating: (8) Recommended
I still don't love this new system, having used it about four times now. The two big tickets, Anna & Elsa and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, were things we skipped this time so that helped with making selections and it was easy enough to make changes up to a couple of days before. Day of changes can be nearly impossible.
Another friend wanted to join my party of two on our first day at Epcot, and we couldn't get any rides to line up (among Soarin' and Spaceship Earth-but he could get one for IllumiNations!). Our day at Hollywood Studios, the bus took a long time to arrive so I needed to move some things around-no availability for Tower of Terror. On another day at Animal Kingdom, wanted to move our Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids passes back just a bit. Dinosaur was fine; KRR had no more availability until 2 hours later, much longer than we wanted to stay in the park.
We did do pretty well at Magic Kingdom. Entering the park around 1pm, we used our original three options on Buzz Lightyear (they weren't even scanning at the second check point), Space Mountain, and Winnie the Pooh by 5:35. We visited a kiosk and were able to get a fourth almost immediately for it's a small world. It took us a few more kiosks and tries [CM tip: go back and forth between the "choose the ride" and "choose the time" pages a few times, and more times will become available - or try a different kiosk location] but were eventually able to get a fifth for Peter Pan's Flight and then a sixth for Jungle Cruise (11:40pm-12:40am), and I suspect we only had such luck because the park was open so late. Doubtful this could have occurred on a night when the park was only open until 9pm.
Pros:
—Cons:
—Reviewed by mcmouse Review Date: 04/01/2015
Rating: (7) Recommended
This was our 2nd time using fast pass+. We love getting on rides quickly, but having to make the decision on what fast passes to get months in advance limits us to follow park plans made far ahead of time. I tried to change some passes a day or two ahead, but all of the times we wanted were taken. I miss the old system. Then if we wanted to change the park we were going to at the spur of the moment, we could. I felt sorry for all those people we saw in line at the fast pass kiosks. They were left with the undesirable time slots for that day. Some times on the old system we would get more than one fast pass for the same ride on the same day. Not any more. The only way to ride that ride twice was to get to it at park opening and do standby early. Then use our fast pass later. While I do recommend Fast Pass+ I do so only because it's the only way to get a good fast pass. I hope they do some more tweeking to the system to make improvements. I would like to see the ability to choose any rides you want, not from a 2 tiered choice, and also be able to choose one ride more than once.
Pros:
quick entry to ridesCons:
have to plan too far aheadReviewed by becca3205 Review Date: 03/24/2015
Rating: (10) Recommended
i love that i can plan ahead i look at calenders as soon as they come out and i plan what parks i want to be in now i can also get fast passes for the rides i really want before i even leave home awesome!!
at the park one morning i arrived for magic hours and had already riden all the rides on my plan before they where scheduled so i changed my passes to another park while still in animal kingdom.
not only that i didn't have to worry about losing paper tickets which is great because i lose everything almost as soon as i get it.
Pros:
pre planningCons:
noneReviewed by destinie Review Date: 03/02/2015
Rating: (9) Recommended
I really like the new FastPass+ system for several reasons:
1) Elimination of cards. If you have a magicband you can store all your information on it, including your fastpass+ reservations. I loved it! I didn't have to keep track of where a card was or worrying about digging through a bag or wallet every time I wanted to get on a ride. Tap your band and you're in.
2) It allows everyone an opportunity to ride the rides. I remember not having fastpass options visiting WDW when I was younger and all I remember from when I went as a kid was waiting in lines for over an hour in the heat of summer while people who could afford it were able to jump in line. Glad I didn't have to do that this time. I feel like the FastPass+ is a fair system to give everyone the opportunity to ride a ride without having to spend a majority of their day standing in line.
3) Great for organization. It allowed us to pick what we really wanted to do then we could organize our day around it. We did have the opportunity to be spontaneous when we were near attractions with a very short wait time and it allowed us to make a plan of what we really wanted to do and optimize our time. I feel like part of the "magic" in a vacation is being able to plan and dream about the fun stuff you are going to do!
4) It's easy! You get 3 passes to start then you can add more. Adding new passes were really easy and found that the lines for the kiosks were great. And I felt that we wouldn't have experienced as much as we did without the use of fastpass+. The process prior to getting to the parks were very easy, too. The WDW official website is incredibly helpful if you need it. At the kiosks in the park, there were cast members who could add the fastpass+ reservations for you as well.
I also liked how you could get alerts on your reservations when a ride was inaccessible. We received an email that one ride was down and we got a free reservation to use on predetermined attractions. That was great! I really liked feeling like WDW was working with us to make sure we had a great time. 🙂
