Reviews of FastPass+ (Retired)
Reviewed by jlnasl Review Date: 05/27/2014
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
First, I must say that I am a huge planner. I love to plan my vacations. That said, I found this system restrictive, rigid and left no time for a spontaneous moment. I hated using my phone constantly in the park. And to add to the frustration, the system was not always accessible. I do not want to plan my days 60 days in advance because the weather in Florida is so unpredicable. A rainy day can mean a drastic change of plans, which doesnt work out when fastpasses are no longer available. As for the new parkhopping feature, you must use your three fastpasses at one park, then go to the other park and make your selection for one additional fastpass at the kiosk. The kiosks had tremendous lines when we were at the park in late April, after spring break. I dont think it is possible to decide the night before which park you would like to visit. I will not visit again until the system is changed which makes me very sad. I love Disney and have been to the parks multiple times per year. I do not live anywhere near Florida and have visited 30 days per year. I cannot imagine the confusion and lack of fastpass selections in the summer when the thousands of tour groups descend on the theme parks. I am so disappointed in this system and eagerly await the day that it is revised.
Pros:
noneCons:
No more spontaneityReviewed by May3 Review Date: 05/26/2014
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
I just found out that the paper fastpasses are gone! I am so shocked that I am posting a review here. Normally, I just read the stuff here, I'm too lazy to write anything.
Last fall, I was picked for testing the Magic Band. In all fairness, it worked nicely for getting into the hotel and into the park and buying stuff and all, replacing the Key to the World card in such a way that I no longer needed to take the Key out so often. Anything I wanted, scan the band, and everything worked instantly!
So back then, I was quite happy. The three fastpass+ we got each day all worked nicely. It was all great until last night, when I found out that those three fastpass+ things are all that we get now. Oh, no!
One thing I love about Disney is the fastpasses, being able to get them when I need them. I was OK with the three extra fastpass+, but thought they were kind of unnecessary. They eliminate walking, but I love walking in Disney World. That's why I go there. Plus I don't know when I might feel like doing a certain ride, depending on the kids' needs, my feelings, whether there is a parade walking by that we should stop to watch, etc. I don't want to sell myself into having to do Splash Mountain at 11 a.m. I'll do it when I feel like it.
I love the feeling of the fastpass tickets in my hands. I love showing them to cast members, as if they are tickets to a special place. (They are!) I love the mad dash towards Toy Story Mania. It gives meaning to life at Disney World! And in case you think I'm some young, energetic dude, I'm not. I'm a middle aged mother of three sons. I spend most my days suffering from chronic fatigue, but in Disney World I have energy to spare! I push my youngest in the stroller as I speed across Hollywood studios while I holler at my teens to WALK FASTER!!!
And now all that is gone, gone, GONE! It is a huge part of why Disney World is more wonderful than your average amusement, why I spend so much to go there every year!
Please Disney, bring the paper fastpasses back!
Now you have to get more fastpasses only after the first 3 are used. Yeah, what if your third fastpass is late in the night? Well, sucks for you! So you think, just get the three in the morning and hope for more openings later. But Disney says "Additional FastPass+ selections must be made at a FastPass+ kiosk within the same park as the FastPass+ experience that you wish to select." In other words, you can't do this on your iPhone; it has to be done at their kiosk. Guess how many kiosks there are compared to the number of guests, and how slow it is to use them compared to fastpass machines? And guess how many people are stuck with fastpasses they don't want (because you have to have 3) and therefore prevent others from getting them? And guess how slow it is to scan in the magic bands compared to just showing a handful of fastpass tickets to a cast member?
In fact, even last fall I remember there being a big line in front of the Test Track fastpass+ lane because the scanning procedure was so slow. I didn't give it much thought then, but now I realize what a disaster that is going to be
I only know of one way to handle this. Get up early and make it to the park before everybody else does. Kick my kids out of bed no matter how late they swam the night before.
Here is what I think Disney should do: let everybody prebook one fastpass+ per day on the magic band. The rest of the fastpasses stay in ticket form so that we can have both. Then people can get the one ride they really have to do, and everything else is fair game.
Or even just allow the deluxe guests to get one fastpass+ while the rest use the paper fastpasses. They pay such a horrendous amount for so little that they deserve it. There aren't that many deluxe guests, so they won't make a difference. The rest of the resort guests can enjoy the magic band, which is still very cool and better than offsite guests can enjoy. Offsite guests can get magic bands too, but they don't get to open their hotel rooms with it.
I love the magic band, I think it's very nice the way I can do everything with it. But if I had to pick, I'd rather lose the magic band than lose the paper fastpasses. I can do the same thing the magic band does with the Key to the World card, just a little more clumsily. But without paper fastpasses, I can't even clumsily get fastpasses when I want them. That is a big step backwards, Disney.
And I wish Disney had spend the billion dollars building new rides or improving on old ones, rather than installing fastpass+.
Pros:
Conveniently computerizedCons:
Lost the paper fastpasses!!!Reviewed by DisneyStrong86 Review Date: 05/15/2014
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
I really dislike the new fast pass program. I was unable to cancel remaining (unused) fastpasses when I only used 1 of the 3 fast passes. This is a waste.
I was not able to use my Tower of Terror fast pass and 1 of the 2 fastpasses I got for Toy Story Mania which are two of the popular rides because I used my Space Mountain fastpasses in the morning.
Not a huge fan of having to waste time on a computer screen to get more fast passes especially when you find out you can't get new ones...
what a joke this is.. With Billions of Dollars, Disney could have easily built a new park in Florida or else where.
Pros:
You get a nice braceletCons:
EVERYTHING ELSEReviewed by WDWDad1974 Review Date: 05/14/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
I was on the app for months beforehand--it is a great time suck at work, in line, on the subway. And I found the app very useful in the park. You can figure out dining menus when you need a quick meal, and changing FastPass+ selections is super easy (as long as times are available). We could really shift our plans quickly as circumstances required, and it really enhanced our experience.
However, the app can be slow--it takes far too long to load new screens. And for one whole, rainy day at Epcot the whole system was down, which meant that we lost all of our FastPass+ selections because we could not change them. When that kind of thing happens, the thing seems pretty disastrous. Oh, and there's this glitch: sometimes when you think you're going to hit the "Change FastPass+ Time" link, the page suddenly changes to the calendar view, which will cause you to select a date two weeks in the future, and getting back just takes more time.
That said, the power of the app--when it works--is impressive. You're missing out if you don't get it early, link all your magic bands and photo passes, and familiarize yourself with it so that you're not staring at your phone while your family runs ahead to Dumbo.
Pros:
Convenient, powerful, informativeCons:
Sloooooowww...sometimes unreliableReviewed by seymourmomof3 Review Date: 05/11/2014
Rating: (8) Recommended
Loved being able to select Fastpasses in advance to the trip. I am a planner and it made it nice to be able to plan the park day. It was also very nice to use the Disney mobile app and change selections while at park, because a few times there was no wait for the rides and no use wasting FP so that was a blessing. I know they have changed it now, 3 days after our vacation ended 🙁 boo Disney, but only being able to select 3 FP options a day was just not enough.
Pros:
SelectionsCons:
Not enoughReviewed by Heidtd Review Date: 04/08/2014
Rating: (10) Recommended
I LOVED THIS! Hated having to pull out my paper pass, run to machines, then back to the attractions. We don't Park hop since we love each park and spend the entire day there, neither do we leave to go swim, we stay all day - so for us - this was such a time saver. It would be great to have additional options - ie, with Epcot you had to choose either Test Track or Soarin....couldn't get both...so a bit more flexibility would be great. It was very easy to reschedule our selections with our phones during the day -
Pros:
Planning ahead and no paper passesCons:
Need more optionsReviewed by bellebookworm9 Review Date: 04/02/2014
Rating: (6) Recommended
Some aspects of FP+ worked great; some did not. My annual pass voucher was purchased by a CM friend and for whatever reason, the voucher couldn't be linked in to MDE. Because of that, I was unable to make FP+ choices until the first day in the parks when I exchanged the voucher. However, two of my friends purchased convention tickets and I was able to link them up and get their FP+ with no problem. My CM friend can't link his admission in and has to wait until each day in the park if he wants to use it.
Our first day was at Epcot and we didn't get there until 1:45pm. I went to a FP+ kiosk and they only had FPs available for Captain EO at that point. Who needs a FP for that? But I kept checking back on the app and eventually was able to get a Test Track FP for the same time as my friends.
We went to DHS one night and I had made FP choices for Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. When my friend went to a kiosk to make his choices, we couldn't get him those two as they were standby only. He was able to get one for Star Tours, but I was not; it kept saying it wasn't available. We ended up doing single riders at RNR and I used my FP by myself at ToT.
For my last day at Magic Kingdom I really wanted a FP for Festival of Fantasy, but it was standby only, and actually ended up being canceled anyway due to rain. That day was pretty easy to make adjustments in the MDE app because many people were leaving the park because of the storm.
Clearly there are still some kinks to work out but on the whole this system worked mostly well for me. I still don't like being limited to three per day and in only one park, but I'm learning to live with it.
Pros:
Sometimes easy to make changes, diminished waitsCons:
Tier system, difficult to make changes depending on time of day or parkReviewed by mcmouse Review Date: 03/29/2014
Rating: (3) Not Recommended
I only rated this a 3 because I feel that the prices you pay to go to the parks is high and only allowing 1 or maybe 2 "big name rides" to be chosen per day at only 1 park isn't what we expect from our beloved Disney. It eliminates the need to purchase Park Hopper tickets. Maybe Disney can tweak this product to better suit it's guests. Even offering Resort guests more options would be great. I realize this is a new product, so I hope by our next trip to the World, they have made it a little friendlier. Why was the old system put to rest? Day visitors are really paying the price because they are wasting precious park time standing in line to obtain passes. Not everyone wants to be on their smart phones and computers all the time. We go to Disney because we want to create memories, not be glued to our smart phones. Hopefully Disney will modify the Fast Pass + .
Pros:
can choose ahead of timeCons:
not enough big rides to choose fromReviewed by DisJ Review Date: 03/28/2014
Rating: (1) Not Recommended
I have been coming to Disney with my family every year, sometimes twice a year for a long time. I have never been so completely disappointed as I am with fast pass+. Disney is controlling the way we vacation and that is not acceptable!
First we have to make fast pass reservations 60 days in advance!...and that is if you stay on site! How can anyone plan their days 60 days in advance when the weather there is so unpredictable??? I liked getting to the parks and getting my fast passes as I needed them.
Then you get not so great fast pass times. If you are someone who likes to go to parks early then back to the hotel to use the pool, that gets ruined.
Second, during the testing phase, you were able to get fast passes to the rides you wanted and now you CAN'T! In HS and EPCOT, there is a "one or the other"
Pros:
NONECons:
EVERYTHING!Reviewed by snovak Review Date: 03/25/2014
Rating: (2) Not Recommended
I liked the old way of obtaining fast passes, hopefully there will be some changes to the new system. What I observed is if you decide at the last minute to go to Disney ( march 13th - 18th ) your fast pass times are not that great. That happened to us. We decided at the last minute to go, and our options were either very early morning or late in the day, and then our choices were not at close together times so we spent a lot of time roaming all over the park just to get our fast passes in. Then you have to have dining reservations and you want to make sure there is time for both. I don't understand why getting a park hopper is worth the extra cost anymore because you can only get fast passes for one park per day, and when it comes time to picking out your passes your choice is usually one popular ride and 2 others that usually don't have that long of a wait time to begin with. Before, all you had to worry about was making dining reservations, now it's fast pass too and I think the spontaneity is gone. I think Disney needs to revamp their method.
