Fass Pass - A further observation

[jacobcary1]

It still seems like the best option is to try to visit the parks in off seasons. It does not seem nearly as busy.

[Wizzard419]

Indeed, I don't think I used FP at all when I visited during the build up to the high season. It also creates the same issue that some fans don't like, it rushes you through the line. You could stand and stare but that might bug people behind you.

[Satchel T]

I gotta be honest ... I love the FP concept ... now I speak from a Disney World perspective of course, since that is where I visit, but ... It has never failed me. We thrive on owning the fastpass system when we travel.. I like to think of myself as a fastpass pro if you will. We can hit every ride multiple times on a day when the fastpass system is utilized correctly.

However, you are right, I do get annoyed with folks looking at us like we're scum because we bypass them.

Lastly, I can say that there is no way I would have been able to ride Soarin' the amount of times I have during my visits if it weren't for the FP system ... it would simply be impossible, and that alone makes me smile!

[jacobcary1]

In all fairness the FP system is not bad. My opinion is that if it is your 1st trip there its better to stand in line. There are so may things to look at in the lines. Disney designed the lines for people to be stuck, yet entertained. Let's be honest the more people you have tied up in a line, the more money you have made on door profit alone.

[Len90]

In all fairness the FP system is not bad. My opinion is that if it is your 1st trip there its better to stand in line. There are so may things to look at in the lines. Disney designed the lines for people to be stuck, yet entertained. Let's be honest the more people you have tied up in a line, the more money you have made on door profit alone.

Most queues are designed for people to be moving through them slowly. The fantasyland attractions were not meant to have 30 minute stand by lines with you just looping through nothing. It's good to see this changing recently with the interactive queues.

[theBIGyowski]

I have noticed that crowd levels dictate more than anything...in terms of the "sweet spot."

What is the sweet spot? Say WDW's Space Mountain operates on a scale of 1-100 with 1 being almost no wait to 100 being 60 minutes. Let's say that from 1-45 they only run the left track. When the level goes past that they open the right track. When both tracks are operating and the level is at 50, it is really more like a 25 in each side.

The ability to "half" the queue or ride vehicles can artificially inflate the wait times for many attractions during the off-season. I guess this attempt to slow down the lines is to keep people dispersed throughout the park and to also keep queues from looking empty. But like I said...there is always that sweet spot when the wait times get much lower.

As far as FP goes. I think it works great for crowded parks but its abuse can all but ruin certain attractions. Take TSMM as an example. Even if the crowds aren't terribly heavy, you can go ahead and count on not riding it via the stand-by entrance after dinner. This is because every single person in the park gets a FP first thing when they arrive at DHS. The wait times become artificially inflated and when everyone that has a FP returns later in the day you get FP lines over 90 minutes long! This happened to DW and I (our FP said come back after 7:00 PM) and when we got there during our window we noticed the standby time was 270 MINUTES! Thank God we had FP! But wait...there's no one in the stand-by line? Everyone is in the FP line! We ended up waiting about 45 minutes before a CM saw our "Just Married" buttons and pulled us out and to the front. Just an example of how FP can have an extremely negative effect on an otherwise great attraction.

[Wizzard419]

The ability to "half" the queue or ride vehicles can artificially inflate the wait times for many attractions during the off-season. I guess this attempt to slow down the lines is to keep people dispersed throughout the park and to also keep queues from looking empty. But like I said...there is always that sweet spot when the wait times get much lower.

I think it's more to save money, when they only use half the ride they aren't going to double up the staff on the operating side. They may have an "opening shift" and then have the shift for the other side come in a few hours later, I'm assuming they pay the staff hourly so they can shift them about with little complaint.