WDW cracking down on FP return times

[dstrawn9889]

and, as always, if you are courteous to the CM's , they may let you slip in anyway.....

[Soarin08]

I really think it is a stupid idea... you can't help if you get stuck somewhere else at the park (eating dinner or something) and can't make it for your timeslot.

I don't see where it matters what time you use it, and what are they going to do, explicitly say no? That'll really cause problems both with guest arguments and then if people see that if they don't show up for the ride on the dot within that time frame, who can say if they'll even bother with Fastpass. Just as long as the Universal route isn't taken here.

Personally, the ticket doesn't need a return time to be set in stone, an all-day window is fair. If it's for 11am and you can't make it till 1pm, I don't see the problem. I do it all the time for Soarin' since I get mine immediately and then save it for later. It's easier to stagger touring the park that way as well, at least, I've found.

[cy1229]

I do it all the time for Soarin' since I get mine immediately and then save it for later.

I think this is what they're trying to eliminate. The fastpasses are usually gone for TSM and then it's wait forever or skip the ride.

[Soarin08]

I do it all the time for Soarin' since I get mine immediately and then save it for later.

I think this is what they're trying to eliminate. The fastpasses are usually gone for TSM and then it's wait forever or skip the ride.

Well on some of those rides, what else can you do? Disney shouldn't be forcing people to now tour the parks at the convenience of a silly piece of paper.

[DemonOfMusic]

I like the intentions of this idea, but logistically I think it has some issues. I pity the poor CM's who'll have to deal with this. It may be the only way to help, but it could suck for the CM'S.

[dstrawn9889]

the CM's have latitude in these situations, don't they? they can get people the special fastpasses, and got my mother through space mountains' line with another type of 'fastpass' for the ECV riders taht can walk for short periods... i would think that if you are nice to the CM at fastpass return, they could let you in... it is not like they scan the ruddy things when you return, how would central know if it was expierd already?

[Cub]

the CM's have latitude in these situations, don't they? they can get people the special fastpasses, and got my mother through space mountains' line with another type of 'fastpass' for the ECV riders taht can walk for short periods... i would think that if you are nice to the CM at fastpass return, they could let you in... it is not like they scan the ruddy things when you return, how would central know if it was expierd already?

That's true. I'm sure they won't be all "You're 16 minutes late! No FP line for you!"

[mills10]

I kind of don't understand the problem that would make Disney change their policy. When I was on my college program during the summer of 2010 I would get FPs and most times would go after the posted time. I would say about 99.9% of the time I still walked right on the ride. There maybe was a couple of times where I had to wait in the FP line before getting on the ride and it maybe took 5 mins. 5 mins. compared to 45 min standby time is still WAY better. So I don't see the issue of making a change that just has the potential to have a lot of upset guests b/c they missed their time.

[Wizzard419]

I am thinking that it is possibly someone's project with a goal of further reducing wait times for FP lines. It doesn't improve but it can be spun by a competent project manager as a good thing.

[Amy]

I kind of don't understand the problem that would make Disney change their policy. When I was on my college program during the summer of 2010 I would get FPs and most times would go after the posted time. I would say about 99.9% of the time I still walked right on the ride. There maybe was a couple of times where I had to wait in the FP line before getting on the ride and it maybe took 5 mins. 5 mins. compared to 45 min standby time is still WAY better. So I don't see the issue of making a change that just has the potential to have a lot of upset guests b/c they missed their time.

I can see where if a ton of FP people come back late, like for toy story, then they might close the stand-by line in order to make sure the FP get on the attraction before closing. That really isn't fair to the people that weren't able I get a FP earlier in the day.

[theBIGyowski]

I kind of don't understand the problem that would make Disney change their policy. When I was on my college program during the summer of 2010 I would get FPs and most times would go after the posted time. I would say about 99.9% of the time I still walked right on the ride. There maybe was a couple of times where I had to wait in the FP line before getting on the ride and it maybe took 5 mins. 5 mins. compared to 45 min standby time is still WAY better. So I don't see the issue of making a change that just has the potential to have a lot of upset guests b/c they missed their time.

I can see where if a ton of FP people come back late, like for toy story, then they might close the stand-by line in order to make sure the FP get on the attraction before closing. That really isn't fair to the people that weren't able I get a FP earlier in the day.

Yes...this is what happened to DW and I on our last trip. We got TSMM FPs in the morning...and our window to come back was after 6:30 PM. We came back at 7:00 PM and the Stand-by line was closed...and we waited in the FP line for over an hour.

I would say that TSMM is the exception to the rule...as most attractions have quite short FP lines. The load speed of TSMM is painfully slow, which really brings out the flaws in letting people come back after their FP time window expires.

For us "professional" touring guests...it makes sense to get a FP for BTM first thing in the morning...then a few hours later getting a FP for Splash...then using both later in the day when you decide to tackle that side of the park when wait times are higher and it's hot waiting outside in those queues.

[Amy]

I kind of don't understand the problem that would make Disney change their policy. When I was on my college program during the summer of 2010 I would get FPs and most times would go after the posted time. I would say about 99.9% of the time I still walked right on the ride. There maybe was a couple of times where I had to wait in the FP line before getting on the ride and it maybe took 5 mins. 5 mins. compared to 45 min standby time is still WAY better. So I don't see the issue of making a change that just has the potential to have a lot of upset guests b/c they missed their time.

I can see where if a ton of FP people come back late, like for toy story, then they might close the stand-by line in order to make sure the FP get on the attraction before closing. That really isn't fair to the people that weren't able I get a FP earlier in the day.

Yes...this is what happened to DW and I on our last trip. We got TSMM FPs in the morning...and our window to come back was after 6:30 PM. We came back at 7:00 PM and the Stand-by line was closed...and we waited in the FP line for over an hour.

I would say that TSMM is the exception to the rule...as most attractions have quite short FP lines. The load speed of TSMM is painfully slow, which really brings out the flaws in letting people come back after their FP time window expires.

For us "professional" touring guests...it makes sense to get a FP for BTM first thing in the morning...then a few hours later getting a FP for Splash...then using both later in the day when you decide to tackle that side of the park when wait times are higher and it's hot waiting outside in those queues.

Thanks ~ I remembered reading that happened to someone, but I couldn't remember who. I suppose Toy Story might be one of the exceptions, but I could see more of the bigger attractions having that problem, like Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. Maybe even Splash.
It will be interesting to see how they do in enforcing the return time and how guests react. I honestly didn't know you could return at a later time and would simply keep my FP as a souvenir up until a year or so ago, so I wouldn't think too many people would be affected by this policy??

[Soarin08]

I kind of don't understand the problem that would make Disney change their policy. When I was on my college program during the summer of 2010 I would get FPs and most times would go after the posted time. I would say about 99.9% of the time I still walked right on the ride. There maybe was a couple of times where I had to wait in the FP line before getting on the ride and it maybe took 5 mins. 5 mins. compared to 45 min standby time is still WAY better. So I don't see the issue of making a change that just has the potential to have a lot of upset guests b/c they missed their time.

Exactly. Tonight we were at Soarin' afte our dinner (me, Sleepy90, and Joe90) and were going to wait in the 45 minute stand-by line but a very kind gentleman gave us his FPs- 3 of them for 10.30am. Used them and the CM didn't blink an eye and we were on the ride within about 10 minutes.

I can't see this policy working at any place other than TSMM. I do know that the courtesy FPs you get at guest relations at DHS (if there is an issue with a ride breaking down for the remainder of the day, they will issue you special ones good anywhere for a certain length of time) are for everything BUT TSMM. So enforcing it there, sure. But elsewhere, ridiculous. Even Soarin' isn't nearly as bad as it was in 2005, 2006 when the ride first opened.

[cinderella75]

I think its about time they are cracking down in this issue. There is a reason why they have times on them. Imagaine there are thousands of people at the parks. Disney cant have an open FP where you can return when ever you want. Can you imgaine how long the FP line would be, it would be even longer than stand by. One min the FP line would have nobody than the next it would be long as I dont know what. As far as having a toddler with you at Disney and they need to be changed. There is no way I would walk back to the front of the park to find a baby station. Beside back in the day there was no baby station. I wouldve changed my son in the stroller. If I was using Disney stroller I wouldve put paper towels or use his blankets that I would always carry. If I made a reservation 6 months ago and than heard about Toy Story. If it meant alot for my child to ride Toy Story than thats what we wouldve done. I wouldve have cancelled the resevation and grab food on the way to the ride and ate. I have done this with my 2 boys. Disney is trying to accomodate thousands of people. There are always going to be issues but we all deal. I dont think Disney is wrong or trying to be mean. People need to remember when there at Disney that there not the only ones there.

[MmeLeota]

Just as an experiment, I'd like to see what would happen if they turned off FP at TSMM for a couple of days (or a week) and see what the regular lines would be like. In all actuality, FP probably slows down stand-by and not having FP might regulate the line a bit.
There is no FP for TSM at DCA, and the line usually hovers around 45-60 minutes on a busy day. Granted, there are far more people at DHS on any given day than at DCA (until this summer anyway), but I'd be curious to see how the wait times would be affected.

Like you Amy, we never realized we could use them past the window, so we would keep them as souvenirs if we missed it too.

On a side note, does anyone know what the CMs do with all those little slips of paper once they've been used? Are they put in a recycle bin or just thrown out?