I read about a new test program over at allears, but I put the link to the original source (below) which was in the Orlando Sentinel on July 27th:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/orl-cfbtourism-fast-pass-072709072709jul27,0,4143593.story

Basically, it's a central location for getting your FastPasses. Won't that be wonderful not to have to walk ALL the way over to Expedition Everest to get the Fast Pass and then walk to the other side of the park to see other attractions while waiting for your window to open.

What do you think???

It seems kind of like a good idea to me, my only fear is that this area will become super congested as everyone lines up for passes, they will rpobably need someway to organize the lines for different rides so the lines don;t get all mixed up.

One thing Disney is usually pretty good at is lines :p

Mark included that in this week's WDW update - a couple of us commented on that column here (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=129758)

Well, Ill be trying this out in a couple of weeks and provide my 2 cents. Ill keep an open mind about it, but I have a sneaky suspicion that the lines to this central area may get so long that you will need FP's just to get FP's.

One thing... does anyone know if the FP's at the rides themselves will still be available?

I'll get to test it out too very soon, so I'll tell you what it was like, but I may just make a run for the ride so I can beat all the people that stopped for fastpasses.

It would be nice to have a central FP for all WDW and DLR parks. They would not need one CM at each location but have one CM unless the area is busy. At Disneyland Splash Mountain and Space Mountain are on opposite ends of the park and a hike over hill and dale. Tower of Terror at DCA is in a cul de sac while you have to run to the opposite side of the park for Soarin' and all the way to the opposite end for Toy Story Mania.

Not up on WDW parks that much but I know that they also have rides with FP that are far from each other. I would love this in DLR and WDW as guests could go to one central location to get informed on how the system works. It would probably save money.

Also for those who have chickens and short kids this would make it easier to use the FP. A family of 5 with a toddler who cannot ride would give a family 2 FP for one ride and 2 FP for a second ride without having to run around the park. Then 2 ride using FP then the other 2 use the baby swapping pass. Repeat on second ride and by that time they can get FP for more rides.

Love this new way of doing FP and hope we get it in DLR.

Mark included that in this week's WDW update - a couple of us commented on that column here (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=129758)


:( How did I miss that???? I'm sorry, MARK!!!!!!!:crying::crying::crying:

One thing... does anyone know if the FP's at the rides themselves will still be available?

According to the Orlando Sentinel article, you can still get FPs at the rides themselves.

According to the Orlando Sentinel article, you can still get FPs at the rides themselves.

At least on paper, having that AND a central hub would be terrific at all of the parks.

According to the Orlando Sentinel article, you can still get FPs at the rides themselves.
Thanks for the note.
(No, I did not actually read the article before asking, which was my bad.)

Here is from this weeks WDW update thanks to Mark...

…Last week, Walt Disney World was testing centralized FastPass distribution at Disney's Animal Kingdom. You could get FastPasses for Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Dinosaur at the former "it's tough to be a bug" FastPass machines. Do you like this idea? Let us know what you think! (And if you were there, let us know how well it worked!)

I like this idea! Hopefully it is still up and running while we are there in 16 days! Was anyone down there and try it while they were there. I did some researching and it looks like they don't tell you the time until you see it on your fastpass.

Also sometimes I wait to see what the actual line is like before I fastpass. I know that if Dinosaur is out the door I can say that the wait is around 25 minutes, but if it out the door and around the bend then we have to FP it. I don't know if I like getting a FP when the actual wait time might be 10 minutes.:confused:

I think this is great though for EE! Not having to walk all the way back there just FP it would be a thumbs up with my family.

How do you feel about this?
Would you want to see it in all the parks?

wishiwasthere - there is already a thread about this in news/updates and another earlier one in a section name I can't recall.

wishiwasthere - there is already a thread about this in news/updates and another earlier one in a section name I can't recall.

Here it is. (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=129841)

I went ahead and merged the threads together.

I swear I searched for this. I guess I didn't do a good enough job.

I swear my brain is turning into oatmeal and that I need this vacation!

I went ahead and merged the threads together.
I was born with a faulty memory so I thought I had seen this and posted but then again I think I had cheeseburgers for dinner last night, lol.

I am still hoping this works out in AK and can then be used in other parks on both coasts. Indiana Jones is wedged into a narrow spot at Disneyland and getting rid of the FP machines would be a big help. If a machine breaks there is one place for technicians to go and less employees manning FP machines.

Personally, I would not them to get rid of fastpass machines at the attractions themselves and only have a central location--UNLESS they change the system so that you can get consecutive fastpasses. Otherwise, I don't want to tramp back to one location each time you want to get a fastpass.

I think this idea is wonderful, but I worry about the congestion as well. It would be really neat if their were various Fastpass distribution centers located throughout the park.

We were there this week and tried out the system. One nice thing is that you could get Fast Passes for all 3 things (Dinosaur, Everest, and K. Safaris) at the same time with waiting a 1-2 block between passes). The CM said if you got them at the individual rides, you couldn't do that - only at the centralized location. I wondered if they are on there on system and not tied into the main fast pass. I did notice that the fast pass lines were longer on Tues and I don't know if the new system causes more fast passes to be given out. We though about testing to see if we could get more passes at Everest immediately but did not.

I could see something like this working well in all the parks or even in the resorts as you were heading to the parks - wouldn't that be a great on site advantage!

We were there this week and tried out the system. One nice thing is that you could get Fast Passes for all 3 things (Dinosaur, Everest, and K. Safaris) at the same time with waiting a 1-2 block between passes).
So you could go from machine to machine and had 3 fastpasses each in your possession, they just had later return times for the 2nd and 3rd attraction then they would have otherwise?

We were there this week and tried out the system. One nice thing is that you could get Fast Passes for all 3 things (Dinosaur, Everest, and K. Safaris) at the same time with waiting a 1-2 block between passes).

That sounds like a great idea. That allows you to plan your day ahead a bit.

I think the ideal thing would be to have touch screen (linked) kiosks around the park that would allow you to get a fast pass to other rides. This way, you're not getting off one ride and having to hike across the park to the second ride or the central hub to pick up a fast pass and then having to hike to a third attraction. For example, you could get off the Safari, go to the fast pass kiosk, put in your ticket, press the logo for Everest and get a fast pass. It's particularly useful if the fast passes have been distributed for the day so that you're not walking there with plans of picking up a fast pass to ride after lunch, only to find out that they've all been issued and that only way to ride now is to stand in line for two hours (looking at you, Soarin'). With a fast pass available at any location, you also have an option to the long lines at a central hub.

One nice thing is that you could get Fast Passes for all 3 things (Dinosaur, Everest, and K. Safaris) at the same time with waiting a 1-2 block between passes).

What is a 1-2 block? Hours?

What is a 1-2 block? Hours?

Ooops - I meant without a 1-2 hour waiting time until you can get the next fastpass.

We were able to walk up to the machines and get fastpasses for all 3 rides at the same time. The cast member said if we got the fastpass at the attraction entry, we would be subject to the normal waiting period between getting fastpasses. By using the central area, we got them all at the same time.

When you got fast passes for all three attractions - was there any 'delay' in the fastpass vs what you would have gotten at the individual attractions (if you HAD been able to get them).

So if you'd been at the machine at park opening, and all initial fastpasses had (let's say) 10 am return times, and you had been in the front of all three lines (assuming three individual lines) would the fastpass returns all have been at about 10?