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dra_rosie_k
05-22-2005, 09:29 AM
I have been reading about the "Enhanced Fastpass: in a couple of threads and am not aware of what it is.

Is it only for people who bopok through AAA? This would seem to undermine Disney and the people who book directly through them. :confused:

What is the cost for such a pass and how many people are covered if I were to buy one?

Thanks.

Pat-n-Eil
05-22-2005, 09:36 AM
This is one of my favorite topics.

An Enhanced FastPass is just like a normal FastPass except that it allows you to get one (1) FastPass for every attraction that has the FastPass at the same time.

There is no additional charge - in fact booking through AAA to stay at a Disney Property will cost you less than booking through the Disney site for the exact same accomodations. It is totally worth the $49 fee to join AAA if this is the ONLY thing you do with it this year. It is obvious when you book it that AAA is using the exact same reservation system hooked up through Disney's system. It looks and acts almost identical.

The rules are: You must stay at a Disney Property (Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Grand Californian or Paradise Pier) and you must book through AAA. Then your parkhopper is automagically assigned the Enhanced FastPass status.

It used to be that booking through AAA was enough, but then they added the stipulation of staying at a Disney Property a couple of years ago.

Every person in your party, staying with you at the Disney Property, will be eligible for the Enhanced FastPasses.

dra_rosie_k
05-22-2005, 09:39 AM
What if I already made my reservations through the Disney Travel Co. I have paid a deposit, but not the balance. This sounds like a terrific option and I would LOVE to do it. i would happily pay the $49 fee.

Still, doesn't it seem strange that Disney would offer it to AAA bookings and direct bookings through their own company? :confused:

Pat-n-Eil
05-22-2005, 09:49 AM
I really don't know what would happen as far as your reservation fees or refunds and the like. It depends on how far out your accomodations are. I suppose if you had the cancellation insurance you might be ok. My first course of action would be to call Disney and ask if it would be possible to re-book through AAA. On a 3 night stay in August I'm saving almost $150 on my room accomodations and getting the Enhanced FastPass because I went through AAA.

mexibob1
05-22-2005, 09:53 AM
I believe you only get enhanced fastpass if you stay at a DLR Hotel. I don't think it has anything to do with AAA. AAA will just get you a good discount at a DLR Hotel.

Enhanced FastPass would allow you to hold more than one Fastpass at a time within DL or DCA. You still can only hold one Fastpass at a time for a single ride though. For instance if you walk into the park and get a Fastpass for Big Thunder you can still go get a Fastpass for Splash Mountain and Indiana Jones, but you cannot get another Fastpass for Big Thunder until that window of time opens.

Enhanced Fastpass would be great, but I can live without it. The time it would take you run around the park and get simultaneous FP's for every ride would be a waste. Just take advantage of Fastpass as it. Get a set of FP's when you enter the park and then wait for the time window to open up and get another set. Try to hold FastPasses in both Parks, DL and DCA. Take advantage of the Disconnected rides, Grizzly River Rapids in DCA and Roger Rabbit in DL. Have one person in your party hold all the FP's. Then the whole process is a lot faster. We do this every time we go to Disneyland and we always get plenty of FP's. Often times we can't even use them all and we end up giving them away to strangers.

Pat-n-Eil
05-22-2005, 10:06 AM
I believe you only get enhanced fastpass if you stay at a DLR Hotel. I don't think it has anything to do with AAA. AAA will just get you a good discount at a DLR Hotel.

Mexbob1, I am quite certain that booking through AAA is required to get the Enhanced FastPass. At one point it may have been either or (I can't remember exactly).. it could have been Book through AAA and/or Stay at a Disney property - but for the last couple of years I am sure that both stipulations are required.

Here's a strategy that we use.. and with the return of Space Mountain this year, I think it will be even more helpful..

My kids, bless their hearts, like Autopia. Sometimes this takes awhile to get through the line and ride, so my wife gets some coffee and stays near the Buzz Stage while the kids go on Autopia and I start making the "FastPass Circuit". I'll get one for Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Haunted Mansion (when available), Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I don't know if Buzz Lightyear has FastPasses, but if it does I will grab one and then perhaps Star Tours right after Space Mountain this year.

When I get back, we can now make a leisurely circuit around the park without regard for line wait times.

On a DCA day, I like getting FastPasses for Soarin' and ToT.. then going to ride California Screamin' and perhaps Grizzly River Run (or getting a FastPass for GRR on my way to Soarin') and do the same thing without having to run. Each family has their own strategy, this one works for us.

dra_rosie_k
05-23-2005, 04:21 AM
I'm going to call about our reservations today anyway (staying at the GCH by the way) so I will confirm the details and post what they tell me.

Thanks for your help on this. :)

MsYumiBr
05-23-2005, 07:03 AM
Enhanced Fastpass is a "perk" provided with AAA vacation packages when staying at the resort hotels. (For some reason I remember Good Neighbor hotels being included with one of the perks but can't remember which one at the moment.) I started out making reservations using WDTC and then after all of my questions, they said I could call AAA to take over my reservations and get the 10% discount and the enhanced fastpass feature. When I did this WDTC told my AAA agent that I needed to call WDTC and give them permission to do so. So I gave WDTC my agent's name and permission and when my agent called, she was able to take over the reservations and gave me a different number. I didn't pay for anything yet so I don't know if you can do this after putting down a deposit. I haven't received my package yet which they will send out about a month ahead of time. They don't make up the packages until then. It is all done out of WDTC but they make up a "special" AAA package as opposed to a normal WDTC package. I have my doubts that I'll get the normal 50th luggage tags but get a "special" AAA luggage tag instead with the obnoxious red AAA lanyard. However, if I don't get the 50th lanyards and tags I'm going to try and get them from the WDTC office in DTD when I get there. The enhanced fastpass really doesn't do any good if they run out of fastpasses so we shall see how it works in July. Also, you still get Morning Madness with the AAA package (same requirements as the WDTC package). In fact, everything is the same as the WDTC vacation packages except you get a 10% discount, the enhanced fastpass and with a small increase, AAA viewing to a parade (I haven't got all the details yet but was told by a CM at the number for tour ticket sales that the AAA viewing is different from the tour viewing of parades and he *thinks* that the viewing for Fantasmic is at the Main Street train station. I have a call in to my AAA agent to ask more questions.

pisces
05-23-2005, 08:06 AM
I'm so glad I didn't go the "enhanced" route on my last trip. I really thought about it.

It wouldn't have worked during that time. Everything was so haphazard during that week. Some days were completely rained out and the machines weren't even working. Some days the rides were walk-on. Some days everything was jammed, but I didn't feel like running around, when I could just come back later on, as the park was open till Midnight everday. Fastpass, enhanced, and Ridemax, were completely unnecessary during the week I last went.

However, nowadays, during the heat of the Summer and Fall, with limited days to explore.........I would definitely do Enhanced/Ridemax.

A limited number of days, and/or intense heat would be the determining factor for me.

kisroo
05-23-2005, 09:14 AM
Yumi is correct from my experience anyway.
In fact, when I compared the packages online at both the Disney and AAA sites, they were almost identical in every way. AAA gave me the benefit of the discount~which I happily took and used to upgrade our room~and the enhanced fastpass! ;)

I'll be interested in seeing how the enhanced fastpass works for us in Dec. Not sure if we'll need to use it the first few days we're there, but on Friday and Saturday I'm sure I'll get some good use out of it.

~kisroo:)

vegasmommytoDL
05-23-2005, 10:30 PM
I have my doubts that I'll get the normal 50th luggage tags but get a "special" AAA luggage tag instead with the obnoxious red AAA lanyard. However, if I don't get the 50th lanyards and tags I'm going to try and get them from the WDTC office in DTD when I get there.

I got my AAA package with my tickets, etc. It had the 50th Ann luggage tags with tinkerbell on them. Not red ones =) Hope this makes you feel better!

For our trip... since I can't afford to do 5 nights at Disneyland. We did the minimum 2 nights required at the Disneyland hotel to get ther Enchanted fastpass tickets BUT we bought 6 day tickets and the other 3 nights we will stay at the Days Inn but will still have the fastpass feature for ALL days! AND at the end of the trip I can use my ticket values and only pay $30 a ticket to upgrade to an annual pass!

OH.... And if you have the Disney Visa they have special perks too! If you book a special package (not sure if you can get AAA and Disney Visa's combined offers) through them they have special parade viewing, etc.

Hope this helps!

MsYumiBr
05-24-2005, 06:26 AM
Yay! 50th luggage tags (I honestly think that's one of the main reasons I wanted to stay at the DLH-lol.) With a 16 year old joining our party, I'm going to take advantage of her energy and have her collect the fastpasses. How long does it usually take to get around to collect them?