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View Full Version : Fastpass, is it worth it?



unknown2x
08-17-2005, 10:39 AM
In all of my experiences with fastpass, I never thought it to be worth it too much. Most fastpasses seem to bypass only the small portion of the beginning of the ride line and for some reason I always end up waiting 20-30 minutes, maybe more after using the fastpass except for splash mountain which with fastpass gets me on in 10 minutes.

So I'm wondering which fastpasses have a line designed like splash mountain which will get you on real quick. Which rides are worth it to fastpass and save them for later in the afternoon than wait on it in the morning?

RobGraves
08-17-2005, 10:44 AM
In all of my experiences with fastpass, I never thought it to be worth it too much. Most fastpasses seem to bypass only the small portion of the beginning of the ride line and for some reason I always end up waiting 20-30 minutes, maybe more after using the fastpass except for splash mountain which with fastpass gets me on in 10 minutes.

So I'm wondering which fastpasses have a line designed like splash mountain which will get you on real quick. Which rides are worth it to fastpass and save them for later in the afternoon than wait on it in the morning?

Very worth it for Space Mountain... in fact, thats really all we use it for, go in the morning get a FP and go on the ride, go on again if the wait is still short then get on at FP time, getting another FP every time we can get one so we have them for throughout the day... and then get in line at Exactly midinight and ride last of the day... because, well, were just sad like that.

Mommy2NicknMax
08-17-2005, 10:49 AM
It works well for Buzz.

keschy
08-17-2005, 10:53 AM
I think fastpass is definitely worth it. It's true that in some lines you end up waiting a few minutes but think of all the time you bypassed by having your FP. It's like waiting for 10 minutes instead of 45.

unknown2x
08-17-2005, 11:01 AM
Do you guys think it's better to FP Space Mountain and then head over to Indiana Jones and ride that right in the beginning or FP Indiana Jones and then head over and ride Space Mountain in the beginning?

Hakuna Makarla
08-17-2005, 11:03 AM
it works!! we get them, then go on other rides which then we go back for the fast pass rides, very good in my opinion :)

cosmicjive
08-17-2005, 11:08 AM
I use it on a case-by-case basis. I know that I'll have to Fastpass Space Mountain and Splash Mountain, so I plan for that. As for the others, if I go to the ride and the line is more than 25 minutes long, and I can get a Fastpass for it, then I do.

Sometimes the Fastpass end up being of no real value -- last Sunday, I went out of my way to Fastpass Grizzly River Run -- except that when we finally decided to go on it, the line was only 5 minutes anyway (it was a surprisingly cold day). But I wouldn't dream of going on Space Mountain without a Fastpass.


Do you guys think it's better to FP Space Mountain and then head over to Indiana Jones and ride that right in the beginning or FP Indiana Jones and then head over and ride Space Mountain in the beginning?

First thing in the morning, I send the rest of my party to get a locker, while I sprint to Space Mountain and get a Fastpass. Then I meet them at Indiana Jones, and we just walk right on. Works every single time.

-Jeff "etumor"

CariBelle
08-17-2005, 11:12 AM
FPs are def. worth it. It was pretty crowded last Saturday, but with our FPs we never had to wait more than 8 minutes for the FP line (SM was the longest at 8 minutes, we got right on RR, MTMRR, and waited about 5 minutes for IJ).

yellowrosedtxn
08-17-2005, 11:19 AM
I'll take standing in line for 20 minutes on Splash Mountain and not the 204 minutes that I saw several times on my trip. I loved using the Fastpass system.

Darkbeer
08-17-2005, 11:28 AM
My opinion of the most important Fastpass'es to get, in order.

1. Space Mountain
2. Splash Mountain
3. Indiana Jones
4. BLAB
5. Autopia
6. Big Thunder Mountain
7. Roger Rabbit (Heck, it is a Stand-Alone)

At DCA...

1. Soarin' (tends to have a longer wait than ToT prior to the merge)
2. ToT
3. Mulholland Madness (longer waits than Screamin')
4. Screamin'
5. GRR (Stand-Alone, try and get one with a daytime return).

So currently, I get a Space Mountain FP first thing, use Single Rider for Splash, and when the window opens up, get a FP for Indy, and then BLAB when the Indy window opens up.

As for DCA, I get a Soarin and GRR first thing, then go ride ToT, lately there has been very small stand-by lines, even in summer.

HydroGuy
08-17-2005, 12:21 PM
I suppose it depends on what time of year you are going. During summer, I think FP is very worth it, especially if you use them later than the one-hour window. We like to ride Splash in the afternoon, which means a 90 minute wait. As you noted, with FP it is 10 minutes max.

On our trip earlier this month, we used FP them as follows:

Splash - mid-day wait was 90+ minutes, midnight wait was 30-40 minutes. With FP it is 5-10 minutes.

Space Mtn - except for the morning, the standby wait was always 90+ minutes, even at midnight. With FP, it was about 15 minutes

Indy - mid-day standby wait was 60+ minutes, and at midnight it was 30 minutes. With FP, it was 5-10 minutes.

BLAB - mid-day wait was 45-60 minutes, and late evening it was still 30 minutes. With FP it was about 5 minutes.

BTMRR - FP is very fast, about 5 minutes max, and the BTMRR standby line does get up to 30+ minutes. So I think it is still worth it.

Autopia - This may be the least worthwhile. We did not use FP for Autopia on this trip because last time we went the FP wait was 25+ minutes.

RR - Standby wait mid-day was 40+ minutes, FP wait was about 3 minutes.

GRR - Standby wait mid-day was 70+ minutes, while FP it was about 5 minutes

ToT - Never saw a standby line over 30 minutes, and the FP wait was still 15 minutes. This was not as worthwhile when we were there.

Mul Mad - Used FP at 11AM with a 1 minute wait, when the standby was 25 minutes.

In general, if you use the FPs in the afternoon and evening, they can save you a lot of time.

If you think collecting FastPasses is worthwhile, I wrote up my observations here: http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?p=705449#post705449

yeartolate
08-17-2005, 02:10 PM
Absolutely. I haven't waited in a line (other than entrance) in DLR of over than 10 minutes in several years. I cannot fathom waiting in a 60 minute line for a ride that I have ridden before.

sand20go
08-17-2005, 02:32 PM
I actually try to make my fast pass decisions based upon thinking about the que and the length of time one is in it. Thus, for example, I can take a 45 minute stand by line from Indy cause the que is PART of the ride and, on most days, is not too uncomfortable. Conversely, BLAB and Space Mountain are CRITICAL fast passes cause I don't want to be out in the hot sun of tomorrowland. Even a 30 minute stand by on Space can be draining. Splash is also a high priority because of the slow load speed. The line just seems like it takes forever...;-) Roger is a hard call. The que is well themed and worth being in but it is also the case that it can get pretty stuffy.

cosmicjive
08-17-2005, 03:43 PM
Roger is a hard call. The que is well themed and worth being in but it is also the case that it can get pretty stuffy.
The last time I was there, Fastpass was broken for Roger Rabbit, so we took the standby. The posted time was 40 minutes, but it took over an hour and a half (the line was clearly moving slower than it should, but we had no idea why). I never realized before how claustrophobic that queue is. We ended up with people who were screaming and horseplaying on either side of us, and we were absolutely miserable the whole time. If the queue has air-conditioning, then it was broken. If we could have gotten out of line, we would have.

We vowed NEVER EVER to do the standby line on Roger Rabbit again, even if it IS well themed.

-Jeff "etumor"

ErikBsandiego
08-17-2005, 08:24 PM
etumor....you must have been there the day we were.....

In front of us the 17 year old hormonal italian couple. At some point I just wanted to scream "get a room" but it is a family park and it might have prompted a premature discussion among those families with young children.

Behind us we had the dad, Trophy wife #2, and the brat boys from marriage number 1. Welcome to 55 minutes of hell...

cosmicjive
08-17-2005, 09:18 PM
etumor....you must have been there the day we were.....

In front of us the 17 year old hormonal italian couple. At some point I just wanted to scream "get a room" but it is a family park and it might have prompted a premature discussion among those families with young children.

Behind us we had the dad, Trophy wife #2, and the brat boys from marriage number 1. Welcome to 55 minutes of hell...

It was last Thurday (8-11).

We had some large church group behind us, and an obnoxious family in front of us. The church group (we know it was because of the t-shirt they were all wearing) was about a dozen pre-adolecents with no supervision. They kept slamming into us, and we were about ready to kill them.

The ride is good, but it wasn't worth the 90 minutes of hell we went through.

-Jeff "etumor"

RobGraves
08-17-2005, 09:27 PM
We had some large church group behind us, and an obnoxious family in front of us. The church group (we know it was because of the t-shirt they were all wearing) was about a dozen pre-adolecents with no supervision. They kept slamming into us, and we were about ready to kill them.

they were there all weekend... and i echo your sentiments.

kisroo
08-17-2005, 09:30 PM
Is fastpass worth it?

Well, it's "free" with your passport, so that would be a yes.

;)

ksejr1
08-18-2005, 09:08 AM
it's been worth it for me at every ride

twist1980
08-18-2005, 09:11 AM
I've always found it worthwhile. Usually for rides like Splash and Indy there is at 60-90 minute wait. Even if you have to wait 20-30 minutes with your FP, it still saves you over an hour. How is that NOT worth it??? :confused: