Disney's Test of Centralized FastPass Distribution at Animal Kingdom

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Originally Posted by broadway315

I actually love the idea of a centralized FP system, but not in the way they are currently implementing it. In many ways they are cutting corners. Instead of rethinking the system, they are just putting machines similar to their current ones in a central location. What I pictured when I thought of a centralized FP system was completely different. I picture a touch screen where you can get a fastpass for any FP ride, similar to the touchscreens at the movie theaters. It can show you stand by and FP times for all the attractions, and then you select which one you want. It would work the same as the other system, where you could only get one at a time and a second fastpass at a designated time, but allow people to plan better. I also don't picture one centralized location, but a few scattered throughout the parks, similar to the wait time boards. You could have one in Liberty Square, one between Toontown and Fantasyland and one just before the castle.

I'm sure there would be drawbacks, but I do think Disney could pull this off. But in the current economic climate, its too much of an investment with very little monetary value to them. I would love to see it myself.

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Originally Posted by Lakin

That would be awesome!

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I'm with Broadway and Lakin, I like the idea. Actually, I thought I read a while back about Disney patenting the idea of in room FP where you could pick your attractions and times right from your WDW resort room. I thought it was a great idea and just on more advantage for those on property.

Used this at AK today! It was wonderful. Not well marked though. We were getting ready to enter Tough to Be a Bug and I saw an Everest logo. When I looked closer, there were the other attractions as well. We had already FP KRR and we were eligible for another FP so I got FP for the Safari and we were able to ride without waiting and without me running all over the park! I hope they keep it. The park is soooo big and spread out! We were out of the there by 11:15 having ridden EE twice, Dinosaur twice, Tough to be a Bug, Safari, and KRR. Back to the hotel for an afternoon swim. A wonderful day!

I think it's a terrible Idea that will cause even more queues and riots!

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Originally Posted by Fantasmic

I think it's a terrible Idea that will cause even more queues and riots!

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Riots? Really?
I don't think I've EVER seen a riot at Disney, and I've only ever heard of one fight because it made the news. Come on, give it a chance.

I have to say, centralized FastPasses scare me a bit, I worry that I will get in and immediately into another line, you know, the line after the line to enter, and the line to get on the bus, and the line to the elevator to get to the bus area, and the line at the breakfast counter service restaurant before that.

I also fear bottlenecks at the front of the park. What I was hoping when I first heard about, was that every FastPass kiosk would have every FastPass in the park available on it (Say I am getting off Kilimanjaro and I am about to walk over to Asia to ride Expediton Everest, I could just pop in my card at the nearest FastPass kiosk and get the FastPass before walking over to the ride.)

I think this would be really usefully and helpfully.

I am a bit confused about the lazy comment, firstly, I don't see how getting a FastPass at the front of the park is lazy, people would still have to walk to the rides if they wanted to use them, unless they were like, weeeird souveneir FastPasses. Secondly, as far as Disney is concerned, it would be really smart of them to cater to the lazy.

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Originally Posted by GrumpyFan

Riots? Really?
I don't think I've EVER seen a riot at Disney, and I've only ever heard of one fight because it made the news. Come on, give it a chance.

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Riots in the sense of complete mayhem at the ONLY FP machines in the park! Sometimes it's madness at just (for example) Expedition Everest's FP machines!

I think it could be OK, but agree that it has the possibility of making Fast Passes go quicker. It something is right in front of you from the start there is more chance to use it then if you had to go to the attraction itself.

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Originally Posted by chefmickey3

Used this at AK today! It was wonderful. Not well marked though.

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We were there today and thought the same thing about it not being well marked. I was aware that they were testing this, so I was on the lookout. When we passed the area right at park opening, it was not open yet, and like you said it wasn't well marked so I wasn't even sure it was the right place. Don't know what time they actually opened up the machines. When we went back to that area around 2pm (I think), it was open but Everest FPs were already gone and the two machines already covered. Dinosaur and the Safari were still available.

In AK at least, I do think they need to move to an area with a little more room and possibly rope the queues for the individual machines. But I do like the concept. :thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Fantasmic

Riots in the sense of complete mayhem at the ONLY FP machines in the park! Sometimes it's madness at just (for example) Expedition Everest's FP machines!

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I don't think it is Disney's plan for the centralized FP machines to be the only machines in the park. From what has been described, you can still get a FP at the ride location.

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Originally Posted by badkitty

I don't think it is Disney's plan for the centralized FP machines to be the only machines in the park. From what has been described, you can still get a FP at the ride location.

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Correct!

Here's the pic I took today. Two Dinosaur machines on the left, two Everest in the middle (already out) and two Safari on the right.

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Originally Posted by AlexinWonderland

I have to say, centralized FastPasses scare me a bit, I worry that I will get in and immediately into another line, you know, the line after the line to enter, and the line to get on the bus, and the line to the elevator to get to the bus area, and the line at the breakfast counter service restaurant before that.

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They say you spend a 1/4 of your life waiting in lines. Wouldn't this just expedite that so you can get it all out of the way now and have tons of wait-free time in your later years? :D

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Originally Posted by GrumpyFan

Riots? Really?
I don't think I've EVER seen a riot at Disney,

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Obviously you didn't the rush to TSM before they took some steps to control it ;)

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Originally Posted by JPL

Obviously you didn't the rush to TSM before they took some steps to control it ;)

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No, but, I've been in what could be considered the rush for Soarin'. However, I've never been one to want to be "first" in line. It's just a ride, and if others want to kill themselves getting there, they're more than welcome to knock themselves out. I find that whole mentality silly and childish though.

This is a test folks. Disney is going to run it for a little while, find out how it effects traffic, see what people think about it, then adjust it for future use, or just get rid of the idea. Give it some time, and see what happens with it.

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Originally Posted by Fantasmic

I think it's a terrible Idea that will cause even more queues and riots!

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I agree that this is bad, particularly because people will get one as they walk by for whatever, and not necessarily want it or use it. Fast passes will be much harder to obtain and waits will be longer. The people who really want a fast pass run to that ride and grab one and that is how it SHOULD be. Centralizing it, allows for more abuse and a lot more people using fast passes and wasting our time on fast passes NOT being returned.

I was at WDW - and away from the computer - and had not heard about these tests. So, on Sunday morning, I began my trek to get EE fast passes, while my family went to get breakfast. As I passed the Tree, a cast member gestured to the kiosks and told me fastpasses were available. The lines at the machines were all only two or three people deep. I had the fastpasses and was over at breakfast in record time - :mickey:
It was interesting to me how even the lines were. I wondered if it was being used as a way to even things out -- a way to get more people to get their fastpasses for Dinosaur, intead of EE -- or the like.
As the official fast pass runner for our family, I know that I only do one attraction at a time (rather than panting my way from one to the other) -- so, even though we only have two that love EE, I get those fast passes before breakfast and get others for the rest in the family after my coffee. While this was a fun surprise for me -- if it is something planned and lines are long . . . I could see it causing quite a bit of congestion / frustration. If though, it is unadvertized and open sporadically -- it could be quite magical (as it was for us).
On the day we went, I did not see the fastpasses going any quicker for EE, but they had been running all the trains - and had fastpasses available later in the day than I expected on each of our visits.

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Originally Posted by fupresti

Have we really become so lazy as a society that walking to the attraction to get a FastPass is that much trouble? How about they just issue motorized scooters to everyone and get it over with.

Unless this is some grand plan to get people into shops and restaurants by staging the machines close to these areas.

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It's not a matter of being lazy at all. When we were there recently, we wore our pedometers. In one day, we walked a little over 12 miles....mainly because we would get a fast pass for one attraction and then head to a different part of the park, then have to come back. Once we got another fast pass, we would have to bounce around again. Fast passes are great, but it eliminates the ability to follow a route around the park and not bounce around. Definitely more walking....not laziness!

Good idea? I think so. As long as they can work out the kinks.
Pros: more than 1 FP at a time
helps scheduling your routes
no FP "sprints" necessary

Cons: bottlenecks @ the FP kiosks site
wasted / unused FP
premature opening
Hopefully, 1 card entry gets all your choices of FPs. And still leaving the FP kiosks @ the attractions entrance will relieve some of the crowds @ the centralized site.
Question: will the FP received @ the new site push back the times given @ the attraction site as guests will get these first? That could present a small problem. I'm sure we all could come up w/a million questions, perceived problems, and solutions. And hopefully those responsible for this new venture are Intercot members so they can see and address the concerns of faithful WDW lovers! I, for one, absolutely adore the FP system, and am for any and all improvements that can be made. But, hopefully, they'll be tried and tested changes made to improve the system, not just for the sake of change!

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Originally Posted by JPL

Obviously you didn't the rush to TSM before they took some steps to control it ;)

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:mickey::thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by kemps@wdw

Good idea? I think so. As long as they can work out the kinks.
Pros: more than 1 FP at a time
helps scheduling your routes
no FP "sprints" necessary

Cons: bottlenecks @ the FP kiosks site
wasted / unused FP
premature opening
Hopefully, 1 card entry gets all your choices of FPs. And still leaving the FP kiosks @ the attractions entrance will relieve some of the crowds @ the centralized site.
Question: will the FP received @ the new site push back the times given @ the attraction site as guests will get these first? That could present a small problem. I'm sure we all could come up w/a million questions, perceived problems, and solutions. And hopefully those responsible for this new venture are Intercot members so they can see and address the concerns of faithful WDW lovers! I, for one, absolutely adore the FP system, and am for any and all improvements that can be made. But, hopefully, they'll be tried and tested changes made to improve the system, not just for the sake of change!

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I'm not sure I get you -- the regular FastPass rules apply - only one per MYW ticket in a certain time frame. There were 3 sets of machines set up in AK - 2 machines for EE, 2 for KS, and 2 for Dinosaur. You could not go from one set to another to the third and get FastPasses from each, nor could you get FastPasses for all three attractions from one machine.

The rules didn't change, it just cuts down on the mad rush back to those individual attractions just to get FastPasses, then go on to something else until your return time came.

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Originally Posted by jonahbear2006

I agree that this is bad, particularly because people will get one as they walk by for whatever, and not necessarily want it or use it. Fast passes will be much harder to obtain and waits will be longer. The people who really want a fast pass run to that ride and grab one and that is how it SHOULD be. Centralizing it, allows for more abuse and a lot more people using fast passes and wasting our time on fast passes NOT being returned.

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Not sure I understand why the geography of the fastpass distribution would waste more fast passes? Especially in Animal Kingdom where the trek from one attraction to another is a lengthy distance. I also don't think it will cut down on the mad rushes for new and/or popular attractions' fast pass lines. Once it catches on, there will just be a new place to pick up a fast pass and the mad dash will be given a new route.