What is this x pass system I'm hearing about?
Or updates to the fast pass system?
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What is this x pass system I'm hearing about?
Or updates to the fast pass system?
I'm actually seeing some buzz about Disney recently testing in some spots how Fastpass was originally intended to work - guests actually having to return during the hour window on their FP. Also reports are indicating that CMs are no longer advising guests that the return times are open-ended, like they have in the past.
Oh no...we used to always return "late". Although, I understand why they might want to enforce the window. However, how can they account for lateness that is not the guest's fault? Like, ride breakdowns, or longer than posted waits at other rides, longer than usual lines at food/merchandise spots, etc.? Isn't that why the return time is open ended?
I've basically heard the same thing. I never knew you could show up late and still use your fast pass, but it only seems fair that if you are more than 15 min or so past your window,that the fast pass should expire. If I understand the system right, they only issue so many fast passes every day per fast pass attraction. It seems that if everyone was doing this, then both stand bye and fast pass lines could take longer.
The one hour window has nothing to do with x-pass as far as I'm aware ... x-pass is the term I've heard used to refer to the "NextGen" iteration of FastPass where everything will be able to tie together and you'll have your dining reservations, ride reservations, character meet reservations, etc. all tied to one "x-pass."
I didn't realize that they would let you ride if you didn't return within your window. Maybe that explains the FP line being as long or longer than the SB line sometimes.
There is no way Disney is going to start enforcing the 1 hour window because doing so would fly in the face of Disney's "make the guest happy" approach. Disney would be faced with constant guest issues caused by Disney's ride breakdowns, failure to seat guests at ADR time, etc and would find it impossible to police this rule without constant bad blood (PS I am perfectly fine with folks being late for sleepy kids, sick kids, walked up on the Main Street Philharmonic and decided to watch it for the first time, etc., since this is a vacation).
But most importantly, they won't enforce this issue because they don't stand to make any money off of doing so.
Just my :twocents:
We are often "late returners" as well. We didn't find out that this was allowed until we got fastpasses that were at the same time as a dinner ADR. We asked a CM if we could switch out our fastpasses for a different time because of the ADR, this is when he explained that as long as you come back anytime after the time starts you can ride. I wonder if they do start enforcing the times will they allow late comers for this kind of situation, or will the guest just be out of luck if their fastpass is during an ADR??? Not that its the end of the world, LOL, but I could see some very unhappy folks at the fastpass entrance.
The return time is posted above the machines..if it is during your ADR time just don't get one- we have run into this, or even the time was when we knew we would be at a completely opposite end of the park,we just opt to skip that particular FP and move on.
:ditto:
One option would be to extend the return window to 2 or 3 hours but then enforce it. Letting people return whenever is just leading to longer FP lines which leads to longer standby lines IMO. FP return line at RnRC was 40 minutes last week - defeats the purpose of having FP.
Ok, didn't ever notice that! LOL. Have these times been posted from the very beginning of fastpass? Our incident with the fastpass at the time of our ADR was over 5 years ago. Not that it would make a difference for me since still to this day I had no idea these posted times existed. I guess I am in "lala" land when I'm in WDW!
A great illustration of why unneccessarily enforcing this is a bad idea.
buzznwoodysmom has been a regular on Intercot for some time, which certifies her as a Disney nut, but yet she didn't know about the posted times. While I thought "WHAT!" when I first read this, it goes along with my feelings of "it's a vacation", and for most folks that means not over-thinking every minute of every day, EVEN if it is more efficient for Disney or other guests. We all know how the efficiency of ADR's has stressed many of us to "make our time" and I would hate for Fastpass to be the next victim.
To put it in Disney speak, Hakuna Matata!
Yeah, When I got a Living w/ the Land Fastpass, they mentioned anytime afterwards as we were about to go ride Soarin, Eat Lunch, and take our scheduled restroom break.
You know I felt a little foolish admitting that I didn't know about the posted return times. In my 14 trips, and trust me we use the heck out of fastpass on every trip, I honestly never noticed that, and as far as I know my hubby, two kids, and my mom (who is often with us on our trips) have never noticed either. I guess I'm not paying close enough attention to what I'm doing. When I see threads about celebrity sightings I always think to myself that I could be standing right next to a celebrity and never even notice, because I often find myself so totally wrapped up in my kids and what we are doing. I guess this proves that I was right in thinking that. Makes me wonder what else I've been missing all these years! LOL.
Which is precisely why, if this stupid "NextGen" garbage turns out to be half as bad as it sounds, my DVC's are going on the market and we'll be taking our vacations at the beach from now on.
I refuse to be forced to plan out every split-second of my vacation just to avoid being shut out of rides, character meet-and-greets, and restaurants ... you know, all the stuff I'm actually, well, there for? :mad:
Ian, I agree 100%.
We are at a point now that even our ADRs seem like such a headache. I hate having to watch the clock to keep track of our next meal. If we have to have a complete schedule of meals, rides, character meets, then the trip becomes not at all enjoyable, and we'd rather spend our time and money elsewhere. I really hope it doesn't come to this.
Exactly! I'm so not a spreadsheet vacation kind of gal. :unsure:
I've caught myself recently poo-pooing some Disney announcements which have turned out to be great, so I'm going to TRY and reserve judgement on this until all the details come out. So far though - not impressed!
If they don't enforce the fast pass time window at least to a degree, then it kind of defeats the purpose of the system, doesn't it? And if there not going to enforce that rule, why should they enforce line cutting, or ADR, or EMH only for resort guests? We have more than once seen that we would not be able to use our fastpass on time, so we gave them away. I don't think someone should have to wait on me because I CHOOSE to go on another ride before using my fastpass. Disney cannot predict when a ride breaks down or how long people will sit at their dining tables, so some leaniency would be nice, 15 min., 30 min. max maybe. I think the fast pass was designed to make wait times more predictable, and efficient, and to allow people to plan better, but how can this happen when the time windows aren't followed? I can't say that I'm happy with some of the recent managerial decisions that are made at disney, but I think this one is just, fair. Because before we had fast pass, we were all waiting in the same "stand bye" line, and if I have to come back by the time my ticket says, well that's the rule and it sounds fair to me. Just my opinion.
Not a all.
Line cutting is staunchly against the rules.
The FP window is not "enforced" by Disney design.
The FP system works just fine without enforcing the window.
ADR's are often honored later than their exact time.
PM EMH time can be open to all, it's just that non-WDW Resort guests cannot ride attractions during the EMH.
AM EMH, only WDW Resort guests can enter the park in the first hour.
Nobody would be "waiting on you" if you use your FP after the printed window.
In reality, you allowed many guests to "go ahead of you" during the earlier time that you did not ride during the printed window.
The FP system works just fine without enforcing the window.
Disney created the FP and the FP rules.
As long as you don't use the FP "early" (before the window time) then it doesn't matter much when you choose to use it.
If you want to use the FP inside that window, you are free to do so...
just as are guests who choose to use the FP after the window (on the same day it was issued.)
It has not been that way since nearly the beginning of FP.
Anytime you used a FP, you were playing within the current rules.
If you liked FP, you liked the system that you are disparaging.
And, I've just spoken mine.
Point was, I think fast pass designed to move the lines quicker, more efficient, and make times more predictable, I don't think there would be a window if that wasn't the case. Your right, if disney let's you come back late that's the parks right. But I don't see why anyone would get upset about haveing to come back within the time window, and LIKE I SAID, maybe a little later. And as you said the fast pass system started out adhering to the time window. And I didn't say that I didn't like fast pass, just that adhering to a reasonable time window seemed fair enough. :D
Us too...we actually used to do more table service meals than we do now...the whole ADR thing can really dominate the trip and take alot of the fun out things as you hurry to "get there."
If everything starts going "on the clock" then WDW will lose much of its appeal to us as well. One of the reasons I left public accounting all those years ago was having to track and bill my time at six minute intervals...if I have to start planning my disney vacations that precisely I'll opt for something that offers a bit more freedom.
I agree the adr thing does dominate your trip. There was one year that we were having so much fun we said forget the dining reservations lets just grab something at Peco's instead. So we called and canceled our reservations and stayed in the park and had fun! I hope they don't do this xpass thing everyone is referring to. That will make my life way to complicated while on vacation!
WDW is against enforcing any of their rules. The reason FP is broken is because people do not come back during the 1-hour window. If a CM can enforce the Start Time of the FP, then can surely enforce the End Time I literally had to wait 30 seconds for our FPs on KS. I looked at the guy like he was a leper. But he let someone in with one that was expired. I asked to speak to his manager.
The whole purpose of FP was to get you on an attraction in ~5 minutes or so. Now, FP lines can be 15-30 minutes or longer.
It's easy for CMs to enforce the start time of the FPs without making anyone unhappy -- it's a lot harder to enforce the end time. (For example: Too early? You CAN use your pass at the time it says on the FP. Too late? You CAN'T use the pass at all.)
The company policy of CMs letting people in if they're late is completely different than people finding out online that you can use FPs anytime after the end time. I've even seen people advising other guests to use them on different days and to just tell the CM at the gate that the ride was down on the day they tried to use it. Because of the Internet, FPs have turned into open-ended pass times, which was never intended.
That said, regarding the NextGen stuff, PLEASE don't make me have to plan every blessed activity in order not to have to wait in endless lines. I don't want or need the stress before or during my vacation.
How has that worked for your family Ian? Are you still able to find places to eat at decent times, and places you actually want to eat at? I'm seriously thinking about starting to do the same thing. Just making ADRs for "have to" eat places and then winging it the rest of the trip. Of course my next trip is for Christmas so there is no way I'll take a chance that week, but I can definitely see us trying this in the future.
We did a last minute trip in June of 2010, DH was on his 2 week R&R from Iraq and his dates kept changing so we didn't have a set date to plan for. We made out just fine with only a couple of ADRs for the week, but it wasn't very busy that week. Not sure if we just lucked out or if other's have had success without lots and lots of ADRs. I liked that not only were we able to do everything more freely, but we also tried a few places we might never had tried, or at least not planned for. Chefs de France and Grand Floridian Cafe to name a few, which turned out to be "hidden gems" for us.
Yep. No issues at all, actually.
Although in fairness we did travel at reasonably slow times of the year so we may have just gotten lucky.
But we did an entire trip and only had two ADR's the entire time (both character meals for the kids) and we were still able to dine via walk-up at places like Le Cellier, Chefs De France, Teppan Edo, Crystal Palace, and San Angel Inn with very little wait. In fact, many times we waited significantly less than we normally wait when we do have ADR's!
I was there the same week as Ian. We did same day ADRs (via the Disney mobile Dining site) sometimes a couple hours prior to the mealtime! I had a few made, but we ended up changing them to days/times that suited us better. It was very easy.
I think as long as you are flexible, you can do either walk ups or same day ADR via the mobile site from your phone. It's actually a really neat feature, and allows you to search for "open tables" for the dining time period you are interested in.
I agree. I book any "necessary" meals which are usually character meals . I usually book 1 meal per day, but use the mobile site to change or plan same day.
I am usually an obsessive planner but have gotten tired of it. For our Oct trip I have 2 character meals for the kids booked and nothing else. Just haven't been able to get motivated to book anything.I am lucky if I know what I want to eat tomorrow, let alone 180 days from now. ;)
I hope the next gen stuff doesn't make it worse. When we are running to an ADR or to make a fast pass time, I think we miss the best of Disney.
Silly.
I didn't know FP was broken.
Also, there's no reason to have to ride within that 1 hour window.
The reason FP works is the cause guests to "come back later" only as early as the beginning of the window. The end of the window doesn't matter much, in general.
What did the manger tell you?
No, that's not the whole purpose of FP.
Maybe, maybe not.
But, the use of FP after the window is not necessarily the reason.
Apologies if this is off topic, but I'm confused about the NextGen thing. Am I to believe that in the future, if I want to ride, say, Splash Mountain, that I'll need a reservation? Let's say I neglect to make one? Does this mean I won't get to ride it? What happens if I get behind on my ride reservations because of a ride breakdown, my waitress is slow, or my kid gets tired? What if I get off Splash and just happen to want to ride again? Will I have to make reservations for my snacks and quick service too? Am I to know 180 days in advance when I'll be hungry? Should I reserve bathroom breaks too?
I hope I'm wrong about this. I'm an avid planner. I've got an itinerary for next August's trip already. The thing is, the itinerary is extremely flexible and can be altered at any time without any harm. This NextGen thing sounds way too rigid, unless I'm reading it wrong, which I hope is the case. If not, I never thought I'd say this, but I think I might be taking my last trip to WDW next year too...:(
Uh oh, better make sure I'm "regular" for next year's trip!
I can't believe I just posted that on my 5000th post...how embarrassing! :blush:
Seriously, though, can anyone explain NextGen and "scheduling" your rides? Would that mean "no reservations = no rides"?
Well, no one really knows the details yet, since Disney hasn't given any. There are, apparently, lots of different ways it could be implemented.
However, I don't think the Standby line is going to be eliminated. Instead, the NextGen will give you more options in obtaining fastpasses ahead of your trip, if you want to.
Considering how many visitors to WDW still don't know what Fastpass is, that it's free, and how to use it, I'm confident that this new stuff will be "for the regulars", the mega fans who go every year, plan their ADRs 180 days out, etc. They will still likely anticipate somewhere north of 50% of the park visitors will go the "old fashioned" route.