Pooh Fastpass+

[waymickey]

I hear that Pooh meet and greet at EPCOT is now by fast pass only, meaning there is no standby line and it is tier one. Pooh never had a long line in EPCOT. A fastpass only seems a bit silly to me but worries me because of the precedent it sets. This is the first time I know of that you no longer have the option to wait in standby if you care to do so. If it is being done here where else will it trickle down to????

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I had heard the same thing too, made me more happy for our Crystal Palace ADR.

I'm a bit torn, really, at a some point Disney has made the Standby Lines so long that effectively they are FP+. But, to make a character meet a Tier 1 ... feels like putting FP+ into the Imagination Ride - not needed at all and just a way to make people feel like they are getting a "good" FP+ choice, even when it isn't.

[mickclub1955]

Off of another site:

Starting on Sunday, May 11, 2014, these locations will only admit guests with a FastPass+ reservation to see certain characters. There will be no standby visits.

Park: Epcot
Location: United Kingdom Pavilion
Character: Winnie the Pooh
Note: This is a Tier 1 attraction

Park: Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Location: The Magic of Disney Animation
Character: Minnie Mouse
Note: This is a Tier 1 attraction

Park: Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Location: Character Landing
Character: Donald Duck and Daisy Duck

[cer]

I hear that Pooh meet and greet at EPCOT is now by fast pass only, meaning there is no standby line and it is tier one. Pooh never had a long line in EPCOT. A fastpass only seems a bit silly to me but worries me because of the precedent it sets. This is the first time I know of that you no longer have the option to wait in standby if you care to do so. If it is being done here where else will it trickle down to????

Wow. Fastpass ONLY.

I don't think this is right.

[Aurora]

Wow. I'm at a loss. Either these characters at these locations are exceptionally popular, or not popular at all (so they need to use FP+ for scheduling).

I just don't know why else they would turn people away from waiting in line for a character. Just seems like a good way to really irk guests.

[yankeesfan123]

Wait, we have to reserve a FP to use the bathroom now?

[waymickey]

Wait, we have to reserve a FP to use the bathroom now?

It looks like that could happen. Schedule your rides, meet and greets, parade, food, and bathroom breaks. Next up FP+ and ADR for transportation.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Wait, we have to reserve a FP to use the bathroom now?

Pretty soon we'll be reserving fastpasses just to reserve fastpasses...

[VWL Mom]

Up until now I had no real issues with FP+. IMO this is just unnecessary, hopeful it's a test that will fail.

[mickclub1955]

Wonder if the characters are interactive in some way and that is why you will need the band? Just a guess.

[RunDMV]

Wonder if the characters are interactive in some way and that is why you will need the band? Just a guess.

Seems simple to me. Its crowd management. Make everything fp+ so you have to choose and you can force people into every attraction thereby managing the crowds.

[SurferStitch]

It has to be crowd regulation, not due to popularity. When we were there in December, I was able to practically walk in to see Pooh and Tigger. There was one family in front of me finishing up, and I walked in right behind them.

[DizneyRox]

Seems simple to me. Its crowd management. Make everything fp+ so you have to choose and you can force people into every attraction thereby managing the crowds.

As I've been saying all along, Disney can use the fast pass system to control their costs as well. With this they can do a few things.

1. They can gauge interest and staff appropriately, or
2. They can distribute passes based on the hours they want to staff.

I'm betting this is a case of #2, say they staff between 11 am and 4pm, they only distribute for those hours and closet the meet and greet the rest of the time. Folks won't try to walk up because they know they need a pass, but 'amazingly', can't get one.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I'm hearing that this isn't showing as FP+ ONLY anymore on the website. I wonder if this is a glitch, or if Disney is backing off this idea?

[yankeesfan123]

Pretty soon we'll be reserving fastpasses just to reserve fastpasses...

I was just cracking a "pooh" joke.

I love the new system

[ANG]

Wow. I'm at a loss. Either these characters at these locations are exceptionally popular, or not popular at all (so they need to use FP+ for scheduling).

I just don't know why else they would turn people away from waiting in line for a character. Just seems like a good way to really irk guests.

If it's scheduling help for not so popular characters, why does it need to be tier 1? What a pain. We met Pooh in Epcot 3 times on our last trip with minimal wait (and once without waiting at all!) I don't think some people know he's back there.

[Jpxv]

I actually had a fast pass scheduled for this last Monday. On the Sunday prior I received a call saying it was changing back to a stand by attraction again and I would need to choose another experience

[hauntedmansiongirl]

That's a relief!

[waymickey]

I actually had a fast pass scheduled for this last Monday. On the Sunday prior I received a call saying it was changing back to a stand by attraction again and I would need to choose another experience

Good news. I wonder if it was a mistake or they rethought it.

[Aurora]

Maybe they were just waiting for people to start screaming about it on the Internet so everyone would know he's there.