What has fast pass plus done to standby lines

[Lizzie]

We will be there September 22 to October 2. This is our first trip with fast pass plus. What should we expect standby lines to be like? What affect does it have to rides that didn't use to have long lines?

[Strmchsr]

Rides that did not previously have Fastpass and didn't need it, like POTC, Imagination, HM, etc you'll notice considerably longer standby lines. For those rides that previously had FP there's not much difference.

[faline]

I agree with Chris. It has increased the standby lines on many rides that were previously walk-ons or had very short lines.

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

Some rides, likes Haunted Mansion, are now a FP+ must. Waits always seem long, and the lines move very slowly.

I think that is one of the biggest changes, you can no longer judge the wait time by the line, since SB lines move so much more slowly now with FP+.

Rides that didn't need FP+ (like HM, or Pirates) are now long waits, we've even seen it's a small world at 30+ minutes this week, and people were piling in with their FP+'s!

[baldburke]

Some rides, likes Haunted Mansion, are now a FP+ must. Waits always seem long, and the lines move very slowly.

I think that is one of the biggest changes, you can no longer judge the wait time by the line, since SB lines move so much more slowly now with FP+.

Rides that didn't need FP+ (like HM, or Pirates) are now long waits, we've even seen it's a small world at 30+ minutes this week, and people were piling in with their FP+'s!

Is that seasonally dependent? We know there's no "slow season" per se any more, but are you saying this is always the case? This past spring many rides were 10-20 minutes max, but I never felt like we want more than 45 minutes (TSM, 7DMT was still 60+ but never went non-FP+).

[Strmchsr]

Is that seasonally dependent? We know there's no "slow season" per se any more, but are you saying this is always the case? This past spring many rides were 10-20 minutes max, but I never felt like we want more than 45 minutes (TSM, 7DMT was still 60+ but never went non-FP+).

Having been at several different times with FP+ it seems to be across the board, regardless of season now. POTC and HM are regularly 20+ min.

[AgentC]

Having been at several different times with FP+ it seems to be across the board, regardless of season now. POTC and HM are regularly 20+ min.

My experience has been a little different than Chris so I suppose there are some variables. I have had the same experience on the Haunted Mansion but I've found POTC at 10 minutes and I've seen it a 45 minutes. I think part of that is because it is more likely to go down that HM.

A good example for me of what FP can do is what we've experienced with Star Tours. I often found that we did not need a FP at Star Tours at all. We went about two weeks ago and had them. The wait times for stand by were all over the place because of FP. When we got there it had a 40 minute wait. 15 minutes later it had a 20 minute wait. Then a 45 and so on.

What was happening is a large number of people would get in the FP line. At one point there was easily 50 or more in line. When that happened it would instantly affect the stand by line.

[allgiggles]

A little bit of planning goes a long way. And rope drop is your friend. We were very efficient users of the original FP so I was very nervous about using FP+ because of everything I was reading about longer stand-by lines and having to use a FP+ before getting another one (after the initial 3). After our trip in June with FP+, I'm not concerned anymore. We used the crowd calendars and cheat sheets at easywdw.com and had a very successful trip. On our long day at MK, we started the day in Frontierland at rope drop. No one goes there at that time. We walked on Splash Mtn. & BTMRR twice each with no line/no waiting. We then walked on Haunted Mansion; had about a 5 minute wait at Small World; 5 minute wait at Buzz; walked on Peoplemover. We also made 2 bathroom stops and spent some time in the Haunted Mansion gift shop. That was all before 10:30 (with an 8:00 a.m. opening) at a very leisurely pace. We used our first FP+ at 10:35 for 7DMT . Had lunch and then used our FP+ for Peter Pan. Walked on Philharmagic. Went on Voyage of the Little Mermaid with a 10 minute wait. Used FP+ for Space Mtn. At 1:15 we were ready for a break back at the hotel so we stopped by a FP+ kiosk and scheduled a 4th FP for Space Mountain for 7:20-8:20 (there were earlier times available, but that's the time that worked for our schedule) and headed out to the bus stop. We returned to MK in the evening and continued to get additional FP+'s and ride things standby for the next few hours. In total, we used 10 FP+'s that day; rode 22 attractions; had lunch in the park; and watched the Main St. Electrical Parade before leaving the park at midnight. That was for a total of 9.5 hours in the park on a crowd level 8 day. While we couldn't use as many FP+'s at the other parks, we did use more than 3 in each park and didn't wait more than 15 minutes in any stand-by line....most were less than 10 minutes. It's all about knowing how to zig when everyone else is zagging.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Is that seasonally dependent? We know there's no "slow season" per se any more, but are you saying this is always the case? This past spring many rides were 10-20 minutes max, but I never felt like we want more than 45 minutes (TSM, 7DMT was still 60+ but never went non-FP+).
I can tell you, October 2013 HM and PotC were in access of 30 minutes, and in July of this year HM was 30 minutes... I don't think it is a season thing at all...

[Dulcee]

Its going to depend heavily on time of day as well. If you scroll through MK attractions on the app now (10:40am on a Thursday) HM is at 10 min, Small World 5, Space mountain 10.... come back in three hours and I'm sure they'll be higher. Wait until 7 at night and they'll begin to go back down. If you plan your days accordingly you should be fine.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

Like several other posters here, we found that the parks in the morning were pretty quiet. Did a lot of rides without FP no problem.

We had our FP for the afternoon/evening and found that we were able to revisit the rides. :)

[baldburke]

Its going to depend heavily on time of day as well. If you scroll through MK attractions on the app now (10:40am on a Thursday) HM is at 10 min, Small World 5, Space mountain 10.... come back in three hours and I'm sure they'll be higher. Wait until 7 at night and they'll begin to go back down. If you plan your days accordingly you should be fine.

I suppose that's along the lines of what I was saying. While there is no "slow season" anymore there are certainly times with lower capacity and early September is one of those times. Yes, you may have a number of parties that are either all adults or with very young children, but with most children and teenagers just starting their school year attendance tends to be down.

Even during the course a of week you have to pick your days if you're looking for a "slow day." US holidays, overseas holidays, running events and special park events (MVMCP, MNSHP, SWW, F&G or G&W) can all turn an overwise slow week on its ear.

[Mendelson]

At 1:15 we were ready for a break back at the hotel so we stopped by a FP+ kiosk and scheduled a 4th FP for Space Mountain for 7:20-8:20 (there were earlier times available, but that's the time that worked for our schedule) and headed out to the bus stop. We returned to MK in the evening and continued to get additional FP+'s and ride things standby for the next few hours. In total, we used 10 FP+'s that day.

:stop:

I'm not saying I don't believe you, but this is really unbelievable. If I'm reading right, your fourth FP was for 7:20 to 8:20pm. So that means you were able to get six additional FPs between 8ish and midnight???

[allgiggles]

:stop:

I'm not saying I don't believe you, but this is really unbelievable. If I'm reading right, your fourth FP was for 7:20 to 8:20pm. So that means you were able to get six additional FPs between 8ish and midnight???

Yes -- actually the last one we got was used at 10:30 because by then, most things were a walk-on. We'd basically use a FP; go to the kiosk; get another FP for something close by with a return time within 10-15 minutes (a few times it was within 5 minutes); use the FP; return to the kiosk to schedule another one; and so on and so on. I've seen people reporting that they've been able to get 12-15 FP's in a day at MK. We could have easily done that if we hadn't taken a break at our resort in the afternoon.

[Mendelson]

Nice....

[texas211]

You only need FP+ for some of the bathrooms.

Everything else, will need one.

[TheVBs]

We went end of Aug./beginning of Sept. There were many times when the standby line was nearly empty or much shorter than the FP line. In those cases the standby line would pretty much shut down to let a lot of the FP line through. Like someone mentioned, this contributes to some pretty varied wait times.

One very memorable time was when we got in the standby line for Space Mtn. after using our FP. Wait time was posted as 20 minutes. But, a huge number of people entered the FP line and they shut the standby line down COMPLETELY. We didn't move for nearly an hour while they hustled the FP line through. No balance whatsoever. A couple of people were understandably upset and talked to one of the CMs about it. I saw another CM come in that was dressed differently than the Space Mtn. CMs to talk with the people who were upset. Shortly after that the standby line started moving again. After we rode, we came out to discover that the standby line was closed completely and only the FP line was open.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

You only need FP+ for some of the bathrooms.

Everything else, will need one.

OMG! I would so get one! :D You know its bad when the DH says there's lines in the men's room too!!