FP vs Stand-by

[MattHolst]

It seems like as little as three years ago, a FP meant you had little to no wait for the attraction you had one to. Here’s an example of how it was this past Wednesday, March 21st:

FP for Soarin’ at 4:30 pm. Arrived and checked in to gate promptly as clock turned to 4:30.

Arrived at end of line which was halfway down the middle ramp at 4:31.

Made it to second check in at 4:58. Directed down Concourse B.

Online for ride and watching Patrick at 5:17.

Thank goodness I didn’t have to wait in the 60 minute stand-by line!

[PopPhan]

What you don't say is how long the actual Stand-By line took to get on the ride. Just because it was listed at 60 minutes does not mean that was the actual time stand-by riders had to wait. I get that the number of FP+ options are too great (especially if one of the 3 'theaters' is closed) but the time you gave has little meaning without a reference from the (an) other perspective of someone who actually stood in the stand-by line and clocked it.

[RunDMV]

What you don't say is how long the actual Stand-By line took to get on the ride. Just because it was listed at 60 minutes does not mean that was the actual time stand-by riders had to wait. I get that the number of FP+ options are too great (especially if one of the 3 'theaters' is closed) but the time you gave has little meaning without a reference from the (an) other perspective of someone who actually stood in the stand-by line and clocked it.

Made perfect sense to me. FP in this case was 45 + minutes....not fast.

FP+ main purpose is to pack as many people in the park as possible by artificially spreading them out. It has nothing to do with the guest experience.

[RunDMV]

What you don't say is how long the actual Stand-By line took to get on the ride. Just because it was listed at 60 minutes does not mean that was the actual time stand-by riders had to wait. I get that the number of FP+ options are too great (especially if one of the 3 'theaters' is closed) but the time you gave has little meaning without a reference from the (an) other perspective of someone who actually stood in the stand-by line and clocked it.

Made perfect sense to me. FP in this case was 45 + minutes....not fast.

FP+ main purpose is to pack as many people in the park as possible by artificially spreading them out. It has nothing to do with the guest experience.

[texas211]

Yeah I think the point was, Fastpass+ is not an appropriate name.

Slightly less slow/long would be better, but not as catchy. We'd have Slightly_less_slow apps on our phones. Harder to fit on the signs. They should consult the DMV.

[dizne4me]

Ugh - I'm soo confused what is the difference between FP and FP+ --- and what is stand-by? Since the kids have grown - I'm not up to date on all the new FP's and such - we are heading down in a few weeks but it's just me and my husband - so I'm trying to get got up on all the new things in a very short amount of time.

[magicofdisney]

To add to the OP's analogy... A few weeks before the flood of Spring Breakers, we had a FP for Space Mountain. The END of the FP line extended past Astro Orbiters. Standby was in the ride building.

[MattHolst]

That was another one we encountered and at Space Mountain as well. We walked up and the FP line was out to almost the Astro Orbiters and the Stand by line was inside the building. We didn’t even use the FP and just went to see Philamagic instead. That’s my whole point for the thread. You never used to see this a few years ago in FP. I’m curious how their new system for paid Fast Passes will impact the current system.

[Goofy4TheWorld]

You should keep in mind that just because the FastPass line is backed out of the door does NOT mean the actual line (and wait time) is longer. The standby line by design weaves around the interior of building and holds lots more people than the FastPass line which usually is a short straight line that with just a small bump in people redeeming their FastPass at the same time will give the appearance of a long line, but it's an illusion, the bulk of the people in the standby line are hidden.

[faline]

Ugh - I'm soo confused what is the difference between FP and FP+ --- and what is stand-by? Since the kids have grown - I'm not up to date on all the new FP's and such - we are heading down in a few weeks but it's just me and my husband - so I'm trying to get got up on all the new things in a very short amount of time.

Fastpass + replaced the original fastpass system so the original fastpass system no longer exists. With fastpass +, you can book a time slot in which to enter the fastpass line at certain attractions. You can make this booking 60 days before arrival if you have the My Disney Experience app, are staying at a qualifying resort, have already purchased your tickets, and have linked your hotel reservation and tickets to the app. If you are not staying at a qualifying resort, you can book ride reservations 30 days in advance if you have purchased your tickets and linked them to your app. You can only book 3 fastpass reservations on any given day; all three need to be at the same park; and, at some parks, the rides are tiered so you can only select one ride from tier 1 and 2 from the other tier. Once all 3 fastpasses are used, you can book an additional fastpass at the same park, or a different park, if any are available. Any rides that offer the fastpass reservation system have at least two lines - one line for those with fastpass reservations and another line for those without fastpass reservations also known as the standby line. Some rides have a third line for single riders so anyone if this line will be paired with someone they don't know for the ride. For example, if a ride seats two persons to a seat and a party of three is in line for the ride, Disney will add a 4th person from the single rider line to fill that empty seat with the party of 3. Single rider lines are typically present at the thrill rides. Hope this helps!!

[magicofdisney]

You should keep in mind that just because the FastPass line is backed out of the door does NOT mean the actual line (and wait time) is longer. The standby line by design weaves around the interior of building and holds lots more people than the FastPass line which usually is a short straight line that with just a small bump in people redeeming their FastPass at the same time will give the appearance of a long line, but it's an illusion, the bulk of the people in the standby line are hidden.

But is that the case for Space Mountain? Aren't those lines side-by-side?

[Goofy4TheWorld]

But is that the case for Space Mountain? Aren't those lines side-by-side?

You know, that is an excellent question, and I am unable to recall ever riding Space Mountain standby! But walking through it in my mind, and a quick Google of pictures and videos, I am not sure that I see any point where the standby line branches away from the FP line...

Hum......

[dizne4me]

Thanks for explaining that for me -- it helps considerably.

[Speedy1998]

But is that the case for Space Mountain? Aren't those lines side-by-side?

When you exit the tunnel where the load platform is, on the left hand side there is a queue that doubles back on itself several times before it heads back to the merge point with the FP line.

Also remember that when FP is backed up people in the standby line essentially stand there and watch all the FP people get waved into the final queue beyond the merge point.

[magicofdisney]

When you exit the tunnel where the load platform is, on the left hand side there is a queue that doubles back on itself several times before it heads back to the merge point with the FP line.

However, that same ability is on the right side. Why not double up in the building instead of allowing the line to asininely extend on the outside? Unless, of course it already was doubled up inside. I wouldn't know because I chose to NOT ride at that point.

[magicofdisney]

Also remember that when FP is backed up people in the standby line essentially stand there and watch all the FP people get waved into the final queue beyond the merge point.

My son did choose to ride using the stand-by line vs using his FP. His merge with FP was still quicker. Using simple numbers, let's say FP had 100 people in line. His merge point using stand-by was approximately the 50 person mark of FP.

Perhaps that was just an off day. Nevertheless, it's not the first time I've seen that scenario at that ride.

[texas211]

FP+ is like an extended warranty. Can help, but might not.

[Speedy1998]

However, that same ability is on the right side. Why not double up in the building instead of allowing the line to asininely extend on the outside? Unless, of course it already was doubled up inside. I wouldn't know because I chose to NOT ride at that point.

I haven't seen them use the queue on the right side since they introduced the Fastpass system. I only go once a year so maybe I have just been extremely lucky, but I also usually go at Spring Break or Thanksgiving.

[mom2morgan]

I don't know how accurate "Touring Plans" is, but I was using it to optimize my plan order - and it shows a 51 minute wait at Flights of Passage even WITH my fastpass. Does that seem right?

[texas211]

I don't know how accurate "Touring Plans" is, but I was using it to optimize my plan order - and it shows a 51 minute wait at Flights of Passage even WITH my fastpass. Does that seem right?

Seems optimistic. :)

[wjrhw]

Disney has increased the amount of fastpasses a lot since the introduction of fastpass+. The system was never meant to handle this many fastpasses, thus the extremely long lines to even get into the fastpass line. I hear a lot of rationalizing about standby line times, time of year, etc. I can tell you that I actually time every line that I’m in for years (fastpass and standby) and there is no longer anything fast about it on many of the rides. As with most things Disney has taken a good idea and exploited it until it is not much more than distraction.
They manage lines very well and have even cut back capacity to keep lines long. A company that does things like that doesn’t really care if you get on a ride “fast”. Fastpasses turned into a marketing ploy to make guest think they are getting more value (soon to be sold to highest payer). This used to be the case. Like the dining plan, it started out great and then got tweaked until it was irrelevant.

I still use them when I can, but overall I don't care for the new fastpass+.