Instant return FP is the Bomb!

[camosun]

First day in the parks today. Staying at DLH so we did EMH at DCA today. Grabbed a FP for RSR with return time of 8:00am and then rode Toy Story three times in a row. Walked over to Guardians for a walk on, all before park opening. Then we just grabbed fast passes and went on rides one after the other. Soaring, screaming x2, Toy story, Goofy x2. On and off each ride in 5 or 6 minutes.
It's only 11:00am now and we are relaxing in the Redwood play area.
Still immediate return for all fastpasses except Guardians and Racers.
Going to see Frozen, then GRR if it has a quick fastpass return after the show before going to the hotel pool to cool down. Very hot today.
But I'm loving the new system so far.

 

[ashley0139]

First day in the parks today. Staying at DLH so we did EMH at DCA today. Grabbed a FP for RSR with return time of 8:00am and then rode Toy Story three times in a row. Walked over to Guardians for a walk on, all before park opening. Then we just grabbed fast passes and went on rides one after the other. Soaring, screaming x2, Toy story, Goofy x2. On and off each ride in 5 or 6 minutes.
It's only 11:00am now and we are relaxing in the Redwood play area.
Still immediate return for all fastpasses except Guardians and Racers.
Going to see Frozen, then GRR if it has a quick fastpass return after the show before going to the hotel pool to cool down. Very hot today.
But I'm loving the new system so far.

Wow, sounds like a great morning!

 

[GatorChris]

So I guess summer is the new off-season. Topsy-turvy.

 

[mom2rtk]

So I guess summer is the new off-season. Topsy-turvy.

Maybe. Maybe not.

They are on the verge of monetizing their FP system. I'm not the least bit shocked they would be testing the limits of the system to see how many FPs they can push through.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

The heat is keeping a lot of people away. I know of two different families who were going to go today but changed their mind due to the weather... and that's just people I know. Since it looks like it will be cooler in a couple of days, they're just going then instead.

It might make Wednesday/Thursday busier since SoCal APs may have looked at this week and decided to wait for the nicer weather then... which is exactly what the two families I know did.

 

[agamble]

So I guess summer is the new off-season. Topsy-turvy.

It was definitely not off-season crowds this week. We went on Sunday, May 28 (day before Memorial Day) and the crowds were awesome. This week they were what I expected. Lighter crowds in the morning but by 11 it felt like the crowds had doubled and the mid-afternoons saw long waits at all the popular rides. It was very similar to our experiences 2 & 3 summers ago, rather than perhaps the experience of some during the 60th anniversary. I would say it was normal June crowds.

 

[camosun]

Yes, we always come in June, and it is busy like always. But it was quiet this morning.
But as was mentioned above, it is a scorcher and we are going to the hotel now.

 

[WonkaKid]

We went on Sunday, May 28 (day before Memorial Day) and the crowds were awesome.

I was there that day too. Yup -- crowds were awesome. I believe that was mainly due to all passes but Signature being blocked. Wish they'd do that all the time ;-).

 

[Linkura]

Hoping that they continue this FP system through at least September for my trip.... It is a little closer to WDW's system where if there are immediate FPs available, you can get them. Having to wait a minimum of 45 minutes for something that would have immediate FPs available otherwise is kind of silly.

 

[Mysteryincorp]

It's definitely crowded, the new fastpass system is making it a lot easier to pull instant return fast passes for the non headliners and I think having the parks connected is really keeping the return times down.
As expected, we went last week when the lower tier passes were blocked and found crowds very light. We went Sunday and Monday when the passes ere back open and the crowds jumped noticeably

 

[Jkpark]

What do you mean by Instant FP? I've been trying to keep up on the changes as I'll be there July 8th and 9th. I know the parks are connected, I know that you now use your ticket itself when you return to ride, and I believe they now open the FP machines during early entry? maybe depending on when the other park opens... But have they adjusted return times, too? Do you mean if you pull a fast pass at 8:05, your return time could be 8:05-9:05? rather than forcing it out?

 

[camosun]

Exactly. Some of the lesser FP rides have return times as you described. For instance right now it is 3:10 and fastpasses for BTMRR has a 3:10 return time.
THe more popular ones have longer return times.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

What do you mean by Instant FP? I've been trying to keep up on the changes as I'll be there July 8th and 9th. I know the parks are connected, I know that you now use your ticket itself when you return to ride, and I believe they now open the FP machines during early entry? maybe depending on when the other park opens... But have they adjusted return times, too? Do you mean if you pull a fast pass at 8:05, your return time could be 8:05-9:05? rather than forcing it out?

Reports are that the FP return time on many rides are almost immediate (i.e. pull it at 12:00 and get a return of 12:10).

 

[WonkaKid]

Reports are that the FP return time on many rides are almost immediate (i.e. pull it at 12:00 and get a return of 12:10).

I definitely noticed that yesterday with Buzz. However, I wonder if that will change in coming weeks and months.

Something else we noticed: once your FP return window has opened, you used to be able to grab another FP for the same ride before using the one you had. With the new system, you have to use your pass first, then get a new one, at least for the same ride. However, you seem to be able to grab a FP for a different ride once the window opens but before you've used your existing one. This was true, at least, for Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

For those at the park now or in the last few days, have you seen this issue affect standby times? I would assume the shorter return times would lead to more FP's being pulled which would lead to longer standby times.

 

[Jedi Mouse]

I definitely noticed that yesterday with Buzz. However, I wonder if that will change in coming weeks and months.

Something else we noticed: once your FP return window has opened, you used to be able to grab another FP for the same ride before using the one you had. With the new system, you have to use your pass first, then get a new one, at least for the same ride. However, you seem to be able to grab a FP for a different ride once the window opens but before you've used your existing one. This was true, at least, for Buzz Lightyear and Splash Mountain.

I'm headed down for a week on Friday and am hoping we can take advantage of the short return times, i'm curious as to how this is all going to play out between now and the introduction of maxpass.

 

[WonkaKid]

... i'm curious as to how this is all going to playu out between now and the introduction of maxpass.

Me too. I suspect we'll see changes as they decide what works and what doesn't.

 

[Mysteryincorp]

For those at the park now or in the last few days, have you seen this issue affect standby times? I would assume the shorter return times would lead to more FP's being pulled which would lead to longer standby times.

Hmmmm....it's kind of hard to say but I would say no. I didn't see standby times that shocked me for a crowded summer day (except for GUardians, that one blew me away, standby was over 2 hours ALL day).

 

[Mysteryincorp]

I know this has been said but I will say that many times, the fast pass line was super long....for example to scan my tickets and enter the fastpass - the line snaked all the way to the bottom of the ramp for space mountain. It had so many people confused, thinking it was standby line or maybe the line to pull a fast pass. But no, it was the line to enter the fast pass line. It seems many people are having trouble scanning their ticket...not sure why it's really easy,
But for those going to the parks soon, have your ticket out, scan the barcode, enter line. Keep you ticket out because you scan twice .

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I know this has been said but I will say that many times, the fast pass line was super long....for example to scan my tickets and enter the fastpass - the line snaked all the way to the bottom of the ramp for space mountain. It had so many people confused, thinking it was standby line or maybe the line to pull a fast pass. But no, it was the line to enter the fast pass line. It seems many people are having trouble scanning their ticket...not sure why it's really easy,
But for those going to the parks soon, have your ticket out, scan the barcode, enter line. Keep you ticket out because you scan twice .

We didn't run into this as much as others m, it seems, but I want to reiterate, that at least in our experience, the FP return lines didn't take any longer than normal. The initial line to get your ticket scanned the first time did occasionally back up, but from that point to loading, it was essentially walk on on all rides we did. I wouldn't let the look of the intitial line deter anybody from utilizing FP.