Fast Pass update!!!

[dcfromva]

We first discovered a new twist to the Fast Pass system at Disneyland where some of the Fast Passes were "unlinked". Whether a ride is linked or unlinked to the FP system seems to depend on the season and it does change. (During the popular Christmas Season at DL--the HM and IASW are linked, but other times, they are unlinked).

If a fast pass ride is "unlinked", it means that you can get a FP for that ride even if you already have a FP for another ride (and even though you haven't met your wait time requirements). The unlinked fast pass machine is not aware that you hold a FP for any other ride than itself.... So how does this relate to Walt Disney World?

I can't say if this is a permanent change, but while at Disney World during our recent visit, my brother in law did some extensive testing at the MK and discovered that the Jungle Cruise and the Haunted Mansion were not linked. You could immediately get a FP for Jungle Cruise, Hauted Mansion and one other ride. This was a very nice surprise.

At MGM, we found that the Star Tours ride was unlinked. Also, at various times during the day Cast Members would hand out FPes for the Millionaire game. This was a very nice treat.

At the AK, we found that Cast Members would hand out FPes for the Safari Ride first thing in the morning.

If anyone else has noticed unlinked rides at WDW--(or changes)--be sure to update us.....

-DC :ears:

[wdwgrandma]

Cool, DC! I would have never thought to try something like that out! Have to do some checking on our next trip!

[gu_angel]

Oh yeah, I remember we got handed a FP for Millionaire! That was too cool!! I think there was another ride we went to and they were just handing them out there too, cant' remember which one now though... Its just about being in the right place at the right time for that one!

Thanks for the info about "linked" and "unlinked"! Cant' wait to try it out for myself someday!! :D

[2JsMom]

Great bit of info - thanks for sharing. Hopefully it won't be a huge issue when we go in Nov, but you never know!
Barb

[MY KIDS MOM X3]

In June we got a "bonus" FP. We got a FP for TestTrack and one for Honey I Shruck the Audience popped out with it as a bonus. Also a neat surprise! Has anyone else had that happen with other attractions?

[traveltime!]

Paula, that happened to us in May and again this past week! Guess they're really hurting for folks at Honey I Shrunk the Audience! I haven't had it happen at any other FP location, though. :(

[dcfromva]

We found that the unlinked rides (at MGM and MK) still worked at WDW during our most recent visit over NYE.
On NYE, the standby lines for Test Track and Mission Space reached 260mins and all the FPes had been distributed by mid-morning! :eek:

Some things that we did to help make the most use of our FPes during extremely crowded times.
( We haven't noticed any unlinked rides at EPCOT, yet. Once in a while, there will be bonus passes for HISTA dispensed when you get your TT FPes.)
1. Arrive at the park early: We arrived at the park early (8:00am) and then we immediately our first FPes. (On NYE at EPCOT, it was a FP for TT with a return time of around noon)
2. Obtain your next FPes at the earliest time you are eligible. It will tell you on the pass when you can get your next one. (On NYE at EPCOT, we obtained our next FP at 10:13am on MS with a return time of 8:25pm)
3. While you are waiting to use your FP or waiting to get your next FP, go on attractions which hold a lot of people--like Universe of Energy (Holds 500 people). Even though there was a big crowd lined up to get in, we made the next show.

-DC :ears:

[Eeyore1974]

Thanks for that info DC. I haven't seen CMs handing out fastpasses in the past. Something to keep an eye for.

[JuniorMickey]

I tested that Jungle Cruise was unlinked last month - it is :)

[Wendy]

Thanks, DC.
When we last visited the FP system was not in place so any help like this is great! Are the "unlinked" attractions permanent ; i.e is HM likely to be unlinked in June, when we visit? I'd like to take a list of those "unlinked".
Thanks again. :)

[Alexander]

Wow! What a scientific project! Testing the fast pass machines! That is great to know. Thanks for the info!

[rjh812uk]

On another message board a very knowledgeable man has written a very detailed piece on fast pass strategy.For anybody not up on the fast pass system it's a bit deep,it talks about networked and non networked rides.
My theory is if you are passing a ride try for a fast pass,it will either issue a time or not it's that simple as far as i can see.
you then can work out a battle plan around whats on the network or not.

[dcfromva]

Thanks, DC.
When we last visited the FP system was not in place so any help like this is great! Are the "unlinked" attractions permanent ; i.e is HM likely to be unlinked in June, when we visit? I'd like to take a list of those "unlinked".
Thanks again. :)
Wendy,
I don't know if this is a permanent change (I first discovered this July 2003 and so far they have remained unlinked). Just in case, I always get the ones that I believe are "unlinked" secondly--sort of like frosting on the cake. Often times, the HM FP is not even needed, so I would be really sad if they did relink them and my FP was tied up. I will often get Peter Pan first and then swing by and get HM and then the Jungle Cruise. (On the Christmas/New Years break, they had a queue extending out to the River Boat for the HM and it was jammed packed with people. That was one of the times it was handy to know about that the HM FP was unlinked. )
One of cool things about this forum is that folks can update this info as it changes. (You never know if someone might find another unlinked ride :) ).

(I have noticed at Disneyland that they do link up some of the rides (HM and IASW) during Christmas season when they have the special decorations. They also seem to unlink some of the other rides at various times--so, that is why I always approach Disney World FPes very cautiously just in case they might have changed something :) )

-DC :ears:

[dcfromva]

To give you an idea as to how popular some of the FP rides are, I posted a few polls:


How often do you use Fast Pass? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22424)

What is your favorite MK FP ride? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22606)

What is your favorite EPCOT FP ride? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22399)

What is your favorite MGM FP ride? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22403)

What is your favorite AK FP ride in the winter? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22404)

What is your favorite AK FP ride in the summer? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22406)

Some general guidelines I use: I try to get a FP that I believe might run out first. An example of this: Test Track or Mission Space at EPCOT. I get the unlinked ones secondly. FPes for large shows are generally the last ones I get, because you can generally get in on the standby line.

-DC :ears:

[rjh812uk]

I agree with you DC ,once you get the hang of the system you can work it quite well.

[Alexander]

Okay, I thought this was really cool, now I am totally confused! Please don't worry about explaining it to me though, as we only uses fastpasses once in a while. Many of the rides that have them DS doesn't like.

[Wendy]

:thumbs: Thanks Dc. I think I've got a better understanding now....and will keep FP plans with me on our visit! :mickey:

[dcfromva]

Update:
We visited the MK over Memorial Day weekend (May 30th) and discovered that the HM and Jungle Cruise were linked back up with the rest of the system, so no bonus FPes for us this visit.

-DC :ears:

[dnsmills]

A cool news article was posted on Yahoo! today about the FastPass system at WDW and different parks.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=8&u=/ap/20040719/ap_on_re_us/theme_park_lines

[DisneyObsessive]

I dont think the Six Flags q-bot things are worth it that were mentioned in the article. I go to Great Adventure in Jersey all the time and its just not crowded enough to make me wanna pay $20 for it. Yeah thats not expensive, but still, id like to save $20. Its not Disney, you dont wait for more than 20 minutes for a ride, even the biggest coasters on the busiest days, and i can handle that. Especially since it gets nowhere near as hot in the tri-state area as it does in Florida, on average anyway, i mean we can hit 90s but it doesnt happen as often as in Fl.

[WindyLea]

OK, I've never used the Fast Passes. I haven't been to Disney in almost 6 years. What does it mean when some attractions are "unlinked". What are bonus passes? Will there be a need for FP the 1st week of November, since it's off season? And what exactly are "peak hours"? Some things will only be open during peak hours the days we are there, but how do I know what that is? I might have some more questions after I read the rest of this page...LOL!

[WindyLea]

OK, so I didn't read far enough in advance....now I understand linked and unlinked. I even understand bonus passes. Sorry! But I'd still ike to know what y'all think about if we will even need to use FP during our stay, since it's off season. I've never been this time of year, but I'm expecting it to be relatively small crowds. Please correct me if I'm wrong!

[dcfromva]

WindyLea,
I posed this question a while back to see how often respondants used FP

Link to poll-- how often do you use Fast Pass? (http://www.wdisneyw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22424)

You will see that some folks like to use it all the time and others only like to use it if it is extremely busy.

We will be there the same time as you :) I know this is not peak season, but I would not expect to be able to walk on the rides. There are some rides for young children (such as Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear) that it is particularly nice to have a FP.

-DC :ears:

[d_dreamer]

ok, im confused. does anyone have a list of linked/unlinked rides? I read in the UOG that you can aquire 2 at one time, but none of this linked stuff.

[Sweet_girl99]

On another message board a very knowledgeable man has written a very detailed piece on fast pass strategy.For anybody not up on the fast pass system it's a bit deep,it talks about networked and non networked rides.
My theory is if you are passing a ride try for a fast pass,it will either issue a time or not it's that simple as far as i can see.
you then can work out a battle plan around whats on the network or not.

what message board are you taking about. I think i'll try my hand at this experment! :wink:

[dcfromva]

ok, im confused. does anyone have a list of linked/unlinked rides? I read in the UOG that you can aquire 2 at one time, but none of this linked stuff.

d_dreamer,
It is a continually evolving system. The last time that we tried for the unlinked rides, we found them to be linked up, so there were no bonus FPes at that time (this was back in May--our last two visits, we didn't do a lot of the rides--so, I am not sure if that has changed back).
Another change that we noticed: Millionaire used to have FPes, but they have taken out the FP machines--so, it is all standby.


-DC :ears:

[dcfromva]

what message board are you taking about. I think i'll try my hand at this experment! :wink:
Sweet_girl99,
It is explained in the first post of this thread. (However, in May, we tried for the additional FPes on the unlinked rides and it did not work--so, keep it in mind that it may not work. :D )

-DC :ears: