Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider >> Excuse me... I am a local. I have a life and things to attend since I happen to be *at home*. I don't have the time or desire to get my fanny out of bed early to go to WDW just because. I will get there when I get there and as such, I should be able to enjoy the park just like anyone who arrives there at dawn. As much as I try to see your point of view..it just doesn't add up for me.<< I understand that you're local - but are you implying people who aren't don't have lives and things to do as well? We take days out of our lives to go to WDW on a vacation. I realize that being a local you probably don't want to feel like you're wasting a vacation going to WDW but that doesn't mean you can't. You're implying that the FP system is unfair to everyone but it's not. It's available on an equal playing field, there are no super FPs for additional costs like UO. It's simply first-come first-serve. If you go to the movie theater 5 minutes before the new movie you want to see starts and the tickets are sold out would you say "Geez that's unfair" ? I can understand where you're coming from but I don't see these huge negative impacts of FP some of the people on these boards claim to. SJYHM did have a good point on another thread about how it basically means people are waiting in two lines simultaneously and thus increase line length and it's true, but I haven't seen huge increases in wait times. Another point - a lot of people keep bringing up how fast the FP's sell out, but largely they don't sell out til sometime in the afternoon. There are exceptions of course but in general FPs at many attractions are available throughout the day. The problem is that around midday when the crowds really pickup the return times start to sky rocket so you may have to wait 4+ hours to return. The thing is I'd say MOST guests are happy with the FastPass system. Until I came to these boards I've only ever heard good things about it. I've never experienced any of the bad things either. Maybe we're all just naive fools, but like I said in action it's made my experiences much better. I just think that there is a minority of visitors who have the luxury of visiting much more often than the vast majority of guests who find it an inconvenience to their own time schedules. And those schedules are important because TDLFAN keeps bringing up fairness and I see FP as more fair than the old system because if you're going at 3PM or later I'm going to guess you visit WDW often enough that you get to see the park many times over in a year with or without FP, however those of us who don't get to go as oftencan't do that without FP. In short I still believe FastPass let's the masses get the most out of a park, and isn't that the way it should be? Especially in terms of business - more happy guests = more money - therefore it works out for Disney and the majority of visitors. Again I think it's UNfair to want Disney to change a policy that helps a lot of people so that it'll match your personal time table in your multiple-visits a year. It's not like an extra 10 minutes in a line is going to kill you if are an AP who lives close enough for day trips, but completely missing attractions and not being able to return to see it for years does really hurt some guests. Be considerate of the average guest.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN I respect your opinin but there is nothing anyone can say that will deter from my opinions about FP.
Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider I likewise respect your opinion I think I could be deterred if an argument against FastPasses showed me that they were advese to the majority of guests I guess - but please don't post that here. I'd gladly read it on a new topic but I feel that this thread has been hijacked from it's original and interesting topic Anyway I'll admit my limited scope of effectiveness on FastPasses - it's just based on myself, family, and friends I haven't done a public poll or anything - so therefore I could very well be wrong. Anyway I just like it a lot from my experiences just my opinion
Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp "I won't even go into the fact that most queues at WDW were not created for seperate lines for things like FP, which create messes like Space Mountain where they let standby folks broil in the sun while a huge air conditioned, themed queue sits mostly empty." Wrong example - there are in fact two separate lines inside the Space Mountain queue, which come together at the point where the fastpass is taken. They could allow standby to stand inside the cool queue if they wanted. Nope, it's the brain-dead CMs who force the standby line to stand in the sun.
Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider I've never even seen people standing outside unless the line is out the door. The standby is usually on the left and FP on the right inside if I remember correctly?
Originally Posted By SJHYM The Space Mountain FP line is actually the old by-pass line for CM's and aemergency exit or ambulance attendants. The line was never intended to be a permanent line. The Space Mountain CM's are trained to not allow the upper queue area to go beyond one loop. So that pushes the line into the ramp area. In the past we worked hard not to allow the ramp be filled with guests (except on the busiest days) because of the saftey issues involved. Plus the area on the ramp where the star pictures are were always considered a place that guests should not be queued up because the effect from the pictures would make guest nausious. Interesting how things change as needs do. I have to agree with TDLFan on this one. Way too many times guests are being held outside the attraction in the heat for the sole reason of accomodating the FP line. If the upper queues were filled to capacity the FP guests would then be waiting in a 20 min line, which defeats the purpose some. Hence the upper queue is purposely left to no more than a 10 min wait.
Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider I never realized that about the tunnels. I thought I've had a wait in it towards the end because I kept looking at the same holograms (or whatever they are) but maybe not. I guess the safety issues make sense since it is quite dark in there, but you have to walk through there anyway. I don't know about that nausea thing though...I think I'd get more nauseous standing in the heat than looking at those little space stations and planets.
Originally Posted By SJHYM Well the safety thing in the tunnels is more about fire or quick evacuation. The tunnel would be a terrible place to be caught in a real emergency. So we always tried to keep the tunnel clear. In fact some may remember that Space Mountain had an outside queue on the side of the building that was semi-covered. We held people outside let the tunnel clear out then let another group in. Speaking of queue's, most people probably dont realise that the upstairs of the American Adventure was built as the original holding area before the show started. That was changed because of saftey (kids hanging over the rails in the rotunda), budget (you have to have someone upstairs at all times in the upper lobby) and entertainment (who wanted people downstairs for the Voices of Liberty)
Originally Posted By basas ^Interesting...even when waiting standby, i've always waited in the tunnel-section of the queue- not walked through it.
Originally Posted By Labuda "<<The last time I was at the MK, both Cartoon Spin and Stitch's Great Escape had FP machines turned off.>> MK has Cartoon Spin?" Looks like TDLFAN got his parks a bit mixed up (happens when you travel as much as him, I guess)- nope, no Roger Rabbit in the WDW MK. "There's nothing wrong with relaxing at the parks but I don't think people who go to relax should gripe about the lines. It's a decision the person has to make. They have to ask themselves "Would I rather see more attractions or have a leisurely pace throughout the day" - you can't have it both ways. " Wrong. I like to realx at WDW and I hate long lines. Ergo, I go in off season - and when I'm there in busy season, I ride the rides or see the shows that mean the most to me, but I do it at a leisurely pace. I don't feel the need to compete with the commando @$$40135 rushing from place to place. This last trip of mine, only plan I had was this: hit the "major" ride attractions first thing in the day. Then decide what's up next and where to go from there. Works really well - better, in fact, than when I used to plan each and every little thing.
Originally Posted By SJHYM You cant deny that FP has certainly changed the theme park experience. For some that is a good thing, for others its a bad thing.
Originally Posted By Kimrue I go in the off season too, when the longest line I wait in is about 30 minutes!!! Once I rode splash mountain again and again and again with absolutely NO WAIT!!! Granted I was wearing a coat and wished I had a hat and some mittens too, but still...no wait!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>Looks like TDLFAN got his parks a bit mixed up (happens when you travel as much as him, I guess)- nope, no Roger Rabbit in the WDW MK.<< Labuda dear, read the bottom of post #72.
Originally Posted By Labuda Oh, yeah, I read the update of yours explaining it a couple pages after where I saw it posted.
Originally Posted By Jim_n_Ruth Rides that are intense are posted as such. It's up to adults to read the postings, then make good adult decisions.
Originally Posted By LadyandtheTramp ^^^So should the rest of us suffer because of the Least Common IQ of others?
Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider There's only a limited amount of intelligence in the world...yet the population keeps growing
Originally Posted By SJHYM Unfortunatly, the rest of us suffer because Disney as a business will protect itself. They will have to. Why do you think we now have gates at all the boat rides? Disney spends a ton of money idiot proofing the park every year and each time they solve one problem a new idiot comes along.
Originally Posted By MrToadWildRider I'm always (or maybe never by this point) amazed by the people who try to undo their safety belt at the loading dock and instead of realizing it's a SAFETY feature for them from doing that during the ride scream in panic "MY SEATBELT WONT OPEN" - yea...you think?
