Believe It or Not, Disney’s FASTPass+ System Is Working

Ever since Walt Disney World put the MyMagic+ system into place and had…well, about as close to a full roll-out as there can be, it’s been met with numerous complaints. While MyMagic+ incorporates so much of a person’s vacation, the majority of the complaints have been aimed at the FASTPass+ system.

Now, many complaints have come from those that have admittedly never used it. Those opinions aren’t necessarily worthless, but to complain makes no sense.

Those that have used it have had mixed feelings about it that range from it not working to not being able to get enough FASTPass+ reservations to not being able to select what they want.

Well, coming from someone that has been in the Disney Parks 4-7 times a since the inception of the FASTPass+ system until now, let me tell…it’s working.

Sure, there are going to be bugs in the system, but it’s still relatively new. The old FASTPass system was rather aged and still had bugs leading up to the moment it was rendered obsolete.

The new FASTPass+ system is being modified and corrected and fixed and advanced all the time. Disney is doing this so that it will be as convenient for guests as humanly possible.

For example, being able to now get more than three FASTPass+ selections per day.

But you see, it takes witnessing the FASTPass+ system in effect over many periods of time, different seasons, different months, and at times when crowds are both high and low. This is how I’ve been able to see that it truly is working and observe the differences.

Here is how it can be seen that FASTPass is indeed working and working well.

Crowds are not down at Walt Disney World, so standby lines are not down for that reason. The reason the standby lines are down is because FASTPass is no longer a big old jumbled mess.

It may not have seemed like a mess to you in the past, but for productivity purposes…it was all thrown together.

With the paper tickets, guests could run around and grab one at a time and then another and another and who knows where you were going. Now, there is a system and a formula to it all and it’s working.

As a wise and storied Cast Member told me a couple of months ago:

“It’s really quite simple. Now…everyone has their turn.”

That made the most sense to me about FASTPass+ out of anything and everything that has been told to me by CMs, Imagineers, managers, guests, bloggers, and more.

If someone asks me if lines are long lately, I’ll say “No, not at all.” If someone then asks me if the parks are crowded, I’ll say, “Yes, they really are.”

Here is how that makes sense.

With the new FASTPass+system, standby lines are down because guests are merely taking their turns. Whether they have one, two, or three FPs for then same attraction in one day, they’re still taking their turns, but without really having to do any added planning.

Let me explain further with this example:

1.) Team Mickey (a party of four) has FASTPass+ reservations for Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain.

2.) Team Donald (another party of four) has FASTPass+ reservations for Peter Pan’s Flight, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

3.) Team Mickey now can take Team Donald’s standby places for Peter Pan’s Flight, Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

4.) Team Donald can now take Team Mickey’s standby places for Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Space Mountain.

It’s quite simple, but it makes sense. While the parks are crowded, everyone is spending their time walking around from attraction-to-attraction because they know where they are supposed to be and when. But while they have these set times, the standby line waits are lowering.

Yeah, there are a few exceptions to the rule such as Soarin’ and meeting Anna and Elsa, but for the majority, FASTPass+ is working. Sure, some standby lines will still get long at times, but overall…it’s working.

I’ve seen it. I’ve experienced it on the least crowded days and the most crowded days. I’ve seen Kilimanjaro Safari with no wait in June. I’ve seen Test Track as a walk-on during Spring Break.

I’ve seen a 20-minute wait time for Peter Pan’s Flight at mid-day in the middle of July. Now, that’s something incredible.

These shorter standby wait times and FASTPass+ wait times (which are usually no more than 5 minutes) are all a result of the new system. A lot of time, money, and effort was put into this system to get it to work…to work exactly the way it is working now.