Pay for a fast pass! Are you kidding me??! - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I learned the hard way... no matter how close you are to a couple, you may not want to travel with them. I would give them as much info as you and they feel comfortable with, let them know they are free to travel whenever they wish (After all they don't have to travel with you. Sounds like it may be better if they don't.), and the dates you will be enjoying your happy place. Either her DH gets on the right track and they join you, or he stays a lump on a log and they don't. Either way, I hope you have a real blast!
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He may have heard someone talking about another park (Universal, I think) that does charge extra. They should get the planning DVD and learn about the child swap, FPs, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsleader19
Yes, IF you are a hotel guest you can purchase a fast pass at Universal otherwise you are standing in line.
I like the suggestion for a planning DVD - maybe a FGM should order them one
Universal does have an Express Pass that anyone can buy in the parks which gives you one entrance into the express line per attraction. However, onsite hotel guests do not have to buy an Express Pass, they can show their room key to the ride attendant and enter the Express line as many times as they wish. Since the Express lines are usually much shorter than Fastpass return lines at WDW, it's basically like going to the "front of the line", which is what many Universal guests call it: "front of the line access".
Six Flags does have a Q-Bot which you can purchase for various numbers in your party. I also read that Busch Gardens Africa is testing a similar pay system.
To the OP, I think I would stay away from this family if they ever do go to WDW!
Something tells me that guy won't get "it" no matter how much you try to convince him. Doesn't seem like he wants to be in a happy place.
And I wouldn't want to be at MY happy place with this fellow. Just say NO now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lorilovestigger
I've seen people selling FP on Ebay. That is just nuts!
Ugh.... I hate to see people selling Disney FastPasses on eBay. (I'm sure their fine print says these are no longer good and they are just selling them as a memento, but it really steams me because it confuses people.)
FPs are only good for the day they are printed at the FP machine. There are some "golden FPs" that Guest Services will sometimes give out to please an inconvenienced guest, but even these are only good for a day or so.
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Sounds to me like the guy has more serious problems than believing that FP's are free if he's yelling and getting conforntational over a WDW vacation. Please tell me this wasn't done in front of the kids!
I have heard that at other theme parks, you do have to pay, so many ppl get it confused with Disney??
For an extra $30ish per ticket, I believe you can add a Fast Pass type feature to a Universal ticket. DH's extended family did this in Feb. Maybe that's where he's getting this from.
Sounds to me like the guy has more serious problems than believing that FP's are free if he's yelling and getting conforntational over a WDW vacation. Please tell me this wasn't done in front of the kids!
The kids were in the basement, but really they could have heard the conversation. At one point I was really uncomfortable and went to the basement to see how the kids were. They appeared to be fine and not noticing.
I forgot to write this before. His arguement to us when we told him that fast pass was free - "well if it's free why doesn't everyone use it?!" Well I don't know why people don't use it - maybe they like to wait in line. We say that alot when we are going through the fast pass line. There are all different types of people who visit Disney and maybe some just like to wait in line.
Deb
I think that many (MANY) people have the same misconceptions as your neighbor. I've heard parents tell their kids that this is why I'm moving through the FP line and they're in the standy-by line. I always stop to say that "no, it's free. Just ask the nearest cast member to explain the system to you."
The other reason that people don't use it is that they think it's a hassle to walk all the way to one attraction to get a ticket and then to have to return to it later. For them, it's easier to stand in a long line. If you know what you're doing, then it's easy to stop at one attraction on your way to another and plan your touring so that you're back to the FP line for your ride.
As others have said, if less people know how to use FPs, then there are less people in the FP line in front of me.
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Anyway - both DH's come back in and she tries to explain to her DH about how we use fast pass, etc... and he starts yelling - yeah - that's great but you pay for fast pass!? Huh!! We explained to him, uh no! He is telling us yes you do! What??!!
He's just confused; I noticed that Universal Studios DOES charge extra on yoru ticket price, for you to have access to THEIR version of FastPass, the "ExpressPluss" option.
For, say, July 12th .... a regular (adult) admission would set you back $67, if you bought the ticket online, right now. To add ExpressPlus to that ticket would cost another $45.99, according to their website. Even at Value-season rates, it's an extra $20 charge to add the ExpressPlus option onto your ticket. (Or, if you stay on one of their on-property hotels, you get an ExpressPlus ticket at no additional charge).
So, he's probably got THAT sort of setup (maybe even at other parks) confused with Disney's "no extra charge for anyone" FastPass system.
His arguement to us when we told him that fast pass was free - "well if it's free why doesn't everyone use it?!" Well I don't know why people don't use it - maybe they like to wait in line.
FastPass is a limited commodity - eventually, the system runs out of "slots" for that attraction on that day; Disney was smart enough to not let the FastPass system cause the regular line to not move at ALL (I'd be surprised if the total available FastPass slots exceeded 25% of the ride's capacity at any given time). Thus, not everyone CAN use it - "first come, first serve".
Also, some of us travel in very low-crowd seasons, and waiting 15-20 minutes in the "slow" line, versus getting a FastPass that says "come back in an hour" ... eh. The line isn't long enough to make the FastPass seem like a good or necessary thing, then.
And then there are boobs like that fellow, who think it's an extra cost (and likely think it's an exhorbitant one). People who complain, I will bet, about the cost of a ticket to the WDW parks - sure, a one-day ticket is in th triple digits. But once you pay that? Unless you get hungry or thirsty, or want to take something home with you that you didn't bring into the parks already ... you're paid for. No "this ride costs X tickets, that ride costs Y tickets, tickets are ten for five dollars" stuff.
And if you do get hungry or thirsty? Well, when we were there, we expected the food to be price-gouge-y ... it's how amusement parks and theme parks work, most of the time: they make their biggest profit at the concession stand. Not so, Disney; the food was about what we'd expect for a counter-service meal (with equivalent service and theme-ing) if we were in any major city. Which is to say, abouthalf what we feared we'd have to pay; in 2001, we got by quite comfortably on $25/day (apiece) for meals, for two entire weeks. Counter service for all of it, mind you - table service would have jacked that up significantly. For all THREE meals, too - not just "lunch in the park".
That was one of the nicer surprises for us when we got there, actually. ^_^
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Just less people to stand behind line in 
Well I don't know why people don't use it - maybe they like to wait in line. We say that alot when we are going through the fast pass line. There are all different types of people who visit Disney and maybe some just like to wait in line. 
He is telling us yes you do! What??!! 
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