Feature Article: Planning Your Disney Vacation with FASTPASS + - Testing the New FASTPASS+ - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
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We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Feature Article: Planning Your Disney Vacation with FASTPASS + - Testing the New FASTPASS+
Planning Your Disney Vacation with FASTPASS + - Testing the New FASTPASS+ by Tamera Maresh-Carver
I am not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants Disney traveler.
You will never find me pulled over at the entrance asking, "What do you guys wanna do first?" At 180 days out I make all dinner reservations, I plan the days at the parks from Dumbo to Pirates (friends laugh at what they call my Payton Manning play book of Excel spreadsheets), and am there for rope drop, even in the off season. Look, we all know how exciting an upcoming trip can be, and part of the fun for me is listening to podcasts and learning. Planning the trip is a way to cool my heels while waiting for D-Day. This September's test of the FASTPASS+ System at Magic Kingdom seemed to be made for me, a perk for the planning set! Further evidence of the Boy Scout motto at work! And,boy, was I prepared! The reality is, however, that the system is super simple. I can imagine it being used on a smart phone, on the run, by those less prone to planning. Let me clue you in to how it works and some of the cool perks associated with it.
For those readers unfamiliar with the old-school FASTPASS, it's about getting an appointment time to ride an attraction. While others hoping to enjoy the attraction wait at the Standby Entrance queue, those with a FASTPASS avoid most of the queue and are granted quick admittance to the ride. Right now, FASTPASSes are obtained by physically going to the attraction, scanning the Key to the World Card or park ticket in a machine, and obtaining an appointment for the closest available one-hour period when you can return to experience the attraction. The appointment is printed on a paper ticket issued by the machine. Rides like Soarin' and Toy Story Midway Mania will run completely out of FASTPASSes, even in the off-season -- obtaining a pass early in the day can be important for any attraction, when crowd levels are high. You can only obtain a new FASTPASS when your last one has "matured," and that time, too, is printed on the pass. So if you have a FASTPASS for Space Mountain between 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm, you may be able to get a FASTPASS for another ride after 2:00 pm.
Rather than the paper pass, FASTPASS+ uses a credit card-type pass, with all of your FASTPASS selections programmed on it. You don’t have to physically go anywhere but your computer to plan your FASTPASSes. For the test, Disney allowed us to choose up to four experiences from among a short list of attractions, to obtain a pre-loaded FASTPASS. The test was for Magic Kingdom only, and the sampling of attractions eligible for FASTPASS+ testing were: Space Mountain, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Similarly, listed on our test, but not available when we attended, were each of the parades and shows (maybe something Disney will test in the future, prime viewing spots?). The website for the test was simple, we chose selections for each traveler, accepted a choice of proposed times, and then could adjust those times based on what better suited your schedule. Once we arrived at the park on our test day, we simply touched the card to a Mickey-shaped sensor located at each attraction's FASTPASS entrance and again at the other end of the FASTPASS queue. It was awesome! We traveled with our son in a stroller and my mother in a wheelchair, and I can't tell you how much time and trouble it saved us by not having to cross the park to obtain FASTPASSes in person. Juxtaposed to our second Magic Kingdom day on that trip, using the old-style FASTPASS, I would guess it saved me more than a mile of walking. Similarly, on the FASTPASS+ day I was able to plan our day land by land, rather than crisscross the park to meet appointment times. Of course, it is Disney, and there is always an added touch. At each FASTPASS ride they knew we were celebrating my Graduation and congratulated me (I wasn’t wearing a button.) What a great personal touch!
I can report that at the Magic Kingdom I saw FASTPASS+ sensors at all FASTPASS entrances, and even at some queues that have previously never been FASTPASS rides (Goofy's Barnstormer for example), so it would appear it is a direction in which Disney has some investment. The benefit and agony will most likely come in how Disney administers the system. I can't imagine it getting as competitive as Advanced Dining Reservations, because so many additional slots are available, and for the test, Disney limited the amount of FASTPASSes a single guest could obtain. I can even imagine a day, using this system, where my family could sleep in and not hit a park at rope drop. But don't tell them that please, I can't have you getting their hopes up.
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
We were also chosen to try the fastpass +. It was great . I like the idea that everything is planned in advance, no race to get the fastpass as soon as we get into the park.
I was also celebrating my retirement on this trip and it was nice to be congratulated on every ride or event.
The only problem we had was before we left for our group trip , it becaming difficult to choose the same hours for the same event because the choice of hours were totally different for each room. But we returned to the site every day and after a week we coordinated everyone.
I can see it being a plus for families with small children, no running around and less wait.
Also no collection of small papers ( regular fastpass) everything on one card is definitely a plus.
How do you get to use the new Fastpass+? Is it something that Disney will email to you or can you just use it at the park? I don't have a smart phone and therefore no access to the internet at the parks. If they did email it to you, how far in advance did they do that?
Thanks for your help!
Lisa W.
FASTPASS+ is currently still in the testing phase. If you are chosen, information will be included with your documents from Disney that you receive prior to your trip.
Really excited to be testing Fastpass+ at The Magic Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood Studios soon. Of course, I have been doing a lot of web searches since receiving our Fastpass+ cards a couple of days ago.
I am somewhat dismayed at hints that this may become a "perk" for guests at Deluxe Resorts and Villas. When Universal Studios implemented this "caste-like" system it really made me lose interest in visiting their park. I have not been back since. While I have stayed in Deluxe Resorts in the past, I just can't justify the cost for a room we basically shower and sleep in. Value resorts serve that purpose just fine. While you get nicer amenities at those resorts, I think that the differences should remain at the resort and not carry on into the parks (the closest bus stops are quite enough).
I know there are all kinds of speculation since testing began but I hope this concept is just a rumor.
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just received our fastpass+ two days ago. we are staying at pop so they are giving them to value resorts. they came seperate from our documents and 1 week before our trip. can't wait to try them, now deciding on which rides to use for at mk and hollywood?
We were chosen to use FastPass+ in September. It was great for meet-and-greets and rides, but we couldn't even get near the fireworks area. We were using a FP for Splash Mt, and then we ran into the Electrical Parade. It was dark, poorly lit, and we couldn't get past the crowds. We tried going a different direction, and got stuck in an even more massive crowd. We gave up and searched for food. The fireworks weren't worth all that mess. Others claimed to have no trouble getting to fireworks area, but I think it depends on where you are in park prior to walking over to the designated standing location. We started out with what should have been plenty of time, but the crowds were crazy that night.
My husband and I are visiting WDW next month and are participating in the FastPass+ trial. We are able to choose 3 attractions, in one park, per day. For those of you who have been to WDW and participated in the trial; were you able to also use the regular FastPasses? I chatted with a cast member this morning and was told that you can, but they would rather you not, do to the fact that you are participating in a test group. I'm not so sure I like the fact that I am limited to only 3 passes per day, even if I am able to reserve the slot over a month in advance.
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Thank you Belle* ! I appreciate your help! I am going with my parents very soon and they hav ethe trip documents...I will have to check them out ASAP! 
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