EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios are currently the only two Disney parks where you have tiered selection of Fastpass+. This forces the guest to make choices for the first three attractions they experience via Fastpass+ and makes sure the very limited number of e-Ticket style attractions are enjoyable by everyone via the system.
Disney has decided to tweak the system slightly starting June 16 2014. At Disney’s Hollywood Studios Great Movie Ride becomes a tier 1 selection while at EPCOT Living with the Land moves to tier 1 and Character Spot and Maelstrom drop to tier 2. That last one makes the most sense to me. I’m not sure The Great Movie Ride needed the move though, it’s a pretty high capacity attraction.
All previous selections you’ve made will be maintained, but going forward Fastpass+ for the 16th and beyond will conform to this new system. And once you use your three Fastpass+ you can select from any attraction with availability for your 4th, 5th, etc. Fastpass+.
The full updated line-up for the tiered parks is below the jump:
Walt Disney World recently hosted a expert panel discussion featuring a deeper dive into what guests coming to the resort in the near future can expect. Carole Mumford, VP of Public Relations at Walt Disney World, lead the panel as they traversed such wide topics… Read More »A Deeper Dive into What’s New at Walt Disney World – Expert Discussion
As the Disney representative mentioned in our video interview, many of the Star Wars weekends premier theatre experiences are now available on the Fastpass+ system. It also looks like Darth’s Mall might have a Fastpass+ line too (it was visible, but not available for reservations when I last checked). What she didn’t mention was that they’ll all tier 1 offerings.
This means you’re limited to one Star Wars Weekend show Fastpass+ entitlement a day. I totally understand why they did this. There is very limited seating inside the Premier theater and only a portion of those will be Fastpass+ seating. So one show a day without the wait seems reasonable. It’s tough to pick just one, but I understand.
If there are two shows you really want to see, and are only here for one weekend, you’ll have to use your Fastpass+ allotment both days at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
A new service offering free unattended smartphone charging is available at the Magic Kingdom. With families having an increasing dependence on cell phones, not just to say in contact with each other, but to use Disney’s new MyMagic+ reservation system and to make and change Fastpass+ plans via the My Disney Experience app, there has been an increased demand for places to charge those mobile devices.
Disney first added locations with banks of plugs and USB ports near the Tangled restrooms, the yellow Fastpass tent in Storybook Circus, and in the back of the Space Mountain store near the arcade. However, guests have to stay with their devices to charge them, and two of the locations don’t really work if its raining.
What might work better is if you could drop your mobile phone off, let it charge for a bit while you go on a ride or have a meal, then come back and retrieve it. It would be even better if this was handled in a secure location.
Starting Monday, after you have used your initial three FastPass+, you will be permitted to select an additional Fastpass+ via the kiosks located in the parks. Then, after you’ve used that one, you’ll be able to choose another, and so on until you run out of time or the park runs out of Fastpasses (most likely the latter at EPCOT, btw. It only has 8 FP attractions).
Disney has also turned on the ability to select and use additional Fastpass+ when you park hop as well.
I have a few questions about these options and I’ve reached out to Disney for the answers. Here they are…
1a. Do you have to use your first three Fastpass+ entitlements before you can park hop?
Answer: Currently, Yes.
1b. If not, do you lose your Fastpass+ in the originating park if you do park hop. For instance, if you have two morning FP reserved and one late night FP, can you park hop in the middle and use FP at the second gate?
Answer: You must redeem or pass the arrival window of all three Fastpass+ entitlements before you are eligible for the next Fastpass+ selection.
2. How does this work in parks with tiered offerings. Assuming, a FP+ for Test Track is available can I reserve it after I’ve already used one FP for Test Track in my original three entitlements? (it would have to be a real slow day at EPCOT for this scenario to be true, but it’s good to know).
Answer: After you have redeemed or passed the arrival window of all three Fastpass+ entitlements, you can select a Fastpass+ for an attraction or show you have previously selected the same day, if they are available, of course. This means that at Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you will be able to make additional selections from any available experience in either experience group.
For now this change is only available via the in park kiosks. But a Disney World spokeswoman says that they still in test mode and are working to make it available via the My Disney Experience app.
File this one under, “Gee, Disney really does listen to guest complaints (sometimes).” In an announcement made on the Disney Parks blog today, Disney Parks chief Tom Staggs announced two major changes coming to the MyMagic+ Fastpass+ system currently in use at Walt Disney World.… Read More »Oft Requested Changes To Fastpass+ Coming
