In a strange test, Walt Disney World guests visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios now through Friday will need a FastPass + to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. Walt Disney World is attempting to offer enough FastPass+ throughout the day to fill the attraction to capacity, not allowing any guests to use a standby queue or use the Disability Access Service (DAS) to ride. Disney will not even allow guest relations cast members the ability to offer access to the attraction to appease any disgruntled guests during this period.
The reasoning for this test is to see if attractions offered by reservation-only can be successful, eliminating long lines by only taking on the amount of guests the attraction can handle at one given time. Similar tests and policies have been applied at attractions and meet-and-greets over the last several months, but this is the first time that absolutely no attraction access will granted via a method other than FastPass+.
With Disney making more than the usual allotment of FastPass+ reservations available, guests can still obtain a FastPass+ for Toy Story Mania through Friday as of right now. In short, guests visiting this week without a FastPass+ reservation are not out of luck just yet.
It is unknown if this test is somehow related to rumors that a third track for Toy Story Mania will be constructed, including rumblings that the new track maybe be used only for guests with FastPass+ reservations, or just a test to see the feasibility of offering attractions via FastPass+ only.
I just see this as upsetting A LOT lf people! what if they had planned Toy Story Mania standby and have their
FP+ for another park for later? There are so many scenarios that I see guests getting very upset.
Agreed! As it is, you are limited to 3 FP+ entries in one park per day. We want to be able to visit 2 different parks in one day. Because we cannot book FP+ in the 2nd park, we might be locked out of doing any FP+ attractions in the other park because we couldn’t be in the regular lines. It would be a bad move for Disney especially when most visitors are traveling a long distance and already being charged too much for the privilege of admittance.
You are no longer limited to only 3 FP+ selections per day. Once you use your 3, you are able to add 1 more. Once you use that one you can add another, and so on. Park hopping has also been added, however you have to use your first 3 first and then continue on the +1 for the next park.
incorrect, you get three initial to start, after the three are used you can go back a kiosk and set up other ones. one at a time, after you use it, u go back and get another. ( i work there and was explained by the people who run the kiosk)
ack wrong person, meh, and it wont let me delete. lovely.
This attraction needs to expand because of the incredible wait times.
No it doesn’t need expanded. Adding more attractions at this park would increase capacity and make lines at every attraction shorter. This is literally the only ride that young children can ride and enjoy at Hollywood studios. That’s why there’s always a long line! We don’t need a third track we need more stuff to do!
There are plenty of other attractions for children. There is the backlot tour, lights motors action (for now), Indiana Jones, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the beast, great movie ride, muppet vision, not to mention all the meet and greets. The problem is that the ride is just so popular. Perhaps expanding the ride would help, perhaps not.
Backlot tour closed a week or two ago. foever
Those a fine for children but not young children. I have a toddler and Lights Motor Action is way too loud for her, Indiana Jones is not interesting for a toddler, she likes the Muppets but can’t wear the 3D glasses. Even the Great Movie Ride has those cap guns which scares babies. Most of what you are talking about are shows not rides. Toy Story Mania is very baby friendly. Hollywood Studios also has the Disney Junior Show and then Dine with Disney Junior at Hollywood and Vine and photos with Sophia and Jake which is toddler age children watching. They should have more rides for the smaller children.
I don’t know what the answer is! But we have all adults in our party & we love both Toy Story rides! That’s the problem, it’s not just a kids ride! We do not do Indiana Jones, Stunt Car, Muppetts (I hate Muppetts), there is not much on that end of the park for me! To not do the handicapped pass is a huge mistake! In June Disney was doing Handicapped Pass differently at each ride! Every cast member gave us a different answer. We were taken through long normal line, exit, fast pass, no one knew what they were doing! They said it was up to the cast member. Some of them expected my mother to walk, she was on a scooter! I’m not surprised at what they do! My paid $700.00 a night at the contemporary & we had the worst Disney experience with cast members confusioned! I don’t blame them, it’s management. We had a good time, I’m letting crazy unorganized executives spoil my Mickey Mouse magic. We had bad hotel maid service, had to steal soap & towels from maid cart. Called every day. View was amazing! Fireworks MK from balcony! It was my childhood dream
This is the only kids ride in the park. There are shows but no rides for the littles. GMR can be scary for young ones and backlot is closed. This park needs more attractions. Plus the tier fast passes really limit the options here for all ages
There’s also Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground.
But really, this park wasn’t designed with young children in mind. There’s two other parks that are perfect for small kids.
Why can’t both occur? Disney is fully capable of adding an additional track, while working on more rides. And I disagree that it’s the only kids ride. Along with all the others, that ncstraughan mentioned, there is also Star Tours, which most kids I know, love. There is also rumors of an expanded Star Wars area.
Agree this attracting is not even an Eticket attraction, the lines are so long because there is literally nothing else to do and for 90 bucks might as well wait…… Forget the third track add attractions and shows! Stop wasting money on magic bands which are already old news thanks to apple and on crap guest don’t want. Walt said if you give the public what they want and keep the place clean, people will keep coming back. WDW leadership needs to go!!!
Disney is becoming LESS magical every day! So this means you can only ride if you are staying at a Disney resort. FP+ is awful with how they allow certain guests rights to FP prior to other guests.
You guys are a little off with your comments here. The ride is not available only to pre-booked Faspass+ reservations, it is just only available via FP+. So once you get to the park and are allowed to make additional FP+ reservations, you can reserve the ride. Multiple times if possible. And same-day FP+ reservations are allowed for off site guests. So an off site guest would simply get to the park and make a FP+ for TSM…something they probably would not have even been able to do had Disney not done this. With less available as usual, no FP+ would be available on the day of booking for the ride. Finally, I want to meet the guy who had the option to book a FP+ for Toy Story and opted not to do so and wait standby instead. Aside from park-open rope drop runner, who else would have done this and therefore be angry about this change?
How about just everyone show up and ride rides without a cast system that gives people that can afford to stay on property a radically different experience than someone who cannot. Factor in the tiers and the system because so confusing for the average park guest and hampers the guest experience over all
Anyone with a park ticket can reserve a fast pass. The only difference between resort guests is access to the park during extra magic hours, and they get 60 days in advance to reserve, and any other guest can reserve up to 30 days in advance
So, anyone can get a FastPass, it’s just likely going to be for several hours after they enter the park because the resort guests have booked the earlier times two months ago.
Brilliant! A scheduled attraction is the way to go. In the future all attractions will be FP ONLY. Everyone will need to be on time for their rides, which Disney reinforced last year, and my kids will pick the 3-5 rides they wan to go on. I’m sure it’ll be more in the future but on average, guests ride 5 larger attractions a day.
Imagine in the future you can schedule at least 5 rides then have the option to add more. I’ve been to Disney over 35x’s and have NEVER missed an opportunity if I scheduled it correctly.
Remember, you can’t please everyone.
Actually off-site guests can book fp+up to 30 days before arriving. Just link your tickets or annual pass to your My Disney Experience account. The account is free as well as the fp+.
And then sign on the dotted line and get it noterized by a house elf and…… WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE SO CONFUSING!!!!
I don’t see where it’s that confusing. To me it seemed more confusing before where you had to run to an attraction, wait for that fastpass to expire then run to another attraction to get another fastpass. At least now I can avoid being trampled by people running from one attraction to another and actually enjoy my vacation or time in the parks. I’m interested to see how this test works out, and would be more inclined to see Disney make a dedicated FP+ track at TSM. I think that would be the way to go to help alleviate the extreme wait times this attraction seems to have.
Some ppl believe it or not ..don’t have the internet, or a computer to do this. Lots of older people so that would be impossible to do. ( linking tickets )
That’s why there are kiosks available in the park with cast members there to help you book your fastpass. You don’t need the app or your computer to make your fastpass reservations
no disability pass??? are they kidding ??? I am a huge fan of FP+ , but have an autistic son as well. I would NOT stand for this at all. After changing the policy last year, it took us a lot of backtracking and re-working, to learn the new system (which we did), I am not happy with this at all, and hope it to be a rumor
AND this seems to be DISCRIMINATION
It’s not discrimination. You are being offered the same opportunity as everyone else. Sorry for your inconvenience.
It’s not discrimination because your DAS would allow you through the fastpass line. This is allowing you through the fastpass line. Therefore, no discrimination.
You would just have to make TSM one of your 3 FP+ selections for HS
i woke up at midnight at day number 30 to get Toy Story FP for my non-Disney hotel visit to the park. No FP to be had for the entire day of my visit since all FP reservations had already been distributed to the resorts guests weeks ahead of me. So, forced to be one of those park open rope drop runners just to ride it. I tried multiple times during the day to see if any FP where released for this attraction after my first 3 FP reservations were used. No such luck. I don’t see this being a good move at all because what you are telling your guests is that you must stay at a Disney property to get earlier picking of the FP attractions that you want or not ride these type of attractions at all during your visit if you are staying off-site after spending money on the entrance ticket. Great move Disney, what a way to draw in more business from those not staying on property due to a lack of available resort rooms during peak seaon.
I am staying on property for a November trip(though we are local) and even at 60 DAYS out, there were no FP+ available for quite a few rides. What you are guaranteeing for guests is that they WILL NOT be able to ride certain rides during their one vacation here that they have been planning for a year. And sometimes this is the only trip they can take for the next year or two.
This is going alienate people. Why make something that was intended for EVERYONE, confusing and a hassle? I see people not wanting to deal…and going to other parks instead.
This is very upsetting . If Disney starts pulling crap like this I will spend my money and vacation somewhere else.
I agree there lots of other places to go without this B.S.!!!
Welcome to the Unamusment park!
So, lets get this clarified then. They are saying xxx# of people can ride this a day (with no breakdowns). So on a typical day, they were giving y% of those a day out as FP+ and everything else was stand-by. This trial is giving out full xxx# of FP+ a day to this capacity? Also, are they still holding back some for that am for people to pick
? That would be more fair for them to consider so all the onsite guests aren’t filling it up at 60 days out.
We waited for three hours to get in the first summer it was opened. We did enjoy the ride but I would not want to wait that long again. We did wait 2 hrs last year to get on Transformers at Universal, also worth the wait just never again during the summer.
When did Pete become in charge of the park
My Wife and youngest daughter have disabilities which restrict them from standing in long lines.
I was told that I should get a wheel chair for both and then they can wait
Magic Kingdom was the most helpful but Disney Hollywood was the absolute worst
Are kids really autistic or is it excuse for bad parenting????
Better hope you never have to find out.
Words cannot express how moronic and intellectually bankrupt your comment above was, Matty. The internet needs less people who ask leading, content-free rhetorical questions that are probably being used as a setup to a “back in my day” rant that nobody asked to hear.
You could be right, and as for wheelchair users, just damn lazy and can’t be bothered to walk if you ask me!!! Pffffft!! You are an ass!! I hope you never get to find out what life is like with a child with autism – and I am sure you are ones of the one muttering and judging us while we are in the queue. We do not mind waiting somewhere quiet instead of in the queue and I prefer having to wait the same as everyone else. In other parks where we don’t, my children have even been sworn at by adults who see disabilities as something to be ‘jealous about the perks’.
You need some serious education on people on the spectrum. 1 in 68 children are born with ASD (autism spectrum disorder)
That is pretty rude to say that autism is due to bad parenting.
Guests who are standing in long lines are guests who aren’t spending money on food and merchandise. You’re never going to see a straight-up just get in line attraction again.
I just went on the app and got Fast Passes for 4 people for Friday.
Wouldn’t you think that if they are making this FP+ only for these few days, that they would be adding additional FP+ reservation availabilitiy so that it would be at the ride capacity at all times? It wouldn’t make sense to keep the same number of FP+ reservations as always. They would have to add more FP+ spots to account for those who would have been riding standby, right? Has anyone who wasn’t able to get one previously even checked to see if they could get one for this week?
They did add a lot more fast passes for the day than they normally do, but not enough to completely account for all the standby guests because then it wouldn’t be the 10 minutes or less fastpass wait
when we were there in August we used FP for Mania and chose to ride single rider for Rockin Roller Coaster since you can’t FP them both. However, by the time we used up our first 3 FP and tried to get another for Mania, they were all taken.
To test something like this, Disney needs a constant embarking/riding/disembarking rate. Further, they would want to include all ages to see how every demographic handles the nuances. So it really does have to be done on a ride that is in the most demand and caters to the widest audience.
It’s the off-peak season, so there aren’t as many people. If the ride is ONLY FP+, then that means there will be markedly more FPs available than normal. And cast members are very willing to help you set up FP+; so anyone who wants to participate can get it figured out.
So … “discrimination” … “caste system”? Not even close. People who pay more to stay on Disney property should enjoy some advantages in accessing the same things that are available to everyone. Much the same as someone who stays at All Star Music for $130 should be able to ride the monorail but not expect that it will pick them up outside their door as if they paid $400+ at the Contemporary or Polynesian.
There are only 5 attraction rides at Disney Hollywood Studios. This week only 4 will be available for standby.
I know that if they continue on this path for all rides I will not continue going, I don’t like planning every step of my day. That takes all the enjoyment out of vacation being on more schedules. They may not miss me, but I’ve gone over 10 time in my life and my family goes more since they are dvc owners which i was planning on buying now I will wait to see how it all plays out.
This isn’t a permanent change, they are doing the test to test a different way to decrease the wait time for everyone. Yes, there are many kinks in the plan but that is why it’s a test. They also did something similar at Soarin’ a few months ago.
As far as not planning your day I never really understood how anyone could not have some kind of a plan for a Disney vacation, if you don’t you will definitely miss out on a lot and just waste your money, but to each his own I suppose.
My point being is that Disney is actively trying to improve their guests experience by trying to get the long wait times down.
as a former cast member and all other cast members right now, we are not allowed to use fast passes. Yet guests can order their fast passes up to6 months in advance of their visit. Not fair to anyone.
I stayed up late to try to get FP for midway mania for 11/2. They were all distributed to resort guests. That makes us rope drop runners. 3,2,1 Let the memories begin.
Try again. I just logged on (October 8 at 1:40 PM) and got a FP for Midway on 11/2. No problem.
Change happens – I for one will not judge how something is until I have seen or experienced it myself. I can tell you I was apprehensive about the new magic bands and scheduling of attractions from home for our daddy daughter trip in July. It could not have worked out better. We had an amazing time with no issues. I was nervous about not having dining plan – turned out great. Nervous about scheduling rides months in advance – worked out great. Nervous about not renting a car and only using Disney transportation – it wasn’t always the fastest but I spent more time with and talking to my daughter.
I am admittedly a Disney fan I enjoy going to WDW to relieve memories from my childhood and to make more with my own children.
In time we will see how this works out for better or worse. I for one am already saving for our next trip in 2016. Let the countdown begin.
I want a vacation, I look at my Smartphone all day at work. Disney was a place to ” Escape ” the real world, now everything has to be planned now to when to take a bathroom break.
All I know is everyone has their faces in their cell phones now at Disney instead of enjoying their family or the Imagineers queues. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve actually been plowed over by people walking while trying to change their FP or making ADRs. It’s so sad and pitiful that we are forced into schedules and using some type of technology. I want to be free of a of that when vacationing.
So what happens to guests who try to get to the park for rope drop because all the FP+ were already gone for the day? What happens when they implement this for all the parks and the “walk on” rides no longer are available for spur of the moment entrance… I don’t think this will be very helpful, especially for us locals that may want to stop by out of the blue for an afternoon or weekend. What’s the point then? Or are they ONLY going to have this for especially long wait time rides?
This makes me not even want to go back to WDW. My family would rather go to Universal, for the Harry Potter things. I want to ride rides as I find them, I do not want to schedule my day ahead of time. I am on vacation. I don’t want to follow a schedule. We have decided to skip WDW this year.
We entered the park at opening and tried to reserve FP’s for the day. It took us 40 minutes and most of them were gone. Not fun to start off your day angry and disappointed. We ended up skipping two of our Disney days and going elsewhere. We feel no need to ever go back, what a shame.
this is how i see $100 lots of people in park $150/FP people pay more to get in line or they can also jack up the price to the park which means less people in the park and expand the park with more bigger roller coasters thats can hold more people up to 20 per train
ok apparently you can’t delete your own comment here…..
Autism isn’t a disability, sorry. Come back when your son has MS or something that restricts movement. Your kid being impatient is not a disability.
We were in Hollywood Studios yesterday during this. There were no fast passes available. Had workers posted to let you know.
I hate this new fast pass system and this only makes it worse.
If Disney keeps this up we will find somewhere else to spend our vacations. Before this system we would be able to ride it atleast twice a day.
This isn’t a permanent system, it is only a test to see how they can use the fastpass system to decrease the waiting times. They would never completely get rid of the standby option because it leaves the attraction empty for a great deal of the day and like you said it restricts guests from riding more than once or even one time, but the long wait times on this ride also prevent a lot of guests from experiencing this attraction which is obviously not the goal
Magic Kingdom has “Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin” which has really short wait times. I went on this ride as well as “Toy Story Mania” in Hollywood Studios. Both rides are of the same concept and are equally entertaining in my opinion, but I just can’t seem to understand why the one in Hollywood Studios has the much longer wait.
Once again isn’t it illegal to NOT give out disabled passes for a ride??????????
No, Disney offers the disabled passes as a courtesy and they’re only not available at the moment because they are TESTING the fast pass system.
Just to be clear, I’m not defending this decision by Disney at all…however they have every right to do so while affording everyone equal opportunity. Here’s how:
There are 3 main concerns here…
1) disability access. ADA requires equal opportunity and access to all areas. Whether that means ramps, shorter waits, etc. the Disability Access Pass allows entry to an attraction through fast pass lines. If all guests are required to obtain a fast pass, this does not deny any disabled person access to this attraction as every guest is required to have a fast pass. Think of it like being required to transfer from a wheelchair. If all guests are required to do so then there is no discrimination as long as access is possible. This trial does not break any ADA guideline.
2) early access versus day of fastpasses. Let’s simplify how the fastpasses work mathematically. While each attraction is different based on guests per hour averages etc., fastpasses are released in specific time frames. Not all fastpasses for a day are released 60 days in advance. Let’s say we have 100 fastpasses available for one day at an attraction. 60 days prior they might release 15 fastpasses. At 30 days prior they release an additional 20 fastpasses. At 7 days prior they release an additional 25 fastpasses. And the remaining 40 fastpasses will be released day of. This is not based on time frames. Fastpasses for each time slot would be released at each release date. In other words at time of release for each time frame there would be a 9am-10am booking at 60 days, 30 days, 7 days, and day of available. So regardless of when you book, all time frames give you equal opportunity to book any time frame for any attraction. Note: the numbers used for amount of fastpasses available were for examples only, amount of available fastpasses vary from attraction to attraction based on popularity and demand however the numbers are in the thousands for even the lowest number of fastpasses.
3) fastpass only versus standby access. I cannot confirm this but I have seen poor cast members stuck at the attraction hours after the park closes to allow guests already in line to ride. This interrupts daily operations. In order for the ride to be properly maintained, there is required downtime. This doesn’t just affect the one ride, this affects the entire park. The maintenance, horticulture, custodial, construction, and many other departments that work behind the scenes to ensure top quality presentation of the park can only begin their duties once the last guest has left park property and must be completed with their tasks prior to first guest arriving. These cast members are never meant to be seen by guests…EVER! During normal operation these cast members work extremely hard to achieve a lot during a very short time frame. To lessen the time they have to work would make their jobs impossible to complete without being seen ruining the magic of Disney. With that being said, I think it’s safe to assume that during fastpass only entry, fastpasses will be available for maximum occupancy and efficiency that the ride could handle while allowing the last guest to complete their ride through within a reasonable time frame after park close. In other words, instead of the last guest getting in line 1 minute before park close and waiting in line for 80 minutes before riding (a standard wait time for this ride) a guest could arrive 1 minute before park closing and only wait 20 minutes before getting in the ride. This in turn allows the park to clear of guests faster and nightly operations to be completed on time so the behind the scenes magic can happen overnight and be ready for the next day.
If this rumor is true, I do not necessarily agree to the solution they have come up with but I do understand the reason.
For credibility on my statements, I am a former cast member for Disney who worked very closely on the development of the fast pass + system as well as many other programs developed for ride access like the Disability Access Pass.
I hope this clarifies some of your concerns.
Now we MUST be ON schedule at ALL Costs or the trip is Ruined. “No you can’t go to the bathroom, we have FP for Big Thunder” “We don’t have time for a snack, We have to be a Mission Space.” All you will hear from people is let’s go we have to be there now. Whatever happened to just letting the day unfold around you. I do not want to be limited in my day by time constraints set on me by FP+.
This is a bit dramatic. You have a whole hour window for your fast pass giving you plenty of time to go to the bathroom or get a snack. You also get to pick that time now so you can pick something that will work for you.
And if fast pass is really that constraining then don’t book any and let the day unfold around the standby waits.
This week’s test of eliminating the standby line, leaving just FastPass+ available for riders, is a trial run to see just how the attraction can be reconfigured in the future. Once the expansion is complete, park operations will have the option to configure two tracks as FastPass+ and one track as standby, or one track as FastPass+ and two as standby. Using real-world guest testing this week should give designers enough insight to configure the new layout for optimum performance.
Love that everyone freaks out over nothing…
Matty,
Are you at the park? Have you experienced the mess that it is? Yes you can get a fast pass, but when did people want to plan every aspect of their trip! With the fast pass we had to wait 2 hours to get into the que which is another 45 min wait. The standby time with out testing would have been shorter!
Oh and when the announcement is made that Soaring is going to do the same test, Please do not freak out. Soaring too is expanding.
Soarin already went through this test a few months ago
I did not know this when I booked this trip for my son’s birthday. Yes, I did get a fastpass for the ride thankfully. However, this was the only ride at the park my son liked and he wanted to go on it again but because of this Fastpass only option he could not. He was willing to wait in line to do so. They definitely did not make my 6 year old happy.
We just returned from a 4-day visit to WDW. We did have FastPass+ for this ride as well as the three allotted per park per day. I have to say, after having experienced the parks with FastPass+, I honestly do not like that system at all. I don’t want to have to pre-plan each and every move weeks in advance. It takes away the spontaneity of being on vacation. We did experience very long wait times but I attribute that to the cast members. While waiting in queue for Pirates in MK, (over 45-min wait) when we finally arrived to board the boat, the cast members were allowing boats to disembark with empty rows or rows of only one or two people. When people are stacked up, fill the boats!! When the wait time is less than 10-minutes, then you can allow boats to leave half full.
I’ve been going to Disney since the first year it opened and I think getting fast passes before arriving at the park is crazy. To much planning and unfair to park goers that don’t stay on Disney property ( yes, I know that’s the point).
As a long time DVC member and frequent visitor to WDW, this is another giant step designed to cater to the casual visitor that wants to spend more time in their hotel room than at the park. I hate the new FP system and this will make it that terrible system worse. Whenever something is in “test phase” it usually means it will become permanent and will expand to other “premium” attractions…guaranteed….The end result will be that guests will only get to experience a few things per day and as a DVC member with a financial investment in WDW, I resent the fact that my membership continues to shrink in value. I hate the pre-planning…I hate the need for my cell phone…I hate the fact that this is another hidden price increase because to do the same amount of attractions we routinely did before, we will now have to schedule additional days. I’m losing my patience with Disney and I never ever thought I’d feel this way….