Central Fastpass Station being tested at AK

[disneydreamer98]

Super excited to hear about this!!! I've been saying for years that they needed to try something like this! I sure hope they are testing still when we get down there next month!

When and if this becomes a reality at all parks, they need to have more than one location within the parks where they have a central bank located as well as keeping the original machines outside of the attraction.

[HauntedGabe]

Hallelujah! Hope it works out. It is such a pain especially at AK and I have older kids that now can walk faster than me!

I did hold my breathe as the article mentioned, could this be a test for something bigger??? Six Flags is $$ for fast passes and WDW is in $$ mode lately. Begging that it is just a guest service improvement.

[ERich2010]

i think this could work out well, especially at Animal Kingdom, since it's such a large park. They just need to improve the system a tad

[WVParkfan]

The more I think about this, the LESS I like it.

What's next, FastPass stations at the Ticket and Transportation Center? How about at a kiosk at your resort? Perhaps you will be able to get an "app" to order one from your iphone.

[kat228]

Just saw this on the Theme Park Rangers blog at the Orlando Sentinel's web site:

Disney's test of centralized FastPass distribution at Animal Kingdom

Apparently they're trying out a way to partially centralize FP distribution by setting up a location not at any particular attraction, with a few FP machines for each of a few attractions. So you can get a FP for an attraction without having to go all the way over to where that attraction is located.

The article includes a photo and a brief description of how they're doing it. Worth a read.

Seems to me that AK is the perfect place to try this, since it's so spread out.

Tony

Thanks for posting this! I'm heading down for a short trip on Saturday for 3 days. I had heard rumors but didn't know exactly what was going on. This helps a lot. On such a short trip I didn't want to be standing around trying to figure out what was going on! Time is precious!

No, it doesn't work that way. All the same Fastpass rules still apply. You still can only get one at a time, and have to wait until the Next Fastpass time is reached. And it appears that these kiosks are not being used right at rope drop, but rather are delayed until after the initial rush of guests to the attractions.

All it is currently providing is another location you can get Fastpasses for certain attractions that is more centrally located so you don't have to cross the park back and forth.

Thanks for clearing up the bit about rope drop. I think that makes sense. Otherwise I'm afraid you'd have a huge back-up first thing in the morning!

I'll report back on Tuesday how things went

[doconeill]

The more I think about this, the LESS I like it.

What's next, FastPass stations at the Ticket and Transportation Center? How about at a kiosk at your resort? Perhaps you will be able to get an "app" to order one from your iphone.

Disney already has patents on those ideas...

[MagicMom]

I really don't like this idea at all. It is going to be a mad house if there is only 1 machine per attraction. I remember the lines at the bank of machines at TSMM in DHS back in November. The lines were 20 people deep just after the rope drop, and they have about 10 machines back there.

A touch screen system would be good for this, since they are going to centralize some units. Each machine could dispense FPs for all attractions. A digital board above could display current return times for each attraction. Too much money, I guess. When your profits are down 26% I doubt spending money is at the top of the list.

I hope they don't make unlimited FP a ticket option like they did with the No Expiration. I really don't know if I would pay.

[doconeill]

I really don't like this idea at all. It is going to be a mad house if there is only 1 machine per attraction. I remember the lines at the bank of machines at TSMM in DHS back in November. The lines were 20 people deep just after the rope drop, and they have about 10 machines back there.

A touch screen system would be good for this, since they are going to centralize some units. Each machine could dispense FPs for all attractions. A digital board above could display current return times for each attraction. Too much money, I guess. When your profits are down 26% I doubt spending money is at the top of the list.

I hope they don't make unlimited FP a ticket option like they did with the No Expiration. I really don't know if I would pay.

So far, as part of the test:

- There are two machines each for three attractions

- They are not available right at rope drop, so people still have to go to the attraction initially

- All indications are that this would not result in the removal of the machines at the attractions anyways

- This is only a test. A permanent system should include a number of improvements

[WDWmemories]

I am sure there will be kinks to work out, but this generally seems like a very good idea to me.
I always wondered why you had to walk up to an attraction in order to get a FastPass for it. Why not be able to get a FastPass somewhere else, and then use some of your FastPass 'wait' time while traveling to the attraction itself.
Actually, I think it would be a great idea to have a set of FastPass machines for all FastPass attractions at EACH FastPass location. That way, you exit off a FastPass attraction and then you pick up your FastPass for your next ride. You use some of your walk time getting to the next ride and already have your FastPass.

[bety]

I think this sounds like a great idea. I still don't mind hustling to my favorite ride to get a fastpass as soon as the park opens, but I would definitely use the central fastpass stations for the rest of the day. And as long as they keep the ones at the rides as well, I don't think it would cause too much of a crowding problem.

[Zipadeedooda]

Personally I think this is a really

bad idea

[MagicMom]

Actually, I think it would be a great idea to have a set of FastPass machines for all FastPass attractions at EACH FastPass location. That way, you exit off a FastPass attraction and then you pick up your FastPass for your next ride. You use some of your walk time getting to the next ride and already have your FastPass.

I think THAT is a really fantastic idea!

[albino_pygmy]

I think there are going to be a lot of extremely confused guest and some very frustrated Cast members!!

My thoughts exactly. I still don't see why can't they just remove the pain that is FP all together and save everyone's sanity?