Disney to Crack Down on FastPass Abuse

Friday, 09 March 2012 | by Pat's Picks

I guess I can give away my not-so-secret secret now that Disney says it’s about to crack down on “abuse” of the Fastpass. The truth is, I am one of those abusers.

The Kiernan family secret to navigating Disney theme parks easily has, for years, been the fact that Disney has never enforced the “end” time on its Fastpass priority access system. There’s no sense me trying to fully explain this if you haven’t used the Fastpass, but if you have, you know that when you get one of these tickets it gives you a one-hour window where you can return to an attraction and cut the line.

But until now, Disney has told employees to disregard the “end” time on the Fastpass reservations.  In other words, even if your ticket said you were entitled to ride between 10:15 am and 11:15 am, you could return at 6:00 pm and still bypass the line.

We’d arrive at the Magic Kingdom early. I, like others in the know, would load up on Fastpasses with the intent of using them hours later. Now, Disney says it will turn people away if they don’t return to a ride within the prescribed window.  Disney blogger Jim Hill says this change is a precursor to a change that will eventually give priority access to visitors who stay in Disney-owned hotels.