Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History

Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History

2021, Society  -   3 Comments
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This is a deep dive into Disney's revolutionary Fastpass system that has changed how people enjoy theme parks. Guests can now reserve access to rides, shows, attractions and even character greetings before they arrive at the park. With Fastpass, visitors can bypass the regular line for an attraction and instead use a designated line, which is usually shorter.

Before Fastpass, visiting a busy Disney theme park would not be complete without seeing a long line or queue of semi-harassed parents and irritated children to ride popular attractions. Not only was this extremely frustrating, but also a time-consuming experience.

To solve this problem, Disney executive Bruce Laval, also an industrial engineer, designed Disney's Fastpass system, which was first introduced in 1999. It helped manage the high demand for popular attractions and to improve the overall guest experience.

Compared to the Fastpass system in place today, this program's first iteration was manual and a logistical nightmare for park cast members (or employees), yet it significantly reduced wait times and improved the flow of guests throughout the park.

The succeeding years have seen technological advances refine the Fastpass system, allowing Disney to optimize the use of their attractions by spreading out the number of guests throughout the day. This helps to reduce overcrowding and improve the overall operation of the park. Instead of waiting in line, guests have time to visit other attractions, enjoy a meal in one of the many food outlets, and buy items at the gift shops.

However, it has also been criticized due to its limited availability, the time restrictions imposed and the extra cost, especially if they are already paying a lot of money to visit the theme park. Some visitors also don't fully understand how the system works and cannot effectively plan their days in the park, leading to disappointment or frustration.

The Fastpass system is also affected by other factors beyond anyone's control, including maintenance schedules, weather, and park attendance, which can impact the availability and timing of Fastpass reservations.

To answer if the Fastpass system does deliver a positive experience to the average guest, filmmaker Perjurer created a vast computer simulation, and its animated presentation is a must-see for the surprising results.

Overall, Disney's Fastpass system was designed to make it more convenient for visitors to experience the attractions they want to see during their visit to the theme park. And while it may be flawed, it remains a valuable tool for managing demand, improving the guest experience, and increasing sales revenues at Disney theme parks.

Directed by: Kevin Perjurer

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Edward Smith
Edward Smith
1 year ago

Too much information....

CCRIDER
CCRIDER
1 year ago

So basically, Disney is lets people pay them a premium rate in order for those people to butt in line. Albeit, it's a seperate line, it's still butting. SO NOT COOL. Again, the entitled world, "people to good to wait in line". ugh

Hank Ercheese
Hank Ercheese
1 year ago

After observing recent Disney productions, I dread to think what children will be exposed to in their 'modern' themed parks