I went to Disney for the first time as an adult, on a college trip. The school handled all the logistics, including buying the tickets. I didn’t know about Fast Pass. Imagine what it was like to show up and find out not only that it’s ubiquitous and free (other theme parks I’ve been to only sold them as an upcharge, so I never would’ve considered getting it even if I’d heard of it), but that it’s also a thing you have to sign up for in advance.
I felt cheated. Yet, nobody seemed to care because everyone expected me to already know about it somehow. Excuse me for not being Disney-obsessed, for not living around Orlando, and/or for being too poor most of my life to afford going there. It seems the days of “buy ticket, go into park, get on ride” are long gone. I got there early, yet I went on a total of 3 rides that day: Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, and the frickin’ Small World ride (which was the only one without a line. It was just as bad as advertised.) There was no time for anything else, because the lines were insanely long and I was apparently the only person in the park who didn’t have some sort of Fast Pass.
That was over a decade ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s gotten even worse since then.
Dont worry, at Universal, imagine your surprise when you get the fast pass and then get stuck in a (still smaller) line. That’s when you see a group get walked past you and you find out they paid for the VIP ticket and they get to skip in front of you.
I went to Disney for the first time as an adult, on a college trip. The school handled all the logistics, including buying the tickets. I didn’t know about Fast Pass. Imagine what it was like to show up and find out not only that it’s ubiquitous and free (other theme parks I’ve been to only sold them as an upcharge, so I never would’ve considered getting it even if I’d heard of it), but that it’s also a thing you have to sign up for in advance.
I felt cheated. Yet, nobody seemed to care because everyone expected me to already know about it somehow. Excuse me for not being Disney-obsessed, for not living around Orlando, and/or for being too poor most of my life to afford going there. It seems the days of “buy ticket, go into park, get on ride” are long gone. I got there early, yet I went on a total of 3 rides that day: Space Mountain, the Haunted Mansion, and the frickin’ Small World ride (which was the only one without a line. It was just as bad as advertised.) There was no time for anything else, because the lines were insanely long and I was apparently the only person in the park who didn’t have some sort of Fast Pass.
That was over a decade ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s gotten even worse since then.
Dont worry, at Universal, imagine your surprise when you get the fast pass and then get stuck in a (still smaller) line. That’s when you see a group get walked past you and you find out they paid for the VIP ticket and they get to skip in front of you.