Disney's FastPass: A Complicated History

Kevin deep dives into Disney's now defunct expedited queue service, FastPass and FastPass Plus.

Buy Defunctland T-Shirts:

Donate on Patreon:

FastPass Tip Montage:


Facebook Group:

Defunctland Twitter:

Kevin's Twitter:

Defunctland Subreddit:

[yeemcgee]

“Things like this don’t happen to the dillons”
PART 4: THE DILLONS
Was comedy gold

[luvahadowsdolls]

Honestly the logistics involved in trying to figure out a "vacation" like this made me think of Jim Gaffigan's Disney bit: "You ever go on a vacation as a kid and wonder 'Why is dad always in a bad mood?', Well now I understand."

[saltyduckie]

i complimented a guy with a shapeland shirt at disney a few days ago, and he excitedly exclaimed “finally! someone got it!”

[albea]

Was at Disneyland earlier this month. The queue for Radiator Springs Racers was 75 minutes. The genie pass system wasn't availiable because the ride had temporarily closed earlier in the day. So our group decided 75 minutes would probably be worth it. At the same time, Disney offered a $21 fast pass to cut the wait time down to 30 minutes. Because of the influx of people buying the fast pass, the actual time we waited in line was 2 hours and 20 minutes. This led to many moments of exitential crisis. Do we leave the line? No, we are already too committed. Should we have just paid more money to ride one ride? Where are the mid-queue wait time clocks? How big of suckers are we?
It wasn't pleasent. The ride was fun when we got on it, but it was NOT worth the wait and mental strain.

[monsoonchi]

I'm CRYING about that dude that got fastpass for the Triangle and rode the Octagon 39 times while waiting. Absolute legend.

[BigCTV]

Ok, first off I never knew I needed an entire documentary on Fastpass, but here we are.

Second, as a Cast Member who worked during all three eras of Fastpass (Paper, FP+ and now Genie+), everything you said was very accurate in regards to the CM experience with all three. I distinctly remember how rough the My Magic+ launch was back in 2014. One minor correction though. We did in fact have guest celebrations implemented into MM+. We could congratulate guests who were celebrating a birthday, wedding, anniversary, first visit or family reunion as they came through FP.

Third, I am not only honored that you wanted to use my song I performed along with my current roommate and CP roommate (especially our bad 2010 music video version before I had any editing skills) but to call it the best Fastpass related parody song… better than ones Disney made? Highlight of my year.

We actually did a 10 Year anniversary version last year during quarantine on my channel if you haven’t seen it…

Outstanding work as always Kevin. I’ve loved watching your channel since the early days and the passion you have for preserving some of history’s theme park moments, both good and bad.

I’m honored you wanted to use our song in such an awesome video.

[anonymonsters]

"And someone figured out how to do 39 rides in one day." Flashbacks to when my cousin and I went to Great America and rode the Drop Tower Zone 36 times in a row. By the time we went home, I was just experiencing a continuous, faint falling sensation.

[Tea_and_Arsenic]

Growing up at Disney parks I’ve always been in the “It’s your own fault for not educating yourself before coming…” camp, until Ratatouille opened at EPCOT and I watched family after family of international guests be turned away because there was no standby line AT ALL at first; there was ONLY a virtual queue. And by the time they found that out, there were no more available times for the day. That was awful; and I felt so incredibly bad for all of them. It really made me rethink my standpoint.

[Antonicane]

Oh, dear God. The descent from 'streamlined theme park experience' to 'grim Classist dystopia' was a wild ride.

[magicmagic]

Disney’s evolution of its fastpass system feels like someone trying to quench their thirst with sea water

[Nosternum]

Between this and the Jenny Nicholson video about the Star Wars hotel, I’m realizing that my favorite video genre is throwing shade at Disney for making dumb, greedy decisions

[thesuspiciousorange]

I think the people I feel the worst for are the ground-level employees. Not only would they have to deal with the messy ideas of CEOs and park alterations, they get the """delightful pleasure""" of being the ground zero of irate park patrons when it was all first rolling out and suffering its worst stages.

[BE-fwlr]

I CANNOT get over the phrase "Things like this don't happen to the Dillons" something about it just paints such a vivid picture of the life this man has lived. I'm glad they got their golden fast pass.

[daltooinewestwood]

I love how they went from “more fast pass is a bad idea” to “fuck it, fast pass on bathrooms” in record time

[molegoddess]

As a scientist, I'm envious of your ability to present so much and such complex data in a coherent and engaging way. It really is such a difficult thing to do. And it goes without saying that your documentarian skills are absolutely top-notch. A documentary that's this well researched and information-dense and fun to watch, yet doesn't speak down to its audience or use the typical condescending tropes is such a breath of fresh air. I've watched this feature-length video about queuing half a dozen times now, while most TV shows bore me so much I'd rather chew my own arm off than waste half an hour on them. That's the power of passion, when you actually care about a subject and about making other people informed and interested in it, as well, rather than simply churning out content to make a buck. I deeply appreciate you and others on this platform who use your passions (and time and energy and resources) to provide free education and entertainment. It really makes me feel more positive about our society and future.

[skeletized]

i heard the rant on statistics and my first reaction was "i'm gonna make that simulation." only to be delighted when it was revealed that it was already made. what a beautiful world.

[certain]

Beginning of the documentary: "Disney implements fast pass"

90 minutes later: "Why isn't the beast eating those people?"

[MrFrog-ygdp]

As someone who's never been to any Disney park, this just sounds like a dystopian hellscape

[ChargingPirates]

Just finished the new Jenny Nicholson video and it gave me a craving to rewatch this one. Modern Disney is literally cannibalizing itself and its a shame but damn if it doesn't make for good web documentaries

[Kazzy]

This does not make Disney sound like a vacation. It makes it seem like a stressful planning trip.