At WDW Now - Used GAD Fastpass for Epcot & DHS

[doconeill]

Did you use 1 voucher for 3 days? Or 3 vouchers over 3 days; one for each park??

I want to make sure I have this right.

A voucher is only good once. You need a separate one for each day.

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

A voucher is only good once. You need a separate one for each day.

That's what I thought. I guess I read the poster wrong.

Thanks for straightening it out.

 

[Petraman]

OK... newest update (actually more of a re-affirmation).

Got GAD FP's for Magic Kingdom, DHS, and Epcot so far. Same exact rides as were offered for the birthday FP last year and same as has been noted, the FP gives you 3 rides for Higher level rides and 3 for lower level rides.

All 3 locations only required that I have all our AP's in hand and not all members of the party had to be present. In fact, the 2 times I cashed my kids GAD certificated, I just handed them the certificate and a copy of their birth certificate and they just gave me my passes even without my kids being there.

The International Gateway ticket window was fine for getting the GAD FP's

That's about it.... these FP's have been an absolute Godsend. Today we went to MK after noon. We used the GAD FP to ride Space M, Splash M, Jungle Cruise, and BTMRR. Ad PotC to the mix and we were out of there by 2:30-3 to go to Epcot. Place was packed! Love it!

 

[Petraman]

Last update on GAD FP.

We used our GAD FP's for Animal Kingdom today. Several had been asking what rides were featured.... it is exactly the same as last year's Birthday Special FP's as we all suspected.
Donald level = EE and Kilim Safaris
Daisy level = Dinosaur, ITTBA Bug, Kali Rapids

It is interesting to note the paper they hand you each day with the rides that will work with the FP are clearly mass printed, so they will not be changing "which rides" it will work for, BUT they may list rides that will not be offering ANY FP's for a certain day which will limit the use of these GAD FP's even more.

Example: Today, the Park Daily Guide said that ITTBA Bug and Kali Rapids would not be offering FP's to the public at all... which meant the only ride you could use the Daisy FP for was Dinosaur.

In an nutshell, we loved the FP option, it made our days much quicker and gave us way more options and opportunities for riding the "Big Rides". Out of the 4 days we used these GAD FP's we never used all the daisy level and only twice used all of the Donald level. We were very popular people in the park when we started giving away FP's to EE, Space Mtn, and TSMM!!

Well, tomorrow we head home. It's been a great 2010 WDW trip! Can't wait now for the 2011 Cruise on the Dream!!

 

[doconeill]

Hmm...someone recently reported that the CM handed them the GAD FP guide, but had crossed out ITTBAB, saying it was no longer available...they didn't do that in your case?

Did you check whether you could still get GAD FPs at ITTBAB and KRR? They have long had attractions that rarely use FPs normally, but still had a kiosk open for Birthday/GAD - or at least gave some pixie dust in some way there...

 

[ms.ojo]

Last update on GAD FP.

We used our GAD FP's for Animal Kingdom today. It is interesting to note the paper they hand you each day with the rides that will work with the FP are clearly mass printed, so they will not be changing "which rides" it will work for, BUT they may list rides that will not be offering ANY FP's for a certain day which will limit the use of these GAD FP's even more.

Example: Today, the Park Daily Guide said that ITTBA Bug and Kali Rapids would not be offering FP's to the public at all... which meant the only ride you could use the Daisy FP for was Dinosaur.

Well, tomorrow we head home. It's been a great 2010 WDW trip! Can't wait now for the 2011 Cruise on the Dream!!

Glad you had a great vaca'n. I'm very confused by your comment. I thought one of the great things about the GAD FP was that it allowed you to get a FP even when all the others were used up? I hope you check back here when you get home and let us know if there was a CM to ask about this at Kali. I would think the only way the GAD FP couldn't be used is if the ride was actually closed.

Another question....anyone finding they can redeem a voucher for the FP later in the day? We aren't planning to arrive at HS until 5pm....anyone had any luck gettng a GAD FP at that hour??

 

[doconeill]

No one has reported NOT being able to get them.

The latest I know for certain someone was able to was 2pm. I think someone managed to get them at 4pm. However, it could depend on how busy it is on a given day.

 

[g-dad66]

No one has reported NOT being able to get them.

The latest I know for certain someone was able to was 2pm. I think someone managed to get them at 4pm. However, it could depend on how busy it is on a given day.

We got them twice at 4:00 p.m. (at MK on Friday, March 11, and at DHS on Tuesday, March 16). No problem at all about getting them.

Touringplans.com apparently updated the ratings for that whole week to 10's, so it was a pretty busy time.

 

[g-dad66]

Hmm...someone recently reported that the CM handed them the GAD FP guide, but had crossed out ITTBAB, saying it was no longer available...they didn't do that in your case?

Did you check whether you could still get GAD FPs at ITTBAB and KRR? They have long had attractions that rarely use FPs normally, but still had a kiosk open for Birthday/GAD - or at least gave some pixie dust in some way there...

They didn't cross out ITTBAB on ours either, but we didn't try to get any Fast Passes for it, and I didn't notice if they had a machine open for it or not.

The Fast Pass machines were open for Kali on our AK day on March 15, and we got all of our Daisy FPs for it.

 

[g-dad66]

I would think the only way the GAD FP couldn't be used is if the ride was actually closed.

I could be wrong about this, but I think you can't get any kind of FPs if they are not operating the Fast Pass lane at all on an attraction that day.

We were able to get FPs at Space Mountain, Toy Story Mania, Rock n Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror after all of the FPs were gone for the day. There was one FP machine open at each attraction for the GAD Fast Passes. (We had gotten our FP Exchange Cards at the Will Call window at 4:00 and used them for two evenings in the Fast Lane. )

 

[doconeill]

I could be wrong about this, but I think you can't get any kind of FPs if they are not operating the Fast Pass lane at all on an attraction that day.

It depends on the attraction. In general it doesn't take much effort to operate the Fastpass line on a limited basis. You wouldn't need a full-time CM checking FPs all day.

I know in some cases, they will just escort you in separately, like through the back entrance, or give you VIP seating, or things like that.

LMA hasn't used FP except on exceedingly rare occasions in a years now, but it's still a GAD option

 

[ms.ojo]

I could be wrong about this, but I think you can't get any kind of FPs if they are not operating the Fast Pass lane at all on an attraction that day.

Wow, that would be a real bummer.

 

[Petraman]

Hmm...someone recently reported that the CM handed them the GAD FP guide, but had crossed out ITTBAB, saying it was no longer available...they didn't do that in your case?

Did you check whether you could still get GAD FPs at ITTBAB and KRR? They have long had attractions that rarely use FPs normally, but still had a kiosk open for Birthday/GAD - or at least gave some pixie dust in some way there...

On my FP Guide, no rides were crossed out, but on the actual times guide they give out at the park for the day it said no FP for Kali or ITTBAB. I did not actually check the Bug ride since I wasn't interested, but for the Kali ride, I went up to the CM running the line and mentioned I had the GAD FP and wanted to know if they would accomodate us. He handed us 2 "Switch Rider" passes and that worked just like a FP.

 

[Petraman]

Glad you had a great vaca'n. I'm very confused by your comment. I thought one of the great things about the GAD FP was that it allowed you to get a FP even when all the others were used up? I hope you check back here when you get home and let us know if there was a CM to ask about this at Kali. I would think the only way the GAD FP couldn't be used is if the ride was actually closed.

Another question....anyone finding they can redeem a voucher for the FP later in the day? We aren't planning to arrive at HS until 5pm....anyone had any luck gettng a GAD FP at that hour??

There are times when they close the FP to a ride.... if there is too low of a demand I would imagine. In my PP, notice I just asked the CM if he could do something for us, and he gladly did so.

Interesting side note.... They give you pins to wear in the park stating that you "volunteered". The idea is you wear the pin and they honor you. In the 4 days we wore the pins, only CM said "Thanks for volunteering". We talked to one person who got a free cupcake at a place in AK for wearing their pin, someone went in to get one, and they wouldn't do it for next person. It really wasn't necessary for them to do anymore, but just thought I would point that out.

The FP were definitely worth it!!!

 

[doconeill]

On my FP Guide, no rides were crossed out, but on the actual times guide they give out at the park for the day it said no FP for Kali or ITTBAB. I did not actually check the Bug ride since I wasn't interested, but for the Kali ride, I went up to the CM running the line and mentioned I had the GAD FP and wanted to know if they would accomodate us. He handed us 2 "Switch Rider" passes and that worked just like a FP.

Yup, it seems that the CMs can accommodate them in a variety of ways at their discretion. Although if they were giving out the Rider Switch passes then it would seem the FP line was working, and could have dealt with GAD Fastpasses - unless they couldn't or just didn't want to open the kiosk.

 

[december]

Does that mean that you got an extra set of fps that day? You got the rider switch passes, plus you still had the 6 fp options on your card?

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

I've gone to AK during June several times. ITTBAB has never had FP kiosks open. We have never had to wait longer than the show that was showing. The kiosks were there, but none were open. I always wondered why? Now I know!

I will use my FP for Dinosaur 3x!!!

 

[Petraman]

Does that mean that you got an extra set of fps that day? You got the rider switch passes, plus you still had the 6 fp options on your card?

Yes. Of course an extra set of FP's at AK is not that big a deal

We ended up giving the extra pass to a family where the kids were bummed they couldn't ride EE because of the wait

We actually gave away quite a few passes over the 4 days.

 

[Petraman]

I've gone to AK during June several times. ITTBAB has never had FP kiosks open. We have never had to wait longer than the show that was showing. The kiosks were there, but none were open. I always wondered why? Now I know!

I will use my FP for Dinosaur 3x!!!

We tried to use ours on Dino... 2 times the wait was only 5 minutes so no need

 

[Petraman]

I am sitting in San Antonio TX waiting for my late flight and very bored....

can you tell?