It’s been brought to my attention that as a part of the new MyMagic and Fastpass+ experiences, Walt Disney World will offer FP+ EXCLUSIVE meet and greets. This will mean that those who wish to use their FP+ for headliner attractions will not be able to participate in these meet and greets. The characters that are currently being chosen ARE, however, available to meet in other parks. I suppose this is to ensure a shorter meet and greet experience with these characters.
Epcot – Tigger and Winnie the Pooh
In my recent Pirate in the Parks Epcot edition, I mentioned that Winnie the Pooh now has the Fastpass+ scanning posts installed and the queue was moved from inside the store to behind the store. I wondered why there appeared to only be one entry point. How will FP+ guests and the unwashed masses merge at this location? You can clearly see in the image below that there’s only ONE entrance. The Town Square Mickey, Fantasyland Princesses and Ariel have TWO lines. One for those who use a version of FP and one for those who wish to wait an hour, if they don’t follow my Rope Drop or FP advice :) In the coming months, only those with FASTPASS+ (no paper FP will be served) will be allowed to take part in this meet and greet location.
Click on any image for a larger view
One can also use FP+ to meet Mickey, Minnie and Goofy at the Epcot Character Spot, but it really isn’t necessary with wait times varying between 5 and 10 minutes. I walk right in almost any afternoon.
Hollywood Studios – Minnie Mouse
I had seen the exact same issue at Hollywood Studios, but assumed that the all new Minnie Mouse meet and greet would be receiving a second room at a later date. Her meet area is after all in a room that is listed at Drawing Room 2. However, you can also clearly see that the Minnie Mouse meet and greet line only has ONE entrance for FP+ only. This is the only current meet area that has the Mickey Touch Points installed.
Check out Minnie’s new sparkly dress!
Animal Kingdom – Disovery Island Boat Dock
The Discovery Island “Character Landing” at the old boat dock is currently occupied. When the mass character moves occur upon closing Camp Minnie Mickey, it’s assumed that Daisy and Donald will take over the spot that is now rented out by Tigger and Pooh. There will be no need to offer two FASTPASS+ exclusive meets for Tigger and Pooh, so these guys will either be relocated or just removed from the park.
Mickey and Minnie also offer a FP+ enabled meet and greet at the Adventurers Landing, but guests can also use the steerage line and wait. Warning…the estimated waits are usually lower than what the actual will be. It was posted as 15 minutes recently and I waited 27.
Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom currently offers 3 FP+ enabled meets: Words with Mickey in Town Square, Princesses in Fantasyland and Ariel in her Grotto. All these meets also offer stand by lines for those not using any type of FP. It is unknown to me if the Magic Kingdom will offer a FP+ exclusive meet and who it would be if they do.
I’m currently testing the FP+ system and will be providing info as I go along.
I was wondering if everyone in the party would need a FP+ for character meet and greets. My youngest is the only one interested in doing the meet and greets.
Every person that wants to join any FP+ line must have a FP+, even if that individual doesn’t plan to actually “meet” the character.
I’ve heard FP+ will be offered for select counter service restaurants, including lunch at Be Our Guest. Have you seen any FP+ queues for counter service?
No Be Our Guest doesn’t have a touch point, just check in. It’s more like a reservation.
When fast pass + was first announced they said eventually it would be available for everyone, even offsite guests. Is that still the case or does it look like it will only be for onsite and annual pass holders?
Eventually supposed to be for all, but only day of booking for offsite. Probably spring 2014
We just booked our FP+ for our holiday trip. We plan on following as much advice form Kenny as possible but we know crowds will be high and we selected the FP+ for things we have either – never done before or things we love. We are happy to have this chance with the crowds…we also see its needs for growth.
Interesting and a little sad. I loved that Pooh and Tigger M&G in the UK. It was a really nice set and almost never had a line. I doubt I’d “waste” one of 3 FP+ on it, so no more seeing them there.
When do you expect for these character visits to be added to the FP+ choices? What are the chances of having FP+ and regular FP both working the week of Thanksgiving?Thanks!
Be our Guest says they accept FastPass + on Disney’s website, but when I click the button it just takes me to the place where I chose attractions with no option for Be our Guest. Do you know has this choice been rolled out to everyone using FastPass +. I’m very excited to use FastPass + for our visit in November, but I was hoping we could get a few other paper FastPasses. I also thought my wrist band was my hotel room key. Thanks for all of the updates. I’ve used your info. on the Halloween party to plan our Christmas party since we are going so early.
Here is how I made our Be Our Guest Lunch fast pass..
https://beourguestlunch.disney.go.com
Hope this helps :)
Hey Kenny, are there any “bonus fast passes”? I know in the past at certain kiosks you could or would get a surprise bonus fast pass ticket. Is this still happening with the MB’s? I’ve made my FP selections for December and nothing “extra” popped up.
I’ll check again on my next mk visit
Can you get paper fastpasses in addition to your FP+ tickets. We are coming down Friday and have chosen our 3 per day but didn’t know if we would be able to get others in other parks or in the same park.
You can use your hotel key for paper fp.
Not anymore. You could do it, but they began phasing that out. As of today at AK you could no longer use your KTTW card to get Fastpases- magic band or not.
Just did it yesterday at hs with active hotel key
In green, I see CONNECT and SEARCH.
Yes, Connect is correct
Thanks for the update Kenny! How about trying to find some “insider” info if Shades of Green guests will be getting the MB’s?
I’ll see what i can find out
Well, that’s a darn good idea!
I think it will be interesting to see how this all pans out over time.
Off-topic, but I can’t find a “contact me’ spot on your site. Any chance you’ll be changing the pic of the green guy (forgive me, I don’t know who he is) at the top of each page? It scares the heck out of my daughter, and she really love to look at your site. I have to admit, late at night, it give Mama a little scare too! :-)
That’s funny! Yes, he’s an interesting character. I agree.
Top right. It’s green and says Contact. I change images regularly. It’s oogie boogie :)
It actually says “Connect”
Sorry, my phone did an autocorrect that I didn’t catch. Thanks for the help
As a passholder, I’m really not a fan of FP+. There are a lot of afternoon’s where I suddenly decide to drive over to Disney. Not having the benefit of paper fastpasses/pre-planning for some of these attractions/shows/meet and greets will really damper my visits.
This whole Fast Pass + thing is really making me almost not look forward to my trip anymore. Everyone should have the chance to use it. I don’t like how they are rolling it out in phases and only some have the opportunity. At the risk of sounding like a child, “It’s not fair!” :) lol
Book one night at a value and connect your tickets
Are you saying that if I buy 10 days of park tix and stay off-site and I get one night at a value I can get the bands and fp+ for the entire 10 days of tix?
I asked about that, but was told the fastpass+ would only be good for that one day–not carry over to our reservations to camp. :-( We were there late September/early October.
We did this, booked one night at a value resort but we were only able to make 7 days worth of FP+ reservations. We have AP’s though so I’m not sure if that affected our ability to make more.
Ap are limited to 7 days at a time. Use a day, book another as well.