How Disney’s Fastpass system spun completely out of control in 2021

Since its launch in 2017, Kevin Perjurer’s Defunctland YouTube channel has made in-depth videos detailing the histories of both failed and successful amusement parks and their rides, including Disneyland and Disney World. With extremely thorough narratives, Perjurer asks questions that should interest even those who aren’t theme park enthusiasts: Who crafts the societal vision of fun? Is it possible to create fun places and why? And is it possible for everyone who wants the experience to enjoy themselves at a theme park, even if they’re not rich?

His latest video goes deep on a subject that, for those who don’t pay close attention to the mechanics of Disney parks, might be completely new: FastPass. FastPass was announced by Disney back in August that it would soon be discontinued. It is the umbrella name for several organizational systems Disney uses to manage park crowds since 1999.

The FastPass system, which was created by Bruce Laval (an executive vice president), has evolved and changed so much over the past 20 years that it is now a fundamental element of Disney’s park experience. It is as important to visitors to the park as any meeting-and-greet with Mickey Mouse or Ariel. Defunctland’s latest issue explains how it happened.

FastPass was a “virtual queue” meaning that attendees would arrive at, say, Splash Mountain at 10:00 AM, receive a ticket saying that they are allowed to enter the ride at a later time with virtually no time spent waiting in the Splash Mountain line. For Splash Mountain and any other FastPass ride, there are two lines: one fast-moving FastPass line; the second is a standby, which allows people who don’t have a FastPass to wait.

FastPass saw a rise in popularity among park visitors who realized it meant less wait time. According to Laval, the FastPass was a popular choice among park visitors. in 2002, “people ended up seeing 25 percent more rides per day and paying the same amount of money.”

The idea was also a big hit with Disney executives as people who were no longer in line could spend more money on souvenirs and concessions. Even though they spent less money on tickets than before, these guests still spent more. The standby phone began to resent them.

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Perjurer documents the rise of FastPass and how it was merged with an ever-growing online ecosystem. This created MaxPass, FastPass Pluss, MagicBands as well as a growing number headaches. FastPass, a monstrous monster who terrorizes certain park guests and becomes friends with others is the metaphor used to describe FastPass.

And then, in part six of the hour and 42 minute-video, Perjurer decides to pay an industrial engineer to create a “complex computer simulation of a theme park” to “compare and contrast wait times, number of rides ridden and other factors with and without a virtual queue system.” Perjurer gives an entertaining and detailed tour of his simulated theme park and who walks through the gates, which includes everyone from rollercoaster enthusiasts to vloggers.

Perjurer, who thanks Laval in the video’s credits, has created an impressive model that shows how FastPass systems, especially ones based online, tend to favor hardcore attendees. He shows how the systems became more chaotic, creating sometimes worse lines than pre-FastPass.

When Disney “retired” its FastPass system in August, what the company meant was that it was retiring its free FastPass system. Now, the entire system has been overhauled in favor of an app known as Disney Genie Plus, branded with the smiling face of Aladdin’s big blue guy (the Robin Williams version, not Will Smith) that doubles as a trip-planning app. Lightning Lane is a version of FastPass that’s now available at $15.

What will the new system do for attendees? There are many answers — for some it will be a seamless transition from one system to the next, and others might find themselves balking at the price. But after watching Perjurer’s video, you’ll never look at standing in a line the same way again.