There is (was???) a hurricane bearing down on the state of Florida. I’ve seen a lot of people asking “Hey if there is a hurricane that wipes out central Florida; what happens to my fastpass for Smugglers Run???”. Well, potentially life altering catastrophic event aside, I was curious to find out what the answer to this question was.
The world isnt actually ending but its Florida at 4pm on a Tuesday in the summer
Heyyyy so welcome to Florida in the summer in the afternoon. Its going to rain and with rain comes lightning. Lightning tends to shut a lot of rides down so what happens to your Splash Mountain fastpass?
Good news! Your fastpass doesn’t just disappear! We were in the parks recently (Magic Kingdom with a fastpass for Jungle Cruise) and for whatever reason the ride wasn’t running. We were informed by both the cast members at the entrance and the My Disney Experience app that we were being given complimentary replacement fastpasses for almost any other ride in the park for that day. NICE (with some exceptions)! We couldn’t just moonwalk into Seven Dwarves Mine Train( there are limitations), but it was good for most other rides at any other point in that day.
BUT THE APOCALYPSE
So you’re in Florida during hurricane season for a major park addition opening and you have a fastpass for the premier ride of said land and it just so happens a hurricane shows up and the park closes; what happens? I’ve seen this question asked A LOT. Is it insensitive to be concerned about a fastpass when a potentially catastrophic weather event is looming on the horizon??? Yes, probably, but I FEEL YOU. You’re not a jerk, you’re just curious. I can understand that, I was curious too, so I did what I tend to do when I have a question I want an answer too, I went to find the answer.
I figured the easiest way to do this was just call (407) WDisney and just ask so that’s what I did. After an awkward explanation as to of why I was asking what I was asking (I mean I am sensitive to catastrophic weather events, I live here) I was told simply “You lose it”. O-ok my dude, I get that. Obviously I cant use my Smugglers Run fastpass during a hurricane, but if that’s a once in a lifetime fastpass for my family and now I cant use it, what do I do? This is a real concern for a lot of people and natural disasters aside, what does happen? Well, when I pressed my man on the other side of the line, I was told that this is a newer ride so avenues of replacement fastpasses haven’t really been explored so its best to get with Guest Relations upon your return visit to discuss options.
So that’s it, get with Guest Relations.
I understand this was a jerk question to ask this guy and I don’t know what I expected to hear when I asked it. Like I said, I live here. If you ask me if I think the beach will still be around for your vacation 3 days after a hurricane is slated to come through my back yard; you’re not going to get a pleasant answer either. That being said, I was a little disappointed with the answer I was given. Being told “You lose it” isn’t what I expected to be told. Currently (as you’ve seen above) when a ride closes due to weather or whatever other reason, you’re given a fastpass to use for a different ride elsewhere in the park later that day. You’re informed of this by both cast members at the entrance of the attraction you expected to ride as well as the My Disney Experience app. With this being a new attraction in what is expected to be the busiest addition to a park basically ever, I thought I would be given something else in addition to just “Go to Guest Relations and work it out with them”. Weather and all that not withstanding, what if the ride just breaks and needs to be shut down? That happens, it happens a lot. I figured I’d be offered a bit more information to as of what I could do to recoup that ever so precious fastpass but it turns out, NOPE.
So that’s it. If you’re in the park and your scheduled fastpass is impacted by weather or some other event, you can expect a notification and a replacement of the affected fastpass in your My Disney Experience app. It may (the replacement fastpass) or may not be usable for the attraction impacted by the closure. If your fastpass/reservation is for something along the lines of the Smugglers Run attraction though, be prepared for a visit to Guest Relations if you’re expecting some type of compensation.
Good luck and stay safe (dry)!