Six years ago, in 2013, my family visited Disney World for the first time since 1998. We were visiting Kristy's Dad for thanksgiving in Orlando and decided to buy two days worth of park tickets. We spent Thanksgiving Day at the Magic Kingdom and Black Friday at Hollywood studios. (Two of the busiest days of the year) As we wandered around the park, Mallory kept asking me why we didn't stop at one of those fast pass kiosks and get fast passes. I assumed the Disney Fast Pass worked like any other theme park and you had to pay a fee that would get you to the front of line. I kept saying, "No we're not doing that." I could not have been more wrong. Mallory still reminds me of my mistaken insistence not to use a fast pass to this day.
Disney's FastPass+ service is complimentary to anyone with a park ticket but there are perks for guests who are staying at a Disney Resort.
Here's how it works.
Through the MyDisneyExperience Website or on the MyDisneyExperience App you can choose up to 3 FastPasses per day. (note - all your advanced scheduled FastPasses have to be in the same park) Once you use those up you can add additional FastPasses one at a time, in any park for the rest of the day with the MyDisneyExperience App. The FastPasses get you into a shorter line and are good for 1 hour. For example, you might book a FastPass that could be used for Haunted Mansion between 12pm and 1pm. (We found that Disney seems to add about 5 minutes of grace time. We showed up for one FP a few minutes late and decided to try to swipe our magic bands just to see. It let us in.)
Your FastPass reservations are assigned to the RFID chip in your Magicband, if you have one, or your, credit card style, theme park ticket. You simply hold those up to the Mickey FastPass entrance and as long as it turns green you get the shorter line. Remember FastPass doesn't mean, no wait, it means substantially shorter wait.
If you have park tickets and link those tickets to your MyDisneyExperience account you can book FastPasses 30 days in advance of your trip.
If you are staying on Disney Property you can book FastPasses sixty days ahead of your trip and you get to book for your whole trip on the first day they are available. For example our next trip begins on June 9 so we can book FastPasses on April 9 but on April 9 I can book all our FastPasses not just 60 days out but the 9th, 10th, 11th 12th 13th 14th and 15th. So really I get to book FastPasses 66 days ahead.
Fast Pass selection opens for the day at 7am Orlando time so I will be at the computer 6am Central time trying to get FastPasses as fast as possible. This is why there almost has to be some planning for your trip to Disney World. You've already made dining reservations at the 180 day mark, now you are trying to get FastPasses. By this point you should have a good idea what park or parks you're going to be in each day.
There are a few strategies I have seen in scheduling FastPasses.
- Schedule FastPasses Early in the day. When you do it this way you can use them up early and try to get more. As soon as you swipe your Magicband for that final FastPass you can be on your MyDisneyExperience App looking for more. You do not have to wait until you are finished with the ride you can be looking while you are in line. This is what we did last time were were at Disney and Mallory was our FastPass Wizard. She found so many good extra ones for us.
- Go to the parks early (rope drop) and since the crowds are smaller you can get on a few rides quickly without FastPasses then Use your FastPasses later in the day when things are crowded and lines are longer. We plan to try this a little on our next trip.
- I've also heard that, since you cannot book two FastPasses within the same hour that once you check into your first FastPass ride you could try to change one of your later FastPasses to be within the hour of the ride you are in line for. This would allow you to push FastPasses closer together but I haven't been able to confirm this.
Finally, My Fast Pass Suggestions for each Park
I am a roller coaster guy so my Fast Pass choices in the Magic Kingdom are always going to lean to the mountains: Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Splash Mountain and now the little mountain that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is inside. You only get three Fast Passes though so how do you do all of them. We found on Thanksgiving that if you are at the park for Rope drop and head straight back to Big Thunder Mountain you can get on fairly quickly. Save your FastPasses for the others. I would suggest making that Splash Mountain Fast Pass later in the day so you don't have to walk around wet all day.
If you don't want to Fast Pass all the Roller Coasters other choices in the Magic Kingdom include:
- Peter Pan, the line here is always long,
- Haunted Mansion, It's a classic and again the line is long,
- Jungle cruise, this is a favorite and the line can be intense.
Do Not Fast Pass:
- It's a Small world
- Pirates of the Caribbean
You can find time during the day with shorter lines for both of these rides. Plus most of Pirates line is inside, spend some time in the AC.
Epcot is a little different story. Like Hollywood studios and Animal Kingdom Epcots FastPasses are tiered. You get to choose one FastPass from Tier 1 and two from Tier 2
Tier 1 Attractions include
- Frozen Ever After
- Test Track
- Soarin'
- Illuminations Reflections of Earth, nighttime show and fireworks.
- Epcot Character Greeting
Everything else at Epcot is a Tier 2 Attraction. Honestly We had trouble finding Tier 2 attractions we were interested in at Epcot. Nemo would be fun with kids. Journey into imagination isn't nearly as good as it originally was. Mission space was not open when we went a few years ago so that holds promise if you like thrill rides.
My Favorite of the Tier 1 rides is Soarin. We waited in line for Test Track and it wasn't too long and fairly fun. If you have a little one though you'd better get that Frozen Ever After Fast Pass.
Animal Kingdom is also Tiered but the Tier is a little simpler: Pandora is Tier 1, Everything else is Tier 2
Pandora's Rides include Flight of Passage and the Navi River Journey. In My Opinion. Flight of Passage is the best and most immersive ride I have ever been on but don't waste a fast pass on the Navi River Journey.
In the rest of Animal Kingdom, if you are a coaster fan, you have to Fast Pass Expedition Everest. If you've never been on the Safari at Animal Kingdom, Fast Pass Kilimanjaro Safari, the wait can get a little long. Dinosaur is a fun ride but not sure it's worth the FastPass.
Here is my suggestion for a Fast Pass strategy in Animal Kingdom.
Be there extra early so that you are up near the front at Rope Drop. (There will actually be Disney Cast Members with a rope that will lead you back) At rope Drop head straight to Flight of Passage. If you get there early enough you can be on and off flight of passage by 9:30 if the park is open at 9. You might even be able to get to another ride or two before it gets too busy. Fast Pass Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest and Flight of Passage. (you'll want to ride it again) Wait in line for Dinosaur and Festival of the Lion King.
I saved Hollywood Studios for last because in the Fall, all this will change. Right now all three of the Toy Story Land Rides are Tier 1
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Space Ranger Spin
- Midway Mania
Feel like out of the three you have to Fast Pass Slinky Dog, if you like coasters. It's a family coaster and not a real thrill ride but just to experience it. Midway Mania is a lot of fun and was really hard to get a FastPass for before everything else opened.
Among the Tier 2 Fast Pass Choices.
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (I love this ride)
- Rockin' Roller Coaster (The only Disney Coaster with loops)
- Star Tours (Star Wars themed Ride)
and shows
- Beauty and Beast
- Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
- Frozen Sing along
On August 29th Star Wars Galaxy's Edge will open in Disney world. In addition to that Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway will open. This is predicted to make Hollywood studios the busiest place in Orlando and throw Fast Pass choices into complete Disarray. My guess is that All of the newest Rides: Millennium Falcon, Smugglers Run - Rise of the Resistance and Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railway will be added to the Tier one list. Meaning you'll have 6 Tier one rides and only one FastPass for them. Maybe they'll move the Toy Story stuff to Tier 2, hoping to move some of the crowds out of Galaxies Edge.
For now my plan for Hollywood studios.
- Rope Drop to Rockin Roller Coaster
- Fastpass Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Fastpass SlinkyDog Dash
- Fastpass Beauty and the Beast (because the family loves it)
I hope these thoughts and explanations about Fast Passes help you out. If you have any questions feel free to comment.
As I type this it is almost April 5th. There are 4 more days until I have my chance to get FastPasses for our trip. I'll let you know how it goes after I finish.
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