Guests visiting Walt Disney World theme parks can reduce the amount of time waiting in line for their favorite rides, attractions, and shows by pre-selecting up to three FastPass+ experiences with each theme park ticket. Guests who purchase tickets or annual passes can make their FastPass+ selections 60 days prior to arrival when they are staying at a Walt Disney World hotel or Walt Disney World Swan or Dolphin Hotel. Guests who are staying offsite and purchased their tickets directly from Disney may make FastPass+ selections 30 days prior to arrival. There are over 60 options to choose from, and the best part is that this service is FREE!
You choose three selections using your My Disney Experience (MDE) account, either online via a laptop or through the MDE smartphone app. To download the latest version of the app, visit an app store or MyDisneyExperience.com. You can also choose same day FPs at one of many kiosks located throughout the theme parks. And once you have redeemed your first three FPs, you can select more using the app or kiosks. You can even select FPs for a different theme park after you have used your first three FPs when you have the park hopper ticket option.
Once you are within 60 days of your Disney Resort hotel or Swan or Dolphin reservation (30 days for all other guests)), go to the FastPass+ page on your MDE account. Pick the date, theme park you wish to visit, and party members, and make your selections. You can choose FPs for everyone in your travel party, including friends and family not staying in the same hotel room as you. This is possible by adding them to your Family & Friends list on your My Disney Experience account.
You will not be able to access Fast Pass options until the above dates, so don’t be concerned that 61 days prior to arrival you can’t see anything. That will change at midnight on the 60th day prior to your arrival. So if you arrive on January 10, 2016, you can make fast passes on November 11, 2015. In addition, you will not be able to begin selecting FPs until after the theme parks closes for the day. So on evenings that theme parks remain open after midnight, you will have to wait until 1:00am or 2:00am, depending upon the time the theme parks close. This generally happens on only the busiest days of the year, and on nights where there are special ticketed parties.
You can identify the many rides, attractions, and character meet and greets that offer Fast Pass by referring to the list at the following link – https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/attractions. In addition, parades and shows such as the Festival of Fantasy Parade, Main Street Electical Parade, Wishes, Illuminations and Fantasmic! also offer FP. This is important if you have little ones that may be tired by the end of the day and you want a good viewing area so they can see.
We’ve put together a list of tips to help you make the most of the Fast Pass system. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at marie@castledreamstravel.com. Happy Planning!
- The FastPass+ feature will suggest ranges of times for the attractions you want. Select the times you want for three attractions right away and save them. Later, you should be able to adjust your times, but it’s best to secure any time on the day of your visit to avoid disappointment.
- Due to the popularity of the meet and greet with Frozen’s Anna and Elsa, we recommend choosing your FPs at midnight, 60 days prior to arrival and saving them. Again, it’s important to immediately choose a suggested time, as the longer you wait to make your selections, the less likely Anna and Elsa will be available.
- If you’ll be travelling at the busiest times of the year, such as around major holidays, and know you just have to get FPs for the most popular rides and attractions, you may also need to choose FPs at midnight.
- If your plans change, use the MDE mobile app or a visit a kiosk while in the parks to make changes, subject to availability.
- If the wait time for a ride or show is < 20 minutes, you may want to change your FP selection for another attraction with a longer wait time. You don’t lose your FP if you don’t show up for a ride – you simply can assign it to something else.
- If you plan to arrive at the parks at opening, you shouldn’t need to use Fast Passes until an hour or two after opening, as the park is not yet crowded. So save those Fast Passes until midmorning.
- Once you have used all our FPs for a day, you can obtain one more at a time via the smartphone app or at kiosks in the parks. Redeem all your FPs by late afternoon so that you can try to obtain more.
- Your entire travel party does not need to all choose the same rides to use FP for.
- If you have a large group, say five or more guests, you may need to break up into two groups to obtain FPs for the same attraction. Try to get FPs for overlapping times. For example, there may not be 5 FPs available for 12:00pm, so first try to get three for 11:00-12:00pm and then go back and get two for 12:00pm-1:00pm.
- You can use Rider Switch with FP, and it’s to your benefit. Rider Switch allows adults to both ride a ride when a younger child cannot or chooses not to. The first adult obtains a FP for the ride and the second one obtains a Rider Switch card and stays with the child. After the first adult exits the ride, the second one uses their Rider Switch card and the first adult stays with the child.
- If you really want to maximize the use of your FPs and don’t mind NOT sitting next to family members, consider using the single rider line. Single rider is offered at Test Track in Epcot, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios, and Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom. So if you are brave enough, you can choose this option rather than using up a FP!
- The most popular attractions you’ll want to consider using FP for are:
- Magic Kingdom– Princess Fairytale Hall with Anna and Elsa, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight, Enchanted Tales with Belle, and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
- Epcot– Soarin’, Test Track and Meet Disney Pals. Be aware that there are two groups to choose FPs from in Epcot, and it isn’t possible to select FPs for both Soarin’ and Test Track. So if you want to ride both of these rides, I recommend going directly to whichever ride you don’t choose FP for upon entering the park.
- Hollywood Studios– Toy Story Midway Mania, Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along. There are also two groups to choose FPs from at Hollywood Studios, so you’ll have to choose either Rock ‘n Roller Coaster OR Toy Story Midway Mania.
- Animal Kingdom– Expedition Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and DINOSAUR.
