As the “Most Magical Place on Earth,” there really isn’t a slow season at Walt Disney World anymore. Sure, there are periods of the year when it might be less crowded than other times, but whether you visit in January or July, there will be other people enjoying Walt Disney World Resort too - meaning you will wait in line for your favorite rides, shows and restaurants.
In order to reduce wait times any time of year, Walt Disney World offers FastPass+ to all its guests. FastPass+ allows you to enter an accelerated line for select attractions and entertainment. Best part of FastPass+ - the service is FREE! That’s right, there is no additional cost to making FastPass+ selections at the parks. Disney allows three FastPass+ reservations per park made in advance of the start of your vacation. After you utilize those three FastPass+ at the parks, you can select additional FastPass+ one at a time on-site.
Admittedly, FastPass+ can be confusing and overwhelming. We are here to break it down for you.
When can I make FastPass+?
Guests staying at Disney hotels like Wilderness Lodge can book FastPass+ 60 days in advance of their check-in date.
Guests staying at an on-property Walt Disney World hotel have an advantage as they can make FastPass+ selections 60 days in advance of their check-in date for the entire length of their stay. Guests with ticket-only purchases and not staying at a Walt Disney World hotel can make their FastPass+ selections 30 days in advance of their first visit to the theme parks. In addition, off-site guests have to make their FastPass+ selections one day at a time for each park visit, rather than being eligible to make them all in one day like on-site guests.
If you are staying club level at certain resorts, you can initiate FastPass+ selections 90 days in advance. To use this benefit, guests must pay $50 per person per day to book an extra three FastPass+ reservations.
Getting Ready to Make FastPass+
Step one - Creating a My Disney Experience account
The first step to making FastPass+ selections is creating an account on My Disney Experience through your desktop or via the mobile app. Then you’ll want to do some research and pre-planning - here’s where your Beyond Imagination Vacations agent comes in handy! She or he can help identify which days to spend in which parks and which attractions/entertainment will suit your family’s interests. Next, be sure that your resort + ticket package or ticket purchase is linked into your My Disney Experience along with the folks who will be taking the trip with you. You will not be allowed to make FastPass+ selections without valid tickets registered into the system for each person.
Regardless of where you are staying during your Walt Disney World trip, FastPass+ windows open at 7 a.m. EST on the 30- or 60-day mark. Be sure to set your alarm and have the coffee ready to brew. You don’t want to wait even one hour after the window opens to make your FastPass+ because selections for the most popular rides will be gone already.
It’s FastPass+ Selection Day!
Your alarm has gone off. You’re awake and sipping your coffee. You have multiple devices open - desktop, mobile device, notebook - and logged into your My Disney Experience account. You are ready to go! Or better yet—you sleep in while your Beyond Imagination Vacations travel planner makes your FastPass+ selections for you!
Who’s joining your FastPass+ party?
First, you’ll create a FastPass+ party. You’ll include whoever is joining you for the fun. Next, you’ll choose the date and park for which you are making FastPass+. For on-property guests, you may have better luck securing the harder-to-get FastPass+ selections for later in your trip than making reservations in chronological order. As an example, instead of trying to book a FastPass+ for Avatar Flight of Passage on day one of your trip, you may be more succesful in securing a Flight of Passage FastPass+ on the last day of your trip.
Select a time for FastPass+ once you’ve selected a date and park.
After selecting the date and park, you’ll select the time for your first FastPass+ at that park and move onto the second and third reservations for that day. You’ll then be prompted to make FastPass+ for another day and so on.
Keep in mind that FastPass+ selections are to be used in one-hour increments. Therefore, you cannot reserve a FastPass+ at 9 am then another at 9:30 am. If you try to select overlapping FastPass+, the system will alert you that you already have a selection at that time. Regardless of the type of park ticket that you have - base or Park Hopper tickets, you can only make your initial three FastPass+ at one park in advance.
Once you are on-site and have used the three FastPass+ you made prior to the trip, you can make additional FastPass+ for attractions in a park that you are not physically in; for example, you can be in Magic Kingdom and make a FastPass+ for Hollywood Studios.
Some limitations to using FastPass+: you cannot use FastPass+ during Extra Magic Hours or during separate ticketed events like After Hours and the seasonal Magic Kingdom parties.
FastPass+ Strategies
Making FastPass+ is both art and science. You want to utilize the system to your advantage. We prefer getting to the parks at least one hour before official opening and enjoying a few rides while other guests are still waking up. We’ll use our first FastPass+ at about 10 a.m. when attraction lines really start to build.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is one of the hardest FastPass+ to secure.
There are certain attractions that do not necessitate using a FastPass+ while others demand it like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom, Frozen Ever After at Epcot and Slinky Dog Dash at Hollywood Studios. Of course, these are the most difficult FastPass+ selections to get! Don’t fret if you cannot secure a FastPass+ for the most popular rides on your booking window day. Plenty of people cancel or re-arrange their plans making it possible to score one of their dropped FastPass+ before your trip. Check availability on My Disney Experience frequently, particularly the week before and day of your visit. If you still can’t get a FastPass+, you can lessen your wait times by visiting the attraction at park opening or closing. If you have a small travel party, you can try making FastPass+ for one person at a time and secure overlapping times so you can experience the ride together.
All of the parks excluding Magic Kingom utilize a tiered system for FastPass+. As you guessed, Tier One includes the most popular attractions with the longest wait times and for which it is most difficult to secure FastPass+. Guests can only select one option from the Tier One list.
Epcot FastPass+ Tiers
Spaceship Earth at Epcot
Tier 1: Epcot Forever, Frozen Ever After, Soarin' Around the World, Test Track
Tier 2: Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival, Journey Into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, RELAUNCHED! Mission: SPACE, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush
Hollywood Studios FastPass+ Tiers
Slinky Dog Dash at Hollywood Studios
Tier 1: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Slinky Dog Dash
Tier 2: Alien Swirling Saucers, Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage, Disney Junior - Live on Stage!, Fantasmic!, For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Indiana Jones™ Epic Stunt Spectacular!, Muppet Vision 3D, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Star Tours – The Adventures Continue, Toy Story Mania!, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™, Voyage of the Little Mermaid
The most popular attraction in Hollywood Studios currently does not offer FastPass+. Instead, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance utilizes a virtual queue system. Upon entering Hollywood Studios, log into the My Disney Experience app to secure a boarding pass to experience the ride. You will receive a boarding number if you are successful. Enable app notifications to be alerted when it’s time for you to board. Otherwise, check the app often regarding your status. As there isn’t a traditional line, you are free to explore the rest of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or other areas of the park while you wait.
Animal Kingdom Tiers
Indoor queue of Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom
Tier 1: Avatar Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey
Tier 2: Animation Experience, DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo - The Musical, It's Tough to be a Bug!, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost, Primeval Whirl, Rivers of Light, UP! A Great Bird Adventure
Other Tips
Only the family in this pre-park opening photo on the way to Be Our Guest breakfast
In addition to FastPass+, there are additional ways to maximize your day at the parks. As mentioned earlier, arrive at the park entrance at least one hour prior to official opening. While others are snoozing, you can enjoy a less crowed park with lower wait times. If you are staying on-property, take advantage of Extra Magic Hours when a certain park on certain days opens one hour early or stays open later in the night. Reserve a dining package that includes special seating for the Fantasmic! and Rivers of Light nighttime shows - it’s like getting a bonus FastPass+ as you don’t have to arrive as early to the ampitheatre to grab a seat. Take advantage of single rider lines at Expedition Everest, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Test Track. And finally, book a pre-opening breakfast. If you eat quickly enough, you can hop in line for a must-do attraction while others are waiting to enter the park!
Hopefully this tutorial has made it easier for you to understand the FastPass+ service offered at Walt Disney World. Don’t stress! Using FastPass+ can be fun. And if you think you’ll never grasp the system, your Beyond Imagination Vacations agent will handle FastPass+ plans for you!