DisneyTips.com Your Guide To A Great Disney Vacation
Christy Caby
FastPass+ is a great perk for purchasing tickets for entry into a Disney park. The system tries to create a fair way to bypass lines and plan your day based on what you care the most about seeing. You can also use this service to your advantage if you understand some key factors in how it works, along with best practices and tips. Here are 6 things that you must know about FastPass+ at Walt Disney World:
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6. It is included in park admission.
Yep, you read that right, you don’t have to pay anything extra to utilize the service. You just have to sign up for a free My Disney Experience account and link your tickets there so that you can access the FastPass+ options. The options will become available based on valid park admission. So do this as soon as you have tickets so that you can start planning!
5. Snag the top attractions early.
This is especially important. Rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are gone extremely fast. So if you want to save the time in the very long lines, you will want to book this as soon as your booking window opens. If you are staying on Disney property, then this will be at exactly 60 days prior to your date of arrival. If you do not have a Disney resort reservation, this will be exactly 30 days prior to the date you will go to the parks. It is important to mark those dates and plan to pick your various options those days for the best times and experiences. You can even get reserved parade and firework viewing if you wish.
4. You can get an additional FastPass each day.
You are allowed to reserve 3 FastPasses at a time. Once you fully utilize 3 FastPasses, and bonus FastPass option will appear for you to use. If you plan your FastPasses during the day, this can be extremely helpful to get another FastPass you can use later in the day, and eliminate even more wait times!
3. Everyone in your party doesn’t have to get the same FastPass options.
This is really important to understand. You don’t have to book all of the exact same FastPass+ options for each member of your family. Each person that wants to experience the attraction WILL have their own FastPass in order to enter the FastPass line, but you don’t all have to do the same things. If you have small children that can ride certain rides, you can get them and another member of your party FastPasses for something else. (You may also want to consider whether Rider Swap may be a better option when you have folks sitting out, too, so that you can use the FastPasses for something else that you can’t get Rider Swap for.) This is why planning is key!
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2. Get comfortable with My Disney Experience and download the mobile app.
I can’t express this enough. Don’t try to learn your away around the My Disney Experience website and/or mobile app the night of booking your FastPasses or worse, the day of your trip. Spend some time clicking around and getting comfortable with how FastPass works. This will also help make sure that you have everyone in your party linked as well as your park tickets and other necessary reservations, so you are all ready to go!
1. Plan your times during peak times.
You want to save yourself the most time in line, right? You want to see as much as possible, right? You are not alone there! You will get the most bang for your buck if you select FastPass+ times during the day. First thing in the morning or later before park closing is when the parks are usually at their slowest. During the day is typically when more guests are working their way through the parks, so lines are longer. If you get FastPass+ during this time, then you will bypass those lines, and still experience a little shorter lines during the other times where you may not have a FastPass+ option.
