FastPass+: What It Is and How to Schedule It

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Written By Carlos Braga

This one Complete Disney World FastPass + Guide in addition to detailing what it is and how to schedule it, it offers tips for obtaining the best Fast Passes in all Disney parks.

ATTENTION!

FastPass+ was removed from Walt Disney World parks in September 2021 and replaced with Genie+ it's the Lightning Lane.

Anyway, we'll keep this post here as a means of informing how we recommended this system before its removal!

By following these strategies, you'll be able to use the Disney app to get the best FastPass+ selections, minimizing wait times on your trip.

This complete and in-depth guide to FastPass+ at Walt Disney World has been tweaked several times to better help you plan your trip, taking into account all the releases and changes made to both the system and the parks.

Here we discuss strategies for FastPass+ attractions such as: Flight of Passage on Pandora, Frozen Ever After at Epcot and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train which are hard to obtain fastPass+.

Spoiler: In our last Walt Disney World we got fastPass + for Flight of Passage (and we didn't have a reservation in disney hotel – for those who don’t know, guests of disney hotels can book fastPass+ 30 days in advance more than non-guests)

Before we get to those specific tips, let's give you more information about Fast Passes.

You might be wondering what exactly is Fastpass +?

Well, it's essentially a timed reservation at a particular attraction.

You make a FastPass+ reservation and access the attraction you reserved the reservation for during the allotted time period (say, 1:20 am – 2:20 pm), enter via the FastPass+ line, and have a minimal wait in line. It's like a VIP row, but there is no charge to use FastPass+.

Will I still queue? YES! FastPass also has a queue, but as they release according to the schedule, the queue you'll take is much shorter than the queue at the normal attraction.

FastPass+ is the second generation of FastPass at Walt Disney World, replacing paper FastPass reservations (at some other Disney parks how DisneyLand California it's still on paper).

Disney California Adventure

The idea, then, was to take people out of the queues and allow them to do other things while waiting for the attraction (or show) reservation window.

The original FastPass system had its strengths and weaknesses and could be leveraged to allow those who did their homework a strategic advantage.

There were fears that FastPass+ even existed when it was officially launched a few years ago by those who mastered the old system, but FastPass+ has its own perks. Although FastPass + cannot be exploited to the same degree as regular paper FastPass, if you are smart and understand how it works, you can save and optimize a lot of time on your trip to Disney parks.

All it takes is a little patience and spending time to understand how FastPass+ works.

Disney FastPass

FASTPASS + RESERVATION STEP BY STEP

There are two ways to get the FastPass +: Through the My Disney Experience app or website before your visit, or through in-house kiosks for guests who don't have smartphones or who don't purchase tickets in advance.

The FastPass + is then stored in MagicBand or on your park tickets. (Magic Bands are not required to use FastPass+, you can link them to your ticket card as normal)

The importance of booking FastPass + before your trip has to be super-emphasized, and that's one of the big reasons why we recommend purchasing tickets as early as possible ( tdiscount ticketsjust use our coupon: PDP ) .

Many FastPass + for popular attractions sell out quickly, and get reservations FastPass + advance can literally save you hours of queuing, or prevent you from missing out on experiences altogether (in the case of launch attractions that have surpassed the 4-hour queue mark).

The FastPass + can be booked for any time window during the park's normal operating hours, as long as it is available.

The FastPass + cannot be booked during extra magic hours or special events such as the Christmas Party or the Party of Halloween.

Christmas at Disney Magic Kingdom

Furthermore, the hours of FastPass + cannot overlap. But rest assured that these restrictions are seen right away by the application, it will not allow you to commit these infractions.

you rescue the FastPass + passing the MagicBand or ticket against a ?Mickey Head? (a mickey-shaped totem that flashes with a white light) outside the attractions of the FastPass +.

You can book 3 FastPass+ per day before your vacation. You can arrive 5 minutes early or 15 minutes late to use your FastPass+ reservation and RFID readers will let you in. So your “hour” window is actually 1 hour and 20 minutes long.

Once these initial FastPass+ selections have been redeemed, you can reserve additional same-day selections as available. This is now possible with the app in addition to the built-in kiosks.

On our last trip we booked 9 fastPass + on the same day. After using the initial 3 you can schedule 1 more and after using that, 1 more and so on.

Right after you pass the RFID reader, the system already counts as fastPass + used, so you can already schedule another one, what we did is, while we were in the queue for that fastPass + (even if small), we were already looking for another one available close to the time when we would exit the attraction.

The early booking process for the FastPass + it's relatively simple once you understand it, but it's one of those things that's much easier to understand when you can see something to help you visualize the process, so I'm going to walk you through those and explain some additional things.

For this demo, I'm using the My Disney Experience website, but it's pretty much the same in the app. Before you begin, you'll need to download the My Disney app or sign in to your Disney account. http://disneyworld.com

When you buy the tickets Disney World tickets in advance and stay at a Walt Disney World resort hotel, you can make your FastPass+ selections up to 60 days prior to check-in for the entire duration of your stay.

Kidani Village Animal Kingdom
Kidani village Animal kingdom Lodge

If you are not staying at a Disney resort, you can only book with 30 days.

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These booking windows open at 7am at the 30 or 60 day mark, so don't wait until 8am to do this as an Advance Dining Booking! Orlando time, folks!

Wonderful, now let's show how to schedule fastPass +:

Make sure you're signed in to My Disney Experience on your computer or phone, open the My Disney Experience menu, click FastPass+ and be ready to go at exactly 7am (from Orlando).

When the clock hits 7, click the “Start” button on the FastPass+ page and start making your selections through the process shown below?

(First, you'll be taken to a screen where you select your friends and determine who you'll make reservations for. For the privacy of my friends who may not want their information on the blog, I'm skipping the screen...)

Then select the date and wait.

These images are from a booking we made a few years ago, but rest assured that nothing has changed and the screens are still exactly the same as of today in 2020!

Then, you make your individual selections of the attraction and desired time, always remember to stay tuned in the displacement between one attraction and another if you take close times.

After choosing your time slot, the app or website will show you the confirmation screen.

After confirming, it will ask if I want another FastPass+. If so, select yes and repeat the process. The new system is quite easy and works very similarly on the phone.

how to schedule fastpass

I even recommend scheduling via the app instead of the website, as I find it much easier and more intuitive.

If by chance you found the tutorial above too complicated, don't worry! We have the FastPass + scheduling service, where we will make your ticket links, yours and your family's and we will schedule the attractions that you want or that you want our indications!

All this for a very cheap value to ensure your tranquility! Send us an email requesting a quote!

When you return to the FastPass+ screen, you'll see your reservations, be able to modify them, etc. It's all very intuitive.

If you can use Facebook, you can use this system, even Facebook is much more complicated ehehhhh.

Chances are, any questions you have about the site's functionality will be answered after playing around with it for 5 minutes.

And if you still can't find how to do something, no problem, just send us a message here in this post or on any of our social media!

With all that said, don't be afraid to ask the questions below, but as the basics of booking the FastPass + are easy to understand, let's move on to the strategy of which attractions to take, which is where the fun begins and here, where everything will make a difference in your trip!

Best FastPass +

We'll try not to linger too long here, in case you care about the best choices and don't want to read a long explanation why (that's in the strategy below).

We already have some posts about the best attractions of some parks like Animal kingdom and Hollywood studios.

Here are the options where you'll save the most time at each park:

Best FastPass + for the Magic Kingdom

Best Fast Pass + for Epcot

Best FastPass + for Hollywood Studios

Best Fast Pass + for Animal Kingdom

These are objectively the best picks, but they might not be the best options for you, depending on which attractions interest you (also note that some of the options above have height restrictions, so they might not be the best choices for families).

The best thing you can do before opening your FastPass+ is to look at Walt Disney World wait times just before your trip and identify the wait attractions that appeal to you the most.

And also check if the attractions are in your profile. Because some may be too childish or others too radical for your taste.

If it's getting too complicated around here, don't worry, we have a personalized itinerary service where we'll do this analysis of your profile and put together your entire park schedule (including the FastPass+ booking too), so you can travel more relaxed!

Haunted Mansion
Haunted Mansion

Best Strategy for FastPass+

If it is not surprising that not all the attractions of the FastPass + are created equally. Some are really hard to come by, and others are seemingly always available (think of them as the "participant's reward" Fast Pass+).

I emphasize that the difficulty of fastPass varies according to time, the tips below are from the present moment in 2020!

Let's start with the difficult ones.

Currently, the second most coveted FastPass+ in all of Walt Disney World is Avatar Flight of Passage, which is now open in Pandora – World of Avatar in Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Na'vi River Journey

Together with Na'vi River Journey, these are the two new attractions of the new “Avatar Land” of Walt Disney World. Although these attractions have been open for nearly a year (time flies!), they are still Walt Disney's biggest draws. World.

For these two attractions, the Animal kingdom adopted a quasi-hierarchical approach.

In this context, you cannot hold FastPasses for both Pandora attractions simultaneously. While both attractions have long waits, the more popular FastPass+ is already proving to be the Flight of Passage Avatar.

Since this is the thrill ride (whereas the Na'vi River Journey is a slow boat ride), it's likely to have longer wait times.

As such, we recommend trying to book a FastPass+ for the Flight of Passage and Na'vi river through the regular queue, remembering, arrive early at the park to ensure the shortest queue possible.

Rivers of Light is the other new FastPass+ offering at Animal Kingdom, but since it's a nighttime show, we don't recommend booking a FastPass+ in advance.

Since its initial popularity waned, the same-day FastPass+ is very easy to pick up around noon.

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For now, we recommend using these additional FastPass+ allocations for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest.

if you want the Frozen Ever After, you can be a little calmer, despite having been the most difficult attraction to get fastPass+ at the entire resort, Frozen Ever After has been relatively easy to get one fastPass +.

OK, not always at the desired time, but anyway, Epcot is a park that is usually easy to fit attractions due to the smaller number of them.

Slinky Dog Dash and Star Wars: Smuglers Run at Disney's Hollywood Studios are the most coveted FastPass+ at Disney Hollywood Studios. Even so, they are not as difficult as Flight of Passage due to the better Tier division of Hollywood Studios, but it is still difficult to get.

Remembering that this for now because the new attraction Rise of the Resistance does not yet accept fastPass+, it is still running on the virtual queue system!

If you can't get the Slinky Dog Dash, the Alien Swirling Saucers is a good alternative, but it's not as popular (or as good) as the Slinky Dog Dash coaster.

Fortunately, at the rope drop (park opening) or at the end of the night, wait times shouldn't be too bad for Slinky Dog Dash, so it's not the end of the world if you don't get that one. FastPass +.

One final tip for these super popular FastPass+ attractions: If there's one thing you absolutely must do, update the app regularly, especially on the day of your visit. People cancel Fast Pass+ reservations at the last minute, and if you're diligent, it's possible to even get a Flight of Passage!

Since many guests have no idea what FastPass+ is until they show up at the park that day (I'd say that describes most guests), you're essentially in a ?race? with other guests to use your FastPass+ and start making additional selections before other guests select “good” FastPass+ runs out for the day.

Think of it as The Hunger Games, except with the Disney rides.

Nath and Carlos at Magic Kingdom
Nath and Carlos at Magic Kingdom

At the Magic Kingdom, it's worth noting that many of the attractions that will have high wait times later in the day are located close to each other, have short ride times, and can be quickly cleared with minimal waits in the early morning.

So if park opening is at 9am you might be better served running to Peter Pan then Winnie the pooh, Under the Sea: Journey of the little mermaid until things in Fantasyland start to get crowded.

This is especially important at the Magic Kingdom, where there are over 15 attractions that FastPass+ is useful for to help avoid waiting.

For this reason, an ideal strategy in the Magic Kingdom is spending the two hours of the day doing popular and short attractions via standby, then using FastPass+ for different attractions, and then getting and redeeming more FastPass+ as soon as possible (continuing with this strategy (as long as you are able) and then , doing unpopular attractions, and/or redeeming an additional FastPass+ in the middle of the day.

Finally, at the end of the night, you'll be on standby again as the crowds and wait times subside. (We always recommend getting in line for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train 1 minute before the park closes!)

Nath and Carlos on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Nath and Carlos on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Remembering that the Magic Kingdom is a very large park with a lot to do, making it often practically impossible to do everything in just 1 day.

There is a lot to learn or relearn, as the case may be, but it is still possible to absorb more information about the FastPass + to make it work better for you. Just remember, it's an art, not a science. You'll get the hang of it once you start using the FastPass +

I know this is a lot to digest about FastPass+, especially considering how intuitive and easy to use the system really is, so let's wrap this one up. FastPass + Guide over here.

Like many things related to Walt Disney World, it's intimidating at first, with a lot of superficial complexities. However, like much Walt Disney World trip planning, it is surprisingly simple to understand (despite the sheer volume of information required).

There are some complexities that make it difficult to master, and I think I got through a number of them.

If you have specific questions or are interested in park-by-park guides for the FastPass +, feel free to ask and we'll do our best to answer in the comments below. And if you want a personalized itinerary or only our fastPass+ booking service for your family, just send us the form here!

If you need help booking your Walt Disney World vacation and would like professional help, send us an email requesting a fastPass + scheduling quote. We have a service that is completely focused on ensuring your peace of mind when scheduling and linking your tickets!

Did you like the post? We hope that we explained it well and that you now know everything to make your FastPass+ appointments!

If there was any doubt, tell us here in the comments! 

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I hope again that this post helped you in your research for your trip to Disney or Orlando.

As a way to help us keep the blog going, we just ask you to help us by sharing this publication and subscribing to our social networks as Facebook, Instagram or Youtube channel.

In addition to helping us, we are sure that there you will find hundreds of useful posts for your trip!

About the Author Carlos Braga:

Unparalleled experience in Orlando and Disney! As a former Universal Orlando team member and a passionate devotee of the magic of Disney, I have become a true Orlando travel expert. Before becoming a renowned travel consultant dedicated to Orlando, I had already made hundreds of visits to the parks, cultivating my knowledge and passion mainly over the last 7 years as a consultant and specialist in Disney travel.

My journey into this enchanted world began in 1995, when I took my first trip to Orlando. Since then, my love for Disney and the city has only grown. In 2023, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of 'Partiu Disney Parks', consolidating our role as one of the main sources of information about Disney and Orlando Parks.

During these six years of existence, we have continued to offer quality and updated content, being the reliable source for all those looking for essential information to plan their trip to Disney and Orlando. With my vast experience and passion for this magical destination, I am here to guide you every step of the way towards the most incredible Orlando and Disney experience!

I hope again that this post helped you in your research for your trip to Disney or Orlando.

As a way to help us keep the blog going, we just ask you to help us by sharing this publication and subscribing to our social networks as Facebook, Instagram or Youtube channel.

In addition to helping us, we are sure that there you will find hundreds of useful posts for your trip!

About the Author Carlos Braga:

Unparalleled experience in Orlando and Disney! As a former Universal Orlando team member and a passionate devotee of the magic of Disney, I have become a true Orlando travel expert. Before becoming a renowned travel consultant dedicated to Orlando, I had already made hundreds of visits to the parks, cultivating my knowledge and passion mainly over the last 7 years as a consultant and specialist in Disney travel.

My journey into this enchanted world began in 1995, when I took my first trip to Orlando. Since then, my love for Disney and the city has only grown. In 2023, we celebrate the sixth anniversary of 'Partiu Disney Parks', consolidating our role as one of the main sources of information about Disney and Orlando Parks.

During these six years of existence, we have continued to offer quality and updated content, being the reliable source for all those looking for essential information to plan their trip to Disney and Orlando. With my vast experience and passion for this magical destination, I am here to guide you every step of the way towards the most incredible Orlando and Disney experience!

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