One of the questions I am most often asked by friends and family about Walt Disney World® is how we handle the lines for rides and character greetings with two often impatient kids. My answer? FastPass+! It is a Walt Disney World® guest's best friend.
FastPass+ is a free service that is included with the price of admission to all Walt Disney World® theme parks. Each park offers a list of popular attractions that are able to be "reserved" in one-hour increments using FastPass+. By choosing an attraction for one of your FastPass+ experiences, you are essentially reserving your spot in the FastPass+ line for that ride or character greeting.
Expedition Everest, one of the many attractions you can select with FastPass+ at Animal Kingdom.
(Photo Credit: Magical Pix by Candi)
There are a few important things you need to know about FastPass+ before we go any further:
If you are staying in a Walt Disney World® resort, you are able to choose FastPass+ selections 60 days prior to check-in for the entire length of your stay. For example, if you are checking in on April 1st for a 7-night stay, you can book FastPass+ selections for every day of your trip starting January 31st.
If you are staying off property, you are able to choose FastPass+ selections 30 days in advance of your visit.
On the day that FastPass+ selections can be made for your trip, the online selection system opens at 7 am Eastern Time.
FastPass+ selections can be made by logging in to your My Disney Experience account on your computer's web browser or by using the My Disney Experience app. The app can be downloaded for free through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Or you can be like me and let your fabulous MousePros agent book them for you!
You are able to reserve in advance up to 3 FastPass+ selections for each person in your party per day. These selections can be made for a single park. IF you are planning to use a Park Hopper pass, you must choose one park per day for your FastPass+ selections. Keep reading, though, for tips on how to book additional FastPass+ selections at additional parks in the same day.
You can choose different FastPass+ experiences for different guests in your party. This is super helpful when you have a couple of roller coaster fanatics and a couple of others who would rather meet a princess.
FastPass+ selections are made in 1-hour increments. For example, if you choose to Meet Mickey Mouse in Town Square at Magic Kingdom Park, you will be given a window of time, such as 9:00 am - 10:00 am to meet him. You can arrive at 9:00 am on the dot or at 9:59 am and still use the FastPass+ line to meet him.
Here's the tip I mentioned earlier for Park Hoppers. Once you have used all of your FastPass+ selections for the day, you can choose additional selections in any park, so long as you have a ticket for that park. You can log in to your My Disney Experience app and choose additional experiences, or you can visit a FastPass+ kiosk. Kiosks located in each park and staffed by Cast Members who can help you complete your additional selections. Pick up a park map when you enter to locate the kiosks.
While I highly, highly recommend working with your MousePros agent to choose your selections and then letting her or him secure your selections, here is how you can utilize the My Disney Experience app to choose additional selections or adjust your current selections once inside the park:
1. Open the My Disney Experience app on your mobile device.
2. Choose your character icon at the bottom of the screen.
3. Click on the Get FastPass+ icon.
4. Select the + sign in the top right corner.
5. Create your FastPass+ Party. You can select all or choose individuals linked to your reservation for each FastPass+ selection. Click Continue.
6. Select the date and theme park. (Since I don't have a trip coming up within the next 60 days, I am unable to get any further in the MDE app to show you the rest of the screens.)
7. Choose from available attractions and times.
8. Confirm your FastPass+ experience by clicking on the green button on the bottom of the screen.
9. Visit your chosen attraction within the one-hour window and scan your MagicBand at the entrance to the FastPass+ line.
That's it! It is a user-friendly system, but Cast Members are always nearby to answer questions if you need help in the parks. And take advantage of working with a MousePros agent. They are the FastPass+ experts and not only will they do the actual booking, they will do their best with what is available to make sure you aren't crisscrossing the park three times to get to each FastPass+ experience.
Now that you know what FastPass+ is and how to use it, you need to know which attractions are available in the FastPass+ system. Magic Kingdom Park allows you to select from any available attraction. The other three parks utilize a tiered system, allowing guests to choose one attraction from the Tier 1 list and two attractions from the Tier 2 list.
Magic Kingdom Park "it's a small world" Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin Dumbo the Flying Elephant Enchanted Tales with Belle Haunted Mansion Jungle Cruise Mad Tea Party Meet Ariel at Her Grotto Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater Meet Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater Mickey's PhilharMagic Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor Peter Pan's Flight Pirates of the Caribbean Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Space Mountain Splash Mountain The Barnstormer The Magic Carpets of Aladdin The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Tomorrowland Speedway Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
Epcot® Tier 1 Frozen Ever After IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth Soarin' Around the World Test Track
Tier 2 Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival Journey Into Imagination with Figment Living with the Land Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot Mission: SPACE Spaceship Earth The Seas with Nemo and Friends Turtle Talk with Crush
Disney's Hollywood Studios Tier 1 Beauty and the Beast-Live on Stage Fantasmic! Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Toy Story Mania
Tier 2 Disney Jr. Live on Stage For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular MuppetVision 3D Star Tours Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Animal Kingdom Tier 1 Avatar Flight of Passage Na'vi River Journey
Tier 2 DINOSAUR Expedition Everest 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
With so many options, it can be hard to decide which three attractions to choose! Let your MousePros agent help you figure it out. Our agents can help recommend attractions based on the time of year you're traveling, ages of the guests in your party, and the time of day you plan to visit the park. Take advantage of their knowledge, expertise, and willingness to get up at 7 am for you to make all of your FastPass+ dreams come true!