Planning a Walt Disney World® vacation has become much more involved over the past several years with the debut of advanced dining reservations and the FastPass+ system®. Gone are the days of the paper FastPass tickets when you would elect the fastest runner from your travel party to sprint from the park gates to the FastPass kiosk located in front of your favorite attraction in order to score the best return time. The FastPass has since been upgraded to FastPass+. The goal of the Fastpass+ system® is to provide a more efficient and personalized experience to guests at Walt Disney World® through the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID).
What is FastPass+?
FastPass+ is a reservation system that allows guests to make advanced reservations for attractions and experiences throughout the Disney theme parks. You will receive an allotted one-hour window, and you are allowed to use your FastPass one time during that window. Most attractions have two lines – a standby line and a FastPass line. If you have a FastPass, you may enter through the FastPass line where you will have a minimal wait.
Guests who are staying at a Walt Disney World® resort can begin making all of their FastPass+ selections 60 days before the first day of their trip. Guests who are staying off Disney property can make their FastPass+ selections 30 days before each day of their theme park visit. Your FastPass+ selections are stored in your My Disney Experience account which can be accessed through the Walt Disney World® website or through the free mobile app. You will redeem your FastPass+ selections with your park ticket or your Magic Band.
You are allowed to choose up to three selections per day. Note that these selections must be for the same park. Once you redeem your initial three FastPass+, you may add additional FastPass+ one at a time. You may add your additional FastPass+ either through My Disney Experience or at FastPass kiosks that are located throughout the parks.
How Do I Make FastPass+ Selections?
The first step in making your FastPass+ selections is to purchase theme park tickets. You will need to link your park ticket to your My Disney Experience account. If you booked a Magic Your Way package (resort reservation plus tickets), then you will need to link this reservation to your account instead. In order to make reservations for others in your travel party, you will need to add them to your family and friends list on My Disney Experience. Everyone will need to have valid theme park admission in order to make FastPass+ selections.
Once your tickets are linked to your account, you will use My Disney Experience to make your selections. The booking window opens at 7:00am EST on your 60-day or 30-day mark. Simply login to the Walt Disney World® website and select “My Disney Experience” or open the free mobile app. Then you will be guided through the selection process. You will first select your travel party then your desired date and park. You will see a list of all of the attractions and experiences for the park that accept FastPass+ as well as the available times for the morning, afternoon, or evening. Select your time and then confirm! Continue through this process until you have selected three FastPass+ per day for each day of your vacation.
Tip: FastPass+ cannot be booked during Extra Magic Hours, Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, or Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. In addition, the FastPass+ times cannot overlap. You may redeem your FastPass+ 5 minutes early or 15 minutes late.
Which Rides Should I Select for FastPass+?
The Magic Kingdom has the most FastPass+ attractions than any of the other theme parks. Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom use a Tiered system. This means that you may choose one attraction from Tier 1 and two attractions from Tier 2. These are the attractions that we recommend for FastPass+ based on historic wait times. Note that some of these attractions have height restrictions. For a more detailed list including all of the FastPass+ attractions see Guide to Walt Disney World’s® FastPass+ Service®.
Magic Kingdom
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Peter Pan’s Flight
Space Mountain
Splash Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Epcot
Frozen Ever After (Tier 1)
Soarin’ (Tier 1)
Test Track (Tier 1) – they also have a single rider line if your party is ok being split up
Mission: Space (Tier 2)
Hollywood Studios
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run (Tier 1)
Slinky Dog Dash (Tier 1)
Alien Swirling Saucers (Tier 2)
Toy Story Mania! (Tier 2)
Rock’n Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (Tier 2) – they also have a single rider line if your party is ok being split up
Hollywood Tower of Terror (Tier 2)
Animal Kingdom
Avatar Flight of Passage (Tier 1)
Na’vi River Journey (Tier 1)
Kilimanjaro Safaris
Expedition Everest
DINOSAUR
This is an objective list of FastPass+ attractions. Some of these attractions may not be suitable for your travel party. So we recommend that you contact your Disney Vacation Planner who will help you select the best attractions for your family.
