So, you’re 60 days out from your Walt Disney World vacation, what do you do now? Have no fear, the answer is clear! It’s time to make your FastPass+ reservations! What is a FastPass+ you ask? No worries, I'm here to help!
Basically, a FastPass+ allows you to skip the normal standby line. Through the app you select a time to return to the ride, and in that time window your allowed to go on the special FastPass+ line, which, if you’ve gotten a FastPass+ for a popular ride, can be a significantly shorter wait than the normal standby line.
Before Disney switched to this paperless, mobile approach to vacationing they used to have only plastic park tickets and paper FastPasses. In the days before the My Disney Experience App, folks lined up at the crack of dawn for park open to head to the ever coveted FastPass kiosks. In this not so distant past guests would sprint to the kiosks of the most coveted rides (Toy Story Mania, Space Mountain, and Peter Pan’s Flight to name a few) to get their FastPass return time, which would get later as the day went on. Think Hunger Games without the violence.
Now, thankfully, for those of us not inclined to sprint through families and children like crazy people, Disney World has implemented the FastPass+ as part of the MDEA. Here your FastPasses are all virtual and are stored on your magic band, which you link your room key, park ticket, memory maker, and FastPass+ experiences to.
Take it from my sister, Caroline, who used to work at Soarin’ in Epcot. She was amazed at the amount of people who had no idea what a FastPass was, and were confused when their magic bands wouldn’t let them into the faster line. Don’t be that person, be prepared and plan ahead for your trip!
Making FastPass+ reservations may seem daunting, but it’s easier than you'd think. After you log into your MDEA select Get FastPass+ from underneath My Plans. You’ll be prompted to select the guests who will join you on this FastPass+ experience. Once you choose who will go with you, hit continue at the bottom of the screen.
Next, select the date you’ll be using the FP+ for and which park you’re going to.
After selecting a park you’ll be prompted to select a time. They have general options of morning, afternoon, and night that you can choose from, but if you know exactly when you want the FastPass for you can scroll right and select a more specific time frame.
Next, scroll through and select which attractions and times work for you! A small caveat of the FP+ is that you can only make up to three FP+ experiences at a time, and they have to be in the same park. However, once you use them all up you’ll be free to make more–and those can be in the same park or a different one, but you'll only be able to do one at a time.
Another rule is if there are multiple popular attractions at the park you want to go to, chances are you'll only be able to make a FP+ reservation for one of them (You can see on mine above it says I already chose an experience from this list). For example; I can't make a FP+ for Soarin' and Test Track in the same session. I would have to choose one or the other initially, and then after I used all three of my original FastPasses I could go in and try to make a FP+ for the other.
After you choose you’ll be brought to a page where you can confirm your FP+ experiences, and then you’re all set! You can then choose more FP+ reservations for the same day, a different day, view your current selections, or exit out and go back to the home page.
After you make your FP+ reservation you can always change it in the "My Plans" section of the app. You can either cancel it, modify it, or change your party. A top tip for FP+ reservations is that usually if the majority of your party has a FP+ for an attraction and one or two people don't, they'll let you all through the FP+ line.
If you get to the park and realize you never made FastPasses and don't want to use your phone, or don't have your phone on hand, you can head to any of the FP+ kiosks around the parks. There you'll find touch screen kiosks where you can tap your Magic Band and make some FP+ experiences. There are also cast members standing by if you have any questions or need assistance.
Congratulations! You’ve just made your first FastPass+ reservation! What are you going to do next?
Well, go to Disney World of course!
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