The best thing they’ve ever invented when it comes to theme parks with long queues is this system of getting ahead of everyone and getting into that super popular attraction in just a few minutes. Unlike what happens at Universal parks, where you have to pay a few extra dollars to have the right to skip the line, everyone who buys tickets for any Disney park can choose the attractions they want to have priority access to. And I’m not just talking about toys! Among the queue lists that you can jump are also popular shows and attractions and even the traditional parade of Mickey’s friends, the Disney Parade.
Fast Pass+ is a modern and practical system that replaced the old Fast Pass in April 2014. The main advantage of this new system is that you no longer need to go to the kiosks: you can schedule visiting times for attractions online, with starting 30 days in advance (or 60 days if you are staying at one of the Disney hotels). In addition, your appointment time is recorded on magnetic cards or Magic Bands. No more carrying paper tickets! Just bring the card to the reader of each attraction at the scheduled time and voilà!
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You can schedule up to three attractions per day of visit. Once you’ve visited all of them, you’ll be entitled to one more queue jumper. Just look for one of the service kiosks spread throughout the parks. Did you use the room? You can set the fifth time and repeat these steps ad eternum (or until the park closes). Bookings are also flexible and you can swap one attraction for another if you change your mind.
When making reservations, first choose the attraction you most want to go to or the one you believe will be the most popular. Then, the system will choose “the best combination” for that attraction and give you three more alternatives to combine with your favorite attraction. This means that you can’t just take whatever attractions strike your fancy. You need to respect the alternatives shown by the system. Otherwise, everyone would rush to book the three most popular ones and the queue-jumper would become useless. It is also not possible to book the same attraction more than once, unless you are already using additional passes (which you get after using the three you are entitled to). In this case it is possible to repeat.
Once booked, take a photo of your screen (your computer, booking kiosk, etc.), write down the times, or do anything else to remind yourself when you should be at the entrance to each attraction. If you forget what time you set, you lost, playboy! You will have to schedule again or face the regular queue.
I took a photo of the totem at the Fast Pass+ kiosk to remember the times of each reserved attraction
How to schedule Fast Pass+
Scheduling is very simple. If you want to do it in advance, online, have your ticket number on hand, register in the My Disney Experience area, on the official Disney website. Inside, you can plan your itinerary, see information regarding your ticket and also an exclusive area for Fast Pass+ reservations.
Enter the date you will visit and the attractions you want to go to. If you are traveling with more people, it is possible to make a group reservation. To do this, you must register all group tickets on the website. Once the attractions have been selected, the system will ask you what the priority is for each one and offer you the available times. Choose the one that best suits your planning and that’s it!
It is also possible to make an appointment on the day of the attractions, directly at the service kiosks throughout the parks. In this case, there will be a guy there to help you, which makes everything easier. To make group reservations, simply give the attendant all your tickets together and he will do the rest.
The exact location of the Fast Pass+ kiosks in each Disney park is shown on those maps that we get at the entrance. Honestly, this was the way I used it because I never do things in advance. And I found it quite peaceful, actually. I didn’t see the need to do it before, online. But if you’re a cautious person who likes to plan everything down to the smallest detail, the website is also very intuitive and you can know when you’re going to each attraction weeks in advance. Maybe in high season it really pays to book times in advance.
My Disney Experience App
My Disney Experience is an application for tablets and cell phones launched by Disney to improve your experience in the parks, which now have free Wi-Fi available to visitors (#everyonecelebrates). You can also schedule or change your reservations through it, much like it is done on the website, but the best part is that it helps you control attraction times and plan your trip. Click here to download for iPhone and here for Android.
Featured image credit: – Denis Adriana Macias (CC BY-SA 3.0)
