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FastPass: Need a good explanation

Walt Disney World: Can someone explain fast passes for me, they are new since my last visit 19 years ago

From Kirsteen Nakau
Posted April 11, 2011 at 9:29 PM
Can someone explain fast passes for me, they are new since my last visit 19 years ago. Is this an additional ticket you purchase on day? I have already booked park tickets through my tour operator.


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Derek Morse
Posted April 12, 2011 at 9:25 AM
At Walt Disney World, fastpasses are no additional charge. For the more popular attractions, there will usually be several fast pass machines somewhere near the attraction. You simply insert your theme park ticket into the machine and a fast pass will come out. The pass will list a one hour time frame when you can return and go on the attraction via the fast pass line, which is generally much shorter than the stand by line. For example, it may say 11:45 to 12:45. You can return to the attraction during that time period. One catch is, you cannot hold two fast passes for two different attractions at the same time. I BELIEVE (and someone will correct me if I'm wrong), your return time will need to have passed before you can get another fast pass.

I hope this helped...there are probably other's on the board who can explain this better than I just did, and I'm sure they will! You have definitely come to the right place for any questions you may have!

From Terri Pierce
Posted April 12, 2011 at 9:32 AM
For some reason it will not let me post my reply to this topic. I'm very confused :(

From Kirsteen Nakau
Posted April 12, 2011 at 11:42 AM
thanks that explains it, I was worried I should have bought different tickets

From Frank Forrester
Posted April 12, 2011 at 3:01 PM
A lot of the rides have Fastpasses that you can get. The map that you get at the entrance of each park will show which attractions have Fastpasses and it will also explain how to get a Fastpass. You will always want to get a Fastpass for the most popular ride in each park first thing when you get there. The ones you want to get first are Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios, Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom or if it is a very hot day than Splash Mountain first and at Epcot you will want to get one for Soarin' first thing.

When you get a Fastpass it will have a one hour return time window on it. When you are walking up to the Fastpass machines at an attraction you will see the return times for the Fastpasses that are being given out at that time. The rule is that you can not use the Fastpass before the return time stated on the ticket. For example if the return time for your Fastpass is from 11:45am - 12:45pm, you will not be allowed to use it before 11:45am. They are very strict about this, but you can ignore the end time as they don't enforce that part, so you could come back at 2:30pm and still use that Fastpass.

You can hold multiple Fastpasses, but you have to be smart on how you get them. When you get a Fastpass it will list a time when you can get another Fastpass under your return time. The rule is that you will not be able to get another Fastpass for two hours unless your return time is sooner than that. For example if you pick up a Fastpass at say 9am and the Return time for that Fastpass is 10:15am, than you will be able to get another Fastpass at 10:15am. Now if your Return time for that same Fastpass is for say 12pm instead, than you will have to wait two hours from when you picked up that Fastpass to get another one so the earliest you would be able to get one would be 11am.

From Tony Duda
Posted April 12, 2011 at 9:21 PM
I heard that the fast pass for the new Mickey Mouse meet-and-greet at the Magic Kingdom will be enforced for the 1 hour return time window.

A lot of people accumulate fast passes early in the day for use later. This is possible because of the rule that you can get another fast pass the minute your last fast pass goes into effect (as stated above). To do this, get a fast pass (FP) first thing such as at Splash Mountain (SM), then stand in line at Haunted Mansion (HM). Maybe by the time you leave HM the effective time of the SM FP arrives, get another pass at Big Thunder Mountain. Keep doing this and you can get 3 or 4 FPs by lunch time. Then you can do these rides at leisure in the afternoon.

From Anthony Murphy
Posted April 13, 2011 at 5:00 AM
My tip is to plan to do something while waiting for your fastpass. Have some kind of plan. The best place to use fastpasses is at Animal Kingdom. You can grab a fastpass and then see a show or see the animals while you wait.

I like Derek's answer because it was simple and to the point. People stress out about fastpasses, but they are pretty easy and fair.

From Bryan Fear
Posted April 13, 2011 at 8:01 AM
Unless things have changed since the ( second to ) last time I went to DL, the Fastpass can have a window much larger than one hour. I recall being at Space Mountain at about 11am to see that the FastPass for return was for 9:30 that night. A wait time like this sort of gives away that this example I'm using was around the 2010 holiday season and doesn't indicate the normal wait time. The point is, you can wait more than an hour and as far as I know, you can't use your fastpass for any other FP attraction until the currently registered one has expired. ( Anyone to confirm, please? )

From Hermione Potter
Posted April 13, 2011 at 3:59 PM
Bryan, at disney world at least, you cannot grab another fastpass until either your current one becomes valid OR 2 hours pass from the time you got the first fastpass - whichever comes first.

So if the first fastpass you get at 9 am says return between 9 and 10pm, you should be allowed to get another fastpass for another ride at 11am, assuming there are any left.

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