10 Best Tips for Disney's FastPass+

The new FastPass+ system is very young, and still evolving, as shown with the latest change to give you the ability to add more reservations once your initial 3 are used up. Whether you love FastPass+ or hate it, it’s here to stay, so you might as well try and make the most of it. Here are our 10 Best Tips for Making the most of FastPass+.

The whole point of FastPass+ is to improve overall guest satisfaction. These tips should help improve your satisfaction with FastPass+ (FP+). You can read a more in-depth look at MyMagic+, My Disney Experience, and the process of booking FastPass+ reservations here.

First, here’s a breakdown of the FP+ attractions by park:

With the ability to now make additional FP+ reservations beyond the 3 in advance, you may want to consider making all FP+ for fairly early in the morning in hopes of taking advantage of the extras you can get. Of course, that strategy might go out the window if the only FP+ you can get for the attraction you really want is later in the day.

Making Your FastPass+ Reservations

1. Be on at Midnight. Disney releases a certain number of FP+ slots for attractions at midnight at 60 days for resort guests, and more at 30 days for non-resort guests. To make sure you get the attractions you want at the best times, make sure you are logged in and ready. They could be gone by the morning. More FP+ selections can also become available after midnight the night before for same-day reservations, as well as intermittently due to cancellations

2. Don’t trust the computer. The 4 choices you initially get are not the only choices. Pick the closest match and then modify each FP+ individually. Often times, the website and mobile app will show different availability. Try both.

3. Overlap Return Times. Break your party into smaller groups and try separate FP+ windows that overlap for hard-to-get attractions. A party of 5 with a window of 10:00 – 11:00 and another party of 6 with a 10:30-11:30 has a window from 10:30-11:00 where they can all ride together.

4. Be a Copy Cat. If you can manage to find FP+ availability for a single person in your party, you can usually copy that FP+ to the rest of your party.

5. Avoid Criss-Crossing Park. Make note of attraction locations and try to avoid criss-crossing the park to get from one FP+ to another. For instance, if you want to do Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, then it would be better to keep the Frontierland attractions together. This also applies to any shows or dining reservations you might have. The less time you spend walking around the park, the more things you can enjoy!

Using Your FastPass+ reservations

1. Write down your FP+ times! Print the screen or use an index card. Your Magic Band won’t tell you if you forget, and it will save you from having to check on the mobile app or go to a FP+ kiosk. It will also save you if your phone’s battery dies.

2. You have some Leeway. The system allows you to arrive 5 minutes early or 10 minutes late. Before or after that, you’ll have to convince the Cast Member attending the attraction.

3. Go Back to Back! For attractions near one another, hit the first toward the end of your FP+ window so you can get right on the next one. This will help you avoid dead time where you feel like you can’t chance doing something in-between.4. Be ready to adapt!
If your FP+ attraction has little or no wait, use the mobile app to switch your FP+ to a different attraction!

5. Move ’em up! FP+ windows can’t overlap, but once you’ve checked at the first FP+ touchpoint, you can use the app to move up your next FP+ so you don’t have to wait as long. As the day goes by, less and less FP+ slots will be available, so this can help maximize and allow you to secure more extra FP+!

Have you used FastPass+ yet? Like it? Love it? Still on the fence? Let us know in the comments below! What do you think of FP+??

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A Magical Disney Vacation...in only 6 steps! | Adventures in Familyhood

Sunday 1st of January 2017

[…] For first timers, the task of planning a fun filled and magical Walt Disney World vacation can seem overwhelming. There’s so much to consider that it’s even hard to know where to start. Even if you have been before, you may not be up to date on the latest innovations such as Fastpass+. […]

:DISTherapy

Wednesday 20th of August 2014

This post is SO complete; a perfect primer for those new to FastPass+. Terrific tips for juggling times and distances. I particularly like the "Move 'em Up!" suggestion!

baseballmickey

Thursday 21st of August 2014

Thank you!!

Lindsey Leffel

Friday 30th of May 2014

We had great success editing our choices in park, which was incredibly helpful with a toddler who would change his mind last minute!

It's great to hear you were able to be so flexible!!

Teresa Cox

Thursday 29th of May 2014

You can no longer use the app to change or reserve Fastpass+ reservations anymore once you're in the park. That's why they now have kiosks available to change, update, or add on Fastpasses. Also, back to back only works for your first two Fastpasses. You'll be walking around for a long time in-between your second and third if you do the first two back to back.

Thanks for the comment, Teresa! I'm not sure what difficulties you had using the app while in the park. I know the system can be glitchy at times. When everything is working as it should, you CAN use the app to make your reservations and/or change them without visiting a kiosk.

And yes, you can only go back to back on 2 rides. Perhaps I should edit that part of the post to clarify the point, which is that people forget they have the whole hour window for most attractions, and when you have 2 attractions in the same area, you can make the best use of your time using this back-to-back strategy.