Hello! Today I'm coming to you guys with something that is essential when planning a Walt Disney World vacation: fast passes. This is the difference between a great and smooth vacation and a horrible rocky one. In this article you'll learn how to plan your fast passes, the strategies of it, and which rides you should pick. First you might be asking, what exactly is FastPass+? It's essentially a reservation for a ride. You pick a ride time and then in that hour window you go back and ride it. Let's say you pick a fast pass on the My Disney Experience app for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from 1:00 to 12:00. In that time frame you are to go back to that ride and enter in a special line. This line will be shorter than the standby wait. It's almost like a VIP line, but there's no charge for it. There are three ways you can make fast pass reservations: My Disney experience app, Disney's website, or park kiosks located throughout each park. When you choose your fast passes they are then linked to your magic band. It's important to make your fast pass reservations the FIRST day they allow you to. This is because, for rides that are popular fast passes go quickly. You can literally save hours in line and prevent your crew from missing out on some of Disney's coolest attractions. **it's important to note that fast passes cannot be booked during extra magic hours, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, or any other separate ticketed event. Also, fast pass time frames cannot be overlapping** If you're confused at this point on how to even book a FastPass+ reservation I'll link you to my favorite Disney Planning blogs where I usually get more information anyway. It'll walk you through step by step. You can click here. Fast Pass Choices That Suit Each ParkMagic Kingdom - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (this has an average of 120 min wait) - Peter Pan's Flight (average of 90 min wait) - Splash Mountain (average 45 min wait) - Space Mountain (average 80 min wait) - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (average 50 min wait) Epcot *This park is different. At other parks you can choose 3 fast passes for any 3 rides. In Epcot you must choose 1 fast pass from one of the tier 1 rides. Then you'll choose 2 fast passes for any 2 of the tier 2 rides (tongue twister!). Tier 1 rides are the popular - longer wait rides. Tier 2 rides are those with a shorter wait average and some you can even walk onto... on a good day* And.... here's where I make it complicated. Hold onto your seats. IF! You and your party do not mind riding the single rider line and most of the party is older than 10, this is what I would choose. - Soarin' (tier 1: average of 80+ wait) -Spaceship Earth (tier 2) -Misson Space (tier 2) IF! You and your party want to ride together and most of the party is older than 10, this is what I would choose. -Test Track (tier 1: average of 80+ wait) -Spaceship Earth (tier 2) -Misson Space (tier 2) Finally, IF! Your party is mostly under the age of 10, this is what I would choose. -Frozen Ever After (tier 1: most popular ride at Epcot as of early 2017) -Spaceship Earth (tier 2) -The Seas with Nemo & Friends (tier 2) Now, I'm jumping the gun a bit but! you can still ride most of the tier 2 attractions after you use your scheduled fast passes. You can either do standby (obviously) or you can get more fast passes for free! I'm getting ahead of myself though so, keep reading to find that bit out. Also! If there is ANY ride you do in Epcot I suggest Soarin'. It's one of the can't miss rides. The reason why it's not my first choice for fast pass situations is because now I enjoy standing in the line. They just added a new interactive game for the line and I think it's really fun. I definitely think only adults would enjoy the game so, keep that also in consideration. Hollywood Studios (this one is also like Epcot) IF! Your party is mostly 10 and over and you like thrill rides then I would choose: -Rock 'n' Roller Coaster (tier 1) -Tower of Terror (tier 2) -Star Tours (tier 2) IF! Your party is any age really and you don't like thrill rides then I would choose: -Toy Story Midway Mania (tier 1) -Star Tours (tier 2) - For the Firth Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing-Along Celebration (tier 2) Finally, IF! Your party is mostly under the age of 10 I would choose: -Toy Story Midway Mania (tier 1) -Voyage of the Little Mermaid (tier 2) - For the Firth Time in Forever: A "Frozen" Sing-Along Celebration (tier 2) Animal Kingdom -Expedition Everest (average 60 min wait) -Kilimanjaro Safaris (average 80 min wait) -DINOSAUR (average 60 min wait) StrategyIt is no surprise that if you do fast passes a certain way you can almost walk on to every ride. Okay, I don't want to get you excited... you can almost only wait around 20-30 min for each ride. Depends on the time of year. The first thing I would think about is having a touring plan. I'll be writing about that soon so keep an eye out. Let's go with the more difficult ones first. If you want Frozen Ever After then I would plan to be up right at the crack of dawn the day you are able to make fast pass selections and the day you get to the park. This is currently the hardest fast pass to obtain on Disney property as of early 2017. These ride lines can exceed 120 min and will sell out in the first hour it's open to get. If you are lucky enough to get one yay! If not this is what I would do. The morning of your day at Epcot get there at opening. Not 15 min after opening not even right when the park opens. Like 30 min before the park opens. Once you get in the park bolt right to Frozen Ever After in the Norway Pavillion. Other people will be doing the same thing. You'll get there and mostly likely will only wait around 30 min! If you do this and have a fast pass (which you obviously didn't use) then you can take that tier 1 pass and switch it for another tier 1 ride like Soarin' or Test Track. It would be wise to use this strategy at all of the parks! HERE IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF FAST PASSES. If possible schedule ALL fast passes the earlier times possible. Remember how I said you can obtain more fast passes for free? Well here's how. You can only get new fast passes after you use all 3 of the previously scheduled ones. Which means if you spread all times throughout the day evenly (which sounds great in theory) you're limiting yourself to only 3 fast passes when you can have way more! I will always use this strategy and then once they're all gone, use the My Disney Experience app or the kiosks to schedule another one right away. The cycle continues all day! Even if you feel like some of them are not necessary to schedule do it anyway! You never know. This is how I avoid 45 min + wait times. That's right people! I never wait more than an 45 min for a ride! (I also go during off season though. If you want more about that click here) I know this is a lot to digest and this is really just scratching the service, but fast passes are important and can make or break a vacation. Keep researching and learning about the system and the parks to find what works best for you and your family. Please let me know if this helped at all and have a magical day!
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AuthorHi my name is Molly Carl! I have great passion and love for Disney and love showing others its magic. When I'm not thinking about Disney I'm performing on stage creating an entirely different type of magic! In addition to Disney I love coffee, tea, plants, musicals, and art! Wonderland Wishes is not affiliated with the Walt Disney company or any other Disney blogger/influencer. All photos not under the photo gallery tab are not mine. Credit goes to original owners.
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