Updated: Feb 2020

While Disneyland has FastPasses they are completely different from DisneyWorld's so this article is just on DisneyWorld's passes, how to use them, how to get the most out of them, and more!

FastPasses (FP) are an electronic booking system that lets you skip the main ride Stand-By line for the FastPass line. Usually the FastPass line is faster than the Stand By line but this is not always the case so just check when you get to the ride, if the Stand By seems shorter, ask the Cast Member as the Stand By lines can be tricky as they are long & winding compared to the FastPass line.

These free passes allow for you to book 3 rides per day (with the possibility of more) through the MyDisney Experience App. Not all rides & shows are on the FastPass system. Also, depending on the type of stay you have booked will determine when you can book them:

1. If you are staying in a Club Level room / suite at a Disney property then for U$ 50 per day, per person you can book your FastPasses 90-days before arrival and you receive 3 additional FastPasses with an additional Tier 1 selection so you can get 4x Tier 1 rides + 2x Tier 2 rides every day per person (more on Tier's below), you also get Preferred viewing for one nighttime show per day
   
2. If you are staying at a Disney property but not Club Level then the window opens for you 60-days prior to your vacation
   
3. If you just have tickets then the selection opens up 30-days prior to your trip but by this time most of the popular rides have been booked so be flexible and check back often
   

Insider Tip

Not all rides and shows are part of FP (ex. everything in Galaxy's Edge) so don't be surprised if you do not see some rides. Also, if things are closed for refurbishment / renovation these will show at the bottom of the list greyed out. FP are not available at Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach

Regardless of your window, the booking option opens at 7am EST X # of days prior to your first day. When this booking window opens, you can book all the FastPasses for your entire trip. So if your trip is June 5 - 15 and you are staying at a Disney property (non-club) then this means you can book the FastPasses starting at 7am EST on April 5 for your whole trip.

Unlike Disneyland, these tickets are paperless and are connected to your Magic Band or your Park Ticket Card (imagine a credit card). To book any of the passes make sure that you have the MyDisney Experience App setup ahead of the booking day.

1. Go to you App store and download MyDisneyExperience
   
2. Set up your account
   
3. Connect your park ticket or reservation to the account
   
4. Setup the people in your group as this will allow you to book FastPasses for everyone at the same time - they will only be able to be added if the reservation number on their booking is the same as yours
   
5. Once the booking window opens, pop into the app and start booking!
   

When it comes to making the actual booking, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. are there rides that are "must do"? If so, be prepared to book you day around these. Check the App, find out what day is available and grab it. That will determine the park you will plan your day around
   
2. the three passes must all be booked in the same park on the same day you cannot do 2 rides in the Magic Kingdom and then another in Hollywood Studios
   
3. times for the rides cannot overlap, each pass has a 1 hour time frame if Frozen is at 1:15pm then you cannot book Space Ship Earth at 2pm However, when you are physically at the park, if you tap your band at 1:15pm for Frozen, then you can book another ride - more on this further in the article.
   
4. usually there will be more available at the end of your trip so start booking rides at the end of the trip first (especially in demand rides) and work your way to the beginning of the trip
   
5. if you see an in demand ride become available jump on it. Don't second guess! Rides can go quick, more on that further down the article.
   

If you are using the App to make the actual booking:

1. open the App
   
2. Click encircled "+" at the bottom
   
3. Click "Get FastPass+"
   
   1. Here you will be met with a description of how to use and book the passes
4. Select the people you are booking the passes for
   
5. Select the date and the park (click on the calendar icon if you do not see your dates)
   
6. Search by time
   
7. Select your time and confirm the reservation
   
8. Move onto the next reservation either the same day (and same park) or a different day
   
9. Select "I'm Done" when you have completed everything
   
   1. if the button is greyed out and won't let you click it, then you have to redo everything

Insider Tips

1. if you are booking for a group and there is a ride you really want to do but it is not coming up, try to split your group up. You might be able to get a few separate FastPasses at different times for a smaller number of people (ex. if you have a group of 6, try doing three groups of 2 or even a couple and a quartet).
   
2. Disney also sometimes does "dumps" of FastPasses so if you are unable to score a ride you really wanted, keep checking back on the App. Dumps are random and without notice. There is also the chance that someone releases their reservation as well.
   
3. parks are usually slower in the first 2 hours of the day so try to book your FastPasses for after 10am. If a popular ride has a spot before that however and no later time, grab it.
   
4. the busiest times for the parks are 10am - 4pm so try to get to the park early (or for Rope Drop, check out our article on ways to Avoid / Skip lines), booked your FP's to be used on rides between 10am - 2pm, and then take a break (or switch parks if you have a Hopper), before hitting the park in the evening. ***OFF SEASON (non-holiday period from Nov - March)*** if you are going in off season, Animal Kingdom closes at 5pm so keep this in mind.
   

If you decide that you don't want to use the App then if you setup an account on the Disney webpage, you will be able to book FastPasses there as well. The app just makes it super easy to make changes. If you do not have any internet then you can go to physical kiosks in the park to book FastPasses. If you won't have your phone on you (all the parks have free Wi-Fi) then you can book the FastPasses before you leave and head to these kiosks to make any changes.

A relatively new thing that Disney has introduced in the last few years are tier systems in some of the parks. These drive me nuts! I shouldn't even say "some" they are in every park except for Magic Kingdom. The Tier system allows you to book one Tier one ride + 2 Tier two rides. Once you use up your three passes then you can book in either Tier (if available). My first trip to DW I didn't book all three FP if there were not three rides that I didn't want to do. However, with the Tier system, for our next trips I had to book all three because if you do not use the second Tier 2 FP then you do not get a fourth that you can use for any ride. These tiers are:

Tier 1

Alien Swirling Saucers, Slinky Dog Dash, Toy Story Mania

Tier 2

Beauty & The Beast LIVE, Junior Dance Party, Fantasmic!, Frozen Sing Along Celebrations, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Muppet Vision 3D (said to be leaving HS...), Rock 'n' Rollar Coaster, Star Tours, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Voyage of the Little Mermaid

Tier 1

Frozen Ever After, Soarin', Test Track, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, Epcot Character Spot

Tier 2

Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival, Journey into Imagination with Figment, Living with the Land, Mission SPACE, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush

Tier 1

Flight of Passage, Na'vi River Journey

Tier 2

Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, Finding Nemo - the musical, Flights of Wonder, It's Tough to be a Bug, Kalie River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Meet Favorite Disney Pals, Primeval Whirl (said to be leaving AK...), River of Light

no Tier levels... yet...

Think of Tiers are Tier 1 will be all the popular rides that everyone wants and 2 are the rides for the smaller kids or the ones that you do "just because" (usually the because is the need for air conditioning or a place to sit...).

Insider Tip

1. In 2019 & 2020 the most popular FP rides are Avatar Flight of Passage (Animal Kingdom), Frozen Ever After (Epcot), Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (Magic Kingdom), and Slinky Dog Dash (Hollywood Studios).
   Female Abroad Review: The Flight of Passage was really cool! Lines for it get up to 4 hours before Disney shuts the line. Frozen Ever After had a really well themed line but the ride was jerky and short so if it wasn't for a FP, we would have been disappointed. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is fun and if you have PhotoPass you get a video as well as a photo magically uploaded to your account. Slinky Dog Dash is a great roller coaster for young teens / older kids.
2. once the Star Wars rides become less popular, Micky & Minnies Runaway Railway, and Rattatoui open up then these tiers may change

Great! If you were unable to get that FastPass you wanted, keep checking the App or stop by a FastPass Kiosk to see if you can do some swapping.

1. The best way to do this is when you are in line for a ride, open the App and select "modify" this will show you what is available to make changes for. These last minute changes are easier to do for 1-2 people than it is a group.
2. For some reason people will see different availability so if you have more than one phone in your group, have other people jump on at the same time
3. If you find something you want to grab, do it quick! If you go to accept it and the button is greyed out, that means it is no longer available (someone was quicker than you!) or there was a glitch and you'll have to do it again from scratch.

Insider Tip

FastPasses are usually valid 5-min before the actual stated time and 10-min after the window closes. If you are later or earlier and the ride isn't busy then the Cast Member will usually let you on anyways. They are there to make you happy...

This is also the point at which "Tap & Grab" comes in handy.

When you show up for your ride, tap your wrist band / ticket and as soon as Mickey's head goes green jump into the App. The green light means you've used the FastPass. From here, there are two options (depending on how your day is going):

1. if you have no used your three for the day, jump into the App and see if you can swap your outstanding ride(s) for an earlier time. The reason for this is because the one hour block that was mentioned earlier is no longer putting that 1 hour hold on the spot.
   Let's use our earlier example. You have Frozen at 1:15pm so you had to book Spaceship Earth at 4:30pm as the first available time was 2pm but that is within the 1 hour start window of Frozen. You booked Turtle Talk at 6pm for yourr third FP. Now you are at the park and you have tapped your wrist for Frozen, you jump into the App and see that there is an earlier Turtle Talk at 1:45pm. Since the 1 hour hold in place because of Frozen is gone, you are able to change Turtle Talk from 6pm to 1:45pm! The only time you would have an issue with this is if the time is within 1 hour of Spaceship Earth as that would not allow you to book anything between 4:30-5:30pm still.
2. if this was your third ride of the day, you will now be issued another FastPass so jump into the App and get it booked!
   

Insider Tip

1. If you are using the Tap & Grab and you are able to move your second FP ahead but not your third one, you may be stuck with a large period of time between passes. This might be good if you want to take a break but it could also be very boring if you have little ones. Think this out before quickly grabbing something because it is available.
   
2. If a ride is popular, you probably will not find an earlier time for it so plan around this (usually Tier 1) ride.
   
3. If you are planning on doing all the rides at Magic Kingdom then Tap & Grab is a must! Plan for 2 days of FP + T&G and you should be able to get the entire park done.
   

Now you are physically at the park, and you've used your three pre-booked FastPasses you are actually given another one to use and once you use it, then you get another, so on and so forth until the last park closes for the night. Once you are at this point, you can use your additional FastPass at any of the parks so you don't have to stay where you are (unless you do not have a Hopper ticket, in that case, yes, you have to stay here). Tap & Grab comes in really handy as well!

Insider Tip

If you are going to use an additional pass for a different park, keep transit time in mind. Some parks are closer to each other than others! Plan for at least an hour transit (things like - traffic, offloading, getting through security & into the park, getting to the ride, bathroom or drink stop, etc add up!)