How To Maximize FastPass+ at Walt Disney World
** NOTE ** – As of August 2021, the FastPass+ process at Walt Disney World is no longer available. It has been replaced with new Disney Genie product. To learn more about this product, check out the release.
At Walt Disney World in Orlando, the use of FastPass+ has become essential to the enjoyment of your vacation. This, along with Advanced Dining Reservations, has made families have to plan their trips 2-6 months before they will even arrive on vacation. If you are able to maximize these FastPass+, along with the other tips found here, you will not be spending your entire vacation waiting in line!
When to schedule?
The best time to put your FastPass+ is early in the day. However, you can usually wait around an hour in the day before you start. The first hour of the park is usually fairly quiet, so you might be able to walk onto a ride or two without the use of FastPass+ if you show up early enough. Delaying it until around 10:00 am also gives you a buffer if you are slow moving in the morning, or have issues with the busses on property! This strategy will also allow you to book additional FastPass+ later on in the day! After you have scanned into your 3rd FastPass+ for the day, you are eligible to book a 4th. This can be at the park you are currently in, or if you have a park hopper, any of the other theme parks!
You are also able to start scheduling these FastPass+ selections up to 60 days before your arrival. Because of this, you are picking the parks you will be attending ahead of time, and aligning these with where you want to eat, and other items as a part of your trip. All this can be very confusing for first time visitors, so you might want to have a travel agent help out!
The order of your selections
Each FastPass+ comes in a 1-hour window. These windows allow you to go to the ride at any point of time during it, so it can be right at the start, or sneaking in just as the window elapses. Most people try to fit in another attraction during this window of having a FastPass+, as the shorter line and attraction should not last that whole time. As you plan your day, and FastPass+ selections, be sure to check out a map and make sure you are booking fast passes near each other. You don’t want to trek across the Magic Kingdom from Space Mountain to Big Thunder Mountain to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train back to back as the majority of your day will be spent walking. The better option is to go from Space Mountain to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train to Big Thunder Mountain, as it allows you not to backtrack! You might be able to do the Tomorrowland Speedway after Space Mountain and check out the Country Bear Jamboree or the Haunted Mansion on your way to Big Thunder Mountain!
What’s a tier?
When you start booking your FastPass+, you will notice that Hollywood Studios, EPCOT, and the Animal Kingdom have tiers. This means there will be some rides you cant get FastPass+ for during your day at the park. In order to make sure you can ride all of the attractions within a tier, try rope dropping these rides, or fitting them in at the end of the day with a FastPass+ once you have finished your 3 for that day. At the Magic Kingdom, you are able to choose any 3 attractions from the park, so there no tiers to worry about there!
The Selections and Tiering
How you choose to book FastPass+ will depend on a ton of different things. Your favorite rides, who is in your party, whats available, and the location of the attractions will all come into play. Some of my thoughts are below as Maven Tips, as well as each parks tiering strategy as of July 2019!
Epcot is broken up into two tiers. My typical selection process here is to choose between Soarin’, Test Track, and Frozen Ever after for my Tier One selection, and then pick any of the Tier Two attractions to pair with one of my favorite rides, Spaceship Earth!
Maven Tip
EPCOT Tier One (choose 1)
- Soarin’
- Test Track
- Meet Disney Pals at the Epcot Character Spot
- Frozen Ever After
- Illuminations: Reflections of Earth
EPCOT Tier Two (choose 2)
- Journey Into Imagination with Figment
- Mission: Space
- Living with the Land
- Spaceship Earth
- Turtle Talk with Crush
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Disney/Pixar Short Film Festival
Hollywood Studios is currently short on attractions. Because of this, finding something in Tier 2 can be difficult. I have occasionally booked my first ride of the day as the Tier 2 attraction I am not crazy about, so it is out of the way early, and if I miss it, its not the end of the world.
Maven Tip
Hollywood Studios Tier One (choose 1)
- Toy Story Mania!
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith (Moving to Tier One on Aug. 29, 2019)
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Moving to Tier One on Aug. 29, 2019)
Hollywood Studios Tier Two (choose 2)
- Fantasmic!
- Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage
- Disney Junior – Live on Stage!
- Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!
- “For The First Time In Forever” – A Frozen Sing-Along
- MuppetVision 3D
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
- Voyage of The Little Mermaid
For Animal Kingdom, the tier is only used to split up riders on the 2 newest attractions in Pandora the World of Avatar. Flight of Passage is one of my favorite rides, so be sure to choose this over the Na’vi River Journey unless you have guests that cannot do thrill rides!
Maven Tip
Animal Kingdom Tier One (choose 1)
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- Na’vi River Journey
Animal Kingdom Tier Two (choose 2)
- UP! A Great Adventure Bird Show
- Festival of the Lion King
- DINOSAUR
- Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
- Finding Nemo – The Musical
- Kali River Rapids
- It’s Tough to Be A Bug
- Kilimanjaro Safaris
- Meet Favorite Disney Pals at Adventurers Outpost
- Primeval Whirl
- Rivers of Lights
Other Tips
Before you select your FastPass+, be sure to review the requirements for rides, to ensure all people in your party can ride. If they cannot, you are able to get rider swaps or split up your group’s FP selection to make sure everyone can enjoy their favorite rides!
