Disney’s Fast Pass System
First, let’s learn what Fast Pass is -- and what it isn’t.
What it is
Fast Pass is a tool you can use to help minimize your wait time for 3 rides a day. Not all. THREE.
What it is not
Fast Pass is not The Holy Grail. It is not the first thing that you should focus on when it comes to your tours. Too many guests fall into this trap, and we don’t want you to be one of them.
How Fast Pass Works in a Tour Plan
The goal of a tour plan is to help you experience as many things on your
Wish List as you can with as few steps and as few waits as possible.
That is worth repeating.
The goal of a tour plan is to help you experience as many things on your Wish List as you can with as few steps and as few waits as possible.
Note that the goal is NOT to use Fast Pass for a specific attraction or your most important attraction. An attraction’s importance has nothing to do with whether or not it requires a Fast Pass. At least not when you are a professional tour planner.
First -- Your tour planner uses Fast Pass to construct a tour that flows well. Sure-- you might not have Pirates of Caribbean high on your to do list. But, if we use a Fast Pass for it now, then you don’t have to walk all the way back here later when that 70 minute line will be shorter. Using a Fast Pass now means you can do it when you are near it, and cut 30 minutes of walking back and forth out of your day.
Second -- Your tour planner uses Fast Pass to avoid lines. But, knowledge is power. Fast Pass is not the only way to avoid lines. Sometimes, an attraction will have an even shorter wait if you place it correctly on your tour plan - even without using a Fast Pass. Your tour planner knows exactly how to do this. Please understand that the absence of a ride from your My Disney Experience doesn’t mean you aren’t experiencing it, or that you will stand in line to do it.
You anxiously open your My Disney Experience the day your window opened, and you see things on your Fast Pass list that you weren't the least bit interested in. Why?
When the window opens, your tour planner is focused on grabbing the hard to get Fast Passes, not on creating the Mona Lisa of tour plans. So you may see Fast Passes for things you are not interested in (See Rule #1). It’s an unfinished project. Your tour planner needs some time to do their job. No worries. In the days that follow they will tweak and fine tune your tour plans. This is their job, folks. And they truly do care very much about the families they will never meet. Your kids are important to them, too.
Before we get to this point, you most likely will already know if there are issues surrounding a must do. But, if you are concerned about whether a specific attraction made it onto your tour, please ask. Yes, we are professionals and you hired us for our expertise. But, it’s also your vacation and of course you have a right to always know what is going on.
Like this: Are we doing Splash Mountain?
Not like this: Can I have a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain?
A professional tour planner will hear these as very different questions. Giving you a Fast Pass for Splash Mountain may actually create a less than optimal tour, and we know that is not what you want.
Fast Pass Rules Fast and Pass Hints
Epcot and Disney's Hollywood Studios are tiered parks. Once you have booked a Tier One attraction in that park, you may not book another until you have used 2 Tier Two Fast Passes.
Once you use your reserved Fast Passes, you may reserve an additional Fast Pass from the pool that remains. Once you use that 4th, you may reserve a 5th. Tiers no longer apply.
Additional Fast Passes may be reserved via your My Disney Experience app or a kiosk in the park.
Additional Fast Pass reservations may be in a different park then the one you are presently in.
You all do not need to reserve the same attractions. Example: If there are 4 of you, 2 may choose Rock'n'Roller Coaster and 2 may choose Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage.
We hope this information, and all of our Help Around the Mouse Clue Ins, contributes to you having an even more magical Walt Disney World vacation! K
6/19