FastPass+ is Walt Disney World's ride and show reservation system. Here's everything you need to know about FastPass+: tips and strategies, how and where to make FastPass+ reservations, and FastPass+ rules and restrictions. Click or tap on one of the blue bars below to expand it.
FastPass+ ("FastPass Plus" or "FP+")
Disney's FastPass+ is a system for reserving attraction times in the Walt Disney World theme parks. With a FP+ reservation, instead of waiting in the regular line for a ride, you’re directed to a special line with a shorter wait time. It’s like making a restaurant reservation, but for rides.
Understanding how to use FP+ is important for success with our Touring Plans, especially if you want to experience lots of attractions or are unable to arrive at park opening.
What Does This Cost?
There is no fee to use FP+ — it’s available to everyone and free with park admission.
How Do I Make a Reservation?
FP+ is a fully electronic system. You can make FastPass+ selections in advance on a computer, smartphone, or tablet via the Walt Disney World website or the My Disney Experience mobile app. Download the app for free for Apple or Android systems. If you’re at Walt Disney World, you may also make reservations at computer kiosks in the parks.
Note: The previous paper FastPass ticket system was discontinued in 2014.
For step-by-step instructions on how to make FP+ reservations at home, please visit our Making FastPass+ reservations page.
To make or change FP+ selections while you’re at the parks, use the app or an in-park computer terminal.
Where Are the In-Park Terminals?
FP+ terminals can be found at kiosks in the following locations. Note: locations sometimes change:
Magic Kingdom FastPass+ Kiosks
- Adventureland / Frontierland: In the covered pathway that connects the two. The entrances are across from the Swiss Family Treehouse and next to the Diamond Horseshoe.
- Adventureland: Next to the Jungle Cruise entrance
- Fantasyland: Outside Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Storybook Circus: In the tent near Pete's Silly Sideshow
- Tomorrowland: Near the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin entrance
- Tomorrowland: Near Stitch's Great Escape
Epcot FastPass+ Kiosks
- Future World West: In the breezeway across from Epcot Character Spot
- Future World East: In the breezeway on the way toward Mission: SPACE
- World Showcase: At the International Gateway
Disney's Hollywood Studios FastPass+ Kiosks
- Hollywood Boulevard: At the corner of Hollywood and Sunset
- Sunset Boulevard: At the split between Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster
- Pixar Place: Just to the right of the Toy Story Mania entrance
Disney's Animal Kingdom FastPass+ Kiosks
- Discovery Island: Near the Island Mercantile store
- Asia: Near the entrance to Kali River Rapids
- Africa: Near Dawa Bar and Tusker House restaurant
When Can I Book FastPasses?
Guests staying at a Disney resort hotel may make FP+ reservations for the entire length of their trip, up to 60 days in advance of their trip. Everyone else with park tickets may book FP+ reservations up to 30 days in advance, one day at a time.
How Many FP+ Reservations May I Make?
In advance of your trip, you can make up to three FP+ ride reservations for each day of your vacation. Once you use these three pre-selected FastPasses, you can then make additional FastPass+ reservations, one at a time, while you are at WDW.
How Does a FP+ Work When I'm in the Theme Parks?
Most FP+ ride reservations specify a one-hour window during which you may enter the attraction. For example, with a reservation to ride Expedition Everest at 11:00 AM, you may arrive any time between 11:00 AM and noon. Your reservation will be canceled if you don't show up on time.
When you arrive at an attraction with your FP+, you’ll be directed to a separate, shorter "FastPass+ Return" line. To enter the line, you must validate your reservation by touching your MagicBand or RFID ticket to a reader at the FP+ Return entrance.
Can I Make Reservations for Every Ride?
No, not all rides have FP+ capability. Disney only offers FP+ at select popular attractions. Specific FP+ information for each theme park is linked below.
What Happens If A Ride Is Down During My FP+ Return Time?
Minor malfunctions occasionally cause temporary ride closures. If this happens during your scheduled FP+ reservation time, Disney will automatically adjust your FastPass+ reservation in one of 3 ways, depending on the time of day the issue happens:
- If it’s early in the day, Disney will offer you the chance to return to the attraction at any point in the day, after it reopens.
- Another early-day compensation option Disney offers is to let you choose another FastPass+ attraction in the same park, on the same day.
- If it’s late in the day, Disney will automatically give you another FastPass+ selection good for any FastPass+ attraction at any park the following day.
Information about which solution you’ve been offered will appear in your My Disney Experience app. You can also access this at a park computer kiosk.
Obtaining More FastPass+ Reservations In the Parks
You can get more FP+ reservations after you’ve used your first three, or once their reservation times have expired, whichever comes first.
For example, let’s say you have FP+ reservations from 9-10AM, from 10-11AM, and from 11AM-12 noon. You will be able to obtain more Fastpasses as soon as you use the three existing reservations, or at noon, whichever comes first. Use the My Disney Experience app or visit one of the in-park kiosks to make this reservation. Additional reservation can only be made one at a time. Check our research showing which attractions typically have good day-of FastPass+ availabilty.
The FastPass "Refresh" Trick
The FastPass screen in My Disney Experience is supposed to show you the available FastPass inventory. For days in the future (i.e., not “today”), we think it does. When displaying “today’s” FastPass+ inventory, the FastPasses MDE shows you seems inconsistent from one moment to the next.
As far as we can tell, this inconsistent behavior is intentional - for performance reasons, we think, or to keep people from gaming the system – and not simply the effects of large crowds competing for FastPasses from moment to moment. Here’s an actual example from the Magic Kingdom with It’s a Small World:
- At 4 p.m. on the afternoon that we wrote this, MDE showed us FastPasses available on everything from Monsters Inc Laugh Floor at 4 p.m., to the Mickey Mouse meet and greet at 10 p.m. But MDE said no FastPasses were available for It’s a Small World for the rest of the day.
- Next, we selected the “Evening” filter (we think “Evening” means “after 5 p.m.). MDE showed FastPass availability at It’s a Small World at 8:40 p.m. Why wasn’t that shown on the first screen, when 10 p.m. FastPasses for Mickey Mouse were shown? We have no idea.
- Switching back to “Afternoon”, MDE said nothing was available.
- Next, we asked MDE what FastPasses were available around 8:30 p.m., MDE showed FastPasses available for It’s a Small World at 7:45 p.m, 9:10 p.m., and 9:45 p.m. It’s very unlikely that these three sets of FastPasses became available in the few seconds between our requests.
- Switching back to “Afternoon” showed only 9:55 p.m.
- Switching to a specific time request – asking MDE what FastPasses were available at 8:30 p.m. - showed no availability.
- Changing the time to 9 p.m., MDE offered us 8 p.m., which wasn’t shown a second earlier when we asked for 8:30 p.m.
- Switching back to 8 showed nothing; then back to 9 showed us the 8 p.m. FastPass again.
The “Refresh” trick is designed to uncover un-displayed FastPasses caused by MDE’s unpredictable behavior, and it works as described above: refresh the MDE FastPass availability screen over and over for a few minutes, using different time filters, until you see something you want. Note that the “Refresh” trick also works if you want to change an existing FastPass for a ride you’re not that interested in, to something better. In that case, select the “Modify FastPass” option from within My Disney Experience, and follow the same steps above.
The best time to start looking for your next FastPass is as soon as you’re in line for your last existing FastPass reservation.
What Time Disney Releases Day-of FastPasses
- Animal Kingdom (Avatar Flight of Passage) - 11:01 a.m., 1:01 p.m., 3:01 p.m., 5:01 p.m.
- Animal Kingdom (Everything Else) - 9:01 a.m., 1: 27 p.m., 1:49 p.m., 2: 18 p.m.
- EPCOT (Soarin’, Test Track) - 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m.
- EPCOT (Frozen Ever After) - 9:31 a.m., 9:37 a.m., 9:57 a.m., 10:07 a.m., 10:37 a.m.
- Disney's Hollywood Studios (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run) - 2:31 p.m.
- Disney's Hollywood Studios (Everything Else) - 9:31 a.m., 12:01 p.m., 2:31 p.m., 5:01 p.m.
- Magic Kingdom - No observable pattern.
Rules About Selecting FastPasses
In addition to limiting the number of FP+ you can have, Disney has several other rules related to FP+ selection.
- Disney prevents guests from obtaining certain combinations of FP+ reservations. For example, you cannot schedule more than one pre-planned FP+ per attraction. This means that your initial three selections could be Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain, but they could not be Space Mountain, Space Mountain, and Splash Mountain.
- FastPass+ times may not overlap. For example, if you have a FP+ reservation for 2 PM to 3 PM, you cannot make another FastPass+ reservation later than 1 PM or earlier than 3 PM.
- Disney limits the combinations of FastPass+ reservations you can have, preventing guests from using FastPass+ only on the park’s headliner attractions. The practice, known informally as "FastPass+ Tiers," is in effect at Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom.
Here's how FastPass+ works at Epcot: The park's attractions are divided into two groups. For convenience, below we designate the top-tier "Group A" and the lower tier "Group B." (Disney does not have official names for its FastPass+ groups/tiers).
Epcot FastPass+ Group A (Choose 1)
- Epcot Forever
- Frozen Ever After
- Soarin' Around the World
- Test Track
Epcot FastPass+ Group B (Choose 2)
- Disney/Pixar Short Film Festival
- Journey Into Imagination With Figment
- Living with the Land
- Mission: SPACE
- The Seas with Nemo & Friends
- Spaceship Earth
- Turtle Talk with Crush
The FastPass+ system allows you to choose only one attraction from Group A and two attractions from Group B. Group A's attractions are those that typically have the longest wait times; by only letting guests select FastPass+ for one of them in advance, more people are able to get FastPass+ access to at least one of the popular rides in the park.
Also notice that few of the attractions in Group B actually need FastPass+ reservations during most of the year. Waits for every one of these attractions are generally under 20 minutes except during holidays, and in many cases the waits are normally under 10 minutes. Epcot's Group B attractions exist primarily to give FastPass+ users something to use FastPass+ on, and to help distribute crowds throughout the park.
Booking A Last Minute Trip
FP+ availability is limited by hourly rider capacity. Guests booking last-minute trips may find that FastPass+ reservations are no longer available for their favorite attractions. We provide information on the next 60 days of FastPass+ availability on our website.
Why Is FastPass+ Designed This Way?
The FP+ rules are designed to encourage you to stay at a Disney resort, to book your trip well in advance, and to tell Disney where you plan to be each day. These three things increase Disney’s revenue and better deploy its resources. More importantly, by promising lower wait times in advance, they encourage you to spend more time at Disney’s parks and discourage you from making spontaneous trips to other theme parks.
Touring Plans and FastPass+
Our touring plans are designed to support FP+. We’ll give you a step-by-step itinerary, showing you how to see your preferred attractions with minimal waiting. The touring plans can incorporate your existing FP+ reservations and suggest where to use any remaining FP+ opportunities.
You can also update FP+ reservations on the go while you're in the parks. For example, if you change a FP+ reservation from Splash Mountain to Big Thunder Mountain, you can tell Lines to re-optimize your plan based on that change. Lines will then re-compute your plan to minimize your waits for the rest of the day.
How FastPass+ Affects Your Waits in Line
After a couple of years of use, we feel confident saying that FastPass+ has decreased average waits at most headliner attractions and increased waits at secondary attractions, at all four parks.
That said, we’ve heard from plenty of readers whose waits in FastPass+ return lines are significantly longer than expected. The main issues seem to be:
- Guests who show up a few minutes earlier than their reservation start time.
- Guests who expect the FastPass+ system to operate differently than it does. For example, a surprising number of guests think the FastPass system lets them use any 3 rides without a reservation, and that Disney simply keeps track of how many times their MagcBand has been scanned.
Last updated on May 29, 2020
