One of the things that you will first notice when you start planning your Disney World FastPass+ choices is that some are more difficult to get than others. Just as some Advance Dining Reservations seem impossible to get, you will soon discover that not all FastPass+ are in equal demand either.
FastPass+ can seem impossible to get for those sought after rides. Frozen Ever After is one of the hottest FastPass+ tickets in the whole of Walt Disney World.
However, before you give up on the quest for the most elusive of FastPass+, let us share with you our very best strategies, tips and tricks for snagging the ones that you want.
When Can You Make FastPass+ Selections?
The FastPass+ allows the general public to make selections up to 30 days prior to the day they want to experience the attraction.
However, if you are staying at a Disney World Hotel Resort you have a very big advantage. Really the only way to get some of the more popular FastPass+ selections, if you are visiting at a popular time, is if you stay at a Disney World Hotel. If you are staying at one of the Walt Disney World Hotels you can make your selections up to 60 days prior to your stay. It gets better.
Once you have reached that magic 60 days prior date, you can make your FastPass+ selections for your entire stay. For example if you are staying for 7 nights you will be able to make FastPass+ selections for all of those days as soon as the 60 day prior mark is reached.
How Do You Make FastPass+ Selections?
You can make FastPass+ selections using the MyDisneyExperience App or Website. You will have to sign up for a MyDisneyExperience account, but this is easy and necessary if you want to secure those difficult to get FastPass+ choices.
You can also make FastPass+ selections at a kiosk in any of the Disney Parks. We do not suggest waiting until you are in the parks to do this. Many of the popular FastPass+ simply will not be available if you leave it this late. Also, you have to wait in line at the FastPass+ kiosk. It seems a little ironic that you have to wait in line in order to avoid waiting in line.
How Many FastPass+ Selections Can You Make?
You can make 3 FastPass+ selections per day. Once you have used these selections on the day, or the final FastPass+ time arrival window has passed, you can make another one.
When you are eligible to make another FastPass+ selection you can do this at a kiosk on on your mobile device. We recommend the mobile device, unless you are having connectivity issues. You will have to stand in line if you use a kiosk.
Tips To Get Those Difficult FastPass+ Selections
There are some FastPass+ selections which are very difficult to get. These include:
Frozen Ever After
Test Track
Soarin’
Toy Story Midway Mania
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
We suggest that you prioritize these. If you want to ride Frozen Ever After it is essential that you make this FastPass+ selection first. It is by far the most difficult to get FastPass+.
There are many others which are worth getting, but these are the most popular and difficult to get.
The first step is to get online as soon as you can to make those difficult to get FastPass+ selections. The selections reset at 7 am Eastern Time.
This is pretty bad news for those not on Eastern Time! If you are on the West Coast it means starting at 4am! However, if you are making FastPass+ selections from the UK or the rest of Europe you have an advantage. The time difference works to your benefit as you will be making FastPass+ reservations around noon when it opens.
You can get online at 6.55 am. and log in. You can either refresh your screen or log out and log back in again exactly at 7 am.
If you are staying at a Disney World Hotel your FastPass+ selections will become available 60 days prior to your arrival – for your whole stay. Your odds are much better of snagging a difficult to get FastPass+ at the end of the stay. This is simply because this time frame is open to less people. If you know that you are going to Epcot on Day 5 and you want that Frozen Ever After FastPass+ we suggest you target that first as your odds will be increased.
Go for the most difficult to get FastPass+ first. There are some which are easy. You really don’t need to prioritize these. You can do those once you have secured the difficult ones.
Sometimes if you can’t get FastPass+ for all of your group you can try again for just one person. If the FastPass+ then shows up you can try using the copy feature to add the other people in your party. This may work better than trying to add all of your party at one time.
What Time Should You Book FastPass+ Selections For?
The aim of FastPass+ is to save you the most time possible spent in line. The logical thing to do is to try and get your Fast Pass+ selections at the time when the park is busiest. We suggest that you try and aim for FastPass+ selections between 10 am and 3 pm. This will give you a chance to ride the busiest attractions with the longest lines at peak times.
Remember too that once you have finished your 3 FastPass+ selections you can get another one. Ideally you would want to be finished mid afternoon so that you have a chance of getting another one. It is true that it is unlikely that you will get a difficult to achieve selection this late in the day. However, it does mean that you get a chance of getting another FastPass+.
Check Again and Again
People do change and cancel their FastPass+ reservations. It does happen, but you will have to persevere.
Disney also do not release the entire FastPass+ allocation for every ride on the first day that the selections are open. This means that if you keep checking back you could get lucky and snag one of those hard to get FastPass+ selections.
We are not suggesting that you keep checking every day for 60 or 30 days. This could border on slightly obsessive even for those of us who really must get a FastPass+ for Frozen Ever After.
When is the best time to check again? We cannot say for sure, but we seem to have had the most success early in the mornings. We have even successfully got an elusive Test Track FastPass+ on the same day. It is always worth checking – just don’t let it take over your life!
You should definitely check if Disney World announces an extension to park hours. This sometimes happens and then new FastPass+ are released.
Strategies if you Don’t Get Your Favorite FastPass+
Sometimes it just doesn’t work out. That elusive FastPass+ just isn’t going to be yours. You have checked and rechecked (even in the park on the day) and it just isn’t going to happen.
Fortunately all is not lost. You can still experience the rides.
If you are a Disney World Resort guest you can use the Extra Magic Hours and prioritize the ride that you must experience.
Some very popular rides have Single Rider Lines which you should use. Test Track is one of those attractions which you really should consider using the Single Rider Line.
Another tactic is to get the park for rope drop. You will be there before most guests. Make your way as quickly as possible to the chosen attraction and get in line. Or target your chosen attraction when many others are doing something else – during a parade, fireworks, or peak meal times.
Get in line just before the park closes. Just as long as you are in line prior to closing time you will be able to experience the ride.
Good luck getting those difficult FastPass+ selections!
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