Affordable Disney: Saving Time with FastPasses

Do you remember these? Many years ago, when they were first introduced, FastPasses at Walt Disney World were a big hit. The first generation of FastPasses allowed you to go to the ride of your choice and at any of the kiosks outside of each ride, use your park pass to get a paper FastPass with a specific, assigned time for you to return. Then all you had to do was to come back at the appointed time and with a short wait, you were able to enjoy a popular ride.

One of the problems with this was that when you first arrived at your park each morning, someone who was quick on their feet had to take everyone’s park passes and make a run for the kiosks to get all the FastPasses. So not only did you have to get to the parks when they opened in order to get a FastPass, but someone was usually making a mad dash across the park to get to your attraction of choice. And you couldn’t generally get additional FastPasses until you used the one you had, meaning running to get FastPasses was something you were doing throughout your day.

Fast forward to today and things have changed! Now 3 FastPasses can be made 60 days before your arrival to Walt Disney World for Disney Resort Guests (30 days for everyone else), and is easily done via the My Disney Experience app. Of course, change is sometimes hard, so when the new FastPass system was introduced, many folks said “This is going to take the spontaneity out of the trip”! While in some ways this is true, a better way to look at it is it is a huge time saver! Now instead of running to your favorite ride in hopes of getting the times you wanted (and then waiting to do that ride before you got another one), your times are in place when you arrive, and are something you picked that work with your time frame for the day. I think back on the “old days” with the wasted time we spent just getting the FastPasses we wanted. That first hour each day was spent trying to get the FastPass we wanted and hoping we got the time frame we also wanted. So many wasted hours each day!

Another benefit to the current FastPass system is the ability to change the times for your rides, even while you are at the parks! Didn’t get the ride and/or time you wanted originally? Keep checking as it may show up later! What if you arrive at a ride that you selected a FastPass for and there is no line? Cancel that sucker and schedule one for a different ride instead!

I’m not sure how you are, but when I go to Walt Disney World, part of the fun and the anticipation for me is the planning. An important part of the planning is deciding on which popular rides you would like to make sure you have minimal waiting. Deciding ahead of time and planning your day (even if it’s somewhat loosely) is such a time saver. I enjoy the ease of knowing about where I am going to be and what we will be doing each day. This in turn allows us more time each day to stop someplace new, or see a new show or enjoy a parade without trying to run and get a new FastPass all day long.

So, the next trip you want to take, spend a little time ahead of the trip and get an idea of what and where you would like to spend each day, and then schedule your FastPasses. Spending a little time before you leave will save you hours once you are at Walt Disney World to enjoy the spontaneity of seeing something new in each park.

Stay tuned! Next time I’ll be discussing saving time to make the most out of your vacation dollars!

Find out how the FREE services of a Disney World travel agent can make planning your Disney vacation simple and STRESS FREE! 

Debbie and her husband live in Collegedale, TN where her youngest son is going to college. She is a huge Disney fan who dreams of someday retiring and working as a tour guide at Walt Disney World. She has enjoyed many trips to WDW with children, grandchildren and sometimes adults only. It is her ultimate goal to make sure everyone who visits WDW has the same magical time that she enjoys every time she visits.

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