My friend Mike is a Disney and travel expert and has written extensive Disney content here at The Coupon Project. I recently reached out to him to see if he would discuss strategies for using Fast Passes. As we know, in Disney – time IS money! With that, here’s Mike:
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It’s not the first question, or the most common question I get about going to Disneyland, but it’s definitely seems to always be the last question. When I help my clients (and friends) plan their trip to Disneyland, I ask if they’d like to talk about touring and Fast Pass. Most people shrug it off in that moment and probably say to themselves, “That’s Future Me’s problem!” Well you’re leaving for Disneyland next week and “Future Me” is now you!
Some folks have heard about Fast Pass, and even fewer have heard of the next generation Max Pass (like if Fast Pass had a kid who is now 16 and quietly scoffs when you ask how to do something on Facebook). No matter where you are with your Fast Pass knowledge, there’s a surge of understated panic when you consider the crowds and lines you are about to face. Even if you’ve used Fast Pass in the past, there’s trick to the trade that can help you tour like you’re a So Cal local and zip past the crowds and lines.
What is Fast Pass?
As the Mad Hatter says, let’s start at the beginning. Here’s an example. You walk up to Space Mountain at 11AM and you see the wait time is already over 180 minutes. Ouch! But you love Space Mountain (because you have a functioning soul). You could wait in line or come back later. You have the distinct feeling that the line won’t go down until the end of the night (when you want to be watching fireworks). Sigh.
But then suddenly you see a row of kiosks that say “Fast Pass” right next to the entrance. It also clearly says “Fast Pass Return Time” and displays 210PM to 310PM. You walk calmly over, as to not signal others to this fortuitous find, and you scan your park ticket at one of the kiosks. A new ticket is printed out with the Space Mountain logo. It repeats the time you are to return between 2 and 3 and also says when you can get a new Fast Pass. In this case, it says 1PM.
You go leave Space Mountain with a spring in your step. You ride Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, you grab some corn dogs from the Little Red Wagon, you ride the Matterhorn Mountain, you get off the Matterhorn and wish you had flipped the order of the last two things (milk was a bad choice), you sit and watch the Disneyland Band and compose yourself.
Now it’s just about 210PM. You head back to Space Mountain and see the line is now over a 240 minute wait for the standard line. But you see the Fast Pass entrance, you walk over, hand them your park tickets, they scan it to verify your Fast Pass, and you walk right by everyone. You spend maybe 10 minutes in line before you are zipped around Space Mountain.
