Walt Disney World's FASTPASS Service.

Quick "What Is It?"  

FASTPASS is a way of making a reservation or appointment for a ride or show so you can come back later and nott have to stand in line for a long period of time.

There is no additional charge or cost. All guests may use it.

New! FASTPASS Going Electronic (No Paper Coupons)

Guests staying at one of Disney's resorts may make FASTPASS reservations on line after booking their stay, up to 60 days in advance of check in day.

Guests staying off site or who did not make advance FASTPASS reservations may make the reservations at kiosks inside the park.

1.  If you have a standard magnetic stripe ticket, you will need to go to a ticket booth and exchange it for a RFID (electronic) ticket which is about the same shape and size. This can be done without entering a park that day. If you have a Magic Band (RFID bracelet) then you can optionally have your ticket associated with that instead of carrying a ticket card.

2.  Instead of inserting your ticket into a turnstile or other machine, you press the ticket against a designated spot (target) at the entrance gateway or on the FASTPASS kiosk or other machine.

3.  Reserving ride times on the same day you are in the park works roughly the same way as fetching paper fastpasses and in addition you have some choice  with some limits as to when during the day you want to come back and ride. A touch screen with instructions is provided at the kiosk. You may reserve more than one ride at the same time.

4.  To reduce conflicts with restaurant reservations (ADRs), the system will disallow selecting FASTPASS times too close, timewise, to any restaurant reservations you may have made.

5. Some limits are planned as to how many times you can use the FASTPASS system over the course of a day. Currently the system is limiting guests to three FASTPASSes per day, all in one park. This limit might change on days the parks are not too busy.

6. You still need to come back and ride during the time interval (time window) your reservation was made for. You will be able to review your times at a FASTPASS electronic kiosk or by using a smart cell phone, or you can write down the times on a piece of paper.

7.  Currently, guests who made FASTPASS reservations in advance may not make additional reservations at kiosks on the park but may change the reservations they made. In the future there may be a way of integrating advance FASTPASS reservations with same day reservations, for example allow same day reservations after all of the advance reservations have been used.


Reminisce! Read about how FASTPASS used to be, using paper coupons. Click here.


Expired FASTPASSes

Fastpasses need to be used during the time interval designated for them. Some exceptions are granted on a case by case basis But it is at least a good idea to plan on coming back near the beginning of the time interval.

Here are some exceptions we feel should be honored:

1.  The ride is out of service or there is a very long line of guests waiting to use their FASTPASSes, probably the result of the ride's being out of service. In other words you were unable to hop on the ride with little or no wait as the brochures state. Seek out CMs nearby including, if necessary, a supervisory CM for assistance before leaving the area to go and do something else.

2.  A reserved event (meal, haircut, etc.) took much longer than expected, notably because there was a long wait after your reservation time to be seated. Here you should bring the cash register receipt to the ride.

3.  You experienced some other large and unexpected delay such as at another ride where the actual wait time was much greater than that posted at the entrance, or the ride stopped while you were on it. It would be a good idea to seek out a supervising CM at the ride where the delay occurred.

If CM's at or near the ride are unwilling to revalidate your FASTPASS if this happens, you may refer the matter to Guest Relations. Some recent guest communications have included the words, "If your experience with FASTPASS was less than satisfactory ...". We feel that if the matter goes this far, Guest Relations should be willing to give you two FASTPASSes, one to replace the one that expired and the second to make up for the time going to Guest Relations.

On some days, if the ride goes out of service for awhile, FASTPASSes for that ride will be honored any time later that day.

Intricacies may be added later to the FASTPASS procedures so that an expired FASTPASS might not be honored if it appeared as if you could have gone on the ride near the beginning of the time interval but voluntarily did not do so, for example you took time to see the parade.


VIP Privileges

Most rides allow isolated seats or parts of a bench to go empty if the next group of people can't all fit. Test Track at Epcot is an exception, they fill every seat whenever possible. In addition to the FASTPASS line, Test Track has a third line for "single" riders. If your group does not mind being split up, you can use this line for what is usually a shorter wait. The ride attendants make a conscienscious although not perfect effort to split up groups who use the single rider line.

Some VIP passes, called "re-entry" passes, are issued. They are used like FASTPASSes but do not have a usage time stamped on them. They are used mostly to accommodate guests caught in a ride breakdown. I got one for Test Track when I took a backstage tour (extra cost) at Epcot which included some behind the scenes views of Test Track.

Currently (2010) VIP passes, privileges, and perks consume a negligible part of the capacity of rides at WDW, probably less than one percent. Often the VIP entrance is via obscure doors and corridors or by "walking up the down staircase". Rumor has it that Disney may some day take a significant part of ride capacity for VIP use, which might include guests staying at some of the pricier resorts, or guests who purchase a card or coupon book. VIP riders would probably enter via the FASTPASS line since the obscure doors and gates  would require too much supervision.

According to Corey Sandler, author of the Econoguide book series, "Universal Studios in Orlando has offered a limited quantity VIP four hour visit with line cutting privileges. Up to 15 people for $90.00 apiece or $900.00 for a group of 11 to 15 you assemble yourself (1997 prices), go with a tour guide. This tour does not include lunch."

Universal Studios does not offer a "free" service similar to FASTPASS. Guests staying at one of their hotels receive unlimited "front of the line" privileges via separate entrances similar to Disney's FASTPASS lines. Guests can also purchase a coupon that allows one "front of the line" entrance for each participating ride. The cost varies with anticipated crowds.

Critics have said that selling FASTPASSes and also granting extra ride privileges to resort guests, will reduce the number of FASTPASSes available to all guests from the machines before the machines are "sold out", and force guests who did not purchase these books of FASTPASSes to wait in lines longer and more often. We cannot blame Disney for this as Disney is a profit making corporation.


Go to top of this page

Go to our main Disney page

Contact us

All parts (c) copyright 2001-2013, Allan W. Jayne, Jr. unless otherwise noted or other origin stated. All rights reserved.

If you would like to contribute an idea for our web page, please send us an e-mail. Sorry, but due to the volume of e-mail we cannot reply personally to all inquiries.