A series of very important upgrades will be made to your FastPass+ experience at Walt Disney World very soon at Walt Disney World. Some of these changes have been rumored for some time, but we finally have a date for the changes…
Tag: Fastpass
Fastpass+ at Epcot
When using FastPass+ in the parks, it is always recommended to not book any fastpasses in the first 2 hours of the day. The lines in the park are a lot lighter at this time and the Fastpass+ is usually not needed. It is best to use FastPass+ later in the day when the crowds arrive and lines began to grow long. FastPass+ in Epcot has a tiered system. You are only allowed to pick one attraction from the first tier, and two from the 2nd tier. The following is a list of the rides that you should get FastPass+ for in Epcot in order of longest wait times:
Tier One:
Soarin
Test Track
Mission Space
Tier Two:
Spaceship Earth
Meet Disney Pals at Character Spot
The Seas with Nemo and Friends
The only two rides at Epcot that really need a fastpass are Soarin and Test Track, but unfortunately, you only get to pick one of them. My advice is to choose one of them and ride the other one immediately at park opening. Mission Space is probably the third best ride in the park in most people’s opinion, but it is a very distant third. (As of the writing of this post, Soarin is currently closed for a long refurbishment. When it returns, the video will change from Soarin over California to Soarin over the World. There will also be a third theatre added to the attraction.)
The second tier at this park is a big drop off from the first. Spaceship Earth is definitely worth a ride if you have never rode it before, but my family only rides it once every 4 or 5 trips. It’s not a bad ride, but for me it is not worth waiting more than 5 minutes. Since it is located in the Epcot ball and very front and center, the line there tends to be very long. I can only imagine that first time visitors see this as the first ride when they enter the park and think it is a must do since it is the icon of the park. I would recommend riding it if there is no wait or you have a fastpass, but do not feel bad if you decide to skip it. I would normally not suggest a Character Meet for a fastpass, but there is really nothing else here to use your fastpass on in this park. You have an extra fastpass selection; you may as well use it somewhere. The Seas with Nemo rarely has any weight at all, but again, if you have nothing else to use your fast pass selection on, you may as well use it here.
FastPass+ at the Magic Kingdom
When using FastPass+ in the parks, it is always recommended to not book any fastpasses in the first 2 hours of the day. The lines in the park are a lot lighter at this time and the Fastpass+ is usually not needed. It is best to use FastPass+ later in the day when the crowds arrive and lines began to grow long. FastPass+ in the Magic Kingdom is fairly straight forward, there is not a tier structure that is present in some of the other parks.
The following is a list of the rides that you should get FastPass+ for in the Magic Kingdom in order of longest wait times:
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Anna & Elsa Meet
Peter Pan
Space Mountain
Big Thunder Mountain
Splash Mountain
Storytime with Belle
Buzz Lightyear
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is this most popular ride in the Magic Kingdom. In all our visits to the Magic Kingdom since the Dwarfs Mine Train was open, our family has never been able to secure a fastpass for the Mine Train. The line for this ride is rarely less than an hour. If you are not able to secure a fastpass, make sure you are one of the first people “on the rope” at rope drop and go straight to the ride. After only 5 minutes of park opening, this ride line is an hour long.
Anna & Elsa Meet regularly had waits in excess of 5 hours when they first arrived at Magic Kingdom a few years ago. The waits have reduced significantly, however; along with the Mine Train, this is one of the attractions that everyone rushes to at park opening. If you are unable (or unwilling) to get a fastpass for this attraction, I would plan on watching the ride time throughout the day. I would plan on waiting until the wait time goes down to about 30min. During busier times of year, the wait time expectations may be closer to 45 min for a “short wait” for this attraction.
Peter Pan is another ride in fantasyland that frequently has a really long wait. The line does not grow quite immediately as the previous two attractions. Without a fastpass, you could get in line immediately at park opening without much wait. If you do not immediately get in line at park opening, you should expect to wait no less than an hour for this ride. Peter Pan is definitely a nice ride and a classic, but it is really hard to understand how people would wait so long for a 30 second ride. I personally would either plan on getting a fastpass, riding it first thing at park opening, or just do not plan on riding at all.
The Mountains (Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mounatin) are typically not very busy first thing at park opening. If you would like to save your fastpass+ for other rides, you can plan on riding the mountains without much wait within the first two hours of park opening. Space Mountain tends to be a little more unpredictable and should be rode first, or get a fastpass if you only plan on using one fastpass on the mountains. Splash mountain typically gets a long wait as it gets warmer in the day, and may not get much of a wait at all during cooler days.
Storytime with Belle is on the list because it creates a unique dilemma. The wait time is typically low in the morning, but it is not advisable to see in the morning because the attraction typically takes 30 to 40 minutes. It is not a great idea to waste 30-40 minutes in the morning when you could otherwise experience 3 or 4 rides in that time.
Buzz Lightyear is a favorite for my family, but I would not recommend wasting one of your first 3 fastpasses on the ride. After using your first 3 fastpasses, you are able to go to a fastpass kiosks in the park and add an additional ride one at a time. As you can imagine, the rides that are available at this time are normally rides that don’t require a fastpass to ride. Buzz lightyear is usually a ride that is available, but may still have a fairly decent wait otherwise. Another great way to ride buzz is to wait until late in the evening. If you wait until after the parade and fireworks are complete, you can generally ride Buzz over and over again with a wait of 5 minutes or less.
What about parades and fireworks? I have never been one to wait on the curb for hours waiting for a parade, or standing in the middle of Main Street for 30 minutes or more for the fireworks. I have seen people pay $70 a ticket for the Halloween or Christmas party then walk in and sit on the curb for 3 hours to wait for the parade. If you are one of those people, you may want to use your fastpass for parades and fireworks, but I cannot relate. 
Mouse Guide To Walt 