With just 49 days to go (at the time of writing) until my 2017 Disney world Florida vacation, I thought I would do a mini update blog on my Disney planning, focusing this time on Fastpasses!? BECAUSE we have just booked all of ours for our entire trip!! (Thumbs!!) ??
Okay so as Luke and I are staying on Disney property this year we got to book our Fastpasses (FP) 60 days in advance, instead of the 30 days allocated to guests who are not staying on Disney property. I didn’t realise just how much of a big difference this would make, seeing as the previous 2 years we had only been able to book 30 days in advance, so I really didn’t know any difference.
Booking your FP’s couldn’t be easier, the following key steps can be used as a (UK) guide:
- Download the Disney World app or visit the Disney World Website
- Create an account by clicking here or if you have an account you can login by clicking here.
- Once logged in you’ll need to link your Disney resort reservation or ticket reservation number with your account (depending if you are staying on or off park) this can be done here.
- Once logged-in with your tickets linked you’ll be able to reserve Fastpasses 60 days before (check-in date) if you’re staying on Disney property or 30 days before if staying off Disney property. To start you’ll need to click on FastPass+ in the MyDisneyExperience section or click here.
- Please note (at the time of writing) UK residents can start adding FastPasses at 12pm GMT on the 60th or 30th day.
- Next you need to click on add FastPass+ and follow the on screen selections based on dates and what park you’ll be visiting.
Using the app makes everything a whole lot quicker, plus when you are actually on your vacation this app is a godsend, letting you know what reservations you have and what time, as well useful things like park maps and parade times.
We logged into the My Disney app at 12pm last Saturday (exactly 60 days before we are due to travel) it took us 20 minutes to book our FP’s for our entire holiday. We even managed to get Frozen Ever After (Epcot) and Seven Dwarf’s Mine Train (Magic Kingdom), which were not available to us the previous 2 years.
Planning your Disney trip is so important when it comes to booking FastPasses, you really do need to know what park you intend on visiting in order to book the passes. The most popular rides will get booked up first, and these MAY be harder to obtain, although I might add it pretty much was only Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Frozen Ever After that we were not able to get, the rest of the rides we did manage to FP.
They have a brand new attraction at Animal Kingdom this year which is of course Pandora-The world of Avatar. Luke and I really didn’t think that we would be able to get any FP’s for the 2 new rides, Flight of Passage and the Na’vi River Journey even with the 60 day advantage. We were both very surprised that we actually did get FP’s for Flight of Passage, and actually both were available, but because the tier system we could only choose one (we went for the one with the best reviews). Luke has since checked the availability for both and there are none left!
I have to give full credit to Luke who is very good at making sure that he is sat at the laptop and is on it as soon as we able to book the passes. He always does well and manages to get us everything we want! But we do book with a plan already written out (preparation is the key!)
We love planning our vacation together and if you have caught any of my previous planning blogs, you will know that we start planning a good 5-6 months before we are due to go. I like to think I am the brains behind the planning project, although Luke would probably disagree (men!!) but I can’t deny that when it comes to dining reservations and FastPasses Luke is the guy!!!
I would recommend researching your rides before you go, as you really do not want to waste a FP on a ride such as Prince Charming’s carousel which usually has very little wait time.
End of Blog Tips
- Staying on Disney property gives you a 30 day advantage over guests not staying on Disney property, with the ability to book FP’s 60 days before Disney check-in. This really can be the difference of getting a FP or not, and could end up standing in line for 80-90+ minutes for the most popular rides. Deciding if you want to stay on Disney property needs to be early on in the planning process.
- Creating an account and linking your reservation number early can save you a lot of time and potential issues, don’t leave it to the last minute 🙂
- FP’s for UK residents can be added at 12pm on the 60th or 30th day before check in.
- Know what rides are most popular before you go and what rides you want to FP