Plenty of Disneyland visitors spend days in the theme park battling crowds without being aware of the FastPass system; other have the impression that FastPasses are a kind of expensive ticket upgrade available only to a privileged few. In actual fact, anyone can use the FastPass system at no extra cost.
How FastPass Works at Disneyland
Any guest at Disneyland can feed his ticket into a FastPass machine outside a ride’s queue to receive a FastPass ticket. This ticket will have a time window printed on it – say, 10:30-11:30. The time is usually a few hours away from the time the FastPass was obtained. When the time window on the ticket opens, the guest can return to the attraction and enter the FastPass queue, which will shorter than the regular queue and move ahead more efficiently. This means that instead of having to wait for two hours to ride a popular attraction such as Splash Mountain, a FastPasser may only have to wait for fifteen or twenty minutes.
This said, FastPass has limits which prevent guests running around collecting dozens of FastPasses and rushing through 20 rides in record time. Only one FastPass ticket per guest can be obtained at one time, until the time window for redeeming the FastPass tcket has opened. So if a guest obtained a FastPass for the Indiana Jones Ride at 9:00 that was redeemable between 11:00 and 12:30, he would not be able to obtain another FastPass ticket (for, say, Haunted Mansion) until 11:00.
The exception is for tickets with a return time longer than two hours after receipt of the FastPass. In this case, guests can obtain a second FastPass two hours after they got the original one.
Using FastPass After the Time Window Expires
There is no obligation to use a FastPass ticket. If a guest finds herself stuck in a queue or eating lunch during the FastPass window, she will not be penalised or prevented from obtaining another FastPass. Guests who realise they will not be redeeming their FastPasses (particularly if they decide to leave the park early) often like to show some kindness to fellow guests by handing them out to people who will use them.
Cast Members at Disneyland are generally very lenient about FastPasses. Some Disneyland regulars swear that a FastPass can be used at any time during the day once the time window has opened – so, a FastPass technically redeemable from 1:00-2:00 can still be redeemed at 4:00. Others prefer to use the FastPasses no later than an hour or two after their window expires.
Park-Hopping and FastPasses at Disney’s California Adventure
Disney’s California Adventure is opposite Disneyland, and so close that park-hopping is extremely easy. The FastPass systems of Disneyland and DCA are not connected. This means guests can get one FastPass for a Disneyland attraction, then go across the road to Disney’s California Adventure and get another FastPass for an attraction in that park. As the parks are so close, even two rides with identical time windows will probably be doable with a bit of brisk walking!
Disneyland’s Roger Rabbit Ride
For some reason, the Roger Rabbit FastPass machine is not hooked up to Disneyland’s networked FastPass system. This means that a guest can have a FastPass for the Roger Rabbit ride at the same time as a FastPass for any other Disneyland ride (as well as one for a DCA ride).
Which Attractions Have FastPass?
Not every ride at Disneyland has a FastPass machine, as less popular rides usually have fairly short queues. New rides and perennially popular attractions have FastPass – DCA’s California Screamin’ is one example, as is Disneyland’s Space Mountain. The Haunted Mansion has a FastPass system only for part of the year, when it is most popular.
There is no reason not to take advantage of the FastPass system at Disneyland, and knowing the ropes will give savvy visitors an advantage when dealing with crowds. FastPasses can essentially give guests an extra day at the theme park by cutting down on hours in the queue and allowing guests to ride more rides!
Sarah Tennant - Sarah Tennant is a onetime English major who lives in New Zealand with her husband and two small children. Her interests range from ...
Join the Conversation