Disney Makes More Changes to its FastPass+

Disney has made another significant change to it’s FastPass+ selection process that addresses a common complaint voiced by guests. Effective, May 18, 2016, the Disney FastPass+ selection window will now open at 7am Eastern Standard Time, instead of the previous time of 12:00 a.m. This allows for guests to choose their FastPass selections at a more convenient time of day, rather than in the middle of the night. Guests may select their FastPass selections up to 60 days before check-in for those staying on property at Disney World resorts and up to 30 days for those not staying on property, but have purchased a ticket.

Having recently needed to make selections at 12:00 am, I am happy with the change. For those of us who are not night owls, the change is welcome news. However, those on the West Coast, will now feel the pain. Previously, they were able to make selections at 9:00 pm PST and now will need to make their selections at 4:00 am PST.

What do you think? Is this a good change? Let us know in the comments below!

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FastPass – 5 Things We Love and 5 Things We Hate About It

Got a love-hate relationship with the FastPass system? Maybe you can relate to our sentiments…

We LOVE the FastPass system because…

1. It is Fast.

The name is the definition. A fast pass will zip you past those 60+ minute lines, right on to the ride of your choice. How did anyone ever do Disney without FastPass? I guess they just did a lot more waiting in line. I will always and forever LOVE FastPass more than I hate it, simply because I hate lines more than I love them.

2. It is Convenient.

With the addition of the My Disney Experience App technology, reserving FastPasses is a breeze. The fast pass concept has been around for awhile, but you had to actually be present at the ride, pull out your tickets, push them individually into the machine and wait for it to spit out paper fast passes for a future time slot. (Don’t lose them!) Then, you couldn’t get another fast pass until the first one was used. Now, you can actually reserve THREE FastPasses from the comfort of your own home, well in advance of your travel (or on the way to the park if you’re spontaneous). Simple clicks get all your party the same reservations, and there are no more paper tickets to keep track of, thanks to Magic Bands.

3. It is Changeable.

If your day is shaping up differently than you originally planned, changing the time or attraction of your fast passes is easy. No longer are you tied into being in a certain place within a certain time window (unless you want to be). You are the boss of your schedule and you can make decisions on the fly – based on availability, of course.

4. It is Free.

Unlike the dinner reservation system, there is no charge for cancellations or no-shows. It’s totally free! Of course, it’s always courteous to try to cancel fast passes that you don’t intend to use anymore since others might be able wanting that time slot.

5. It is Unlimited.

Or rather, you are not truly limited to just three. Once you have used your original three fast pass reservations, you can go to a FastPass kiosk and reserve additional fast passes – one at a time – for available attractions.

We HATE the FastPass system because…

1. There’s a limit.

Fast passes are the best! Why can we only get three? Why not let us just plan out our entire day in fast passes? That would really be magical! Actually I get it…there are only so many FastPass slots to go around – otherwise they’re not fast. If I got 20 then someone else wouldn’t get any. OK. Sigh.

2. There are tiers.

When reserving fast passes for Epcot and Hollywood Studios, you have to pick from various tiers based on popularity. Meaning, in Epcot you cannot get a fast pass for both Test Track and Soarin’. That stinks. I actually do wonder about the reasoning in this, but it probably again has to do with spreading around the fast pass wealth and keeping them truly fast. We’ll just have to trust the system.

Bonus Tip!

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3. Those kiosks.

We reserved the original three fast passes on our phones. Why can we not reserve additional fast passes on our phones as well?! Instead we need to locate a kiosk that may or may not be close to our location. However, an upside can be noted by remembering the past system…at least we don’t have to go to each individual ride any longer, right?

4. The flawed “copy.”

Often when trying to reserve popular fast passes, we will make reservations for one person in the party and then use the “copy” feature for the other members. This is helpful because while there may not be six passes available for 9:00am, there could be three passes at 9:00 and three passes at 9:15. The system will do that if you “copy” individually. Perfectly awesome. However, the flaw comes when the system notifies that “one or more of your fast passes are unavailable at this time”. Which leads to several pertinent questions…which ride? multiple rides? what time? am I wasting my time? I do wish we could see some type of fast pass inventory grid and choose accordingly.

5. It’s not chocolate covered.

Just kidding. But really, there’s just no real reasons to “hate” FastPass. Sure it has a few minor things we wish were different or better. But Disney is always changing things…we may see an even better system before long. Overall FastPass is an awesome system and one that helps guests have a more magical visit than ever before.

FastPass for the win! Love it!

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