So What is FastPass?

Friends of ours posted a facebook message describing their 4 hour wait to visit leading ladies Anna and Elsa from the Frozen movie.  When I read her comment I thought YIKES!  4 hours waiting for a few minutes with my daughter’s beloved princesses?  How are we going to carve such a chunk of our precious time out of our visit to the Magic Kingdom in a couple weeks?  The answer – Disney’s FastPass.  In Disney’s own words:

“Disney FastPass+ service makes your vacation better than ever by allowing you to reserve access to some of your favorite Walt Disney World experiences before you even leave home. Choose from more than double the previous number of experiences and skip the standby queue at the attractions that you selected in advance, and—for the first time ever—FastPass+ service includes select Character Greetings, shows, parades and fireworks.

In order to use FastPass you’ll need to purchase your park tickets and set up a Disney account at disney.com.  Login to your account and select FastPass+. From here, you’ll be able to select 3 FastPass options per park per day, after which the disney site will provide you with a suggested itinerary for your three requests suggesting an arrival time in the space of an hour for each engagement.  For instance, the following is our FastPass schedule at Magic Kingdom for one of our days:

Meet Ariel at Her Grotto   2:25 PM – 3:25 PM

Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid   3:40 PM – 4:40 PM

Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall   4:55 PM – 5:55 PM

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As long as you arrive between the suggested times, you’re all set!  Access your FastPass information under the “My Disney Experience” link at the top of the Disney.com site.  With a little advanced planning, your trip will go a bit more smoothly and save you plenty of time wasted standing in line.  As with all Disney attractions, even FastPass availability can be limited for popular experiences like our aforementioned Frozen princess visits so buy those tickets and set up your fast pass selections far in advance to ensure a spot.