FastPass for Dummies and Smarties - A Photographic Explanation

[HydroGuy]

When you go to a FastPass (FP) enabled ride at DLR there will be three lines.

1. Standby line - this is just the regular line

2. FastPass Distribution line - this is where you get your FPs

3. FastPass Return line - this is where you use your FPs

In some cases all three lines are right next to each other (such as Space Mtn) while in other cases they are all in three different areas (such as Splash Mtn). When they are in different locations like Splash it can be a little confusing where to find each line. Ask a Cast Member for help.

Below are pictorial links to California Screamin' at DCA on what this looks like. Some of the pictures are a bit blurry - my apologies. I had to use my DS13's digital camera which is just not very good. Someone misplaced my Kodak and I did not have it with me.

We were at California Screamin' (CS) at 10:57AM. See:

At CS the Standby and FastPass distribution lines are right next to each other - see

In the above link you can see that the regular Standby line was about 20 minutes long. The CS FastPass Return line happens to be about 15 feet to the right - see

So at 10:57AM you can see here

that the FastPass return window was 11:35AM-12:35PM. The FP windows start off the day 40-45 minutes away from the present time and then, for popular rides, extends further out as the day progresses. For example, on this particular day we got a Space Mtn FP at 3:05PM and the return window was 8:40-9:40PM. However, in the summer of 2005 all of the Space Mtn FPs would have been gone by 3PM because of its popularity.

To get a FP, enter the FastPass Distribution line (the one on the left for CS) and there will be 5-10 FastPass machines. See

Take your entrance ticket that you used to enter DLR and insert it into the slot. See

After a few seconds a FastPass will spit out. See

Take the FP and your entrance ticket (do not forget that or you will be hating life) and then either get another FP for someone else in your group or just leave.

The FP will look like this:

Here you can see that the by the time we actually got to the FP machine and got our FP the window had moved out 5 minutes to 11:40AM-12:40PM.

Also read at the bottom of the FP the next time you can get another FP. It will always be at least 40 minutes away but never more than 2 hours - at least as long as DLR maintains the current FP rules.

In this case the next FP time would be 40 minutes away - or 11:40AM as printed at the bottom of the FP.

Come back after 11:40AM to use this FP and go to the FastPass Return line. See:

To learn more about how to use FastPass see:

"The Joy of FASTPASS - details and secrets" - http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5720

Also see my FastPass write up here:

"Getting the Most Out of FastPass During High Season" - http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=885132

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Who are you calling a Smartie?! Oh, wait...not me!

Thank you! As usual, you are most helpful!

 

[blackjackdelta]

Boy did I hate myself.

Jack

 

[tirby]

OK so I have never used the FP before (BUT WILL NOW) After three days of using the ticket to get the FP does it get all crumpled (for lack of a better word)? Do we need to be sure the park hopper ticket stays nice and flat so the FP machine can read it? Thinking of the kids here?

 

[Hound 109]

OK so I have never used the FP before (BUT WILL NOW) After three days of using the ticket to get the FP does it get all crumpled (for lack of a better word)? Do we need to be sure the park hopper ticket stays nice and flat so the FP machine can read it? Thinking of the kids here?

Great Question!

For my family, I was the keeper of the tickets (& the FP).

- Tickets & FP stayed in my wallet...period. (Prior to packing i removed 1/2 of wallet contents, making it lighter & opening up several "slots")

- When we got to either Gate, I handed all four "park hopper" tickets to person & all 4 of us walked in. (note - when we left for our "afternoon breaks" we would get our hand stamped...this might answer a further question).

- Me carrying all tickets was not a problem (for us) because we "toured" together.

- When at the FP machine, I would insert our Park Hopper tickets (one at a time) & my 7 y/o kid would grab them as they "spit out" (one at a time). Before leaving the area (i would take a step away from the machine - so others could use it).... I replaced the Park Hoppers into wallet & insert the magical FP's into one of the "empty slots" in my wallet. I did NOT leave the area until Hoppers/FP & wallet was in my pocket.

This worked for us & insured the Park Hoppers remained crisp (& handy).

(I'm also thinking that even if "splitting up", once one gets their hand stamped, then they can return w/o the Hopper in hand...perhaps someone can clarify this.)

Using the Park Hoppers efficeintly (& reading all of HydroGuy's Tips) saved my family hours of time (& made for a less stressful trip). Also, I found HydroGuy's final link (above) "Getting the most out of FP during High Season" to be most helpful & informative - no matter what time of year.

hound

 

[tinkermell]

OK...being a lady here, and who is usually in charge of Fastpasses, here is what I do. I get all of the fastpasses for everyone in family. I try to wear jeans or capris that have 2 pockets on either side. One side is for DL entry tickets, and one side for Fastpasses. It keeps evrything simple and separated, and nobody can take them as they are on my person the whole time. I think at one time I had 6 different Fastpass attractions for 8 people!! I'm sure that people who didn't know about Fastpasses and how to use them, were wondering what in the world, when they would see me take out all of the passes, choose which ones to use, and then distribute them to my family! Oh and each Fastpass ticket is a different color so that helps alot!

 

[HydroGuy]

I have never had a problem with damaged entrance tickets, but they do have magnetic strips and most people advise you to keep them away from things like cell phones which might damage them electronically.

If for some reason they do get damaged, but you still have them, you should be able to get someone to replace them for you at guest services.

The most important thing is to have a system for keeping track of entrance tix and FPs, as discussed by Hound and Tink.

Here is what I do. I am completely paranoid about losing our entrance tix, and slightly paranoid about losing the FP tix. I have a ticket holder that I wear around my neck. It is designed for travelers and has compartments for things like passports, etc. It has a see-thru covering on one side with a zipper compartment. I place all entrance tix in the see-thru compartment, then I can always quickly peak thru and see them - which helps with my paranoia. Here is a pic of me with my ticket holder: http://hydroguy.smugmug.com/gallery/934438#42789082-L-LB. You can see that I also put park maps in there.

You can find these at travel stores inside malls. I tried to find them online, and I did, but it is hard to tell what they are really like from pictures. So I buy these at malls.

I place all the FPs in another compartment inside my ticket holder.

 

[FallDisney]

We use lanyards with the plastic holder at the end. We keep our tickets, fast passes, etc. in them. No worries about anything getting crumpled, torn, lost, etc.

 

[tirby]

Thanks! I am so glad to read all of this. It just makes things so much easier. And Paranoid yup thats ME!!

 

[Brian_WDW74]

We use lanyards with the plastic holder at the end. We keep our tickets, fast passes, etc. in them. No worries about anything getting crumpled, torn, lost, etc.

I've used lanyards too and haven't had any problems. But people might want to be aware of this warning posted on Mousesavers under "Lost Tickets":

A Disneyland Cast Member told Sue Pisaturo of Small World Vacations that many, many people lose their tickets by putting them in lanyards (ID card holders hung around the neck). The ID card holder portion is usually made to snap off, and frequently lanyards also have a "breakaway" feature for safety purposes. Unfortunately, these features can easily result in lost tickets. I've lost my ticket this way myself! It's better to keep your tickets in your wallet or a deep pocket.

As I said, I haven't lost tickets this way, but it's something to keep in mind.

*Brian*

 

[Kaiya]

Definitely assign one person as the "Fastpass Runner". Preferably someone who you would give thousands of dollars to hold onto with confidence! (ie the cost of your tickets, which for us was 11 x $160).

YES, it does take that 1 person a little longer to get the fastpasses, as was pointed out to my husband by a line up of 10 people from one family waiting to each get their own fastpass , but their line-up caused much more congestion and took up more time than my DH getting all of our fastpasses at once!

 

[cedarparkgirl]

I have a question.. if we send a runner for our group of 5 (my husband and I being the only adults, and the other 3 being 5, 4, 4), and grab fast passes for all of us knowing my kids will not use them on the more scarier rides, can my husband and I use theirs so we can double up and not have to grab another FP later in the day?

 

[Kaiya]

Yes, we did this throughout our vacation. Fastpass machines hand out passes for all tickets, not just adult tickets, and do not specify which type of ticket was used to get the pass - so - go for it! We had 6 adults, 5 kids, 3 of which could not or would not go on some of the fastpass rides, so we used them up. (although the 3 yo met the height requirements for SpaceMountain, Big Thunder, etc of 40" she sometimes didn't want to ride so we used them) Worked great! Have fun and Happy Planning

 

[cedarparkgirl]

TY! This will help with my planning. We are leaving Spring Break so the less running around and maximizing time and energy is going to help us so much. TY.

Also I notice this thread was started in 2005, are there any updates regarding the system for 2007?

 

[DizzylandDeb]

I already bought our tickets for our trip in June, but there isn't a magnetic strip on them, just a bar code. Is this the new style now or what?

 

[HydroGuy]

TY! This will help with my planning. We are leaving Spring Break so the less running around and maximizing time and energy is going to help us so much. TY.

Also I notice this thread was started in 2005, are there any updates regarding the system for 2007?

This thread was started in summer 2006, and it is still current.

The linked thread in the OP "Getting the Most Out of FastPass During High Season" was started in 2005 and is actually still current also.

There are some subtle differences now that are not very important for your purposes but I will mention. One is that there was an Enhanced FastPass available in 2005 which is no longer available. Second is just a matter of FP timing. In July 2005 Space Mtn re-opened after a 2+ year refurb, and it was wildly popular. That meant that the standby lines for the ride were very long, and FastPass availability (how long FP were available into the day) was minimal (SM ran out of FPs at 1-2PM). Now things have settled out and FPs last longer into the day and the lines are not as long for this ride.

SM is still one of the more popular FP rides at DL and it, along with Indy and Splash, should be the priority for FP gathering in the morning hours.

 

[sbowman22]

I have seen some posts, I believe by HydroGuy stating you can use these tickets anytime. Some people state they save until the evening time when it is the busiest. Is this true? Why do they right a time down if you can use it anytime? What is your experince with it?

Thanks

My 6 year old son and I will be at Disneyland from 11/24/08 - 11/27/08.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

I have seen some posts, I believe by HydroGuy stating you can use these tickets anytime. Some people state they save until the evening time when it is the busiest. Is this true? Why do they right a time down if you can use it anytime? What is your experince with it?

Thanks

My 6 year old son and I will be at Disneyland from 11/24/08 - 11/27/08.

This is true. The fastpass cannot be used BEFORE the return time stated on the pass, but it is good for any time after that. It must be used on that date only; it is good only on the date printed.

I figure they print a return window (start and end time) to encourage folks to use the pass within that timeframe; however, they will honor it later than the window indicates.

 

[HydroGuy]

I have seen some posts, I believe by HydroGuy stating you can use these tickets anytime. Some people state they save until the evening time when it is the busiest. Is this true? Why do they right a time down if you can use it anytime? What is your experince with it?

Thanks

My 6 year old son and I will be at Disneyland from 11/24/08 - 11/27/08.

as A2kmom said, you cannot use them anytime. But you can use them during the one hour window or thereafter. Why do they allow you to use them late? Somewhere along the way they decided there were so many reasons people might not make it back in time and, in the spirit of customer service, they made a policy to accept them after the one-hour window.

 

[Lorelai]

We are making our first trip to Anaheim in July and have one, maybe two days at DL**very excited**! I'd like to get to DCA also. I was planning one park a day. However, it seems like the vibe on Disneyland hopping leans towards being much less stressful than WDW hopping. So maybe one full day at DL and then a half day at DCA and the rest back at DL. I really can't even imagine what this will be like as I only know WDW. But i am sooo excited!

My question is...is it a crap shoot as to what the time will be posted for you to get your next FP, or are certain rides associated with longer pauses between passes? It seems like 45 minutes to 2 hrs are possible.

With three kids and only 1 to 1 & a half days in DL, I do not want to waste time. I am already terrified at the prospect of how long the meet Rapunzel line may be. One of us has to wait in that line with our daughter because it is the #1 thing she wants to do. So we are married to that line no matter what.