Fast Pass must dos?

[ang79]

Going to WDW at the end of October for the first time, our girls will be 9 and 6.5. Both love princesses, Tinkerbell, etc. DD1 is not a thrill ride person (for ex. at Hershey Park in PA the wildest ride she will do is the Trailblazer, a small rollercoaster). DD2 loves rollercoasters and wild rides. I haven't been to Disney since I was a kid, so this fast pass thing is new to me! What are some must do fast pass selections for each park for this age?

[acmom]

You mentioned they are into princesses...are you doing a meal with princesses? Do they have favorites that they "must" meet? If so and you aren't doing a princess meal, I would try to fast pass meet and greets for their favorites if they are available (Anna& Elsa, Ariel, Rapunzel& Cinderella, Tinkerbell). Same goes for the Mickey Mouse gang if you want to meet them and aren't doing a meal (you can meet most in one place at the Character Spot at Epcot). You might also want to consider some of the princess attractions/rides/shows for your fast passes if they are high priority for your kids - Enchanted Tales w/ Belle and/or Journey of the Little Mermaid in MK, Beauty and the Beast Show or Frozen Sing a long in HS.

Besides that, here are some of our family's top choices for fast passes...

MK - 7 dwarves mine train, Goofy's Barnstormer, Thunder Mountain (all pretty tame roller coasters, especially the first 2), Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland Speedway

Epcot - Soarin', Test Track (our kids loved this one, but it is a thrill type ride), The Seas with Nemo

AK - Kiliminjaro Safaris (our favorite!), River Rapids (a little more daring), Lion King Show

HS- Toy Story Mania, Star Tours (DD and I actually enjoyed this one as much as DH and DS surprisingly!)

I think the key to fast passes is using them for things that are usually crowded AND are a high priority for your family.

[SummerBaby]

Definitely FP Anna & Elsa and Mine Train in Magic Kingdom. I also second the suggestion of a princess meal. We did Akershus in Epcot when my girls were 5 and 8 and they loved meeting the princesses. Anna and Elsa are only available at their spot in MK, though, so you definitely should FP that. In Epcot you will want to FP Soarin, and do Test Track at rope drop (can't FP both). Both are fairly tame for non thrill ride people (like me, lol). In Animal Kingdom. FP the safari. I wouldn't do Expedition Everest for your older DD- it's terrifying. Your younger one might like it though, lol. For Hollywood Studios FP Toy Story or you will not be able to ride it When we were there in May, even at rope drop the wait was 35 minutes.

If you want more help with suggestions, check out www.easywdw.com. He has some very helpful suggestions about fast passes and itineraries.

[123LuckyMom]

Definitely Toy Story Mania at DHS. Soarin' at EPCOT. Most of the crazy lines are for the roller coasters or speed rides, and it sounds like you're not going to want to ride those. Think about which rides you know are top priority for your family. We always want to do Peter Pan a bunch of times, so we fast pass that, but it's a special ride for us, and others might not care about it that much.


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[anonomom]

If your kids really like princesses, I'd add a plug for fastpassing Enchanted Tales with Belle at the MK. It's a longish show, so there's always a fairly long wait.

Our usual default FP options are:

MK: Enchanted Tales with Belle, Anna & Elsa, Peter Pan (because the line is long and slow-moving).

Epcot: Soarin or Test Track.

HS: Toy story, Star Tours. Only DD1 and DH like Rock & Roller Coaster, so they just head there first thing. Nobody rides the ToT.

AK: Kilimanjaro Safaries, Dinosaur, Expedition Everest (only DD1 and DH).

One important thing: know when your FP booking window opens (60 days for on-property guests, 30 days for off-property), and be online at midnight to make your selections. For some of the most popular attractions (particularly A&E), slots go quickly. And if you don't get what you want, keep checking back. I've heard of spots opening up.

[Mikey0709]

Can I jump on here and ask a quick question too - - not to hijack - but we are also going end of October.

SO if Off-Disney property can book FPs 30 days out.... i guess i need to purchase my advance tickets to do that? is that all I need?

OH this is so confusing to someone who hasn't been to disney in 20 years! At least I don't have to worry too much - cause my kids may be into shows and SMALL rides rather than the thrill ones.

[anonomom]

Can I jump on here and ask a quick question too - - not to hijack - but we are also going end of October.

SO if Off-Disney property can book FPs 30 days out.... i guess i need to purchase my advance tickets to do that? is that all I need?

OH this is so confusing to someone who hasn't been to disney in 20 years! At least I don't have to worry too much - cause my kids may be into shows and SMALL rides rather than the thrill ones.

Yes, you will need to have your tickets and link them to your Disney account before you can make FP reservations. You do not gave to buy your tickets through Disney to do this -- you can buy from, say, Undercover Tourist and link them.

I'm a big Disney fan and my favorite part of the trips is planning, so please feel free to pm me if you have other questions. :-)

[ang79]

Thanks for all the tips! I need to start looking at all of these suggestions and make a list. Our FP window starts Aug. 27 so I'm trying to get on the ball with things!

We are doing the free dining plan and booked kinda late (got very lucky and found rooms for both us and friends we are traveling with at Carribean Beach). I booked a bunch of character meals as soon as we made our lodging reservations since we are on free dining, and now need to decide what we are keeping and how to plan those meals w/ the fast passes. Here is what I have so far, though we may drop one of the park days and just do a relaxing pool day, visit downtown Disney, etc. Also want to check crowd calendars for the parks on these days. Feel free to critique!

We will definately want to do the Anna and Elsa meet and greet at MK and my youngest would probably love the Belle story time. Peter Pan would also be a hit with both I think. Is it a good idea to FP any of the parades/fireworks? Which parks have the best ones? And how is the Frozen sing along at Hollywood?
Monday - Plane lands 6:30 pm
Tuesday - dinner at Garden Grill
Wednesday - have both a 10 am breakfast and a late lunch booked for Hollywood & Vine to see the Disney Jr. characters, need to decide which we want for sure
Thursday - early dinner at Tusker House
Friday - late lunch at Mama Melrose's and Fantasmic that evening
Saturday - mid afternoon lunch at Askershus w/ the princesses
Sunday - early dinner at Coral Reef
Monday - lunch at Sanaa

[flashy09]

Thanks for all the tips! I need to start looking at all of these suggestions and make a list. Our FP window starts Aug. 27 so I'm trying to get on the ball with things!

We are doing the free dining plan and booked kinda late (got very lucky and found rooms for both us and friends we are traveling with at Carribean Beach). I booked a bunch of character meals as soon as we made our lodging reservations since we are on free dining, and now need to decide what we are keeping and how to plan those meals w/ the fast passes. Here is what I have so far, though we may drop one of the park days and just do a relaxing pool day, visit downtown Disney, etc. Also want to check crowd calendars for the parks on these days. Feel free to critique!

We will definately want to do the Anna and Elsa meet and greet at MK and my youngest would probably love the Belle story time. Peter Pan would also be a hit with both I think. Is it a good idea to FP any of the parades/fireworks? Which parks have the best ones? And how is the Frozen sing along at Hollywood?
Monday - Plane lands 6:30 pm
Tuesday - dinner at Garden Grill
Wednesday - have both a 10 am breakfast and a late lunch booked for Hollywood & Vine to see the Disney Jr. characters, need to decide which we want for sure
Thursday - early dinner at Tusker House
Friday - late lunch at Mama Melrose's and Fantasmic that evening
Saturday - mid afternoon lunch at Askershus w/ the princesses
Sunday - early dinner at Coral Reef
Monday - lunch at Sanaa


The Frozen sing a long is wonderful I thought and I didn't need a fast pass for good seats. There is also a Disney Junior stage show that is in a relatively small room so the characters where very close. Don't need a Fast Pass for that. The best trick is to get to MK when it opens as the first hour is really quiet. We rode the Barnstormer as the only people on the ride 3x in a row - never even got out! I always got all my Fast Passes for the afternoon since we got hit most of the popular ones early on before the crowds and just left the few ones that did have an early morning line (like Anna and Elsa) for the FP.

[klwa]

I really like Josh's, over at easywdw, cheat sheets. http://www.easywdw.com/category/cheat-sheets/ He explains which rides/experiences you most need Fastpass for, and then you can make the call for which ones you think your crew would like to do.

At MK, as others have said, FP 7 Dwarves Mine Train & Anna & Elsa.

At Epcot, pick between Soarin' and Test Track.

At DHS, Toy Story Mania and Star Tours.

At AK, Safari & Mickey & Minnie meet.

For the third (and second at Epcot), look at the list of priorities & see which ones you think your kids will like. :)

[rkold]

Personally, I prefer the Hollywood+Vine breakfast, but I'm always paying out of pocket, and breakfast is cheaper. I also just like breakfast as a buffet more. But it's a personal thing. The meal is very well presented for young kids. I can't imagine doing it with teens or without kids. I wouldn't FP+ Tink and would do Peter Pan or Belle instead. Belle gets a very long line except when the park is open late. Peter also tends to get a long line. Since Tink got FP+ and lost her fairy friend, her line tends to be 20 minutes or less. If your kids like Mickey, the sometimes Talking Mickey in the Town Square sometimes gets a long line. I've seen it over 1 hour and I know Touring Plans doesn't seem to realize it's a long line now! Getting a FP+ for A+E can be hard and is definitely worth it, same with 7 Dwarves which is fun and if your DDs can handle the other mountains can handle it.

I love the FP+ for the parade when I'm spending more than 1 day in MK. The location was great and you don't need to show up super far in advance. I was less impressed with the FP+ for the fireworks. When I can I try to get into the Fireworks Dessert Party, though getting in can be hard in Oct because of the parties.

My DD loves the Disney Jr stage show, it's all puppets and there is lots of singing and dancing. I don't like sitting on the floor for 30 minutes.