FastPass Plus and MagicBands: A Better Experience

When Disney announced the switch to FastPass Plus, I was skeptical because it offered less than paper FastPasses. The tiers and limits seemed designed to penalize knowledgeable fans that knew how to maximize the system. Adding FastPass to so many rides also messed with the flow of those lines and raised wait times at second-tier attractions. These concerns were largely justified, and I observed significant changes during our trip in early 2015. I wrote about the challenges and benefits in an article for Theme Park Insider and added more thoughts on this site in August. The results were definitely mixed based on my experience. Even so, I did see potential.

Disney’s pitch with FastPass Plus is the ability to book attractions from the comfort of home. There is no need to scramble to Toy Story Mania or Soarin’ at rope drop! While that promise is mostly true, I saw a lot of glitches in my first experience. After using the system again a few weeks ago, I’ve revised my feelings about it. Most of the issues that I noticed last year weren’t as prevalent. Standby lines moved better, and lines at the in-park kiosks were minimal.

We visited with our two young girls, so we weren’t moving that fast. However, we still used five FastPasses on each day at the Magic Kingdom. I also easily switched times on the My Disney Experience app to match our schedule. Our trip was during Martin Luther King weekend, so it was hardly a dead time for crowds. Even so, there were opportunities to get the most out of our shorter visit. I expect that the extra year has given Disney much-needed time to improve the system. I should note that we stayed on-site this time, so I had better options before the trip.

Be Prepared

Despite a rosier outlook, I’m still not a fan of having to choose the park and rides so far in advance. It wasn’t an issue for this trip because we only had three park days. We spent two days at the Magic Kingdom with EPCOT in the middle. Disney offers a one-hour window and the ability to move times, but it still adds stress. There was one moment where we rushed through eating ice cream to reach Big Thunder Mountain for our FastPass. Instead of relaxing and enjoying the snack, there was pressure that shouldn’t be there. The key is making sure you don’t become a victim to the schedule.

To better illustrate my planning and ultimate experience, let’s take a look at each park day in our trip. I’m starting each section by including my original reserved FastPasses, which ended up changing during our visits. Some adjustments were needed on the fly, but we barely missed any of the top choices on our to-do list.

Day 1 – The Magic Kingdom

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train — 9:20 a.m.-10:20 a.m.
• Peter Pan — 10:25 a.m.-11:25 a.m.
• Splash Mountain — 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

My girls are just shy of seven and three, so it was crucial to minimize walking. We did have a stroller for my younger daughter, but I knew she’d want to walk at times. I decided to begin our day in Fantasyland with the hope to fill in gaps around the FastPass rides with Winnie the Pooh, Under the Sea, and “it’s a small world”. Given the 60-day window of staying on site, I booked FastPasses early with hopes of getting more in the afternoon. That strategy was a good choice, and I’d definitely go that way again.

The first picks were easy since both have long lines even during the off-season. Peter Pan also fit because the entire family could ride it. The tricky part was the third choice since Splash Mountain was a good hike away from the others. We also had a Be Our Guest reservation for 1:55 that afternoon. I decided that we would progress towards Frontierland and then board the train after riding Splash Mountain. Predictably, this plan was too ambitious. It also didn’t consider the possibility of a serious downpour that morning.

As our trip approached, I started getting nervous about the weather forecast. Visiting Walt Disney World in the rain with a stroller did not seem promising. Thankfully, even some torrential rain failed to diminish the fun. It actually was a blessing in disguise because it kept the crowds down. We chose indoor attractions like Philharmagic and Town Square Mickey and even rode Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in the rain. The weather did cause me to switch out our Splash Mountain FastPass for The Haunted Mansion on the fly. The My Disney Experience app worked perfectly and allowed me to make the quick change. After seeing the short standby line for the Mansion, I realized it was a mistake. Even so, being able to adjust on the fly was great.

After lunch, we easily grabbed extra FastPasses for Winnie the Pooh and then for Big Thunder. There were many different options available, even a few slots for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train due to the rain. We experienced quite a lot and even had time to ride the Liberty Belle in the middle. While I kicked myself for giving up the Splash Mountain FastPass when the lines increased, we still had another Magic Kingdom day. We were all set to fill in the gaps after a jaunt to EPCOT.

Day 2 – EPCOT

• Spaceship Earth — 9 a.m.-10 a.m.
• Test Track — 10:20 a.m.-11:20 a.m.
• Seas with Nemo and Friends — 11:50 a.m.-12:50 p.m.

Planning for EPCOT is very simple with Soarin’ down for refurbishment. Test Track is the obvious choice from the Tier 1 options, and only Spaceship Earth is typically needed from the Tier 2 picks. In hopes of not backtracking, I went against conventional wisdom and slotted Spaceship Earth first. We actually had a late start after a long day on Friday, so I ended up moving the time back to much later in the day. This day was designed to be more relaxed, so we weren’t going to push it.

EPCOT was pretty crowded, and I experienced the odd sensation of waiting for Journey to Imagination and Gran Fiesta Tour. The strange part was that our longest wait of the day was in the FastPass line for The Seas with Nemo and Friends. The posted wait time was 20 minutes, and we waited at least that long. It was a rare occasion where something was off with the line movements. It’s possible there were some mechanical issues, so I’m unsure if it was a FastPass problem. Regardless, there were no major hurdles on this day. I’ll be curious to see how the system works with both a new version of Soarin’ and Frozen Ever After up and running.

Day 3 – The Magic Kingdom

• Space Mountain — 9:40 a.m.-10:40 a.m.
• Buzz Lightyear — 10:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
• Big Thunder Splash Mountain — 12:35 p.m.-1:35 p.m.

The benefit of spending two days at The Magic Kingdom was being able to slice up the park. We didn’t even set foot in Tomorrowland on our first day. This time, it would occupy most of the morning. Before we even arrived, Disney notified me by e-mail that Space Mountain was down. This meant that we could use our FastPass for that ride (or a group of others) at any time. We were planning to stay late for the fireworks, so we only strolled up to the gates around 10:30 a.m. We now had the flexibility to do Buzz Lightyear, the People Mover, Space Mountain, Carousel of Progress, and the Speedway in a few hours with minimal crowds.

I wasn’t surprised to have the chance to grab Dumbo FastPasses that afternoon. It’s one of the easier same-day FastPasses to acquire. Even so, I won’t complain about avoiding a 30-minute wait. The shock was being able to reserve another Buzz Lightyear FastPass at night only 30 minutes before the 8 p.m. window. Many people did not stay for the 9 p.m. Main Street Electrical Parade, so we accomplished quite a lot during the evening. Despite it being a holiday weekend, the bottlenecks happened near Splash Mountain.

One continued issue was finding an easy way to incorporate Splash Mountain. We spent the morning in Tomorrowland and then strolled all the way to the other side of the park for that ride. Our path did include an unfortunate stop in a packed Columbia Harbour House, yet it still felt like there should be a better way. Next time, I plan to double up on the Frontierland mountains to avoid the extra walking. The main casualty on this day was skipping The Jungle Cruise. Even so, we enjoyed two parades from close spots and experienced the old-school trio of the Country Bears, the Tiki Room, and Carousel of Progress in a single day.

Speed Is What We Need!

Everywhere you go at Walt Disney World, you overhear constant talk from guests about FastPasses. I’ll admit that it’s easy for me to become obsessed with touring strategy. Whether we like it or not, using FastPasses just keeps becoming more important to a Disney trip. It was refreshing to experience fewer glitches with the system. FastPass lines moved well, and we rarely spent more than a few minutes in line. Test Track was smooth, which was definitely not the case last year. Disney seems to have fixed early issues.

FastPass Plus still increases the standby waits at rides like Pirates of the Caribbean and Spaceship Earth. There was a better balance of the two lines, however. The one exception was trying to do Mission: Space. The posted wait for the Green version was only 20 minutes. After waiting nearly that long and not moving at all, we decided to exit the line. That was my only experience where cast members focused almost solely on FastPass guests while the standby queue stalled. The system will never be perfect, but the delays feel rarer.

Another factor was visiting on a busy holiday weekend. Because they expected larger crowds, Disney was running most attractions with extra vehicles. This meant lines moved better despite more people in the park. Lower standby waits may also have helped with my access to extra FastPasses since many guests didn’t use them. I’m mostly speaking about The Magic Kingdom here. EPCOT and the Studios will be works in progress until they add more headliners. Despite its crowds, The Magic Kingdom seems like the easiest place for maximizing the FastPass Plus system.

A Mea Culpa on MagicBands

Before closing out this long post, I have to admit that I was wrong about the MagicBands. Prior to this trip, I was convinced they were a nuisance and only set up to make guests spend more money. While the second part is partially true, they’re also good fun! My girls are constantly playing with them at home, and it’s a cool reminder of the trip. They also did make it easier to use FastPasses. Not having to find our tickets (or paper FastPasses) was refreshing, especially with kids in the picture. We didn’t have any issues with the bands at the park.

It wasn’t entirely perfect, as our bands had issues opening up our room. I could have tried harder to get them set up right at the hotel’s front desk, but it didn’t feel like a necessity. We didn’t use the MagicBands to buy food or merchandise (except at Be Our Guest), so I don’t believe we spent more. I also didn’t mind wearing it, which is odd since I never wear a watch.

On the Right Track

Despite our successful trip, FastPass Plus many not be the best system for maximizing a Walt Disney World visit. Some attractions just don’t need FastPass and slow down with the system. Even so, this trip was the first time I really embraced using FastPass Plus and the MagicBands. On the second experience, I understood it better and found ways to benefit from the service. I hope it will continue to improve as new attractions come online in the future.

Related Articles – FastPass Plus

Data Science and Disney: Analyzing the Future

The Tomorrow Society Podcast, Episode 18: The Pros and Cons of FastPass Plus

The Joys of Planning a Disney World Trip