Disneyland FASTPASS
Selection Guide
Disneyland Park
·
Space
Mountain this ride is fast and in the dark, you must be 40 inches tall to
ride, this attraction is very popular, and has often distributed all fast pass
by mid-day on busier days and late afternoon on medium days. Expect to have to
return to this attraction about 2 hours after getting the fast pass unless you
get it first thing in the morning, please note this ride has 2 overlays, Ghost
Galaxy (where a scary looking ghost chases you thru the dark ride, during
Halloween time), and Hyperspace Overlay (same space mountain with X-fighter
shown thru out the ride and you destroy a battle cruiser)
·
Indiana
Jones Adventure this ride is fast and jerky, you must be 46 inches tall,
because this attraction is popular, you should grab a FASTPASS early and except
over 2 hour before you can return to the attraction with the FASTPASS,
exceptions are on slow days and if you grab it early
·
Star
Tours (Distributed Next to Buzz Light Year) motion simulator ride, you must
be 40 inches to ride, it is a great first time ride for those that just hit 40
inches, as it is the gentiles of all the BIG rides. This ride is somewhat
popular and you are looking at about an hour return time if you get a FASTPASS,
exceptions of course is if you get one first thing in the morning.
·
Buzz
Lightyear Astro Blasters during slow days they don’t even have this fast
pass machine on, but when they do turn it on, it is not connected to their
system so you can grab a fast pass whenever you want regardless if you have a
fast pass or not. (see below in FAQ for more information) the FASTPASS returns
are usually for 20 minutes later which is what all FASTPASS machines are set
at, whether they gave out enough pass the last 20 minutes or not. Only time this is not true is during the
super busy times.
·
Haunted
Mansion This machine is sometimes turned off during slower seasons, but is
ALWAYS on when they overlay the Haunted Mansion with the Nightmare before
Christmas. When the overlay is on this is a VERY VERY
popular attraction with long waits and long return times, so if you are going
between September and the first week in January, I highly suggest getting this
fast pass early and expect to have a 2+ hour wait to return to the attraction.
·
Splash
Mountain You must be 40 inches to ride this attraction. The FASTPASS return
time is based off of the weather…the warmer it is the
more popular the attraction is so the longer return time. I have gone on
somewhat warm day with return times 20 minutes later, and then on hot days you
can expect 1-2 hours, in the summer, this attraction has been known to
distribute all there FASTPASS by late afternoon.
·
Big
Thunder Mountain You must be 40 inches to ride this attraction. This is the
second attraction, I always recommend trying when your little one finally is
tall enough, it is fun and has more twist and turns but is smooth with no big
drops, plus it’s easy to hold on tight to your little ones as they enjoy their
first thrills. This attraction will sometimes have their FASTPASS distribution
station close on slower days, but not always. It’s rare that your return time
will exceed the 2-hour wait (which is the longest you would have to wait to get
another FASTPASS if your first FASTPASS return time is over 2 hours), this
usually only happens on very crowded days. Most of the time you are looking at
a 20-min return time.
·
Roger
Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin to be honest, this attraction is not my favorite and
I have only used the FASTPASS system maybe a handful of times in the 20 years
this attraction has been open, and I don’t know much about it except what I
have heard. I heard that it is not connected to the system so you can get a FASTPASS
anytime, and then I have heard that isn’t true.
Most of the time if I walk by and see a 20-minute wait for the
attraction I will just get in line, but if its longer I don’t even bother…but I
know if this is a once in a life time trip or not often you would want to hit
this ride. I would say if the wait is over an hour grab a fast pass.
·
Fantasmic! This FASTPASS
is not available right now as the show is down due to Star Wars land being
built, but when it is open, you can picked up the FASTPASS
near Big Thunder Mountain. All show tickets are not connected to the system and
may be picked up at any time, but they should be picked up relatively early,
and for sure early on busy days if you want to see the show.
California Adventure
·
World of
Color night time show, distributed near Grizzly River Run. This FASTPASS is disconnected from the system, which means you may have this FASTPASS and get another at the same time. Because of this you can grab a FASTPASS whenever, I usually suggest when you are
near Grizzly River Run. Unless you are there on a very busy day, they usually
have FASTPASS for the show all day long. On very busy days I would suggest
getting there before noon.
·
Radiator
Springs Racers (Distributed near It’s Tough to Be a Bug) You must be 40
inches to ride this ride. This is another great ride for your child that just
hit 40 inches to go on, as there are no big drops and except for the race at
the end, it’s a very calm ride. This is also a very VERY
popular ride. Even on slow days, FASTPASS will conclude for the day before
noon, and on busy days within an hour or two of the park opening, so I highly
suggest getting this FASTPASS first thing in the morning. Your
return time for this ride will more than likely be over 2 hours even if you get
it first thing in the morning unless you happen to be in the front of the fast
pass line, a line that starts to form even before the park opens.
·
Soarin’ Over World you
must be over 40 inches for this ride. This ride takes you high up in the air so
if you have a thing about heights, you might want to skip it but it is so
beautiful. This ride is 20 minutes long so the wait is hard because the line
doesn’t move for 10 minutes or so (there are two theaters and they try to
stagger them) and then it moves a lot as each theater can hold over 100 people.
FASTPASS return times for this ride are usually about an hour on low to medium
crowd days and can be over 2 hours on busy days.
·
California
Screamin’ only ride where you must be over 48
inches tall, because of the loop. This attraction usually has a short FASTPASS
return time, (about 20 minutes). Again unless it’s a
very crowded day then you can see longer wait times but rarely even on super
busy days have I scene this attraction be over 2
hours for a return time, and on slow times the wait for the ride is usually
faster than the posted return times if you grabbed a fast pass at that point
·
Goofy’s Sky School you
must be 42 inches tall for this ride. This is a strange ride, the drops look
huge, but most kids I take on this ride who are tall enough love it. Sometimes
the FASTPASS distribution is turned off because the wait for this ride is too
short. With that said it is rare for you to have to wait more than an hour for
your return time to this attraction, even on busy days.
·
Grizzly
River Run you must be 42 inches tall to ride this ride. Which is strange because my son says its less
scary than Splash. This ride is like splash, based on the weather is the wait,
the hotter it is the longer the return time would be, and sometimes on really
hot days they conclude giving pass for the day.
·
The
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (soon to be renamed Gradian of the Galaxy Tower) you
must be 40 inches tall to ride this ride. Because it is closing in January for
the new ride, it is very popular and has long wait times, once it is renamed…I
may update this, before the renamed the wait time was average of about an hour
most of the time with 2 hours on busy days, but right now this attraction has
been concluding for the day by midafternoon.
Some FAQ:
How does it work?
Insert your ticket or annual pass into the FASTPASS distribution machine (which
is usually located next to the attraction unless noted above). The machine will
give you one FASTPASS per ticket entered in the machine. Everyone wishing to
ride the ride must have a FASTPASS.
How much do FASTPASS
cost? This question is asked more often than you think, and the answer is:
NOTHING! The FASTPASS system is free for everyone to use. Now if you want to
enter the FASTPASS line without having to get a FASTPASS or wait for your FASTPASS
to be good…then you must pay for VIP tour, which is very costly…think $300-$600
an hour, with a minimum booking of 6 hours in a day. (but it is good for up to
10 people…lol)
How many FASTPASS can
I get? You can get as many FASTPASS as you like, but you may only hold one FASTPASS
at a time. The exceptions are: show FASTPASS which are disconnected from the
system and Buzz Light Year Ride. Another exception is if the return time for
your current ride is more than 2 hours from when you pulled it. Also, you can
grab another FASTPASS as soon as the first FASTPASS return time window opens. I
often recommend getting your next FASTPASS before going on your current FASTPASS,
unless no attractions are nearby while you are going on the first. Please refer to the example below
Please note that if you got the FASTPASS at let say 1:00 pm,
it would say another FASTPASS ticket will be available at 1:40 PM.
Somethings to keep in mind
- FASTPASSES are on a first-come first served bases. I noted some attractions which often disturbed all their FASTPASSES for the day. Disney released so many FASTPASS PER 20-minute window, and when they reach the time for the end of the day for that attraction they stop giving out FASTPASS.
- FASTPASS systems work independently of each other, which means you can have a FASTPASS for a ride at Disneyland and then immediately head to California Adventure and grab one there, but the walk is rarely worth it, unless you are limited to one day at the park I don’t recommend doing this.
- Note when your FASTPASS expires, Disneyland has been extremely strict lately with not allowing people to use expired FASTPASS, exceptions are if the ride broke down during your FASTPASS window.
- Little ones (age 2 and under) of course will not have a FASTPASS as they don’t have a ticket, but since children under the age of 7 always needs someone over the age of 14 to ride with them, they except everyone else to have a FASTPASS.
