How to Get Six FastPass+ A Day at Walt Disney World
By Dave Shute
One of the frustrations expressed with Disney World’s new FastPass+ program is that unlike in “legacy” Fastpass program–which is now gone–guests are limited to three FastPass+ per day.
Moreover, at two of Disney’s parks–Hollywood Studios and Epcot–FastPass+ are “tiered.”
For example, you can have only one of Soarin and Test Track among your three Epcot FastPass+, and only one of Rock n’ Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania at the Studios.
In fact, getting around these FastPass+ limits is quite easy. Just throw money at the problem.
GETTING MORE THAN THREE FASTPASS+ AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
The key is to realize that the limit is not three FastPass+ per person. Rather, it’s three FastPass+ per active ticket.
The basics are simple: buy two tickets per person, enter the park twice, using each ticket once, and you can book six FastPass+ per person.
For example, on Friday I entered the Magic Kingdom at about 3p using my four day hopper and booked at a FastPass+ kiosk the rides shown above.
Then I got on my phone, and using my annual pass–which is linked to my MagicBand–I booked the same three rides (because I was also testing using this technique to ride the same ride more than once in a day using FastPass+) another 3 times. Then I exited the park, and re-entered using my MagicBand/Annual Pass combo.
And there you have it–six FastPass+ in a day.
Then I rode them all–I just needed to keep track of which FastPass+ was on my ticket and which on my MagicBand!
(Well, actually, I used both my FastPass+ for Space Mountain, but only one each for the Jungle Cruise and Enchanted Tales with Belle–I’d seen each recently enough to not need to do them twice within an hour…hey, this was a test, not a human sacrifice!)
I did the same thing Saturday at the Studios. First, about noon, I booked the above on my hopper.
Then I booked three more on my MagicBand/Annual Pass combo. This time I was testing the ability to get more than one Tier One, and I wanted to ride Tower of Terror twice.
So I ended up on Saturday with two FastPass+ for Tower of Terror, and one each for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania, Star Tours, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid.
Now this is an expensive solution to a problem most people won’t have. Families following one of this site’s itineraries and going one of its recommended weeks simply don’t need to do this.
But other families–those on very short trips, those going during one of the four or five most crowded weeks of the year, those who want to sleep in and arrive at the park after noon, but still see all the best rides–may find this approach worth thinking about.
Disney World is already remarkably expensive, and adding just another two-day ticket for a typical family of four will cost more than $750…or a little more than $30 per “extra” FastPass+.
For many, there’s no way the extra FastPass+ will be even remotely worth this extra cost–and for others value for money won’t matter, as the extra money just won’t be there.
But for others, depending on the circumstances noted above, and willingness to pay, the chance to ride Space Mountain again–or even at all–without waiting in the stand-by line will be worth it!
Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!
66 comments
Have already booked a package for a Disney property room (GF), 5 day Park Hopper tickets for the three of us this March/April-Spring Break/Easter. Am considering purchasing additional Magic Band Park Hopper tickets through Undercover Tourist for the same days that will hopefully enable us to reserve an additional 3 FP tickets in each park per day and additional tickets after the initial three are used. I called Undercover Tourist and inquired as to doing this and the woman I spoke to said it is not possible to do b/c 1) fingerprint scan done at park entry will not allow for 2 MB to be linked to one person and you need the MB scanned at the park entry to use FP in the park even those “reserved” 30 to 60 days out. 2) The MB is linked to MDE but what would prevent someone from opening another MDE account? My husband could have one with a different email address etc. and no one would know which bands are tied to which MDE. Does DW have anything against doing this? Would we simply wear one band into the park on opening, have it scanned, turn around and exit and wear the second band on re-entering? Do we have to scan the same finger, all fingers, can we all wear a band aid on the one finger/hand we used for the first MB and use the other hand? Crazy, I know but I would really like to obtain extra FP even if I am shelling out more $$$.
I have also read we could attend a time share presentation that would give us FP but the info. I have been able to find on line appears outdated and I don’t know if Disney is still doing this or would be during the busy time period we are there. Any help, suggestions, input is GREATLY appreciated!
Mary, I have not tried this in a couple of years so can’t give you a solid answer. It should work, but may not. You don’t have to use the same finger, and there’s no rule I can think of against having two sets of tickets.
you don’t even have to leave the park and come back in. we bought 2 annual passes for each of us. and we just enter the park once but book both bands with fast passes, they don’t keep track of weather or not you actually entered the park, the only time it even checks your tickets is when you go to reserve your fast passes, if your pass or ticket isn’t valid it won’t let you book them, we do this all the time, another tip, each “band” or ticket is a different account for the sorcerers of the magic kingdom game at Magic. so if you have 2 passes you can claim cards at the fire station, then go to the back where the other sorcerers of the magic kingdom station is and claim another set on your other account.
Thanks, Tammi!!
Hi- my family of four is heading to the beach club for 5 days in oct. i had been thinking of trying the above mentioned double banding but am still unsure about how to go about this. i plan to get a 5 day park hopper and link to my ‘normal’ mydisney login which has my resort stay, dining, magic bands, etc… and book 3 fast pass+ 60 days out. then was thinking i’d buy an additional 5 day park hopper and link to the ‘extra’ mydisney login (different email and mailing address) and book 3 fast pass+ 30 days out. getting me the 6 fast pass+ as mentioned by others. i am still confused as to whether or not we need to actually exit and re-enter the park right away with the extra magic band (or even just the plastic card/ticket)? can we just enter with our normal magic band and then use the magic band for the 60 day out fast passes and then use the extra magic band or just plastic card/ticket for the other 3 fast passes? i have asked this question to a few people and have gotten varying answers….i was naively assuming we would need to scan both sets of bands at the entrance to ‘activate’ our fast passes and so the ticket for admission registers that we have entered…? also, for those out there that actually wore two bands at the same time when trying this method, was there any issue with that while entering? i was imagining having to swap the bands in and out of my backpack to as to not be wearing multiple bands at the same time. thanks for this great forum by the way. huge help
Dmac, I have not tested this in a long time but it should work. Note that you don’t need two sets of bands–just use the bands from the hotel for first set of tix and the credit-card shaped tix you’ll get from your second purchase. This will help you keep things straight.
I am of the opinion that you have to go out then re-enter with the second set of tix. I may be wrong, but all you have to do is test it once to be sure…
Just a touch confused, let’s assume I’m planning on going to WDW 2 times in 3 years. So I understand fist set of MB and tickets for first trip. If I purchased future tickets with plans to hold them for 3 years until second trip and got 2nd set of MB link them with tickets then at 30 days mark book 2nd FP and just use 2nd MB and not redeem 2nd tickets?? Then still be able to use tickets in 3 years?
Mark
Mark, I’m not sure what you are asking. This page is solely about simultaneous use.
Hi Dave,
I thought of this exact same plan, but have not tried it yet. I’m considering doing it this year when we go during christmas and new years which is an extremely busy time. My question is this…If I enter the park with my normal band that I got with my vacation package, can I can keep the extra bands in my pocket and then use them once in the park or do I have to leave the park, come back in with second set on to activate them in that particular park?
Steve, I haven’t tried it that way.
steve- re: extra bands, i had asked many many folks the same question and heard equal amounts of people telling me to exit and come back in with 2nd set of bands as have told me that you can simply use the extra set for the fast pass without the need to ‘activate’ them at the entrance. i almost pulled the trigger on buying an extra set of bands for the family, but in the end opted to hire a reasonably priced guide to join us for our MK and HS days and to customize plans for Epcot and AK instead. the math on it worked out to be a LOT less than buying the bands, and the guide certainly comes with a lot of extra knowledge of other strategies and park info (as well as their own set of extra fast passes with their own annual pass bands). just wanted to let you know. i am sure Dave can connect you with/suggest some great guides, maybe even Dave himself?
I love pushing the limits…it’s not something to feel bad about. It’s a competitive world and the people that don’t want to exert extra effort or energy have less advantages, just like in anything..
My plan for a 1 day visit to Magic Kingdom: have two separate my disney experience accounts. Two sets of magic bands for each person. I will have purchased 2 single day admission tickets per person. I will make 3 fast pass plus reservations for each set of bands. I will only use one set of bands to gain entry to the park. I will use all 6 fast passes while at the park. Then the next time we visit Disney, I will still have a set admission tickets that haven’t been used.
Will this plan work!? If not, I will use both sets of admission tickets the same day. It’s worth it since we will only be there one day…
Thanks Dave!
I have heard this will work, but have never tried it myself–I’ve only tried the two admissions, come in with one, go out, and re-enter wit the second tix approach.
Disney’s comment:
Olin: I can only give you the policy surrounding FastPass®+, I can’t really speculate as to how to get around the policy.
parently completely offendd and morally outraged, Dave [or anyone :)] I’m going to WDW the second week of March (crazy busy, I know). Do you know if this double tickets-doublpe FastPass thing still works? I called WDW and asked if I could buy a second set of tickets and have them linked to my resort reservation. The first lady I spoke with was very friendly, pleasant and Disney-esque. Unfortunately, she didn’t know the answer and passed me onto hsed.SHe further sternaly cautioned me that I would be “caught” by biomeanother cast member. The second lady I spoke with was not very Disney-esque! At first, she was completely confused and thought I wanted to add some days to my park hoppers. After several sustained efforts to explain my question, she finally understood what I wanted to do and was apparently trics.offended by the proposal and filled with moral outrage, yikes! She very curtly informed me that booking six FPs for one person is against the rules regardless of how many tickets that person has purchased and went on to sternly caution me that the bio-metrics would “catch” me (Geez, I was just asking a question!) With the greatest respect, she didn’t seem very bright and I’m not confident about the veracity of the information she gave me. I have to say, I cannot understand why Disney wouldn’t want the extra funds. I am, however, persuaded (as Dave anticipated above a couple of years ago), that the WDW system cannot handle two sets of theme park tickets for the same person on the same reservation. That means having to book the second set of FPs 30 days before instead of 60 days before. Anyway, given what the grouchy lady said about “getting caught” by the biometrics, I am a little wary. I’m still toying with the idea of purchasing separate theme park tix which would mean one set of FPs would be on a magic band and the other set would be on a plastic card. Has anyone tried this recently? I note that Dave first posted this clever idea more than 3 years ago so I’m concerned that Disney’s system may be a little different now than it was back then. Any insights would be much appreciated. BTW Dave, thank you so much for the wonderful information on this incredibly helpful site!
Susie I have not tried this for years, so really can’t give you thoughtful advice I have confidence in, but am sorry that you got fussed at…
Thanks anyway Dave, I think I am going to bite the bullet and give it a shot. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks again!
Just wanted to let you know how this went. Before I purchased the second set of tickets, I carefully read the fine print a couple of times and I couldn’t find anything in there about prohibitions re: having two sets of tickets at the same time (I mean, really why would they object? It’s more money for them). I had purchased both sets of tickets on sale and because of that, I had to pick both sets up at will call (they could not be purchased together with my resort room). Even though I am confident that I didn’t do anything sketchy, I still didn’t want to cause a fuss (especially after the cranky lady o the phone, lol) so I picked up the two sets of tickets separately. We arrived fairly late the first night so we went to the Disney Springs Welcome Center and got our first set of tickets added to the Magic Bands from our resort room. The next day, we purchased extra magic bands (note that we had magic bands from previous visits but they are all connected to one another and you cannot “erase” previous use—so I cannot give an old magic band to a friend to use). So we purchased new magic bands and took them to the will call window just outside the Magic Kingdom entrance (that was actually very convenient because the will call window is AFTER security and bag checks so we didn’t have to go through that line twice.) Anyway, we got the lady at the will call to consolidate our tickets with our extra magic bands and that was it. We each wore one magic band on one wrist and one on the other. I purchased them using two different email addresses and when I needed to check something, I just signed out of and back into My Disney Experience with the other email address. When double checking so we’d know which band to use before we got on the ride (you do really need to keep track of that), we identified the magic bands by email address (“Winnie the Pooh at 10:45am is work email” or “Toy Story at 3pm is home email”).
I would note a couple of things: First, if you’re getting two sets of tickets, you probably won’t need Park Hoppers. However, there is a new feature they were running when we were there (not sure if they’ll keep it or not). They have started running “Express Busses” from INSIDE the four main parks that take you inside another park. You can only get this service if you have a Park Hopper and you do have to pay extra for it (you can get same day service for about $18 or you can get 7 consecutive days of service for about $30). Note also that while a bus leaves approximately every 10 minutes, busses to specific parks only leave every half hour (so from the Magic Kingdom, you will have a bus going to the Animal Kingdom every hour and half hour, a bus going to EPCOT at 10 minutes after the hour and 40 minutes after the hour and a bus going to Hollywood Studios at 20 minutes past the hour and 50 minutes past the hour.) It can be a really great feature if you’ve planned things extremely well. The last bus leaves when the park you are in closes (we tried to watch fireworks at HS and then get a bus to EPCOT which was open a couple of hours later but we missed the bus by about 3 minutes). Using the bus service saves time in that you neither have to walk outside the park nor do you have to go through security and the entrance line again. But you do need a Park Hopper if you want to purchase this feature.
Also, while Disney prohibits scheduling Fast Passes closer than one hour before or after the next or previous Fast Pass, you will be able to schedule your Fast Passes much closer together if you buy two sets of tickets. But be careful! If you’re going on the same ride twice in a row, you can literally schedule them at the same time. However, some rides are very far apart. Typically, a Fast Pass will allow entrance 5 minutes before the designated time and 15 minutes after the designated time (although apparently sometimes it can be even a little longer than that—but I cannot attest to that personally—I think that when you go late, your designated time pops up on the cast member’s monitor and the cast member has the discretion to either let you in or turn you away). Just be sure you have time to get from one attraction to the next. If you cannot figure out the distance from a Disney map, I would stick to no less than 45 minutes between Fast Passes unless it’s the same ride.
Also, while you do not need to buy Magic Bands for your tickets in order to use your Fast Passes, I would strongly recommend it. It just made things so much easier. What I wouldn’t do is bother to decorate them with the little Magic Band charms they sell at Disney (they fall off the Magic Bands with alarming speed!)
Note that you do not appear to need to “enter” the park twice. We were able to use both magic bands to access our Fast Passes even though we had only used one Magic Band to enter the park.
Finally, Disney seems to constantly update their technology and might tweak things just enough to make this whole approach unworkable at any moment. I would strongly urge anyone contemplating this to carefully read the fine print before purchasing the tickets—when I bought them, while there was plenty in there about not sharing or transferring tickets, there was nothing in there about using multiple tickets at the same time. But you never know when that might change.
Thanks again Dave! Love your site!
Susie, thanks so much for your detailed report!!
Evening All
What are your thoughts on activating all the tickets on the same my disney account, but giving the ‘extra set’ a slightly different name? E.G Set 1 – Hannah, Set 2 – Hanna? So you can see all the FP bookings without having to log in/log out?
Hannah I have not tried that, but can’t think of why it would not work!
My family will be cruising and will get one day park hoppers through the cruise. I won 4 one day park hoppers passes at a fundraiser, but since we will be cruising instead I’m wondering. . . Can I enter Park #1 using my comp tickets with pre booked FP’s and then enter Park #2 with the cruise tickets? I’m willing to activate both tickets so I’m not trying to get more FP’s on just one ticket.. (The comp ones will expire before we go back the following year.) Or do I walk in with one ticket and scan finger and then walk right out and use the other ticket and another finger? I’m reading on other sites that you can no longer use FP’s on profiles that weren’t used for park entry so just trying to figure out the best way to navigate that. Thanks.
Goyabean, I’ve never tried the two parks approach but can’t think of any reason why it would not work.
I have 2 questions:
1. If I buy 2 sets of tickets and only use one set to get into the park, won’t Disney block use of FP’s from the 2nd set since they weren’t scanned to get into the park?
2. If I try to counter this by exiting and then re-entering with the 2nd set, won’t Disney’s fingerprint scanners identify that the same fingerprints were used earlier in the same park on the same day, but tied to different tickets?
Thanks!
Rob, first I have not tried this in several years, so take this with a grain of slat. Yes, as the post notes, you would re-enter and re-scan. Second, the fingerprint scan is actually of just a few features, and is used solely to link a set of tix to a set of data. It is not meant to keep you from possessing two sets of tix. Disney is happy to sell you two sets of tickets, just as it is happy to sell you a pair of connecting rooms, even if you “could” fit into a single room.
I’ve also used this system very successfully in a slightly different way. We stayed at Beach Club Party of 5 with a 7-day ticket and booked 3 per day at 60+ days, got everything I wanted. Then bought an entire different set of 7-day passes as an “off site” guest and booked that set 30 days out, which allowed me to get Test Track on top of the Soarin’ I already had and Rock n Roller on top of Toy Story Mania plus two Tower of Terrors. At MK I had double Mine Trains and Space Mountain plus Thunder and Splash one day, Peter Pan and Buzz another. The extra FPs allow you to rope drop mid-tiers, the combination of those benefits set you up for so much success that we were able to relax midday at the awesome Beach Club pool on the days we were at nearby Epcot and HS. As for cost, yes it is an extra expense but as long as you are staying for an extended period the cost drops dramatically each day. It ended up costing us around $1700 for all 5 but that was about $15 per FP and saved so much time. But more important than getting on more rides, we spent almost NO time in lines (and this was between Christmas and New Years!). You can think of $1700 as double the cost of admission. OR you can think of it as adding about 11% to the cost of your trip. After all, we don’t enjoy flying on airplanes, so for people who aren’t near Orlando flights and hotel are really also part of the price of admission. This added like I said 11% to the cost but allowed us to pack pretty much two trips into one.
A couple notes: 1) the 11 percent number would go up a bit if you are staying at a moderate or got a better price for your flight than we did at the holidays. 2) adding to the conversations above, we always entered each park twice although I’ve heard it may not be necessary. We didn’t find this difficult. Usually we did it at rope drop, managed to go in, out and back in again before park opened. We did not even bother using different fingers for the scanner. They are linking one finger to one ticket to prevent that band from being transferred, but it is not a Big Brother system where they know that finger is already in the park.
Thanks Dan!! In retrospect–did you need the full seven days on the second ticket? Much of the year–but perhaps not during your dates–I’d think three or four days would be plenty–although the way days 6 and 7 are charged for, I suppose it does not make a ton of difference.
Thanks, Dave.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think Disney *wants* (or permits) anyone to have 2 sets of tickets for the same days (even if this makes them more money). This is why Susie above was saying the Disney rep was telling her she couldn’t do this.
It sounds like the key is whether Disney has advance their biometric system to the point of being able to identify the same person using 2 tickets on the same day.
The main purpose is to prevent 2 people from using the same ticket, not preventing our little “hack.”
Of course the risk is buying 3 sets of additional tickets for a week, and if the biometric system DOES set off an alarm, we’re out $1000+.
Well, they certainly permit them, nor is using two sets forbidden in the terms of service–which is the only material evidence on “wants.” (I never take seriously a single report of what a cast member says, as I’ve been doing this long enough to know that bad cast member info is rife, from the combination of complexity and poor training). That said, as I noted, I haven’t done this in a while, so can’t affirm from my own experience that it will work. If it doesn’t, you are only “out” if you never return, as otherwise the cost of your unused tickets can be credited to future tickets.
First a comment: everything I’ve read say they just use fingerprints to connect to tickets/annual passes. Technically it would be an invasion of privacy to use that data to compare to see if it was used more than once. But after reading the privacy policy several times it doesn’t look like they do that.
I saw one comment about a guide with an annual pass and that they gave them their fast passes for that day…. Now for my question… has anybody tried this:
buying two annual passes (two different Disney accounts, activating one, scheduling fastpasses for both then reassigning the fastpasses to activated account as they use their original fastpasses?
Hi Jinxy, that’s an interesting yet overwhelmingly expensive solution–you could do this for much less money.
Leave a Comment | Ask a Question | Note a Problem