This Trick Helps Score Last-Minute FastPasses and Reservations at Disney World

in Disney, Park Secrets, Walt Disney World

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app

Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

No, this isn’t clickbait or some sort of a gimmick. No, there isn’t some supersecret pay-to-play situation. This is just a simple trick that guests can use to score some awesome last-minute FastPasses (FPs) at Walt Disney World. And it is a secret Walt Disney World Annual Passholders do not want other guests to know about.

By using this trick, I was able to score day-of dinner reservations at EPCOT’s Coral Reef Restaurant on New Year’s Eve, and I scored Mission: SPACE FastPasses for 7:45 p.m. at around 6:15 p.m. that day. And this was just the latest example.

FastPass+ entrance at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

This trick has helped me nab last-minute prime-time FastPasses for attractions like Flight of Passage, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and Peter Pan’s Flight. As for dining reservations, the trick has helped me secure unforgettable meals at Be Our Guest, Teppan Edo, and ‘Ohana to name a few.

So what’s the trick? It’s simple. Just keep refreshing the search on the MyDisneyExperience App.

Yes, it’s that simple.

There are tens of thousands of guests at Walt Disney World every day, each of them continually customizing and updating their own itineraries. Odds are there are going to be some prime cancellations that will be up for grabs. But, again, there are tens of thousands of guests constantly updating their itineraries, and a lot of them have Cast Members helping them. You have to be sharp and fast.

Here’s how you do it:

  • Search for FPs and dining reservations as you normally would on the Disney World My Disney Experience app
    • You can search for FastPasses on a park-by-park basis.
    • Reservation searches will give you every restaurant on property.
  • Search by hour, and then jump from one to another to refresh the search.
    • Do not search using “Morning,” “Afternoon,” and “Evening” block times.
    • You will get a broader range of options searching by hour.
  • If you find a gem, click on it immediately!

Here’s what I found using that trick right now:

So to prove my point, I decided to search for a quality FastPass right now. I started my search at 3:55 p.m. on New Year’s Day, and I stopped it at 4:30 p.m.

I started with Animal Kingdom

Select an experience option at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

My objective was to find an FP for just a popular attraction. The hope was always for Flight of Passage, but there are no guarantees. The picture above shows the results from my initial search. The image below shows the results of my last search.

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

After refreshing for a few minutes, the best I could find was an FP to either Festival of the Lion King and Rivers of Light: We are One.

So, I decided to park hop to EPCOT

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

The picture above shows the results of my initial search. The image below is the result of my first refresh.

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

Then a few moments later, I found these beauties. Soarin’ Around the World, Test Track, and yes, I actually found Frozen Ever After FastPasses for 4:20 p.m. at 4:04 p.m. the same day.

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

Finding a Frozen fastpass gave me the confidence to check out Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Here are the initial search results. Just one fastpass option for Muppet®Vision 3-D.

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

Then, after refreshing for about two minutes, I found these:

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

And these:

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

And this:

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

Then, just to drive my point home even further, I decided to check the Magic Kingdom

After my initial results…

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

…I found a smorgasbord. Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Journey of the Little Mermaid.

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

Then I found FPs to some very popular character meet n’ greets.

Select an experience at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

And, yes, I even found FastPasses for Space Mountain.

Select an experience option at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

After searching the Magic Kingdom, I figured most guests would start to get hungry, so I searched for a dinner reservation.

The time is a little early in the day, but the pickings are anything but slim!

After a few refreshes, I found these open time slots for Boatwright’s Dining Hall at Disney’s Port Orleans Resort, Coral Reef Restaurant at the Living Seas Pavilion in EPCOT’s Future World, and Cítricos at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

Make a reservation option at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

If you’re looking to bite into some culture, I also found reservations for Jiko at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, Monsieur Paul at EPCOT’s France Pavilion, and Nine Dragons at EPCOT’s China Pavilion.

Make a reservation option at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

These results–Rix Sports Bar, STK Orlando, and San Angel Inn Restaurante–drive home the point that there are so many food options to discover.

Make a reservation option at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

But I still did not want to give up on Flight of Passage.

So, I went back to search for Animal Kingdom fastpasses. Unfortunately, my luck ran out. Now, if I kept searching past 4:30 p.m.? Maybe. But there’s no guarantee. This trick is to help you add a little extra magic to your visit.

Select an experience option at My Disney Experience app
Credit: ITM/ TJ Muscaro

Still, I’d say it was a pretty successful search, and I could’ve had an enjoyable last-minute afternoon in any of the parks. You could use this trick to do the same!

You can try this at home too, as long as you have a valid Walt Disney World Park Ticket connected to your account and your FastPass booking window is open.

Related: Walt Disney World Rides Closing for Refurbishment in 2020

Some suggestions

  1. Continue to plan out your Disney Day. It is better to have something planned to set the expectations than to bet on this trick and have nothing play out. You will still be able to search for other FPs, and when you find that gem of an FP, you can make the switch. But, you will lose your original.
  2. There is power in numbers. Don’t just have one person in the group do this search, have everyone in your group search. Make sure everyone’s ticket is connected to their MyDisneyExperience account, and make sure everybody is friends with everybody on MyDisneyExperience. Then each person can make the same FP group and conduct the search. Whoever secures the coveted FPs first is the hero of the day.
  3. Divide and Conquer. If you are in a large group, chances are you are not going to find FPs for everyone. I would suggest not ruling out the possibility of everyone splitting up at some point to find FPs for their own ride and regroup.
  4. Don’t freak out. Refreshing FastPasses can get very erratic. One minute you can see FPs for five rides, and then after you refresh, there are none available. Don’t freak out, and don’t give up hope. Just refresh the page again, and you will see more options appear.
  5. Search proactively. There have been times where I got in the standby line for Flight of Passage and then got out of line because I found a FastPass for it. Pick a ride you don’t mind waiting in standby for, and instead of playing Head’s Up or the Play Disney Parks games, open FastPass+ and play this new game where you basically keep clicking a randomizer in the hopes of winning a fantastic FastPass.
  6. Be persistent. Yes, I got lucky with my finds after only 35 minutes, but I’ve searched for over two hours to secure dinner reservations. Keep searching–keep the dream alive–and your dreams will come true.
Frozen ever after billboard at Brick wall
Credit: Brittany DiCologero / ITM

 

Points to Remember

  1. You can only book three FastPasses at a time. Those three also have restrictions. For example, you cannot have two FastPasses within the same hour of each other, and some parks have tiered FastPasses, so you can only have one Tier 1 FastPass and two Tier 2 FastPasses, and you can’t book another Tier 1 until you’ve used all three of your pre-booked FastPasses (or let them expire).
  2. You can only book FastPasses for one park at a time. You cannot make FastPasses at the Magic Kingdom before you use all of your fastpasses for EPCOT.
  3. This trick is not a guarantee to find fastpasses. I know this is the fifth time I’ve said this, but I have to set the right expectations. This is a trick to make some extra magic happen, not to guarantee you can cut the line.

I hope that this article has been enlightening and helps you make even more out of your Disney Days. Good luck, and have a magical day.

Have you used this trick before to score some awesome fastpasses? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Disney

View Comments (2)