Logo courtesy of The Disneyland Resort

Disneyland has started a brand new program which changes the way you wait to experience your favorite Disneyland attractions! It's called FastPass, and here's how it works. You go to the attraction of your choice which utilizes FastPass and find the FastPass Turnstile there. Each attraction has a number of these units somewhere near the beginning of the ride's waiting line. You simply insert your Disneyland Passport (your ticket from the Main Gate), your Flex-Pass or Annual Pass into the Turnstile, and a FastPass is printed for you with a time on it. You take your FastPass with you and are free to play around Disneyland as FastPass "saves" your spot in line for you. You report back to the attraction at the time printed on you FastPass, and you are admitted into a special FastPass section of the line. You will have only minimal, if any, wait before you experience the attraction.

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The FastPass Turnstiles where you get your FastPass printed at Splash Mountain and an actual FastPass with printed return time.
Pictures courtesy of Laughingplace.com.

Instead of waiting in line, FastPass allows you to have fun other places. Your FastPass time is usually about an hour after you have received your FastPass ticket. For example, if I go to Space Mountain at 3:00 pm and get a FastPass, I will be allowed to enter the special FastPass entrance beginning around 4:00 pm usually. The FastPass is good for an hour block of time, meaning I have until 5:00 pm to report back at Space Mountain.

Sometimes, the regular (or "Stand-by") line of an attraction is already quite long. If this is the case, your FastPass may not be usuable until a few hours later. Example: If I go to Splash Mountain at 3:00 pm, but the regular line has a 2 hour wait, the time printed on my FastPass might not begin until 6:00 pm or later. FastPass works on the basic principle of spreading out the crowds evenly. Instead of having a 2 hour wait an any attraction at a certain point of the day and only a 15 minute wait at the same attraction later on, FastPass divides the crowds up evenly.

At the FastPass Turnstiles where you get your FastPass, there is a large clock displaying the current time, and the times at which you can return to enter the FastPass entrance (the time that will be printed on your FastPass.)

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The FastPass Clock displaying "official" time near turnstiles (left), and the FastPass line entrance (right), both for Splash Mountain.
Pictures courtesy of Laughingplace.com.

It is important to note that you can only have one FastPass in use at a time. You cannot, for example, go get a FastPass at Space Mountain and then go get one for Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin before you have used your FastPass for Space Mountain. Somehow, in the giant FastPass computer system, it knows if you already have been issued a FastPass throughout the park. Amazing, isn't it?

It is also a good idea to have your entire party present when you get your FastPasses. You want to get them all at the same time, one for each person in your group, to assure you all get the same FastPass entrance time printed on your ticket.

FastPass is currently available at the following attractions:

• Space Mountain
• Splash Mountain
• Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin
• ...and newly added Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye

FastPass really is a fun way to get more enjoyment out of Disneyland. I'm sure you will find it a wonderful benefit on your next visit to Disneyland.

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