Single Rider and Rider Switch Pass

Single Rider and Rider Switch passes allow parents to enjoy rides when they have children to little to ride the attraction. You get your single rider or baby swap pass from the Cast Member that stands at the beginning of the line, at the exit or in the FastPass area. With both of these options one parent watches the toddler while the other rides, then they switch off.
Rider Switch is definately recommended if you have two adults that definately want to ride an attraction and there is no single rider offered.

Rider Switch Pass

Rider Switch Pass is available on every attraction at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure. With a rider switch the first person, after getting their rider switch pass, will actually stand in the queue (either the FastPass or the standby line). After the first person has completed the ride, the pass is then given to the non-rider who will enter through the exit to enjoy the attraction without having to wait in line. The benefit of rider switch, in addition to being available on all attractions, is that with this pass a second person can ride each time. If you have an older child he or she can ride the attraction with both parents.

If you’re traveling with a baby then you need to know about the Baby Care Center at the end of Main Street. Moms I spoke with call it a calm place in the middle of the Disneyland storm. It has private rooms for breast feeding and potty training toilets. You can buy diapers or other supplies. They also have a microwave where you can heat up food. There’s no charge to get it, only for certain supplies.

Single Rider

Single Riders enter the attraction through the exit or through a special single rider queue. (The Cast Member can direct you.) When you reach the area where they load the ride you will wait until they need someone to fill an empty seat. This can be very quick, or it can take a longer time, but usually shorter than the FastPass line.  We feel this is the best option if there are just 2 adults and a small child. Unfortunately there are a limited number of rides that have single rider lines.

Attractions that offer Single Rider in Disneyland and California Adventure

Splash Mountain- to use the single rider option on this attraction, you will go through the exit. You will take the stairs over the water and next to the regular line at the loading area, will be a single rider line. Anytime they need 1 person to fill a log, they will pull from the single rider line.  It is a great way to enjoy the ride quickly and get back to your child.  For the waiting parent, The Winnie the Pooh ride and the characters from Winnie the Pooh are right by Splash Mountain.

Grizzly River Run- this attraction only offers the single rider option when there is a long wait for the normal queue. To use single rider here, check with the Cast Member at the beginning of the line. This person will let you know if single rider is available at that time, and if so, give you a pass. Once you get your single rider pass, you go up the stairs at the exit. Continue heading through the exit until you reach the boarding area. When you are needed, the loading Cast Member will give you a raft color or number and you are all set.  Just outside of Grizzly River Run is Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.

Soarin' Over California- for single rider, check with the Cast Member at the entrance of the Fastpass queue for a single rider pass. Once obtained you use the FastPass entrance. Some people recommend using FastPass instead of single rider on this very popular attraction.  There are no rides for small children while waiting for this ride.

Maliboomer- for this attraction, you will find a special line to the left of the main queue entrance.

California Screamin’- for single rider you get a pass from the Cast Member in the Fastpass distribution area. There is a special entrance for Single Riders. A Cast Member will send you in groups of 4 or 5 people to wait for a single seat. There is no line here, it is primarily a free for all, so don’t stand there and wait to be told to sit. Instead, when you hear a call for a single rider, start moving.

Mullholland Madness- check with a cast member at the start of the line.  There are plenty of rides for small children while waiting.

Check with Guest Services online or at the parks for additional locations and for height requirements.

*It is important to say that if we abuse the system you may not have a great time at the park.  There is a lot of talk that abusing the system may lead Disney to remove this option entirely.  Make sure to use these recommendations when needed.  It is still fun to wait in line and meet people, experience the magic and search for hidden Mickey's.*

Park Maps and Inserts

Each Park offers a map to help you guide your way through the park.  If you are unfamiliar with the park it is a good idea to grab one, establish a meeting location if someone gets lost and take a moment (outside of a walk way) to get to know the park. 

Inside you will find:

- Description of FASTPASS

- Description of PhotoPass

- Newly featured items in the park

- A long list of services and ammenities of the park

- Current Promotions

- Detailed Map of every area in the park (restraunts, rides, parade routes, restrooms, etc.)

Even if you know the park and don't need a map, make sure to grab the inserts that explain what is happening at the park on the day you will be there. 

You will find:
- New experiences at the park
- Times for parades, firework shows, and special events
- Music and performances in each land
- Helful tools for a successful stay in the park

- Disney Character locations (Even though not listed on this flyer, you will almost always find classic characters on Main Street, right as you enter from under the train tracks.)

Disneyland Discount Tickets

Here are some things you need to know about Disneyland Tickets:

•Children under 3 get in free, and anyone 10 years old or over pays adult admission for Disneyland tickets.

•The lowest-priced, single-day Disneyland tickets are good for only one park. In other words, you can't visit Disneyland in the morning and Disney's California Adventure in the afternoon of the same day.

•Multi-day Disneyland tickets and one-day Hoppers allow you to visit both parks on the same day. Park Hopper Disneyland tickets expire 13 days after the first use, no matter how many days you buy.

•An easy way to get Disneyland tickets and stay out of line at the park is to order online from Kijubi.com. They guarantee a rate as low as you'll get by buying direct, offer online and postal mail delivery.

•If you buy from Disney, you can have them held at Will Call or mailed to your home. You'll pay a shipping fee that varies depending on your location and lead time. These tickets come with a risk - they cannot be replaced if they're lost, even if you have a copy. Checked bags can go astray, so pack them in your carry-on luggage.

•A better option is to order online and opt for eTickets which you can print out at home. This saves shipping costs, but even more important, an eTicket can be replaced if you forget or lose it, as long as the person who bought it is present and has the credit card they used with them. If that happens, just head for Guest Services at the Main Entrance Will Call window with the credit card and a photo ID and they can issue a new ticket.

•Order by telephone at 714-781-4400.

•Once you start your Disneyland visit, lost tickets cannot be replaced, even if you have a copy of them. Keep them safely tucked into a secure pocket while you're in the park.

•Southern California visitors will find discount tickets for Universal Studios and Sea World everywhere they look, from tourist magazines to the paper lining their dinner trays at the local fast food joint, but getting Disneyland discount tickets isn't quite as easy. The good news is that you can still get some Disneyland discount tickets, and you'll do best if you plan in advance.

•All Resort tickets can be upgraded to annual passes.  Present your ticket on the last day of your trip (to get the most days possible on the year pass) and pay the difference from the price of your tickets and the price of the annual pass.  There are a few options for annual passes and remember to consider a parking pass for all passes other than the Premium.  If you are not from Southern California and have someone in your party who does have a Southern California zip code, that person can purchase a Southern California pass for you.  They need to be the ones who pay for the pass.

•Learn about the regular prices before you get started looking for bargains. There's more about visiting Disneyland here, too.

Disneyland Discount Tickets - Options

•Free Admission For Volunteer Service: During 2010, you can get into one Disneyland theme park ticket free for one day as your reward for doing a day of volunteer service. Find out how to do it.

•Southern California CityPass: If you're planning on visiting some of Southern California's other attractions during your trip, this one is your best bet. You can get 3-Day Disneyland Tickets, tickets for one day each at Universal Studios, SeaWorld and your choice of a ticket to the San Diego Zoo OR San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. The total discount is approximately 30%, and you can buy the passes online in advance, or at the gate of any of the participating attractions.  You can also find these at most Costco's.

•ARES Travel offers small discounts on Disneyland California tickets and you can also reserve character breakfasts through them. They deliver by e-mail only. You can order online or by phone at 800-434-7894.

•Buy online not at the ticket booth: You can get Disneyland discount tickets if you buy them online in advance. Prices can be up to $50 per ticket less than what you'd pay at the gate. Print at home or to get them in the mail.

•Disneyland Specials: From time to time, Disney offers special discounts. The most common is adding a couple of extra days to a multi-day ticket for free. See what's available and buy it online.

•Shorten Your Stay: Another way to save money is to spend fewer days in the parks, but this doesn't mean you can't do everything. Normal visitors spend more time in line than doing anything else, but you know better. With an inexpensive subscription to Ridemax software, you can stay out of line and easily do in two days what it takes most people three to four days to cover. In fact, I once used it to do almost all of Disneyland in a single day and had time to spare.

•Stay Away from Auctions: Some people buy 5-Day passes, use two or three days and try to sell the remaining time in online auctions. However, these tickets state in writing, "Not For Sale. Non Transferable, Must be used by the same person, all days," and this practice is not recommended.

•Adults Pay Kids' Price: Some years, Disney offers special pricing for visits from January through early spring, with everyone paying the kids' admission fee

•Southern Californians: If you live in zip codes 90000-93599, Disney offers frequent special deals and discounts for online purchases along with special discounts on annual passes. Your local Costco, Von's or Ralph's store may also offer lower-priced passes.

•California Teachers: Members of ACSA, CTA, CRTA and First Financial Credit Union can get Disneyland discount tickets through TSA Special Services by phone or mail. The excellent discounts they once offered are getting less impressive every year, nearly vanishing when you add their processing fees, and you have to order far enough in advance to allow for mail delivery.

•Southern California University Students: Some area universities offer discounted, one-park, one-day Disneyland discount tickets for their students. Check with your Student Union.

•Employee Discounts: Some large corporations and government agencies in Southern California also offer discounted, one-day, one-park Disneyland discount tickets to their employees. Ask your Human Resources department.

•AAA and CSAA Members: These California automobile clubs sometimes offer discounts, but grab your calculator before you buy. Some of their "packages" cost the same as the individual parts at full price.  Plus, if you buy only tickets to the park, they include fee parking at the Mickey and Friends Parking Structure!  This will save you over $10 a day!

•Some area hotels offer discount Disneyland tickets with a room rental.

•Military Discounts: Active duty, Reserve, National Guard, Retired, and DOD employees can buy Disneyland discount tickets, with the amount depending on the time of year. Check with your base MWR for information. Bring your military ID to show at the gate.

•United Kingdom Residents: Theme Park Direct offers some good discounts, but check the current exchange rate and which way it's heading before you buy. It may be cheaper to buy in U. S. dollars.

•Hotel Points: This isn't exactly a discount, but you can redeem Hilton HHonors Points for Disneyland passes.

Wait Time Tests

While in the park you may have a Cast Member give you a card similar to the one pictured above.  Cast Members hand them to selected guests at the beginning of the stand-by line to test if their wait time listed for the ride is accurate.  Simply give this card to the Cast Member who gets you on the ride.

Mobile Magic!

Each day, thousands of Disney Park visitors are faced with a series of decisions. What ride should they go on next? When is the best time to get Mickey’s autograph? Should they eat lunch before they pick up a FastPass for Space Mountain?

Answering these questions and others like it will be a lot easier, thanks to a new mobile phone initiative by the theme park giant. Disney is officially launching a downloadable cell phone application for Verizon customers as well as two new mobile Web sites to provide guests toting BlackBerrys, iPhones and other smartphones more information while inside the park.

The “Mobile Magic” application for Verizon customers marks the first time Disney is making its own real- time updates about ride wait times, FastPass distribution, character locations and events available to the public in a digital form.

The app costs $9.99 for 180 days of use and will initially be available for download on about 30 Verizon “feature phones.” Eventually, Verizon plans to make the app available on smartphones including BlackBerrys and the recently launched Motorola Droid. The program uses GPS to determine the phone’s location and display information about nearby rides, restaurants, events and characters.

“We want to help guests answer the question, 'What should I do now?'  With this you’ll be able to be on one side of the park and not have to walk all the way to other side of the park to find out that the wait time for a ride is two hours.” Arturo Vera, a Disney digital marketing manager.

The app is a recognition of the increasing role that mobile phones are playing as digital sherpas for travelers who want instant access to information about nearby restaurants, attractions and events. Disney has been slow to embrace mobile applications, as several third-party iPhone apps that provide attraction wait times and park information have been available for months.

Mobile Magic covers all six Disney parks in California and Florida, water parks, Downtown Disney, Wide World of Sports, and all Disney resorts and restaurants.

When a visitor opens up the app while standing at a Disney property, the program will detect their location and display the version tailored to that park. For example; while standing outside Cinderella Castle at about 2:15 p.m., Mobile Magic was able to tell a you that Space Mountain was nearby but closed for renovation, the line for Splash Mountain was 10 minutes long and that picking up a FastPass for that ride would allow entry between 3:25 and 4 p.m.

Users can browse for nearby attractions, characters, events and locations or search for them by name, or view them on a map. Phones with the app can be set to vibrate 15 or 30 minutes before an event begins, even if the phone is closed.

Although the app has GPS, it does not provide walking directions from point to point inside the park because Vera said Disney did not want guests walking around holding their phones up and “spoiling the park experience.”

“We expect people will use this to complement the guide maps,” Vera said.

Although Disney has an exclusive agreement to provide real time data on Verizon phones, non-Verizon customers will be able to access park information through two new mobile optimized sites.

http://m.disneyworld.go.com/ - Disney World

http://m.disneyland.go.com/ - Disneyland

Instead of displaying the number of minutes someone would have to wait in line for a ride, the mobile sites will categorize the wait as “see now,” “moderate” or “high demand.”

Gone are the days when you would run to the Hub of the park to check the wait time board to see what next ride you should do. 

How do you Verizon subscribers get the app?  Text MAGIC to 2777 to purchase the application.

Unofficial Guides

 

For many Disney travelers The Unofficial Guide To Walt Disney World and The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland by Bob Sehlinger and Len Testa are simply known as the Good Books. For many years the Unofficial Guides has told you everything you ever wanted to know about visiting the Disney theme parks and resorts and a lot more. These are essential books for trip planning and it is no wonder why they remains the best selling Disney books on Amazon.

Last year the books were enhanced with practical color photos. One series compares the crowd levels at different times of the day and another compares a Disney burger to one from McDonalds. You can see examples of the various Disney transportation modes, the Fastpass system, and what the differences are in amenities between a value, moderate, and deluxe resort.

They are “unofficial” for a reason as they pay for everything themselves. While in the parks researchers wear logo shirts and are very talkative with other guests.  They are always asking questions. There is balance and it is refreshing. The authors recognize that these trips are not inexpensive and you want to get the best value possible in these tough economic times.

The books are updated each year and the text does change. I have noticed in these editions they are especially critical about rising ticket prices, the bus transportation systems, and the increase in dining prices. Much of the analysis is quantitative and measurable unlike other travel books. Want to book one of the in-demand dining spots? There is a chart that tells you how many days in advance each place gets filled. They even measure pillow fluffiness.

Another fun feature embedded in the attraction descriptions are side notes from Jim Hill. My impression is that most of the rumors of potential ride upgrades are connected to some sort of Disney property in order to get the greenlight. Synergy.

If you plan on visiting Universal Studio, this book has a very comprehensive section for those parks and resorts as well.

Here are five unofficial ways to prepare for your trip to a Disney Park by the author, Bob Sehlinger:

1. Select the time of year for your visit: The parks are busiest Christmas Day through New Year’s Day. Thanksgiving weekend, the week of Washington’s birthday, the first full week of November, spring break for colleges, and the two weeks around Easter are also times when visitation can peak at 92,000 visitors in a single day. The park is far less crowded during the off season, but be advised that the parks often open late and close early during that time.

2. Shape up: Visiting Disney Parks require levels of industry and stamina more often associated with running marathons. As you plan your time at Disney Parks, consider your physical limitations. It’s exhausting to rise at dawn and run around a theme park for 8 to 12 hours day after day. Every Disney vacation itinerary should include days when you don’t go to a theme park and days when you sleep in and take the morning off. Plan these to follow unusually long and arduous days.  There is also information about hotels in the area.

3. Formulate your park plan: First-time visitors should see Epcot first; you’ll be able to enjoy it without having been preconditioned to think of Disney entertainment as solely fantasy or adventure. See Animal Kingdom second. Like Epcot, it’s educational, but its live animals provide a change of pace. Next, see Disney’s Hollywood Studios, which helps transition from the educational Epcot and Animal Kingdom to the fanciful Magic Kingdom. Also, because DHS is smaller, you won’t walk as much or stay as long. Save the Magic Kingdom for last; it’s the park that epitomizes Disney World for most visitors.

4. Create your touring plan: Which rides and attractions appeal most to you? What are you willing to forgo? Planning your day in advance can save you up to four hours of waiting time in line. We have developed a hierarchy of categories that will help you evaluate each ride and plan the best way to enjoy them all. For example, SUPER-HEADLINERS are the best attractions the theme park has to offer – and they usually have the longest lines. MINOR ATTRACTIONS are midway-type rides, small “dark” rides (cars on a track, zigzagging through the dark) and walk-through attractions—which can be a lot of fun, without the long wait. Remember that bigger and more elaborate doesn’t always mean better. See examples of touring plans (and create your own) in The Unofficial Guides.  Also includes are height requirements, and best times to visit attractions.

5. Getting hungry?: There are three lessons to learn before you dine in the parks. One: Theme-park restaurants rush their customers in order to make room for the next group of diners. If you want to linger over your expensive meal, don’t order your entire dinner at once. Order drinks. Study the menu while you sip, then order appetizers. Tell the waiter you need more time to decide among entrees. Order your main course only after appetizers have been served. Dawdle over dessert. Two: If you’re dining in a theme park and cost is an issue, make lunch your main meal. Entrees are similar to those on the dinner menu, but prices are significantly lower. Three: Disney adds a surcharge of $4 per adult and $2 per child to certain popular restaurants during weeks of peak attendance, including Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and in 2009 every day from Memorial Day through July 4.  There is also information about eating outside the park.

Check out these books!  They are an amazing addition to your Disney library and are very helpful in planning a successful trip.  If you would like some additional reading by Bob Sehlinger check out the following:

-The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World With Kids

-Beyond Disney

Did You Know?

The storyline for the Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye revolves around the ancient temple deity, Mara, who would look into the souls of visitors and grant one of three treasures: glittering gold, eternal youth, and knowledge of the future. Legend has it that visitors cannot look into the eyes of Mara; should anyone look into the eyes of Mara, they are sent through the "Gates of Doom."

Disney Imagineers created a new written language called "Marabic" for the Indiana Jones Adventure. When the attraction first opened, and for some time after, a cast member at the Indiana Jones Adventure would hand out Marabic decoder cards so guests could translate what is written on the walls inside the temple.

Next time you are in the park use the decoder above to translate what is written on the walls of the temple.

Random Park Hints, Part 1

There are not a lot of discounts on Disneyland tickets, but you can save money by combining a visit to Disneyland with other southern California theme parks using the Southern California CityPass. These are available at Costco.  You might also find discounted tickets through employee organizations, colleges, or at Kijubi.com.

Buy your tickets in advance to save time waiting in the ticket line. Pay attention to whether your tickets (such as annual passes) have to be picked up or validated at Guest Relations. Guest Relations does not open until the park opens. Will Call tickets can be picked up before the park opens.

Get to the park early. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the least crowded days at Disneyland.  The ticket booths open about half hour before the gates open. Be in line with your tickets already in hand when the gates open to ride some of the non-FASTPASS rides like Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matterhorn Bobsleds, or Toon Town before the lines get long.

Lines 13, 20, or 21 move fastest at the Disneyland park entrance.

Some Disneyland Resort packages include early entry into Disneyland. This allows you to enter the park one hour before the gates open and ride some of the more popular rides before the lines get long. This can mean 7 am in the summer. Usually this offer only applies to guests of the three Disney Resort hotels, but occasionally the promotion will include guests at "Good Neighbor" hotels as well.

Use RideMax to minimize time waiting in lines and walking between rides at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure.

Ride during parades and use Fastpass. If you've already seen the parade or you don't mind missing it, this is a good time to get on rides since so many people stop riding to watch the parade.  Ride at dinnertime. Most people eat dinner between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm, so lines will be shorter.  Go to Adventure land and New Orleans at night.  When riding the Matterhorn, remember that the line that wraps around the Tomorrowland side is almost always shorter.

Lines that move quickly even though they look crowded: Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates of the Carribbean, Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, and Tower of Terror.

Afternoon Break. If you have a hotel in the area, plan to go to the park early, take a break at your hotel in the afternoon and come back to spend the evening at the parks. Since most families with small children leave early, the lines for popular kiddie rides like Dumbo and Peter Pan are shorter at night. This mostly applies during the summer when the park is open from 8 am until 11 pm or midnight.

The best view of the fireworks is from Main Street in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Most of the Fantasyland rides close down during fireworks and reopen afterwards. If you watch the fireworks from Fantasyland near Dumbo the Flying Elephant and the Carrousel, the fireworks will appear both in front of you and behind you, so you have to watch in two directions, but you'll be first in line when the Fantasyland rides re-open. The Fantasyland rides outside the roped off area re-open first, so you can ride Dumbo and then be ready when they take down the ropes to the rest of Fantasyland. Otherwise there's usually a 40 minute or longer wait for these rides.

Stay at a Disney area hotel. Even if you live in Southern California, you can save time and money by staying at a hotel close to the Disney Resort. Stay at a hotel with free parking and breakfast and it can equal what you would have paid for parking, gas and breakfast at Disneyland if you drive in for the day. If you're checking in the same day, most hotels will let you park at the hotel in the morning, take the shuttle to Disneyland, come back at check in time to have a rest, then shuttle back to the park. The shuttle will bring you back to the hotel up to half an hour after the park closes, so you don't have to drive home when you're wiped out after a long day in the sun.

Start with Adventureland and go clockwise.  This helps prevent criss-crossing the park so many times because it will usually plant you near parades, shows and restaurants around the times you need them. Also, most people tend to go counter-clockwise (i.e. starting with Tomorrowland), so you somehow seem to encounter less crowds going clockwise.  The Disneyland Train does a circle around the park, so use it for transportation.

Disneyland Attendance Tips

So what is the best time to go to Disneyland?  Here is some information to help plan your trip.

As you can see, if you go in May or early September you'll have the best chance of light crowds and balmy weather.

The days with heaviest attendance at Disneyland are:
o The 4th of July
o Thanksgiving weekend
o Christmas day through New Year’s Day

The days with lightest attendance are:
o The first week in January until the President’s Day weekend in February
o After Labor Day weekend to the week before Halloween. (But watch for those half-school days around this time!  See link below to access District Calendar)
o After Thanksgiving weekend until the week before Christmas
o Some say Super Bowl Sunday is light but others say it's the same as any other Sunday.

In general, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the least busy days.

If you go when Disneyland is less busy, be aware that:
o The park hours are shorter
o More rides may be closed for maintenance
o FastPasses may not be offered

Weekends are about twice as busy as weekdays, and 3-day weekends are 3 times as busy
o Saturdays are busier than Sundays
o Schools have random Fridays off and half-days, which can impact attendance. Consult the local School District Calendar before your trip. Click here to access their calendar.

Avoid the Following Times of Year If You Don't Like Crowds
o Martin Luther King Jr. weekend
o President's Day weekend
o Easter weekend
o Spring Break for the local schools
o Memorial Day weekend
o 4th of July week
o Labor Day weekend
o Gay Days Anaheim
o Columbus Day weekend
o Veteran's Day weekends
o Thanksgiving break for schools
o Christmas break for schools

Disneyland Temperature Trends

In general, Disneyland temperatures fall between 70 - 86 degrees during the day for most of the year (45 - 63 at night). There is some variation however, from extreme heat (over 100) to rainy and relative cold (40's). For an overview of Disneyland temperature trends, see the temperature graph below.

Disneyland Rainfall Trends

Does it rain in Disneyland? Yes but it does not rain often, and when it does, most rides keep operating. To see the rainfall trends, see the rain chart below.

More Weather Tips for Disneyland:
o The warmest month is August.
o The coldest month is January.
o The rainiest month is February.
o The highest recorded temperature was 108°F in 2004.
o The lowest recorded temperature was 30°F in 1990.
o The best time to visit Disneyland is early September, when the weather is warm but not hot and crowds are light.
o The second best time to visit Disneyland is May.
o If you prefer cooler weather, go in early November before the Thanksgiving traffic rolls in. (This is our favorite time to go.  Christmas decorations are up and the crowds are usually low.)
o Check the Weather forecast before you pack your bags.

Fast Pass

In early 1999, Disney introduced the FastPass system to allow theme park guests to bypass the waits on more popular attractions. By using the FastPass, you can bypass most of the standby line in the busiest Disney attractions. This genius idea can be used by anyone in the park by simply:

1.Heading to the ride you want to "skip the line"

2.Look for the FastPass Box (pictured above)

3.Insert your Disney Park ticket, and that of everyone in your party

4.Grab the receipt (see below)

5.Head back to the ride during your allotted time!

This is a great way to experience the entire Disney park. For more information on the Disney FastPass, be sure to check out FastPass.info.
Below you will see an example of a FastPass receipt. It states that you must return between 4:30-5:30pm. You may return to the FastPass line anytime from 4:30pm until the the park closes for the day.

Disney Cast Members will allow entrance through the FastPass line any time after the first time period listed on your receipt.

If you don't return to the ride make sure to keep your receipt until after you leave the park for the evening. Rides like Space Mountain tend to have longer wait times in the evening and you can use that FastPass before you leave the park. If you don't use the tickets share with some strangers and make someone's day! It is a great thing to do!

If a ride breaks down anytime after you receive your receipt make sure to keep it.  They may let you use it the next day.  This has happened to us a few times and we have never been denied entrance.

Click here to see what attractions currently use the FastPass feature.

 

A WARNING:  You can not get another FastPass until after the first time listed on your last receipt.  Example:  Let's say it is 10:00am.  You head to Space Mountain and see that the FastPass clock shows a return time of 4:30pm - 5:30pm.  You get your pass.  You may not get another FastPass until 4:30pm.  Be very careful not to waste your time on lines that are 20-30 minutes long.  If the return time is 4-6 hours later than the current time, you may want to use FastPass on another ride and wait for your current ride.