Toy Story Mania FastPass at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

We’ve seen Walt Disney World’s FastPass system go through its fair share of changes over the past several years. From physical tickets dispensed on location to a virtual ticketing system, FastPass has evolved quite a bit since it was introduced 16 years ago. While we love the new FastPass+ system that lets you book your spot on line, we sometimes find ourselves searching for that old dispenser machine and reaching in our pocket for our FastPass return card.

Disney first introduced the system in 1999. The idea allowed guests to avoid long lines at Disney’s many attractions by issuing a ticket and a return time to the attraction they wanted to ride. This allowed visitors to enjoy the rest of the park(s) while they waited for their return time to the ride.

Paper FastPass tickets were dispensed by machines outside each attraction that offered them. Don’t you remember running to the machines in a frenzy to quickly get the earliest return time to your favorite attraction? Or discussing the best time to come back to the ride with your friends and family and then giddily heading to the machine to get the perfect return time ticket. It was almost a game as you hurriedly inserted your park ticket into a reader on the machine and waited for it to spit your ticket back out as well as a FastPass return ticket.

Today, the original FastPass system, also known as legacy FastPass no longer issues return tickets. Instead, guests can use a virtual queuing system and reserve their spot in line via a computer or app with MyMagic Plus. While every once in a while we miss physically holding our FastPass ticket, we also really enjoy the convenience of booking our spot in line before we even get to the park. The new system lets you skip the standby queue altogether and for the first time ever you can select Character Greetings, shows, parades and fireworks using FastPass+ service. Not to mention all of the other benefits of using MyMagic +.

Disney FastPass+ is a part of MyMagic +, which gives visitors complete control of their Walt Disney World stay. MyMagic + also includes MagicBands, which are all-in-one devices that you can use to enter any Disney theme park, unlock your Disney Resort hotel room, use for FastPass+ entrance, charge purchases to your room, link Disney PhotoPass photos to your Disney account including on-ride photos and more.

If you haven’t tried the new FastPass+ system it really is an excellent way to get a jump on your Walt Disney World experience. Even if you miss getting the FastPass tickets from the legacy FastPass system, FastPass+ is worth looking in to. It just might become your new favorite ride system! You can try it out with discounted Walt Disney World tickets right here on Best of Orlando.

Orlando, FL – 2/13/15

By: Jena Pugh