MagicBand at Walt Disney World

FastPass+ at Walt Disney World is a way that all guests can reserve ride times for their favorite attractions ahead of time – for no extra charge. Making FastPass reservations is completely optional, but can save you lots of time waiting in line on your vacation. Make reservations at home or on the app and scan your park ticket or MagicBand at the ride entrance to skip the regular line. Check out our top tips and you'll be an expert in no time.

Book your FastPasses early
Don't wait until you arrive at the park to make your FastPass picks. Guests staying at an on-site hotel within Disney World are able to make FastPass reservations up 60 days before their vacation. If you're not staying on-site you can make them up to 30 days prior. You can always modify your selections later, but making them early is the best chance to get passes for popular rides.

Schedule FastPass ride times for early in the day
Reserve your ride times as early in the day as possible so you can get more later. You'll be limited to only making three selections per day in advance. After you use those three you will be able to make additional reservations the day of.

How to get more than three FastPasses
After your first three are used (or the reservation times have passed,) you will be able to make one more additional reservation at a time. After the new one is used, you'll be able to make another, and so on until the park closes. If you're park-hopping, you can get these new FastPasses for any park, but your initial three will always be limited to the same park.

Download the My Disney Experience App
You can make FastPass reservations from the official Disney World website, at kiosks within the park and from the app. While you may want to make your first reservations through the website before your trip, it's a good idea to download the app and log in before you get to the parks. That way you're ready to modify your choices or make new ones while in the park. This is much better than having to find a kiosk and wait in line to make changes, which can waste precious time. Be sure to use the free Wi-Fi at the parks too!

Check back again (and again)
If there are no more FastPasses available for an attraction you really want, try again the day of. You should still choose three selections ahead of time, but when you arrive at the park check the app to see if more passes have become available. You can always modify or cancel existing reservations to get new ones. Throughout the day guests will cancel reservations. More passes for popular rides may become available after lunchtime, so early afternoon is a great time to refresh your app!

Prioritize your important selections
While picking times early in the day may mean you have the best chance to get more FastPasses overall, sometimes it's more important to get ones you really want. If you want one for a popular ride like Frozen Ever After at Epcot or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom, which can garner several hour waits in the normal line, it may be worth it to snag that 5pm FastPass. Even though that means less passes overall, you still may end up saving more time not waiting in line.

Best FastPass Picks for Magic Kingdom
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train is the most sought after because its line can get the longest. If you're unable to get a FastPass you may want to head there first as soon as the park opens for the shortest wait. All of the mountains are great FastPass picks as well: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. Peter Pan's Flight is another great pick for saving time in line.

Best FastPass Picks for Epcot
Frozen Ever After or Soarin' are your best picks for Epcot. This park uses a tiered system so you'll only be able to choose one of those attractions as part of your initial three. You can choose any two from the rest of the ride selections. Test Track and Mission: Space are good picks. If getting a great view of the nighttime show Illuminations is more important to you, you can choose that as your top tier FastPass.

Best Picks for Disney's Hollywood Studios
Rock 'n Roller Coaster and Toy Story Mania are the best rides for FastPasses here. They're top tier choices so you can only choose one though. The nighttime show Fantasmic is also a top tier selection, but if you choose that you will not be able to make more than three selections for the day. Arriving to Fantasmic an hour early will usually get a good seat if you want to save that FastPass for more rides instead. Tower of Terror and Star Tours are perfect picks for your additional reservations.

Best Picks for Disney's Animal Kingdom
If you can get it, Avatar Flight of Passage is the best FastPass pick at Animal Kingdom. This new attraction is extremely popular and the line can reach several hours long. Navi River Journey is also a good pick if you can't get the other. If you have kids, you have to make a reservation for Festival of the Lion King. While most shows don't usually merit a FastPass, this one fills up fast so it's a good way to guarantee your seats. Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest round out the rest of this park's best picks.

While managing your FastPass selections can sometimes be confusing, at the end of the day, remember that this is your vacation and you should pick the attractions your family likes most. Check out Best of Orlando for the best prices on tickets to all the parks of Walt Disney World.

(Photo: Walt Disney World)