If you are planning to visit the Disney Parks in California and only going to the parks for one or two days I highly recommend getting the MaxPass. You can really make the most of your time in the parks if you take advantage of this offer. 

If you want to learn more about how MaxPass works, in general, read my previous blog post on the review of the MaxPass. 

Now if you already know how MaxPass basically works, but not sure how to utilize it to get all the FASTPASS selections for the attractions you want then you need to read this blog. 

The MaxPass experience does have its flaws and I don’t want to say it will guarantee you to ride all the attractions you want to, but it really can help.

Let’s get into the plan! 

1. Determine your top attractions. 

   • What attractions do you NEEEED to ride and can’t go home without experiencing?

     • Get a rough idea of your top attractions narrow it down to top 3 or 5. Just so you have an idea of what everyone in your party wants to do to help determine your plan and needs for MaxPass.

   • Does the attraction have a FASTPASS available?

     • This will help determine if the MaxPass would be a good option for you if the attractions you want to ride have a FASTPASS available. If the attractions do not provide a FASTPASS selection then maybe you don’t really need the MaxPass for this trip. 

2. Find out which park has magic morning hours that day. 

   • You will think I’m crazy for this and it probably doesn’t make that huge of a difference, but I feel that if you pick the park that does not participate in magic morning hours that day you may get on your rides easier because no one else was waiting in line before you. 

   • Disneyland and California Adventure only open certain areas of the park during Magic Morning hours. So this may not effect you so much if the area of the park you want to go to as well is not even open to Magic Morning guests as well.

   • Anyways, I suggest starting in the park that does not have Magic Morning Hours that day because in my mind everyone then starts at the same time. 

3. Start in the park with no magic morning hours 

4. Get a FASTPASS for one of the more popular rides

   • Radiator Springs Racers 

   • Toy Story Midway Mania

   • Hyperspace Mountain (Space Mountain)

   • Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Break Out

   • Soarin’ 

   • Indiana Jones Adventure

   • Star Tours - The Adventure Continues

   • Full list of attractions with FASTPASS here.

5. Consider the time of the year you are visiting 

   • Haunted Mansion has longer wait times in the Fall and Winter when the attraction becomes the Haunted Mansion Holiday version. I would recommend getting a FASTPASS for this because the wait time can be over an hour during this time of year. 

   • Splash Mountain has longer wait times in the summer or warmer days during the year

I hope this helps you plan what attractions you need a FASTPASS for and when you should head into the park.

How to Get ALLLLL the FASTPASS Tickets

Now that you have determined which attractions you want to get FASTPASS tickets for here is how you get them allll.

1. You’ve entered the park now you can create your FASTPASS party and choose your first ride to get a FASTPASS for. 

   • Pick one of the top attractions you determined in your Top 5 to get a FASTPASS for.

2. Now that you have that FASTPASS booked you will see a time that you can get a new FASTPASS. 

   • PAY ATTENTION TO THIS TIME because it may be BEFORE or AFTER you can use your current FASTPASS that you are holding. 

   • If it is BEFORE then book another FASTPASS at that time. 

   • If it is AFTER then book another FASTPASS when you get in line after using your current FASTPASS

3. Try booking FASTPASS tickets as close to the current time as possible. 

   • This means you can walk on the attraction with your FASTPASS and then immediately after book a new FASTPASS once you have used the current FASTPASS you are holding.

4. It is possible to hold two FASTPASS tickets at once. 

   •  You can have more than one fast pass at a time if you book one later in the day and then book when the new FASTPASS time is available.

   • However, I would not recommend booking FASTPASS selections that are more than 2 hours away because you most likely won’t be able to reserve another FASTPASS selection until 90 minutes from the current time.

   • Reserving the FASTPASS selections that are closer together to the current time allow you to maximize the number of FASTPASS selections you can hold in a shorter amount of time.

Again, this all depends on how many times you want to ride each ride or what attractions are most important to you and who you’re visiting the parks with. 

There is no need to follow these plans or tips you can always go into the parks and just be in the moment and enjoy your experience. I’m just sharing my personal experience with the MaxPass and how I have used it to maximize my park experience because I usually only travel to the parks for one or two days at a time.

With that said, if you are planning on getting the MaxPass for your next visit to the parks and want to maximize the MaxPass you just need to stay on top of reserving your FASTPASS selection times throughout the day. This can be a little bit much especially if you are trying to enjoy yourself on vacation. 

If you have any questions about the MaxPass and how to utilize this feature to its full potential leave a comment below or send me a message.

I would love to help you in any way I can. :)

XO,

Allison