Disney FastPass is a cool service that Disney offers on many of it's most popular attractions. Disney World is a busy place and there are lot's of visitors there wanting to take in the full Disney experience. This includes riding the best rides. Disney developed a service call FastPass that allows you to obtain a "pass" that will allow you to ride a specific ride during a specific time window allowing you to avoid the long normal line.
Think of the Disney Fastpass as your personal place holder in the line to ride the most popular rides. Let's examine this in a more practical way. You want to ride Splash Mountain. So you make your way to Splash Mountain only to find the wait time for the ride is 75 minutes. You don't want to stand in line for 75 minutes so you decide to get a Fastpass for this ride. You walk up to the Disney FastPass distribution point (see picture for an example) near the ride entrance. 
There is a clock that tells you if you take a fastpass you will be able to ride Splash Mountain between time X and time Y with a much shorter wait time (say 15 minutes). You decide to take advantage of this. You insert your park pass into the fastpass machine and it prints out a Disney FastPass ticket for you (see example picture of the yellow machine). 
The ticket will tell you the return time window for you to use the FastPass. You return during the designated time and go the line marked FastPass ticket holders. You are usually able to ride the ride within 15 minutes. The Fastpass window for most rides is 1 hour. You must return sometime within the designated hour to use your pass. For shows the fastpass is for a specific show time. So you will need to be there for the beginning of the show.
What rides use Disney Fastpass?
Magic Kingdom
- Splash Mountain
- Space Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Buzz Light Years Space Ranger Spin
- Jungle Cruise
- Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Mickey's PhilHarmagic
When we discuss the other parks we will list the FastPass rides for them at that time. One other thing to note about the FastPass. Everyone in your group who is going to ride must have a FastPass to use the FastPass line. So, if you are in a group of 4, including 2 children, you will need to scan each person's park admission ticket to be issued a FastPass ticket for use at the designated ride or show. Also, there is a limit to how many FastPass tickets you can be issued at once. You usually can't be issued a FastPass for another attraction until you use the FastPass you had already been issued, or two hours after your prior FastPass has been issued. This keeps you from going to all the FastPass stations and collection FastPass tickets to use back to back.
Disney Tips and Tricks can be found here. It is worth the money!
Dining at Magic Kingdom
Let's not beat around the bush about this topic. Food and drinks inside the Magic Kingdom are not cheap. However, if you are careful about how you plan your day, and your meals, you can complete the day and meet your food requirements (not starving to death and not carrying around a grocery bag full of food) without totally destroying your budget. Now keep in mind here we are not talking about McDonald's prices so you need to look for value not just price. I really think that the best meal of the day for value at Disney is the Character Breakfast (remember this is my opinion). So, book your character breakfast 90 days in advance. Call the Walt Disney Dining Number (407) WDW-DINE and work out the arrangements with the reserving agent.
TIP>>To have the best chance of getting the day and time that you want, especially for Cinderella's Castle, call exactly 90 days in advance. Wait later than that and you will taking what you can get.
My favorite option for this is the Cinderella's Royal Table which is breakfast in Cinderella's Castle inside the park. I recommend you take the earliest breakfast possible. Why? Because you will get early admission to the park and you will avoid much of the opening rush. You will be escorted to the Castle upon entering the park. Once your reservation time arrives you will be seated and served a wonderful hot breakfast (eggs, sausage, homemade breads, danish, juices, coffee). This is meal that will last you well into the afternoon unless you have just a voracious appetite. The other good thing about breakfast at the Castle is you get to meet the characters up close and personal. Generally each one will stop by your table, sign autographs, and allow you to take pictures with them. This is great! A nice relaxing environment without being crowded by a bunch of different folks trying to do the same thing. Usually you have Cinderella, her Fairy Godmother, and other Disney Princesses such as Belle, Snow White or Aurora. This meal is going to cost you in the neighborhood of $40 per person. But wait, there's more (I always wanted to say that). If you managed to book the early breakfast when you leave breakfast the park will just be opening. You are in the center of the park. Walk to your favorite ride on the back side of the park and you should be one of the first in line. Almost no waiting. You should be able to get two or three rides in with minimum wait and without having to use a FastPass!
I also like the Chef Mickey character breakfast at the Contemporary Resort. It is less expensive than Cinderella's Castle, but remember, you are not in the park for this breakfast. It will cost you about $22 per person. Also, you will be seeing Mickey Mouse and his buddies and the Chef Mickey breakfast. Finally, I also enjoyed the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall breakfast at Epcot. This was a Norwegian Style breakfast and it was also very good. Your characters here are the Disney Princesses.
There are plenty of places to walk around and grab a hot dog or a burger or some unique treat in the Magic Kingdom. However, for a sit down lunch I recommend the Liberty Square Tavern. It is always good with an nice variety on the menu and each time we have dined there we have been happy with both the food and the service!
Buy your Magic Kingdom Tickets Here at ReserveOrlando.com
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