Disneyland Resort, which includes Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, announced a couple updates to their Fastpass program today.
MaxPass
Later this year Disneyland Resort is going to be updating their nearly 20 year old FastPass program with the introduction of MaxPass which will let guests get and redeem Fastpasses through the Disneyland App. Guests won’t be able to reserve FastPasses in advance, the way the Disney World system works, but it does mean guests won’t have to run to rides they want to get a FastPass for. As soon as they enter one of the parks they’ll be able to reserve a pass for any ride for that day. It will work basically the same way the existing Fastpasses do, where you can only have one at a time and work on a first-come-first-served basis.
Digital fastpass reader systems were tested at Space Mountain in 2015, a similar system might be used with the new MaxPass (courtesy OC Register)
Unlike the existing Fastpass system though, it’s not going to be free. Guests with single day tickets will have to pay $10 to use MaxPass from their phone. On the plus side, it does come with PhotoPass, so at least the $10 doesn’t just save you the walk to your favorite rides. Disneyland hasn’t yet announced what prices will be for annual pass holders. I’d expect that at least for high tier passes, like those that include the photo pass, MaxPass would be included.
It should also be noted that the special Fastpasses for shows like World of Color or Fantasmic won’t initially be part of MaxPass. They sort of follow their own rules anyway, since they don’t prevent you from getting other Fastpasses. And if you don’t want to pay, the paper Fastpass system isn’t going away, so you can still get passes the old-fashioned (free) way.
Fastpass Coming to Toy Story Midway Mania and the Matterhorn
Along with the announcement about MaxPass, Disneyland also announced the addition of Fastpass to two more rides, the Matterhorn Bobsleds at Disneyland and Toy Story Midway Mania at California Adventure. This will bring the total number of Fastpass rides across the two parks to 16, a big increase from the original four rides when Fastpass launched in 1999.
Midway Mania is getting Fastpass, which might mean you don’t get to listen to Mister Potato head in line. One downside.
The additions are good news, especially for Midway Mania. Toy Story tends to have some of the longest waits in California Adventure, doesn’t have a single rider line, and is one of the best rides at the park. This makes for a perfect setup of “get a Fastpass for Toy Story, go single rider Radiator Springs, return” to avoid long waits. For the Matterhorn, although it doesn’t get as large a crowd as Toy Story or some of the other rides at Disneyland, it is one of the signature roller coasters at the park, so it always seemed like a good Fastpass candidate.
Matterhorn is also getting Fastpass, which is great for the signature coaster (courtesy LA Times).
There weren’t firm dates for the rollout of MaxPass or when Fastpass will be coming to Toy Story and Matterhorn, but the announcement on the Disney Parks blog said they should be ready later this year. So make sure to keep your eyes peeled to Coaster101, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest. We’ll let you know as soon as more details are announced!
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