If you’re a Disney World fan and have never been to Disneyland, one nuance that may throw you for a loop is the difference in their FastPass system.
You know that if you’re a guest staying on Walt Disney World property that you can begin scheduling your FastPasses up to 60 days in advance! I mean, this is some serious planning involved! You need to know what park you’re going to, on what day, and be ready to book those FastPasses, especially if you plan on riding some of the most popular attractions, like the new Flight of Passage in Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. If you’re a guest not staying on Disney property, you are able to book your fast passes 30 days in advance, which still takes planning, and you go in knowing that some of the most popular experiences may already be completely booked. Disney World has had the “My Disney Experience” and the Magic Band system in place since 2013, this is not the case at the original – Disneyland.
Despite the success of the “My Disney Experience” and magic bands at Walt Disney World, Disneyland has stuck by the original paper FastPass system, where you have to go to a kiosk, insert your park ticket, and then it spits out a ticket with a return time. Disneyland has stuck to this more traditional experience because of their traffic. While Disneyland is a very busy attraction in Southern California, guests don’t plan for a trip to Disneyland in the same way that they do for a trip to Walt Disney World. Disneyland is a trip that many make in a day, and there are many annual pass holders. These day trippers, and annual pass holders may visit the park on a whim, or decide a week to a month in advance to travel, so booking FastPasses a month, or 2 months in advance just doesn’t make sense.
With that being said, let’s talk about the Disneyland MaxPass that was introduced in June of 2017. MaxPass is different than the WDW “My Disney Experience” in a few ways.
1) There is a cost associated with it. At WDW the MDE is included in your ticket price, Disneyland’s MaxPass is $10 per day per guest.
2) You cannot purchase the MaxPass until you’re in the park with your ticket scanned, where as with MDE as stated earlier you can begin scheduling your FastPasses 30 days in advance for off property guests, and 60 days for on property guests.
3) You are able to schedule one fast pass at a time. MDE allows you to schedule up to 3 FastPasses per day when you initially book.
4) MaxPass includes your PhotoPass photos, as well as the booking the FastPasses on the app. At WDW you’re able to purchase individual shots that are loaded onto your magic band, or you can purchase the Memory Maker plan for an additional $169.00 that includes all of your PhotoPass shots.
5) With MaxPass you can schedule FastPasses between the different parks if you have a park hopper ticket. If you’re at WDW you have to schedule your original 3 FastPasses all in the same park.
Those are some of the biggest differences, here is where it is similar
1) You use an app on your phone while in the park to schedule FastPasses. The app for both parks is very user friendly
2) After you’ve used your first FastPass on the app, you can immediately go in and schedule the next one, much in the same way as scheduling your next FastPass at WDW after using your original 3.
3) The app is very user friendly 😃
Would I recommend MaxPass?
DEFINITELY! To me it was absolutely worth the money. With that being said, there were only two of us, and we were there for one day, so it was only a $20 purchase. For a larger family planning a multi day stay, it would be more expensive, but I would absolutely plan on building it into your budget. It will save you time, and a lot of footsteps from traveling from paper FastPass kiosk to kiosk.
Have you used MaxPass? What do you think?
Planning a trip to WDW or DL? Be sure to contact Ashley at Charming Travels by texting the number above or emailing ashley@charmingtravelsllc.com
She is a Disney expert, and her booking and planning services are free of charge to her clients!
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