Walt Disney World Expands Use of FASTPASS

Lake Buena Vista, FL -- Just in time for the busy holiday season, Disney's FASTPASS system will be expanded to include seven additional attractions by the end of the year.

Introduced last summer, Disney's Fastpass -- an innovative system designed to reduce waiting times and free to park guests -- will be featured at two additional attractions by Thanksgiving and five more by the Christmas holiday, making a total of 13 attractions across all four Disney parks.

In November, Epcot becomes the fourth and latest Disney park to offer Fastpass, introducing the system at Test Track, presented by General Motors. Also coming on line by the end of the month will be Tower of Terror at Disney-MGM Studios.

By the start of the new millennium, five additional attractions -- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Jungle Cruise at Magic Kingdom; "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" at Epcot; Star Tours and "Voyage of The Little Mermaid" at Disney-MGM Studios -- will be using the Fastpass system.

Developed totally in-house for use at the most popular attractions, Fastpass frees guests to enjoy more of the Disney park they are visiting.

"Fastpass continues to exceed our guests' expectations," said Bruce Laval, executive vice president of operations planning and development for Walt Disney Attractions. "It's a free service and it's making their time in the parks more fun and productive, so they're asking for Fastpass at more attractions."

At attractions offering Fastpass, guests will find two clocks: one estimating the wait time in the regular line while the other denotes the current return time for Fastpass.

For guests choosing Fastpass, the system is activated when a guest inserts his or her theme park admission ticket in a turnstile, which reads the ticket and prints out a free pass instructing them what time to return. When the guest returns to the attraction's Fastpass entrance, he or she is able to proceed directly to the attraction pre-show or boarding area with little or no wait.

When using Fastpass, guests cannot request a specific time and, in order to allow as many guests as possible to use the system, are allowed one pass at one attraction at a time. Once they experience the attraction or their return time expires, they can obtain a new pass for another attraction.

FASTPASS, How to Use Step-By-Step

Fastpass is a revolutionary new guest enhancement at Walt Disney World Resort enabling guests to have an alternative to waiting in lines for the most popular attractions. There is no additional charge to use Fastpass. Here's how it works:

1. Ticketed guest or annual passholder enters park at front gate.

2. Guest visits any attraction offering Fastpass. Here, guest has the option of waiting in the regular standby line or choosing Fastpass. To assist, there's a digital clock denoting regular wait time and the return time for Fastpass.

3. If the Fastpass option is chosen, each guest inserts his or her theme park ticket into the Fastpass turnstile. Out comes the free Fastpass denoting when to return to the attraction.

Holders of Fastpass are given a one-hour window for their return -- as an example, 10:05-11:05 a.m. That means the guest cannot re-enter the attraction before 10:05 but is free to return at any time during the designated one-hour window.

4. While awaiting their Fastpass return time, guest is free to enjoy other areas or attractions in the park. No additional passes may be obtained until the current Fastpass is used.

5. Upon returning at their designated time, guest heads straight for the Fastpass entrance and proceeds directly to the attraction pre-show or boarding area with little or no wait.

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Disney's FASTPASS Gives Guests An Alternative to Waiting in Line July 9, 1999