Walt Disney World offers the FastPass+ service to guests who have a valid theme park ticket. While guests do not have to pay for FastPass reservations, they do need to make their ride selections in advance of their trip.
Booking a FastPass for a particular ride gives the guest a one-hour window to visit the attraction and go through the much shorter FastPass line. This cuts down on waits dramatically, allowing guests to skip the majority of the standby queue.
What if you miss that one-hour window? Does Disney World have a grace period for its FastPass reservations?
Yes, they do.
The system will allow guests to use their reservations five minutes prior to their assigned time and up to 15 minutes past their assigned ending time. These times may be flexible depending on how busy the ride and the park are on that given day. Extended grace periods are determined by the Cast Member at the entrance of the ride.
For example, if you have a FastPass for Flight of Passage at Animal Kingdom (a ride we highly recommend) that is scheduled for the 1pm-to-2pm window, you could use your pass between 12:55pm and 2:15pm. That being said, we recommend trying to stick to your assigned time as closely as possible. Grace periods are never guaranteed and may not be honored.
Note that Disney may change or eliminate grace periods at any time. However, we have found these windows to be accurate both on our own research and with the help of many Disney guests.
