I have written extensive (they really are my longest and most detailed) blog posts on visiting Tokyo Disneyland with Kids and visiting Tokyo DisneySea with kids.
If you haven’t visited Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disneyland for the past few years, one major change is the way that fast passes work.
I have gone into how the Disney Premier Pass and 40th Anniversary Priority Passes work here.
Tickets for these fast passes cannot be purchased until you are physically standing in the park using the Tokyo Disney Resort App.
There are currently two kinds of fast passes. Both passes can be accessed via the Tokyo Disney Resort app. Please make sure you have the app on your phone prior to entering Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo DisneySea.
Please also make sure you will have internet access inside the park (there is no free wifi.)
1) There is a Disney Premier Access (kind of the new version of what used to be called a fast pass) option and this costs money to skip the queue at an allocated time.
Tickets for these fast passes cannot be purchased until you are physically standing in the park using the Tokyo Disney Resort App.
2) There is a Disney 40th Anniversary Pass
This pass does not cost money but cannot be accessed until you are in the park. This pass will also give you an allocated time to skip the long queue for certain rides.
You are unable to apply for your next pass until your ride time for the first anniversary pass has come. So, for example, let’s say I enter the park and I want to apply for my first complimentary Disney 40th Anniversary Pass and the options presented to me on my app for that day is Pirates of the Caribbean, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt and Big Thunder Mountain. And let’s say I choose “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt” and the allocated time is between 11am-12pm – I can then not start to apply for my next Disney 40th Anniversary Pass until 11am.
This is what the passes look like inside of the app.
*Up until recently, we were told that the complimentary anniversary passes would end in April, 2024 – but they have just been extended!
Do fast passes on the Tokyo Disney App ever run out?
So Disney decides which rides will be available for fast passes of the paid or complimentary type based on the crowds for that particular day.
In order to be able to promise those who have got their hands on those fast passes that they will be able to skip the queues at the designated time – they have done the calculations on how many they can offer and up until what time.
So once those spots are full for the day – the offer for fast passes stop. This is why, unlike some other Disneys around the world, it’s not a great idea to just turn up for the afternoon/evening. You will miss out on even the free fast pass options on the app.
Naturally, they run out more quickly on weekends and busy national holidays – usually around 2 or 3pm (which means that the later evening time slots have all been taken up.)
Can you get multiple fast passes at once?
Yes – if you are using a mixture of paid and complimentary anniversary passes – it’s fine for them to overlap.
If it’s one type of pass, you need to wait until you have hit the ride time opens for that pass . For example, if you grab a pass that allows you to skip the line between 10:30-11am .. you’ll be able to apply for and/or purchase your next fast pass after 10:30am.
