We had our first visit to Disneyland this year! We love visiting the Disney parks and couldn’t wait to visit. As someone who has planned many Walt Disney World vacations, I learned a Disneyland vacation is very different. Today I’m sharing our best Disneyland Maxpass tips to plan your visit.
Update: Disneyland has discontinued Maxpass and now uses Genie+. For more information check out Disneyland Tips for First Time Visitors.
Disneyland Maxpass Overview
What it Disneyland Maxpass?
Disneyland Maxpass is a paid FastPass reservation system at Disneyland that allows you to use the Disneyland app to secure your Fastpass. As I write this the cost is $15.00 per person/per day.
Currently, Disneyland and California Adventure use the paper FastPass system. That means you need to walk to a Fastpass Kiosk to reserve. The paper Fastpass does not have a fee and is free to all Disneyland guests with a ticket.
How it is different than FastPass at Disney World?
MaxPass at Disneyland is very different than the FastPass system at Disney World. You do not book in advance and can only book one fastpass at a time, although you can have more than one fastpass reservation at a time. Read on for more details.
Looking for Disney World Fastpass information in Orlando, Florida: Everything You Need to Know About FastPass at Disney World.
Disneyland Maxpass Tips (What You Need to Know!)
How to Buy Maxpass
If you purchase tickets online you can add Maxpass to your account at the time of purchase. If you did not purchase in advance you can purchase Maxpass as soon as your ticket is scanned for the park.
Honestly, I was really stressed about this but it went super smoothly. The night before our visit to Disneyland I added all our names to the Disneyland app. I also added my credit card and linked any tickets we purchased ahead of time.
It is very important to set up your Disneyland account before you arrive at the parks. I also highly recommend using two devices on your visit. My husband and I both had the app and were logged in with our one account. There were times that my phone had WiFi issues and it can be spotty in the park. This helped us tremendously!
How to Use Maxpass
Once you enter the park you can make your first Fastpass. If you have a park hopper you can make a Fastpass at either Disneyland or California Adventure park.
It is important to have a plan and know what attractions you are planning on using your Maxpass for. Not all attractions have Fastpass options. Also some rides sell out of Fastpass reservations early in the day. Plan on securing your top priority attractions as soon as possible.
Disneyland FastPass Options
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
- Fantasmic!
- Haunted Mansion
- Haunted Mansion Holiday
- Indiana Jones™ Adventure
- “it’s a small world”
- “it’s a small world” Holiday (Seasonal)
- Matterhorn Bobsleds
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
- Space Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
California Adventure Fastpass Options
- Goofy’s Sky School
- Grizzly River Run
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!
- Guardians of the Galaxy – Monsters After Dark (Seasonal)
- Incredicoaster
- Radiator Springs Racers
- Soarin’ Around the World
- Toy Story Midway Mania!
- World of Color
Indiana Jones, Radiator Springs, and Guardians of the Galaxy are very popular attractions and sell out quickly. We started our day with an Indiana Jones FastPass and then secured Radiator Springs, and Guardians of the Galaxy. Read our Disneyland Itinerary for details on how we used Maxpass at Disneyland.
Things to Know About Disneyland Maxpass
- You have 90 minutes or after you use your Fastpass to book your next one. For example: If I book Indiana Jones as soon as I enter the park at 9:00am. I can book my next Fastpass at 10:30 or once I use Indiana Jones. Which ever one comes first. We booked a 9:30-10:30 Fastpass for Indiana Jones and was allowed to book before the 90 minute window because we used it.
- It is possible to have 3 Fastpass reservations at a given time. We ended up making 8 Fastpass reservations during our 1 day/2 parks visit and had 3 at one time.
- You do not pick the time you want to reserve. When you go to make your Fastpass and choose the attraction, the first available time is what you get. This was another thing I thought would be annoying but worked out okay.
- Be flexible with your schedule. You should know your top attractions and start booking them as fast as you can. We knew we wanted to ride Radiator Springs and Guardians of the Galaxy, so we booked them as early as we could.
- We almost missed Guardians because times were selling out quickly. You can monitor this by checking what times are available on the app.
- Maxpass includes Disney PhotoPass inside the park. Disney Photo Pass gives you access to photos taken by Disney photographers throughout the park.
Is Disneyland Maxpass Worth It
For us Maxpass was worth it. We had 1 day at both Disneyland parks and Maxpass helped us ride everything we wanted. It helped to know what we wanted to do before we arrived and have a basic plan for visiting the parks.
If you are visiting the parks multiple days you may not need Maxpass or may only want it for one day of your visit. I don’t think I would purchase it for everyday of a longer vacation but maybe 1 or 2 days at the end of the trip.
Disneyland Maxpass saves so much time. You don’t have to split up your party to have someone run to get the Fastpass tickets. Everyone can enjoy the attractions together. It was worth the money for our one day visit.
Are you planning a family vacation to Disneyland? Here are some helpful articles:
- Tips for Disneyland and California Adventure in One Day
- Disneyland and California Adventure One Day Itinerary
