MaxPass at Disneyland® Resort

Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure® Park

 By David Platt, your Mouse Master specialist

Recently, Disneyland® Resort unveiled a new Disney FASTPASS® Service add-on called MaxPass. To clear up some confusion surrounding the new service, here’s a list of what it is and what it isn’t. From here on out, I’ll refer to FASTPASS as ‘FP’ for brevity’s sake.
 
What it is

1. A way to save time: MaxPass lets you select FPs using the Disneyland® Parks app on your phone, rather than walking to a FP machine. Once you use a FP and enter the FP line, you can immediately select another FP before you even get on the ride.
 
2. A way to get more FPs: MaxPass shortens the wait between selecting FPs from two hours to 90 minutes, allowing you to select more FPs over the course of your day.
 
3. A way to get more photos: PhotoPass service is rolled into the cost of MaxPass, so you can download all ride photos and pictures taken by PhotoPass photographers.
 
4. A way to select FPs while you take a break: Taking an afternoon break? No problem—as long as you’ve used your park ticket to enter one of the parks that day, you can use the app to select your next FP from your hotel room.
 
5. A way to get FPs from both parks: unlike with traditional FP service, you can use MaxPass to select a FP from either park. So, for example, say you just rode Splash Mountain but you know you’re heading over to Disney California Adventure® Park in a little while. Fire up the app, and pick up a FP for Radiator Springs Racers (if there are any still available that day, of course).
 

What it isn’t
 
1. A free service: Yes, MaxPass is a paid service. It costs $10/person, per day (Annual Pass holders pay a flat fee). So for a family of four, you’re looking at an additional $40/day to use MaxPass. You can purchase it using the Disneyland app for as few or as many days of your visit as you like. (Update on July 10, 2019: current pricing is now $15/day)
 
2. An advance reservation system: A lot of people seem to think MaxPass is a way to reserve FPs in advance, just like the FastPass+ service at Walt Disney World® Resort. It’s not. You can still only select FPs the day you’re in the park, and only one at a time.
 
3. A way to ‘double-dip’ on FPs: A common misconception is that you can reserve electronic FPs using MaxPass and still pull traditional paper FPs too, effectively holding two FPs at the same time. This is not the case—while you can still pull paper FPs after purchasing MaxPass, you can still only select one FP at a time, either traditional paper FP or new electronic FP via MaxPass.
 
4. A way to still get FPs when paper FPs run out: MaxPass FPs run out, just like traditional FPs. Both paper and electronic FPs are pulled from the same pool; once they’re gone for the day, they’re gone.  (Note: there is a slight exception to this rule: if someone cancels an electronic FP for an attraction for which FP distribution has already ended for the day, it goes back into the pool and someone else using MaxPass could potentially grab it). 
 
5. A way to get those coveted Fantasmic! or World of Color FPs early: While there’s evidence that you might be able to use MaxPass to get World of Color or Fantasmic! FPs in the future, right now you still have to pull your FPs for these popular nighttime shows from a machine the traditional way. (Update on July 10, 2019: FastPasses for both World of Color and Fantasmic are now available via the MaxPass system)