There are many perks of staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel on property, and one of them may soon branch out to include a few others. For those who stay at hotels on Disney property, they have the advantage of making FastPass+ reservations 60 days in advance as opposed to everyone else who must make them at 30 days out. Now, Disney is reportedly going to offer that 60-day window to select off property hotels before the end of the year.
UPDATE on Dec. 18, 2017
It has now been confirmed that starting in January, select Disney Springs hotels will be granted the 60-day FastPass+ window.
Beginning Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2018, Guests at any of these official Walt Disney World hotels, with a valid theme park ticket, can take advantage of Extra Magic Hours benefit as each day, one of the four Walt Disney World Theme Parks opens early or extends later for Guests to enjoy select attractions.
Set to begin Jan. 10, 2018, Guests at these offical Walt Disney World hotels, who have booked a package reservation for the hotel through a Walt Disney Travel Company package, will be able to link their hotel reservation on My Disney Experience, and with a linked, valid theme park ticket, these Guests can utilize a 60-day booking window for FastPass+ selections. These are benefits that are already available to Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel Guests.
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For years now, guests staying at any and all resort hotels on Walt Disney World property have had the ability to make FastPass+ reservations 60 days out. This perk has even branched out to the Swan and Dolphin which are on property but aren’t technically Disney resorts since they are owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
According to a report from WDWNT , select non-Disney hotels will also receive this perk before the end of 2017.
While Disney won’t be branching out a lot, they will head onto Hotel Plaza Boulevard and the Good Neighbor hotels close to Disney Springs. These hotels are not Disney-owned or on Disney property, but they do work closely with the company and have even had character dining before.
An exact list of which hotels will join the 60-day FastPass+ window is not finalized or known yet, but that is simply due to Disney not saying anything official as of this time. For now, Disney has yet to release any information regarding this change but is expected to do so soon.
Nothing will change in regard to how FastPass+ reservations are done, as they will still be acquired on the My Disney Experience website or app. The only thing that would likely be altered is for Good Neighbor hotels to have a reservation number recognized by the site/app that will be able to be entered and give guests the 60-day access.
Many guests have wanted this perk added to non-Disney hotels for some time in order to save money. Anyone not staying at a WDW Resort hotel, or one of the Good Neighbor hotels in the future, will still be limited to the 30-day FastPass+ window.
Walt Disney World is always looking for new ways to accommodate their guests and the needs of those visiting their parks. This change to the 60-day FastPass+ booking window to include Good Neighbor hotels off property is something that many have wanted for a long time, but it always eluded them. The official word still needs to come from Disney, but it does appear as if Hotel Plaza Blvd. may see a rise in bookings soon.
[Featured Image by Danny Cox]