The Fastpass system was introduced by Disney in 1999, and is a way to jump ahead of long lines at your favorite rides. Most of the major rides are available by Fastpass. The system works like this. You go to a Fastpass Distribution point (which will be near the entrance to the attraction), insert your park pass, and a Fastpass is dispensed. Printed on the Fastpass is a one-hour window at some point later in the day indicating when you may return to the ride and skip to the front of the line.

Obviously, if everyone just used Fastpasses and no one waited in line, the system would be self-defeating. This is why a limited number of passes are distributed throughout the day. The one-hour return window moves forward throughout the day, and it moves forward in five-minute increments every time a certain number of Fastpasses are distributed. This way, an extremely popular ride like Space Mountain which dispenses Fastpasses quickly might have a return window of 6:00pm-7:00pm for Fastpasses distributed at noon, whereas a less popular ride like Big Thunder Mountain might have a return window only 90 minutes in the future.

The intuitive throught process might be to roam the park picking up handfulls of FastPasses or each ride, then using them in sequence thereby bypassing all the lines. Alas, this won't work. Most people become disappointedly aware of this when they try to get a second Fastpass immediately after receiving their first, only to get a ticket that says "This is not a valid Fastpass." When a Fastpass is dispensed to a park-pass holder, that park-pass cannot get another Fastpass until at least one of two conditions has occurred:

1. The beginning of the window on the previous Fastpass has arrived, or
2. Two hours since the Fastpass was distributed has passed.

So, if you get a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain at noon that says to return 1:30pm-2:30pm, then you can get another Fastpass at 1:30pm. If you get a Fastpass for Indiana Jones at 1:30pm which says to return 6:00pm-7:00pm, you can get your next Fastpass at 3:30pm.

The conditions under which a Fastpass can be obtained can be complicated because of the timing, especially when coupled with the varying returns windows with different rides of varying popularity. Keep in mind that the goal of the Fastpass is to avoid having to wait in long lines. Therefore, if you want to pack the most Disney thrill into a single day, plan your route in blocks. For instance, in the morning, get a Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain. When the return window begins, pick up a Fastpass for Indiana Jones. Redeem your Fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain, then swing by one of the many in-park cafes for lunch. Pick up your Fastpass for The Haunted Mansion, ride Indiana Jones, then redeem your Fastpass for The Haunted Mansion. Three rides and lunch within a three-hour window -- Not a bad start to the day.