App aims to help people secure Disney fast passes

Natasha Sanchez and Darin Ferraro want to “bring the happy back” to Disneyland.

The Las Vegas couple, who are annual pass holders to the Anaheim theme park, have developed a mobile app called Pass It Forward that allows Disneyland guests to give away unused fast passes.

Fast passes are available at kiosks at the park and neighboring California Adventure for free, but they can only be used within a specific time frame and the supply can run out, making them rather valuable to people who want to avoid long lines for popular rides like Space Mountain and Indiana Jones Adventure.

Sanchez said she has often seen passes go unused. Her family, which includes Ferraro’s and her young daughter, have tried to give away fast passes, but that process is often time-consuming and unsuccessful.

“Sometimes we have to leave the park earlier than we thought we would, and we don’t want to see the passes go to waste,” said Sanchez, who said the family visits the theme park at least three times a month.

“Our past experiences as we’re walking around the park have been if we have additional fast passes that are still valid, we would just try to find somebody that could use them. Sometimes we run into people, and they would have one reason or another that they couldn’t use the tickets.”

Pass It Forward, which is free and available for iPhones and Androids, aims to make the process of giving away fast passes easier by having users — it currently has 2,500 — sign up on the app and follow their preferred rides.

Pass It Forward users can post about extra fast passes that they may have so someone else can claim them. Alternatively, users can also post about specific fast passes they are looking for. The two parties can then message each other and pick a spot in the park where the transfer can be made.

Users can also join app chat rooms where they can talk about pin trading, food locations and Disney-related news and share photos. Single Disney lovers can mingle in the Single Rider chat room for dating. The name plays off the Disney term for people who ride attractions alone

“We want people to just download it, install it and use it,” said Ferraro, who is an independent software developer who has also created gaming and car apps. “They follow the rides they’re interested in, and that way they get instant notifications if someone passes it forward. We want to bring the happy back to Disneyland. It can get miserable sometimes with all the long lines.”

Sanchez said she and Ferraro hope Pass It Forward, which was released in February, will be as successful as MouseWait, which is a mobile app used by more than 3 million people that allows users to upload and check various wait times for attractions at Disneyland and neighboring California Adventure.

“When MouseWait came out, those developers just wanted to help everybody by sharing ride wait times,” Sanchez said. “We want to kind of do the same, and we do understand that Disneyland may have their own desires for how people handle fast passes, but we would like to think of ourselves as a service that assists.”

Neither MouseWait nor Pass It Forward is affiliated with the Walt Disney Co. A Disney spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on third-party apps.

Cassandra Orcholski, a 25-year-old annual passholder from Huntington Beach, said Pass It Forward is something she thinks is useful to Disneyland guests.

“I don’t usually not use my fast passes, but I know that I have on a few occasions asked passersby if they would like my fast passes, so this could be something cool,” she said. “This is especially cool for World of Color or really popular rides that have ridiculous waits.”

Sanchez said, summing up her motivation for creating the app:

“If I give people my extra fast passes and see their smiles, I feel like my heart grows two sizes. It feels good to help.”