In June of 2019, my husband and I went on our honeymoon to Walt Disney World. I have been going to Walt Disney World my whole life, but this was going to be my husband’s first trip. One of the first questions he asked me when I started planning our trip was “Won’t we just be stuck waiting in line the whole time?” This is a question I get often, and my answer is no, not necessarily. Now, can you completely avoid all lines at Walt Disney World? No! That is not a reasonable expectation. But can you cut down on your wait time considerably? Absolutely! The longest line we waited in on our trip was 45 minutes for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and that was long for us. I believe if you follow my strategies below you can have the same outcome and make the most of your Walt Disney World vacation! (Please note Disney Genie is coming soon (this fall!), but cannot be used yet!)
- If you would like a brief overview feel free to skip to the bottom of the page for the tips and tricks. If you would like more details hang with me and read through these next paragraphs!
Use Disney Genie (coming soon)
Disney is in the process of implementing a new system for their theme parks called Disney Genie. Disney Genie can be accessed for free through the My Disney Experience app. This new technology will help you plan your day in the parks! You will let the app know what you are interested in and the app will make a plan for you that is most time efficient! It will let you know the best times to ride a ride or watch a show. If it starts to rain, a ride breaks down, or you just change your mind; don’t worry! Disney Genie will update with you throughout the day! You can see current and forecasted wait times to help decide the best time for your group to head to an attraction. It will almost be like having a personal tour guide/trip planner with you every step of the way!
Purchase Disney Genie Plus (coming soon)
While Disney Genie is free for all guests, Disney Genie Plus will cost $15 dollars per person per day at Walt Disney World and $20 per person per day at Disneyland. Disney Genie Plus is basically the new fast pass system. This will most likely be the most common and best way to avoid lines! (But don’t worry, there are plenty of free options for avoiding lines as well!) Disney Genie Plus will allow you to choose the next available time to arrive at a variety of attractions using the “Lighting Lane”. (The Lighting Lane will be the same thing as the fast pass lane, Disney just changed the name.) You will be able to make one selection at a time throughout the day. Lightning Lane selections will be made on the same day that you visit the park (no more choosing attractions 60 days in advance, thank goodness!) and can be made across multiple parks if you have the park hopper option. Lightning Lanes are incredibly useful because they allow you to stand in a separate, less crowded line for a ride. There is a limit to the number of people who can have a Lightning Lane pass for a given ride at a given time ensuring that your wait time is minimal! There are times that I have waited in a lighting lane (actually a fast pass at the time) and basically walked straight onto a ride that had a wait of an hour or more. When you make your Lightning Lane selections you will be given an hour time frame to get in line. For example, you might select a Lighting Lane for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad from 11:30 AM-12:30 PM. You can show up anytime between 11:30 and 12:30 to get in line. Hint: your Lightning Lane will actually start working 5 minutes before your allotted time and will keep working for 15 minutes after! My husband and I recently tested this theory and it works so if you are a few minutes early or late to your Lightning Lane time don’t worry! You should be able to get on the ride. Most attractions that were available for fast pass will be available for Lightning Lane entrances, but some won’t! (Disney hasn’t announced which attractions will be available for Lightning Lane entrance, but when they do I will update you!) You must use your current Lightning Lane selection before you can make a new selection. Lightning Lane selections are subject to limited availability. Disney Genie Plus will also include Disney parks-themed audio experiences and photo features to capture your memories – augmented reality lenses for Walt Disney World guests and unlimited PhotoPass downloads for Disneyland guests.
Purchase Lightning Lane Selections (coming soon)
As I mentioned above, there will be several big name rides that will not be available for Lightning Lane using Disney Genie Plus. To select a Lightning Lane entrance for these rides, you will need to purchase them separately. Lightning Lane selections can be purchased for two of the highly demanded attractions a day. Pricing for these attractions will vary by attraction, date, and park. We don’t have a full list of attractions that will only be available for purchase yet, but we do know that Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom Park and Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure Park will be 2 of the for purchase attractions. (You can still wait in the standby lines, lightning lane is just for reduced wait time! I would honestly recommend rope dropping these attractions instead of buying Lightning Lanes!) If you are staying in a Disney hotel then you will have first dibs on purchasing up to two individual lightning lane passes for the day. You will be allowed to do this at 7 a.m. on the day of your visit. If you are not staying at a Disney hotel, you will need to wait until park opening. These selections can be purchased on Disney Genie through the My Disney Experience App.This brings me to my next point: make sure to stay up to date on your My Disney Experience App!
Stay up to date on My Disney Experience
If you are switching parks, having to wait in line for a ride, or for food use that time to keep yourself updated on My Disney Experience. Ride wait times, closures and reopenings are posted here. Occasionally, you can get lucky and take advantage of finding a ride that has a lower wait time than usual. If a ride closes due to rain or a technical difficulty Disney will post when it has reopened. Many times, guests don’t know the ride is operating again, and wait times will be very short! On our honeymoon, my husband and I rode Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition right after a rainstorm with NO wait time! (When the sun starts to come out after a rainstorm is the perfect time to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition; we saw almost every animal!)
Take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry
Early theme park entry is available to Disney resort guests (as well as some good neighbor resorts) and absolutely must be taken advantage of! Each theme park opens to resort guests 30 minutes early every single day! In order to get into a park for early admission you must have a valid park pass reservation for the same park on the same day. For example, if you have a park pass reservation for Epcot; you will use your early theme park entry at Epcot. When you arrive to a park look for signage for early theme park entry and make sure you have your magic band (my disney mobile, room key, etc.) available for entry. Lines and crowds are automatically lower during Early theme park entry because only Disney resort guests are allowed inside. During these 30 minutes you may be able to ride at least two or three rides! Pro tip: try to plan your morning to do the ride most important to you and the rides surrounding it first! You only have 30 minutes, you don’t want to waste any of it walking all the way across the park!
Arrive at rope Drop
If you’re not staying in a Disney hotel and can’t go to the extended morning hours, try your best to coral your troops to the park at least 45 minutes to an hour (honestly my crew usually arrives 90 minutes early, but we like to be the first in line) before rope drop (when the park opens). If you can manage this, you and your group could be among the first guests in the park for the day. Make sure you power walk (Disney will make sure that you DO NOT run so don’t even try!) to the ride that is your top priority and you should find a minimal wait time! Parks usually don’t start filling up for the day until around 10:00 AM, so you should be able to get a few rides in before the wait times spike!
Take advantage of bad weather
On days that call for quite a bit of rain, many guests decide to not even visit the parks. This is good news for you if your clan can tough out some rainy or dreary weather, you will typically find shorter wait times! Make sure you pack a poncho or rain jacket in your backpacks every day as it rains in Florida pretty often, but usually passes rather quickly. Do note that some attractions will close in the rain, but there are many that will stay open.
Eat during off-hours
Eating during off-hours can help you both avoid lines for rides as well as restaurants. It may even help you get reservations at restaurants that are usually rather elusive! If you can eat an early or late lunch say around 11:00 AM or 1:30 PM then you can be riding rides when most people are eating (12:00-1:30 PM) and be eating when most people are waiting in lines to ride rides. That is a win-win situation for you! Eat dinner around 5:00 or 8:00 PM and the same thing applies. Make sure to bring ample snacks with you in case hunger strikes between meals! Or you can stop for a quick Disney themed snack!
Ride during Parades or Fireworks
Parades are incredibly popular (beautiful and fun!) experiences to have at Walt Disney World. I do suggest that you watch the parade and the Disney Enchantment nighttime show and fireworks at Magic Kingdom Park at least once during your stay. That being said, if you have older kids who aren’t interested in fireworks or you have already seen them this is a great time to ride some rides! Wait times will be way shorter than they will be at any other time of the night since most people are watching the parade or show. You also get the added benefit of being able to ride some outdoor rides at night which is extra magical!
Single Rider Lines
Single Rider lines allow for guests to fill in extra spaces on rides. There are 4 rides in Disney World that have this option: Test Track, Rockin’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Expedition Everest, and Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run. If you and your group are willing to split up, this can cut your wait time down a great amount. For certain rides like Test Track, you have to enter this line from the beginning, while for other rides you may have this option later.
Even if you are not a single rider, having a smaller group can sometimes be beneficial as well. (whether your group is actually smaller, or you split up.) On our honeymoon, my husband and I got on quite a few rides rather quickly just because there were only 2 of us. Disney does not like to operate rides underfilled. Quite often you will hear cast members yelling out “Party of 2?” If you are a party of 2 make sure you jump on this opportunity to go to the front of the line and get on sooner!
Watch Shows or Take a Nap
When in doubt, watch a show! Disney has many amazing shows to offer that can get you out of the heat, the rain, or those pesky lines! If you absolutely can’t find lines you are okay waiting in then watch a show such as It’s Tough to Be a Bug! in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor in Magic Kingdom Park, or many more. You will not regret it!
A common practice in my family is to go back to the hotel for an hour or so after lunch and take a nap (or at least rest or watch TV for those non-nappers). We usually do this around 2:00 or 2:30 PM. This allows us to avoid the park at the hottest and most crowded times. Walt Disney World is so fun and so exhausting, so we are also able to rest and gear up for the afternoon and a later night!
Spring for After Hours Ticketed Events
If you are extra dedicated to avoiding lines, you can purchase tickets to an extra ticketed event. Disney has various ticketed events throughout the year that are very limited. These events usually keep the park open for 3 hours after the official closing time. Everyone who does not have a ticket has to leave the park, while the guests with tickets get to stay in a surprisingly empty feeling park. Guests have reported unbelievably short wait times for popular attractions such as Avatar Flight of Passage at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom Park. These tickets can range from $65 for water parks to $150-1$175 for Holiday events. If you choose to purchase tickets for any of these events you will get what you paid for: the shortest wait times you will find in Disney.
A quick summary of the tips and tricks for avoiding lines at Disney: use the free Disney Genie app, purchase Disney Genie Plus, purchase individual lightning lane selections, stay up to date on My Disney Experience, take advantage of extended morning hours, arrive to the park before rope drop, take advantage of bad weather, eat during off-hours, skip parades/fireworks to ride rides, split up your group and ride single rider style, watch shows or take a nap if all lines are too long, spring for tickets to after-hours events.
I hope you have found this information helpful in avoiding lines at Walt Disney World. Please comment below if you have any additional ideas for avoiding lines and let me know how it goes if you try out these strategies! Have a magical day!