Below you will find my guide on how to avoid lines in Walt Disney World theme parks. Rule number 1: You will NOT avoid lines at Disney completely. But you can make the wait a lot less by following my guide.
The Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Fl is huge. It is about 39 sq miles and made up of 4 theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios), 2 Water parks (Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon). Also on property is Disney Springs (shopping and food).
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There are 27 and counting theme hotels, along with nine non-Disney hotels. You will also find a camp ground and several golf courses. As you can tell, a lot of things make up Walt Disney World.
With over 50 million people visiting Walt Disney World a year. Not a single day goes by that you WON’T be standing in a line. My goal with this guide is not to have you avoid lines (it would be great just not possible) but how to make all the line waiting under 15 minutes.
Tips
Tip 1
While you cannot avoid the lines all together. You can make them more manageable. Who wants to wait in line for 2 hours for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or 3 plus hours at Flight of Passage? Not me and if your reading this definitely not you.
So how do you avoid long lines on the top attractions? You use the FastPass+ system of course. Don’t know what that is? Check out my guide here for your FastPass+ guide.
A quick break down of the FastPass+ system, is it is Disney’s way for you to reserve certain ride times for most of the attractions within Walt Disney World. Most of the top attractions offer FastPass+ passes. Just know that they do run out.
Tip 2
Have the My Disney Experience app loaded on your phone. You are able to look up waiting times for all 4 Disney Theme Parks. Plan and book your FastPass+. Both of which help you avoid long lines at WDW.
Picture this you were planning on going on Journey of the Little Mermaid but you see it has a 35 minute wait. You check out on My Disney Experience and see Dumbo only has a 20 minute wait and Barnstormer only has a 10 minute wait.
See you didn’t avoid lines all together but you ended up doing 2 rides in the time it would have taken you to do one.
Tip 3
Ready to eat but see a huge line waiting to order food and you walked by the only open table? Have no fear sit at that open table and pull up My Disney Experience app. Currently there are 22 quick service restaurant that offer mobile ordering. You can order anything off the menu (some have mobile order secret menus) and than prepay using the app.
If you are on one of the Dining Plans YOU CAN use mobile order to pay for your meal. Same thing goes when using a credit or debit card. If paying with a Disney gift card or trying to get an Annual Passholder discount YOU WILL need to see a cashier.
HINT: Make sure you DO NOT click “I’m Here, Prepare my Order” UNLESS you are actually there. If you want HOT food and not lukewarm or even cold make sure you are at the quick service location or within a minute or two walk.
Tip 4
Arrive around park opening and head towards the “back” of the park. You can usually knock out 3 to 5 rides that first hour if you arrive at “rope drop”. I remember doing Tomorrowland Speedway, Space Mountain, Dumbo, Barnstormer, and Journey of the Little Mermaid within the first hour and fifteen minutes when the park opened during Easter Week.
We were even able to get a cinnamon roll from Gaston’s Tavern. A must try snack if you skipped breakfast or just in the need of a mid morning snack.
Disney World Deals! Save on your vacation!Tip 5
This is an extension of Tip 4. If you were unable to score a FastPass+ for “hot” ride at that theme park. Think Flight of Passage or Na’vi River Journey in Animal Kingdom, Slinky Dog Dash at Hollywood studios, Frozen Ever After at EPCOT or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom.
Get to the park at “rope drop” and head straight over to those rides. You will not be able to avoid the line but it should be much shorter 15 minutes after the park opens than in the afternoon.
Tip 6
If staying on site (at a Disney World Hotel or partner hotel), use the extra magic hours. This is typical an hour before official park opening or 2 hours after park close. All 4 theme parks offer extra magic hours on different days.
Your hotel will have a list of which park and on which days extra magic hours are offered. Another tip for this if you have a hopper pass is to go to the park that offers early morning magic hours and than move to a different park for the late morning or early afternoon.
A general rule of thumb to know would be the park that offers early morning extra magic hours is typical busier for that day.
Tip 7
My final tip for avoiding lines at Walt Disney World Resort in Orland, FL. Avoid the afternoons at any park. If you can from 2 to 5 head back to the hotel for a few hour nap or pool time.
If you hit up the park at opening (8am) by 2pm you’ve already spent 6 hours in the park. You should have been able to hit most of your plan for that day. If you followed my Fastpass+ guide you can have all your Fastpass+ done by that time and can book more for the late afternoon after your pool break.
There we go 7 tips to help you avoid the lines at Walt Disney World. You will never be able to avoid a line at Disney World. With over 50 million visitors per year, you’ll never even have the pool alone. But these tips should help you avoid the longest lines.
After all who wants to spend their entire vacation standing in line? I sure don’t. I barely ever stand in line for over 30 minutes. Do you mind standing in long lines? Have any other tips to help your fellow readers out? Leave a comment and share your thoughts. Remember to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest at KozmoPhotos. It will help you stay up to day with all the latest post and photos.
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