Spending lots of your precious holiday time standing in lines waiting to get onto the rides at Walt Disney World is probably not something you want to do, so here are some tips to help you avoid that situation.
First of all get to the park as early as you can, pick up a plan of the park at the entrance, and think about which rides/attractions you want to go on and have a plan in mind for your day. Remember that some parks have parades and firework displays which have to be allowed for in your planning.
Getting there early means that the lines for a lot of the rides are still short and you might be able to walk straight on. Also, try and make full use of Disney’s Fastpass system which is free to use and is available for the most popular rides in each park. Fastpasses don’t remove the need to stand in line, but they reduce the time considerably. They give you a time slot when you can come back to the ride and maybe wait ten minutes rather than an hour or more in the Stand-by line. Be aware, though, that you can’t hold more than one Fastpass at a time, so factor that in to your planning and go to some of the less popular rides/attractions while you are waiting for your time slot.
Here is a quick guide to using the system:
Keep a check on the Stand-by lines for rides. If the waiting time is 15 minutes or less, then you can join that line and then use your Fastpass to ride it again.
With some thought, and use of the Fastpass system you should be able to pack more into your day than you might think.
First of all get to the park as early as you can, pick up a plan of the park at the entrance, and think about which rides/attractions you want to go on and have a plan in mind for your day. Remember that some parks have parades and firework displays which have to be allowed for in your planning.
Getting there early means that the lines for a lot of the rides are still short and you might be able to walk straight on. Also, try and make full use of Disney’s Fastpass system which is free to use and is available for the most popular rides in each park. Fastpasses don’t remove the need to stand in line, but they reduce the time considerably. They give you a time slot when you can come back to the ride and maybe wait ten minutes rather than an hour or more in the Stand-by line. Be aware, though, that you can’t hold more than one Fastpass at a time, so factor that in to your planning and go to some of the less popular rides/attractions while you are waiting for your time slot.
Here is a quick guide to using the system:
- Go to the Fastpass machines at the ride you want to go on. They will be near the entrance to the ride. You will need the park admission tickets for all the people in your party who want to go on the ride. Insert the ticket into the machine and, as well as getting your admission ticket back, you will get a Fastpass ticket stamped with your return time slot.
- When your designated time arrives (and not one moment before) you go to the Fastpass entrance at the ride, show your Fastpass ticket to the cast member who will check the time on it and then they will direct you to join the much shorter line. When you get nearer to the ride another cast member will check your ticket again, so make sure you hang on to it.
Keep a check on the Stand-by lines for rides. If the waiting time is 15 minutes or less, then you can join that line and then use your Fastpass to ride it again.
With some thought, and use of the Fastpass system you should be able to pack more into your day than you might think.