With increased crowds & wait instances, you want superior technique for saving time ready at Walt Disney World. That’s the aim of this put up, breaking down one of the best & worst choices–Genie+, Lightning Lanes, additional hours & rope drop–to beat lengthy strains at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, EPCOT and Animal Kingdom. (Updated November 23, 2022.)
Our aim is to search out the perfect strategy to utilizing standby strains and/or Lightning Lanes, in addition to one of the best instances of day at every park. Spoiler: there’s no one-size matches all reply for all folks or all parks. That’s the massive factor we’ve discovered whereas extensively visiting the parks extensively for the sake of analysis to check varied methods, which we’ve once more up to date for Christmas 2022.
Even many longtime Walt Disney World followers are overwhelmed by the choices, so we’re right here to supply perception into lowering friction out of your days within the parks. As the ole tantalizing teaser goes, “…and the results will surprise you!” But significantly, they are going to. What we achieved (or didn’t) with a few of these approaches truly caught us off-guard.
Before getting going, we need to stress the significance of this technique for Walt Disney World journeys between at the very least now and January 9, 2023. The entirety of the vacation season will probably be various levels of very busy at Walt Disney World, and also you’ll want strong technique if you wish to accomplish loads every day.
This put up is comparatively lengthy, however it’s arguably extra useful proper now than the rest on this web site. If you solely learn one put up on this weblog, make it this one. Not to set unrealistic expectations, however this technique ought to prevent a number of hours per day at Walt Disney World (and it ought to prevent cash, too!).
The unhealthy information is that with its current transfer to date-based pricing, Genie+ now prices significantly extra through the vacation season. Current per-person costs vary from $16 to $31 after tax every day, with vacation weeks and all weekends anticipated to be on the higher finish of that vary from early January 2023.
If you’re on a finances or extra price-sensitive, this clearly provides up–amounting to over $400 in added prices for a median household throughout a week-long journey. That’s a big enhance, and makes us much more hesitant to advocate Genie+ in sure circumstances, particularly for borderline parks and when the parks are so busy that Genie+ is much less helpful. (Sadly, there has not been a corresponding lower in Genie+ utilization with the worth enhance–extra folks buy the line-skipping possibility when crowd ranges are increased.)
The excellent news is that Walt Disney World continues to keep up its earlier opening instances, and the result’s that EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios all supply large upside for early birds. Unfortunately, Magic Kingdom is a distinct story–it sometimes opens later and closes sooner than the historic norm.
Hours have presently been prolonged by means of January 2023, and this pattern will nearly definitely proceed all through the foreseeable future till there’s a slowdown in attendance.
Next, let’s do a fast run-through of the assorted mainstream methods to avoid wasting time at Walt Disney World. This isn’t complete, leaving out the priciest choices–like doing VIP excursions all through your journey or renting out the parks–for what ought to be apparent causes. Even although it’s secure to imagine George Clooney, Oprah, and Carrot Top are loyal readers of this weblog, most of you in all probability aren’t that large of excessive rollers.
The first possibility is the controversial Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes (e.g. Paid FastPass), which provide one strategy to skip standby strains. Unfortunately, these include a price–not only a financial one, but in addition with frustrations, back-tracking, getting up early, and the steep studying curve of mastering the brand new system. (Look no additional than our ~4,500 phrase Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ for a way complicated it may be.)
Sticking with the pay to play choices (of kinds), there’s Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours, which substitute Extra Magic Hours within the morning and at evening.
These have their very own professionals & cons, from being solely accessible to on-site company (or a subset thereof) to requiring folks to rise up early or keep late. If you’re unfamiliar with the ins and outs of every, be taught extra in our Guide to Early Entry at Walt Disney World and Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World.
Next, there’s tried and true rope drop or common park opening.
For these unfamiliar with this inside baseball-esque time period, rope drop is just when the lands and sights formally open, which is synonymous with the printed park opening time. (It’s literal–there’s a rope that’s dropped, opening the lands to company.) Since the entrance gates often admit company earlier than park opening, Disney followers have demarcated the 2 instances with this rad time period. In observe, rope drop is just about anytime through the first hour of standard operations.
Finally, there’s the tip of the night, which is often the final couple hours of standard operations. We don’t have a rad time period for this one, however I really feel like that’s an enormous missed alternative for a cryptic moniker. Just think about how lots of the uninitiated we may confuse by referring to this as “rope rise.” (Get it? Because they drop the rope firstly of the day, so it stands to cause that they choose it–you already know, nevermind.)
If we did name the tip of the evening “rope rise,” nobody would know what the heck we’re speaking about, so fewer folks would take benefit. In any case, wait instances are usually shorter in the direction of later at evening. When and by how a lot they fall varies by park, and is usually not absolutely mirrored in posted wait instances.
Of course, there’s additionally the center of the day, or anytime between round 10 am and 6 pm.
With few exceptions, that is the busiest time of day at Walt Disney World–when crowds peak as most company have arrived, however few have left. The majority of company go to the parks throughout these hours, making them the worst time to do something standard. Conversely, it’s one of the best time to deal with unpopular, low-wait sights like stage exhibits and different leisure.
Got all of that? Good. Now let’s go park by park and talk about which strategy is greatest proper now, as of Late 2022. Since first publishing this within the spring, we’ve examined and retested each single technique for the entire parks, and up to date our conclusions as issues have modified. Here’s the park by park rundown of which time-saving approaches are greatest…
Magic Kingdom
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Unlike the opposite parks, choosing the proper day to go to Magic Kingdom is extremely vital, so we’ll begin there. If you go to Magic Kingdom between now and late December 2022, you’re going throughout Party Season. This implies that the park is internet hosting Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP), which actually disrupts attendance patterns at Magic Kingdom.
The excellent news is that occasion season is now in its fourth month, and there at the moment are observable traits. Crowds are considerably decrease on days when these occasions are held within the night, and considerably increased on non-party days. While crowd ranges have began to extend barely on occasion days, the overwhelming majority are nonetheless at or beneath 4/10 on the group calendar. By distinction, non-party days are continuously 9/10 or 10/10.
The busiest weeks throughout coronary heart of the vacation season, Magic Kingdom will begin seeing elevated attendance on occasion days as a result of folks will probably be “forced” into these days by the reservations system. However, the non-party days may even turn into extra crowded, with even worse 10/10 days in Magic Kingdom turning into extra frequent on days when MVMCP isn’t taking place. (One factor to grasp is that not all 10/10 days are equally crowded–that’s simply the place the size maxes out!)
In quick, the wait instances disparity will kind of stay constant as crowd ranges enhance. Because of this, we strongly advocate doing Magic Kingdom through the day of MVMCP, hopping to a different park by ~4 pm. You’ll nonetheless come out means forward by avoiding Saturdays, Mondays, and different non-party days. We’ve additionally lined the upside to this strategy in our Magic Kingdom Party Day Early Entry Report and My Day at Magic Kingdom Using Genie+ on a Party Night.
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If you decide in opposition to this strategy for no matter cause (possibly you don’t have Park Hopper tickets or need to see the fireworks), you’re at a particular drawback. However, there are nonetheless methods to beat the crowds.
Let’s begin with Early Entry, which we’ve discovered much less profitable right here than at another park. This might be attributable to a mixture of increased demand (we haven’t achieved head counts, however it certain looks like extra company present up for Early Entry at Magic Kingdom than another park) and solely Fantasyland and Tomorrowland being open. Following together with our most up-to-date Magic Kingdom Early Entry Photo Report as in comparison with others, you may see we didn’t have fairly as a lot success.
If you’re not eligible for Early Entry, common rope drop continues to be good as a result of Frontierland and Adventureland are usually not open throughout Early Entry. This makes rope drop alone, or Early Entry plus rope drop an amazing strategy. If you’re solely eligible for rope drop, doing Frontierland and Adventureland first and saving Fantasyland till later within the day could be a workable strategy.
There are additionally sufficient worthwhile secondary sights in Magic Kingdom you can spherical out the remainder of your day with enjoyable, low wait exhibits and extra. Many of our smartest and sexiest readers take pleasure in filling out the center of their days by watching Country Bear Jamboree on repeat.
With all of that mentioned, it’s Genie+ that works greatest at Magic Kingdom and it’s actually no contest. In My Day Using Genie+ Lightning Lanes at Magic Kingdom in 2022 I detailed simply how a lot I used to be capable of get achieved–just about every part.
Thanks to a excessive worthwhile attraction rely accessible by way of Lightning Lanes, Magic Kingdom is the one park the place we extremely advocate shopping for Genie+. More importantly, I used to be capable of accomplish all of that with out getting up at 7 am, setting alarms, or diligently refreshing. It was a laid again and relaxed day utilizing Lightning Lanes at Magic Kingdom.
This wouldn’t have been potential on the different parks, particularly Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Unlike these, Magic Kingdom is the park the place Genie+ is best to make use of and presents the fewest complications. At Magic Kingdom, you can e-book Lightning Lane experience reservations with a extra leisurely strategy and fewer criss-crossing the park. There’s additionally much less competitors with Genie+ at Magic Kingdom, and the lower-stakes nature results in fewer frustrations than at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Next, there’s the tip of the evening. Like each different park, wait instances at Magic Kingdom do fall off within the night as company seize spots for the Disney Enchantment fireworks. You can take pleasure in shorter waits when you’re prepared to skip these, or watch them from a last-minute location in Fantasyland.
The drop-off isn’t fairly as pronounced as the opposite parks, however it’s nonetheless vital. That plus queueing up for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train one minute earlier than park closing is a superb strategy when you don’t purchase Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes.
Finally, there’s Extended Evening Hours for individuals who are eligible. We’ve achieved this a handful of instances, so our pattern measurement continues to be comparatively restricted, however our success fee is 100%. Low waits in all places and blissfully uncrowded parks.
Even when you make the most of one of many aforementioned approaches and “conquer” Magic Kingdom earlier than this late evening perk, do it anyway. It’s a pleasant strategy to take pleasure in Magic Kingdom, providing a serene expertise that’s an effective way to decompress from the sooner chaos throughout peak season. (See Magic Kingdom Extended Evening Hours Photo Report.)
Epcot
With its 8:30 am opening time, Early Entry is one of the best ways to beat the crowds at Epcot. That’s doubly true when you’re arriving by way of International Gateway, as you’ll have the ability to do Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure with a ten minute wait or much less. (See Early Entry v. Genie+ at Epcot.)
From the Rat Ride, it’s totally potential to do Frozen Ever After as a close to walk-on, Test Track with minimal wait, Soarin’ Around the World with minimal wait…and every part else within the new neighborhoods with no waits. It’s plenty of strolling, however that’s par for the course at Epcot, and you would modify this strategy to attenuate steps when you’re staying the complete day.
Those arriving for normal rope drop will nonetheless take pleasure in success and time financial savings just about in all places besides Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and that’s straightforward sufficient to avoid wasting for the tip of the evening. Off-site company who aren’t eligible for Early Entry aren’t at too appreciable of an obstacle at Epcot.
Speaking of which, the entrance of the park empties out at Epcot within the night hours, as a result of company eat and drink across the World Showcase, and safe spots for Harmonious. Hitting these rides the final two hours of the day could be a clean transfer, particularly because it’s not crucial that you just get a entrance row view for Harmonious.
For these arriving after rope drop, Genie+ and Lightning Lanes are your default–however even requires waking up early when you anticipate to attain Lightning Lanes for 3+ headliners. Epcot is our second least favourite park for the line-skipping service, and we don’t advocate it right here until you’re Park Hopping or can not make the most of the aforementioned methods.
With each Frozen Ever After and Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure now being included with the Genie+ service, that does transfer the needle. However, when you’re visiting on a busier day when Genie+ prices ~$30, it’s extremely unlikely that you just’ll rating Lightning Lanes for all 3–whereas paying extra for the service. On these days, I nonetheless strongly favor arriving early or staying late, particularly since Genie+ at Epcot can pressure you to do plenty of backtracking.
Extended Evening Hours at Epcot are as pleasant at Epcot as Magic Kingdom, however the decrease experience rely and extra apparent prime priorities means wait instances for the trio of headliners don’t fall as dramatically. On prime of that, if even one experience is down, it will possibly throw an actual monkey wrench into issues.
With good technique, you may nonetheless accomplish Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, and Test Track throughout this post-closing perk, however it does require dedication (and luck). You may also do Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind as long as you rating a spot within the digital queue. Speaking of which…
Finally, there’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the latest blockbuster attraction at Walt Disney World. This hasn’t actually modified Epcot touring technique within the least, which is as a result of it makes use of a digital queue. Fortunately, Cosmic Rewind is far more dependable and environment friendly than Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, so that is a lot simpler and fewer irritating.
See How to Ride Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind & Virtual Queue Strategy for suggestions & methods to enhance your odds of scoring a spot within the digital queue. So lengthy as you set the trouble into that, shopping for Individual Lightning Lane entry will not be essential for Cosmic Rewind.
Hollywood Studios
We’ve been saying for the final two-plus years that Hollywood Studios is essentially the most irritating park at Walt Disney World. Among different issues, that is because of the top-heavy nature of its attraction lineup, and lack of secondary rides. There was a degree through the phased reopening when this was notably problematic, however it has gotten significantly better with the return of most stage exhibits and leisure.
For a lot of the final two years, wait instances at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have peaked sooner than another park at Walt Disney World. In the final month, this has began to shift with the return of Fantasmic, and we’d anticipate that pattern to proceed. Even Animal Kingdom, which opens earlier and is often derided as a half-day park, doesn’t see its longest wait instances of the day till afternoon.
Against this backdrop, the best choice for beating the crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is Early Entry. In giant half, it is because Early Entry encompasses all vital, high-wait sights at DHS and likewise as a result of it often finally ends up being far more than a 30 minute head-start.
That’s very true when you prioritize Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, with the added upside of doing this primary being that you just’re much less more likely to encounter a breakdown when you’re in line for it. Check out our report on Early Entry at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that covers our expertise knocking out the “triple digit trio” at DHS earlier than the park opened to common company.
The worst technique for Disney’s Hollywood Studios is counting on conventional rope drop. This ought to be fairly intuitive for the 2 causes recognized above: wait instances peak early and all headliners are open for Early Entry.
If you may’t enter DHS till common park opening time, you’re going to get possibly 1-2 sights achieved with beneath common waits. Your probability for frustrations–and thus leaving earlier than the tip of the evening–may even be increased.
Instead, contemplate a day arrival and staying till park closing. One factor to bear in mind with that is that it doesn’t work as effectively is previous to the return of Fantasmic. As a results of that nighttime spectacular, extra guests are staying later or Park Hopping to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. As a consequence, wait instances stay elevated into the late afternoon and night.
The excellent news is that there’s nonetheless a pronounced drop-off throughout dinner and Fantasmic. The unhealthy information is that, like everybody else, you’ll in all probability need to eat and see Fantasmic. This is unquestionably a giant blow for our favourite strategy to do DHS, however it’s positively not a net-negative. Fantasmic is nice, so we’re very completely happy to have it again; additionally, DHS is now drawing crowds away from EPCOT and Animal Kingdom within the night hours, making these comparatively much less crowded.
Posted wait instances are decrease within the final two hours of the day at DHS, however that solely tells a part of the story. Actual wait instances are sometimes dramatically decrease, notably for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and different headliners.
The solely caveat we’ll add right here is that this strategy with the unreliable Rise of the Resistance is dangerous–when you solely have one shot at it and the experience goes down within the final two hours of the day, you could be out of luck. Read our Ride Guide for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, which gives an summary of one of the best & worst methods to try this, and plan accordingly.
Finally, there’s Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. We’ve lined experiences with this extensively, most lately in My Day Using Genie+ Lightning Lanes in Peak Crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In a nutshell, Genie+ and Lightning Lanes can prevent a ton of time at DHS, however the system is aggravating for a few of the identical causes recognized above.
DHS has a prime heavy lineup, and primarily, you’ll want to be Genie+ energy person to attain the most-coveted experience reservations. Even then, unhealthy luck or technical difficulties may bitter the expertise. We’ve heard from many readers who’ve solely been capable of e-book 1-2 Lightning Lane experience reservations with Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Think of Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as an possibility of final resort. If you may’t do Early Entry or don’t need to keep late for no matter cause, you can purchase Genie+ and possibly an Individual Lightning Lane for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It could be headache-inducing, however not any extra so than standby strains, that are simply brutal at DHS. This is very true through the vacation season–you actually need to make the most of savvy technique to forestall Disney’s Hollywood Studios from being downright disagreeable.
Animal Kingdom
We go from essentially the most irritating park to the simplest one. Strategy for Animal Kingdom primarily quantities to “don’t go during the middle of the day and stand in long lines,” which appears to be what the overwhelming majority of company do for some odd cause.
Going early, staying late, or utilizing Genie+ are all strong methods. Almost equally so. We’d give the sting to Early Entry, which begins at 7:30 am on most dates. That is absurdly early, and an enormous barrier for many company. If you’re capable of arrive to Animal Kingdom by 7 am, this offers you an enormous benefit.
Traditional rope drop additionally works, as long as you prioritize one thing aside from Avatar Flight of Passage. Again, most individuals aren’t up and out the door this early within the morning on trip, and that applies even to common park opening time at Animal Kingdom. (With the height season 8 am official opening, you may have the ability to hit Flight of Passage with minimal wait even at conventional rope drop.)
Personally, I’m a fan of doing Animal Kingdom later within the day (see Animal Kingdom Afternoon Arrival Strategy). Subjectively, that is good as a result of Animal Kingdom is the most well liked park at Walt Disney World, and hitting it when the solar is decrease knocks a very good 10-20 levels off the appears like temperatures. The environment at sundown and evening can be unbelievable, and one thing few followers see.
Unfortunately, wait instances aren’t plummeting in the direction of the tip of the day like they had been a few yr in the past, which is probably going attributable to extra leisure having returned. While most different rides will probably be walk-ons or near it, you may nonetheless anticipate prolonged strains for the 2 Pandora – World of Avatar sights.
At this level, Genie+ is the objectively higher possibility at Animal Kingdom than staying late. Even although the lineup is proscribed, most eligible sights have availability effectively into the afternoon. I’m disinclined to purchase Genie+ at Animal Kingdom as a result of arriving early or staying late works effectively and the eligible attraction roster is so restricted, however it nonetheless gives time financial savings.
Personally, I solely purchase Genie+ at Animal Kingdom when Park Hopping. It’s our suggestion then as a result of you may knock out the 2-3 sights the place Lightning Lanes are helpful at Animal Kingdom and likewise use Genie+ to skip a couple of strains in one of many different parks, too. Outside of Genie+, Avatar Flight of Passage could be value the price of the Individual Lightning Lane, however we often hit it early, late, or through the lunch lull as an alternative.
Ultimately, there are plenty of methods to beat the crowds at Walt Disney World, and that applies even through the peak weeks of summer time and past. Strategizing has positively gotten extra difficult within the final yr, and we’ve heard from numerous very long time guests who really feel left behind or overwhelmed. The unhealthy information is that there are extra pay-to-play choices they usually’ll both value additional or have much less eligibility.
The excellent news is that there’s truly higher accessibility to saving time at Walt Disney World. If you learn this ~4,000 phrase put up the evening earlier than visiting Walt Disney World, you would make the most of a lot of the following pointers. That merely was not potential presently a couple of years in the past, when pre-booking FastPass+ as much as 60 days upfront closed the door for lots of first-timers who, fairly understandably, had no clue experience reservations had been booked months upfront.
Now, techniques are uneven and inconsistent among the many parks, however there’s just about one thing for everybody. Whether you need to pay additional, not pay additional, rise early, or keep late. As at all times, we extremely advocate our Walt Disney World Park Itineraries for extra granular, step-by-step recommendation for planning out your whole day.
About the one factor you may’t do is sleep in, go to the parks from 11 am till 4 pm, and depart early. This has at all times been the worst strategy to do Walt Disney World, and that continues to be true to today. Yet, for causes past me, that continues to be the “preferred” strategy for therefore many company. If you merely don’t try this, you’re routinely forward of the pack!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about motels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To get monetary savings on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips put up takes a singular have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to begin is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for every part you’ll want to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on our prompt methods for every of the Walt Disney World theme parks? Do you favor rope drop, “rope rise,” Early Entry, Extended Evening Hours, or Genie+ and Lightning Lanes? Or, do you prefer a miss of approaches when touring the parks? How do you do issues otherwise in every park? Any different suggestions on arriving early or staying late on the Walt Disney World theme parks? Agree or disagree with our recommendation or strategy? Any questions we can assist you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!