With larger crowds & wait occasions, you want superior technique for saving time ready at Walt Disney World. That’s the aim of this put up, breaking down the very 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 purpose is to search out the best strategy to utilizing standby strains and/or Lightning Lanes, in addition to the very best occasions of day at every park. Spoiler: there’s no one-size suits all reply for all individuals or all parks. That’s the massive factor we’ve realized 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 decreasing friction out of your days within the parks. As the ole tantalizing teaser goes, “…and the results will surprise you!” But severely, they may. What we completed (or didn’t) with a few of these approaches really caught us off-guard.
Before getting going, we wish 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 can 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, nevertheless it’s arguably extra worthwhile 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 latest transfer to date-based pricing, Genie+ now prices significantly extra in the course of 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 price range 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 major 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 individuals buy the line-skipping choice when crowd ranges are larger.)
The excellent news is that Walt Disney World continues to keep up its earlier opening occasions, and the result’s that EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios all provide super upside for early birds. Unfortunately, Magic Kingdom is a unique story–it sometimes opens later and closes sooner than the historic norm.
Hours have at the moment been prolonged by January 2023, and this development will nearly actually proceed all through the foreseeable future till there’s a slowdown in attendance.
Next, let’s do a fast run-through of the varied mainstream methods to save lots of 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 needs 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 massive of excessive rollers.
The first choice is the controversial Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes (e.g. Paid FastPass), which provide one technique to skip standby strains. Unfortunately, these include a value–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 the way complicated it may be.)
Sticking with the pay to play choices (of types), there’s Early Entry and Extended Evening Hours, which substitute Extra Magic Hours within the morning and at evening.
These have their very own execs & cons, from being solely obtainable to on-site company (or a subset thereof) to requiring individuals to stand up early or keep late. If you’re unfamiliar with the ins and outs of every, study 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 solely when the lands and sights formally open, which is synonymous with the revealed park opening time. (It’s literal–there’s a rope that’s dropped, opening the lands to company.) Since the entrance gates normally admit company earlier than park opening, Disney followers have demarcated the 2 occasions with this rad time period. In apply, rope drop is just about anytime in the course of the first hour of standard operations.
Finally, there’s the top of the night, which is normally 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 originally of the day, so it stands to purpose that they decide it–you recognize, nevermind.)
If we did name the top of the evening “rope rise,” nobody would know what the heck we’re speaking about, so fewer individuals would take benefit. In any case, wait occasions are usually shorter in direction of later at evening. When and by how a lot they fall varies by park, and is usually not totally mirrored in posted wait occasions.
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 fashionable. Conversely, it’s the very best time to give attention to 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 celebration season is now in its fourth month, and there at the moment are observable developments. Crowds are considerably decrease on days when these occasions are held within the night, and considerably larger on non-party days. While crowd ranges have began to extend barely on celebration days, the overwhelming majority are nonetheless at or below 4/10 on the group calendar. By distinction, non-party days are ceaselessly 9/10 or 10/10.
The busiest weeks throughout coronary heart of the vacation season, Magic Kingdom will begin seeing elevated attendance on celebration days as a result of individuals can be “forced” into these days by the reservations system. However, the non-party days can even change into extra crowded, with even worse 10/10 days in Magic Kingdom changing into extra widespread on days when MVMCP isn’t taking place. (One factor to know is that not all 10/10 days are equally crowded–that’s simply the place the dimensions maxes out!)
In quick, the wait occasions disparity will roughly stay constant as crowd ranges enhance. Because of this, we strongly advocate doing Magic Kingdom in the course of the day of MVMCP, hopping to a different park by ~4 pm. You’ll nonetheless come out manner 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 towards this strategy for no matter purpose (possibly you don’t have Park Hopper tickets or wish 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 every other park. This might be because of a mixture of larger demand (we haven’t completed head counts, nevertheless it positive looks like extra company present up for Early Entry at Magic Kingdom than every other 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’ll be able to 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 usually are not open throughout Early Entry. This makes rope drop alone, or Early Entry plus rope drop a fantastic 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 which you could 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 in a position to get completed–just about every part.
Thanks to a excessive worthwhile attraction depend obtainable 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 in a position to 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 doable 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 guide Lightning Lane journey 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 top of the evening. Like each different park, wait occasions 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 if you happen to’re keen 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, nevertheless it’s nonetheless vital. That plus queueing up for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train one minute earlier than park closing is a good strategy if you happen to don’t purchase Genie+ or Individual Lightning Lanes.
Finally, there’s Extended Evening Hours for many who are eligible. We’ve completed this a handful of occasions, so our pattern dimension continues to be comparatively restricted, however our success charge is 100%. Low waits all over the place and blissfully uncrowded parks.
Even if you happen to reap the benefits of one of many aforementioned approaches and “conquer” Magic Kingdom earlier than this late evening perk, do it anyway. It’s a pleasant technique to take pleasure in Magic Kingdom, providing a serene expertise that’s a good 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 simplest ways to beat the crowds at Epcot. That’s doubly true if you happen to’re arriving by way of International Gateway, as you’ll be capable of 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 completely doable 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 loads of strolling, however that’s par for the course at Epcot, and you might modify this strategy to reduce steps if you happen to’re staying the complete day.
Those arriving for normal rope drop will nonetheless take pleasure in success and time financial savings just about all over the place besides Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and that’s simple sufficient to save lots of for the top of the evening. Off-site company who aren’t eligible for Early Entry aren’t at too appreciable of a drawback 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 easy transfer, particularly because it’s not crucial that you simply 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 if you happen to 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’t reap the benefits 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, if you happen to’re visiting on a busier day when Genie+ prices ~$30, it’s extremely unlikely that you simply’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 loads of backtracking.
Extended Evening Hours at Epcot are as pleasant at Epcot as Magic Kingdom, however the decrease journey depend and extra apparent prime priorities means wait occasions for the trio of headliners don’t fall as dramatically. On prime of that, if even one journey is down, it may possibly throw an actual monkey wrench into issues.
With good technique, you’ll be able to nonetheless accomplish Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Frozen Ever After, and Test Track throughout this post-closing perk, nevertheless it does require willpower (and luck). You may 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 rather 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 & tips 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 is just not obligatory 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 some extent in the course of the phased reopening when this was significantly problematic, nevertheless it has gotten significantly better with the return of most stage exhibits and leisure.
For a lot of the final two years, wait occasions at Disney’s Hollywood Studios have peaked sooner than every other park at Walt Disney World. In the final month, this has began to shift with the return of Fantasmic, and we’d anticipate that development to proceed. Even Animal Kingdom, which opens earlier and is usually derided as a half-day park, doesn’t see its longest wait occasions of the day till afternoon.
Against this backdrop, the best choice for beating the crowds at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is Early Entry. In massive half, it’s because Early Entry encompasses all vital, high-wait sights at DHS and likewise as a result of it normally finally ends up being rather more than a 30 minute head-start.
That’s very true if you happen to prioritize Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, with the added upside of doing this primary being that you simply’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 needs to be fairly intuitive for the 2 causes recognized above: wait occasions peak early and all headliners are open for Early Entry.
If you’ll be able to’t enter DHS till common park opening time, you’re going to get possibly 1-2 sights completed with under common waits. Your probability for frustrations–and thus leaving earlier than the top of the evening–can even be larger.
Instead, take into account a day arrival and staying till park closing. One factor to remember 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 outcome, wait occasions 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 wish to eat and see Fantasmic. This is unquestionably a giant blow for our favourite technique to do DHS, nevertheless it’s positively not a net-negative. Fantasmic is nice, so we’re very glad 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 occasions are decrease within the final two hours of the day at DHS, however that solely tells a part of the story. Actual wait occasions are sometimes dramatically decrease, significantly 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–if you happen to solely have one shot at it and the journey 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 outline of the very best & worst methods to try this, and plan accordingly.
Finally, there’s Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. We’ve lined experiences with this extensively, most not too long ago 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 number of the similar causes recognized above.
DHS has a prime heavy lineup, and basically, you should be Genie+ energy consumer to attain the most-coveted journey reservations. Even then, unhealthy luck or technical difficulties may bitter the expertise. We’ve heard from many readers who’ve solely been in a position to guide 1-2 Lightning Lane journey reservations with Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Think of Genie+ at Disney’s Hollywood Studios as an choice of final resort. If you’ll be able to’t do Early Entry or don’t wish to keep late for no matter purpose, you should buy Genie+ and possibly an Individual Lightning Lane for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. It will be headache-inducing, however not any extra so than standby strains, that are simply brutal at DHS. This is particularly true in the course of the vacation season–you really want 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 basically 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 purpose.
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 in a position to arrive to Animal Kingdom by 7 am, this provides 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 be capable of 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 popular park at Walt Disney World, and hitting it when the solar is decrease knocks a great 10-20 levels off the appears like temperatures. The ambiance at sundown and evening can also be improbable, and one thing few followers see.
Unfortunately, wait occasions aren’t plummeting in direction of the top of the day like they have been a few 12 months in the past, which is probably going because of extra leisure having returned. While most different rides can be walk-ons or near it, you’ll be able to nonetheless anticipate prolonged strains for the 2 Pandora – World of Avatar sights.
At this level, Genie+ is the objectively higher choice at Animal Kingdom than staying late. Even although the lineup is restricted, 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, nevertheless it nonetheless gives time financial savings.
Personally, I solely purchase Genie+ at Animal Kingdom when Park Hopping. It’s our advice then as a result of you’ll be able to 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 will be value the price of the Individual Lightning Lane, however we normally hit it early, late, or in the course of the lunch lull as a substitute.
Ultimately, there are loads of methods to beat the crowds at Walt Disney World, and that applies even in the course of the peak weeks of summer time and past. Strategizing has positively gotten extra sophisticated within the final 12 months, 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 really larger 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 might reap the benefits of lots of the following pointers. That merely was not doable presently a couple of years in the past, when pre-booking FastPass+ as much as 60 days prematurely closed the door for lots of first-timers who, fairly understandably, had no clue journey reservations have been booked months prematurely.
Now, techniques are uneven and inconsistent among the many parks, however there’s just about one thing for everybody. Whether you wish 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’ll be able to’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 technique to do Walt Disney World, and that continues to be true to this present day. Yet, for causes past me, that continues to be the “preferred” strategy for thus many company. If you merely don’t try this, you’re mechanically forward of the pack!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Learn about inns 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 take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the very best place to start out is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for every part you should know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on our instructed methods for every of the Walt Disney World theme parks? Do you like 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 may help you reply? Hearing your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!