Whether you’re at Disney World or Disneyland, there’s plenty of sunshine, thrills, and treats to go around. But let’s be honest: with more and more people discovering the magic all the time, the parks can be crowded and the lines long. Because the rides and attractions are some of the best parts of a Disney experience, let’s explore six ways to skip the lines in the California or Florida parks
1. Rope-Drop
This involves getting up early–which might automatically disqualify you as a rope dropper–but hear me out: first of all, if you rope drop the right way, you’ll be able to ride several rides the first hour the park is open, with little to no line! Second, you don’t need to rope drop every single day–maybe consider it if there’s a ride with a typically long line for which you don’t want to buy a Lightning Lane (Rise of the Resistance). Third, remember that if you get up early, you can take a midday breaks! One of our favorite things to do is take midday park breaks when the sun is high–that way, we miss peak crowds and maximize both the early morning and late night short lines.
Disneyland
At Disneyland, popular rides to rope-drop are: Space Mountain (stand at the Tomorrowland rope) and Rise of the Resistance (stand as close to Frontierland as possible). My teenagers always want to rope drop Space Mountain, and they are usually some of the first in line (especially since ROTR went standby). The trouble with rope-dropping ROTR is that it’s a gamble: it’s a ride notorious for breaking down. If you rope-drop it, you could actually waste those precious minutes gambling on the ride working.
People with little kids like to rope-drop Peter Pan (stand at the middle Fantasyland rope), which is easy to do: walk straight through the castle and join the line on your right.
California Adventure
Similar to Rise of the Resistance, while Radiator Springs Racers is our favorite DCA ride to rope-drop, half of it was broken down the last time we rode it first thing in the morning (it was like they hadn’t turned on the interior audio yet). It’s a little bit of a gamble choosing which ride to rope drop, and some people would rather head to WebSlingers, especially if they haven’t ridden it before.
Read our rope-dropping blog post here:
Disney World
Disney World is trickier because of extra morning hours: only guests staying on property at Disney or select other hotels can actually get into the parks first thing (we learned this the hard way when we thought we were rope-dropping Animal Kingdom. We were actually arriving 30 minutes after all the extra morning hours guests).
Popular rides to head to straight away at WDW, by park: at Magic Kingdom, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train; Hollywood Studios, Slinky Dog Dash or ROTR; EPCOT, Frozen Ever After or Test Track; Animal Kingdom, Flight of Passage.
2. Stay Until Closing
Disneyland/California Adventure
If you’re not a night owl, this might not be a great option for you. We never stayed until closing when our kids were little, and sometimes we still run out of steam earlier in the evening. But similar to rope drop, some rides have markedly shorter lines in the evenings (usually not as drastically as rope-drop lines, but YMMV).
Disney World
Again, it’s not so straightforward at WDW: certain parks on certain days have extended evening hours, but only for guests staying on site or at select properties.
3. Rider Switch
Rider switch allows one member of a party to wait with a person unable to ride an attraction, and then ride the attraction without waiting in line again. So if you have little ones or guests who don’t want to/can’t ride certain rides in the parks with you–but you don’t want to miss out on attractions (and have two adults in your party)–you can request rider switch.
Disneyland
Check the Disneyland app for a complete list of rides offering rider switch; as of the writing of this post, the rides at Disneyland/CA with rider switch are as follows:
Disneyland: Smugglers Run, ROTR, Splash Mountain, Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, Star Tours, Space Mountain, Autopia, Matterhorn
California Adventure: Soarin’, Grizzly River Run, Goofy’s Sky School, Jumpin’ Jellyfish, Silly Symphony Swings, Incredicoaster, Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree, RSR, Luigi’s Roadsters, Guardians
Disney World
Check the My Disney Experience app for a complete list of rides offering rider switch; as of the writing of this post, the rides at WDW with rider switch are as follows:
Magic Kingdom: Barnstormer, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Tomorrowland Speedway.
EPCOT: Frozen Ever After, Mission: SPACE, Soarin’ Around the World, Test Track.
Hollywood Studios: Alien Swirling Saucers, Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, Slinky Dog Dash, Star Tours, Tower of Terror.
Animal Kingdom: Flight of Passage, DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Na’vi River Journey, Primeval Whirl
4. Single Rider
Single riders lines are designed to fill in empty single seats in ride cars, in order to increase throughput. You can’t single ride if you are under seven years old, so this is mostly a trick for adults at Disney or families with older kids. If you don’t mind splitting up to ride the rides, this is one of our FAVORITE ways to skip lines.
Disneyland/California Adventure
Did you know there are four single rider lines total at WDW, yet between the two Disney California parks there are eight? At Disneyland, you can single ride Matterhorn Bobsleds, Splash Mountain, and Smugglers Run; at DCA ride solo on Goofy’s Sky School, Grizzly River Run, Incredicoaster, Radiator Springs Racers and WebSlingers.
Disney World
Single rider lines at WDW: at EPCOT Test Track, Animal Kingdom Expedition Everest, and at Hollywood Studios Smugglers Run and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.
5. Ride During Parades & Fireworks
Not always, but sometimes ride lines are shorter during parades and fireworks! If you’re in the parks for several days and you’ve already seen the parade–or if you want to watch the fireworks from a ride!–wait until lots of people are gathered for a parade or fireworks, and then check the wait times in the app. You could stumble upon a short line!
6. Genie Plus/Lightning Lane
For us, these are honestly a last resort; in fact, we’ve yet to purchase them. We’re about almost free travel, after all–we’d much rather utilize the free ways to skip lines than pay extra. To learn more, read our blog post about these paid ways to skip lines:
7. Get a DAS Pass
I am not advocating for abusing this system, I’m simply reminding you it’s there if your family needs it! I’ve been at Disneyland with a family member who needed a DAS pass, and it made the trip way more enjoyable for him–he just can’t wait in long lines.
Disney has made it easier than ever to see if you qualify for a pass: before your trip, you can pre-register with a cast member, over live video chat (between 30-2 days before arriving at the park). In the parks, set up your ride return times through the app.
Takeaways
The next time you’re at Disney, try a combination of these seven tips and watch how much time you save!
Almost Free Traveling 
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