Tips and Tricks

A visit to Disney World is no cheap thrill. There’s no getting around that. For most people, regular tickets will be the most affordable, but purchasing an Annual Pass can actually be worthwhile in some cases.

WHICH TICKETS TO CHOOSE

Annual Pass – If you plan to spend a long time in Florida and plan to spend a lot of that time in Disney World, or maybe return again within a year, you might consider buying an annual pass. This provides great flexibility and good opportunities for minimal queuing. The most expensive annual pass provides unlimited access to all parks and water parks. This means that you can take full advantage of Lightning Lanes, if you use it. A good idea is then to spend half days in the parks: Then you reserve Lightning Lanes early in the day (preferably from 09:00) on the most popular attractions and arrive at the park about half an hour before they open (preferably even a little earlier for Magic Kingdom, as the trip from parking to the park takes a little longer). So early in the day there are fewer people and you can drive a combination of attractions with little queue and the attractions you have Lightning Lane on. Then you take an early lunch, as close to 11:00 as possible (preferably not after 11:30). When you are done with lunch, the clock will be around 12:00 and the restaurants will fill up with everyone else who is going to eat, and the queues will be somewhat smaller. Then you drive attractions as long as the queues are not too long, or you can get Lightning Lane reservations within a reasonable time. End the day with some cooling shopping or a not particularly cooling look at the parade (in Magic Kingdom if you are there). Then you can, for example, go back to one of the parks for the fireworks in the evening. Another possibility is to enjoy yourself in a water park or in your own pool first thing in the day and go to the park in the afternoon/evening and drive some attractions, and watch the fireworks in the evening.

Regular tickets – You can use much of the same strategy as if you have an annual pass; Be in the park before it opens. You should still expect some queue, even if you use Lightning Lane. If you want, it is possible to leave the park in the middle of the day and come back towards the evening, but be aware that this is a fairly time-consuming process if you are in Magic Kingdom, as the parking lot is a bit away and you have to be transported there by boat or monorail. If you are in the park all day, it can be a good idea to shop, see some shows or plan to take some of the attractions with the least queue, at the busiest time in the middle of the day. If you have bought so-called “Park hopper” tickets, it means that you can visit several parks on the same day. Be aware that you cannot travel to a new park until after you have visited the park you have a regular ticket to. A good combination can, for example, be to spend half a day in Epcot and half a day in Hollywood Studios. Start the day early in one of the parks, so you can drive the most popular attractions early.

START THE DAY EARLY

Another good tip is to start at the farthest point in the park, provided you are there when the park opens. The attractions closest to the entrance usually have the longest queue early in the day.

LIGHTNING LANE

If you can afford it, always use MultiPass and Single Pass for access to Lightning Lane, and make frequent use of the “My Disney Experience” app. New available times for Lightning Lane can quickly appear, as people change and cancel their bookings all the time. Read more about this HERE.

WEATHER

Also, feel free to use the weather to your advantage. Especially in the summer and fall, you must expect a heavy afternoon shower in Florida. If you find a dry place to stay until the shower is over, a good number of people will have left the park due to the rain. Therefore, you may experience somewhat less queue after a shower. This especially applies to the water parks. Everything is closed here when it rains, because thunder often follows the shower weather, and you will almost always experience that there are significantly fewer people in the park when the rain has subsided. In Blizzard Beach, there are sunbeds placed under a roof, so show up when the park opens and try to secure one of these, then you have a place to stay when it rains. In Typhoon Lagoon, this type of sunbeds is only available for rent, for a fairly high price.