Disney is a place of magic, wonder, expenses and – LINES.

Lots and lots of lines.

Monorail lines, food lines, ride lines. 

The good news is that there are many ways to shorten your wait times and, believe it or not, sometimes skip the wait entirely! From Disney tech to good ol’ fashioned showtimes printed on paper, here are my “Top Five Time-Saving Tips” to spend less time waiting and more time enjoying the parks with your family! 

Top Five Time-Saving Tips:

1. Download the My Disney Experience App

There are SO many ways this app will help you make the best of your time at Disney. Here are just a few time-saving tips! 

Ride Wait Times – The app gives you up-to-date wait times for all the rides at any of the parks. This feature allows you to make a judgement call on whether or not you want to wait in a particular ride line without having to walk all the way to the actual ride to see the wait time. 

Temporarily Closed Rides – It’s a total bummer when your favorite ride is closed down, but it’s totally fantastic when you know this information ahead of time and don’t waste time walking there! This feature has come in handy for my family many times. Just recently on a trip to Magic Kingdom, our goal was to go to Splash Mountain. I checked the wait time for the ride as I was entering the park and saw that it was temporarily closed! This information allowed me to not waste time trekking my family to that corner of the park. Time saved! 

Mobile Ordering for Food and Drink – I see so many families standing in long, long times waiting for their turn to order lunch or dinner. There’s a better way! Order on the app and enjoy a much shorter wait time. 

2. Genie+

This is especially important if you are here on vacation – the lines at Disney can be long, so in attempt to do the most and wait the least amount of time, consider paying for Genie+. There are a ton of videos online about how to navigate the system because there are rules about when you can book your Lightning Lane passes and which rides are paid for individually. If you are here for a limited time, I do think there is merit to paying additional money to avoid those long lines and maximize your time in the parks.

3. Take the Buses to Magic Kingdom

Guys, this is honestly my favorite time-saving tip ever because it took me forever to finally try it and…it’s amazing. 

When you go to Magic Kingdom, you have to park in the Ticketing and Transportation Center and then take the monorail or ferry over to the park itself. The monorail often has a massive line or is shut down for various reasons. The ferry is packed and slower than the monorail. But there’s a third option: the buses! When you get through bag check, hang a right! There’s usually a cast member standing there telling everyone about this time-saving option – but so few take it. We’ve done it several times now and have never regretted it! 

4. Grab a Showtimes Sheet

I have seen people sitting at the Canadian stage in EPCOT so many times waiting for a show that will never happen because that act only performs on certain days. Showtimes sheets tell you what days of the week different shows occur, therefore avoiding wasting time getting to a show that’s never going to happen that day. The sheets also allow you to plan your day more efficiently so that you’re not walking across the park several times in one day. And yes, you can totally access this information on the My Disney Experience app as well, but honestly, grabbing a showtimes sheet on your way into the park is a quick and easy-to-read reference to have with you all day. The showtime sheets are always readily available at all entrances to the park. Huge time-saving tip!

5. Single Rider Line

Most of the big rides offer a single rider line and it’s usually much, much shorter than the regular line. Cast members pull from the single rider line to fill in seats when odd-numbered parties leave one seat open. Yes, your party will get split up to enjoy the ride, bud doing this will allow you and your party to enjoy more rides during your Disney day!

There you have it! Follow these time-saving tips and enjoy more of the Disney magic during your day at the parks. 

Do you have a favorite time-saving tip? Let us know in the comments! 

First published 2/1/2020 – Updated 9/20/2023