50 Disney World Ride Hacks

get on the most popular rides without impossibly long Waits ride seats that give you the best views what are the secrets only the experts know to make Disney rides even better we've got all our greatest ride hacks for you today here on DFE guide [Music] hey everybody it's AJ for Disney food Blog the dfb team is in Disney World every single day that's not an exaggeration we are literally there every day so we ride a lot of rides all the time and that means we're getting pretty good at figuring out what ride tips are the best to rely on and which ones are just internet rumor mumbo jumbo so today we've gathered 50 that's right the big 5-0 ride hacks that have worked for us in the past so that you can use them on your next Disney trip too don't worry about having to jot down any notes though we have all these hacks already typed up for you ready to send your way send us your email at disneyfoodblog.com 50 ride hacks that's 5-0 ride hacks and we'll make sure to get that PDF sent straight to your inbox okay starting out with this first ride hack we don't talk about this nearly enough but it can make a huge difference for your entire Disney World trip and that is scheduling an early breakfast at certain locations so what do restaurants like Crystal Palace and Cinderella's oil table have in common besides being character dining locations they've got got breakfast reservations available before the Magic Kingdom opens each day yep so while Magic Kingdom normally opens for everyone starting at around 9 A.M these dining locations tend to have table availability starting at 8. if you happen to get your hands on one of these super early tables when the park opens at nine a cast member will check for your reservation at the park entrance and then let you into the Magic Kingdom before everyone else now I know we're talking about ride hacks here but there's something spectacular about walking into a practically empty Main Street USA and getting a clear view of Cinderella Castle before you have to share this view with thousands of other guests so make sure to grab a picture or two while you can nope you can't just make a reservation then hop immediately onto a ride once you're in the park you'll have to go eat first and believe me you're gonna want to because these restaurants are super fun but after you're done chowing down you can be one of the first guests to get in line for one of your most anticipated rides now Pop Quiz you're at Epcot just in time for rope drop do you get on spaceship earth because it's right there and super cool and convenient and it's a giant golf ball and you want to ride it or go deeper into the park and get in line for a ride like frozen Ever After or test track which you know will get wildly busy later on in the day I know spaceship earth is beautiful and hypnotic but do not let her pull you in like a siren and waste those precious early morning minutes on a ride that never has a long wait spaceship Earth's lines usually stay pretty mellow but they're the longest first thing in the morning because a lot of people don't watch dfb guide and they don't know that those lines are gonna be super super low later on in the day just pass on right by spaceship earth go ride Frozen test track Remy's Ratatouille Adventure one of those rides that has the longest weights all the time and then go to spaceship earth around noon she's gonna have a lower weight then now I'm just gonna say this outright if you're in line for Rise of the resistance at Galaxy's Edge there are no bathrooms inside the queue water fountains yes bathrooms no at least not easily accessible ones but if you've already waited a good chunk of time in the main line enough time to have your blue milk run its course are you doomed to have to endure this ride with a full bladder no when you come across a cast member in line let them know what's up even if they're a super scary like first order person they should be able to assist you toward one of the emergency exits so you can use one of the facilities backstage this usually happens in the big storm trooper Hangar now of course you want to take care of business before you get in line as much as you can but we've all had those emergencies so heads up that that could be an answer now you also want to know which rides do have mid-cue restrooms so look at flight of passage which let's thank the imagineers because they are thinking three steps ahead of everybody else flight of Passage is the only ride on property with a mid-cue bathroom these single-seater restrooms can be found as you pass into the bioluminescent jungle section of the queue following the cave system waiting area but these bathrooms are just going to have the Bare Basics because you've got to get back in line Pronto so if you're looking for a changing table or even a mirror you're not going to find one here next tip if you arrive at Epcot in time for rope drop good for you you might be surprised by the way the mornings work around here while Epcot technically opens at 9am the world showcase doesn't officially open until 11AM meaning you're not going to be able to shop and Munch Your Way Around The Pavilions for another two hours but even when The Pavilions are in the process of waking up in the morning you can still experience the rides in World Showcase starting at 9am so that means you can get to the park and head straight over to Frozen Ever After in Norway or Remy's Ratatouille Adventure in France you could also technically go straight over to Grand Fiesta tour in Mexico as well but this one's usually a walk-on so you may want to hold off until you get those bigger rides out of the way first just don't forget about the three Caballeros because they are a National Treasure oh and heads up if you happen to go to Remy's Ratatouille Adventure layal which is of course the bakery over there in France also opens at 9am so that's 9 A.M and Moses for you my friends there you go you're welcome now this is our first Genie plus ride hack don't worry there'll be plenty more of those to come but one of Genie Plus's most confusing rules is also the most useful though you can only make one lightning Lane selection at a time you can make another one just as soon as a you use the previous one or B 120 minutes have passed since you made that previous lightning Lane whichever happens first that 120 minute rule can be essential for getting more lightning Lanes in a single day here's an example let's say it's 10 a.m and I get a lightning Lane for Slinky Dog Dash the return time I'm given isn't until 3 P.M which is still 5 hours away but because of the 120 minute rule I can make my next lightning Lane selection starting at 12 pm even if I haven't been able to use my Slinky Dog one yet and that means I could be holding multiple lightning Lanes at any given time of the day this is critical and you need to learn how to to use this this is the way channels like ours and sites like ours keep you one step ahead of every other Disney guest in the Parks all right it's super exciting when your kid finally gets to be tall enough to start writing the big kid rides right then it's so much less boring to go to Disney World but make sure you ease them into this new world of riding coasters first because if you take them on something like Expedition Everest right off the bat or you're a dum-dum like me who took their two-year-old on Big Thunder Mountain in Disneyland and we now know that coaster is the fire coaster because he absolutely freaked out and didn't write anything else till he was five yeah you may struggle to get your traumatized taught on anything else the rest of your truck the three best coasters you can take New Riders on that'll help them get their feet wet with more thrilling attractions our Barnstormer in Magic Kingdom that was a big winner for us and I know it is for a lot of you too Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom and Slinky Dog Dash in Hollywood Studios in that order by the way these rides still feature some fun turns and Bunny Hills but they're not going to take you down any major drops or send you on a zero to 60 mile per hour launch or you know know traumatize you with dynamite once you test the waters with one or two of these you can start easing them into some of the bigger Thrills like Big Thunder Space Mountain and Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic rewind I'd Save Rock and roller coaster till they're a little bit older and probably Tron to those two are both 48 inch height requirements though so they kind of have to be a little bit older unless your kid is like Shaq alright like I said we're gonna have some genie talk in this video and we're gonna explain that whole paper ride Jam here because that is a ride hack even if we don't love that we have to pay for it it can still solve a lot of problems if you need to there are two premium parts of the Disney Genie planning tool that you can pay to use on your My Disney Experience app the first is Disney Genie plus this starts at 15 per person per day and allows you to select lightning Lanes that'll bypass the main cues for many of the attractions you'll find around the parks if you buy Genie Plus on the day of your visit you can start making reservations one at a time starting at 7am once the time for that reservation has passed you can make another and so on and don't forget that 120 minute rule right the second part is the individual lightning Lanes or those paper ride features not every ride's lightning Lane will be available through Disney Genie Plus instead the newer and most popular rides you'll have to pay for a la carte for those rides you can book reservations individually by paying a separate fee which always fluctuates based on the ride's predicted demand reservations for individual lightning lanes open up at 7am for Disney Resort guests but if you're not staying at a Disney World hotel you'll have to wait to get your individual lightning Lane once the park officially opens for the day there's a lot to learn about lightning Lanes we're going to talk a little bit more about them throughout this video but if you want a more in-depth look into how Disney Genie plus and individual lightning Lanes work check out our outsmarting Disney Genie plus video after this for more tips and tricks and all things Genie advice now big news starting March 20th 2023 guests who purchase Disney Genie Plus Us in Disney World will get free digital photo pass downloads for attraction photos taken on the day of their purchase this includes photos of rides like Space Mountain Slinky Dog Dash test track Expedition Everest and lots more so if you want to remember the absolute Terror on your kids face as they meet their very first Yeti or if you want a forever memorialize that peace sign you're throwing on test track your Disney Genie plus purchase will make collecting these Priceless Memories easier on you starting March 20th you're welcome so very rarely are you going to find me advising you to avoid the front seat of a coaster when you can but there are two times that you want to do it and this is the first Slinky Dog Dash listen slink you're adorable but your gigantic head blocks everything I can't see the Toy Story Land below or the ride sets or anything really so when you're about to board this one let a cast member know that you'd like to avoid Row one because Slinky dog's head is Giant and it blocks your view on everything now they'll likely be able to put you in a different seat but once again if the line is wild and they're just trying to keep their heads above water you may have to sit up there with slink no guarantees now this next one is going to help y'all who maybe have some issues with motion sickness you're going to follow the rules for swimming on those spinny rides you know how when you eat something you're supposed to wait 30 minutes before you go swimming so your food can have time to settle yeah copy and paste that concept even though it's you know not a real thing before you get on spinny rides like mad tea party and Magic Kingdom or mission space in Epcot you don't want to ride spinning rides on a completely empty stomach either but you don't want to ride them right after you eat a giant heavy Disney World Meal instead enjoy a meal take a walk and then come back to these attractions later on if you're sensitive to motion sickness you may want to apply this rule to rides like soaring around the world flight of Passage Star Tours and Remy's Ratatouille Adventure as well and on top of that make sure to pack those over-the-counter non-drowsy motion sickness meds to help settle your stomach before the attraction and avoid queasiness post ride through after my first couple of rides on Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic rewind I realized that I needed to go to First Aid and get some Dramamine to get through the rest of the day and that's fine they do have that for you at first aid as well now here's the second time I'm going to advise you to not sit in the front row of a coaster if you are a major thrill seeker go to Universal Studios but if you happen to be at Disney World then this could be your favorite Disney ride hack yet when it comes to those coasters at Disney world like rock and roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain Slinky Dog Dash You're Gonna have a much more intense ride through if you're sitting in the very back row why because the first half of the coaster is yanking along the second half making your ride through feel way more wild from the back however if you're with someone who isn't used to roller coasters yet or who straight up dislike more intense rides then the closer you get to the front of the train cars the slower things are gonna go and feel now speaking of coasters we're going to talk about the bag trick backpacks and purses super handy to have in the Parks but what are you supposed to do with them when you're on the roller coasters well most of the rides do have somewhere you can keep your things stored like a little pouch in front or to the side of you but if you're carrying one of those heavy duty hiker backpacks these little pockets aren't going to do anything for you this is where the bag trick comes into play once you're seated did just take the handles of your backpack and drape each one around each of your knees and that's what you got to do that's it we've never had issues with bags flying off of us before while using this method but if you want a little bit of extra security like I do on rock and roller coaster I always Loop one strap around my foot just for security Now if you load it up in one of the gift shops and find yourself with giant Disney bags full of goodies that absolutely will not fit in your seat compartment let a cast member know they might be able to hold it for you near the exit or let you take turns while another person in your party Waits behind with your stuff if you're doing several thrill rides in a row consider investing in a locker rental you'll find these near the entrance of the parks and near water rides like collie River Rapids but they will cost you about 10 to 12 dollars extra to use for the day all right time for a virtual cue ride hack you want to get on Tron light cycle run at Magic Kingdom then you're gonna have to be quick about it tomorrowland's new high-speed coaster uses Disney's virtual Q system which means in order to ride this thing you'll have to enter the virtual queue through the My Disney Experience app at either 7 AM or 1pm or get an individual lightning Lane but let's say for this purpose you want to go the free route getting your boarding group number isn't as easy as tapping a few buttons on your screen and securing your spot not usually as soon as these drop times go live they'll book up within seconds if you so much as blink too long you could miss your window of opportunity for these brand new rides in Disney World but there is a way to help you speed ahead of other guests and secure your way to Virtual cue Victory beginning at 6am you can tap into the virtual queue and get your party all set up beforehand meaning the folks you want to ride with that way you'll have fewer steps to worry about when you're quickly trying to tap in at seven or one so on the app under join virtual queue you'll find a button that says confirm your party once you hit that button the app will find the people who are linked to your account you'll select each person that you want to add to your party and again hit confirm party then you'll be sent to a screen that'll provide you with some more information about what next steps you'll take when those virtual cues go live when 7am or 1pm hits you can refresh the page and click join queue to get a boarding pass ASAP every second truly counts when it comes to these virtual cues so don't take this extra step for granted get it out of the way as soon as you can so you don't have to worry about it later on when time is of the essence because again everybody who doesn't watch these videos is gonna have to sit there and choose their party while you're already in the virtual queue now the fact that animal kingdom is the park that closes the earliest out of the four could end up giving you the upper hand for many folks who are using the park hopper add-on they'll choose the animal kingdom as their first Park of the day then once their park hopper activates after two they'll jump over to a park that stays open later for their second half and hey this isn't a bad method especially if you're wanting to maximize your Park time but since a good chunk of people will leave Animal Kingdom after two that means ride weights are gonna start dropping so a ride like flight of passage which could normally rack up a weight of 120 Minutes Plus might actually dip to a more reasonable level if you go ahead and stick around Animal Kingdom for that three four five o'clock time frame so why wait in lines during the day when you can just walk onto the rides at night throughout the year Disney offers limited time separately priced after hours events at lots of their Parks these events are capped off for a really limited number of guests meaning lines for rides during these nighttime parties are often significantly shorter than what you're going to find during the day in terms of the regular after hours events which are offered at Magic Kingdom Disney's Hollywood Studios and now Epcot you'll be able to hang out in the Parks three hours after they close for everyone else with these events you'll also get complimentary snacks like popcorn Mickey ice cream bars and drinks now there are also themed after hours parties like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party at Magic Kingdom and H2O glow nights at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon these will let you not only stay in the parks for longer to take advantage of those shorter ride lines but also you get to experience lots of extra activities and themed events taking place during these late night parties too for the record if you want to experience these Parks during the a day you'll still have to pay for a regular theme park ticket and the party ticket which can get rather pricey however you don't have to buy a day ticket to buy a party ticket and vice versa after hours tickets also let you enter the parks three hours before the event kicks off that way you can get some daylight Park time in see all the shows and do all the things that maybe aren't happening during after hours regardless of whether you have a regular day ticket or not now confession the bag trick we talked about that's not Flawless you're not going to be able to have your bag on the neutron light cycle run coaster in Magic Kingdom and that's because of the way the seats work you're going to be riding this coaster like you would a bike meaning you won't have any room to place a bag between your legs there is a small compartment on the top of the light cycle for you to store smaller items like your phone but otherwise you're gonna have to use tron's free locker system before you get to the vehicle loading area you'll be directed over to the lockers where you'll temporarily store your larger items to open a locker just scan your magic band or physical Park ticket and it's good idea to remember which number Locker you selected but even if you don't there is a little touch screen off to the side where you can scan your magic band or Park ticket and it'll remind you which locker is yours if you accidentally put your Park ticket in the locker which yes we have done just track down a Tron cast member they'll be able to reopen it for you but you will have to describe what's inside the locker first and if you don't have a Magic Band or a park ticket talk to a cast member as well they will give you a little one-time use card to use as your locker opening and closing device now another great ride hack that we love is knowing which rides aren't going to have the longer lines these are the ones you go ride when everything else is just through the roof when it comes to wait times here are some of our favorite Underdog rides that you can choose to go on instead of waiting hours in line for something more popular while you're waiting for those lines to die down in Magic Kingdom head into Fantasyland you're going to find a handful of rides with minimal wait times including mad tea party Under the Sea journey of The Little Mermaid made and it's a small world in Epcot you got tons of rides that aren't going to build up too high of weights again on a normal day this may not be the situation if you're visiting during one of those Peak vacation weeks but we'll talk more about that in a minute rides like Grand Fiesta tour in Mexico journey into imagination the Seas with Nemo and friends and living with the land are easy going and usually pretty close to being Walk-Ons in Hollywood Studios finding any rides without those Hefty lines is few and far between these days but your best chances of lower weights will lie with attractions like Star Tours and possibly alien swirling saucers and in Animal Kingdom ride times aren't terrible here usually unless you're hanging out in Pandora but if you really want a short ride line take a journey aboard the wildlife Express this little train will take you to rafiki's Planet watch which is a place where you can visit a Petting Zoo explore the conservation station and even sketch alongside Disney artists at the animation experience so lots of guests still don't know about this free Disney tool which is shocking because we talk about it all the time here on dfp guide but if you're a parent or Guardian with younger kids that don't meet all the different height requirements then you will need to know about the rider switch program Rider switch is a great way for a family with at least two caretakers to tag team an attraction now there's a younger member in your group who can't or doesn't want to ride all you have to do is request a ride or switch with the cast member who stationed at the entrance of the ride it works like this person one can ride either Solo or with the rest of their party while person number two Waits with the kids not riding then after the first section of the group is finished person two stayed behind can now switch with person one without having to wait in line all over again person two can also bring one other guest so they don't have to ride alone this is a solid way to make sure everyone gets to ride the attractions they want to ride that day because no Rider gets left behind now another great reason for Rider switch is if you have a bunch of packages like we talked about before this is especially a good way for you to be be able to ride things when you're carrying a lightsaber around all day let's say you went to savvy's in the morning and made your lightsaber now you got to carry it around Hollywood Studios with you all day because it won't fit in a locker so Rider switch could be the answer if you want to ride some things and don't want to leave your lightsaber just sort of sitting out for everyone to check out now Disney's queue lines can be deceiving remember those Underdog rides I talked about earlier the ones you'll normally only wait 10 to 15 minutes for if that well during busier times of the year we've seen the very same rides have wait times that Spike up so high we could have scaled them like a mountain let me give you a visual representation of what Grand Fiesta tour looked like right after Christmas on December 30th at the start of the day things looked pretty tame but by 11 am the line had shot up to 60 Minutes how do they even fit a 60 Minute line in the Mexico Pavilion it's not that big in the first place by 5 PM the weight finally dropped down to around 20 minutes which is still really long for this one but way better than hour so here are the three things you need to take away from this hair raising mountain climbing scenario number one keep an eye on wait times leading up to your trip and find out what the average lines usually look like that way you're not suckered into standing in line for an experience that usually has no demand you can study the wait times on the My Disney Experience app but we also release updated posts on our dfb site that covers what we're seeing in the Parks first hand second option wait it out much like Grand Fiesta tours wait time dropped later on in the day so will other rides that end up peaking by mid to late afternoon in the meantime catch a show do some shopping enjoy a meal and just don't waste your entire day waiting waiting waiting for a ride that's going to have a line that's going to go down and be much much much less of a wait later on and three brace yourself for the busy if you're vacationing when everyone else is this might be a good time to invest in Disney Genie plus which we'll talk about more towards the end of this video another quick note for Mexico specifically sometimes there is a cue to actually get into the pyramid itself that's a different cue from the grand Fiesta tour so go check with a cast member and see which one is which and which line you actually have to get into our next ride hack adopt the gamer mentality when you board Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run in Galaxy's Edge you're not just on a ride you're in a video game even more so if you've been tasked with a role of Pilots piloting the Falcon is an honor but it's also possibly the most stressful experience on a Disney Vacation the two pilots have two different controls the pilot on the left hand side controls whether the ship goes left or right while the pilot on the right controls whether the ship goes up or down now if you're not big on video games then the up down controls for the right hand pilot could be confusing and that's because the ship uses inverted controls so when you pull up on the control stick the ship's gonna go down and when you pull down the ship's gonna fly up if you're nervous about potentially crashing this hunk of junk repeatedly which I have done many many times so don't be nervous about it you may be better off with the left and right piloting controls instead where left is left and right is right and everything's the same alright look we love soaring around the world over in Epcot but she ain't perfect if you're not familiar with Soren this flying simulator ride uses a curved screen to help create the illusion of hang gliding without using 3D technology and it works pretty well for the most part but if you end up on the sides of the ride your view might end up looking less 3D and more like you've enjoyed one too many drinks in the world showcase and that's because the Warped screen can make images Bend like really Bend so here's how to prevent that when you're in line let a sore and cast member know before they assign you a row that you'd prefer Concourse B that puts you in the middle of the attraction and gives you the best immersive effects and the best vantage point for the screen and if you want to improve your ride even further and you're not super duper scared of heights or anything ask for the first row the ride rows are vertically stacked meaning rows two and three are not only lower but also have dangling feet partially obstructing their views requesting a certain section doesn't mean you'll be guaranteed that section but cast members do try their best to accommodate you may just have to wait a little longer before you're able to board all right you know how I talked earlier about sitting in the back row of a roller coaster and how that can make the experience even more thrilling let's up that intensity just a few more notches for outdoor coasters you might find that you enjoy a nighttime ride through way better than a daytime one take Slinky Dog dash for example not only is a nighttime ride-through gonna help you skip over having to stand in that sweltering line during the heat of the day which is miserable but when you ride Slinky at night you're gonna be able to see the whole Toy Story land area lit up with so many Rainbow Lights and it's amazing you're also going to see Galaxy's Edge all lit up it's really cool now for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad you've got kind of the opposite situation which can be just as fun the track Blends in with the night so you can't see where you're going as well giving it more of those Space Mountain Vibes it's not as pitch black as Space Mountain but it'll still be pretty dark and more eerie and you won't kind of know what's coming up and with the brand new Tron light cycle run coaster you've got the Light Grid you get to speed around which won't be illuminated during the day so if you're boarding group numbers telling you your return time isn't going to be until way way way later on you may be way better off than you realize the ride is definitely better at night next it's obvious there are two types of people in this world those who want to avoid facing a man eating Carnotaurus head-on and those who welcome the idea kindly now when you're riding dinosaur Disney's Animal Kingdom there'll be a moment during the end of the ride when your time Rover will come face to face with a Carnotaurus spoiler alert definitely not our Dino if you want the full impact of this rather intense moment then you'll want to be sitting on the far right on the first row however if you're riding with some younger folks or people more skittish with these types of jump scares like me then you're gonna want them to be sitting on the far left in the back row though cast members won't always be able to accommodate these preferences it's always a good idea to ask them before you board they'll do their best to make sure you're happy with your ride through and let's talk about those Disney Resort benefits and how they can help you hack rides in Disney World if you're planning on staying at a Disney owned hotel or an eligible Good Neighbor Hotel then you've got to take advantage of those Resort benefits to maximize is your ride time there are two benefits you need to be on the lookout for the first is that early theme park entry perk where all Disney World Resort guests can head into any of the four theme parks on any day 30 minutes before their official opening time and the second is the extended evening hours benefit where Deluxe Resort guests and Deluxe Resort guests only meaning the people spending the most money on the most expensive rooms can stay up to two hours in select parks on certain evenings when extended evening hours are available they usually happen at Epcot on Mondays Magic Kingdom on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Hollywood Studios on Thursdays Hollywood Studios extended evening hours are usually the most limited so make sure to take a look at Disney World's hours and events calendar on the website before your trip to see if you can align these benefits with your visit now if you're not planning on staying at a Disney hotel or a good neighbor Hotel that'll offer you those extra Park perks that doesn't mean you shouldn't take advantage of rope drop if you can manage it it's still not a bad idea to get get to the parks about 45 minutes before official opening time before the start of the day guests will be permitted into just a small portion of the park like Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom but the other lands will be roped off until open and that's where the name rope drop comes from if you're there early enough to see these ropes officially drop you could still be one of the first in line for any particular ride arriving early can end up being the most beneficial for Magic Kingdom specifically because if you aren't relying on the Disney buses to deliver you up to the front Gates you'll have to park and take either a monorail or ferry from the transportation and Ticket Center which will then carry you over to the Magic Kingdom this extra Journey could take up to 30 minutes or more and that could very well eat into your ride time if you don't arrive early enough so if you want to get there early early earlier for rope drop leave your hotel about an hour and a half ahead of time especially if you've got to manage the trams at Magic Kingdom as well now I'm not backtracking here but I am going to warn you some rides may not always be up and running early in the morning take Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios for instance recently if we've seen Tower of Terror become temporarily unavailable it's been in the mornings more often than not and that's because well tower has had a rough go of it lately fortunately it has multiple elevator shafts and now they're all working finally after lots and lots of refurb so even if one or two have to go down the others still can stay open but lines might be way longer since the ride will be running at half its usual capacity so sometimes Tower of Terror has to warm up its ghostly Twilight Zone Aura before being ready to drop guests to their untimely Doom throughout the day that means when you get to the park at rope drop and you're ready to make a beeline to this haunted hotel your plans might have to quickly shift to a different experience while you're waiting for this one to go back online so be flexible again make the My Disney Experience app your bestie so it can inform you right when a ride is back in business how you find that by the way is going to the map of the park you're in on the My Disney Experience app if there's a little star that means it's down it's gone 101 but if it has a wait time that means it's up and running now here's a hack that can save you a bunch of time there are four aerial carousels in Disney World I'm not talking about the mermaid I'm talking about spinny carousels three of them reside inside the Magic Kingdom Astro Orbiter Dumbo the flying elephant and the magic carpets of Aladdin if you're in Animal Kingdom you've also got Triceratops spin over there these are basically all the same ride even though they have different themes so choose to go on one and skip out on the others if you're looking to save yourself some time so which one should you choose well if you're a purist Dumbo is the obvious choice it also has one of the coolest queue lines on property where your kids can pass the time burning energy around an indoor playground while you wait for a more thrilling experience or maybe an adult's only group Astro Orbiter might be a better option this Tomorrowland attraction can take you up 80 feet in the air and give you sweeping views of the park you even have to take take an elevator to ride above the People Mover just to reach the carousel itself as for the magic carpets of Aladdin and Triceratops spin I'd say you can choose those over the others if you've got someone or multiple someone's in your group who are Aladdin or dinosaur enthusiasts they could also both have shorter wait times than the other aerial carousels because they're just not as popular but aside from that if you've ridden one of these you really don't need to ride the rest unless you've got some kind of aerial Carousel completionist then just ignore me I guess needless to say when you ride living with the land you are not allowed to jump out of the boat and go exploring the gardens and greenhouses but that doesn't mean you'll never have the opportunity to do so if exploring this Lush environment is a dream come true for you the living with the land behind the scenes tour is a one-hour guided experience that lets you explore all four living with the land greenhouses as well as the fish farm to give you an up close and personal look at the plant growing technique Disney uses to cultivate their crops you might just get the chance to release ladybugs into the greenhouses too to encourage plant protection and that is super fun the tours are 35 dollars per guests which is actually the cheapest behind the scenes tour you're going to find on Disney World property but keep in mind that you'll still have to pay for the full Park admission price on top of your tour cost it's best to make advanced reservations for this Tour on the Disney World website if you want to for sure experience it during your upcoming Epcot day but you may also be able to make day of reservations or be fortunate enough to walk in when extra tour space is available you can always check for that last minute availability in the same location that you'll check in for the tour itself on the lower level of the land Pavilion near living with the land exit area okay time to support your favorite Disney World rides why just ride a ride when you can wear it too that sounded better in my head oh well say I love you on the dfbstore.com website we've got tons of different shirts featuring your favorite rides we've got shirts for the Big Thunder Mountain fans the Mad tea party junkies shirts for figment enthusiasts we even have shirts for retired rides like Splash Mountain if you still want to support your frontierland pride each shirt comes in a variety of different styles colors and sizes to make sure you can have it customized just the way you like it head over to dfbstore.com to pick yours up now our next ride hack maybe is a little bit Blasphemous to some but it's not uncommon for ride wait times to dip down during the parades and nighttime spectaculars so we need to talk about it if you don't mind skipping out on experiences like the Festival of fantasy parade at Magic Kingdom are Fantasmic in Disney's Hollywood Studios in exchange for a more popular ride that you didn't get the chance to check out earlier on because of the super long wait then don't look back get in line now and ask for forgiveness later besides Riding Big Thunder Mountain during the fireworks is very cool now sorry Hondo onaka you are great and all but sometimes we'd rather have Chewie screaming at us to ring our ride through on the Millennium Falcon rather than someone we can you know actually understand when you ride Millennium Falcons Smugglers Run your default guide is set for Hondo but if you successfully hack into the ride's Mainframe so to speak you can replace them with your favorite lovable Wookie this is how it works all six passengers must cooperate in order to pull off this hack before the ride starts do not activate your position right away it's a trap instead make sure the left and right Pilots push up their controls to the far left or far right and far up or down after they do that then they can push their activation button behind the pilots the engineers and Gunners need to press and hold down one of the white buttons on their console before pressing the orange activation button if everyone does exactly what they're supposed to then you should be able to hear the famous Chewbacca yell for the span of your flight now we've got a lot of ways to skip the lines in this list but let's be honest you're gonna have to spend some time in line when you're in Disney World and you don't have to be bored out of your skull when you're standing in line for a ride the play Disney Parks app is a free app separate from the my Disney experience app that's chock full of activities and games specific to the ride you're waiting in line for some games you can play solo some you can play with a partner and some you might even be able to play with everyone in line like you do with the Soarin challenge in Epcot it's also where you're going to find the Star Wars data pad which will allow you to interact around Galaxy's Edge in a whole new way with the data pad you can scan and collect cargo hack into Droid Tech hack the Millennium Falcon itself translate the aurobash language and tune into satellite Transmissions let the eavesdropping begin now this is a test track specific hack my friends one of the best parts about test track and Epcot is that you can customize your own Sim vehicle in the q's Design Studio to pit against other Riders these vehicles will be registered to your magic band or physical park pass once you're in the loading station next in line you'll have the opportunity to scan your band or pass to have your vehicle uploaded to the ride ready to race but don't dilly dally once you're in that loading area go ahead and scan your band pass ASAP to get your car all loaded into the system because if you wait until it's time for you to board you'll miss your chance to upload your design the ride is still fun either way but you'll be missing that immersive element that allows you to be a little or a lot more competitive here's a tip that I've personally used a lot if you jump in line for an attraction just before the park closes we're talking even if you only have 10 or 15 minutes to spare you will still get to ride that ride unless something breaks down of course which has to be the gamble you're willing to make if you choose this last minute strategy now let's say you're about to get in line for flight of Passage 10 minutes before the park closes but the wait is still 60 Minutes there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind first off yes this means you'll be riding this right after the park closes as long as you can enter into the queue before it closes for the night you'll still be golden and second that wait time you're seeing may not even be accurate at the end of the night wait times are often projected a bit higher than they really are so not only will you get on the ride but you'll also possibly be waiting in a much shorter line to do so ready to ride solo you may be more apt to say yes if you knew just how much time you could potentially save by switching yourself over to a party of one as Amy Adams would say you're having a me party if you're visiting Disney World by yourself or you're traveling with a group who doesn't mind splitting up the party in order to shed some time in line then be on the lookout for the single Rider lines these are offered at test track and sometimes soaring around the world in Epcot Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run in rock and roller coaster in Disney's Hollywood Studios an Expedition Everest legend of the Forbidden mountain in Disney's Animal Kingdom these waves can wind up being a lot shorter than normal standby lines they could even end up being shorter than the lightning Lane cues too and you won't have to pay a cent extra to test this Theory out oftentimes a single Rider strategy works best on Soarin Smugglers Run and Expedition Everest but there are times when test track and rock and roller coasters single Rider lines can get a bit lengthy but still worth a shot right so I could be wrong but traumatizing your kid at Disney World maybe isn't on your itinerary and if it is well we'll leave that for the therapist to unpack even if you avoid rides that you know will scare your kid like Tower of Terror Haunted Mansion there are some dark rides around the parks that have unexpected scary moments that could take your kid or even you off guard for example journey into imagination with figment is a colorful and cutesy and great for younger audiences ride but it does have that suddenly loud blast at the end that could wind up being quite the jump scare even I cover my ears before this moment happens even though I've been on figment a bajillion times the Seas with Nemo and Friends seems innocent enough but there is that angler fish towards the beginning of the ride who suddenly swims past you out of the darkness to chase around poor Marlin who's just trying to find his son bless him and despite marshmallow from Frozen ever after being a misunderstood ice monster he's still pretty intimidating when you see him emerge right before that small drop at the ride's conclusion my son always had an issue as well on test track where that big semi truck suddenly blares its horn and turns on its bright lights in your eyes that's something that I still have to warn him about when we ride so the best way to prepare younger audiences for these potentially Sinister moments is to give them a heads up our friends at allears.net have tons of full POV ride-throughs on their YouTube channel that you and your kids can watch before your trip that way they will know exactly what to expect when they board these rides in real life now for those of you who'll be taking the Disney Skyliner from your Disney hotel over to Epcot in the morning or for those of you staying in one of the abcot area resorts you are in luck Epcot has both a front and back entrance so there's a secret shortcut to Remy's Ratatouille adventure for Skyliner folks or people just walking from their room to the park from the Epcot area resorts you're going to be able to enter through epcot's back gate aka the international Gateway the international Gateway is located between the France and UK Pavilions and if you're using early theme park entry and entering through the international Gateway you'll be one of the first people in line for Remy's Ratatouille Adventure meaning you can skip over the massive main cues without having to get a lightning Lane to do so perfect now let's talk a little bit about extended evening hours remember that's that perk that the people staying at Deluxe Resorts get to stay in the park marks a couple of hours later on certain days but don't be fooled though most of the rides will stay open during these later times some of them may close when the park closes either because it's not listed as a ride that stays open or because the ride has to go down for maintenance reasons for the rest of the night it's also important to remember that you can't completely rely on extended evening hours to get you through all the rides in one go two hours may be a lot of time but if you're trying to use all that time to get on every single heavy hitter ride that you missed at say Hollywood Studios because you decide to prioritize all the shows during the day instead you might find yourself putting way too many eggs into that extended evening hours basket so use this Deluxe benefit as a way to hit up a few rides you missed earlier or to squeeze in some last minute re-rides but don't solely rely on it to help you accomplish every ride in one night and definitely look at that list of what's included in your extended evening hours what rides are open because you could be surprised by what's going to be closed now another tip for those Deluxe Resort guests surprise 7 A.M and 1 pm may not be your only chances at getting into a virtual queue for Tron on select dates when Magic Kingdom has their extended evening hours available Deluxe Resort guests will be able to request to join a third virtual Queue at 6 pm and know unlike the 1pm virtual queue drop you will not have to be physically Inside Magic Kingdom to join the virtual Queue at six however you must have a valid ticket and park pass reservation for Magic Kingdom on that day or you must have a valid park hopper ticket and have already entered the park you originally made your park pass reservation for for the month of April extended evening hours and Magic Kingdom happen on April 5th 12th 19th and 26th from 10 pm until midnight while extended evening hours in May are on the 3rd 10th and 17th from 10 pm to midnight that being said if you're watching this video after either of those months just keep in mind that extended evening hours for Magic Kingdom generally happen on Wednesdays so take key to that info and plan ahead here's just another reason why nighttime rides continue to be the bomb.com Magic Kingdom rides like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Astro Orbiter can give you a totally unique view of Cinderella Castle fireworks on display but you'll have to time your visit just right the nighttime spectaculars are usually only around 15 minutes long so if you see that line for Big Thunder Mountain is pushing 30 minutes you're probably gonna miss the show but if you were to jump in the queue 20ish minutes before the show starts you might just be able to pull off one of the coolest ride-throughs of things that are mountain ever now let's talk about earning a high score on one of the rides where a family Throwdown is imminent don't just ride Toy Story Mania in Disney's Hollywood Studios dominate it this Gallery shooter doesn't just reward you with points based on luck it's all in the wrist as well as knowing exactly which targets are going to give you the most points because all the different ride tricks can be rather involved I'm just going to narrow it down to a couple of my favorite strategies that'll help you rack up major points quickly strategy 1 knock the fox off the hen house I know this sounds is kind of mean out of context so hopefully no family members just now walked in on this video but when you're in that first Barn scene on the ride shooting down the fox will reward you with tons of new high score targets to hit in strategy 2 get a ring tossed around all the little green aliens at the same time even if you're actively competing against your fellow ride partner you'll need to work together to accomplish this if you do the scene will change into a robot with an open mouth that lets you shoot as many rings as possible for one thousand and two thousand points each there's a good lesson about teamwork hidden somewhere in that ride secret but I'm too busy trying to win to come up with something clever so fill in the blanks yourself now the weather forecast isn't the only forecast you need to check in Disney World the My Disney Experience app can help you figure out what estimated crowd levels might look like for each ride on the day of your visit just go to the tip boards option on your app select the park you're currently visiting and choose the attractions and shows list then scroll down to the ride you want to learn more about on the right side of the attraction tap on The View detail sales link that'll open up a new screen that'll show you a graph of what estimated wait times should look like for each hour of the day though these estimations are subject to change the graph can still give you a good idea for when the key lines are predicted to be more reasonable or to Skyrocket and be at their busiest this is of course all based on previous data that Disney has collected so it's pretty valid now this is a big Kilimanjaro safaris tip that you need to know about Kilimanjaro safaris and animal kingdom is the only ride in Disney World where you're going to be able to see hundreds of living breathing non-animatronic animals in a single tour but because these animals are real and not just programmed to entertain you your ride through on this Safari is going to be different every single time if you want the best chance of seeing more animals out and about and active during your ride avoid getting on this one during the heat of the day because if you're feeling hot sweaty and miserable so are the animals and that means most of your ride will consist of the animals hiding out or sleeping or just avoiding the public entirely which is totally relatable in Disney World in the middle of the day however when it's cooler out like in the early mornings and around dusk you're probably going to see more animals up and roaming around that being said different animals prefer different times of the day so you might see certain animals when the sun's rising and completely different animals when the sun's setting and then there are some animals who love the rain so if you know things are about to get drizzly then you know which ride you can turn to next now I know you don't want to hear this but refurbishments happen way too often in the Disney World bubble here's the good thing though they're almost always announced well before they actually happen if you don't visit the parks often or maybe you're about to go on your very first trip make sure that the ride you're desperately anticipating will be open and waiting to meet you you can check the refurbishment schedules on the Disney World website and we'll keep you posted too on our newsletter if you send us your email at disneyfoodblog.com 50 ride hacks will not only give you the full PDF of this entire list but will automatically sign you up for that newsletter which is absolutely free and this is going to keep you in the know when it comes to All Things Disney announcements updates refurbs and closures and everything else the Walt Disney World railroad is a chill way to explore the Magic Kingdom from the comfort of your train car and we are so glad that it's finally back and running but not every time is train time if you happen to be writing this locomotive during the Festival of fantasy parade there's a good chance you might be stopped in your tracks literally the train will have to stop at Main Street USA to let the parade cross through backstage and that takes a solid 15 minutes the Festival of fantasy parade takes place in Magic Kingdom twice daily at 12 p.m and 3 P.M though showtimes are always subject to change if you don't want to potentially get stuck on your train ride try to avoid getting in line around these times unless that is you want to get stuck to give your feet an even longer break as well as catch the tail end of the parade while you're at it now you've already learned how to score big on one Toy Story Gallery shooter so why not learn how to master another Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and Magic Kingdom is wanting you to rack up big points to become a galactic hero but in order to accomplish that you need to know where exactly the targets with the highest points are hiding out on this ride so here are the three targets you need to be on the lookout for number one is located in the first room see that giant robot trust me you can't miss him aim for the targets inside its arms to earn 100 thousand points Target Two can be found when you're going through the star tunnel try to hit the body of the spaceship for another hundred thousand points and target number three is on zerg's ship there is a Target on the bottom of his ship that you'll want to hit that's worth 25 000 points now there are a ton of different strategies out there to help improve your Space Ranger Spin score but if you do reach the ranks of Galactic hero don't forget to pick up your Galactic hero sticker from a cast member in the gift shop at the exit you can either wear that sticker for the rest of the day to let everyone else know how awesome you are or you can preserve it and like frame this major reward when you get home or something whatever we won't tell Mickey and Minnie's runaway Railway is an adorable and very chaotic trackless Dark Ride in Hollywood Studios with a pretty straightforward story for the most part during the pre-show you'll learn the basic premise Mickey Minnie and Pluto are on their way for a nice and relaxing picnic getaway at runnemuck Park but things get a little chaotic when engineer goofy shows up as Mickey and Minnie cross over the railroad tracks Pluto and their picnic basket get launched out of the convertible and subsequently a cream pie lands in the steam engine smokestack because of course it does this causes goofy to lose control and the train comes crashing into the station located just beyond the movie screen when you're on the ride Goofy's engineer Shenanigans continue to spice things up after he accidentally hits the track switch all of the locomotives terrain cars are sent off on their own individual paths but let me slam on the brakes for just a second here because if you're following along with Mickey and Minnie during the entire ride you're gonna completely miss out on the plot B taking place which stars Mickey's bestest pal remember how I said Bluto in the picnic basket get chucked from the convertible during the pre-show during the ride Pluto has made it his ultimate mission to reunite Mickey and Minnie with the basket full of goodies which proves to be quite the undertaking just goes to show that Pluto continues to be the goodest boy in the Disney Universe all this to say keep your eyes peeled for her yellow dog friend while you're on the ride you can see him at each ride scene so each room that way you can get a whole other side of this rather wacky story now this next one isn't a ride hack per se but it's something important you'll want to know about if you or someone you're traveling with will need additional assistance in your group Disney's disability access service or Das is available for guests with disabilities that'll prevent them from getting on rides due to not being able to stand in the queues for extended periods of time here's how they work guests May register for das before their trip between 2 and 30 days ahead of their park visit once acquired guests can start booking attraction return times if you sign up for a Das ahead of your visit you may book up to two one hour return windows before your vacation these two pre-arrival reservations are in addition to the return times you can book throughout your Park day too you can also register for das on the day of your visit by going to guest relations at the front of the park when your ride return window comes around you'll show your Das pass to a cast member at the front of the attraction and they'll direct you through an alternative entrance for boarding and our next tip is for those planners in the group there may come a time when one of your lightning Lanes clashes with one of your Advanced dining reservations and if that happens prioritize the dining reservation why well there are a few reasons first if you don't show up to your ADR and you didn't cancel at least two hours before your reservation time you'll be charged a 10 per person no-show fee meanwhile if you miss your lightning Lane return time that's not going to cost you anything except maybe your pride reason 2 restaurants will try to hold your table at least 15 minutes after your return time if you're running late but otherwise you're going to lose your reservations lot completely and have to pay that no-show fee for lightning Lanes you can usually talk to a cast member at the front of the attraction explain the situation and they'll more than likely be able to let you use your lightning Lane anyway just try to get there as soon as possible don't take advantage of the opportunity and Reason 3 it's way easier to modify a lightning Lane if you find a different return time on your My Disney Experience app that works way better with your schedule you have the option to modify your lightning Lane to this new time slot and it won't even reset your 120 minute countdown so prioritize your dining reservation and understand that it's not a guarantee that you'll be able to Ride the Lightning Lane but most of the time cast members are able to make it happen alright we did it you're now officially equipped with 50 different ride hacks that you can use for your Disney World vacation you should feel like a pro 50 may seem like a whole lot of ride tips and tricks but we're not done with all the ride advice yet keep checking back here with us for even more ride news recommendations and tips to come and remember to drop us your email at disneyfoodblog.com 50.50 ride hacks to receive our entire ride hacks digital download which you can refer back to when you're looking to impress your friends and family of course or just print it out and bring in the parks with you thanks for listening everyone and thanks for watching as always this is AJ for Disney food blog and we'll see you real soon [Music]

Channel: DFBGuide

Views: 402,460

Keywords: disneyfood, disney, disney world, disneyland, disneyvideo, disneyvacation, food, disney parks, disney travel, disney tips, disney guides, disney planning, disney trip, disney how to, disney vlog, disney vlogger

Id: ACOUWBFJRgw

Length: 53min 12sec (3192 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 23 2023