For many, a vacation to Walt Disney World is a once in a lifetime visit, so you want everything to be perfect! Whether this is your first trip or your fiftieth, you want it to be perfect, so you don’t want to waste time in the parks.
Learn about how to have the perfect trip and don’t waste your time with these 20 things!
1. Riding Rise of Resistance, Slinky Dog Dash, or Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
We’re coming in hot with this number 1 waste of time in Disney World! Let us explain! Rise of the Resistance in Galaxy’s edge is Disney World’s most intricate, amazing, and interactive ride experience. That means it has the longest lines in the park! You don’t want to waste your whole Hollywood Studios day waiting in line!
DID YOU KNOW: Rise of the Resistance has an average wait time of over 100 minutes, but has an all time high of 420 minutes! That’s 7 HOURS!
Not only is the wait time really high, this attraction is super high tech, so it tends to break down a lot. Could you imagine spending 2 hours waiting only for it to break down?
Slinky Dog Dash, Avatar Flight of Passage, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are all in the same boat. These attractions are insanely popular and always have a huge line.
DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME!
Do This Instead…
These attractions really are incredible, which is why people wait so long to get on them. Don’t be one of those people. Rise of the Resistance, Avatar Flight of Passage, and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are all a part of the Individual Lightning Lane system where you can pay for that specific attraction to skip the line.
Totally worth it.
Read more: Tips on how to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance with a long wait here.
2. Park Hopping
There is so much to see in Walt Disney World and so little time to get it all done! We’re to tell you that Park Hopping is a waste of time! Park Hopping is not a quick change into another park. It often can take an hour to an hour to two hours to switch to another park. And for what?
There is no way you can see, experience, or explore one entire Disney park in half a day. Why split that time between two parks and waste hours in transportation?!
Do This Instead…
If you are attractions focused and want to ride all of the rides in Disney World like a personal challenge, consider purchasing a ticket to an After Hours Party. These parties grant you access to the park at 7 PM and then you get to stay for 3 extra hours after the park closes.
We’re not kidding when we say that the parks are empty during the After Hours Parties. We have heard of people WALKING ON Tower of Terror, Slinky Dog Dash, and even Rise of the Resistance.
Plus, there’s free snacks, and that’s always a win.
3. Getting Starbucks
There is one requirement to getting up early on vacation (which is pretty much necessary at Disney), and that is copious amounts of caffeine. But no matter how much you want to, don’t go to Starbucks!
Going to any of the Starbucks locations on Disney property is a huge waste of time!
You can’t use the Starbucks app to mobile order and that line is almost as long as the line for Splash Mountain on closing day. No thanks!
Do This Instead…
Disney has a contract with a local Florida coffee company called Joffrey’s, and this should be your go-to coffee fix in Disney World. There are 3 major reasons why you should always go to Joffrey’s over Starbucks in Disney:
- It never has the crazy lines as Starbucks, partly because each park has multiple locations.
- You can mobile order select Joffrey’s coffee drinks at Quick Service locations throughout Disney. (We love the iced coffee with a shot of vanilla!)
- At select Joffrey’s locations, you can actually get Disney art in your coffee! Come on, everything is better with Mickey on it!
Read more: Joffrey’s coffee and why we love it here
4. Getting the BEST Spot for Parades or Fireworks
Like moths to a flame, we love fireworks or a fun parade. Disney really knows how to do both. We love them. You love them. But for goodness sake, getting the “best seat in the house” is such a waste of time!
We have seen people wait and waste hours sitting in the direct sunlight on a curb just waiting for the parade. We have watched people wait for more than 2 hours to ensure that they didn’t lose their precious fireworks spot!
You’re in Disney World to have fun. Trying to get the “best” seat, or wait forever for the show is not fun. It’s crazy. It’s a waste of time.
Try This Instead…
Parades: People tend to think of a spot on Main Street USA for the parades, but we’re to tell you to saddle up and hang out in Frontierland instead. The parade enters the Magic Kingdom through the gate in Frontierland, next to the former Splash Mountain.
It is significantly less crowded and you won’t have to wait to grab a good spot.
Fireworks: If the location is really important to you, consider purchasing a ticket to a Fireworks Dessert Party. This ticket grants you access to unlimited desserts and beverages, but it also grants access to an exclusive viewing area that is mostly unobstructed.
5. Table Service Restaurants
When you have limited time in Disney you want to spend as much time in the parks as you can! If that’s what you’re looking for, then Table Service restaurants are a huge waste of time!
Disney Table Service restaurants are not just like when you take your family out to the local Applebees where from the time you arrive to the time you leave is around 45 minutes.
First of all, most restaurants in Disney it is crucial to have a dining reservation in order to have a table, and even then, it is not guaranteed to sit as soon as your reservation starts.
Then, every Disney dining restaurant has some sort of experience or backstory that takes time. Whether it’s meeting characters, or watching the show, or even taking in all of the details of the place, the immersion can be a huge time suck.
You can expect that a Table Service meal will take up about 2 hours of your time.
DID YOU KNOW that there are special signature meals that can take 3 or more hours?!
Try This Instead…
Disney has a wide range of Quick Service restaurants all over all of the parks and resorts. While there are a lot of basic theme park options in them like cheeseburgers, pizza, or hot dogs, there are also a lot of adventurous and unique cuisine at some Quick Service!
Our favorites are Pecos Bill’s for tacos in the Magic Kingdom, Satu’li Canteen for the beef and noodle bowl in Animal Kingdom, and festival booths for small plates in EPCOT. Hollywood Studios is really our place to snack on sweets everywhere, including alcoholic milkshakes!
See some of the best snacks in Animal Kingdom, which is the park we think has the BEST Quick Service restaurants!
6. Spending a Holiday at Disney
We understand why people book their vacations to Disney over Christmas break. The decorations, the magic, the shows, the snow… Yes, snow. Only Disney can make it snow in Florida.
But we’re here to tell you… Don’t do it. Spending your holiday at Disney is a huge waste of time!
The biggest crowds of the year happen on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve. The parks get so full that some years they close the gates to new entries because of capacity… These parks have a capacity near 100,000 people.
That means every ride will be a wait, every show will be crowded, every meal will be a wait for a table. Wait, wait, wait, wait.
Try This Instead…
If you want to enjoy the holiday magic at Disney you still can without sacrificing your actual holiday. Disney starts decorating for Christmas shortly after Halloween. Like the day after…
Visit in early November or early December to still get the warm and fuzzies of Christmas without the hassle of the massive crowds! We have visited Magic Kingdom the first two Saturdays of December to test this and we were able to do everything and see everything without the use of Genie+, that’s how much better the crowds were!
7. Going to the Parks at Noon
You’re on vacation, time to throw away that alarm clock, right?
WRONG!
We’re not saying you have to wake up army style at 5:00AM or anything, but sleeping in on a park day is a huge waste of time!
We have noticed that around 11:30 is when the crowds really come into the parks. We always rope drop, and when the crowds come in, that’s when we get a bite to eat or go shopping for a bit.
The worst waste of time - Showing up at noon to Magic Kingdom and walking right into Fantasyland. Welcome to stroller hell, my friend.
Try This Instead…
Rope Drop is a magical time of day where the crowds are low and the temperature is as mild as it’s going to get. Rope Drop is a Disney term used for when people enter the park before the park is technically open.
Let’s explain: You can enter the turnstiles to enter the park itself about 30 minutes before the park actually opens. (Which is the perfect time for those castle pics!) Cast Members rope off the different lands, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland until the official park announcement where they drop the rope so crowds can enter, hence, “Rope Drop”.
8. Using Disney Transportation
Disney has many different forms of complimentary transportation. They have the buses, the monorail, the skyliner, and the ferry boats. When you have a dinner reservation that you have to get to or need to be somewhere by a certain time, it is the worst!
Disney transportation can be a huge waste of time!
You never want to be running late if you are taking Disney transportation. The buses take a long time and have multiple stops, and the monorail and skyliner often have a wait. Overall, it just takes forever to go anywhere!
BONUS TIP: If you are looking to Rope Drop Hollywood Studios DO NOT TAKE DISNEY TRANSPORTATION! Hollywood Studios is jam packed with the most thrill rides of all of the park, and tends to be the busiest, despite new rides opening up in the other parks!
Try This Instead…
If you want to be one of the first people through the gates of Hollywood Studios, or make it somewhere faster, try taking a rideshare like Uber or Lyft.
Rideshare drivers are always nearby waiting for their next passenger, so there is never a long wait, and you are almost guaranteed to be faster than any Disney transportation!
9. Not Checking the Weather
Florida weather is… unique. Everyone knows that it’s always hot in Florida, but many people aren’t prepared for how hot. But the biggest surprise to guests is the rain.
Hurricane season is officially June 1 - November 30, and with it comes buckets and buckets of rain. During the active months of June through August, you can expect it to rain everyday in the mid afternoon times.
Try This Instead…
If you know you’re going to be in Disney during the rainy season, then go in prepared and relax! You’re going to get wet. As soon as you embrace it, you can have a good time! Wear shoes like Crocs that can dry easily, and bring cheap ponchos from home.
Some people even bring bathing suits and water shoes for kids so they can play in the puddles!
If you hate the rain and want to avoid it at all costs, book a dining reservation for 2:00/3:00, and you’ll likely avoid most of the rain.
10. Waiting in Lines
Ain’t nobody got time to wait in lines all day! There are so many attractions to see! And the parade! And the shows! And the fireworks! So much to do in so little time!
Waiting in lines is a huge waste of your time in Disney World.
So stop doing it!
Try This Instead…
Disney offers a service called Genie+ that guests can purchase that allows them to skip the lines. Yes, that means no crazy hour long wait times!
You can purchase the service the day of your visit and the price is determined by demand. Then throughout your day you choose attractions with available “Lightning Lanes” to book and walk through the queue like you own the place and hop right on!
Disney states that guests should be able to book at least 3 Lightning Lanes in a day to skip the lines. When we used it, we had no problem snagging between 6-9 depending on the park!
11. Not Checking Wait Times
You may just want to start at the first ride you see and just hop to the next, and next, and next, but that is a huge waste of your time!
Disney posts all of their wait times so you can determine if an attraction has a line worth waiting in. If you just want to go in order without ever checking wait times you will burn through most of your day just waiting!
Try This Instead…
Make sure you have the My Disney Experience app downloaded on your phone. It can show you real time updates of wait times in all of the parks!
12. Not Using the My Disney Experience App
The same people who huff and say, “I don’t want to be on my phone at Disney”, are the same people who complain about how long it takes to get food at a Quick Service.
Disney has started streamlining a lot of their services through the app to help accommodate large crowds. Mobile Order is a great example!
Using Mobile Order you can order food any time of day to pick up at a selected time so you can walk up and get it without waiting. If you refuse to use this service and opt to wait in line, well, you’re going to wait in a line.
Try This Instead…
Download the My Disney Experience app before your trip so you have a chance to play with it a while before your visit. You will find that it is pretty user friendly and is very helpful with your whole trip.
You can sync your tickets and hotel reservation, book dining and experience reservations, mobile order lunch from a Quick Service restaurant, check wait times, book Genie+ Lightning Lanes, find characters in the park, and check times guides for parades and shows.
Once you are used to the app it is invaluable. You don’t have to be on your phone your whole trip to have a great time, but it is an excellent tool to ensure that you’re maximizing your fun!
13. Skipping Single Rider Lines
If you are on a Disney trip with older kids or no kids… Then why are you waiting in line?
The Single Rider does not guarantee that you will get through faster than the Standby queue, but it is very likely, especially if the Standby is very long.
Select rides through Walt Disney World have a Single Rider Line option that is often overlooked and we don’t get it!
Try This Instead…
Single Rider Lines are just that. It is a line of people who will fill the quantity gaps on odd-numbered attractions. If you go on a Single Rider Line with a group, you will get split up, but as long as there are no small children in your party, it’s really not a big deal.
Read more: Single Rider Lines and what attractions offer it here
14. Leaving When It Rains
Remember when we said that it rains just about every day in Florida during hurricane season? Don’t leave the parks just yet! Giving up a whole half of your Disney day is a huge waste of your vacation!
We see it all the time - It starts to pour and people flee the parks! The thing is, the rain will only last like an hour and then it’s gone.
All of those people who left are going to be kicking themselves when the sun comes back out and they’ll probably just stay at their hotel pool. While you, oh smart traveler, will get to enjoy a much more empty park!
Try This Instead…
When it is raining, people will flock to shops to take shelter. Smart. But crowded.
Try to go get a meal to kill some time and go to a nice long show like Carousel of Progress or the American Adventure. You can stay dry and pass the time without buying everything in the store while you wait.
FUN FACT: Did you know that you can stand under Spaceship Earth in EPCOT (the big golf ball) and not get wet? Those little geometric shapes form small ducts under the structure to collect the rain and actually siphon it over to the EPCOT water areas.
15. Not Using Our Disney Shortcuts
Use our obsession love for Disney World to help you have the best day ever! Be sure to follow us at WDW Vacation Tips for all of the latest tips, tricks, hacks, snacks, and more!
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Tell us in the comments what you think is the biggest waste of time in Walt Disney World!
I am a mother of three that has refused to grow up. Adulting is for the birds, so I go to Disney World every chance I get for that magical escape from reality. I believe that Haunted Mansion is the best ride in all of the Disney Parks, and I am fervently in team Happily Ever After for fireworks spectaculars, (sorry, not sorry, Enchanted). Finally, I hope I never grow tired of skipping down Main Street, USA, and my dream come true would be "friends with" the Fairy Godmother in my old age.
