Ride wait times for solos - how bad is it?

[KatCiaoCiao]

How about the ride wait times as a solo traveler? I will only be there one day or maybe two in early May and am worried I'll spend all my time waiting in line in the heat aside from my fast passes. Is there a method to the madness? Thanks! (Bonus - same question but for universal)

 

[BrianL]

There is no difference in being a solo unless the ride has a Single Rider line. Then it is usually much faster (though not always). The only rides with Single Rider at WDW are Test Track, Expedition Everest, and Rockin' Roller Coaster (be careful with this one - it can be very long because of how they load the pre-show room). It works great on Test Track and Everest.

I think Universal has several Single Rider lines too. I know Forbidden Journey and Transformers have them.

 

[Viking7641]

In Universal I hardly ever was in line due to single rider. It was a godsend. Disney needs to get on this. To be fair everest does it right

 

[theone74733]

I would say single rider is faster a majority of the time mainly in the mornings, but sometimes can be as bad as the regular lines the rest of the day.

One of the good things about being solo is Cast Members will sometimes ask for parties of one trying to fill out final seats. I have had this happen a few times and was able to jump ahead of 10-15 people in line and join the next showing of a ride like Soarin' & Astro-Orbitor compared to where I originally was in line.

 

[roxysmum123]

I've never found them to be too bad personally. I have the Kindle app downloaded on my phone so I just flip through whatever book I'm reading while I wait, or plug into some podcasts. And honestly, on more than a few trips I've ended up making friends in the lines (even dated a guy I met in line for almost a year once, lol). It's really not that awful, and you'll sometimes get pulled ahead to fill seats on larger capacity rides...don't count on it but it's a nice perk when it happens.

 

[janicept]

Early May is a slower time of the year unless you are talking about a weekend. Just make sure you get FPs for the rides that would have the longest lines. You didn't mention which parks you were looking at going to. MK can have really long hours some days. The weather can be hot but you never know. We were there two weeks ago and it was 90 a few days but other years late March may be in the 70s.

 

[Sheldonman14]

While you wait the same amount of time, it isn't as bad because you pick which rides you are willing to wait for. This change in perspective makes a huge difference.

 

[Jamie77]

I would say single rider is faster a majority of the time mainly in the mornings, but sometimes can be as bad as the regular lines the rest of the day.

One of the good things about being solo is Cast Members will sometimes ask for parties of one trying to fill out final seats. I have had this happen a few times and was able to jump ahead of 10-15 people in line and join the next showing of a ride like Soarin' & Astro-Orbitor compared to where I originally was in line.

This always happens to me when I'm solo at ToT so it's kind of rare to stand in line for very long.

 

[RedK]

One of the good things about being solo is Cast Members will sometimes ask for parties of one trying to fill out final seats. I have had this happen a few times and was able to jump ahead of 10-15 people in line and join the next showing of a ride like Soarin' & Astro-Orbitor compared to where I originally was in line.

I've had that happen at Soarin' too. Once on its very first run of the day. That was a fun way to start my day!

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

I spend my line time reading my kindle --- so I actually enjoy have 15-20 minutes to relax in line.

In addition to using single rider lines where available (and I do wish Disney would expand this to more rides), I adjust my FP strategy when I'm solo. It's so much easier to get same day FP when you are solo (especially when compared to a group, but even when compared to a party of two). I make my FP for as early as I am getting into the park (or starting about an hour after park opening if I'm rope-dropping) and try to get my three done as soon as possible. As soon as I've scanned into the line for my third FP, I'm on the app making a fourth for whatever I can get ASAP. Wash, rinse, repeat. I swear I used >20 FPs last time I was solo in MK. And I did TSMM 3 times via FP last time I was solo at DHS - and that was on a crazy busy (45+ minute wait at GMR) day.

 

[ElizaDoesDisney]

One of the good things about being solo is Cast Members will sometimes ask for parties of one trying to fill out final seats. I have had this happen a few times and was able to jump ahead of 10-15 people in line and join the next showing of a ride like Soarin' & Astro-Orbitor compared to where I originally was in line.

Oh, this too --- I've gotten lucky on a number of high profile rides jumping ahead of the queue --- Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, ToT, Soarin, Star Wars. Sometimes it's only a 3 minute difference, but every minute counts when you are trying to jam as much as possible into your day. That's three minutes I could spend relaxing with an adult beverage later in the day!