Tips for saving TIME at WDW.

[eeyoresmom]

Lots of discussion on saving money at Disney but can we talk about saving time? There is so much to do at Disney, that even after visiting over 50 times I find myself having to make difficult decisions as to what we will have to skip......I am dropping several ADR's this trip as TS meals do eat up quite a bit of time. We are doing a few that are unique to Disney ( BOG, Sci-Fi), but not as many as usual.......what do you do that saves time at Disney?

 

[prudence64]

Skip Ellen's energy adventure.

 

[danceteachermom]

Rope Drop

Sometimes splitting up to avoid people riding stuff they do not like. I will go with my 14 year old to Space Mountain while my hubby does the cars with our 7 year old. Sure all four of us could ride both but it would take twice as long.

Eat earlier or later than the crowds to avoid lines. Remember you can go to both side of many counter service registers and the ones furthest from the entrance often have much shorter lines.

Eat breakfast in the room before you go.

Have snack breaks that you can double as entertainment by watching the castle show or parade.

Have a plan.

 

[eeyoresmom]

We also eat breakfast in the room and eat lunch very early. I was shocked last trip when we ate at FTBBQ later than usual ( 12:30 ish) It was close to an hour to order , get the food and eat.

 

[g8torphan]

Eat early is huge.

Since we rope drop we are ready to eat by 11:15. Dinner before 5.

Skip Parades.
The amount of time people waste sitting on a curb blows me away.

Skip M&G's.
Huge time void waiting for them usually.

Drive.
Waiting for busses is for workdays. I've seen mention of getting to the bus stop by 630-645am for an 8am CP ADR. Thats crazy. I leave my off site hotel a little after 7 and still make it.

Stay late.

 

[mggeary]

Make full use of rider switch passes if you have young kids

Eat lunch 11:30-12, dinner 5-5:30, saves a ton of time at QS and TS.

Consider taxis whenever possible. Ie, back from a resort dinner to home resort, to and from park as a backup to buses, if you just missed the last bus, and even as primary way to the parks if staying at a central offsite hotel. Taxi fare is often $ well spent in the grand scheme of a $2000-$8000 vacation.

Always eat breakfast in your room. Our kids are currently on a cereal and oatmeal kick, so we made it in styrofoam cups, that we could carry to go to bus or monorail if running late.

Rope drop as much as possible. That means arriving to park 30-45 min before opening, usually to bus by 7:45 on non EMH day, worth it.

Bring plenty of snacks to park if you have young kids. Fruit, goldfish, whatever works. Saves time and $ stopping at a kiosk when a 10am tantrum is brewing.

Get in line for popular characters 5-10 min BEFORE the next set. KTP website is invaluable for this.

 

[staceyeileen]

Skip Parades.
The amount of time people waste sitting on a curb blows me away.

Skip M&G's.
Huge time void waiting for them usually.

I guess it's all a matter of your priorities. I'd rather spend 45 minutes waiting for a 20 minute parade than for a 1.5 minute roller coaster. Which is a better use of your time?

 

[soniam]

RD - Less wait time in lines, but you do spend time waiting to get in.
FP+ kiosks - Go to them while the rest of the party is doing something else, like the treehouse/TS Island, having a snack, or bathroom break.
Early lunch - usually 11am, especially at a QS
Breakfast - in the room
M&G - We skip these. We do character meals on days off or when we would have done a TS anyway.
BYO water bottle - use fountains to refill or buy extra water at meals
Parades - Don't wait for them. We usually find a spot about 15 minutes before. Someone holds the spot, while the others go to the bathroom.
Dessert parties - You don't have to wait for a show spot and you get a snack
A plan - This is absolutely the most important. I always do the personalized Touring Plans. If you know where you are going next and you look ahead in the plan while waiting for a ride, then you won't waste time trying to figure what to do or how to get there.
Bathroom - I think there's a theme here We drink a lot of water. If the line works, go while others wait in line for attractions or food. I don't think this will work in an FP+ line.
Lines - Use this otherwise wasted time to use the bathroom, eat a snack, check your plans (even for the following days), put on sunscreen, etc.

 

[soniam]

Skip Ellen's energy adventure.

Actually, this is a great place to take a nap. Kids usually don't want you to stop and nap, but here they are sort of entertained/trapped. This assumes that it's the adult that wants to nap, not the kid.

 

[lexi rovang]

what is elen's energy adventure again??

 

[soniam]

what is elen's energy adventure again??

A cool, dark place to take a nap, including a bench

 

[lexi rovang]

cool! thanks for the info!

 

[eeyoresmom]

We no longer travel from resort to resort for meals ,( unless its a monorail resort).It once took us over 4 hours using Disney transportation to travel from POR to ALK for dinner at Boma.

 

[jon18uk]

We no longer travel from resort to resort for meals ,( unless its a monorail resort).It once took us over 4 hours using Disney transportation to travel from POR to ALK for dinner at Boma.

Or if you are going to do this, do it after a park. For example we leave Animal Kingdom at 5-5:30 for a 6:30 reservation at Boma. If we are at AKL early then take a look at the savannah. After dinner, get a bus back to Downtown Disney and then a boat or a bus to POR. If there are no kids in your group then you might even want to have a night time wander round DTD.
Or another example would be dinner in California Grill after a day in the Magic Kingdom, can then walk back to the Magic Kingdom bus stop (same goes for getting monorail back to the bus stop) as this is the last park to close usually you can get a bus back to your resort easily.
Also using the International Gateway exit of Epcot to explore boardwalk. The advantage of staying at POR, POFQ, SSR & OKW is that you have options of transport back from Downtown Disney after switching from another reosrt.


Other little timesavers
Make sure if one person in your group needs the bathroom, you all go, rather than lots of little trips.
Ship packages back to your resort so you don't need to worry about going back to that store to get something instead of carrying it. You can collect from the resort shop late in the evening if needed.
Don't stake out a spot to watch Illuminations too early, there are plenty of good places to watch this at Epcot. But do allow enough time for Fantasmic.

 

[g8torphan]

I guess it's all a matter of your priorities. I'd rather spend 45 minutes waiting for a 20 minute parade than for a 1.5 minute roller coaster. Which is a better use of your time?

Not really a coaster guy. My son hates them...you should see his 7DMT pic

Anyway, to play along...
You used up 1 hour and 5 minutes, I've used 47minutes.
I can also do Dumbo, Barnstormer and be in line for Little Mermaid in those 20 minutes before you get out of the crowd and to your next attraction.

Like you said...different priorities.
I dont think one is wrong, but skipping the parade can open up some time while lines are short.
By all means, keep going to the parade, or this wont work anymore

 

[crostorfer]

Take a cab, often.

I've given up on Disney bus transportation, especially to early morning ADR's. It may be bad luck, but the last two trips we've taken, whatever park we were heading to, for some reason there weren't enough buses heading there, or the first two buses are always full. It's taken me two hours to get from the POR to the AK, and an hour to get from the WL to EPCOT. The cab ride is well worth it, especially after a long day when you just want to get back to the resort. The 30-45 minute wait for a bus, when there is a good possibility that ride will be standing room only, is too much when you are hot, tired, and cranky.

 

[kaytieeldr]

We no longer travel from resort to resort for meals ,( unless its a monorail resort).It once took us over 4 hours using Disney transportation to travel from POR to ALK for dinner at Boma.

You must have used the OLP Transportation "wizard" .

 

[mggeary]

Or if you are going to do this, do it after a park. For example we leave Animal Kingdom at 5-5:30 for a 6:30 reservation at Boma. If we are at AKL early then take a look at the savannah.

Make sure if one person in your group needs the bathroom, you all go, rather than lots of little trips.

Ain't that the truth on the group bathroom trips. Only problem with Boma after AKL is that literally everyone has this plan, so you have to eat early or you get stuck waiting for next bus and also waiting 30+min to be seated at Boma.

 

[loves to dive]

We actually enjoy evening EMH since we are all adults and my son and DIL don't like getting up early in the morning. We usually ride everything we want to ride within those 2 hours and have all day to just take it slow and easy and enjoy things other than rides. I know people hate it but I've found FP helps us, we know what time we are riding and don't have to rush to get to anything. We try to plan our rides so we aren't going back and forth to different lands but do a big ole circle.

 

[buzzrelly]

RD -
FP+ kiosks - Go to them while the rest of the party is doing something else, like the treehouse/TS Island, having a snack, or bathroom break.

I didn't know you could do this. Does the person waiting at the kiosk have to have everyone's magic bands, or does the kiosk ask if you want to make FP for others in your party?