The Disney Iditarod aka "How I Won Park Hopper of The Year"

Ellen: "Honey why don't we forget the Pig-on-a-Poke itinerary and just play it by ear like normal people?"

Clark: "Honey we're not normal people, we're the Griswolds!"

                     -Vacation, 1983

If there is one thing about Disney World that is universally disliked (and there aren't many to choose from), it's waiting in lines. As a spring breaker and a summer vacationer, I have witnessed the true meaning of "filled to capacity". We have not yet been during the Christmas holiday but from what I'm to understand, the park usually hits capacity at some point early in the day and guests are refused entry shortly thereafter. We plan on conquering a Disney Christmas when we take our kids for the first time, but for now I can only share my experiences about the sweltering heat and the torrential downpours that Florida is known for and which are even less fun when you're standing in them for 60 minutes to ride the Tower of Terror.

I get asked all the time what I do to overcome the problem of waiting in lines all day, so I thought I'd share a couple of my secrets. Here are a couple of my suggestions:

1. There's an app for that!: Wait time applications are an absolutely indispensable part of your Disney Survival Kit (Which I will cover in another post). My husband and I both use iphones and the one we prefer is Walt Disney World Wait Times Free by VersaEdge Software, available on iTunes or in the app store. It's user dependent, so it relies on people who have the application and are currently waiting in line to update it with correct information, but it's always been completely accurate. Generally the only time it's inaccurate is when the ride has just changed wait times and no one has had the chance to update it. In fact as I write this I'm seeing that there is only a 5 minute wait to get on Pirates of the Caribbean! *sigh*
2. Get a map: if you're like me then you know the park layout like the back of your hand, but the map stand also has a sheet telling you what time all the parades and shows will start at, their location, and in the case of the parades, the intended route (which is really helpful if you want to be on one side of the park during that time because crossing over the parade route is a nightmare!)
3. Get a Fastpass: I put this second because if you don't know what the wait times are for the most popular rides, then you won't know which ride to get a Fastpass for. Getting a Fastpass can mean the difference between checking off all the rides on your list, or watching with envy as people bounce happily off Expedition Everest! Later on I'll explain how to get a Fastpass and the best way to utilize them, but for right now just know that they are a must. (My Pal Mickey Note: Fastpasses are your friend! You can get one per hour.)
4. Make an Itinerary:  not to sound too much like Clark Griswold, but having an itinerary is the best way to get the most out of your vacation. I will give an example of the one my husband and I use, but between Extra Magic Hours and character dining reservations it is always good to have a written account of what you'll do for the day, with built in wiggle room of course!



An Example of a Fastpass

5. Keep calm, and carry on:  If one line is full and it looks miserable, move on. If you have a proper itinerary and a well laid plan, you will have another opportunity. You would be surprised how a ride with a 120 minute wait will go down to a 20 minute wait at a random time. We experience this every time we're at the park. Small World is a classic example of a ride that can go from a 80 minute wait to 5 minutes any time of the day, so if you're in the park for the day anyway just keep coming back or checking the app that I know you've rushed off to download!  (My Pal Mickey note: If there is a ride that you don't manage to get on one day, it always moves to the top of your itinerary for that specific park on the next day!)

EMH are critical to conquering Disney!

Okay, so now that we've covered the basics I'm going to let you in on my, up until now, secret process of making the perfect Disney World itinerary! These itineraries are based on three things:

1. Extra Magic Hours
2. Dining Reservations
3. Rides

Our system works out so that we always end our day at the Magic Kingdom, but we have the advantage of not having children there with us every time, so your day can also end on the latest Extra Magic Hours (EMH) if need be. Here is an example of a typical scenario for us:

• Saturday Park Hopper, reservations at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall at 6:30 PM. Desired rides: Soarin', Test Track, Spaceship Earth, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean. (My Pal Mickey Note: These are just intended rides, the must haves if you will. Other rides are of course done in the interim.)

Our first step would be to find the hours for that Saturday. We will use October 8th. The hours are:

• Epcot: 9AM-10PM
• Hollywood Studios: 9AM-9PM, Extra Magic Hours: 8AM-9AM
• Animal Kingdom: 9AM-7PM
• Magic Kingdom: 9AM-12AM

What you know is that you have to be at Epcot by 5:45 to ensure you make your reservation by 6:30. The rule of thumb is that you always, always, always take advantage of EMH if you are staying on property, so you will by default be starting your Day at Hollywood Studios at 8AM. We'll work with the assumption that you will end at Magic Kingdom. The sample itinerary would look something like this:

1. Hollywood Studios: Pick what you think is going to be the most crowded ride, your options will likely be Rockin Rollercaster, Tower of Terror, and Star Tours. Since Tower of Terror and Rockin Rollercaster are right next to each other it makes the most sense to sprint through the gates and head in that direction, scooping up a Fastpass for Rockin Roller Coaster and then getting in line for Tower of Terror. Chances are you have probably gotten there so early that your fastpass will be for a time close to the time that you will be getting off the Tower, so you can either get in the fastpass line for Rockin Rollercoaster right when the fastpass says so, or head over to Star Tours and wait in the early morning line there to try and kill some time before your fastpass for the Rockin' Rollercoaster activates.

• You've now maximized your times on the three most popular rides of the day, likely making it through them within 1-2 hours if it's done right. Now you have some free time to take on the rides that are in less demand like The Great Movie Ride, Muppet Vision 3D, Honey I Shrunk The Kids, or making light sabers in Tatooine Traders! (My Pal Mickey Note: this situation is seasonal. We're working within fall parameters here but this strategy can also work for spring break and summer with a few modifications we will mention in another post.)

     2. You now have to make a choice between your remaining parks. You've got Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom. You don't have to be at Epcot until 6, and you're ending the night at Magic Kingdom, so the obvious choice is Animal Kingdom. Hop on a bus over there and start checking wait times for your favorites with the iPhone app you've got. Our favorites are Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Kilimanjaro Safari, and it's Tough To Be A Bug. Knowing that, this is what our itinerary would look like:

• Run straight to the Fastpass kiosk for the Kilimanjaro Safari, this is a long ride and as a result the line gets pretty long. Once you've secured a Fastpass, hop on over to Expedition Everest. If the wait is longer than you'd like, the line for Dinosaur is usually pretty short and will eat up some of the hour you have to wait before you can get another Fastpass. Once you've eaten up that hour with Dinosaur and the Triceratops Spin you can grab a Fastpass for Expedition Everest.
• It's Tough To Be A Bug always has a short line, not more than 10 minutes. So this is also a great space filler while you're waiting to get another Fastpass or waiting for your Fastpass to become active.

   3.  Next it's on to Epcot, because you've got those coveted dinner reservations at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway! A perfect place to see the princesses, at about half the cost of Cinderella's Royal Table. Soarin' or Test Track are always first priority here, and should be the first thing you grab a Fastpass for. Chances are this late in the day that the active time on the Fastpass will be even later than your dinner reservations, so you need to grab them first and move on to the short lines like Maelstrom, Living With the Land, and even Spaceship Earth. (My Pal Mickey Note: Spaceship Earth is popular, but it's also continuously moving so the line is always reasonable, and a great way to eat time!) So in short, Fastpasses for Test Track or Soarin' are collected first, an hour is eaten doing short line rides, another Fastpass for Soarin' or Test Track is collected , dinner, then the last ride

Oh boy, Space Mountain!

Finally it's off to Magic Kingdom, you'll remember that our desired rides are Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean. Space Mountain is the only one in this mix that requires a Fastpass, so it should be the first destination on your list. However, after 6PM on a Saturday there is a chance that there will be none left. If that's the case, then Space Mountain moves up as your first priority the next time you visit Magic Kingdom. It should really be the first priority when you have Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom one morning, having one person in your party sprint back to the Fastpass kiosks when the gates first open is an awesome way to secure your tickets! Generally the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of The Caribbean have a 20 minute wait, and even less during the parade so they are a great way to eat up Fastpass waiting time. 


My husband have something we call "The Code" which is a group of rides that we stick to when all other rides have painful wait times. They include Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise The Hall of Presidents, Philharmagic, and The Carousel of Progress. When all else fails or you're stuck in a crowd, you stick to The Code! I suggest you have a code for your family too, so you aren't all standing around in front of the Flying Carpets of Agrabah trying to figure out where to go next!


When we get around to finalizing our latest itinerary I will post it for a more visual representation of what I'm talking about, but for now I hope this gives everyone an idea on how to best manage your time while in the parks!