Disney World Lightning Lanes + Tips and Park Planning Strategy

Like the magic and mystique of Disney World but hate waiting in lines?
Looking for the lowdown on the best Disney World ride recommendations?
You are the right place – Below tips would help you reduce your waiting time and make sure you don’t miss some of the terrific fun-filled rides.

Epcot’s universally known landmark – the Spaceship Earth sphere, courtesy Disney

Disney World Lighting Lane/FastPass+ Strategies

• Try to stay in the Disney Resort, because if you do, you will get 60 days of advance booking window for FastPass+ tickets vs 30 day window for non-resort guests. This comes very handy for booking rides like Avatar Flight of Passage which, if you don’t have FastPass+, could result in 3 hours+ of waiting time.

• The day your booking window opens, you should book FastPass+ reservations bang at 7 AM Eastern time.

• You can only make 3 FastPass+ reservations at a time. In order to make additional FastPass+ reservations, you will need to consume (or the ride time needs to expire) all 3 passes. So, make your first 3 FastPass+ reservations early in the day, so that you can make additional reservations.

• Goes without saying, you need to wisely use your advance FastPass+ reservations for the rides which have the most wait times.

• For Magical Kingdom, we faced huge jam near the entrance. There were some online suggestions to park at Epcot instead and take the mono rail to Magical Kingdom. We didn’t try it but it might be worth a shot.

• Since the parks are huge, it helps to carve out a path for your visit otherwise there could be a lot of walking. Some websites have very detailed 1 or 2 day Disney Plans which can help you immensely to pick up an optimized path. UndercoverTourist has some great pre-made park plans to give you an idea.

My FastPass+ Recommendations (might be a little dated)

Epcot
Frozen Ever After
The Seas with Nemo
Soarin’ Around the world
Mission: SPACE

Other Recommended Rides:
Test Track
The Seas with Nemo & Friends
The Living With The Land

Magical Kingdom
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (minimum height 38″, apt for young kids)
Space mountain – I didn’t like it personally, just a roller coaster in the dark.
Splash mountain (minimum height 40″, apt for young kids)
Enchanted Tales with Belle
Rapunzel and Tiana at Princess Fairytale Hall

It is astonishing how many movie franchises Disney owns, Courtesy Disney

Other Recommended Rides:
Big thunder mountain railroad 40″: Nice and easy roller coaster with small drops and jerks.
The Barnstormer
Jungle Cruise
Dumbo the flying Elephant
Peter Pan Ride: Very average. Almost on slow motion, this might pique interests for hardcore Peter Pan fans, not much excitement for others.

Animal Kingdom
Avatar Flight of Passage (this gets so busy that you might not get the FastPass+ unless you are staying in Disney resort and have 60 day advance booking window)
Na’vi River Journey
Kilimanjaro Safari: If you can, try to get an evening time as night safari at least for us was an exquisite experience where most of the animals were sassy.
Kali River Rapids: we were disappointed as there was hardly any splash 😦

Taken during 3-hour wait time for the Avatar ride (the hype was totally justified though)

Other recommendations:

It’s Tough To Be A Bug: truly memorable 3-D film, huge hit with young kids, highly recommended.
Maharaja Safari: Very unstrained walking trail in the middle of nature, a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of the theme parks.
The Tree of Life (close to the It’s Tough to Be a Bug show)
Tip: They have an awesome light show in the evening.
Discovery Island Trails
Conservation Station

That’s it! Hope it helps you plan your next magical Disney World trip.
Featured image was courtesy of Disney

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