So you’ve made it to Disney World, and you just want to ride EVERYTHING.

We get it. Maybe you’ve looked at our rankings of rides for Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and you’ve used those lists to decide on your priority rides. Well, here’s the thing — WHEN you decide to ride attractions could make a HUGE difference, so we’re going to tell you when you want to jump in line for those rides in Disney World.

Before we launch our list, we’ve got a video with 50 Disney World ride hacks that you can watch right here!

Rope Drop

Now, you might think that the best time to hit up those really popular rides in Disney World would be at rope drop, but you’d probably be wrong. In fact, rope drop is the WORST time to ride these rides because guess what? EVERYONE else had the same idea. Those lines are going to be the LONGEST at rope drop. Instead, you might want to wait until right before park close when those ride lines get shorter.

So avoid the following rides at rope drop:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom
• Frozen Ever After in EPCOT
• Rise of the Resistance in Hollywood Studios
• Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom

Instead, rope drop other rides that aren’t as popular, because those will have very low wait times at rope drop since everyone else is standing in line for the popular rides. You can cross multiple rides off your list while others are standing in line for their first one. See how that works?

Why You SHOULD Pay Extra To Ride Disney World’s Most Popular Rides

Morning

Okay, so there are some rides that you want to ride at night, rather than during the daytime. Now, we’ll say that you can ride any of the dark rides whenever you’d like, but we’re going to tell you about the rides you want to save for nighttime because they’re just better once the sun goes down.

First, we will mention TRON Lightcycle / Run because that ride was MEANT for the dark, but you might not have any control over when you get a Boarding Pass or Individual Lightning Lane for that ride. But it’s way better at night, trust us.

So the rides you do NOT want to ride in the morning are:

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (if you can ride it during the nighttime fireworks, it’s even better!) in Magic Kingdom
• Jungle Cruise in Magic Kingdom
• Astro Orbiter in Magic Kingdom (seeing Tomorrowland at night is an experience!)
• Test Track in EPCOT
• Journey of Water — Inspired by Moana (it’s even more beautiful at night)
• Living with the Land in EPCOT (it’s magical at night!)
• Kilimanjaro Safaris (many animals become active at night) in Animal Kingdom
• Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom

Note: Kilimanjaro Safaris is currently not running during most nights, but it was once an option, so if it becomes available again, we highly recommend it.

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Afternoon

A lot of rides in Disney World will get longer and longer lines as the day progresses and you may find that those lines are impossibly long by the time the afternoon rolls around. You’ll want to avoid riding those attractions at that time. This includes:

• Peter Pan’s Flight in Magic Kingdom
• Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom
• Space Mountain in Magic Kingdom
• Soarin’ in EPCOT
• Na’vi River Journey in Animal Kingdom
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster in Hollywood Studios
• Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios
• Toy Story Mania in Hollywood Studios
• Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway in Hollywood Studios

These all might be rides you’ll want to rope drop or ride just before park close.

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Evening

Just like some rides are better at night, others are better during the day. We’re just going to say that you can pretty much ride any of the dark rides pretty much whenever you want, as it won’t matter when you ride them, save for those that tend to have longer lines. Here are the rides to skip in the evenings:

• Prince Charming Regal Carrousel in Magic Kingdom (seriously, Fantasyland is just so DARK at night)
• Mad Tea Party in Magic Kingdom (again, it’s SO dark in this part of Magic Kingdom)
• Dumbo (ditto)
• Tom Sawyer Island in Magic Kingdom (closes at dusk)
• Walt Disney World Railroad in Magic Kingdom(usually closes around 7PM)
• Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom
• TriceraTop Spin in Animal Kingdom
• Slinky Dog Dash in Hollywood Studios

So save those rides for the daytime when we think they’re WAY better.

8 Rides You Definitely DON’T Need Genie+ for in Disney World!

So we know we haven’t listed every SINGLE ride in Disney World, but the rest are pretty much the kind of rides you can tackle at any time of the day.

Stay tuned to DFB for more!

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What do you think? Which rides and times of day do you avoid? Let us know in the comments!