Disney World can certainly be magical beyond belief, but it can also be immensely stressful.
Tree of Life
There’s planning where you’d like to stay, booking your dining reservations months in advance, making your must-eat and must-do lists, and so much more before you even arrive in the parks. But there are two particular situations in the Disney parks that cause your blood pressure to rise — here’s how to avoid them!
Getting Out of Magic Kingdom After Fireworks
If you’ve ever stayed to watch the fireworks in Magic Kingdom, you’ve seen the massive crowds that surge towards the exit immediately after. This is something you want to stay FAR away from.
Fireworks Crowds
These crowds clog the lines for Disney buses, Monorails, and ferryboats, causing them to be much longer than normal. And you’ve already waited in lines all day, you don’t want to wait in another long one just to get on transportation back to your hotel.
All of these people will turn for the exit RIGHT after the show
So how do you avoid this? It’s simple — don’t leave the park just yet. Even if the park closes after fireworks, the shops on Main Street U.S.A. stay open a little bit after park close. We suggest mobile ordering yourself a snack from the Confectionary BEFORE the park closes, picking it up after the fireworks end, and munching on it as you watch the crowds disperse and shop around. This way, you avoid the crowds, and get a tiny bit of extra park time!
Rope Dropping Flight of Passage
At the complete opposite time of day, rope-dropping Flight of Passage in Animal Kingdom is another stressful moment. Here’s the truth — if you’re not at the front of that group, it may not be worth it to rope drop and you’ll want to wait until later in the day for a longer line that will be shorter than what it is at the beginning of the day.
Flight of Passage (Yep, it’s in there)
Let us explain: it is mostly EVERYONE’s plan to rope drop Flight of Passage. There aren’t as many rides in Animal Kingdom, and Flight of Passage is the most popular — so while crowds at Rope Drop spread out among a few rides in the other parks, at Animal Kingdom Rope Drop, everyone is racing to Pandora! This means that if you’re not at the front of that group heading for Pandora, the line will easily already be an hour or more by the time you’re all loaded in the queue. This ride consistently has the longest waits in all of Disney World, and it’s usually highest in the morning as everyone is rope-dropping.
Flight of Passage Queue
So when we say rope drop, we mean you need to take the FIRST bus from your hotel over to the park (which is usually 45 minutes before park opening) so you can be one of the first in line for that ride. If you’re taking your own car, be in that parking line 30-45 minutes before park opening and get ready to BOOK IT towards the entrance. As a rule of thumb, if you’re not in line within the first 20 minutes of opening, we say wait until later in the day.
Flight of Passage Queue
Don’t forget though that you can also buy an Individual Lightning Lane for Flight of Passage if you don’t feel like worrying about rope dropping, or waiting in the long line during the day. Yes, it may cost a pretty penny, but the option is available to you!
Time to, uh, fly!
Feeling stressed about all the planning? We’re here to help. We’ve got so many posts on our blog and videos on our YouTube Channel to help you plan your vacation, so stay tuned to DFB!
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I lucked out. Had a pass for FoP later in the day so not stressed even though I was near the front at rope drop. I was headed for Navi. Navi was closed so I proceeded to follow the crowd to FoP and ended up near the front of the line. As a single passenger I was passed up the line so got to ride FoP fairly soon after it opened. I kept my later reservation so rode Fop TWICE in one day. This will never happen again.