16 Tips To Avoid Huge Lines At Any Theme Park

Hot diggity dog, it's the big day! You've been looking forward to this theme park visit for weeks, maybe months, maybe years. You step through the ornate gates festooned with beloved cartoon characters and are immediately awestruck by the twisting roller coasters, colorfully surreal scenery, and people (so many people!) whom you'll likely be completely enveloped among for hours while stuck waiting in long lines throughout the entire day ahead.

To some extent, there's no escaping the crowds during a day at the amusement park. These sprawling establishments are specifically designed to draw and entertain immense throngs of all ages. However, there are ways to minimize the amount of time you spend in lines at theme parks — whether with clever tactics or wads of cash.

You want to avoid long lines at theme parks for many reasons. Time is money, and each minute spent waiting is a minute lost riding gravity-defying contraptions or enjoying other attractions. Also, enduring lengthy waits while lined up amid hundreds of humans can result in unpleasant circumstances — Disney World lines get so long that disgustingly unsanitary behavior reportedly happens mid-queue. Don't subject yourself to unnecessarily extended stretches of standing around in the sun while surrounded by overwhelming masses. You can fly through mechanized fantasies more frequently during each theme park visit by trying the following tips, most of which don't cost a dime more than the price of admission.

Remember when you were a schoolchild, and a highlight of summer break was piling into the family station wagon for a long-awaited pilgrimage to an amusement park? Well, that tradition continues to this day (although the family SUV is more likely the vehicle of choice). Many parents wait until their kids are out of school to visit theme parks in summertime — and that's precisely the season when you want to avoid these places.

Not only are theme parks more packed during summer, but in balmy destinations like Florida and California, this is when scalding sunshine takes its greatest toll on everybody waiting in lines. If it's at all possible, avoid full-capacity crowds by visiting amusement parks during offseason months. Once the children are back in class, early autumn or late spring can be ideal times for relatively uncrowded theme park adventures, and wintertime visits are even better at parks that stay open all year. Just remember that when school's out again, such as during spring break, the multitudes will return — so plan your dates carefully, and always avoid visiting Disney parks with the holiday season crowds.

No matter what season it is, waiting times will be much longer during weekends than on weekdays. Saturday is by far the worst day to pick for a theme park visit. This might seem like a great choice, allowing you to maximize a typically free day by going all-out on the rides before taking it easy on Sunday morning, with another whole day off to recuperate. Unfortunately, you're not the only person who came up with that plan.

For anyone who must visit an amusement park during the weekend, Sunday is a better choice ... even if you won't be bringing much energy to your Monday morning office meetings. But your best bet is to visit theme parks on weekdays when most people are cooped up in school or at workplaces. On any weekday, it will be considerably less crowded than Saturday or Sunday, although Fridays may see an influx of additional visitors as the day goes on, with the weekend-starting arrival of season-pass holders and those buying late-entry tickets.

Bright, sunny days at the amusement park are great for taking snapshots of the kiddos cavorting with cherished cartoon characters. However, these pics will likely also include innumerable photo bombers in the form of encroaching crowds, because everyone wants to visit theme parks when the weather is perfect. If you're willing to brave the elements amid inclement conditions, attendance is generally much lower.

A few caveats for this crowd-dodging strategy: You'll need to be ready to spend an entire day in the cold, rain, or scorching heat, so bring all necessary gear for these hazards. If the weather gets too severe, certain rides — or even the entire amusement park — may be closed. And, of course, it's difficult to predict when the skies will be just barely bad enough to deter many potential visitors, but not so terrible as to cause ride shutdowns. If you are staying near Disney World for a few days and your plans are flexible, consider checking out the best free activities in Orlando until that golden morning when light rain is predicted to last all day; that's when to enter the Magic Kingdom.

Theme parks are disorienting places. When strolling between worlds of fantasy, it's easy to get lost amid confusing contexts of otherworldly scenery and hordes of fellow fun-seekers. Because of this, it can sometimes take a long while to find specific attractions (like, say, America's fastest and steepest hybrid roller coaster). Meanwhile, people who are more familiar with the park's layout are already at your desired ride and moving further along in the ever-growing line.

Take time to study the amusement park map before beginning your visit, and this homework will be rewarded with less time wasted wandering aimlessly after you arrive. Save even more time by charting a touring plan in advance that plots efficient routes to connect the dots on your list of must-experience attractions. Thankfully, plenty of prominent landmarks will be helpful for finding your way — make mental notes of towering rides and especially eye-catching sights to help navigate any amusement park more skillfully as your visit unfolds.

At Disney World, a logistical routine evolved into a sometimes frenzied race among park visitors eager to beat the crowds. The rope drop ceremony has long been a ritual occurring every morning when the Magic Kingdom opens its gates, immediately unleashing mobs of early arrivals to push forward onto the enchanted grounds with a spirit of polite consideration only exceeded by Black Friday shoppers. Disney management is reportedly experimenting with new opening procedures to prevent potential elbowing incidents among charging park-goers.

At any amusement park, it does make sense to arrive early and be among the first visitors at opening time. This strategy can provide an opportunity to visit multiple attractions with relatively short waits on lines (or even no lines at all) before more people show up in the late morning and afternoon. But first, you have to survive the rope drop itself. Plenty of Disney park visitors have complained online about people shoving each other amid the rushing rope drop throngs.

Okay, so you've arrived early at a theme park to enter with the rope drop crowd. Now, get ready for a fairly lengthy morning jog if you really want to enjoy the shortest wait times of the day. The goal is to hurry toward the attractions that are farthest away from the main entrance, in areas where very few others have reached, and breeze through empty rows of line dividers that will soon be filling up.

It's important to resist the temptation to stop at popular rides closer to the main entrance. Other early-morning arrivals will be rushing directly to these prominent attractions, and the crowds will quickly build up there. More distant roller coasters that may be a few years past their prime are still probably well worth riding — especially if you get the chance to enjoy several of them with relatively short wait times before other visitors make their way to that part of the park.

Some theme park rides offer a separate line for unaccompanied guests. These single-rider lines provide park operators with a convenient way to fill individual seats that are left open by odd-numbered groups on roller coasters and other contraptions that send multiple people skyward at once. But since many park visitors want to stick together with friends and family while riding (and waiting to ride), these lines for singles tend to be quicker, making it easier for a solitary thrill-seeker to maximize their visit. This is certainly one of the unexpected reasons why some travelers say visiting a Disney park solo is best.

This hack can also be beneficial for groups visiting amusement parks. It makes sense to split up for a set period of time so that individual riders can enjoy more rounds on roller coasters. Considering that nerves often fray among theme park companions after a few hours negotiating a theme park visit together, a little time apart might seem like an even better idea by the late afternoon.

If you want to max out your day of amusement park enjoyment, then don't plan on going to sleep anytime soon. Many theme park visitors — especially families with small children — will leave for the day by the early evening. This means that crowds will gradually thin as the night goes on, and if you stick around until closing time, the lines could be considerably shorter during the final hours of your visit.

At Disney parks, the "Happily Ever After" end-of-day fireworks show provides another opportunity to avoid the crowds. Instead of joining the masses on Main Street, U.S.A., many park visitors claim that this is a perfect time to enjoy multiple rides with no lines and still possibly observe the pyrotechnics while zooming along roller coaster tracks. Theme park employees will make it very clear when the last ride is shut down for the night and politely point you toward the exit gates.

Want to instantly know how long you'll have to wait in line at rides all across an amusement park? There's an app for that. In fact, there are several apps that provide regularly updated information about wait times for all kinds of attractions, including some offered by park management — such as the My Disney Experience app — and others operated by independent providers that cover multiple theme parks.

Now, we can't guarantee that the wait times presented on these apps are strictly accurate. However, this isn't always a bad thing. Users have reported that amusement park lines will actually sometimes move more quickly than what's reported by the apps. It's also possible to set up alerts so that an app will let you know when the waiting time for a chosen ride decreases. So, while an app should probably not be your lodestar when deciding what attraction to check out next, it can provide helpful intelligence reports to check continually throughout the day.

Do you know what's worse than waiting in a lengthy line for a ride on a thrilling theme park attraction? Waiting in a lengthy line to put some overpriced food in your belly. Time spent waiting in an amusement park queue of any kind is time lost from doing enjoyable activities — and standing around for a long time to place a food order is even more painful since you'll be handing over more of your hard-earned cash at the end of this line.

Plan ahead to minimize the need to visit concession stands during a day at the theme park. Guests can bring food and drinks into some amusement parks — including Disney destinations — so packing bag lunches can save you a lot of time and money. However, many theme parks do not allow food brought in from outside, so check this in advance and consider feasting on a solid breakfast right before arriving so that your stomach will be full for the day ahead. However, you might want to wait a few hours before going on any spinning rides.

If you decide to enjoy a meal that's provided by an amusement park eatery, at least make the experience as pleasant as possible. During the midday rush, theme park food outlets of all kinds — from sit-down restaurants to pretzel stands — are besieged by hungry crowds, resulting in long lines of hangry people. Wait until 1 p.m. or later to have lunch, and the crush of famished customers may be diminished. Also, avoid having dinner at around 6 p.m., when many other park-goers will be feeling peckish.

This is another situation when using a theme park's app can be helpful. The Universal Orlando Resort app gives guests the opportunity to order food in advance for pickup at multiple eateries, and the My Disney Experience app allows users to make reservations at the park's restaurants. Regardless of how you order food, if possible, try to chow down on a single filling meal at one outlet during your amusement park visit — that way, you'll have to wait in line to eat only once.

It seems like almost every year, theme parks debut new roller coasters and other cutting-edge rides that everybody wants to try. You can bet that the lines for those hyped-up attractions will stretch far longer than the line for another ride that was considered as a park's biggest draw just a few years ago. But those older rides can still be enjoyable — especially when it may take just a scant few minutes of waiting to get a seat on them.

Some Disney World visitors say many popular rides are not worth waiting in a long line for. This may be true, but the Magic Kingdom also features classic rides that reportedly almost always have brief wait times, like the Walt Disney World Railroad and the Carousel of Progress. Are these slow-paced conveyances the most exciting experiences available at the park? No, but riding them sure beats standing around in the sun for hours.

Okay, now we're getting into line-cutting techniques that require forking over more money beyond the basic price of admission. Several theme parks oh-so-kindly offer express pass options that give guests varied privileges — including the opportunity to skip normal lines by accessing particular rides with special entryways offering much shorter wait times. The catch? This'll cost you.

Typical express pass offers include multiple tiers of special access. The less expensive options may allow guests to skip the line for only a single ride of their choosing, while other passes might provide fast entry to multiple attractions ... but the latter versions will certainly take a bigger toll on your wallet. Research these offers carefully to make sure that whatever pass you purchase provides exactly what you're looking for — especially since other tips on this list can end up giving you effective methods of avoiding long lines for free.

This tip is for anyone with money to burn: Please send it to the author of this article instead. Alternatively, if you'd like to save precious time while visiting major theme parks, look into signing up for VIP tours providing groups with expedited access to rides. This won't be cheap, but it's a better use of cash than starting a bonfire.

Universal Orlando Resort's VIP Tour Experience grants guests priority access to rides, along with behind-the-scenes visits and meals. Private VIP tours at Disney parks similarly include streamlined entry to attractions, in addition to concierge assistance and reservations for a prime viewing area during the fireworks show. Such tours cost hundreds of dollars an hour, and that's without the price of basic admission, making these guided excursions prohibitive for most park visitors ... but participants can hypothetically split the cost among themselves; each Disney VIP tour can number up to 10 guests.

This is another suggestion that can't be called inexpensive. However, it's a relatively reasonable way to make the most of a grand amusement park trip while avoiding long lines. Many theme parks have partner hotels and on-site resorts that regularly offer promotional packages with perks, such as providing park access before gates open to the general public or during extended evening hours. These guest privileges can make a huge difference in maximizing your time aboard rides.

A variety of affiliated accommodations may offer different price points, and more modest lodgings sometimes offer early park entry or after-hours ride access, with other useful benefits like guest transportation. Sure, these hotels will cost more than the dodgy motels down by the closest highway. But if you're splashing out on an amusement park getaway anyway, it can make sense to spend a few extra bucks to stay on-site and enjoy more rides.

This is an oldie-but-goodie tip for beating lines of traffic at the conclusion of any crowded event, but it works well for amusement parks, too. If you're staying to watch a day-closing theme park extravaganza — be it a fireworks display, concert, or light show — don't wait until the show's over to hurriedly head back to the car. The closing wonderland will empty out quickly, and parking lot traffic jams are to be expected.

After a whole day waiting in lines for rides, don't get stuck waiting inside your ride. When you're first arriving, plan ahead by parking closer to the exit than the park entrance. If you stay a step ahead of the departing hordes at the end of a long day at the theme park, you'll be happily riding the highway home while slower-paced park visitors are still struggling to back out of their parking spots.