How to Skip the Most Annoying Lines at Disneyland Without Lightning Lane

Lightning Lane Multi Pass is Disneyland’s “skip the line” paid service, allowing guests to reserve specific return times for attractions and use a shorter queue when they redeem their selections. This service can be costly and often frustrating to use, especially if return times do not align with your day at Disneyland.

There are many different ways to access popular attractions at Disneyland without using Lightning Lane. Keep reading for our hacks to skipping the most annoying Lightning Lanes. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including new announcements coming soon to Disneyland and changes to hotel rooms Disney World has made for small children.

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1. Use Single Rider When It’s Offered

The best way to avoid using Lightning Lane is to use Single Rider when it’s available. Single Rider is offered for some of the most popular attractions at Disneyland and, on average, is far less than half the wait of the posted standby time. Single Rider is available at these attractions at Disneyland:

• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Matterhorn Bobsleds
• Space Mountain
• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• Indiana Jones Adventure

And these attractions at Disney California Adventure:

• Goofy’s Sky School
• Incredicoaster
• Radiator Springs Racers
• Grizzly River Run
• WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure
• Soarin’ Over California

Disneyland offers an abundance of options for Single Rider, and this is one of my favorite hacks for getting on rides in less time. Keep in mind, you will be split from your party, and all riders need to be at least 7 years old to use this line. But not all Single Rider lines are created equal. The longest Single Rider line on this list is for Radiator Springs Racers, which often can be at least half the posted wait. But that still cuts down a major wait time.

2. Avoid These Rides at Rope Drop

The best way to get on attractions at their lowest wait times is to be among the first to enter the parks when they open. This means waking up early and being in line at the entrance gates at least 30 minutes before the park officially opens for the day.

Some rides have more demand at Rope Drop, like Radiator Springs Racers and Peter Pan’s Flight, so I recommend avoiding those rides and instead going to the others. To truly be among the first to get on those two popular rides, you need to be dedicated and arrive at the parks at least an hour before park opening. And even then, it doesn’t guarantee you won’t start the day out with an hour-long wait. Instead, focus on the other available attractions, and then you can end up riding at least three rides with no wait times. You can read more about our Rope Drop Strategy for both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

3. Use This Hack for Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones Adventure is a ride that guests often waste their Lightning Lanes on, so this is an attraction you can get on just fine without it. The queue for Indiana Jones Adventure stretches through a themed temple as you make your way to the attraction. For Indiana Jones, it’s not possible to have both a Lightning Lane and a standby line inside the temple because there’s not enough space to split it into two lines.

Since the lines merge as you enter the temple, this means that the majority of the standby queue is outside and wraps around in switchbacks in front of the entrance. The Lightning Lane starts at the bridge to the temple, and then both lines are merged into one once you enter. Wait until a point in the day, most often around 3 PM or in the evening after the fireworks, when you don’t see a large crowd in the outside queue, and then enter the attraction. You will end up in the same line as everyone else.

4. Avoid Water Rides in the Afternoon

Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and Grizzly’s River Run are the two water rides at Disneyland. And like most water rides, their wait times will hit peak in the afternoon when the sun feels the hottest. This means that early in the morning and in the evening, the wait times will drop considerably.

These are two rides that are easy to get on with lower waits, if you can tough out going on a water ride with low sun or at night!

5. Skip the Nighttime Entertainment

If skipping long lines without Lightning Lane is a priority, use the time when parades and fireworks are taking place to get on rides. You’d be surprised at how much the wait time drops for rides when the nighttime entertainment is taking place.

Keep an eye on the Disneyland app and go for the rides with the lowest wait times. As the day winds on, the rides tend to get lower, and this is especially true during the popular nighttime entertainment.

6. Do the Second Fantasyland Rope Drop

The attractions in Fantasyland will close during the fireworks and will reopen around 20 or 30 minutes after the fireworks end. This essentially empties the land and creates a “Second Rope Drop” for this area of Disneyland. Make sure you position yourself at the ropes over Mad Tea Party and be ready to go right into the land, especially if you still need to cross Peter Pan’s Flight off your list.

If you time this right, you can walk right on Peter Pan’s Flight and all the other Fantasyland attractions. Since none of these rides offer Lightning Lane, the standby lines for these can get quite long earlier in the day, especially in the morning. Save them for the night instead.

6. Stay Late for Park Closing

After the fireworks end, many families will begin clearing out, and the wait times will start to drop considerably throughout the night. Since Disneyland can stay open as late as midnight during popular times of the year, this means you can enjoy up to two hours of a nearly empty park.

We’ve used this hack during peak times of the year, even on a holiday like Thanksgiving, to walk right on the most popular attractions in the park. If you can stay up late, it is worth it at Disneyland, and one of my favorite ways to avoid using Lightning Lane. You can read more about our nighttime strategy at Disneyland here.

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