Best Times of Day for Rides at Disneyland

Disneyland is famous, but not only for the rides and endless eye popping attractions. Both Disneyland and Disneyworld are famous for long wait times in line. A peak day at Disneyland for example can bring 70,000 people to the park. It's amazing given the crowds that Disneyland gets that Disneyland's ride lines move as fast as they do. In peak season, the average waiting time for key rides at Disneyland during the peak attendance hours of 11:00-7:00 p.m. is only 60 minutes. But , and this is a big but, 60 minutes at Disneyland can be a long, long time. Most people are only at Disneyland for two or three days and you want to spend all of that time on rides, not waiting in line for them. This is especially true if you wait with small children. Here then is what I found to be the very best ways to minimize time spent in line at Disneyland and maximize time spent enjoying the park. I used to live one mile from Disneyland. These do's and don'ts for Disneyland should apply equally to Disneyworld.

1. Go off-season
This is the best tip I could possibly give you. I used to live close by to Disneyland and I had a relative with an endless supply of park passes so I've been there at least 50 times. The difference between the length of the lines in peak season and off season is at least, I would say 50%-75% shorter in the off-season. Disneyworld has its own peculiar on and off-seasons which can make a dramatic difference in terms of how long you wait in line. For example, do not go on the 4th of July. I waited in line for almost 90 minutes at Pirates of the Caribbean the one time I went on the 4th of July. I will never do that again. At other times of the year I walked right on that ride and all the others. I have written another article on this called Disneyland: When to Go to Avoid the Crowds.