How to Avoid Long Lines at Disney Theme Parks

1.) First of all, get to the park of your choice at least a half an hour before it opens. An hour if you're really ambitious. Yeah, that's right. You're gonna be "that guy". Because that guy gets to fly into the park when it's nearly empty and ride, at the very least, one or two of his favorites with no lines at all. You paid good money for that ticket, you should get your money's worth out of it.

2.) Ride during meal times. When everyone else is taking a break to feed themselves and their kids, you should be standing in line. Lines are usually half as long, especially at lunch time. It's vacation, unless you have an infant, you can eat on your own time.

3.) USE THE FASTPASS SYSTEM! So many people bypass this option, but it's free, it's easy to use, and it can help you get twice the rides into one day. If you don't know what Fastpass is, your first mission when you get to the park is to find an employee and have them explain it to you. It'll change your whole park experience. I promise.

4.) Go get in line during the parades. The lines nearly empty out whenever there is a parade. The main picture I took for this article was taken on a very crowded evening during the, "Parade of Dreams".

5.) Have lunch in line. Go grab some snacks from the nearest fruit stand or churro cart and eat in line. This won't make the line move any faster, but it will help you kill two birds with one stone, enabling you to ride more rides. Just make sure the ride you're in line for is a smooth one, like Pirates or the Maelstrom.

6.) If you have an option to take a left or a right at any point during your wait, go left. This sounds wacky, but I've used this trick for years at many parks and it works. Most people are right-handed and just choose the right side of anything over the left automatically. It's a reflex. Left directional lines are often shorter and quicker.

7.) When the lines are so long that you could be waiting for two hours or more, just don't bother. Now would be a good time to get a Fastpass for this ride, go catch a live show and a smaller ride, and come back when you won't have to stand around sweating in the crowd. Sometimes it's just not worth it. One bad line experience can ruin a handful of hours for you or put you in a terrible mood. You'd rather wait. Trust me.

8.) Stay Until The Park Closes! Much like the idea of arriving early, staying late can serve the same purpose when it comes to cutting your wait time in half or bringing it down to nothing at all. As it gets later, people with kids will be headed to their hotel for the night, leaving the lines wide open. If you have kids, you can still work this method. Just go to your hotel mid-day and let the kids nap and have lunch for a couple of hours. Rest up, come back, and stay until they kick you out.

9.) Stay in a Disney hotel. Resort guests get to participate in a unique privilege called, "Extra Magic Hours". Every day, one of the parks will open an hour early or stay open an hour later. It's a reward that's well worth the money of staying in a Disney resort. Plus, they provide free transportation from their resorts to the parks. The cost will even out and you'll get the chance to ride as many rides as possible.

10.) Take your vacation off-season. This is another one of those things that people just don't think about, but it's well worth the timing. Why would you want to be at the parks when everyone else wants to be there? For example, the end of August finds the park much less crowded. Why? Because most kids have headed back to school. The beginning of December is less crowded because most people wait to come to the park until it's closer to Christmas. Visit Disney's park websites to learn more about visiting off-season. Sometimes you can even get special deals at their hotels during these times.

BONUS: Visit the park during the week. Think Sunday through Thursday. Lines are much shorter on these days.