Big Time Wasters at Disney Parks

Time is money. When visiting Walt Disney World for your vacation, you will want to make the most of your time in a Disney park, a Disney resort, or at Disney Springs. To do this, you will want to skip experiences that could be big time wasters at Disney.

 

Although this might be different for everyone, some experiences at Walt Disney World can be big-time wasters if you let them. We will dive into what those experiences are so you can have the most magical time possible at Walt Disney World during your vacation.

Disney Attractions That Are Time Wasters

We would love to tell you that all the attractions are fantastic at Walt Disney World, but that isn’t reality. Some attractions are part of the magic but aren’t ones we suggest prioritizing during your trip.

Magic Kingdom

Because there are so many attractions in Magic Kingdom, there are a few that we know we probably won’t get to each vacation. As we make our must-do lists, a couple of attractions always find themselves left off.

The two attractions in Magic Kingdom that we think are time wasters are Swiss Family Tree House and Tomorrowland Speedway. These attractions take a lot of time to experience, and with so many other unique experiences throughout Magic Kingdom, we suggest skipping these two. Even though Swiss Family Treehouse is self-paced, getting through all the steps and levels takes a lot of time. When it is super hot, this isn’t an experience we think is worth it.

Another ride that we think can be a time waster is Peter Pan’s Flight. We know this is an iconic attraction; however, the long wait isn’t worth it, in our opinion. This ride experience is concise, making it not worth a two-hour wait. If Peter Pan’s Flight is essential to your Disney trip, and for many, it is, consider going early, staying late, or investing in Genie+ to avoid wasting time.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Over in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the only attraction that could be considered a time waster is the Na’vi River Journey. Like Peter Pan’s Flight, this slow-moving boat ride through Pandora tends to have long waits. Since it is a shorter ride experience, we don’t feel the long waits are worth the overall ride experience.

EPCOT

With all the fantastic experiences throughout EPCOT, we feel a few are time-wasters. Even though they make EPCOT unique, they aren’t experiences we will wait for during our vacation.

We know this will cause some extreme emotions from some Disney fans, but we feel that Journey Into Imagination with Figment is a time waster at EPCOT. Even though you won’t typically see a long wait for this attraction, we wouldn’t take more than ten minutes to wait for it during our Disney vacation.

EPCOT has so many outstanding attractions and the fantastic World Showcase to explore that anything more than ten minutes has us moving onto a different Disney experience.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Surprisingly, we would consider only one experience at Disney’s Hollywood Studios a time waster. This is a considerable improvement for a theme park many used to skip or only spend half a day at.

Alien Swirling Saucers is the ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios that we find to be a time waster. There isn’t anything extraordinarily unique or exciting about this ride. If we find ourselves in Toy Story Land with some downtime, we would rather spend more time in line to experience Toy Story Mania, grab a snack, or just walk around and take in the fantastic details of the land.

Many kids love Alien Swirling Saucers; however, this ride isn’t as entertaining once they get older.

Those are the top attractions at the four Disney parks that we often feel are overrated. Check out what rides we skip during vacations in our related post below.

Related: We Always Skip These Rides at Disney

Waiting Hours For Nighttime Shows

We highly recommend taking time during your Walt Disney World vacation to enjoy the nighttime shows at Disney parks. What we find to be a time waster is finding a spot hours before these shows start.

Although we love Fantasmic, Happily Ever After and look forward to the newest nighttime show at EPCOT Luminous: Symphony of Us, we don’t think spending hours waiting to see these shows is necessary. There are so many outstanding spots to watch these shows from that finding a perfect spot isn’t necessary. We understand that some spots are better than others, but overall, you will have a magical experience no matter where you are during the show.

If you spend two hours sitting and waiting for the evening show to start, you are also not enjoying the other magical experiences in the parks. The nighttime shows are indeed spectacular, and you don’t want to miss them, but don’t miss out on other rides and shows because you are sitting and playing with your phone for two hours before it starts.

Finally, even if you find the perfect spot, someone will probably step before you or maneuver their kids onto their shoulders during the show. Although this is super frustrating, it is something that happens. Again, we don’t think taking hours to find the perfect spot is critical.

For those who want a good spot, think about investing in a dessert party for the fireworks that will give you a designated area to watch from.

There is so much to experience in the parks. Don’t miss out on opportunities by sitting around just waiting.

Waiting for Coffee

Another significant time waster in Walt Disney World is Starbucks. This might not be a popular opinion, but it is true. When visiting Disney parks, we often notice that the most extended lines we see are the Starbucks.

We know that coffee is essential to many people in the morning, but save those early morning hours waiting in line for your coffee. Until Starbucks offers mobile order, a different coffee plan might be needed during the early mornings in a Disney park.

Disney has coffee in all their hotel rooms if you need coffee to start your day. Alternatively, you could use mobile from the quick-service location at your Disney Resort or flex your coffee option and try Joffrey’s Coffee instead of Starbucks, as their lines are typically much shorter.

For those of you who are huge coffee fans, head into your vacation with a plan so you don’t waste time standing in line for coffee when you can ride rides with lower wait times. Walt Disney World dining can be tricky, but waiting for coffee is one area you can control during your trip.

Park Hopping

We love park hopping during our Walt Disney World vacations. If you don’t plan for park hopping, it can waste a lot of time as you travel between parks. Those who add park hopping to their ticket can currently begin hopping between parks starting at 2 p.m. When relying on Disney transportation, this can take a lot of time.

Because of this restriction, we don’t always believe it is the best opinion for all guests. We recommend thinking through park hopping to determine if it would work well for you and your travel party.

Park Hopping can make sense for those days you plan to take a break back at your Walt Disney World Resort anyway because you are already planning transportation time. If you have days where you are planning to stay in the Park all day, Park hopping can take thirty to sixty or more minutes out of your day. With limited time at Disney, you might want to spend something other than traveling between Parks.

There is so much to experience at Walt Disney World. From outstanding rides, shows, attractions, and dining, you don’t want to waste time during your trip on experiences that might not be as magical.

If experiences don’t add magic to your trip, don’t waste time on them. Focus on your must-dos and make sure you prioritize them during your trip. Doing so will help you avoid feeling like you wasted time.