If you love going on rides at Disneyland and California Adventure, you might have to wait in some long lines, unless you time things just right. These are the ways to ride Disneyland rides without long waits.
Early Entry
Early entry is for guests of Disney hotels, so The Grand Californian, The Disneyland Hotel, and Pixar Place Hotel. They can enter a certain park (not either) at 7:30am instead of when the park officially opens at 8am. You can get a lot of rides in with very short wait times since not very many guests can do this.
Rope Drop
Rope drop is where you get to the parks before they officially open and are waiting at the end of Main Street so you are there the second the park opens. The parks generally don’t have a lot of people in them for the first few hours, so the ride wait times are a lot lower.
Buddy Pass
Buddy Pass is only available for one ride, Monster’s, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue in California Adventure. Ask the Cast Member at the ride entrance for a buddy pass, then go to the buddy pass line by the exit. This has a much shorter line and groups of 2 or 3 can go together and fill in the back row of the ride vehicle.
Roo Pass
Roo Pass is just like the buddy pass, but this is only for the ride The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in Disneyland.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
Lightning Lane Single Pass is where you pay for a Lightning Lane that is only for one specific ride. It has a much shorter line than the standard line. This is available for Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance in Disneyland.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
Lightning Lane Multi Pass gives you Lightning Lane access to multiple rides that are eligible. Some of rides include Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, and more.
VIP Tour
A VIP tour allows you to choose a few rides to skip the line on. People usually choose rides with long waits for this, like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. VIP tours are very expensive though.
Single Rider
Single Rider is where you go to a separate line and fill in open spots on ride vehicles. You will not be seated with other people from your group, so do not do this if you are with young children. Some rides that offer single rider lines are Space Mountain, Radiator Springs Racers, Incredicoaster, and Matterhorn Bobsleds.
Before Closing
The parks get a lot emptier in the evenings before they close. Ride wait times go down significantly in the late evening and at nighttime. Some rides close before the park closes though, so check the hours for each ride you’re wanting to try this with.
During Parades
When there is a parade, it draws a lot of people to the parade route, making the lines for rides shorter. Take advantage of this and get some rides in if you’re okay skipping the parade.
During Fireworks
Fireworks are another thing that takes big crowds away from the rides since people want to view the fireworks. So if you’re okay not seeing the firework show, then go on some rides instead.
After Dark Events
After Dark events are separate ticketed events that do not have as many people in the parks and a lot of people are not at the event for the rides. So the wait times on rides go down a lot. Some of the After Dark events are Oogie Boogie Bash, Star Wars Nite, and Sweetheart’s Nite.