Soarin’

A brutal decision is required at EPCOT. A person must choose between Test Track and Soarin’, both of which are wonderful rides. Given how few major rides are available at EPCOT, having to pick one is extremely difficult. Realistically, you will wind up riding both if you plan to spend the body of a day at EPCOT.

Given this thought process, the choice comes down to adding a FastPass+ selection for the one with the longest wait time. Historically, that is Soarin’, which has such a desperate need for traffic reduction that a third theater is being built. Until the new area is ready for public consumption, Soarin’ has a brutally long wait that sometimes approaches (and even exceeds) two hours. Any time the ride requires less than an hour wait during a busy period is notable.

Since Test Track provides a single rider line to reduce traffic, its wait time is rarely as lengthy. The best strategy to employ would be to make a FastPass+ selection for Soarin’ then perform a rope drop sprint to Test Track.

Toy Story Midway Mania

The average wait time for this ride is almost always north of an hour. The only recent instance when it was not that long occurred when the ride provided no wait time options. It is kind of scary that Toy Story Midway Mania is so popular that requiring a FastPass+ selection is justifiable to Disney. While that experiment has ended, the prevailing wisdom remains.

Toy Story Midway Mania requires a brutal amount of waiting if you stand in line for the ride. Even as Hollywood Studios has shuttered over 20% of its rides in anticipation of expansion, crowds have remained static in terms of attendance. The same number of people plus fewer ride options means heightened traffic for the rest of them. Yes, Toy Story Midway Mania is literally more popular than ever right now. If you have any inclination to ride it, you simply must make a FastPass+ selection.

 Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

The final selection at Magic Kingdom depends upon your interests during your visit. You will note that no Animal Kingdom FastPass+ selection is listed. This is because the wait times are rarely extreme for any of the various options. Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids and Expedition Everest are worthy considerations if you are spending a day there, but none of them is really needed based upon wait time. Similarly, the structure of tiers for FastPass+ eliminates the best additional options at Hollywood Studios, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Since EPCOT’s tier system has already been discussed, that leaves Magic Kingdom as the option once again.

This choice is reasonably reduced to the two remaining attractions with the longest wait times. Those are Enchanted Tales with Belle and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The presumption is that you have already selected a FastPass+ for a princess greeting. While Enchanted Tales offers an engaging story time component, it would mean a lot of princesses in a given day. After you are done with Anna and Elsa, a legendary roller coaster is a nice change of pace.

While Space Mountain is tempting, its wait times are surprisingly tolerable for the most part. The wait time for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is rarely under 30 minutes, and an hour is not unusual. You can free up a lot of time simply by selecting this FastPass+. Best of all, with these six selections lined up prior to your trip, you should be able to ride everything you want without a lot of aimless moments wasted standing in line.