Any other tips for avoiding the worst of the queues?

First, check section 4.12 on when to visit the park. Seasonal changes will make a big difference as to how much you can do during your time there. Whenever you decide to go, if you want to get as much done in one day as possible, make sure you arrive a little while before opening time and buy your entrance passes so that you can go straight in when the gates open. You can also purchase one, two and three-day entrance passes in advance at any Disney Store in Europe.

Move immediately to the most popular rides. These include Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones, Star Tours, Phantom Manor, Peter Pan and the new Space Mountain. Try to go against the main flow of people, which usually means working in the opposite direction to the order given in the free Guidebook.

Some rides, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World and Le Visionarium, may look like they have longer queues but they actually load pretty quickly so you won't find yourself waiting too long.

Watch the parades (if you wish to see them) from their starting points. Once the last float has gone by, head for a normally busy ride (perhaps Star Tours?) while the rest of the crowd is still watching the parade. If you are spending several days in the park, watch the parades on your first day, and if you find you don't want to see them again, use that time to do the rides. This is especially true of the Electrical Parade, during which time most of the rides are pretty much deserted. For example, in peak August 1994 I did Star Tours, Pirates of the Caribbean, Snow White and Pinocchio as walk-ons between 10pm and 10.45pm during the parade. Don't forget that you won't easily be able to cross the Parade route once it has started.

If visiting during the shorter off-peak days (10am-6pm), check whether Main Street is going to be open late (mainly Saturdays or Sundays), which would allow you to do rides during the day and then spend a couple of hours shopping in Main Street before you leave.

If you are planning on splurging on one good meal during an off-peak visit, check whether the Inventions Restaurant at the Disneyland Hotel is open on the evening you're there, and eat there after the park itself has closed. Otherwise you'll take a big chunk out of your day by eating at Walt's, or one of the others inside the gates.

Philippa Sidle (106356.420@compuserve.com) visited DLP for four days at the end of August 1997, and offers the following very helpful advice, which I think is useful enough to quote virtually in its entirety:

The main advantage of July/August is that the park is open until eleven, and the amazing Main Street Electrical Parade is on every night. To go at one of the busier times of year you have to do some planning, however.

Many of the rides became 'unusable' by the afternoon. There are plenty of things that you can go on without queuing, though, such as Adventure Isle and Alice's Curious Labyrinth - and some rides, like Pirates of the Caribbean and It's A Small World which are fast-loading. We did come across some lost souls who had got caught up in huge queues for non-worthwhile attractions. One poor Greek businessman, evidently there on a corporate hospitality outing, had taken the train from Main Street to Fantasyland and stood in line for Dumbo the Flying Elephant (a nice family ride, but not a top attraction for single men!) for about an hour. A couple on holiday from India made the mistake of queuing up for Les Pirouettes du Vieux Moulin in the middle of the afternoon - possibly the stupidest and slowest-loading ride in the Park! We were only in the same queue because, for once, we had allowed the judgement of a five-year-old to override ours.

The pattern became pretty obvious to us. Go for the long-queue/slow-load rides first thing in the morning (do them twice in a row if necessary) and group fast-loaders and no-queue attractions, shopping and shows round the middle of the day. In late afternoon we even went back to our hotel room for a shower and a rest because we reckoned we weren't missing much. We also found out fairly soon that you had to get in place for a show or a parade at least half an hour before the start. Having said that, we couldn't get *near* the Pocahontas show.

For reference:

BIG SLOW QUEUES, DO FIRST IF AT ALL POSSIBLE:

Big Thunder Mountain
Indiana Jones
Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Star Tours
Orbitron
Autopia
Peter Pan's Flight and most of the other rides in Fantasyland: Snow White, Pinocchio, etc.

[Note: I disagree with that last line. The queues may be long, but those rides load pretty fast - André]

FAST LOADING, YOU CAN LEAVE UNTIL LATER

Pirates of the Caribbean
Phantom Manor
It's A Small World

I believe Space Mountain falls into the fast-loading category too, but I have to admit we didn't get round to trying it this trip. [It is quite a fast loader, yes - André]

THINGS TO DO WITHOUT QUEUING

Shopping
Adventure Isle (lots of scope to explore)
Alice's Curious Labyrinth
The Castle (not much to explore)
See a show (but get there half an hour before the start time)

I have to say I wasn't very impressed with the breakfast on offer at the Chuckwagon Café (at the Hotel Cheyenne). When I went in July I was on my own and I splashed out for breakfast in the Parkside Diner at the Hotel New York, which was excellent. But the Chuckwagon Cafe was very crowded and it all felt a bit inadequate. On subsequent mornings we found that the cafe inside the main-line railway station opened at seven and served much nicer coffee and croissants, for less money, and on proper china! That's my hot tip for getting a very early, inexpensive breakfast, and still being at those gates well in time for the eight o'clock start - especially if you're staying at one of the outlying hotels.

My second hot tip for a summer visit is to eschew the buses for getting back to the hotel last thing at night. The scrum to get on just after the park has closed is horrendous; it's much quicker to walk [seconded - André]

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