I have always been somewhat alone on my Disney trips, no matter who I have been there with. The early trips, it was my parents, my younger brother and me. Now days, it’s my husband and me. Either way, I was and am alone. I am the only ride-lover. There was one incident where in a case of fatherly-love my dad rode Space Mountain with me. And my husband tried Splash Mountain but walked away with black foam under his nails from gripping on so tightly. I have come to realize that some people are just NOT ride people.
But should that mean I should have to live without something I love so much? No more than they should have to participate. But how would that work? I don’t want Jim, my husband, to have to sit by himself for an hour while I weave through the lines of the best thrill rides.
Many would say this is what Fast Pass is for. That it allows me to use my park ticket to get a Fast Pass and then come back between the printed times and walk right on the ride. We do make use of this system for some rides. But the system that I prefer, that not all rides have, is the single rider line.
The single rider line doesn’t exist at Magic Kingdom. At Animal Kingdom, only Expedition Everest has one. Hollywood Studios has Toy Story Mania and Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. Test Track at Epcot also has a single rider line. I wish more did and here’s why.
Fast Passes are great in theory but I’m already working on a touring plan designed around when our meal reservations are. If I also have to be dictated by the times on a slip of paper I start to feel really locked in. I also can’t get multiple Fast Passes at once. I’m a planner so that frustrates me (don’t worry- even with all this planning; we have the time of our lives on vacation!) My last complaint about Fast Passes is unless I print one for my husband that I don’t use, I have nothing to scrapbook because they take it from me.
These are a few of the reasons why, when single rider line exists, I take advantage. Usually from start to finish my husband has to wait 10 minutes for me (and this is over the holidays in July.) I join the line, which moves quickly. As soon as an odd numbered group needs a filler, a cast member tells the next single rider what car to go to. I’ve ridden with quiet people and chatty people. I usually follow their lead. I’m just excited to be on the ride again. Sometimes there are good-byes at the end; most often not. They most often had to wait an hour or more to ride the ride I walked right on to.
On our next trip the only thing that may stop me from using the single rider line is if I can convince my husband to walk through the lines with me. I know he’ll never do the rides (I really wouldn’t want him to) but I do think he’d enjoy seeing the staging especially on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster. I don’t know if “chicken door” is the appropriate term, but there is a place to exit the line right before the ride – or so I’m told, I’ve never looked for it.
I’m sure our trip will be a little bit of everything: Fast Pass, single rider, waiting in line, leaving line and a whole lot of having an amazing time- the way we do only at Disney.
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