Single rider lines

[KatieCharlotte]

This trip, we won't have express passes. We won't be ride-focused this time, but we want to hit our favorites, all of which have single rider lines. I have a teen and preteen who have been on these rides enough in the past year that they're totally fine with riding on their own. My youngest looks younger than she is, but she only has to be 48 inches and comfortable on her own, right?

But I'm just curious about how long the single rider lines are typically, during a busy time? I've seen them very short and very long, but the latter was when there were several very large groups of teens who were using the single rider lines (at the time, we were thankful that they didn't have express passes).

I'm curious about all the single rider lines, but especially Gringotts, because my teen is not fond of being in what feels to her like an underground tomb for an hour -- and we will have early entry that we could take advantage of if sufficiently motivated. Also, should we plan on a long single-rider wait for Spiderman?

Any other advice? (Express passes or an express pass hotel is not in the budget this trip -- the hotel prices are so much higher for the holidays than we are used to. And, rides are low on the priority list, except Gringotts, FJ, and Spiderman. My teen who could use a disability pass because waiting in confined spaces is stressful will not be in the parks with us and does not ride these rides.)

 

[sandam1]

We did the parks the weekend before Christmas last year (so busy, but not crazy busy) and found the single rider experience to be uneven. Gringotts and FJ were quite quick. For Gringotts, it wasn't especially fun standing on the stairs waiting, but it was always a time saver. For some reason, Spiderman was so long that they kept closing the single rider line. Because of this, we never actually got to ride it since the stand-by line was crazy long (45-60 mins) too. I know that you didn't ask about them, but Transformers could go either way (sometimes long, sometimes short) and Man In Black was almost always close to a walk-on.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

We did the parks the weekend before Christmas last year (so busy, but not crazy busy) and found the single rider experience to be uneven. Gringotts and FJ were quite quick. For Gringotts, it wasn't especially fun standing on the stairs waiting, but it was always a time saver. For some reason, Spiderman was so long that they kept closing the single rider line. Because of this, we never actually got to ride it since the stand-by line was crazy long (45-60 mins) too. I know that you didn't ask about them, but Transformers could go either way (sometimes long, sometimes short) and Man In Black was almost always close to a walk-on.

Thanks. We'll make Spiderman a priority so we're sure we get a chance to ride it. My girls are not impressed with Transformers, but we might ride Men in Black if it's close to a walk-on.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

DD did the single rider line as young as 8 and regularly starting at age 10 for the rides that didn't have EP back then. Since you are going with more than one person, just make sure your pre-teen is in the middle of your group. When DD was 10, the two of us rode Forbidden Journey ~100 times in a week using the single rider line. It was so fun! Since it was just the two of us, she went first and stepped to the side at the exit after the ride. There was a problem once (there were so many stops that they pulled my vehicle out of line and put us back through), but we prepared ahead of time and DD knew to wait for me no matter what happened.

I am actually pretty glad you reminded me of the single rider lines - I was apprehensive about not having the EP included on our next trip (because it would literally be cheaper for us to pay for EP every day than to stay at one of the EP hotels!).

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I believe they now ask the adult single rider to go first, so they can be waiting for the child at the exit.

President's day weekend, the Spiderman single rider line was only open intermittently, but was quick when open. MiB was always effectively walkon (less than 2min). FJ and Gringotts were typically 5min or less, though we did hit a long one at Gringotts once - about 20min, lined up just past the second corner from the staircase. Mummy single rider was also consistently quick.

Note that for Gringotts, the single rider bypasses the elevator / storyline and takes you straight to the loading platform.

 

[only hope]

If Gringotts is to the bottom of the stairs, expect a 20 mn wait. If FJ is about halfway back to the common room, it’s about 15 minutes. Those wait times are from my personal experience of going through the single rider line many times. It could be shorter or longer of course, but that seems to be the usual wait from those points.

I’ve never seen a long MiB line, probably because its rows of three. The farthest back I’ve stopped is near the top of the stairs, and that was about 10 minutes. Spiderman seems to consistently have the longest and slowest moving single rider line. I would plan on rope dropping that one if it’s a priority.

 

[bumbershoot]

My youngest looks younger than she is, but she only has to be 48 inches and comfortable on her own, right?

At least 48” but also meeting the actual ride’s height req, of course. Not sure if they look at comfort levels. My kid was 6.5 (8 years ago this time of year for our first Orlando trip, sigh) when we first discovered riding alone (single rider line or not), and given that he was always rushing up excitedly I don’t think he gave them any worries about comfort lol.

Also, should we plan on a long single-rider wait for Spiderman?

I personally have never had a long SR line there, but anything can happen.