The most-obvious and least-exploited trick to bypassing many of the terrible Disneyland waits are single rider lines. While not all rides are organized to support this feature, the ones that do are happy to fill the seats and move more people through. The idea is simple: most people want to ride with their family and friends, but some parties have odd numbers that leave a few seats empty. So why not let loners (or those willing to ride without their party) a pass through the line to help fill those seats?

As a single rider, you literally walk to the front of the line. You cannot beat that. But it gets better: more often than not, single riders get to ride together if the Disney staff calls for parties of two or three to fill seats and cannot find groups of that size nearby in the line. Depending on the attraction, odds are great that you will ride with the rest of your group. When three of us went to Disneyland today, we saved at least five hours total standby line time by “single riding” and never once road apart.

Of course, there is no guarantee that you will get to ride together. That’s the risk you’re taking by cutting to the front of the line. Behave, do what you’re told by the staff, be willing to ride alone if you have to, and do not abuse the system more than you already are.

For a detailed guide of each ride where we took advantage of the single rider, click here.