It has been 17 years since my last trip to Disney World.

How much could it have changed?

The parks are still fantastic. But the days of aimlessly hopping from ride to ride are over. A successful trip—defined here as minimizing time spent standing in lines—now requires more walking, embracing Disney technology, and carrying a cell phone with impressive battery life.

The internet is full of strategies for avoiding the lines at Disney. But if you are an infrequent visitor, traveling with small children, or just don’t care dive into the world of Disney blogsbuying access to shorter lines is the best option.

Download it My Disney Experience app and place it front and center on your phone’s home screen. It’s the key to Disney World’s first principle of live avoidance: the purchase of Genie+, a service that allows visitors to reserve “Lightning Lanes,” which provide one-time access to shorter lines at most attractions.

The service starts at $15 per day per person, according to Disney’s website. But it averaged around $24 a day during my trip over Memorial Day weekend in May.

It is too expensive? It depends on your budget. But I estimate the service has saved us at least four hours in line a day, which is a steal in my opinion.

Other costs: About $145 per day for a family of six.

Disney estimates that visitors can use Lightning Lanes to enter two to three attractions per daybut for many days we booked five times that amount.

That means the main character has the privilege of explaining to the family why they’re going around the favorites — “Aladdin” and “Peter Pan” for the kids, “Hall of Presidents” for the husband — to take advantage of the rare breakup. in the crowds on the other side of the park.

This strategy saves time in line, but results in more walking – some days we averaged 25,000 steps. But I will go to the place any day.

Tip: Once you sign up for Lightning Lane, book another one. You don’t have to wait for the ride to finish.

Currently, only two attractions use them in all four theme parks: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind and Tron Lightcycle/Run.

There is no standby or standard line for these rides. So many visitors compete for places in the virtual queue, which are free. Bookings open twice a day – and are often gone in seconds.

We tried and failed to get Tron slots at 7am on the first day of our trip using one phone. At 1pm we tried again using three phones — one was successful. The reservation we had been eyeing all afternoon was finally called around 7pm. By this time the kids were tired and the queue was the longest of the day.

Spoiled by Lightning Lanes, we left the virtual queues for the rest of the trip and decided to buy Single lightning bars for these two rides plus four others where service is available. These are one-time purchases for access to shorter lines.

It’s not the cheapest way by any means, but this strategy allowed us to choose our set drive times, freed up time spent checking my phone, and is easier to book than virtual queues (especially for guests staying at a Disney-affiliated hotel).

Additional costs: Varies, but about $12 to $20 per attraction.

If you are not comfortable paying for these services, compare them to the cost of booking a private VIP tour. Tours range from $450 to $900 per hour depending on the season and are a minimum of seven hours. Note: this price does not include park tickets.

“For those who have the budget to do it, it’s the biggest thing,” said Jonathan Alder, the travel agency’s chief executive. Jonathan’s travels. The tours take visitors between the parks and provide access to private entrances and shorter lines, he said.

“I’d say two parks in a massive day with an average of 13 miles of walking is what you end up getting without a guide,” he said. But with one: “I did all the major rides in all four parks and only had about 10 miles of walking.”

Additional costs: From $3,150, but rates can easily double.

Staying at a Disney Resort — there are more than 25 of them in total — gives visitors a 30-minute head start in the morning (a sometimes even extended evening hours). That may not seem like a lot, but it allowed us to quickly tackle at least one major attraction per day without having to contend with large crowds.