Expedition Everest Just Lost Its Single Rider Line. Here Are the Five Rides That Still Have One.

As of today, Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom no longer has a single rider line. Disney confirmed the change late last week, and the signage outside Serka Zong Bazaar is coming down for good.

Disney's stated reason is worth repeating, because it is not the usual corporate non-answer. They tested a new loading process on Everest earlier this year. Standby waits came down. And once the regular line got that much faster, the single rider line stopped saving people the kind of time a single rider line is supposed to save. Disney also said the offering stays in place at other attractions and there are no plans right now to pull it from anything else.

If you have never used one: a single rider line means you give up sitting with your party, a Cast Member drops you into whatever seat is empty, and you usually get on well ahead of the standby crowd. It is a good trick for teenagers, for one parent grabbing a turn while the other holds the stroller, and for anyone who does not care who they sit next to.

So here is where it still exists at Walt Disney World, as of today:

Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run, at Hollywood Studios

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, at Hollywood Studios

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets, at Hollywood Studios

Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, at EPCOT

Test Track, at EPCOT

Look at what that list leaves out. There is now nothing at Magic Kingdom and nothing at Animal Kingdom. Every single rider line left at Walt Disney World is in one of two parks.

Here is what it means for an actual day, which is the part I care about.

Animal Kingdom is the half-day park in most of the plans I build for families up here. You do the safari early, you work your way around, and you are out by mid-afternoon. Everest was the one ride in Asia where a family with two older kids could spend fifteen minutes instead of fifty. Without it, your Asia block runs longer. If your morning was already built tight around a safari return window and a 12:30 lunch reservation, loosen it on paper now rather than discovering it while you are standing there.

I am not going to tell you to change a trip over this. It is a small change, and if Disney is right that standby is genuinely faster, plenty of families come out even. But it is the kind of thing that catches people off guard at the entrance, and I would rather you hear it from me in September than find out in February.

One other item from this week, since I book the California side too. Universal Studios Hollywood opened Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift on September 16. It is that park's first outdoor high speed coaster, running up to 72 miles per hour on roughly 4,100 feet of track. Universal Hollywood has spent years as the one-day add-on to a Disneyland trip. A headline coaster changes that math a little, and if a California week has been sitting on your list, it is worth a fresh look.

If you are working on 2027 dates, or you want a second set of eyes on a plan you already have, send me a note. I do this for families across Kingston, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and the Back Mountain, and it does not cost you anything, because Disney and Universal pay my commission instead of charging you a planning fee. You can see everything I book, from the parks to Disney Cruise Line and all-inclusive resorts, on my destinations page. If you are still picking a month, start with when to actually go.