my trip with zero lightning lanes!

I am currently on the plane back from my WDW trip and wanted to post a trip report here! For context: I am a former cast member and have been to WDW countless times, so I do consider myself an expert, lol! This was a budget trip so I decided to do zero lightning lanes in the interest of saving money. I wanted to make this post to show people that you can have a very successful trip even without lightning lanes!

Some other steps I took to make this a low-cost trip were booking my resort & flight far in advance, staying at a value resort (All-Star Sports), only eating quick service/snacks, and limiting the amount of merch that I allowed myself to buy. I accomplished everything I wanted to on the trip and had a great time! Hopefully this gives people some hope who might be stressed about money and lightning lanes. Happy to answer any questions!

This list does not include time that I spent walking around the parks to enjoy the magical atmosphere, as well as going into lots of shops :)

FEBRUARY 21

• Arrive at All-Star Sports via Mears transportation & check in

• Take bus to Animal Kingdom

• Zootopia show

• Finding Nemo: The Musical

• Expedition Everest

• Flight of Passage

• Park hop to Magic Kingdom

• Tiana's Bayou Adventure

• Space Mountain

• Space Mountain again

• Watched the fireworks from Tomorrowland

• The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

• Disney's Starlight Parade

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

FEBRUARY 22

• Slinky Dog Dash

• Slinky Dog Dash again

• Toy Story Mania

• Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway

• The Little Mermaid show

• Took a midday nap back at my resort

• Rise of the Resistance

• Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage

• Rise of the Resistance again

• Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After

• Tower of Terror

• Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway again

• Went back to resort for the night at around 8 pm (I was going to stay for Fantasmic, but I was getting really cold even with a sweatshirt)

FEBRUARY 23

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

• Space Mountain

• Haunted Mansion

• Space Mountain again

• PeopleMover

• Pirates of the Caribbean

• Tiana's Bayou Adventure

• Midday nap at the resort

• Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid

• Mickey's PhilharMagic

• PeopleMover again

• Pirates of the Caribbean again

• Space Mountain again

• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

• Went back to resort for the night around 8:30

FEBRUARY 24

• Cosmic Rewind

• Cosmic Rewind again

• Soarin'

• Soarin' again

• The Seas with Nemo and Friends

• Frozen Ever After

• The Three Caballeros

• Took a walk around World Showcase

• Test Track

• Remy's Ratatouille Adventure

• Went back to the resort for the night around 6:30 and packed up

FEBRUARY 25

• Departure day :( see ya real soon!