Is Lightning Lane RUINING your Disney World vacation?
Dumbo Lightning Lane
Disney World’s skip-the-line system is certainly not the easiest version of the theme park offering, with a plethora of rules, special booking times, price variations, and specific return windows. But some parts of the system are more complicated than others. We’re breaking down the Lightning Lane rules that might be hurting your Disney World experience.
How Lightning Lanes Work
Lightning Lane is the term for the special queue at select attractions where you can typically enjoy a faster wait time. In order to use the Lightning Lanes around Disney World, you’ll need to purchase one of three options: Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Lightning Lane Single Pass, or Lightning Lane Premier Pass.
Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
We’ve got a full guide on how Lightning Lanes work, but here’s the CliffsNotes. For Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you’ll pay up to $39 per person, per day to book return times for most rides/attractions in Disney World. You can make three selections before your visit, and then continue to book more Lightning Lane return times as you use them day-of.
©Disney
For Lightning Lane Single Pass, you’ll pay a one-time fee per person to have Lightning Lane access to a single attraction. The list of Single Pass attractions are Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, TRON Lightcycle / Run, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Rise of the Resistance, and Flight of Passage. These are NOT included in Multi Pass, so you’ll need to pay for their Lightning Lane access individually to get a return time…unless you want to get the third option.
TRON entrance
The third Lightning Lane option is Premier Pass. This is the most expensive option, costing hundreds of dollars per person, with pricing varying depending on the park and the date. However, this is the simplest option to use — you just buy the pass for your chosen park and then use it to scan into any Lightning Lane at that park, any time of day. No reserving return times required.
©Disney
These Lightning Lane offerings can save you a LOT of time in the parks, but they also come with some headache-inducing rules. Let’s break them down.
Click Here to Get All the Details on Lightning Lane Premier Pass!
Booking 7 Days in Advance for Hotel Guests
Those staying at a Disney World Resort can purchase and book their Lightning Lane options 7 days before their stay. Booking becomes available at 7AM ET, which can be a pain if you live in a different time zone. And if you’re considering waiting until later in the day to book, you might want to think again, because some of those popular Lightning Lanes fill up FAST.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass pamphlet
Hotel guests can book for the entire length of their stay starting at 7 days, so that means that people getting to Disney World a few days ahead of you may have already claimed some of the Lightning Lane slots for Multi Pass or Single Pass that you desire (hotel stays can be up to 14 days). This means that you may need to use the same strategy you use for dining reservations — save the Lightning Lanes that are must-haves for the end of your trip.
Lightning Lane
If you were hoping to book Tiana’s Bayou Adventure and go to Magic Kingdom for your first park day, but you find that the Lightning Lane is unavailable already, then you might end up needing to rearrange your park days at the last minute. Thankfully, we’ve often been able to find availability for popular rides on the morning of our park visit, but for those who like to have plans set in advance, that last-minute searching is stressful.
©Disney
Disney World used to offer the ability to book FastPasses 60 days in advance for hotel guests, so some people think that the 7-day rule is too late. Others dislike it because they don’t want to have to plan their day a week in advance — they’d rather decide what they’re doing the morning of.
I’ve Tried Every Lightning Lane Hack in Disney World and These Are 2 That Work Every Time — Click Here!
Booking 3 Days in Advance for Non-Hotel Guests
If you’re not staying at a Disney World hotel, you’ll have to wait until 3 days before your visit to purchase and book your Lightning Lanes…and then you’ll have to do that daily for each day of your trip. So even if you’re already on vacation, you’ll be getting up at 7AM each time to make those selections.
Lightning Lane
With the 3-day booking window, you’re at a bit of a disadvantage. You’ll probably have slim pickings when it comes to the more popular Lightning Lane availability for Single Pass and Multi Pass, and some offerings may even be sold out if you’re visiting during a particularly busy time.
These Are the Secrets to the Best Lightning Lane Game Plan!
Some Rides Cost Extra
We understand that Disney World offers Lightning Lane Multi Pass for people who don’t mind doing the work of booking rides, and then offers Lightning Lane Premier Pass for those who prefer the easy all-access pass. However, the offering that can sometimes be frustrating to people is the Lightning Lane Single Pass.
Cosmic Rewind
With Single Pass, you’re paying close to half the price you pay for Multi Pass (sometimes more), just to access the Lightning Lane for ONE ride. The Single Pass rides aren’t included in your Multi Pass purchase, and there’s not even a guarantee that you’ll get to use your Single Pass because sometimes those rides experience technical difficulties.
5 Ways to Avoid Paying for Lightning Lanes in Disney World — Click Here!
Booking With Tiers
And finally, we’ve got to talk about those pesky tiers for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. When you’re booking your Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections before your park viist, you’ll be able to choose 3 attractions for each park. But in Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios, there’s a stipulation for which attractions can be chosen.
Remy’s
In those parks, the Lightning Lane Multi Pass options are divided into two tiers: Tier 1 and Tier 2. When you book ahead, you’ll only be able to select ONE attraction from Tier 1, while choosing your other two attractions from Tier 2. (If you so desire, you could also make all three selections from Tier 2.) Once you get into the park and use your first Lightning Lane Multi Pass for the day, the tiers will disappear and you’ll be able to book whichever selections are available.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
This makes it a bit more challenging to ride EVERY popular ride in the parks, so you might have to craft a detailed game plan in order to tackle all the attractions on your list.
Everything Included in Your Disney World Lightning Lane Multi Pass Purchase — Click Here!
Disney World has changed its skip-the-line system many times now, and people have mixed feelings about each iteration. There will always be pros and cons. You just need to know the facts ahead of time so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not to use the current system. So if you want to know more, make sure to check out our Lightning Lane tips and hacks video below.
Stay tuned to DFB for ALL the updates and tips on Lightning Lanes in Disney World.
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We usually use whatever the form of skip-the-line service is available (although I doubt we’ll use Premier – but depending on when exactly our next trip is, and how long it is, we might consider it for one MK day). I agree that only being able to book LLs 7 days in advance is a problem – mainly because this means that you have to book your ADRs and your lightning lanes so far apart. If you can only get a must-have LL at the same time as a must-have ADR, chances are you are not going to be able to move or replace that exact ADR only 7 days out. If people don’t want to plan in advance for their park visit, that’s their prerogative, but the options for people who do want to plan, who have to plan, should not be designed on the premise that some people don’t want to. For us, a trip to the parks takes too much time, money, and effort just to get there to wing it and hope we can get enough of what we’ve came for. There’s ways to do Disney without planning, but that itself takes knowing when to go, what to expect, and being able to keep the investment commensurate with the experience.
After being an extensive Disney fan for so many years and a previously employed cast member for over 17 years, I find the Lightning concept totally lacking in any form of quality planning and guest benefit. I do not feel that in the long range the cost and complexity of this terrible concept will only drive future guest to other forms of services.