The New Lightning Lane Service at Disney World – What You Need to Know

Since 2021, Walt Disney World has been offering a “pay to skip the line” service that has been mostly unpopular with guests because it’s confusing and challenging to use. In response to complaints, Disney has overhauled the service, giving it a new name and features that make it easier for guests to use and plan ahead. Read below for what you need to know about using the Lightning Lane service at Walt Disney World.

1 – Three Pass Choices, Use One or the Other, or All Three

Many attractions at Walt Disney World offer a “Lightning Lane,” which allows guests to skip the normal standby queue and use a different queue that should offer a shorter wait time. To use the Lightning Lane, guests need to purchase access. Guests can choose to purchase the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, which gives them access to book arrival windows for multiple experiences throughout the day (see ## for details). A second option is purchasing the Lightning Lane Single Pass, which provides access to a most in-demand single attraction. Guests can purchase the Multi Pass , just the Single Pass, or both during their vacations. Finally, a third option allows for the most flexibility in that guests can enjoy every single Multi Pass and Single Pass attraction at a park, and they do not need to book experiences. But this third option comes with a hefty price tag.

2 – Lightning Lane Multi Pass

When purchasing the Multi Pass, guests can choose up to three Multi Pass experiences and arrival windows in a theme park ahead of time. Disney will prompt you to choose up to three experiences in the same theme park. Once you are in the park and you’ve used your first Multi Pass experience, you can then make additional selections (subject to availability), and if you have a park hopper, you can now choose a Multi Pass experience in a different theme park (subject to availability).

The catch is there are different groupings of attractions at three out of four of the parks, and you can only book one attraction from group one (the park’s most popular attractions) and then two from group two when making your three initial bookings (you can make three selections from group two if you don’t care to ride one a group one attraction). Also, note that character interactions are no longer included in Multi Pass as they were with Disney Genie+. See the park listings below for details:

Magic Kingdom Park

Choose up to one experience from this group:

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
• Jungle Cruise
• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Space Mountain
• Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this group:

• The Barnstormer
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Dumbo the Flying Elephant
• Haunted Mansion
• “it’s a small world”
• Mad Tea Party
• The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
• The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
• Mickey’s PhilharMagic
• Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid

EPCOT

Choose up to one experience from this group:

• Frozen Ever After
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
• Soarin’ Around the World

Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this group:

• Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
• Journey into Imagination with Figment
• Living with the Land
• Mission: SPACE
• The Seas with Nemo & Friends
• Spaceship Earth
• Turtle Talk with Crush

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Choose up to one experience from this group:

• Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
• Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
• Slinky Dog Dash

Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this group:

• Alien Swirling Saucers
• Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage
• Disney Junior Play & Dance!
• For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration
• Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
• Muppet*Vision 3D
• Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™
• Toy Story Mania!

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

There are no groups at Animal Kingdom.

• DINOSAUR
• Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain
• Feathered Friends in Flight!
• Festival of the Lion King
• Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!
• It’s Tough to Be a Bug!
• Kali River Rapids
• Kilimanjaro Safaris
• Na’vi River Journey

3 – Lightning Lane Single Pass

The single pass allows you to book in advance a return window for one of the “most in-demand attractions” that are not included with Multi Pass. Guests can purchase up to two single passes per day, subject to availability. See the Single Pass attractions below.

Magic Kingdom Park

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• TRON Lightcycle / Run

EPCOT

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Disney’s Animal Kingdome

• Avatar Flight of Passage

Note that you are limited to only one Lightning Lane entry per attraction, per day. So, if you book a single pass for TRON, and decide you want to purchase another single pass, you would not be able to purchase a second TRON booking for that day.

4 – When to Purchase Passes

The biggest change with the revamped service is when guests can purchase passes. Previously, no pre-planning was available, and guests had to wake up early every morning of their vacation to book passes at 7:00 am. However, now guests can book three days in advance or seven+ days in advance if they are Disney resort guests.

Resort Guests

Resort guests get a jump on non-resort guests with the ability to book starting at 7:00 am EST on their first day of eligibility. Not only that, but resort guests can book for their entire length of stay (up to 14 days). That’s a huge benefit and resort guests will have the best chance at availability for popular attractions.

Non-Resort Guests

Non-resort guests can choose experiences and arrival windows three days in advance at 7:00 am EST on their first day of eligibility, depending on their admission type. See below for details.

• Guests with date-based theme park tickets (which require the Guest to choose a start date at the time of purchase) can purchase three days before the first day of their ticket for the total number of valid admission days on their ticket.
• Guests with other ticket types that are not date-based can purchase three days before their park visit.
• Annual Passholders can purchase three days before their park visit.

5 – How to Purchase & Modify Passes

Like the previous system, you’ll need the latest version of the My Disney Experience app to book Lightning Lane passes. Below, you’ll find the instructions from the Walt Disney World website:

Before You Begin
Before you purchase a Lightning Lane pass, you’ll need to do 3 things:

1. 1. 1. First, download the latest version of the My Disney Experience app.
      2. Connect everyone in your travel group on your Family & Friends list in the My Disney Experience app—so you’ll be able to purchase Lightning Lane passes and make plans for everyone that is eligible.
      3. Gather your group’s wish list for attractions and experiences. You can save your group’s top picks in the My Disney Experience app using the “My Day” feature.

Just remember, everyone in your party must have valid theme park admission. Park reservations may also be required, depending on the type of admission and the date of your visit. Please see theme park reservation requirements.

Price
Pricing for Lightning Lane passes varies by date, theme park, or attraction, and purchase is subject to limited availability. Prices will be displayed in the My Disney Experience app. 

How to Purchase
When you’re ready to purchase Lightning Lane passes, here’s what to do:

1. 1. 1. Open the My Disney Experience app, then tap the Lightning Lane Passes section on the home screen.
      2. Select a date and theme park.
      3. Select a Lightning Lane Single Pass, a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, or both.
         • If you select a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can choose up to 3 Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences and arrival windows in advance.
         • If you select a Lightning Lane Single Pass, you can choose an arrival window in advance.
      4. Follow all prompts to complete your purchase—and receive a confirmation.
      5. From the confirmation screen, you can tap “Plan Another Day” to purchase another pass—or tap “View My Day” for details about your Lightning Lane selections.

Note: Disney states that you will be prompted to select up to three multi pass experiences, and “they must be the same for each member of your travel party, subject to availability.” If you have someone in your party who doesn’t want to or can’t ride a certain attraction, you’ll need to modify their selections after completing your purchase, which will be subject to availability. So, you’ll book the same attraction for your entire party and then go back and make changes for those who can’t or don’t want to ride that particular attraction.  

Modify Your Plans
Changed your plans… or your mind? You can modify your Lightning Lane selections via the My Disney Experience app.

To get started, tap the Lightning Lane Passes section on the app’s home screen to find your plans. Then, you can:

• • • Change your selected park and/or date in advance (subject to availability)—up until the moment you redeem your first Lightning Lane selection of the day.
    • Change each selected experience and/or arrival window in advance (subject to availability)—up until the start of the arrival window.

Unlock More Magic
On the day of your park visit, once you redeem a Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection (or once the arrival window has passed), you can use the My Disney Experience app to check availability for another Lightning Lane Multi Pass experience—and add to your plans.

You can make one at a time until regular park closing (subject to availability). If your park admission includes Park Hopper benefits, you can even choose a Lightning Lane Multi Pass experience in a different theme park.

6 – The Easiest and Most Expensive Option – Premier Pass

Walt Disney World now offers a premium Lightning Lane option for resort guests. The Lightning Lane Premier Pass is offered in very limited quantities to guests staying at Disney Resort hotels, Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels, and Shades of Green Resort. Guests who purchase the new Lightning Lane Premier Pass are given one entry to each available Lightning Lane attraction at any time in the theme park they are visiting that day. This includes attractions included in both Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass, but with Lightning Lane Premier Pass, guests do not need to select an entrance time. Lightning Lane Premier Pass is a “premium offering,” and prices will vary based on the date and theme park guests are visiting. Guests can expect to pay anywhere from $129 to $449 (per pass, plus tax) for the new offering. The pass is available to purchase up to seven days in advance. It is also valid for use in one park of the guest’s choice per day. Click here to learn more about this new offering.

7 – Our Thoughts

We’ve never been fans of Disney Genie+ or the Individual Lightning Lane service that debuted in October 2021. We’d love to see the free FastPass system return, but we are realists and know that a pay-to-skip-the-line service is here to stay. We’re happy that Disney has listened to feedback and worked out a way for guests to plan ahead and not have to wake up early every single morning of their vacation. And we’re glad that heading into your vacation, if you purchase Multi Pass, you know you’ll at least get those three initial bookings and likely more after that. The new system won’t be perfect, and there are challenges with the groupings, and non-resort guests are at a disadvantage with bookings. However, Disney has addressed the biggest problems with the old system. Time will tell if this next iteration of Lightning Lane will be better for guests. We think so.