Tips for Making the Most of Disney’s upcoming Lightning Lane Pass

Welcome to the magical world of Disney! If you’re new here, you’re in for a treat. Let me take you back to the days of the beloved FastPass, a free service that let you pre-select arrival times for up to three rides per day, 60 days before your vacation. This nifty system helped us plan our park days and ensured we hit all the must-see attractions without the stress of long lines. But then, COVID happened, Disney shut down, and when it reopened, we were introduced to Disney Genie+.

Genie+ is a paid service that lets you book one ride at a time starting at 7 AM each day. After using your first ride or waiting two hours after the park opens, you could book another. This cycle continues throughout your visit. While I have my thoughts on Genie+, that’s not why we’re here.

Starting July 24th, Disney will replace Genie+ with the Lightning Lane Single Pass and Multi Pass! These new options bring back some of the FastPass magic, although they’re not free. Let’s dive into what these new passes are all about and how they can enhance your next Disney adventure!

What is the Lightning Lane Pass?

Lightning Lane Passes let you skip the standby line and join a shorter line for select attractions and experiences.

Types of Lightning Lane Passes

Lightning Lane Single Pass: This allows you to skip the line for Disney’s most popular attractions. You can purchase up to two single passes per day for these rides:

• Magic Kingdom: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, TRON Lightcycle / Run
• EPCOT: Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
• Hollywood Studios: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
• Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage

Lightning Lane Multi Pass: This pass lets you skip the line for multiple rides per day. Here’s a quick rundown of the rides available by park:

• Magic Kingdom
  • Group A (choose up to one): Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
  • Group B (choose up to three): 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
  • Group A (choose up to one): Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Soarin’ Around the World
  • Group B (choose up to three): 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
• Hollywood Studios
  • Group A (choose up to one): Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, Slinky Dog Dash
  • Group B (choose up to three): 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!
• Animal Kingdom (choose up to three): 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, Naʻvi River Journey

Purchasing and Pre-selecting Lightning Lane Passes

• Guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort can purchase and pre-select rides 7 days before check-in.
• Non-resort guests can do so 3 days before each park day.
• International guests must wait until they arrive in the U.S.

Cost of Lightning Lane Passes

Prices for both Single and Multi Passes vary based on date, park and attraction.

Booking Additional Rides

• Single Pass: Once you’ve used your 2 passes, you’re done for the day.
• Multi Pass: You can book another ride as soon as you scan into your first pre-selected ride.

Tiers and Park Hopping

Tier restrictions apply only to pre-selections. Once you’ve used your first ride, you can make selections in any of the four parks.

Get ready to make your Disney trip even more magical with these new Lightning Lane options. Happy planning and see you at the parks!

My Two Cents on Lightening Lane

• Make sure to have a plan for what parks you’re doing on what days
  • When you go to purchase your Lightening Lane Pass and make your pre-selects, you’ll be purchasing/selecting for a specific park.
• Do your research
  • A couple days before purchasing you Lightning Lane Pass, keep on eye on the wait times in the parks. This will help you have an idea of what rides you may need the pass for and what rides you’ll probably be able to walk on to.
• Don’t feel pressured to buy
  • There are a lot of things to take in to account when choosing whether or not to purchase the Lightning Lane Pass. You could be going off season or the rides you want to ride may have low wait times. As an already mentioned, do you research and don’t feel pressured to buy the pass for every park day. I can already tell you that, four our two week trip in September, we will only be buying it for specific days because we just know we won’t need it for some of them.
• Be ready at 7am (EST)
  • Ensure you 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.
  • Open up the app and start refreshing around 6:55am. Once the app lets you, get the pass purchased and start booking those pre-selects!

Have questions?

Have questions about the new Lightening Lane Passes? Let me know in the comments below!