How to book Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass
Welcome to your Ultimate Lightning Lane Guide. If you do not know what that is, you may want to start by reading, What is Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass? You can shake off the nerves; if you are here, you are fine! You are going to have a foolproof strategy for your park days, and you are going to have a wonderful vacation. We will break down what you need to know about booking, and I will talk about the differences between off-site and on-site people. Because now it matters, big time! Walt Disney World has been trying to figure out ways to make on-site guests feel that they are getting their money's worth but investing in staying on property (honestly, the value resorts are sometimes the cheapest hotels around, but I get it; they may lack in some fancier amenities). They have finally done that with Lightning Lane. So let’s get this party started and we are going to start from the beginning and let’s review how to book Lightning Lane.
My Disney Experience
Before we dive in, let’s talk about something super important: making sure everyone in your group has a My Disney Experience account and that all the accounts are properly linked. This step is crucial to avoid any last-minute hiccups. You’ll also want to double-check that your park tickets, hotel reservation, are linked for each person in your party. Trust me, if any of these details slip through the cracks, your morning plans could be thrown off!
I highly recommend double-checking everything about a week before your booking window opens. I’ve seen it all—duplicate accounts, missing links to reservations, you name it—so it’s best to be proactive. Make sure everything is set for a smooth and seamless booking experience. And don't forget to check out my full blog post on My Disney Experience for a complete guide on how to prepare for your trip like a pro!
Disney Genie: Tip Board
Setting up the Tip Board on Disney Genie is a game changer when it comes to maximizing your time in the parks. The Tip Board allows you to prioritize the attractions, shows, and dining experiences you care about most and gives you real-time updates on wait times, available Lightning Lane reservations, and dining options.
By setting it up in advance, you can personalize your day based on your preferences, whether you're a thrill-seeker looking to hit all the big rides or you prefer more laid-back experiences. Plus, it helps you stay on top of changes throughout the day, such as if a ride has a shorter wait time than expected or if a Lightning Lane slot opens up for one of your top choices. It’s also a great tool for managing dining reservations and mobile ordering, so you're never caught scrambling for a meal during peak hours.
Specifically for Lightning Lane setup, you want to select ONLY the rides. I recommend only choosing four. Wait until after everything is booked to change the preference on characters and shows. That way, your Tip Board is not clogged up with suggestions. Setting up your Tip Board this way will ensure that your ride priorities are always at the top of the screen.
Ultimately, setting up your Tip Board ensures you have a well-organized, flexible plan that helps you make the most out of your Disney day!
When Can Make Your Lightning Lane Reservations
Walt Disney World Resort guests staying at Disney Resort Collection Hotels can book Lightning Lanes seven (7) days in advance of their Disney vacation for a maximum of 14 days. Most of the time 14 days covers your entire stay.
This also includes Shades of Green, Swan, Dolphin, and Swan Reserve.
All other guests, including Annual Passholders without a hotel reservation, can book three (3) days before their trip one day at a time.
I know the one day at a time stinks - because that means if you plan a trip that is Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday - on Tuesday you will be up early booking reservations for Friday feeling more like the old Genie+.
Walt Disney World Resort has been striving to provide more advantages to its on-site guests, and this is definitely a significant benefit.
Understanding the Tier System
For most parks, Disney uses a tiered system when selecting attractions. This means you can select one ride from Tier 1 and up to two rides from Tier 2. Some parks, like Animal Kingdom, don’t have tiered attractions, giving you more flexibility. For parks that do, here’s how the tier system works:
Tier 1: The most popular rides and headliners, like Peter Pan’s Flight or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
Tier 2: Attractions that are still popular but may have shorter wait times compared to Tier 1, such as Pirates of the Caribbean or Spaceship Earth.
You’re limited to one Tier 1 attraction selection at a time, but you can stack up to two Tier 2 attractions or even three Tier 2 attractions for greater flexibility.
At this time Characters are not part of the booking system. That will be missed since they were a part of the Genie+ system.
Booking Multi-Pass vs. Single-Pass Lightning Lanes
Cost
Multi Pass cost $15 to $35 (plus tax) per person.
Single Pass cost $11 to $25 (plus tax) per person.
Looking at the Data for Thrilldata.com the prices for eaach park seem to have an average. Remember during PEAK times the prices will exceed thses amounts.
Animal Kingdom: $16-$18 per person
Epcot: $18-$21 per person
Hollywood Studios: $22-$26 per person
Magic Kingdom: $25-$29 per person
Multi Pass Lightning Lanes
It's best to first book everyone in your group for a multi-pass—The reason is during pre-selection you have to book every person for the same ride. So pick attractions that most of the group wants to ride. You can always modify later, but if Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a priority for most of the group, its importnt to go for that first and then modify late.
Once you’ve completed the multi-pass booking and checked out, then that is when you book Single Pass.
Single Pass Lightning Lanes (a la carte)
"Single Pass" refers to the popular rides that usually have very long wait times. Even five years later, you can still expect to wait 45 minutes to 2 hours for Flight of Passage. This is why these specific rides are chosen for Lightning Lanes. You have the option to wait in line for hours, join the Virtual Queue, or pay per person to ride. I suggest doing the latter so you can select who you want to ride each ride with.
Magic Kingdom Park - Seven Dwarfs Mine Train & TRON Lightcycle/Run
EPCOT- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park - Avatar Flight of Passage
Disney Hollywood Studios - Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Multi-Park Selections: How to Handle Park Hopper Tickets
If you have a Park Hopper Ticket, you may wonder how this affects your Lightning Lane reservations. During the pre-booking process, you can only select Lightning Lane passes for one park. Once you’ve entered your first park and tapped in, you can begin booking Lightning Lanes for a second park.
It's important to remember that you can only pre-book Lightning Lanes for one park at a time, but you can book for any other park once you tap in. You do not have to pay again; the cost is just for the park you are pre-booking.
Overlapping Ride Times
One of the best features of the Lightning Lane system is the ability to overlap ride times, allowing your group to maximize their time in the park. The amount of overlap allowed during pre-booking, however, can vary. Some guests have reported being able to overlap rides by 20 minutes, while others have noted they were only able to overlap by 10-15 minutes. Keep in mind that once you’re inside the park, these restrictions loosen up, and you can fully overlap your ride times. My personal expereince allowed me to overlap by 20 minutes during my pre-booking.
How to Book Lightning Lane in the My Disney Expereince App
The Checklist
My Disney Expereince downloaded and profiles created for everyone in your party.
Everyone in your party is linked to your account.
You filled out your Lightning Lane Planning Sheet for each park.
Updated Tip Board with Priority Rides
You logged onto Mydisneyexperinence.com on the desktop or when to your profile in you app to make sure your payment methods are up to date.
How To Purchase
Open the App: Go to My Disney Experience app, then tap the Lightning Lane Passes section on the home screen.
Select Date & Park: Select your date and the theme park of choice.
Choose Your Pass: If only some people in your party will use the Single Pass, wait to book it and go to the Lightning Lane Multi Pass first. If it's a ride that everyone will go on, then go ahead and select both.
Select Your Rides: Choose the 3 Lightning Lane experiences you want based on the available times. The times you select will depend on your strategy, as this app revolves around existing dinner reservations, which can be a bit frustrating. However, you can go back and modify your choices after completing the initial booking. I did this in August when we had an 8 am dining reservation for 1900 Park Fare on that day.
Complete Your Purchase: Follow all the prompts and check out to complete your purchase. You should receive a confirmation via email and you should hvae a confirmation screen after chekout.
After Purchase: From the confirmation screen, you can tap “Plan Another Day” to purchase another pass for a different day or buy the single pass — or tap “View My Day” for details about your Lightning Lane selections.
We will discuss making modifications later in the strategy blog. But after booking, you can adjust the times. I suggest you modify it until you get close to what you want for that day. Remember the overlapping rules, but refresh until you get the time you want. You can do this by tapping Lighting Lanes Passes, clicking on the ride you want to modify, hitting modify, and looking at the times selected.
Don't obsess over the wait times to the point where you are checking hourly. Remember, you can modify all your ride reservations after you tap into the first ride in the park. Disney also holds availability for day-of guests.
Changing the Park Completely:
If you decide to change the park day completely, remember you will pay the difference in cost.
Pre-Selection Booking Order
When planning your pre-selection booking order for a Disney trip, it might feel natural to book each day in the order of your vacation. But I've found that taking a different approach can be more effective. My pre-booking sheet is designed to give you a big-picture overview of each day to lessen confusion and make the whole process smoother.
For example, if you're visiting Walt Disney World and there's a high-demand attraction you can't miss, like Tiana's Bayou Adventure, it's a good idea to prioritize booking that park first, even if it's not on the first day of your trip. This will increase your chances of getting the ideal time for that must-do experience.
Breaking down each park on its own sheet can help you stay focused and avoid the distractions of other parks while planning. For example, I used to recommend scheduling Animal Kingdom on the last day of your trip. It's a more relaxed park with a shorter day, giving you extra time to pack and wrap things up before heading home. But now I suggest putting your hard parks to the end of your trip, such as Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom Park.
Small Drops Ride “refills”
Here’s a cleaned-up version of your message:
It turns out that if rides are running smoothly, Disney will drop little refills throughout the day. You might be wondering what a refill is. A refill happens when Disney identifies additional ride capacity and releases more Lightning Lanes for booking. This gives you the chance to snag a ride that was previously sold out. For example, if Tiana's suddenly becomes available again, that's a refill.
Thril Data tracks these trends, though their graph can be difficult to read. Below, I'll list some patterns we've been noticing. Keep in mind that these refills aren't guaranteed, but they're something to factor into your strategy, especially if you're relying heavily on Standby Skipper.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
Flight of Passage
Expedition Everest
Kali River Rapid
EPCOT
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Tower of Terror
Toy Story Mania
Slinky Dog Dash
Millennium Falcon
Rise of the Resistance
Magic Kingdom Park
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Who has the greater advantage when it comes to booking Lightning Lane?
Let’s explore who has the greatest advantage when it comes to booking rides at Walt Disney World. We’ll assume that Disney reserves a certain number of rides for same-day Lightning Lane bookings. It seems that availability tends to open up on the day of the visit because many people may not realize there's a skip-the-line service until they arrive.
For now, let's focus on the pre-booking selection process, specifically at Magic Kingdom Park, which currently has the most Tier 1 attractions and the one attraction with the highest demand when I am writing this which is Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, which seems to be selling out before the park day.
Green Family
The Green Family is going to the Walt Disney World resort for a 6-day, 7-night vacation. They plan to visit all four parks and rest in the middle. They decide to visit Magic Kingdom on the fifth day to make the most of their adventure. When they go to book within their seven-day window, they find that Magic Kingdom has numerous available times for all the rides, so they can easily book everything they want. They can book early times on all their rides, overlapping each by 20 minutes 12 days before they arrive at the park.
Pink Family
The Pink family is heading to Walt Disney World for a short trip. They have decided to visit Magic Kingdom and EPCOT during their three-day stay. They schedule Magic Kingdom Park on the second day of their stay at the Walt Disney World resort (not following Well Hello Magic Advice). At their seven-day window, all rides are still available, but most of the Tier 1 rides have moved to later in the afternoon.
Turquoise Family
The Turquoise family is staying offsite, so they are able to book three days before their park day. When they go to book, they notice that Tiana's Bayou Adventure is sold out and, the remaining Tier 1 options have evening times. Many popular Tier 2 options are in the afternoon and early evening. If you look at the booking calendar, they are the last of the three categories that can book for that day, and anyone who has pre-purchased Lightning Lane has booked, is booking, and is modifying their day. They decide to choose a different option for a tier one ride and decide to book "it's a Small World" since it has the earliest time at 9:45. Their thought process is that if they can at least scan in at 9:45, that means they can start booking the next attraction, even though "it's a Small World" is a ride that they would never use the service for previously.
They still have options to et on Tiana's through a Virtual Queue the day of, and there are small drops during the day if the ride is operating smoothly - Standby Skipper will be their best friend that day!
My Top Ten Lightning Lane Tips
Start with the hardest park day. That is Magic Kingdom Park or Disney’s Hollywood Studios. That way you can prioritize the hard to get rides first. Use the Lightning Lane Planning Sheet to help you stay organized.
Remember Lightning Lanes can overlap by 20 minutes, but I have heard people having trouble. If it overlaps 10 - 15 minutes do not get frustrated and move on to the next booking. You can mess with it when you are trying to modify.
Remember you can hold 3 lightning lanes at a time. When you tap into your first one you can book the next one.
If a ride goes down you will be given a Multi Pass Experience Lightning Lane. This pass will automatically show up in your MDE app and you are able to book another experience immediately giving you. chance to hold more than 3 lightning lanes at a time.
Split stays still only have one booking day. If you are stying on Walt Disney World Resort property you can book for your entire trip as long as the stays are conservative.
If you plan to park hop, remember in pre-booking you can only book for one park. Check the park times and book in the order that makes sense. My Suggests Park Hopper set up is AK -> MK and HS -> EPCOT.
You may need a burner rider, if you have two must do rides and they are later in the day book a ride that has an early time so you can tap in early and begin booking.
Tier 1 modification: Once you get into the park and tap into your first ride the tier go away. So use your burner ride and modify the rest if that is your strategy.
Grace Periods: Remember to use grace periods when making reservations. For example, when we had a reservation for 1900 Park Fare, I booked our first Lightning Lane for 9 am. I knew that with a 9 am reservation, we could enter the attraction between 9 am and 10:15 am due to the grace period, allowing us to book our next Lightning Lane reservation. The same strategy worked when we had a reservation for Big Thunder Mountain. We arrived 10 minutes early and were able to enter a little bit earlier than our scheduled time.
Standby Skipper…Game Changer.
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Thank you for visiting the Well Hello Magic Blog. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments, and I will be sure to answer them.
Planning a Disney vacation can be overwhelming, but you don't need to worry because we have got your back! Here are a few blogs to help you get organized!
How to Use My Disney Experience
Disney Infants: Everything You Need to Know!
Tips for Traveling with Family, Friends & Large Groups
What is Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass?
Strolling through Disney: Disney Stroller Tips
What to do if you Get Sick at Disney
Baby Care Centers at Walt Disney World
The Differences between Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort
Who is the Mom behind Well Hello Magic? Click Here!
I am so happy to be on this journey with you.
