I'm a Disney Expert — Here's the Truth About Lightning Lanes
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Disney World is recognized as "The Most Magical Place on Earth," but it's no secret that the crowds and long lines are one of the drawbacks of visiting the resort. However, for years Disney has offered line-skipping services to help reduce wait times for certain rides. Its current Lightning Lane service gets mixed reviews, ranging from complaints that the added cost on top of an already expensive park ticket feels unfair, to others saying it's absolutely worth the price to ensure a smooth, ride-filled day at the parks.
As an Annual Passholder and someone who regularly covers Disney World tips for families at Good Housekeeping, I've been helping my friends and family strategize their Lightning Lane plans for years. The bad news? This newest iteration is a bit more complicated than its predecessors, FastPass+ and Genie+. The good news: Once you're equipped with a few simple tips and have a booking strategy, it's actually pretty easy to coordinate. Here, I'm breaking down everything you need to know, including strategies that I've found to be the most effective at scheduling high-priority rides.
Lightning Lanes Types and Costs
Before we get into the strategies, it's important to understand the three Lightning Lane offerings. Regardless of which ones you choose, you can only access the Lightning Lane once per ride per day.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
This is the service that the majority of the attractions operate under. Most of the tips and tricks in this guide will revolve around maximizing your Multi Pass, as it's the one that requires a booking strategy. The cost varies by park and by day; parks with more ride offerings and days during busier travel times will be most expensive. In general, it typically costs between $15–$35 per person per day.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
For a few of the most popular rides at Disney World, the Lightning Lane is only available as a Single Pass, meaning you pay a fee for the individual ride. If the ride is available as a Single Pass, you won't be able to access it with the Multi Pass, but you can book both passes at the same time. Rides available on Single Pass include Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON: Lightcycle / Run at Magic Kingdom; Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT; Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance at Disney's Hollywood Studios; and Avatar: Flight of Passage at Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park. These passes will also vary in price, but typically cost between $15–20 per person. Note that these Single Pass rides always sell out, so plan to book in advance.
Lightning Lane Premier Pass
You pay a high fee for access to every Lightning Lane (both Multi Pass and Single Pass) within a park for one day. This option used to be exclusive to guests staying at Disney hotels, but is now open to all visitors. Costs will vary by park and by day, but are typically in the $150–$350 range. The cost is based on how many rides are offered; Animal Kingdom and EPCOT are least expensive, while Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom are most expensive. Although it's pricey, guests who use this service say it was well worth it to get on every ride without any stress. Personally, I think this service is most worth it at EPCOT, where you can access high-demand rides that book up quickly without spending an exorbitant amount.
How it Works
Here's the gist of it: Lightning Lane is a paid service that allows guests to skip the standby line for certain attractions at Walt Disney World. (It's also available at Disneyland, but the system works differently and requires less planning.). You purchase the service on the My Disney Experience app and can book three rides or shows in advance. Then you can continue to book an additional attraction after you redeem each one of your pre-booked selections.
To redeem, you're given an a one-hour window where you can use your park ticket (whether you use a card, phone or MagicBand+) to scan into the actual Lightning Lane, which is typically located right next to the standby line. Sounds simple? Well it's a bit more complicated than that. Here are few factors that you also need to take into consideration.
Ride Availability
If you purchase the Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can book three rides in advance; however, you can only pre-book one attraction from a top-tier group of the most popular rides. You then choose the other two (or all three if you prefer) from a group of lower-demand attractions. Also, all three rides have to be pre-booked at the same park.
Once you redeem any ride, there are no restrictions on which rides you can book that same day. In fact, you can even book from another park if you plan to park hop. Choosing which rides to book is part of the strategy we'll get into below, but for context, here are the rides you can choose from at each park in 2025:
When to Book Lightning Lanes
If you're staying at Disney Resort hotel (as well as the Swan, Dolphin, Swan Reserve and Shades of Green hotels), you can book Lightning Lanes for your entire stay seven days before your check-in date at 7am EST.
If you're not staying at a Disney hotel but you do have a date-based park ticket, you can book Lightning Lanes for your entire stay three days before the first date of your package at 7am EST.
All other guests (including Disney Annual Passholders not staying at a Disney hotel) can book three days before their park visit at 7am EST.
A tip: Make sure you have the My Disney Experience app downloaded and your travel party set up on your account before it's time to book your rides. You should also make sure your credit card is saved and you spend time familiarizing yourself with the app so you can book quickly on your reservation day. It's pretty intuitive once you access the booking platform. Also note that the app gives you an automated suggested time slot based on the rides you select, but you can click to see all available times and choose what works best for your schedule.
Dos & Don'ts
✅ DO: Make a plan, or at least have a sense of your park schedule and priority rides. It'll be overwhelming to figure all of that out once it's your time to book, and time wasted on your booking day could cost you ride reservations.
✅ DO: Book a "burner ride," meaning a low-demand ride that's easy to reserve first thing in the morning. This helps because at most parks, you can only pre-book one high-demand ride per day. Once you scan into that burner ride, you can then book another high-demand ride before it books up.
✅ DO: Consider whether you plan to park hop (i.e., visit another park at Disney World in the same day). You can only pre-book at one park per day, but once you're in that park, you can book an attraction at another one. So if you start at Magic Kingdom then decide to take the monorail over to EPCOT, it may be worth booking rides at EPCOT while you're still at Magic Kingdom.
✅ DO: Keep an eye on timing if you want to get on a ride earlier than what you initially reserved. You're allowed to change rides and timing after you book, so you may find an earlier slot opens up. It's also okay to change your mind if you want to switch ride reservations (pending availability) at any point.
❌ DON'T: Pre-book shows, even though some have Lightning Lanes. The only benefit is that you get to enter the theater first for a better seat, but it's better to save these advanced bookings for a ride that lets you skip a long line. Not to mention, you end up wasting time by entering the theater early.
❌ DON'T: Proceed with your purchase if the rides you want are unavailable. You reserve your rides before you pay, so if you find that by the time you book (especially if you're not staying at a Disney hotel) the ride you were hoping to reserve is sold out, it may not be worth the cost of Lightning Lane that day. This way you don't pay then find that you're disappointed with what you reserved.
Booking Strategy by Park
The Lightning Lane Multi Pass strategy will vary based on your travel group, so these tips are more general based on what books up fastest and which ones have the longest lines (or in some cases, virtual queues, meaning you can't access the standby line without a reservation). Keep in mind that you know your group the best, so it's ultimately up to you to decide prioritize your "can't miss" rides.
Magic Kingdom
Prioritize Tiana's Bayou Adventure, as this ride will likely book up the fastest and it's only available by virtual queue, meaning if you don't have access to the Lightning Lane, you then have to try to book a standby line spot that day. If you want to avoid a ride with a big drop, opt for Peter Pan's Flight or Jungle Cruise.
Magic Kingdom offers a long list for the other attractions, so opt for whatever your party is most interested in: Some are especially great for young kids, while others are more geared towards older kids and adults. My best tip would be to avoid booking attractions with the lowest wait times because they'll be easier to access that day, including Mad Tea Party, Mickey’s PhilharMagic and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.
EPCOT
Prioritize Remy's Ratatouille Adventure because its Lightning Lane becomes fully booked quickly and this ride always has a long wait time. If you have a Frozen fan in your group, opt for Frozen Ever After because it's a close second for Lightning Lane filling up and having long wait times.
For the other two, there's not a long list to choose from at this park, but I recommend Spaceship Earth and Mission Space, as the others typically have lower waits and are easy to book once you start redeeming.
Hollywood Studios
Prioritize Slinky Dog Dash if your group is a fan of roller coasters. If not, prioritize Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, which is one of the relatively newer rides at this park. And if you're a Star Wars fan, opt for Millennium Falcon.
For the other two, prioritize Toy Story Mania! and either Twilight Zone Tower of Terror or Alien Swirling Saucers, depending on your group.
Animal Kingdom
There's only one group for Animal Kingdom attractions, rather than two tiers. Opt for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest (for roller coaster fans) and Naʻvi River Journey.
How it Compares to Genie+
The current Lightning Lane system and Genie+ (i.e., the line skipping service from 2021-2024) have some similarities, including the types of rides available and the cost for the day. Here's how the two differ:
When to book: Currently you pre-book Lightning Lanes days in advance, but previously with Genie+ you booked at 7am the morning of your park visit.
How many rides you can book: With Genie+ you could book one attraction at a time or every two hours, whichever came first. With the current system, you can have three rides booked at any given time, and there are pre-booking tiers that didn't exist before.
Disney hotel perks: Genie+ was equally accessible for every guest, regardless of where they stayed. Lightning Lane currently gives priority to guests staying at Disney hotels.
Character meets: You were able to use Genie+ for certain character meet & greets in the parks, including Mickey Mouse and Disney Princesses. This option is no longer available with the current system.
Short Line Hacks (Without Lightning Lane)
Whether you don't want to pay for Lightning Lane, don't want to deal with the headache of booking rides or are worried that you won't get good reservations because you're not staying at a Disney hotel, here are a few tips to help you avoid spending time in long lines.
Visit parks on days they close early
This tip is especially good for families with young kids. Some parks have nighttime ticked events — like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party — where they close a few hours early. As a result, people with park tickets are less likely to visit that day, especially if they want to stay late and see the nighttime entertainment with fireworks. However, if you get to the park in the morning and are okay leaving by early evening, this works to your benefit because you'll find fewer crowds than usual.
Opt for nighttime events instead of park days
Similarly, you can avoid long lines by buying tickets to limited-time night events, including Disney After Hours, where you pay to access the park late at night after it closes. These events are pricey and can cost over $150 a ticket, but that cost is usually on par with a day park ticket and comes with limited admission for shorter wait times at popular rides. It also offers other perks, including some complimentary treats. These events are typically best for teens and adults since to get the full benefit, you should expect to stay up late.
Book your trip during non-peak seasons
The best time to visit Disney World is when there are no school breaks; even long holiday weekends can draw in bigger crowds. If you have flexibility on when to visit, you'll find non-holiday times will have the shortest wait times. This is especially true shortly before it gets busy, like before spring breaks and in early December as parents are less likely to pull kids from school right before a big break. Not to mention, flights and hotel rooms will cost less, too.
Arrive early or stay late
A common tactic to get on popular rides is called "rope drop," which means you arrive at the park before it officially opens. That way you're already inside the park and when the rope drops, you can head right towards the ride. The downside is that many people have this idea and you may end up standing in the rope drop line for a while. So although it helps you get a ride out of the way first thing, it doesn't always save you time overall. On the flip side, entering a ride during the firework shows or right before the park closes can help you find a slightly reduced wait time.
Bottom Line
Yes; although it's annoying to pay extra for Lightning Lanes, it's definitely worth it. That being said, it's not always a straightforward decision. If you're visiting Disney World during a busy time and want to get on as many rides as possible, it's worth prioritizing your purchases on Lightning Lanes and finding other ways to save money, like buying food and beverages from a local grocery store to spend less on meals and snacks in the parks.
One thing to keep in mind is that even if you have to wait in a line, you're not always just standing around. Especially with the newer and most popular rides, Disney finds ways to make the even the lines engaging and entertaining. And regardless of whether or not you end up purchasing Lightning Lanes, one thing I always tell Disney World goers is to remember that it's a vacation, not a bucket list. Try to do as much as possible, but don't spend your trip stressing by trying to fit in every single attraction.
Meet Your Walt Disney World Guide
Lexie Sachs is the executive director of strategy and operations at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she oversees travel content ranging from the best luggage to Good Housekeeping's Family Travel Awards. Lexie is an Annual Passholder and visits Walt Disney World several times a year, regularly writing articles about Walt Disney World — including previews for new attractions and tips for taking the best photos at the parks.
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