The 1-Stop Guide to Disney World Lightning Lanes (Single and Multi-Pass)

Lightning Lanes by Definition

As mentioned above, the Disney Genie+ service is out! Now it’s just Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass. Let’s try to make these a little more straightforward.

Lightning Lane Multi Pass: This is an extra cost service that can be purchased before your vacation. It allows you to select Lightning Lanes for multiple attractions based on tiers and availability for the days you purchase it.

Lightning Lane Single Pass: Previously, we referred to this option as individual or a la carte Lightning Lanes. These are the most sought-after attractions in the park that require a Single Pass purchase.

Lightning Lanes: Lightning Lanes are a separate entrance to the ride. They allow guests to skip the standby line and experience shorter wait times. Note that we said “skip the standby line,” not the actual line. You will likely still have to wait in the Lightning Lane. However, in most cases, the Lightning Lane will be significantly shorter than the standby line.

Okay, now that we have a basic comprehension of Lightning Lanes, let’s discuss how each pass works. We’ll start with an overview of Lightning Lane Multi Pass.

How Lightning Lane Multi Pass Works

Before we discuss how and when to purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass, I thought we’d start with an overview of the product. That way, you can decide whether or not you’ll want to purchase a Multi Pass and, if so, for how many days of your trip.

Realistically, if you’re visiting for a limited vacation (read: don’t do Disney World often or a short trip), you’ll be able to get much more done with the service than without. So, it is of the utmost importance that you budget for the cost and figure out your group’s top priorities ahead of time.

When you purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can pre-select up to three attractions at one theme park. You can select one attraction from the first tier and two more from the second tier. This is a nod to the former FastPass+ system, where attractions were grouped in tiers. We have a separate section below where we discuss tiers in detail.

Example: You select Big Thunder Mountain from the first tier for your Magic Kingdom day. Then, you select Mad Tea Party and the Tomorrowland Speedway for secondary tier choices. You now have three rides where you’ve secured a Lightning Lane ahead of schedule.

Lightning Lane allows guests to experience individual attractions (via the Lightning Lane) only once daily, making the Park Hopper ticket upgrade appealing to experienced guests.

Example: Say you want to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Magic Kingdom a couple of times in one day. You can select it as a first-tier Multi Pass Lightning Lane experience. After you finish riding the attraction, you cannot select it again on the same day. However, you can continue to ride it as much as you like via the standby line.

Once you’ve arrived at the park and cashed in your first Lightning Lane, you can whip out your phone and select a new experience in the My Disney Experience app. You can then select experiences in any other park if your ticket has park-hopping privileges. This is where you’ll possibly want to strategize park-hopping based on available selections.

Example with Park Hopper: Let’s continue with our example of starting the day at Magic Kingdom with the following three experiences booked: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mad Tea Party, and the Tomorrowland Speedway. After scanning your Big Thunder Mountain Lightning Lane at 10:30 a.m. (your first scheduled Lightning Lane for the day), you open the My Disney Experience app to fill in the gap and select another attraction. Some big names pop up, including Muppet*Vision 3D and Slinky Dog Dash. Thankfully, someone in your party has their wits and presses select on Slinky Dog Dash for 3:00 p.m.

Example without Park Hopper: Using the scenario above without the Park Hopper ticket, you’ll do the same thing. However, you will only have access to other attractions at Magic Kingdom. This time, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure catches your eye, and you select it for later in the day at 4:45 p.m.

This same scenario then begins to repeat itself. Next, you visit the Mad Tea Party at 11:30 a.m. Subsequently, you would select your next Lightning Lane. As the day goes on, the pool of Lightning Lane options will get smaller and smaller. Any ride you’ve experienced via Lightning Lane Multi Pass will no longer show as an option. Additionally, availability will drop as more guests use experiences in the park. Therefore, it’s crucial to be aware of the most important attractions for your group and secure them sooner rather than later.

There is so much information about this offering that it can be overwhelming. At this point, you should have an idea of how the service works, the benefits of using it, and the advantages of using it with a park-hopper ticket. Now, let’s discuss the Single Pass option, which is entirely different and has nothing to do with the attractions that make up Multi Pass.

How Lightning Lane Single Pass Works

A handful of rides across the four Walt Disney World theme parks offer a Lightning Lane Single Pass. These are the “elite” rides that the majority of guests want to ride. You will likely not encounter a short wait if you ride these attractions via the standby queue.

Example without Park Hopper: On your Magic Kingdom day, you purchased Multi Pass and selected Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Mad Tea Party, and the Tomorrowland Speedway. You also have the option to purchase a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Tron Lightcycle / Run.

Of course, your family wants to experience both. However, the extra costs of purchasing Multi Pass for the day and two additional Single Passes are beginning to add up. Plus, this is only one day of your vacation! So you decide to ride Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in standby, then purchase a Single Pass for Tron Lightcycle / Run. Again, this is just one scenario.

Regarding the rules, you can only purchase two Lightning Lane Single Pass per day. Since Magic Kingdom is the only park with two eligible Single Pass attractions, the Park Hopper option is appealing to thrill-seekers who don’t care to incur the extra expense.

Example with the Park Hopper: Using the same scenario, you’re at Magic Kingdom and have plans to ride Snow White Seven Dwarfs at rope drop. You’ve selected your three rides with Multi-Pass, purchased Tron Lightcycle / Run with Single Pass for 12:00 p.m., and purchased Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance for 6:00 p.m. at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

As you can see, you can get a lot done with park-hopping between two parks and purchasing Single Pass options. So now that you have an idea of how Multi Pass and Single Pass works, let’s look at eligible attractions for each park. Then, we’ll discuss how and when you can make these purchases.

Lightning Lanes and Tiers for Magic Kingdom

Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences at Magic Kingdom are divided into two tiers. This park has two attractions that fall under the Lightning Lane Single Pass option. Below, we’ve listed the attractions for both Multi Pass groups and Single Pass options. Remember, on your initial selection, you can select one attraction from Tier 1 and two from Tier 2. (Disney doesn’t call these groups tier 1 and 2 on their website, but we feel like it’s best to differentiate them in a way that makes them understandable.)

Tier 1 Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

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

Tier 2 Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

• 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

The following two attractions require that you purchase a Single Pass Lightning Lane.

Lightning Lane Single Pass Options:

• Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
• TRON Lightcycle / Run

Related: Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Multi Pass Strategy

Lightning Lanes and Tiers for Epcot

Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences are divided into two tiers at Epcot. The park has one attraction that falls under the Lightning Lane Single Pass option. Below, we’ve listed the attractions for both Multi Pass groups and Single Pass options. Remember, on your initial selection, you can select one attraction from Tier 1 and two from Tier 2.

Tier 1 Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

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

Tier 2 Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

• 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

If you want to use Lightning Lane, you will have to purchase the following Single Pass option individually.

Lightning Lane Single Pass Options:

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind

Lightning Lanes and Tiers for Disney’s Hollywood Studios

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences are divided into two tiers. The park has one attraction that falls under the Lightning Lane Single Pass option. Below, we’ve listed the attractions for both Multi Pass groups and Single Pass options. Like the previous parks, you can select one attraction from Tier 1 and two from Tier 2 for your initial selection.

Tier 1 Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

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

Tier 2 Lightning Lane Multi Pass:

• 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!

If you want to use Lightning Lane, you will have to purchase the following Single Pass option individually. Rise of the Resistance has a regular standby queue that you can join anytime during the park’s operating hours.

Lightning Lane Single Pass Options:

• Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

Note: Attractions are subject to availability.

Purchasing Lightning Lanes (Multi Pass and Single Pass)

Now that you know how the Lightning Lane system works, let’s look at when you can purchase it. This will depend on how you’re visiting Walt Disney World.

Disney Resort Hotel and Other Select Hotel Guests: You can purchase passes up to seven days before your stay. Lightning Lane passes will be available for the days that you have valid theme park admission, beginning at 7:00 a.m. (Eastern).

This resort benefit is for guests of the following resorts:

• Disney Resort Hotels
• Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Hotel
• Walt Disney World Swan Reserve
• Shades of Green Resort

All Other Guests: You can purchase Lightning Lane passes and choose your experiences with an arrival window three days in advance. However, there are a few stipulations based on your ticket type.

• Guests with date-based theme park tickets (which require the Guest to choose a start date at the time of purchase) can purchase 3 days before the first day of their ticket for the total number of valid admission days on their ticket.
• Guests with other ticket types can purchase 3 days before their park visit. (One day at a time.)
• Annual Passholders* can purchase 3 days before their park visit. (One day at a time.)

Reference Disney

Other ticket types apply to a variety of tickets, including group sales, school tickets, etc. In this case (and with annual passholders), you’ll have to select experiences one day at a time. Here is an example.

• Visiting on Monday, July 1st (Make Reservations Friday, June 28th)
• Visiting On Tuesday, July 2nd (Make Reservations Saturday, June 29th)
• Visiting on Wednesday, July 3rd (Make Reservations Sunday June 30th)

*It’s important to mention that if you’re a resort guest, that status trumps your ticket type, and you can book seven days in advance for the duration of your resort stay.

International Guests:

Upon arrival in the US, Guests of Disney Resort hotels and other select hotels can purchase passes up to 7 days in advance of their stay—and other Guests can purchase passes up to 3 days in advance of their park visit. Guests can purchase Lightning Lane passes for days they have valid theme park admission* starting at 7:00 AM Eastern Time on their first day of eligibility.

3 Days in Advance for All Other Guests
Not staying at a Disney Resort hotel or other select hotel? Upon arrival in the US, you can purchase Lightning Lane passes—and choose experiences and arrival windows—3 days in advance. See additional details below, which vary based on admission type:

• Upon arrival in the US, Guests with date-based themepark tickets (which require the Guest to choose a start date at the time of purchase) can purchase 3 days before the first day of their ticket, for the total number of valid admission days on their ticket.
• Upon arrival in the US, Guests with other ticket types* can purchase 3 days before their park visit.
• Upon arrival in the US, Annual Passholders* can purchase 3 days before their park visit.

*Canadian guests will have pre-arrival access to Lightning Lane features in the My Disney Experience app.

How To Purchase Lightning Lanes (Step-by-Step)

When the time comes for you to be able to purchase Lightning Lanes, here’s how you’ll do it:

Step One: Open the My Disney Experience app and tap Lightning Lane Passes on the home screen.

Step Two: Select a date and theme park.

Step Three: Select your Lightning Lane Single Passes, Lightning Lane Multi Pass, or both. When you select a Multi Pass, you can then select your 3 initial experiences and arrival windows. Additionally, you’ll want to select your arrival window for any Single Passes you purchase. (This means you’ll want a plan before you sit down to make selections.)

Step Four: You will be guided through prompts to complete your purchase.

Step Five: After confirmation, you can select “plan another day” based on the eligibility rules we discussed above.

*Since the system debuted, we’ve created a tutorial with screenshots on how to buy Lightning Lanes.

For example, Disney has provided an infographic that shares a few screenshots of the process.

Modifying Lightning Lanes

Before we wrap things up, I want to touch on the ability to modify. You can use this feature if your plans change, and they likely will at some point.

• You can use the modification feature to change your selected park or date in advance up until you redeem your first Lightning Lane selection for the day. (Selections are subject to availability.)

Example: You have plans to visit Magic Kingdom and ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at 10:00 a.m. It’s 9:00 a.m., and rain is forecasted for the next couple of hours. It would be easier to go to Epcot and do a few indoor things in the front of the park. So, you use the app’s modification feature to shift the park to Epcot and select new Lightning Lanes.

• You can also use the modification feature to change arrival windows in advance up to the start of the arrival window. (Selections are subject to availability.)

Example: Using the same scenario above, you decide to stick with Magic Kingdom but not visit the park until later in the afternoon. You move your Big Thunder Mountain Railroad arrival window to later, along with any other attractions that need to change.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few key takeaways from our one-stop Lightning Lane Guide.

• Lightning Lane Multi Pass covers the majority of the attractions in each park.
• Lightning Lane Single Passes are attractions that require a single purchase to ride them via the Lightning Lane.
• You can hold 3 Lightning Lane Multi Pass experiences at one time. Each time you redeem one, you can select another based on availability.
• You can purchase two Lightning Lane Single Pass attractions per day. However, Magic Kingdom is the only park with two Single Pass rides. You’ll need a park hopper ticket to purchase Single Passes in separate parks.
• The costs of both passes are date-based and will fluctuate based on the time of year you’re visiting.
• This system allows guests to plan in advance, requiring less effort while on vacation.