How to Skip Lines at Disney

Over the past couple of years, Disney parks have been experimenting with different ways for guests to line up for rides. In 2021, they introduced a paid system called Lightning Lane to replace the previous line-skipping option known as FastPass+

At the end of summer 2024, Lightning Lane received a major update that might sound a little familiar to FastPass+ fans.

We went to Walt Disney World in August to figure out how to skip lines at Disney using the Lightning Lane rules.  

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Lightning Lane Multi Pass vs. Lightning Lane Single Pass

With Lightning Lane Multi Pass, guests can choose from a variety of attractions, up to three at a time. These attractions might be separated into tiers, depending on which park you visit. After you’ve used all your Lightning Lanes, you may schedule additional attractions, if there are reservations left. The most popular rides in the park probably will not be listed as options in Lightning Lane Multi Pass. But if you want to make sure you ride without a wait, you can get a Lightning Lane Single Pass.

Lightning Lane Single Pass can be used for one ride, one time. At time of writing, Single Pass rides include TRON Lightcycle / Run, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Avatar Flight of Passage and Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Make sure to check which rides are available before scheduling your Lightning Lane Single Pass.

How To Use Lightning Lane

Lightning Lane reservations are an additional cost per person, per day, on top of your ticket. The price fluctuates based on the park you’re attending and the anticipated crowd levels, but is usually somewhere between $15 and $25.

Lightning Lane now has rules similar to the way FastPass+ worked before 2021, with rides separated into different tiers and the opportunity to schedule additional reservations throughout the day.

To get the most out of Lightning Lane Multi Pass or Single Pass, you have to know about it before you even walk through the gates. Well, ideally you should know about it seven days before you walk through the gates.

Rules

• If you have a park ticket and are staying at a Walt Disney World hotel, you can make Lightning Lane reservations up to seven days prior to your check-in date, starting at 7 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. You may make Lightning Lane selections for the duration of your stay, up to 14 days. You can do this through the My Disney Experience app.
• Anyone with park admission can book Lightning Lanes three days in advance of their trip, starting at 7 a.m.
• Lightning Lane arrival windows are usually an hour, and they cannot overlap. For example, if your window for Space Mountain ends at 2:30 p.m., you can’t get a Haunted Mansion Lightning Lane that starts at 2:15 p.m.
• However, a la carte Lightning Lane Single Pass purchases can overlap with your Multi Pass Lightning Lanes.
• In Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios, the rides are separated into two tiers. When you are making your original three reservations, you are allowed to choose only one attraction from Tier 1, and two attractions from Tier 2. All Animal Kingdom attractions are in the same tier, so this rule does not apply.
• If you want, you can edit your Lightning Lanes and switch them out with same-tier attractions that have available time slots.

Strategy

Do not use your Disney World Lightning Lanes for shows, parades or nighttime experiences. No matter what anybody tells you, they’re not worth it. It doesn’t change your wait time, and it might not even guarantee you a better view.

Schedule your first three Lightning Lanes as early as possible in the day. This way, you can knock out your original Lightning Lanes fast and have more time to schedule your additional rolling Lightning Lanes.

Don’t see what you want? Refresh the page a few times. Sometimes you’ll find additional time slots that you didn’t see before.

Experience

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to schedule my Lightning Lane Multi Passes on my trip to Hollywood Studios. I was able to snag reservations for Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Star Tours and Toy Story Mania.

On top of that, I got a Single Pass to ride Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. I was nervous about the return window overlapping with my Runaway Railway pass, which would have been an issue in the FastPass+ days. However, I got scanned in to both attractions with no issue at all.

Plus, since I’d made the reservations days in advance, I didn’t need to wake up early in the morning on my vacation to make sure I was able to do everything I wanted. I even got the opportunity to schedule additional Multi Pass reservations when I was done riding Toy Story Mania. There were only some time slots at select rides left, but I feel like I got my money’s worth by getting to skip a few additional lines.  

The My Disney Experience app had some hiccups, but it ran a lot better than it has in previous years. I paired it with my phone, with my MagicBand+ and with a park ticket at various times throughout my trip, and it worked great no matter what.  

Disney is always introducing new and exciting changes, but it can feel overwhelming at times. To help you navigate your next trip, AAA has travel advisors who specialize in Disney vacations; it’s their job to stay on top of all the latest happenings and help you plan.

Reach out to one of our “magic makers” today!

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Have you tried the new Disney World Lightning Lane system? Are you still confused about how to skip lines at Disney? Let us know in the comments below.

Featured image: ©Disney