Well, we could have called this one. In case you haven’t heard, Disney just made BIG changes to its paid skip-the-line service, now called Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass. We have a TON of super in-depth information about all the changes, and we’re even reporting LIVE on all the new features. It’s a whirlwind, but we’re working HARD to bring you all the information you need to know before your next vacation.
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
As a quick refresher, Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes are now called Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass. There is a lot to learn about the new system, and we’ve got reporters in Disney World testing all kinds of Lightning Lane situations. But during our experimentation, we already started to notice some problems — let’s talk about them!
Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Passes are HERE! Now, you can:
- Make three Lightning Lane selections BEFORE you’re in the parks (seven days early if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel; three days early if not)
- Choose experiences and times before purchasing so you know what you’re getting with your purchase
- Book Lightning Lane passes for MULTIPLE vacation days, all at once
Slinky Dog Dash
Disney is now using a tiered system for ride selections at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood Studios. From those initial three advance selections, you can choose one from a higher-tiered group and two (or all three) from a lower-tiered group. Tiers do not apply at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Book These Rides FIRST With Disney World’s New Lightning Lane Multi Pass System!
Disney also offers a separate pay-per-ride service. Lightning Lane Single Pass allows you to pay a fee to utilize the Lightning Lane for a single, in-demand attraction. You can make your purchase before your trip (up to seven days in advance if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel; all others can select their first three Lightning Lane Single Passes three days in advance).
Expedition Everest
On July 24th, when testing out the new system, we ran into a few issues. Let’s break ’em down!
Characters and Festival of Fantasy
The first problem we ran into was a confusing one! At midnight, when the list of available attractions with Lightning Lanes populated in the My Disney Experience app, select character meet-and-greets and the Festival of Fantasy parade were included like they had been with Genie+.
Lightning Lane at Princess Fairytale Hall
However, as of 7AM on the first day of Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass, those offerings had disappeared! A representative from Disney confirmed that meet-and-greets and the Festival of Fantasy parade are NOT currently included with Lightning Lane Multi Pass, which is a big change from the old Genie+ system.
Festival of Fantasy
This means that even at stationary meet-and-greets (like Mickey Mouse in Town Square Theater or the Princesses at Princess Fairytale Hall) where there is a Lightning Lane available, you won’t be able to book that Lightning Lane. When we spoke to Cast Members in the parks, they said those Lightning Lane queues were still being used for Disability Access Service at this time, but not for actual Lightning Lane access.
Mickey Mouse
It’s possible that this could change in the future (Disney often changed the rules and regulations of Genie+), so we’ll be on the lookout to see if those are added or if that option goes away permanently.
Dining Reservations and Conflicting Plans
When making our Lightning Lane Single Pass and Multi Pass selections the first morning, we noticed that it was still possible to make Lightning Lane reservations that interfered with previously made plans. So you’ll need to be careful!
Disney World Lightning Lanes have CHANGED
The My Disney Experience app did show our dining reservations for the day alongside the Lightning Lanes, but when it automatically assigned us Lightning Lane times after we selected the attractions we wanted, those times sometimes conflicted with our dining reservations. For instance, one of our reporters was automatically given a Living with the Land Lightning Lane return time that conflicted with their lunch reservation at Spice Road Table.
©Disney
Now, the good news is that after the app gives you your Lightning Lane return times, you’ll be able to see those return times and your dining reservations on the same screen. If something conflicts, you’ll have a few minutes to change or modify your Lightning Lane so that it doesn’t interfere. Just be warned that Disney won’t automatically work around your pre-scheduled plans!
Deselecting Attractions
Thankfully, we didn’t have too many weird glitches when trying out the new system, but we did spot something unusual when making Lightning Lane choices for Magic Kingdom. One of our reporters picked Tiana’s Bayou Adventure from Tier 1 along with two other rides from Tier 2, and then when the next screen loaded, Tiana’s was completely booked.
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Now, that can totally happen, considering a bunch of people are making Lightning Lane choices at the same time. So that reporter went back and selected a new Tier 1 offering. The weird thing is that once that reporter selected a new Tier 1 offering, their previously selected Tier 2 choices disappeared, and they were left with just one Lightning Lane.
Tower of Terror Lightning Lane sign
So if you run into a situation where something books up and you have to make new selections, keep in mind that you’ll have to remake ALL your selections for Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Otherwise, you might miss out on the rides you want.
The Home Screen
And finally, we’ve got to talk about the home screen on the My Disney Experience app. This screen typically shows you a preview of your upcoming plans, but with the new Lightning Lane system, we’ve found that the preview it shows can be a bit unreliable.
Attraction Sign at Animal Kingdom directing Guests to Standby Line and Lightning Lane Entrances
We’ve especially had problems with our plans showing out of order or incorrectly when we miss an entire Lightning Lane window or when we make modifications to previous plans. Instead of relying on this home screen, we recommend you use the “My Day” tab instead to keep track of everything going on.
We’ll be answering ALL your Lightning Lane questions and trying EVERYTHING under the new system, so stick around for more!
Everything You Need to Know About Lightning Lanes in Disney World
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This is a stupid mess all just to make Disney even more money. Stop the madness and return to the old free FastPass system. It worked and saved people money. Done.
I’m going to be extremely disappointed if the meet and greets don’t come back. Visiting with a toddler and this was a life saver.
So, a question that I have is about LLMP and I haven’t seen an answer anywhere yet. When I purchase the LLMP and go to make the reservations – do I need to make all of the reservations at one time or lose out? Or can I make the first LL reservation and then go back and make the other 2?
Hi Linda. You don’t have to make all three of your reservations in advance at one time, but you would risk missing out on the popular attractions if you don’t. It’s better to make all three and then modify them to better times.