If you are looking to skip the line at some of Disney World’s most popular attractions, you may have considered purchasing Lightning Lane.
Lightning Lane is Disney World’s pay-to-skip-the-line service, and it recently replaced Genie+, and Genie+ replaced FastPass+. There are three different versions of Lightning Lane, which can get confusing. Lightning Lane Multi Pass is similar to both Genie+ and FastPass+. Lightning Lane Single Pass is the replacement for Individual Lightning Lane. The newest Lightning Lane offering is Lightning Lane Premier Pass, which some have compared to Universal’s pay-to-skip-the-line service, Express Pass.
Some people have very strong opinions about Lightning Lane as the service is not free; while everyone is entitled to their opinion, there are five Lightning Lane myths that you should stop believing.
Lightning Lane is an optional service as it is an up-charge. It is totally up to you and your party if you want to splurge on this pay-to-skip-the-line service. If you are on the fence about purchasing Lightning Lane due to these five myths, we are here to debunk them for you!
You Need it for Every Day of Your Vacation
While it can be nice to skip the line every single park day, if you are visiting for an extended stay or are visiting a park multiple times, it may not be essential to buy Lightning Lane every time, as you will have more time to ride everything on your must-do list.
Lightning Lane can be beneficial for shorter visits if you are trying to do as much as possible. Still, it is not necessary for every single day of your trip, especially if you will be visiting Disney World for a longer vacation.
WHEN You Should NEVER Buy Lightning Lanes at Disney World
You Need Lightning Lane to Go on Rides
While Lightning Lane can help you potentially squeeze in your rides during your park day, there are still other options to ride attractions without paying for Lightning Lane.
All attractions still offer a stand-by line, and some even offer a single-rider line! The only exception to the stand-by line is rides that require Virtual Queue. Currently at Disney World, if you wish to ride Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT or Tiana’s Bayou Adventure in the Magic Kingdom, you will need to purchase Lightning Lane or obtain a Virtual Queue.
Lightning Lane is the Only Way to Ride EVERYTHING
As we have mentioned before, Lightning Lane is a great tool to help take your wait time down and allow you to experience more attractions, but it is not the only way to ride EVERYTHING.
There are other ways to help you fit more rides into your park day. You can use Disney Genie, which is Disney’s free planning tool within the My Disney Experience app, which is not to be confused with the discontinued Genie+. Genie can help make an itinerary for your park day and suggest when to ride attractions based on their projected lowest wait time.
You can also take advantage of more time in the parks if you are staying at a Disney World hotel. Guests of all hotel tiers, including Value, Moderate, and Deluxe Resorts, can participate in Early Theme Park Entry, which grants you 30 extra minutes in each park before the parks open to the general public.
Guests staying at Deluxe Resorts get a special perk called Extended Evening Hours, where, on certain days of the week, a park stays open two hours past closing time.
If you are not staying at a Disney World hotel, you can get to the park right at open and rope drop. This extra time in the park can help you ride even more attractions without paying for Lightning Lane.
You Have to Stick to a Strict Schedule
When you purchase Lightning Lane, you are able to make your own schedule of when you want to ride an attraction. While sometimes popular attractions or time slots are taken, you still can choose what is best for you and your party based on what is available. Remember, if you are staying at a Disney World hotel, you can purchase and make your initial selection seven days prior to your arrival. All others can make selections and purchase three days in advance.
You also do not have to keep the same plans, as you can modify your Lightning Lane reservation times. If no reservations are popping up, we always suggest refreshing the app as sometimes more time slots or even attractions start to populate.
You are also given a one-hour time slot when your reservation time rolls around. For example, if you booked the Haunted Mansion for 10 AM, you have until 11 AM to enter the Lighting Lane line.
Lightning Lane is Not Worth It
Some people believe that Lightning Lane is not worth it, and they are totally allowed to have their own opinion, but in some cases, Lightning Lane can be super beneficial. Lightning Lane can help you get on more attractions on crowded park days as long as you are staying on top of scheduling your new Lightning Lane selections.
When you make your initial selections, you can start off with three. As you redeem and ride each attraction, you are able to make another reservation time. So, if you stay vigilant and continue to book new Lightning Lanes, it can make it worth it for you and your party.
Hopefully, debunking these myths can help you decide if Lightning Lane is right for you and your party on your next visit to Disney World. For more Disney tips and all the latest Disney news, make sure to continue to follow along with DFB!
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Here’s another MYTH – Lightning Lane does NOT allow you to “go to the head of the line”. You will probably be in a shorter and possibly faster moving line, but all those people in front of you? Isn’t that a line?