How late can you be for lightning lane?

If you arrive at a ride early, you can tap into the Lightning Lane five minutes BEFORE your window. You won't even need to talk to a Cast Member to take advantage of these grace periods. Just scan into the Lightning Lane like normal and go! However, if you're later than 15 minutes, you may just be out of luck.



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You must redeem an existing Disney Genie+ service Lightning Lane selection or wait 2 hours—whichever comes first—before making another Lightning Lane entrance selection through Disney Genie+ service.

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Yes. You can tap into Lightning Lanes up to 5 minutes early and up to 15 minutes late. These are automatic grace periods, and you do not have to ask a Cast Member for them–tapping in will simply work. (In fact, don't ask a Cast Member, as they might tell you there is no grace period, which is wrong.)

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For individual Lightning Lane purchases, guests of a Disney Resort hotel and other select hotels* may make their first purchase starting at 7:00 am on the day of their visit. All other Guests can make their first purchase during normal park opening hours.

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The 120-minute rule is determined by when you make the reservation, not the return time for the attraction. So if you both log on at 9 AM to make a reservation for different attractions, you will both have to wait 120 minutes (or after riding the attraction, whichever comes first) to make your next selections.

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On average, Guests can enter 2 to 3 attractions or experiences per day using Lightning Lane entrances, if the first selection is made early in the day. You can enjoy a Disney Genie+ service Lightning Lane entrance once per day.

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You may be out of luck for purchasing Individual Lightning Lanes for any attraction if you're staying offsite on high crowd days. Rise of the Resistance used to be the clear winner of the popularity contest here, and that doesn't hold true anymore either. At all crowd levels, Flight of Passage sells out first.

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Can Genie+ sell out? Yes. It can. Although it isn't common, we've seen it happen a few times during busier times of the year (like over the holidays and Spring Break).

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Genie+ is a paid skip-the-line service that allows guests to enter through a special line called the Lightning Lane (think of the former FASTPASS Return Entrance) rather than the standby line. Not all Disneyland attractions are available with Genie Plus, which we'll get into below. This add-on is toadally optional.

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You can only use Genie+ on each attraction one time per day. So, if you book an early morning pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, use it, and then want to ride Thunder Mountain again later in the day…you'll need to wait in the standby line. So keep that in mind during your trip!

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Because you can only use Genie+ access once per attraction, you do need to modify it if you wish to change your arrival time. If you miss your window and did not successfully cancel or modify it, you will not be able to make another reservation for that attraction.

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If you miss it completely without modifying it beforehand, you will not be able to redeem the reservation nor will you be able to make another Lightning Lane reservation for that same attraction for that same day. However, you'll certainly be able to make another reservation for a different attraction.

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During Disney After Hours events, Disney Genie+ is not available to use. All Guests will be directed to the standby queue to ride each attraction. If you have a regular park ticket that day and are there before the event starts, you will be able to use Disney Genie+ during that time.

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The Rides to Book FIRST With Genie+ and Pay Per Ride in Disney World
  • A Disney Genie Pamphlet.
  • ©Disney.
  • ©Disney.
  • Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
  • Remy's Ratatouille Adventure.
  • Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railway.
  • Expedition Everest.
  • Jungle Cruise.


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Genie Plus is definitely worth it for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, and if you don't like early starts, you might consider it for Epcot and Animal Kingdom. If you are park hopping, Genie+ is even better value as it maximises the number of rides you have access to.

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