When should I buy a lightning lane?

As a general rule of thumb Disney Lightning Lane passes for the most popular rides at each of the Disney World theme parks can sell out within minutes after the 7:00 AM release time. This is especially true when travelling to Walt Disney World during one of the busier times of year such as the summer or the Holidays.



People Also Ask

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.

MORE DETAILS

You can book your first Genie+ Lightning Lane selection at 7:00 am, no matter what time the park opens. This time applies whether you're staying in a Disney-owned resort or other off-property hotel. In the “Tip Board” section of the app, certain attractions have a “Genie+ Lightning Lane” button with a time listed.

MORE DETAILS

On slower days, there's availability well into the afternoon. Over at Epcot, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind has improved Individual Lightning Lane availability. On peak days, it often sells out by 9 am or 10 am–about an hour after park opening.

MORE DETAILS

At all crowd levels, Flight of Passage sells out first. And Cosmic Rewind has worse availability than Rise of the Resistance on low and medium crowd days too. We also see many more availability “drops” throughout the day for Individual Lightning Lane attractions that we do for Genie+ attractions.

MORE DETAILS

Typically Disneyland Genie Plus does not sell out at the theme parks but on rare days when the attendance mix at the theme parks leans heavily towards vacationing guests the service may sell out.

MORE DETAILS

If you select a Lightning Lane through the Disney Genie and the return time is more than 2 hours after the current time and after park open, then after 2 hours you can go in and select your next Lightning Lane even though you have not redeemed your first one.

MORE DETAILS

Missing a Lightning Lane entirely will result in you not being able to book another one for the same ride. However, once the appropriate time elapses you can book another ride. My suggestion is to be strategic with the Lightning Lane bookings and aim to keep modifying to a time you know you will make it.

MORE DETAILS

The Genie 120-minute rule says that you can make a new reservation at most 2 hours from when you made the last one, and this countdown timer doesn't change if you modify the reservation.

MORE DETAILS

All guests, regardless of where they stay, are limited to a maximum of two pay-per-ride attractions per day and can only book a particular ride once per day. What about Annual Passholders? Annual Passholders will need to purchase Genie+ on the day(s) of their visit.

MORE DETAILS

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.

MORE DETAILS

At 7 a.m. on the dot, you should aim to get your Virtual Queue spot first as they usually fill up the quickest. Then, immediately switch to purchasing your Individual Lightning Lane for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Afterward, make your reservation for Peter Pan's Flight.

MORE DETAILS

Let me describe the difference between Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes. Disney Genie+ is a magical upgrade to your ticket that allows you to select Lightning Lane entrances at over 40 attractions throughout the theme parks. These Lightning Lane entrances allow you to skip the regular standby line.

MORE DETAILS

You can only book two Individual Lightning Lanes per day. No matter how many parks you plan to visit in one day, you are only allowed to book two Individual Lightning Lanes. For example, you're planning to start your day in Hollywood Studios, but want to park hop over to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon.

MORE DETAILS

So, there is your step-by-step, screenshot-by-screenshot guide to purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane through My Disney Experience. Here are a few more things to keep in mind: Remember that you will still need a ticket and a Park Pass Reservation for the park where you are purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane.

MORE DETAILS

Lightning Lane grants you access to entirely separate queues. Be aware that Genie+ doesn't provide instant, unlimited access to Lightning Lanes. Instead, once you've made your purchase, you'll be able to select return times one at a time.

MORE DETAILS

Once you use your most recently booked Lightning Lane or after two hours, you can book another one, and so on, throughout the day. This means that you won't be able to book multiple Lightning Lanes in advance for the same time slot like the old Fastpass system.

MORE DETAILS

You can buy two individual Lightning Lanes each day. You can only buy an individual Lightning Lane for each ride once per day.

MORE DETAILS

One possibility is that the company has found the “sweet spot” for pricing during popular tourist seasons, and it's $35. Another is that price points have been “reset” and $35 is now the baseline for busier days, with the number only going higher when we enter the next big holiday season.

MORE DETAILS

Magic Kingdom Another one of our reporters shared their times and most rides were essentially a 5-10 minute wait when using Genie+. For example, Splash Mountain was a 4 minute wait using a Lightning Lane.

MORE DETAILS

I am happy to report that you can make both a Lightning Lane reservation through Disney Genie+ and try to obtain a Boarding Group through a Virtual Queue at the same time.

MORE DETAILS