So, you’ve finally gotten a handle on the new Disney Lightning Lane Muti Pass service and think you understand how to use the Lightning Lane. Then suddenly you realize not every ride is available with Multi Pass. For some of the most popular rides, you must purchase a separate pass to the Lightning Lane at Disney World, adding another complicated layer to a service that already sounds tricky to navigate.
The good news is, it isn’t as difficult as it may sound to use the Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney World. All it takes is a few tips and pointers to get you on your way.
Lightning Lane Multi Pass Versus Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney World
When Disney retired Fastpass+ in 2021, they unveiled a new line-skipping service creatively christened Genie+. Genie+ was meant to be magic, getting you to the fun and excitement faster by offering a dedicated queue called a Lightning Lane. At the same time, the powers that be also introduced a novel new concept, not so creatively named, called the Individual Lightning Lane (ILL).
In 2024, Genie+ underwent a name change to Lightning Lane Multi Pass. The Individual Lightning Lane is now called Lightning Lane Single Pass.
If you’re still with me through the name changes, you’re probably wondering what the difference is between these two Lightning Lane passes. The answer is simple. The rides available through the LIghtning Lane queue.
For the unitiated, the Lightning Lane is a separate queue from the regular ride line, often referred to as the standby queue. Only guests who purchase a Lightning Lane Multi Pass may enter the Lightning Lane for most rides, and they do so, by booking a one-hour ride window to visit the line. Multi Pass offers and opportunity to enter the much shorter Lightning Lane and skip the standby line altogether.
While any mouse invention that can save us time waiting in line is a good thing, Multi Pass does have some limitations. The biggest is the fact that it does not cover every ride. The most popular rides, the ones that tend to stack up the longest lines, require the purchase of a Single Pass if you wish to use the Lightning Lane.
To put it simply, you can pay to purchase Multi Pass and not have access to the Lightning Lane for rides governed by Single Pass. However, the reverse is also true. You may purchase admittance to a Single Pass Lightning Lane and not have access to Multi Pass Lightning Lanes.
Another thing to note before we move onto booking is this: There is no blanket Lightning Lane Single Pass. Access to each Single Pass Lightning Lane ride must be purchased separately.
In short, if you plan to park hop and would like to book a Lightning Lane Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage and Guardians of Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, you will need to purchase admittance to two separate Single Pass Lightning Lanes.
Guests are limited to two Single Pass purchases in a single day.
Lightning Lane Single Pass Rides
To date, each park has at least one Lightning Lane Single Pass experience.
Animal Kingdom Lightning Lane Single Pass Rides
- Avatar Flight of Passage
EPCOT Lightning Lane Single Pass Rides
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
Disney Hollywood Studios Lightning Lane Single Pass Rides
- Star Wars Rise of the Resistance
Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Single Pass Rides
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
- TRON: Lightcycle Run
With the exception of the rides listed above, access to the Lightning Lane for most attractions can be obtained by purchasing a Multi Pass.
How to Book a Lightning Lane Single Pass Reservation at Disney World
Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations can be booked through the My Disney Experience app. Fortunately, it’s quite simple to do.
First, you will need to create a My Disney Experience account and link all of the members travelling in your party.
Once everyone in your travel group is linked through My Disney Experience, simply open the My Disney Experience app and navigate to the home screen. Here you will see a tile titled “Lightning Lane Passes.”
Tap this tile and you will be taken to a new screen offering you the option to purchase either a Multi Pass or a Single Pass. Tap Lightning Lane Single Pass.
You will then be asked to select the date for which you’d like to purchase the Lightning Lane Single Pass and then the park. You’ll see the purcahse price for that date, so you can determine it’s compatible with your budget before committing.
Once you’ve agreed to complete the purchase, you’ll be asked to select your travel party from the list of guests linked to your account.
From there, select your rides and times. Keep in mind that you will have one hour from the time that you select to enter the Lightning Lane queue for the ride. If you opt for a 2:00 pm ride time, you may enter the Lightning Lane at anytime between 2:00 and 3:00.
When Can I Book a Disney World Lightning Lane Single Pass?
Guests staying at a Disney World resort, Shades of Green or the Swan or Dolphin may begin booking Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations beginning 7 days prior to arrival. Each guest may make up to 2 preselections per day for the length of their trip. Active and retired members of the military, and their guests, who hold a military rate ticket may also book Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations 7 days prior to arrival.
Guests of all other resorts, such as Good Neighbor Hotels, may begin booking Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations 3 days prior to arrival. They may also make up to 2 reservations per guest, per day.
Unlike Lightning Lane Multi Pass preselections, preselected Lightning Lane Single Pass reservations do not have to be made in the same park. If you plan to visit Hollywood Studios and EPCOT in a single day, you may purchase Lightning Lane Single Passes for both Star Wars Rise of the Resistance and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, provided you have a park hopper ticket.
Disney World Lightning Lane Single Pass Prices
There is no one size fits all price for booking a Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney World. Each attraction may be priced differently, depending on when you are traveling.
Generally, we’ve seen the cost for the Lightning Lane Single Pass average around $22 per ride, per person. However, prices may go up, depending upon demand over time.
Can I still Ride Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass Enabled Rides Using the Standby Queue?
All attractions at Disney World that are enabled with a Lightning Lane continue to offer a standby queue. If you prefer not to purchase the Lightning Lane Single Pass, you are free to use the standby line. The only exception to this rule is when a virtual queue is in place.
How Often May I Use a Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney World?
To make it fair for all guests, you may only purchase entrance to each ride once in a day, using a Lightning Lane Single Pass. For example, if you want to purchase access to the Lightning Lane for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, you may do so once on a given day.
If you want to ride it again and not wait in line, you will need to purchase a second Lightning Lane Single Pass for a different day or use the standby line. However, if you have a park hopper ticket, you may purchase access to up to two Lightning Lanes on any given day, provided you are purchasing the Single Pass for separate rides.
Planning Your Lightning Lane Single Pass Strategy
Each park has a different number of rides and attractions. Some are more popular than others and can easily stack up long lines, resulting in high wait times. Therefore, deciding when and where to use the Lightning Lane Single Pass varies by park.
Guests who decide not to use Lightning Lane Single Pass are often fans of “rope dropping.”
Each of Disney’s parks has a published opening time, but guests can begin lining up at the turnstiles 30 to 60 minutes before the park opens. When the lines at the turnstiles get too long, cast members will begin admitting guests.
However, guests are not permitted full access to the park. Often, a rope or multiple ropes, cordon off the main section(s) of the park. This is where the term “rope drop” or “rope dropping” originates.
In some parks, such as Hollywood Studies, you are invited to queue for some rides, they the ride itself will not open until the park does.
Guests who “rope drop” a park are positioned as close to this rope or entrance as possible. By moving directly toward a certain attraction when the rope drops, you’ll be one of the first visitors to ride, drastically reducing the time you’ll spend in line for popular attractions.
Lightning Lane Single Pass Animal Kingdom Strategy
Animal Kingdom Without Lightning Lane Single Pass
If you’re willing to get up early and use the rope drop strategy, Animal Kingdom is an easy park to visit without using the Lightning Lane Single Pass. Just make sure to position yourself as close as possible to the rope leading toward the Africa/Pandora side of the park.
Guests who rope drop Avatar Flight of Passage during Early Theme Park Entry are usually on and off the ride before most guests have begun to arrive. This is particularly true if you are staying at a Disney World resort and have access to Extended Theme Park Early Entry, a perk for guests staying at Disney World resorts.
We usually head next to Kilimanjaro Safari, followed by Expedition Everest and then Dinosaur. However, if you plan to ride Na’vi River Journey without the use of Multi Pass, make that your second stop after Flight of Passage.
Animal Kingdom Using Lightning Lane Single Pass
If you do plan to purchase the Lightning Lane Single Pass for Flight of Passage, we recommend you book your ride window for later in the day. This will allow you to start with Na’vi River Journey, followed by Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur, in that order.
The remainder of the rides and attractions will have roughly the same wait throughout the day. By following this strategy, you should be able to hit the biggest headliners before lunch and with little time spent in line.
Lightning Lane Single Pass Hollywood Studios Strategy
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is home to some of Disney World’s most popular rides. No surprising, it’s the park with some of the highest wait times as well. If you only plan to purchase Multi Pass or the Lightning Lane Single Pass once during your trip, use it at Hollywood Studios.
Hollywood Studios Without Lightning Lane Single Pass
Hollywood Studios is one of the toughest parks to visit if you do not plan to use Lightning Lane Multi Pass or at a minimum, the Lightning Lane Single Pass for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance. However, you should be able to visit all attractions as long as you are willing to wait in some lines up to an hour or more.
While many people will rope drop Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, we usually take a different approach. Since we know we will be waiting in moderate to long line for all rides anyway, we try to minimize how long we wait at each individual ride by starting with Rock ‘N’ Roller coaster, followed by Tower of Terror and then Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run.
By following this strategy, incorporated with Early Theme Park entry, we can experience the first three rides of the day with minimal wait and be done before 10:00 am. If you aren’t using Early Theme Park Entry, the strategy is the same. Just expect to finish 20-30 minutes later in the day.
We usually plan lunch around 11:00 and fill in any time before this by experiencing a ride that has consistently low wait times, such as Muppet Vision 3-D. By the time our lunch is over, wait times at rides are diminishing some, as the majority of guests take a break to eat.
We take advantage of lull to get in line for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, followed by Alien Swirling Saucers, Toy Story Mania and then Star Tours. We take some time in the afternoon to catch some shows or do a little shopping.
We also keep a close eye on the My Disney Experience app and jump in line to revisit our favorites if we see a wait time drop somewhere. After dinner, we hit the other most popular rides, Slinky Dog Dash and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway as close to park closing as we can.
Hollywood Studios with Lightning Lane Single Pass
If you plan to purchase an Lightning Lane Single Pass for Star Wars Rise of the Resistance, you will reduce how much time you’ll spend in line. However, the strategy we take isn’t much different. Simply follow the strategy outlined above, but make a late-day reservation for Rise of the Resistance.
Rides tend to stack up wait times as the day goes on, before dwindling again as you get closer to park close. Taking this approach allows you to get in as many high-wait attractions before or after wait times begin to stack up.
Lightning Lane Single Pass EPCOT Strategy
Despite the fact that there are few actual rides at EPCOT, purchasing Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy:Cosmic Rewind could save you a lot of time. However, the queue is a big part of the experience with this ride, so we do recommend that guests visit the ride through the virtual queue at least once.
EPCOT Without Lightning Lane Single Pass
Guests experiencing EPCOT without the purchase of Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy would do best to rope drop this experience if they have Early Theme Park Entry. Follow it up with a visit to Test Track, followed by Frozen and then Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. After Lunch, feel free to check the My Disney Experience app and visit attractions with the lowest wait times. Afternoons tend to be moderate to light for most attractions.
If you do not have access to Early Entry, begin your morning with a ride on Test Track. Hop on over to Guardians of the Galaxy next, as it often experiences a bit of a dip in line waits around this time. Follow with the remainder of the schedule as noted above.
EPCOT With Lightning Lane Single Pass
If you plan to visit EPCOT and purchase the Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy, make your reservation for later in the afternoon or evening. This allows you to arrive at opening and enjoy Test Track, before proceeding into the World Showcase through Mexico. When you reach Norway, spend some time with Elsa on Frozen and then visit everyone’s favorite rat on Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure.
By now, it’s likely lunch time, so grab a bite at one of the fabulous EPCOT restaurants and fill in the remainder of the afternoon visiting other attractions, before entering the Lightning Lane Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy
Lightning Lane Single Pass Magic Kingdom Strategy
Magic Kingdom offers the widest array of rides and attractions, and also happens to be the park most popular with younger visitors. For this reason, a strategy is important if you want to spend as little time as possible in line.
We recommend splitting Magic Kingdom up across two days, but if you only have a day to spend, it’s especially important to take advantage of Early Theme Park Entry. At a minimum, plan on being there for rope drop.
Magic Kingdom Without Lightning Lane Single Pass
If you plan to rope drop Magic Kingdom and you have access to Early Theme Park Entry, we do not recommend that you race to Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at park opening unless you are at the beginning for the line heading in this direction. Since many people take this approach, lines for this ride can be highest during the first hour of the morning. We recommend the same approach for anyone who is not using Early Theme Park Entry.
Instead, try hitting the rides that get the longest wait times during the later part of the day. These include:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Space Mountain
- Splash Mountain
If you knock out 3 or 4 of these early in the day, you will experience much shorter wait times, saving you time overall. Save Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for late afternoon or before park closing. You’re likely to spend the same amount of time in line as you would first thing, probably less, but you won’t have to worry about missing the shorter lines on other attractions.
Magic Kingdom With Lightning Lane Single Pass
Purchasing Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney World for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train could easily save you 50 to 80 minutes standing in line. That’s why this is one of the Lightning Lane Single Pass purchases we highly recommend at Disney World. As long as TRON remains on a virtual queue, you can omit the Single Pass Purchase, provided you are willing to rise at 7:00 am and earn admittance.
When laying out your Lightning Lane Single Pass strategy for Magic Kingdom, we recommend the same approach as we do when visiting without Single Pass. Fill your morning with the attractions that tend to stack up long wait times as the day goes on, and book your ILL for late afternoon or early evening.
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Is Lightning Lane Single Pass at Disney World Worth It?
When visiting Disney World, we always find it worth it to purchase Lightning Lane Single Pass at Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. Waiting 5 to ten minutes in line instead of an hour is a serious time saver and an important consideration in parks where there is so much to see and do.
As already discussed in the Animal Kingdom strategy, we think purchasing Lightning Lane Single Pass here won’t really save you much time if you’re willing to rope drop Avatar Flight of Passage with Early Theme Park Entry. If you don’t have access to this Disney resort perk, or just prefer not to rise with the birds while on vacation, purchasing the Single Pass will save you quite a bit of time in line. However, the purchase isn’t vital, and you can still experience an enjoyable time without it.
When it comes to EPCOT, we do recommend purchasing Lightning Lane Single Pass if you are unable to get into the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy. At some point, this virtual queue will be closed down and your only line-skipping opportunity will come from purchasing the Single Pass.
EPCOT is large and spread out. Plus, the few headliners in the park can stack up very long waits. Purchasing Single Pass allows you to easily experience these rides in the morning when lines are shorter, before heading over for your Lightning Lane Single Pass Experience on Guardians later in the day.
Of course, if you’re vacation enjoyment hinges on spending the least amount of time in line as possible, you’ll want to pair your Lightning Lane Single Pss purchases with the purchase of Multi Pass.
