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Why Savvy Disney World Travelers Are Using EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass

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We’ve found Disney’s Multi Pass service (formerly Genie+) a great way to save time in line. While it may cost a little extra, in the case of EPCOT park, it’s a situation where spending a little more could save you a lot of waiting. Some of EPCOT’s Lightning Lane Multi Pass rides also happen to be some of Disney World’s newest and most popular rides, so knowing how to use the service effectively is another key to success. Below, you’ll find our tried-and-true tips for using Multi Pass at EPCOT as well as our best EPCOT Multi Pass itineraries.

How Disney Genie Works

Disney World FastPass is now part of the Genie service and known as Genie+
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If you aren’t well versed in the world of Disney Genie, let’s just say you may want to spend some time learning the basics. We’ve covered everything in our Guide to Genie, but here is an explanation of how the service works in a nutshell.

First, Disney Genie service is available through the My Disney Experience app and consists of an itinerary planning solution known simply as Genie, as well as the line-skipping service called Lightning Lane Multi Pass. With Disney Genie, you answer some basic questions about your trip, and the My Disney Experience app will provide you with recommendations throughout your day in the park.

As part of Disney Genie, EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass allows you to pay a daily fee to skip the regular queue at many of the most popular attractions in favor of a shorter Lightning Lane. Entry to the Lightning Lane is controlled by a reservation system to keep lines short. Guests will also use the My Disney Experience app for booking Lightning Lane reservations.

Screenshot of the My Disney Experience app showing the option to prepurches Disney World multipass

How to Book EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass

When you book your EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass reservation, you’ll have one hour from the start of your window to ride. For instance, if the My Disney Experience app shows that EPCOT’s Spaceship Earth has availability in the Lightning Lane starting at 1:30 pm, and you book a Lightning Lane Multi Pass for that time, you could ride anytime between 1:30 and 2:30.

EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass costs a flat rate for each day and varies depending upon which day you are visiting. While Multi Pass includes most popular rides, you’ll find that at least one ride in each park requires an additional purchase of an Lightning Lane Single Pass to skip the regular queue. Again, the price varies depending on the ride and date you are visiting. You can learn more about this in our article dedicated to Single Pass at Disney World.

Up to 3 Multi Pass reservations per person, per day may be booked up to 7 days prior to arrival for Disney World resort guests, and anyone staying at Shades of Green and Disney Swan or Dolphin resorts. Guests of other resorts may book up to 3 days prior to arrival for their length of stay.

When booking EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass in advance, guests will notice a tiered system. You may preselect one attraction from Tier one and 2 attractions from Tier 2 for each day you opt to prebook. You may also decide to book all 3 selections from Tier 2.

Once inside the parks, you may continue booking rides from any tier each time you use a Lightning Lane Multi Pass selection, provided there is availability.

EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass Rides – Tier One

  • Frozen Ever After
  • Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
  • Soarin’ Around the World
  • Test Track is under refurbishment at the time of this writing, but we anticipate this ride will join the Tier One list when it reopens

EPCOT Lightning Lane Multi Pass Rides – Tier Two

  • Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival
  • Journey into Imagination with Figment
  • Living with the Land
  • Mission: SPACE – Green
  • Mission: SPACE – Orange
  • Spaceship Earth
  • The Seas with Nemo & Friends
  • Turtle Talk with Crush

EPCOT Lightning Lane Single Pass Rides:

  • Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind

Is Lightning Lane Multi Pass Worth It for EPCOT?

the seas Pavilion exterior shot where you can use EPCOT Lightning Lane.
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Since there are a number of things to do in EPCOT that don’t involve rides–such as enjoying some of Disney World’s best restaurants or exploring the World Showcase–people often ask if purchasing the Lightning Lane Multi Pass is worth it at EPCOT. If you’re looking to save time in line and experience everything this park has to offer in a single day, then we would say, yes. Purchasing Multi Pass at EPCOT will help you make more of your time in the park by making sure you spend a minimal amount of time waiting to ride popular attractions.

The reason we recommend Lightning Lane Multi Pass at EPCOT is simple. Lines on popular rides can get very long. It isn’t uncommon for the regular queue at Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure or Frozen Ever After to stack up 60-to-80-minute waits. In contrast, experiencing each of these rides via the Lightning Lane would take only 5 to 15 minutes.


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One reason you need to be concerned with minimizing waits at EPCOT is the sheer size of the park. It can take you 20 to 30 minutes to walk from Test Track over to the Canada Pavilion and an additional 30 to 60 minutes to make your way around the World Showcase, and that’s without stopping.

Additionally, since many rides are housed in pavilions with additional experiences to enjoy, you’ll spend a lot of extra time exploring other sights and sounds.

Mapping Out an EPCOT Lightning Lane Strategy

When using Lightning Lane Multi Pass at EPCOT, it’s important to have a strategy. We recommend you arrive early. For guests of Disney World resorts, this means taking advantage of Early Theme Park Entry. If you’re staying offsite, make sure you arrive at least 30 minutes before park opening, so you can be one of the first guests allowed in.

The early strategy also means booking your first EPCOT Lightning Lane selection as soon as your booking window opens. The booking window begins at 7:00 am.

When creating an EPCOT Lightning Lane strategy, it’s also important to understand that Multi Pass reservations for some rides will book up before the day’s end. For that reason, we recommend you book certain rides first thing, to ensure that you are able to get a Multi Pass reservation before they are gone for the day.

The rides that tend to book up include:

  • Frozen Ever After
  • Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
  • Test Track

Since Frozen and Remy Multi Pass reservations can be gone by midday, we recommend that you book one of these at your earliest booking window. Our strategy usually involves staying at a Disney World resort and taking advantage of Early Theme Park Entry. This allows us to book a Multi Pass reservation for Remy and ride Test Track or Frozen using the standby queue with little wait.


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Booking Additional EPCOT Multi Pass Reservations

Since you may book a new Multi Pass reservation into the Lightning Lane each time you use one, we recommend that you book a new ride every time you enter the Lightning Lane. Let’s look at an Example.

When visiting Disney World, we book Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure as soon as our booking window opens at 7:00 am, 7 days prior to arrival. We look for a return time around 10:00 am. We make our second preselection of the day for Spaceship Earth. We usually schedule this after lunch. We use our last preselection for Mission Space for a time shortly after Spaceship Earth.

This strategy allows us to ride Test Track (when available) and Soarin’ Around the World during Early Entry, with little wait. We then hit Living with the Land, maybe grab some breakfast, and make our way over to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. As soon as we’ve scanned through the queue, we open the My Disney Experience app and make a reservation for Frozen Ever After.

Exterior of Remy's Ratatouille Adventure ride, and experiece worth using the EPCOT Genie Plus system.
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If we are unable to get into the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, we will book a Single Pass reservation for this ride. While it may cost a little extra to do so, using Single pass can save us up to 2 hours in line, giving us more time to explore the World Showcase or the EPCOT festival taking place at the time of our visit.

Making Your EPCOT Multi Pass Itinerary

While it’s impossible to plan out a perfectly timed EPCOT Lightning Lane itinerary, it’s a good idea to arrive with an idea of which attractions you will ride, and the order you will book your EPCOT Multi Pass reservations, as well as the order in which you plan to experience the other attractions on your list.

For guests of Disney World resort, we recommend an EPCOT Lightning Lane itinerary that has you arriving for Early Theme Park Entry and making the first Multi Pass reservation for the day for either Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure or Frozen. If you’re purchasing a Single Pass for Guardians of the Galaxy, plan it for mid-afternoon. You can then follow the steps below:


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CLICK TO VIEW CATALOGUE
  1. Ride Test Track first thing during Early Theme Park Entry
  2. Soarin’ Around the World
  3. Living with the Land
  4. The Seas with Nemo and Friends
  5. The Seas Main Tank and Pavilion
  6. Turtle Talk with Crush
  7. Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure/Frozen (Make new Lighting Lane reservation for either Ratatouille or Frozen)
  8. Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros (Mexico)
  9. Guardians of the Galaxy Virtual Queue reservation
  10. Lunch
  11. Journey into Imagination with Figment
  12. Redeem Multi Pass for Frozen/Remy (Make new Multi Pass reservation for Mission Space or Spaceship Earth)
  13. Mission Space using Multi Pass or Spaceship Earth
  14. Guardians of the Galaxy (Lightning Lane Single Pass)
  15. Tour the World Showcase Pavilions

Keep in mind when using any EPCOT Genie Plus itinerary, you’ll need to continue booking Multi Pass reservations every time you use one. Also, remember that no one can predict your EPCOT Lightning Lane return times in advance, so you may need to tweak your itinerary to make your ride window.

Making the Most of EPCOT Lightning Lane

EPCOT Spaceship Earth
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EPCOT is the perfect park for using Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Just remember to book a new reservation every time you use one. We realize that learning the ins and outs of Multi Pss can be challenging. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us at in**@se*********.net.


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We're Kat and Ali, a pair of mother-daughter travel bloggers exploring the U.S. We're sharing our experiences, tips and insights to help you more easily get out and explore the beautiful landscapes and places of this nation.

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Kathleen Hesketh

Kathleen is a travel agent with Mickey World Travel, a platinum level Authorized Disney vacation planner, where she helps people discover the magic of a Disney vacation and other travel destinations. She is also the chief author and editor for Seconds to Go - a travel blog where she shares experiences from traveling the U.S. with her daughters. Kathleen has been a professional writer for more than a decade, helping businesses craft compelling content to advance organizational goals.

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