By I’ll now stick our head in the lion’s mouth and discuss one of the most divisive topics at Walt Disney World. Which Lightning Lanes should you buy?
Please put down your torches and pitchforks so that we can talk about this like non-violent adults. Also, I kindly request that you remove any dynamite you have strapped to your body.
Yes, I know how you feel about Disney’s Lightning Lane system, which is basically paid FastPass. You hate it, you resent it, and you really don’t want to give Disney money for it.
I hear you, but the problem is that you’re the salmon swimming upstream on this one. Disney has reported specific details about its Lightning Lane sales.
So, we know from government-regulated data that half of park guests are buying Lightning Lanes. If you’re not one of them, you’re only hurting yourself…sometimes.
Still, I’m first in line to tell you that Lightning Lane isn’t necessary in every instance, just sometimes. Let’s go park by park to determine which Lightning Lanes you should buy.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Disney sells Lightning Lane Multi Pass for many of its attractions and Lightning Lane Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage.
Let’s discuss Avatar first, as it’s the most interesting conversation. Currently, the price of a Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage ranges from $14 to $19 per person plus tax.
Let’s emphasize that the person plus tax part can add up quickly for families or traveling parties with large groups.
I won’t calculate the extra price for each discussion since it varies by date, but you should budget an extra ten percent for taxes at Disney lest you face a budget shortfall.
Note that you’ll almost always wait at least an hour for Avatar Flight of Passage and possibly 90+ minutes on more crowded dates.
You can save money by buying the Lightning Lane Single Pass instead. When you use it, you should board the ride in 15 minutes or less on most dates.
That’s how powerful Lightning Lanes are, especially at attractions with hourlong waits. You legitimately skip 80-90 percent of the wait time by paying for the privilege of the Lightning Lane.
That’s why half of guests hold their noses, bite their tongues, and pony up for Lightning Lane. It’s a good service once you get past the fact that it used to be free.
I still don’t recommend Avatar Flight of Passage as a Lightning Lane Single Pass purchase, though. I’ll explain why after talking about Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
That conversation starts with a simple statement. Please don’t buy Lightning Lane Multi Pass for Animal Kingdom unless you intend to Park Hop. Period.
There’s simply no need to spend any of your precious vacation budget money to skip the lines at this park.
Currently, the only other attraction with a prolonged wait also resides at Pandora – The World of Avatar. It’s Na’vi River Journey.
You’ll probably wait at least 50 minutes and possibly as long as 75 minutes to experience this dark boat ride through the wilds of Pandora.
Other than that, most attractions at Animal Kingdom won’t require a prolonged wait on all but the busiest park dates.
Here’s where MickeyTravels agents come into play. When you fear you are visiting on a crowded date, ask your agent if that’s true.
Should they suggest that you are, a Lightning Lane Multi Pass becomes a valuable advantage. When Animal Kingdom is empty, you’re just wasting your money.
Since I expect Animal Kingdom to remain relatively uncrowded until the Tropical Americas opens, I don’t see the need for either Lightning Lane on a single park visit.
However, you should know that Disney currently allows Lightning Lane Multi Passes to work at multiple parks. What does that mean for you?
Well, Animal Kingdom opens the earliest of any Disney theme park. Let’s say that you complete your park visit in mid-afternoon, which a lot of people do.
You could then Park Hop to Magic Kingdom and book some Lightning Lanes there using the Multi Pass you ostensibly bought for Animal Kingdom.
The purchase makes more sense that way. Otherwise, we simply cannot recommend it. And that’s why we don’t suggest the Single Pass for Avatar Flight of Passage either.
Since you’ll find few rides at Animal Kingdom and the park won’t be crowded, you can easily stand in line for everything and still enjoy an enriching park visit.
Besides, you really ought to be visiting Animal Kingdom for the animals anyway. Any rides or other attractions you experience count as a happy bonus.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Okay, remember everything I just said about Animal Kingdom? It’s the exact opposite here. I consider Hollywood Studios to be Walt Disney World’s chaos park.
Since so many E-ticket attractions reside here, everything requires an extended wait. Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.
Star Tours – The Adventures Continue! and Alien Swirling Saucers won’t, nor should any of the shows. Virtually all of the other rides will, though.
So, I’ll go ahead and say it right now. You NEED a Lightning Lane Multi Pass at this park. Otherwise, you’ll spend the entire day standing in line, which isn’t fun.
I’ve tried Hollywood Studios both ways, and I can say from hard-earned experience that my family regretted it whenever we lacked a Lightning Lane Multi Pass.
On some days, five attractions average a wait of an hour or more, with Slinky Dog Dash often crossing 90 minutes.
Hollywood Studios typically operates for 12-13 hours and sometimes even less. I invite you to do the math there to realize how much time you’ll spend on just a handful of rides.
Also, you’ll want to catch some shows at Hollywood Studios, and each one can take a half hour or more as you wait in line, get seated, and watch the performance.
Without a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, odds are great that you’ll exit Hollywood Studios wishing you had accomplished more.
That same bit of logic applies to Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, the Lightning Lane Single Pass at this park.
While Rise of the Resistance no longer requires a two-hour wait like it did during the first few years in operation, it’s still regularly an 80-minute wait.
I think it’s worth $25 per person plus tax for the Lightning Lane Single Pass. In combination with a Multi Pass, you can accomplish a lot at Hollywood Studios.
So, this is the theme park where I advise you to stretch your vacation budget to maximize your park visit.
EPCOT
Here’s a more complicated conversation than the first two, as EPCOT’s attractions reflect a strange imbalance.
I often describe the park as top-heavy due to the small number of E-ticket attractions, most of which require hour-long waits.
Since there are just four of them, you don’t necessarily need Lightning Lane Multi Pass, though. That’s because it’s a park that employs a tiered Lightning Lane system.
You should know that three Disney World parks utilize Lightning Lane tiers.
When you purchase Lightning Lane, you can only select one attraction in the top tier before you arrive.
Then, you can pick two from the other tier, three if you don’t choose one from the top tier. Suffice to say you should always pick one from the top tier.
At Hollywood Studios, so many attractions require long waits that it doesn’t matter much. Conversely, this is the most important consideration at EPCOT.
I say this because the three EPCOT attractions in the top tier are Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Test Track. Those are also the three rides you’d want.
The only park attraction in the other tier you should prioritize is Soarin’ Around the World. So, the value of Lightning Lane Multi Pass at EPCOT isn’t that great.
Sure, you can skim a few minutes here or there on the park’s other attractions, but you’re spending a lot of money for not much time savings.
You’ll face a tougher choice with Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the Lightning Lane Single Pass attraction at EPCOT.
This attraction comes with the longest line at the park, and even though you can do it via standby queue, you miss out on a lot in the process.
That’s time you could be eating, drinking, and shopping, the real reasons to visit EPCOT. Since Cosmic Rewind typically costs around $15-$20, we’d recommend it.
There’s a flip side to this, though. The Lightning Lane Multi Pass generally costs about $22-$25. You may decide you’re saving more time that way.
If that’s your feeling, swap out a Single Pass purchase for a Multi Pass instead. You can really dominate at EPCOT when you do this, even though it’s not my preferred strategy.
Magic Kingdom
You should think of Magic Kingdom as the deluxe version of Hollywood Studios, at least in terms of high-quality attractions.
Many of the Disney rides with name recognition, such as It’s a Small World, Jungle Cruise, and Space Mountain, are all found here.
However, the sheer number of exceptional rides keeps most of the overall wait times in check.
EPCOT often has just as many attractions that require hour-long waits as Magic Kingdom. The difference stems from the quantity of attractions.
At EPCOT, once you ride all the attractions with long waits, the world is your oyster. Everything else will come with a minimal wait.
Magic Kingdom behaves differently in that you will ALWAYS find something you want to do. So, you never quite catch up, no matter how much you achieve. There’s a hunger for more.
That aspect of a park visit changes the calculus at Magic Kingdom. It’s why I recommend a Lightning Lane Multi Pass here.
Once you figure out how Lightning Lane bookings work, you can feast at Magic Kingdom. Since so many attractions offer Lightning Lane access, you’ll find reservations available.
While you’re standing in line for one attraction, you should be scheduling the next one. That way, you’ll maximize the value of your purchase.
The one sticking point with the purchase stems from the price, as Magic Kingdom averages $27 for Lightning Lane Multi Pass and can cost as much as $45.
Once we factor in tax, it can cost up to $50 per person, which quickly adds up for large families or traveling parties. So, I’ll mention that you don’t need a Multi Pass per se.
Many of Disney’s most iconic experiences don’t require extensive waits. You’ll struggle to fit in all the classics with the park’s top rides, TRON Lightcycle / Run and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but it’s fine.
Frankly, you’ll always have the time of your life at Magic Kingdom anyway, which means you don’t need to spend extra money here.
I advise Multi Pass because it makes an incredible visit that much better, but this site will detail a single-day itinerary that should accomplish a comical amount anyway.
You can purchase two different Lightning Lane Single Passes at Magic Kingdom, and it’s the two we just mentioned: Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON.
As the cheaper Single Pass, the Snow White roller coaster won’t cost you a lot, and the ride still requires a 60+ minute wait on most dates.
I’d suggest the Multi Pass instead, as you can save an hour at multiple attractions that way. Still, for $12-$15, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train isn’t a bad deal.
Since TRON is newer and the most popular attraction at Magic Kingdom, you’ll pay a lot more for it. Disney typically charges $20-$23 for this one, making it a tough call.
The wait often reaches 80 minutes, but you can almost purchase Multi Pass for that amount. So, I recommend not to buy it, although you’re doing yourself a favor by splurging.
Presuming you have the disposable income and won’t miss the money much, it’s a no-brainer in terms of time savings. It’s also a high-priority option for Early Theme Park Entry, although it works differently from most.
Thus, despite Ist said, that’s the best way to approach a park visit. As long as you don’t mind being an early bird, you’ll save a fortune on Single Passes AND do everything you want when you Rope Drop or use Early Theme Park Entry.