2024 Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Strategies
By Rikki
Walt Disney World recently revamped Disney Genie+. The service has officially become Lightning Lane Multi Pass, while individual Lightning Lane will now be known as Lightning Lane Single Pass.
Here are the changes that have taken place:
- Guests will be able to make plans before you visit
- Choose experiences and times prior to purchasing, so you know what you’re getting
- Book passes for multiple vacation days, all in a single day
How Does Lightning Lane Work?
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
When you purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you have the ability to make up to 3 attraction selections in a theme park, in advance of your visit. You also are able to choose available times as you make your selections.
On the day of your visit, once you use a selection, you’ll be able to check the My Disney Experience app for availability to make an additional attraction selections.
Lightning Lane Single Pass
Lightning Lane Single Pass works much like it already does. Guests can secure a time to ride the park’s most popular attractions, but you can now make your purchase and plan in advance.
How Can You Plan Ahead?
By having the opportunity to pre-plan your selections, it allows Guests the chance to choose times that works best for your schedule, like working with dining reservations or any other plans that have been pre-planned.
Guests staying at a Disney Resort hotel and other select hotels are able to plan their attractions up to 7 days in advance beginning at 7:00 a.m., for their entire stay (up to 14 days). All other Guests will have the opportunity to plan up to 3 days in advance beginning at 7:00 a.m.
Pricing
Lightning Lane Multi Pass varies in pricing, based on the date the Guest is visiting. Pricing will be cheaper on less busy days and it will cost you more to use the Lightning Lane service on busier, peak days. Example pricing is $15 per Guest, per day on less busy dates, $35 on busier dates, and somewhere in between on other dates (plus tax.)
Magic Kingdom Lightning Lane Attractions
Multi Pass Experiences
When purchasing a Lightning Lane Multi Pass for Magic Kingdom, you’ll be prompted to choose up to 3 multi pass experiences and arrival windows.
Choose up to one experience from this group:
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Jungle Cruise
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Space Mountain
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Choose your other 2 experiences—or all 3—from this group:
- The Barnstormer
- Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant
- Haunted Mansion
- “it’s a small world”
- Mad Tea Party
- The Magic Carpets of Aladdin
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Mickey’s PhilharMagic
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid
Single Pass Attractions (Not Available with the Multi Pass)
A Lightning Lane Single Pass can be purchased for:
- TRON Lightcycle / Run
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Disney Lightning Lane Tips for Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom has the most attractions of any park at Walt Disney World, so there are endless ways to organize your Lightning Lane Multi Plus selections. Here are a few tips to help you decide which three experiences you will choose.
General Strategy
If you and your group are up for anything and just want to experience all that the park has to offer, the attractions for which Magic Kingdom Lightning Lanes will save you the most time are generally Peter Pan’s Flight, as well as Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Peter Pan has consistently long lines nearly all the time, so if you think your group would like to ride it, that might be the most valuable Lightning Lane selection for you, no matter the age group. However, if you are visiting with Guests who are a little more adventurous, we would strongly suggest choosing Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Space Mountain, or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, in that order for your Group 1 attraction.
For the Group 2 attractions, we suggest first choosing Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, or The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. (The last one gets surprisingly long waits.)
Once you use your first Lightning Lane reservation, we strongly suggest making your next reservations for one of the other attractions in Group 1, specifically one of the ones you didn’t choose that was mentioned above.
Groups with Small Children
When visiting the Magic Kingdom with small children, Peter Pan’s Flight should be the first priority, as explained above. After that, the rides that will most likely save you the most time are Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Pirates of the Caribbean.
However, the Magic Kingdom offers several other attractions that might be beneficial for groups with small children. Those include Haunted Mansion, Tomorrowland Speedway, and Dumbo.
Thrill Seekers
For thrill seekers visiting the Magic Kingdom, arguably, the biggest thrills are Space Mountain, Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, and Big Thunder Mountain. The problem is, you’re not going to be able to choose all three! You’ll have to make a choice. Therefore, I would say, choose whichever one you’re most excited to experience as your first Tier 1 option. (Though Tiana’s might want to be your first choice, just because it’s the newest. However, if you don’t want to get wet, as Tiana’s Bayou Adventure is a water ride, choose one of the other two attractions.)
For Tier 2, I would go with the classics of Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. Then, as soon as you can make additional Lightning Lane choices, I would choose whichever thrill attraction mentioned about that has the earliest time, ride that and then choose the other thrill attraction after, hopefully with Lightning Lane still available. If it’s not, ride by waiting in the standby queue. (Or virtual queue in the case of Tiana’s.)
Thrill seekers will also want to purchase the Individual Lightning Lane option for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and TRON Lightcycle / Run.
Tips and Tricks
If you are booking Lightning Lane reservations later in the day, you can “stack” reservations close to each other. This means that you can experience numerous attractions in quick succession. Be sure you give yourself enough time to experience the attractions and travel to the next.
Guests are also able to book a Lightning Lane reservation for a park that they have not yet park hopped to. So if you are planning on hopping, you can make a reservation for an attraction in the park you’re planning to hop to before you begin your travel to save time upon arrival.
But now, I want to know your thoughts. Do I have the strategy right or am I missing something that you think is super important? You can share with me in the comments or on social! Find me on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.
Book Your Next Trip!
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By Rikki
