What are Lightning Lane Passes at WDW?
Disney Lightning Lane Passes are Walt Disney World’s paid-for line-skipping service. When used strategically, they can be super helpful as queues in WDW Florida can be long and you might find yourself wasting valuable time waiting to ride. However, depending on which Parks you visit and at what time of year, you may not need them at all. In this quick guide, we explain their differences, what’s included, when you can book them and how much they cost. Updated May 2026.
What is a Virtual Queue at WDW?
Virtual Queues are used by Disney when a new or updated attraction opens, replacing the regular standby line. Instead of waiting in a physical queue, guests join a Virtual Queue via the My Disney Experience app. There are currently no Virtual Queues in use.
Lightning Lane Passes in detail
There are three types of Lightning Lane Pass, all of which enable you to enter a (much shorter) line at a specific time. Pricing is dynamic, costing more in certain Parks and at busier times of the day/year. Each one works slightly differently, so buckle up:
What is a Lightning Lane Single Pass?
- The Lightning Lane Single Pass (LLSP) can be used on one ride in one Park (each Park features one participating attraction, the most popular, except Magic Kingdom, which has two).
- Prices range between $12 – $25 per person, plus tax (listed on the My Disney Experience mobile app up to 21 days in advance).
- Choose a specific one-hour timeslot to join the line of your chosen ride.
- A maximum of two LLSPs can be purchased daily.
- Each Pass must be for a different ride and can be in different Parks.
Here are the attractions that are included and their typical price range:
Magic Kingdom
- Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Costs $12 – $15 plus tax
- TRON Lightcycle Run. Costs $20 – $23 plus tax
EPCOT
- Guardians of the Galaxy. Costs $15 – $22 plus tax
Disney Hollywood Studios
- Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. Costs $15 – $25 plus tax
Animal Kingdom
- Avatar Flight of Passage. Costs $12 – $19 plus tax
What is a Lightning Lane Multi Pass?
- The Lightning Lane Multi Pass (LLMP) lets you book three attractions in advance from two different Groups/Tiers of attractions at one chosen Theme Park (this should be where you plan to start your day – we’ll explain how to Park hop with your LLMP in a sec). Times of Passes are flexible and can be modified up to the moment you use your LLMP to scan into your first ride on any given day.
The LLMP gives you rolling access to three rides at any time during the day, so once you have used the Pass on one ride its booking slot within your app will reopen and you’ll be able to fill it with another ride selection.
- Prices range from $17 – $45 per person, plus tax (listed on the My Disney Experience mobile app up to 21 days in advance). Magic Kingdom is the most expensive Park.
- Attractions can be visited once per day using LLMP (use the standby lane, if you want to experience an attraction again).
Rides included with a Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios
Magic Kingdom: prices range from $27 -$45 per person, per day, plus taxes.
Group One (you can choose one from this Group in advance!):
- Peter Pan’s Flight®
- Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
- Space Mountain®
- Jungle Cruise®
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad®
Group Two (you can choose two or three (if you don’t book one from Group One) from this Group in advance):
- Haunted Mansion®
- Buzz Lightyear
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- The Barnstormer
- Dumbo the Flying Elephant®
- Mad Tea Party
- It’s a Small World®
- Mickey’s Philharmagic®
- Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid
- Tomorrowland Speedway
- Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor®
- Magic Carpets of Aladdin®
Disney Hollywood Studios: prices range from $23 -$39 per person, per day, plus taxes.
Group One (the most useful/popular – you can choose one from this Group in advance!):
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Train
- Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run
- Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets®
Group Two (you can choose two or three (if you don’t book one from Group One) from this Group in advance):
- Toy Story Mania®
- For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along
- Star Tours® – The Adventure Continues
- Tower of Terror®
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Beauty & the Beast – Live on Stage
- Indiana Jones® Epic Stunt Spectacular
- The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure
- Disney Jr Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Live!
Rides included at EPCOT and Animal Kingdom?
EPCOT: prices range from $19 -$37 per person, per day, plus taxes.
Group One (the most useful/popular – you can choose one from this Group in advance!):
- Remy’s Adventure
- Frozen Ever After (this will be very popular after its recent update)
- Test Track®
Group Two (you can choose two or three from this Group in advance):
- Soarin’® Across America (Around the World closed May 14th, to temporarily be replaced by Across America, as part of Disney’s celebrations for the U.S.’s 250th birthday)
- Living with the Land
- The Seas with Nemo and Friends®
- Turtle Talk with Crush
- Spaceship Earth®
- Mission Space®
- Journey into Imagination with Figment
- Disney & Pixar Short Film Festival
Animal Kingdom: prices range from $16 – $35 per person, per day, plus taxes.
There are no Group One rides at Animal Kingdom.
Group Two (you can choose three from this Group in advance):
- Na’vi River®
- Kilimanjaro Safari®
- Expedition Everest®
- Kali River Rapids®
- Zootopia: Better Together
- Festival of the Lion King
- Feathered Friends in Flight
- Finding Nemo: The Big Blue
How to use Lightning Lane Passes at Walt Disney World
Now, this is where the strategy part kicks in… hold on tight!
- As soon as advance booking opens (see Getting Passes below), begin by booking all three slots in one Park. Have a list of the ‘must-do’ rides you’d like to book beforehand along with some ‘backup’ rides in case your first choices have no current availability; you only have 5 minutes to select and pay so you need to move fast! You can change your choices later.
- Choose a specific one-hour timeslot to join each ride (all available timeslots will be displayed; get as early a time as possible, but don’t panic if your preferred ride/time is not showing… just read on!).
- On the day, once you have scanned into your first ride, you can immediately book another slot, including for rides in different Parks, meaning you can then Park hop. This is because the ride slot that was occupied in your app will now become free (rolling access).
- New ride times are often released on the day so, even if you were unable to get your first picks when you bought and paid for your LLMP, you’ll still have a chance to get a slot for the rides you want on the day.
- If you can’t book all three of your preferred rides, or there isn’t at least one available before 10.30am (or soon after you plan to arrive in the Park). We would suggest making your first booking slot a ‘burner ride’ that is typically quiet so has a short ‘return’ time (the time at which you physically join the Lightning Lane); once you’ve scanned in, look at on-the-day availability for the other rides you want to visit on the View Wait Times & Showtimes screen (tap on the + symbol at the bottom) and fill up your newly empty booking slot as you wish.
- You can modify any existing bookings if earlier or new return times become available.
N.B. Consider where rides and attractions are situated within each Park, so you’re not crossing the Park more than necessary.
What is a Lightning Lane Premier Pass?
- By far the most expensive, the Lightning Lane Premier Pass (LLPP) grants you access once to each available Lightning Lane entrance in a single Theme Park for the whole day (there’s no option to Park Hop here).
- Dynamic pricing sees costs ranging from $129 to $449 per person per day, plus tax, (we’d only recommend purchasing these for Magic Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios).
- With this Pass, there’s no need to pre-book rides, no restrictions to the number of rides you can book at any one time, and everything is available to you.
When can you purchase Lightning Lane Passes from the UK?
Top tip
You might read on Disney’s media that International Visitors cannot buy Passes until they arrive in the USA, but this is not accurate (don’t worry, we promise we’ve checked!).
Disney Lightning Lane Passes go on sale at 7.00am Eastern Time (U.S.). Make sure you check the time difference between the UK, Ireland, and Florida, as it can vary depending on when the clocks change in each country. For better availability, book Lightning Lanes for the end of your trip first!
- Staying in a Disney-owned resort hotel (or select third-party hotels)? You can buy your Passes on the My Disney Experience app (MDE) seven days before your resort stay begins for the whole of your stay (up to 14 days).
- Staying off-site? You’ll be able to buy your Passes on the MDE app three days before your Park visit, and if you have a date-based ticket* (most UK ones will be), for the total number of valid admission days on your ticket.
- *If you don’t have a date-based ticket, you will be able to purchase Lightning Lane passes three days in advance of each day of your visit (you may be required to make a Park reservation before purchasing).
Do you need to buy Disney Lightning Lane Passes?
Honestly, we don’t think you’ll get much benefit from Lightning Lane Multi Passes in Animal Kingdom, but you might want to consider using them in Magic Kingdom, Disney Hollywood Studios and possibly EPCOT (more so, with the recent Frozen updates and with Soarin’ introducing the new Soarin’ Across America at the end of May), especially if you’re visiting at a busy time of year. Passes do regularly sell out, so think about budgeting and buying before you go, but don’t get swept along in a wave of FOMO!
Our Walt Disney World planning guides for families from the UK and Ireland include a section on Lightning Lane Passes and Virtual Queues, providing clear, precise details on how and when to book (the process is a little complicated), and are packed with other useful hints to make your trip more enjoyable.
FAQs
There are three types of Pass, all of which enable you to enter a much shorter queue at a specific time. The three passes are:
Single Pass: used for one ride only; the most popular rides in each Park use this pass.
Multi Pass: this pass lets you book three rides, either 7 days in advance (if you are staying at a Disney Resort) or 3 days in advance (if you are staying elsewhere), from two different tiers at one chosen park.
Premium Pass: the most expensive pass; it allows you to access every available Lightning Lane once at a single theme park. No pre-booking required!
Lightning Lane Single Passes range from $12 to $25 per person per day, plus tax. Pricing is dynamic and changes with demand. The most expensive LLSP is Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios. Lightning Lane Multi Passes range from $17 to $45 per person per day, plus tax. Again, pricing is dynamic. Magic Kingdom is the most expensive park, but it also has the largest number of rides included. Lightning Lane Premier Pass is the latest addition and the most expensive, with prices ranging from $129 (Animal Kingdom) to $449 (Magic Kingdom) per person, per day, plus tax. You can find details of all prices 21 days in advance on the My Disney Experience app.
Lightning Lanes are Walt Disney World’s paid-for line-skipping service. Guests can buy 3 different types of passes to access these lanes: Single Pass, Multi Pass and Premier Pass.
Yes, you can, despite what Disney says officially. They are available to purchase either 7 days in advance (if you are staying at a Disney Resort) or 3 days in advance (if you are staying elsewhere). Lightning Lane Passes are purchased via the My Disney Experience app and require a valid payment method.
The tier system only applies to Lightning Lane Multi Passes. Each park has 2 tiers: the most popular rides and attractions are in Tier 1, and the rest are in Tier 2. When you purchase a Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can only select one ride from Tier 1 and either 2 or 3 (3 in total) from Tier 2. However, once you arrive at the park and have scanned into your first ride, the Tier system no longer applies.
Used strategically, yes, they can make a big difference. Especially if you are visiting during peak season. However, they are not necessary for all parks. Lightning Lane Multi Passes are most useful for Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios; however, we wouldn’t recommend using one for Animal Kingdom at this time and only on some occasions for EPCOT. There are other strategies to beat the queues on the most popular rides, such as arriving 30-45 minutes before Early Entry or Rope Drop (the official park opening).
Yes! A Lightning Lane Multi Pass gives you rolling access to three rides at any time during the day. So once you have scanned into your first ride, you can use the pass to book another ride. As Disney releases more availability on the day, this can be a really good way to snag rides that couldn’t be booked in advance. This is why we recommend booking a ‘burner ride’ as soon as you arrive in the parks!
About the Author
Hi, I’m Andrea from Fabulous Park Days. I’ve been visiting Walt Disney World with my family since 2011 and help UK and Irish families plan stress-free Disney holidays with my regularly updated planning guides and useful blog posts.
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