Honest Review of the New Lightning Lane Pass at Disney World

Walt Disney World continues to make changes and the newest change is regarding Lighting Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass. Check out our full review and see which park you may want to skip purchasing this new pass.

What is the Lightning Lane Pass?

Walt Disney World recently made a change from the previous Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lane system that allows guests to skip the line for a fee. The new Lightning Lane Multi Pass is very similar to the previous Disney Genie+ with a few exceptions.

Onsite Guests will be able to purchase and make selections 7 days ahead of their arrival date. Offsite Guests will be able to do so 3 days ahead. Guests can still purchase the Lightning Lane Multi Pass for the day of their visit but will not see the same availability if purchased earlier.

You can now purchase both Lighting Lane Single Pass (similar to the Individual Lightning Lane) for select attractions at the same time as the Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Check out the full guide to purchasing and making Lightning Lane selections HERE.

Pre-Selections

I (Donna) had a trip planned before this big change was announced. The idea of pre-selected attractions was very intriguing and gave me FastPass+ vibes.

As a Walt Disney World Resort guest, I enjoyed access to great attractions with great return times. The process was very quick and easy. I was quite optimistic that this may be the big change that Walt Disney World needed.

Since my day at EPCOT was also my travel day, I knew that I would not arrive to the park until around 10:00 am. I chose to skip the Lightning Lane Multi Pass for this day. I did purchase the Lightning Lane Multi Pass for Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Magic Kingdom

My optimism about the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass melted almost as quickly as a Mickey bar in the Florida heat for my first day at Magic Kingdom. I had a nice line-up for the day with Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, and Tiana’s Bayou Adventure all with return times before lunch.

With the new tiers, I chose Tiana’s Bayou Adventure rather than other bigger attractions. The problem with this was that both Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion had no wait for my return time.

I attempted to modify my return time until later, but found that the only return times were later in the afternoon. The fact that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure had a delayed opening added further frustration.

Typically, Magic Kingdom offers the highest variable pricing for Disney Genie+ and the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass. The price for Tuesday, July 30 was $28. I was blown away that wait times were low, but I could not enjoy return times earlier than late afternoon.

Feeling a bit defeated and quite disappointed, I requested a refund at Guest Relations. The Cast Member was extremely kind and helpful. It appeared that I was not the only guest disappointed and requesting a refund.

The Magic Kingdom offered low wait times for my visit, and I enjoyed every attraction I hoped to enjoy without the use of the Lightning Lane Multi Pass. I remained hopeful that I would have better success at the other parks.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom

Sivako! I was ready to “Rise to the Challenge” trying out the new Lightning Lane Multi Pass at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. With my pre-selected attractions, I chose 8:20 am for Na’vi River Journey, 9:25 am for Dinosaur, and 10:00 am for Kilimanjaro Safaris.

This was a great way to start the day, I was able to rope drop and enjoy Flight of Passage two times before heading over to Na’vi River Journey. Once I redeemed this Lightning Lane, I could make my next Lightning Lane selection.

For this day, I knew I would park hop over to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to enjoy Fantasmic! and decided to try stacking some attractions at Hollywood Studios for later. I selected Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster for 4:00 pm which is a Tier 1 attraction.

Later when I redeemed both Dinosaur and Kilimanjaro Safaris, I booked Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway for 5:00 pm, and Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at 6:00 pm.

This plan worked great for me because the other attractions at Disney’s Animal Kingdom offered such a low wait time. I enjoyed all of them and then had a great evening lined up at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Starting the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, I pre-selected Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at 9:20 am, Tower of Terror at 10:20 am, and Toy Story Mania at 11:05 am. This was perfect timing to enjoy both attractions on Sunset Boulevard back to back, and then enjoy lunch at Toy Story Land.

Again, I planned to hop to Magic Kingdom later in the day and made Lightning Lane selections for Space Mountain at 4:40 pm, Pirates of the Caribbean at 6:40 pm, and Jungle Cruise at 6:40 pm.

When I arrived at Magic Kingdom, I had to change the Jungle Cruise selection as a huge rainstorm closed many of the outdoor attractions. Thankfully, with Multi Pass, I could book smaller indoor attractions with no wait.

Lines were staggering for the indoor attractions and it seemed Disney opened many more arrival windows. Even with the downpour, I could enjoy “it’s a small world”, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and Under the Sea ~Journey of the Little Mermaid.

Honest Review

Overall I enjoyed the Lightning Lane Multi Pass for my first time using it, and I would definitely purchase this again for all parks except Magic Kingdom. It is possible that the Magic Kingdom return times may be off a bit with this being a brand-new system.

The only park that I would not purchase Lightning Lane for is Magic Kingdom.

I found the ease of stacking attractions at another park a great option, and this was a HUGE improvement to paying extra for this feature with Disney Genie+.

What do you think of this first review of the Lightning Lane Multi Pass? Will you purchase this for your next Walt Disney World trip? Share your thoughts with us and share this review with your Disney pals.