Competitors for Lightning Lanes may be fierce in increased crowds attributable to extra company shopping for Multi-Cross line-skipping. Regardless of surge pricing that may trigger the paid FastPass service to value round $40 on busy days, demand is highest when attendance and wait occasions are at their worst. (Up to date February 23, 2025.)
Accordingly, you want superior technique to attain essentially the most journey reservations, particularly through the busiest dates when Lightning Lane Multi-Cross is most costly and features are longest. Sadly for energy customers, a lot of the next-level hacks that have been exploited beneath Genie+ are all gone beneath LLMP. There’s no 120 minute rule, stacking is not a factor, and pace technique doesn’t matter as a lot.
Happily, there are new methods to squeeze essentially the most out of Multi-Cross, which we clarify in our High 10 Suggestions & Tips for Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World in 2025. That’s a crash course in turning you right into a Lightning Lanes energy person, and we’d extremely advocate it for all of the ins and outs. Of these methods, there’s a cause why “Have a Robust Refresh Sport” is way and away the #1 tip & trick for Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Walt Disney World. This put up is meant to do a deeper dive, explaining why that issues and the way it works.
None of that is defined by Walt Disney World on its official websites, and possibly for good cause–the following pointers may be complicated and overwhelming. Nonetheless, when you take ~half-hour to be taught these ins and outs, you received’t simply be above common–you’ll be a prime 5% Lightning Lane Multi-Cross energy person.
Earlier than we dig into the main points, a few warnings are so as. First, that is complicated or intimidating at first. When you can comprehend the contours by studying, you really want to be taught this one by doing. The under rationalization will make an entire lot extra sense when you truly begin utilizing Lightning Lane Multi Cross.
Even when you go away this put up extra confused than if you began, that’ll shortly change when you begin truly taking part in the refresh recreation. The educational curve is steep within the summary, however not in observe.
Second, it will completely enhance your display time. I do know that’s a serious concern with a whole lot of Walt Disney World trip planners, and a few of our different recommendation avoids being glued to your telephone. This doesn’t. Enjoying the refresh recreation is addictive, and you can spend hours of your day making an attempt to commerce up your Lightning Lane choices and return occasions.
Due to that, we extremely advocate setting some floor guidelines. Mine is that I solely play the refresh recreation within the Lightning Lane return line after tapping in. This implies I’ve anyplace from 2 minutes to 10 minutes–all of it will depend on whether or not there are two faucet factors, the place merge happens, and so on. I’ll additionally search for journey reservation refills any time I’m ready–to choose up a Cellular Order, the remainder of my get together to get out of the restroom, and so on.
Whereas this does require extra display time, it doesn’t must require hours of display time. On the contrary, I view taking part in the refresh recreation as being addictive in a foul means. Looking for 5-10 minutes per attraction is an efficient use of time, and can normally work out to your benefit. Something greater than that and also you shortly begin hitting the purpose of diminishing returns.
With these warnings out of the best way, let’s get all the way down to brass tacks and focus on what the heck journey reservation refill guidelines even are. And for that, we rewind to March 2020, within the halcyon days of FastPass+ at Walt Disney World…
There’s a cause we’re calling this “journey reservation refill guidelines,” and it’s not simply because I’m a sucker for a superb alliteration. It’s as a result of that is nothing new, and was one thing Walt Disney World had been fine-tuning within the remaining days of FastPass+. I don’t bear in mind exactly after they began, but it surely grew to become a extra pronounced observe in 2019. (Or so it appeared to me.)
Walt Disney World would add same-day FastPass+ journey reservations for headliner sights “at random” all through the day. Besides it wasn’t actually at random, it was based mostly on a set schedule. The entire goal of this was to throw a bone to company who didn’t notice journey reservations have been booked 30/60 days upfront, and confirmed up on the parks with nothing in hand.
Primarily, it was an try and treatment visitor complaints about FastPass+ from first-timers. Besides, like all issues, the predictable course of was reverse-engineered and it was higher exploited by the savviest planners than ill-prepared newbies.
Virtually an identical journey reservation refill guidelines have been constructed into the Lightning Lanes for the very same causes. That features the now-defunct Genie+ system. For those who already performed the refresh recreation with that, you already understand how this works–the mechanics have modified barely, however the concept is identical.
Transferring ahead, right here’s the whole lot else it’s good to learn about journey reservation refill guidelines beneath Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Walt Disney World…
Refills vs. Cancellations
It ought to go with out saying, however these should not the identical. If one get together cancels a journey reservation, that single reservation returns to the system together with its precise time slot. There are a whole lot of company all utilizing Lightning Lane Multi-Cross on the identical time.
Let’s say that 9 totally different events all see and try and e-book one reservation for Slinky Canine Sprint. Clearly, just one can–and that occurs in milliseconds, earlier than Disney’s programs can mirror that it’s gone to everybody else. Making issues worse, all can provoke the reserving course of and it’ll disappear out from beneath 8 of you.
Cancellations can turn out to be simpler to establish over time as a result of they are going to be for some random time. As soon as that’s booked, the return time clock jumps again to wherever it was in its cycle earlier than (or goes unavailable, because the case could also be). In contrast, reservation refills restart the clock and advance incrementally over the course of some minutes (typically much less, typically extra) earlier than reserving up.
Celebration Dimension Does Not Matter
That is actually solely a tangential level, but it surely’s one thing that comes up loads, and pertains to the primary level of confusion. For those who see a cancellation, however are one of many disillusioned events that have been too sluggish to e-book it, there is perhaps the belief that it’s as a result of your get together was too giant.
Honestly, I don’t know whether or not that’s the case with cancellations–if it exhibits for everybody regardless of not being a match. Nothing would shock me, however I do know that at the same time as a celebration of 1, I’m routinely have the cancelled reservation rug pulled out from beneath me.
What I additionally know is that get together dimension doesn’t matter with journey reservation refills. Lightning Lanes should not like Advance Eating Reservations–Walt Disney World isn’t making an attempt to match attraction car seating with hourly capability. That’s not even remotely doable. It’s a pure numbers recreation: X variety of journey reservations are launched, and that quantity may be booked in any permutation doable.
Refilled Experience Roster
Listed below are the sights that we’ve seen get reservation refills at one level or one other:
- Magic Kingdom: Tiana’s Bayou Journey (far and away the most typical as of 2025), Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan’s Flight, Pirates of the Caribbean, Seven Dwarfs Mine Practice, House Mountain
- EPCOT: Frozen Ever After, Remy’s Ratatouille Journey, Soarin’ Across the World
- Hollywood Studios: Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, Slinky Canine Sprint, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance, Toy Story Mania, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Animal Kingdom: Avatar Flight of Passage, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Na’vi River Journey
Observe that a few of these are Lightning Lane Single Cross sights.
Do These Experience Reservation Refills At all times Occur?
Nope. Some sights have their Lightning Lane availability replenished regularly, others occur on uncommon event, and most are someplace in between the 2 extremes. I may share a bunch of refill occasions right here immediately, they usually might be unsuitable tomorrow, subsequent week or month.
Probably the most illustrative instance is Tiana’s Bayou Journey. It makes use of journey reservation refills way more regularly than different sights attributable to its unreliability. If it’s having a “dangerous” day, refills shall be sparse or nonexistent. If it’s having a “good” day, chances are you’ll recurrently discover same-day Lightning Lane drops which are solely 10 to half-hour out.
Much less excessive examples happen with most different sights when attendance isn’t as heavy as inside forecasts projected. If Walt Disney World anticipated 50,000 company, however there solely 40,000 company confirmed up, that’s a fairly large miss on the projection. This opens up the door for extra journey reservation refills, as Disney load balances between the Lightning Lanes and standby strains.
When Are Lightning Lane Experience Reservation Refill Instances?
I need to stress that there aren’t any ensures.
Furthermore, I don’t have the extent of firsthand testing expertise obligatory to identify patterns. There was a time after I was shopping for and utilizing Lightning Lanes at the very least as soon as per week at Walt Disney World, as we labored to place collectively our sources. Nonetheless, because the paid FastPass service has turn out to be extra steady, the necessity for additional testing has decreased. And we’d slightly not waste cash, so we’ve slowed that all the way down to about as soon as per 30 days, or each time issues change. (For instance, Tiana’s Bayou Journey and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind switching to standby–that doesn’t pertain on to LLMP, but it surely has second-order results.)
The excellent news is that the parents over at Thrill-Information observe what they name Lightning Lane “popup releases” (identical kinda factor, totally different title). The record of sights seems incomplete to me, but it surely ought to provide you with an concept of when to anticipate journey reservation refills or popup releases.
It’s value stating that their information is automated–which means an precise human isn’t reviewing the app and making notes of what’s being refilled. Which means they’ll–and do–miss refills that seem and vanish shortly. It’s additionally value stating that refills are largely same-day beneath Lightning Lane Multi-Cross, however I’ve additionally seen them through the preliminary pre-arrival choice course of. So when you don’t extra display time earlier than leaving dwelling, you may give this a attempt then, too.
What’s the Greatest Method to Snagging Refills?
It’s best to instantly select one of the best out there possibility after you’ve tapped into Lightning Lane to unlock your subsequent choice (benefiting from the “rolling 3 rule,” a associated idea, is vital to getting essentially the most mileage out of LLMP). At all times e-book one thing–don’t refresh and anticipate the “good” Lightning Lane. Reserving one other journey reservation is actually a hedge.
From there, play the refresh recreation by trying to find one thing higher. My tried and true Lightning Lane refresh technique is tapping in, reserving one of the best out there possibility, after which modifying. Though the above record of journey reservation refill sights may be useful, I suppose, I’ve discovered the precise record of sights to be longer–and drop occasions extra scattershot–in my testing of LLMP. Mainly, I’m spamming the modify button.
There are a number of approaches for refreshing from right here, however I favor toggling the “shut” dropdown on the modify display to refresh occasions. I do that repeatedly each few seconds throughout that 5 minute clock (see the highest of the screenshots). About 75% of the time, I’ll discover one thing higher inside that span of time.
Examine the left and proper, the latter of which exhibits pop-up availability for 4:25 pm that wasn’t there 2 minutes earlier. In my expertise, toggling this “shut” dropdown is essentially the most environment friendly option to play the refresh recreation.
Lastly, we need to underscore but once more that Lightning Lanes should not the end-all, be-all of park touring technique. Our Greatest Time-Saving Technique at Walt Disney World covers one of the best and worst methods to beat the crowds proper now and Lightning Lanes are not one of the best (and positively not the simplest) means in 2 of the 4 parks.
The one parks the place Lightning Lane Multi-Cross works higher than all different methods are Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom. In every single place else, there are superior methods for saving time ready in line. In any respect 4 parks, there are different approaches that work nicely sufficient, don’t value cash, require as a lot backtracking, and don’t contain display time.
The underside line is that you can ignore Lightning Lanes fully–faux they don’t even exist–and nonetheless have a implausible journey. Don’t let FOMO get one of the best of you–shopping for Lightning Lanes isn’t a “want” and there are many different methods to beat the crowds. For those who’re overwhelmed by Lightning Lane Multi Cross, the aforementioned put up is essentially the most succinct useful resource for present technique.
In the end, this is perhaps complicated or irritating, but it surely’s vital to do not forget that that is basically a “loophole” and Disney itself doesn’t publish something about journey reservation refills for a cause. This isn’t meant to be frequent data–they’re purported to be a ‘reduction valve’ of kinds for company who don’t know all the ins and outs, and are simply randomly in search of availability.
Whereas the bottom coated right here is nice data to have, on the finish of the day all you actually have to know is that spamming the modify button might help you commerce up sights and return occasions because of journey reservation refills. (There’s a cause why our High 10 Suggestions & Tips for Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World in 2025 is way more succinct!)
The underside line is that a lot data will assist you to make higher decisions and get extra mileage from Multi-Cross. To cite the good Indiana Jones (Journey): “Actual Rewards Await These Who Select Correctly.” For the whole lot else it’s good to learn about LLMP, see our Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study accommodations on our Walt Disney World Resorts Opinions web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Opinions. To economize on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a singular take a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Experience Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to begin is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for the whole lot it’s good to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do these journey reservation refill guidelines make sense to you or is it too overwhelming? Will you employ this technique for scoring Lightning Lane choices? Have you ever had success in getting Slinky Canine Sprint throughout one in every of these refills? What about headliners in different parks? Ideas on leveraging journey reservation refills versus different technique? Do you agree or disagree with my evaluation? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even if you disagree with us–is each fascinating to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas under within the feedback!
