Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World might be complicated. There are three separate programs for line-skipping at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Genie+ is gone, as is free FastPass. This information provides a crash course with our greatest ideas & tips that may prevent probably the most time (and cash) when utilizing Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at WDW in 2025.
Let’s begin by straightening issues out. Lightning Lane Multi-Cross (LLMP) is the first line-skipping choice at Walt Disney World. Moreover, there’s Lightning Lane Single Cross (LLSP), which is the a la carte choice that was referred to as Particular person Lightning Lanes. Lastly, there’s Lightning Lane Premier Cross (LLPP), which is the highest tier of line-skipping meant for the highest 1-2% of friends and priced accordingly. Received all of that? Good. If not, see our Information to Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World.
Lightning Lane Multi-Cross is actually the core product. It’s just about paid FastPass+, however minus the marquee attraction in every park (or 2 in Magic Kingdom), which has line-skipping entry bought a la carte by way of LLSP. We’ll solely be specializing in LLMP right here as a result of it’s the one one which’s actually “hackable.” The others are extra easy, so whereas we might supply restricted ideas & tips, they’re principally a matter of purchase them or don’t.
This can be a crash course supposed to make you a Lightning Lane professional, so we’re going to gloss over most fundamentals. It would take studying this a few occasions for every thing to “click on,” however it ought to after this if you have already got a foundational understanding of how line-skipping works at Walt Disney World.
To that time, the primary tip is to achieve some “free” firsthand expertise by taking part in round with the Lightning Lane Multi-Cross function in My Disney Expertise as soon as the window opens in your tickets. You’ll be able to undergo the motions of reserving your first 3 picks earlier than shopping for, which gives worthwhile hands-on experience for understanding the fundamentals. For those who’re a visible learner, spending ~half-hour within the app is the simplest option to get a really feel for LLMP.
With that out of the way in which, let’s dig proper in with important recommendation and ideas & tips for getting probably the most out of Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World…
These Are the Finest Parks for LLMP
Underneath the prior system, one of the best park for buying Lightning Lanes was Magic Kingdom. Our recommendation was to virtually all the time purchase there, and often at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. We really helpful skipping it typically at EPCOT and more often than not at Animal Kingdom.
This kind of stays true, with the largest change that we’ve seen Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom flip-flop in our subject testing. We’ve had one of the best success and saved probably the most time with Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, making that our new #1 for LLMP.
Magic Kingdom is now #2. There are just a few causes for this. First, tiering at Magic Kingdom presents considerably extra friction, as in comparison with what was the “best” park. Second, the unreliability of Tiana’s Bayou Journey (TBA) makes that unpredictable (extra on technique for this particular experience beneath). Even for those who rating a LLMP for TBA, you will not be utilizing it. Lastly, rolling refurbishments of tier 1 points of interest–now with Large Thunder Mountain Railroad closed via 2026–makes the highest tier sparse, and the second tier extra aggressive because of this.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios hasn’t actually gotten higher or worse. It’s the park with the very best common wait occasions, the #1 general Lightning Lane Multi-Cross, and competitors for headliners. Nonetheless, it additionally has simpler availability for (objectively higher) tier two points of interest and experience reservation refills for those who leverage the rolling 3 rule and put slightly elbow grease into your refresh recreation. For these causes, we discover ourselves having one of the best expertise with Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and saving probably the most time.
Park Hopping Saves Cash
There is no such thing as a extra cost for Park Hopping, and you don’t want to pay for the Lightning Lane Multi-Cross a second time. This implies you may pay the bottom worth for Lightning Lane Multi-Cross by beginning at Animal Kingdom, after which Park Hopping to Magic Kingdom (the most costly park). That’s a technique unto itself for saving cash!
It’s not one which I’d essentially advocate, as you’re on the mercy of same-day availability and the luck of experience reservation refills, however it’s not essentially a foul method. That’s doubly true for those who mix all the ideas right here and get good at hacking LLMP.
Regardless, Park Hopping might be the difference-maker for whether or not Lightning Lane Multi-Cross is “price it” at Animal Kingdom or EPCOT. For those who begin out at DAK early within the morning, use LLMP strategically for less than a few key points of interest earlier than beginning to make subsequent picks in one of many different three parks, that may be a game-changer. Though we’re not huge followers of shopping for LLMP at Animal Kingdom or EPCOT, we do like shopping for it at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT (that means a single day for each).
Prioritize Early Return Occasions
When you redeem your first Lightning Lane, you possibly can e book one other. Contemplate this the “rolling 3 rule,” which is to say which you can all the time have 3 Lightning Lane picks (topic to availability). With the rolling 3 rule of Lightning Lane Multi-Cross, you may make your subsequent experience reservation as quickly as you’ve used one.
Furthermore, when you’ve tapped into your first Lightning Lane, tiers not apply for subsequent picks. It thus behooves you to order no less than one Lightning Lane earlier within the day to faucet into that and unlock subsequent picks sooner–and get rid of the tiers for future and present picks.
In observe, this would possibly imply reserving an unpopular Lightning Lane very first thing within the morning with a brief experience length (so that you’re not committing a lot time to it) for those who can’t rating an early preliminary return time for a tier 1 attraction. We name these “burner” Lightning Lanes–rides just like the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Alien Swirling Saucers–or different spinners and flat rides. As quickly as you faucet into one in every of these, you may make one other Lightning Lane choice and modify your different tier 2 decide to improve to tier 1. Once more, all topic to availability.
For this reason you don’t wish to merely prioritize one of the best rides–it is advisable to optimize for top precedence but in addition earlier return occasions. This isn’t to say each choice must be within the morning–that’s additionally a poor method as a result of it’ll prevent the least time. However you don’t need all 3 of your pre-booked Lightning Lanes to be within the afternoon. Stability is the secret!
Prioritize Common Rides
We rank one of the best Lightning Lane Multi-Cross picks for every park based mostly upon time saved and the way shortly return occasions refill and run out. Listed here are complete lists of each main attraction in every park:
With that stated, it’s arguably overkill to fret about each Lightning Lane attraction in mild of the above ‘rule’ about optimizing for return occasions.
The highest tier points of interest it is best to completely e book upfront in the event that they’re choices are Tiana’s Bayou Journey, Peter Pan’s Flight, Remy’s Ratatouille Journey, Frozen Ever After, Slinky Canine Sprint, Na’vi River Journey and Kilimanjaro Safaris (no tiers at Animal Kingdom, however recommendation nonetheless stands).
It doesn’t matter for those who can solely get a 6 pm return time for Slinky Canine Sprint–it is best to completely take that as a result of scoring a refill is unlikely. Simply be sure you have no less than one different Lightning Lane choice earlier than 10 am (ideally) to unlock subsequent picks by way of the rolling 3 rule.
Keep On-Website
Friends staying at an on-site Walt Disney World Resort resort and different choose resorts are in a position to buy Lightning Lane passes as much as 7 days upfront, for his or her whole keep (as much as 14 days). Off-site friends can solely make experience reservations as much as 3 days upfront.
The tip results of this generally is a important on-site benefit, as a number of the “finest” Lightning Lanes will probably be devoured up earlier than off-site friends may even e book. On the very least, optimum return occasions will probably be gone previous to off-site friends having an opportunity to e book. Because of this, you actually ought to contemplate staying on-site.
This shouldn’t be the one cause, in fact, however for those who’re debating between off-site and on-site, it is best to completely ascribe worth to this and different perks, together with however not restricted to Early Entry, WDW transportation, ADR home windows, and so on. From a value calculus, we now discover it troublesome to beat the Worth Resorts. Regardless that their base worth is commonly increased than the most affordable off-site lodging, the worth of the perks and never having to pay for transportation or parking greater than closes the hole. See Off-Website vs. On-Website Motels at Walt Disney World for an goal rundown of professionals & cons.
Ebook Backwards
When pre-booking your Lightning Lanes picks, you achieve this in the future at a time beginning at 7 a.m. on the date that your window opens. You aren’t alone. You’ll be competing in opposition to hundreds of different rabid (not actually…hopefully) planners doing the very same factor.
I’ve been instructed that I’m “too intense,” however I feel it’s all the time useful to view touring Walt Disney World as a aggressive recreation you’re taking part in in opposition to your fellow friends. Like Squid Video games, minus the violence. (Though it doesn’t damage to sharpen your elbows, as our outdated pal easyWDW used to say, earlier than doing the Seven Dwarfs Mine Prepare shuffle!) Or maybe an issue to be solved, for those who’re not the aggressive kind.
In any case, it makes probably the most sense to e book your most troublesome day first and backload the troublesome days on the finish of your journey with Disney’s Hollywood Studios furthest out, then Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Animal Kingdom. This issues much less when you have an extended journey and extra for a shorter one. It additionally issues much less for those who’re visiting throughout low to reasonable crowds, and extra throughout peak weeks.
For instance, if visiting the parks November 24-27, 2025 (Thanksgiving week), e book within the following order:
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Slinky Canine Sprint): November 27
- Magic Kingdom (Tiana’s Bayou Journey): November 26
- EPCOT (Remy’s Ratatouille Journey): November 25
- Animal Kingdom (Na’vi River Journey, Kilimanjaro Safaris & Expedition Everest): November 24
Hopefully Tiana’s Bayou Journey is extra dependable by then, during which case Magic Kingdom would drop beneath EPCOT. Notice that this isn’t a tough and quick rule, particularly throughout Occasion Season. It is best to optimize this with the Finest & Worst Days of the Week in Every Park at Walt Disney World. Selecting the incorrect day to go to every park is manner worse than not backloading your picks when your LLMP window opens.
Fish for MEP
A number of Expertise Passes (MEP) are what you obtain an attraction for which you will have an upcoming experience reservation is experiencing downtime. You’ll obtain a notification a few modification to your plans, together with a proof that the attraction is briefly unavailable or one thing like that.
MEPs can be utilized on the Lightning Lane entrance of your selection all through the day, with a lot of caveats. These floating experience reservations don’t have the restriction of solely being legitimate for every attraction as soon as per day–you need to use MEPs to expertise your favourite rides time and again.
You’ll be able to ‘fish’ for Multi-Expertise Passes by reserving Lightning Lane Multi-Cross upfront for points of interest which can be statistically susceptible to delayed openings. Simpler and higher but, you possibly can usually make day-of picks for points of interest which can be at the moment experiencing downtime. In the event that they’re nonetheless unavailable when your return window rolls round, the LLMP routinely converts to a MEP. It’s principally a bonus Lightning Lane! That is advanced-level technique, so for a extra thorough rationalization, see: Learn how to Beat Lightning Lane Multi-Cross Guidelines & Re-Journey Sights.
Know When to Skip
One of many issues we stress on this website is that it is best to NOT all the time purchase Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Walt Disney World. On the contrary, most individuals ought to skip the line-skipping service no less than a few of the time, at a few of the parks. In Finest Time-Saving Methods for Walt Disney World, we cowl the best approaches to every park, and Lightning Lanes don’t win in no less than 2 of the 4 parks.
The pitfall some individuals make is assuming Lightning Lane Multi-Cross is a ‘golden ticket’ or straightforward option to beat the crowds. Nevertheless it actually isn’t! That may lull planners right into a false sense of safety, to the purpose that they really are worse off as a result of they over relied on LLMP, mistakenly considering it might supply a stress and strategy-free day.
If you would like that, you’re going to should pay $129 to $449 per individual, per day for Lightning Lane Premier Cross. What Lightning Lane Multi-Cross provides stress free is barely 3-4 rides per day. Leveraging LLMP requires a little bit of homework and legwork, therefore the put up. And for those who’re keen to do this, perhaps you’re higher off placing the trouble in direction of Early Entry, rope drop, environment friendly itineraries that decrease strolling, staying late, Prolonged Night Hours, and so on.
Don’t merely succumb to FOMO and purchase Lightning Lane Multi-Cross day-after-day of your journey. For those who’re buying since you’re frightened it’s the one option to assure a great day within the parks, you’re doing it incorrect. It’s solely attainable you’ll find yourself wanting it day-after-day, which is okay! Everyone seems to be completely different! Simply don’t view LLMP because the default, and purchase out of concern of the unknown.
For our half, we seldom buy Lightning Lane Multi-Cross for enjoyable. Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom are the one exceptions (we by no means purchase at EPCOT or Animal Kingdom), and solely occasionally. It helps that crowds are trending down, and likewise that standby traces are transferring quicker and wait occasions are down at Walt Disney World because of this. That’s simply us, although, and our circumstances are distinctive in that we’re frequent guests.
It’s essential you assess your personal distinctive circumstances to find out when and the place Lightning Lane Multi-Cross is best for you. Components to think about are your finances, what number of days you will have within the parks, whether or not you’re staying on-site, for those who’re an early riser or night time owl, whether or not you’ve been earlier than or it’s your first go to, tolerance for traces, and if there are must-do points of interest for you. For a deeper dive and extra complete recommendation, see When You Ought to Skip Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Walt Disney World.
Search for TBA Refills
Tiana’s Bayou Journey remains to be struggling reliability woes and downtime because of this. Some days, it’s down for a number of hours; different days, none in any respect. It’s unpredictable. It’s additionally the most recent attraction at Walt Disney World, and something new is in increased demand. Because of these two components, Tiana’s Bayou Journey is among the most troublesome Lightning Lane Multi Passes, proper up there with Slinky Canine Sprint.
Tiana’s Bayou Journey is usually operating out of Lightning Lane Multi Cross reservations earlier than the 7-day mark. (This varies based mostly on climate–it’s a lot simpler when every day excessive temperatures are 60 levels!) There have been occasions after I’ve had bother reserving it over 10 days out, with restricted return occasions that didn’t work for my schedule.
With that stated, same-day experience reservation refills for Tiana’s Bayou Journey generally is a completely different story. Resulting from its unpredictability and issues, Disney is clearly setting apart most Lightning Lanes for Tiana’s Bayou Journey and releasing them day-of based mostly on uptime and downtime.
Which means that on days when the attraction is working effectively and doesn’t have downtime, there are Lightning Lane drops for Tiana’s Bayou Journey which can be occurring with almost-immediate return occasions. A few of these cases when there was nothing on the 7-day mark, I’ve been in a position to rating same-day availability for return occasions ~half-hour into the longer term.
The issue is that that is dependent upon Tiana’s Bayou Journey not breaking down. If it’s having a tough day, there may not be any experience reservation refills for TBA. Suffice to say, there’s a number of luck concerned, however for those who’re visiting on the correct day, it is best to actually maintain a detailed eye out for near-instant return occasions for Tiana’s Bayou Journey. It’s probably the most hit and miss excessive profile attraction for Lightning Lanes.
Have a Sturdy Refresh Recreation
As you’ve in all probability gathered from all the above, extra attraction availability is added to Lightning Lane Multi-Cross all through the day. That is no shock in any respect, as each FastPass+ and Genie+ had experience reservation refills, drops, pop-up availability or no matter you wish to name it. This happens each pursuant to a reasonably constant schedule, and likewise at random. (See Journey Reservation Refill Guidelines at Walt Disney World.)
Taking part in the refresh recreation is much and away the #1 tip & trick for Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Walt Disney World. For those who’re merely settling for no matter you see instantly, you’re doing it incorrect. That’s a recipe for disappointment and solely getting 3-4 “good” Lightning Lanes per day.
Past this being the #1 tip, taking part in the refresh recreation additionally combines a number of of the above methods. It’s why you wish to steadiness one of the best Lightning Lanes with earlier return occasions, as which means extra time to play the refresh recreation, thereby enhancing your odds of success.
Combining this with the rolling 3 rule, what it is best to do is instantly select one of the best obtainable choice after you’ve tapped into Lightning Lane to unlock your subsequent choice. At all times e book one thing–don’t refresh and look ahead to the “excellent” Lightning Lane. Reserving one other experience reservation is actually a hedge. The chicken in hand, and so forth.
From there, play the refresh recreation by modifying to one thing higher. Commerce up, so to talk. It’s a great way to hedge your bets. Simply be warned: it turns into addictive–similar to a online game. Additionally like a recreation, it might probably imply dropping a ton of ‘actual world’ time as your face is glued to a display screen.
My tried and true Lightning Lane refresh technique is tapping in, reserving one of the best obtainable choice, and modifying. There are just a few approaches for refreshing from right here, however I favor toggling the “shut” dropdown on the modify display screen to refresh occasions. Evaluate 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 probably the most environment friendly option to play the refresh recreation. YMMV.
Once more, this will develop into addictive and you’ll waste a number of time taking part in the refresh recreation–therefore so many Walt Disney World followers complaining about Lightning Lanes “requiring” you to have your face glued to the cellphone. My tough “rule” for taking part in the refresh recreation is limiting it to my time within the Lightning Lane return line after tapping in. This implies I’ve wherever from 2 minutes to 10 minutes–all of it relies on whether or not there are two faucet factors, the place merge happens, and so on. Similar goes for any time I’m ready–to choose up a Cellular Order, for espresso, the remainder of my celebration to get out of the restroom, and so on.
Frankly, you’ll be shocked at simply how a lot buying and selling up is feasible with just some minutes right here and there spent refreshing. Even for those who don’t get one of the best picks when pre-booking, you possibly can often overcome that by taking part in the Lightning Lane refresh recreation for a couple of minutes right here and there. With that and the remainder of the following pointers, you actually ought to have the ability to get probably the most mileage out of Lightning Lane Multi-Cross at Walt Disney World!
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Find out about resorts on our Walt Disney World Motels Opinions web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Opinions. To save cash on tickets or decide which sort to purchase, learn our Ideas for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets put up. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys put up takes a singular have a look at intelligent gadgets to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Journey Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, one of the best place to start out is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for every thing it is advisable to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What are your finest ideas & tips for leveraging LLMP at WDW? Do you steadiness return occasions with experience priorities when making Lightning Lane Multi Cross picks? Any guidelines of thumb when taking part in the Lightning Lane refresh recreation? Do you agree with our evaluation that getting earlier return occasions issues lots for the ‘rolling 3’ rule? The place/when do you purchase LLMP or skip it? Any questions we might help you reply? Listening to your suggestions–even once you disagree with us–is each attention-grabbing to us and useful to different readers, so please share your ideas beneath within the feedback!
