There’s ONE Reason This Disney World Hotel Perk May Be Worth It

One of the most popular rides in Disney World is Rise of the Resistance in Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Newer rides, too, have a particular problem in that they only offer virtual queues. TRON Lightcycle / Run offers a virtual queue, but those virtual queues can sometimes go fast, especially when the parks are busy. You can PAY to ride those attractions with the Individual Lightning Lane, but those slots can also go fast. There is one more thing you can do, though, to get a better shot at riding all of those rides.

Note that the Individual Lightning Lane option is a separate service from Genie+. Individual Lighting Lane allows you to pay a certain fee PER ride per person to skip the Lightning Lane and ride it. The price to do this can vary by day, ride, and park. Also, note that you can only purchase a maximum of two of these selections per day.

But there’s one big thing that you need to think about when it comes to getting a pay-per-ride selection for Rise of the Resistance or TRON Lightcycle / Run and that is TIME.

If you’re staying at a Disney World resort, the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotels, or Shades of Green, you can purchase and book your first Individual Lightning Lane starting at 7AM on the morning of your visit. All other visitors can only purchase and book their first Individual Lighting Lane selection once the park opens. That delay of just a few hours might not seem like a big deal, but it can be.

If you’re staying at Disney’s Contemporary Resort, you qualify for this perk

With Rise of the Resistance, you might find that the Individual Lightning Lane will sell out quickly, especially when the parks are particularly busy and during special occasions (like May the 4th). Likewise, really busy days mean that the TRON Lightcycle / Run virtual queue fills up quickly with the Individual Lightning Lane option also selling out quickly.

Here’s what you’ll see if an attraction is sold out of Lighting Lanes ©Disney

But another thing to keep in mind with TRON Lightcycle / Run is that if you want to ride it at night (and most visitors do because it really is better at night), the Individual Lightning Lane option will allow you to select a preferred time you ride it. The earlier you can get that Individual Lighting Lane option, the more likely you can get an Individual Lightning Lane for the time you want (in this case, after sunset).

So if you’re staying at a Disney World hotel (or those other select hotels), you’ll be able to make your pay-per-ride selection at 7AM, giving you an advantage over other Disney World guests who will have to wait until park opening to book their selections. You’ll also have a larger selection of return times to pick from.

This could come in handy for other rides with Individual Lightning Lane, too, if you’re visiting Disney World during a busy time. That includes Flight of Passage in Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in Magic Kingdom. You might also want to consider purchasing an Individual Lightning Lane for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind in EPCOT if it looks like the parks could be crowded.

What does all of this mean? Do you NEED A Disney World hotel reservation to book a pay-per-ride selection for Rise of the Resistance or TRON Lightcycle / Run? Right now, not necessarily, but having one could help. If you aren’t able to book at 7AM, though, you’ll be left with whatever is available once the park opens. This means you may NOT get to ride Rise of the Resistance on a busy day and you may not be able to ride TRON Lightcycle / Run at your preferred time (especially if it’s at night).

If you were planning to park hop later in the day, what you can get may not work with your schedule. Booking earlier gives you the best chance to pick the time you want.

Booking your Individual Lighting Lane earlier also gets you a better chance at getting a time before it sells out. This is especially important if you’re visiting Disney World at a busy time, like during the holidays, on a holiday weekend, or Spring Break.

Just keep in mind that even if the pay-per-ride selections fill up, Rise of the Resistance’s standby queue will still be available. You’ll just have to wait in line to get on the ride, rather than paying to skip the wait. Even if you’re not planning to use pay-per-ride, booking a Disney World hotel could also be helpful to riding Rise of the Resistance as you could hop on the ride during Early Theme Park Entry hours.

However, there is no standby queue for TRON Lightcycle / Run, so you could try for a virtual queue at 7AM or 1PM, but you will not be able to control the time you want to ride it.

As we noted above, having a hotel reservation should give you a bit of an advantage when booking these rides, but don’t delay! You’ll need to make sure you’re on the My Disney Experience app right at 7AM and book that ride FIRST if it’s a must-do for you and your family.

We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more updates about this situation and we’ll let you know what we find. Stay tuned for more.