We Used the NEW Disney World Lightning Lane System. Here Are 9 Things We Didn’t Expect.

Today has been a HUGE day in Disney World (if you feel like we say that a lot, it’s because WE DO).

The truth is that things are almost always changing in Disney World. Sometimes it’s smaller changes, like a pathway is getting a touchup and isn’t available, and other times it’s like today, where the way to pay to skip the lines in the parks completely changes. We’ve known this change was coming for a little over a month, but today was the day we got to try it out for ourselves for the first time, and let’s just say — we were VERY surprised.

As a quick reminder, Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Lightning Lane Single Pass have taken the place of Disney Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, respectively. This new service allows guests to choose up to 3 attractions to experience at select times (determined before purchase) during their park day, solidifying that they’ll know they’ll be to skip the lines at those attractions. Once one Lightning Lane is used up, another may be booked.

If it sounds similar to FastPass+, that’s because it very much is! Those staying at a Disney World hotel can select their attractions up to 7 days in advance, while all other guests can book up to 3 days in advance.

So how does this new (or, kinda new?) system work in real-time? We tried it out today for the first time and have to admit, some things really surprised us.

1. Character Meet and Greets

First off, there has been some confusion around meet and greets. When we checked the app at midnight, we saw that they were included in Lightning Lane Multi Pass. However, when we went to book our selections at 7AM, we noticed that the character meet and greets were not an option.

We were able to confirm with a Cast Member that you will not be able to book character meet and greets or parades through the new Lightning Lane systems. We spoke with Cast Members at Mickey & Friends in EPCOT and they let us know that the Lightning Lane is still being used for Disability Access Service (DAS).

2. Overlapping Plans

We also noticed some differences in when the app warns you about conflicting plans, as well as when it prevents you from booking overlapping plans. We had reporters making selections for all four parks this morning. One of our reporters did not get any sort of warning about a Lightning Lane conflicting with their dining reservation. The app automatically selected an overlapping time for Living with the Land, and unless you are looking closely at the times you would end up with overlapping plans.

We noticed that it seems like you can book an overlapping Lightning Lane Multi Pass and Single Pass selection, but the app would prevent us from booking overlapping Multi Passes during the initial selection. HOWEVER, when it came to making another Multi Pass selection once in the park, we were able to book overlapping Multi Pass selections. We will continue to test out the ability to book overlapping plans.

3. Glitch Making Selections

We also noticed a glitch when you are making your selections for the day. One of our reporters had chosen all of their selections, however, when they went to continue to the next page, they found out that Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was no longer available. They went back to make another selection, but they didn’t realize that the app also deselected ALL of their other selections.

They selected another Tier 1 attraction and hit continue, to find out that they only had one ride selected. This slowed them down a bit as they had to go back and reselect the Tier 2 options they wanted.

4. You Need to Scan into the Park to Book Another Selection

Alright, this one is kind of a big one. One of our reporters had not scanned into a park yet, let one of their Lightning Lane Multi Passes expire without using it. Even after the selection expired, they were not able to make another selection. They are now holding only two Multi Pass selections yet are unable to make an additional selection. However, we believe this is because they haven’t scanned into the park yet.

Another one of our reporters who had scanned into a park was able to make an additional selection once their previous Lightning Lane Multi Passes had expired. So, they had three expired Lightning Lane Multi Passes and were able to make additional selections.

What we are seeing so far is that once you scan into the park you will be able to reselect a Lightning Lane Multi Pass once a selection has expired, however you won’t be able to make another selection if you have not scanned into the park.

5. Park Hopping

We have seen lots of questions about how park hopping will work with the new system. During your initial selection in advance, you will only be able to make Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections for one park. However, once you scan off your first Lightning Lane Multi Pass you will be able to make your next selection in ANY park (as long as you have park hopper on your tickets).

Even if the Lightning Lane Multi Pass for your first park costs less than the park you are hopping to, you do not need to pay anything additional. For example, one of our reporters is in Disney’s Animal Kingdom which cost $18 today. Once they used their first Multi Pass selection they were able to immediately make a Multi Pass selection in Magic Kingdom for no additional cost. Even though Magic Kingdom cost $29 for Lightning Lane Multi Pass today.

While this is what we were expecting to happen, we are still surprised that you are able to make selections at any of the parks after you have scanned off your first Lightning Lane and you only have to pay for Multi Pass in the park you start in. The prices vary quite a bit between parks.

6. Main Screen “Upcoming Plans” Section

One thing that we are hoping will get updated in the future, is that you can currently only see two selections when you are on the main screen. However, you can have up to five (three Lightning Lane Multi Pass selections and two Lightning Lane Single Pass selections).

You are able to view them all within the “My Day” tab, but we wish you could see them all easily on the main page.

7. Home Screen Glitches

We also experienced some glitches on the home screen of the My Disney Experience app. Sometimes our selections would seemingly disappear from the screen even though we still had them. For example, our reporter had a selection for Pirates of the Caribbean but only Tiana’s Bayou Adventure was showing on the main screen.

Additionally, the app was telling us that we could “check for another available experience now” even though we were not eligible to book any more experiences.

8. Glitch in Issuing Multiple Experiences Pass?

We also had a selection for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at 7:40PM. However, at 12:30PM we received a Multiple Experiences pass for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster stating that the ride was temporarily unavailable during our return time.

The ride was down, and we are thinking it is possible that they know it may be down for the rest of the day. However, we don’t know for sure or if we just received the Multiple Experiences pass in error. It looks like we won’t be able to use the pass until the beginning of our return window at Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster anyway.

9. “Modify” Glitch

We also noticed that sometimes when you hit “Modify” in the My Disney Experience app, it takes you to the confirmation screen for when you got that Lightning Lane instead of the screen to modify it. This glitch will probably be worked out as this is only the first day of the new systems.

We’ll continue to report on this new service and how it’s affecting how guests experience the parks, so stay tuned to AllEars!

Here’s a STEP-BY-STEP guide to booking Lightning Lanes with the new system!

What do you think of this new system? Tell us in the comments!

Comments (1)