“It Makes for a Calmer (and Less Tiring) Day!” — The Disney World Lightning Lane Trick That’ll Save You Miles of Walking

Let’s face it, Disney World can be hectic and overwhelming. A lot of times, your vacation feels like anything BUT a vacation. There is so much to learn before you even get to the parks, and once you’re there, you end up walking 10+ miles a day.

One thing that some people find useful during their Disney World trips is the Lightning Lane system. It’s a paid-for skip-the-line system that may save you time waiting in lines. But this system can be one of the most confusing parts of your vacation, which is why we headed to Facebook to ask our readers what their best tips are for using Lightning Lanes. One reader had some GREAT advice!

Here’s a down-and-dirty rundown of the Lightning Lane system, before we dig into the advice. There are three versions of Lightning Lanes: Lightning Lane Multi Pass, Lightning Lane Single Pass, and Lightning Lane Premier Pass. Premier Pass allows you to pay upwards of $400 per park per day to skip the line at every ride that offers Lightning Lane one time without having to make a prior reservation or needing an arrival window.

The Lightning Lane Multi Pass is available at every park and includes several rides at each park. Once you’ve purchased it at one park, you can then park hop and use it at the other parks. You’ll want to make advance reservations for your top priority rides. Disney World hotel and select other hotel guests* can purchase and make 3 Multi Pass selections for rides and arrival windows 7 days from the first day of their trip in advance for the length of their stay (up to 14 days), all other guests can purchase Multi Pass 3 days in advance for the length of their ticket.

Finally, Lightning Lane Single Pass is for select individual rides only. There is at least one ride per park that is considered a Single Pass ride, and these are available for an additional cost. You can also purchase Single Pass rides in advance, up to two per day, with the same 7-day and 3-day windows that apply for Multi Pass.

When you’re purchasing and selecting your Lightning Lanes, you’ll want to heed AE reader Heather’s advice, “Try to be strategic when scheduling! Don’t run from one side of the park and back again 50 times unless absolutely necessary! I’ve managed (multiple times) to schedule my lightning lanes so I can do one trip through the park without backtracking… and then if I want to go back to something a second time, I can. It makes for a calmer (and less tiring) day!”

If you consider that Magic Kingdom is roughly 107 acres big with distances spanning over half a mile from the furthest points, and the other parks are close in size, you can end up doing a lot of extra walking if your Lightning Lanes are on different sides of the park. Heather’s advice is an important tip to consider when you’re trying to book rides and arrival windows. The My Disney Experience app includes a map of the park, so you can jot down the rides you’re looking for in the order they are located within the park.

Having a strategy and game plan prior to making your Lightning Lane selections is a great idea. Of course, it’s not always possible to follow it based on availability, but often times you can get what you’re looking for to some extent. You can begin purchasing and selecting Lightning Lanes at 7 AM ET, 7 days (Disney hotel and select other hotel guests) or 3 days (all other guests)  from the first day of your trip

We know Lightning Lanes and many other aspects of planning a Disney World trip can be confusing. If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!

In the meantime, keep following AllEars for more Disney tips!

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What are your best Lightning Lane tips? Let us know in the comments!

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