4 Charts That Will Change How You Use Lightning Lanes at Disney World

If you’re using Lightning Lanes in Disney World, you need a STRATEGY.

You don’t want to waste your hard-earned money by booking things willy-nilly, so it’s a good idea to go into your park day knowing which rides and attractions to prioritize. Thankfully, we’ve been collecting the data, and we’ve got a foolproof way to plan your Lightning Lanes thanks to these charts!

We’ve been tracking Lightning Lane availability all year, and with that data tracking, we’ve been noting the time of day that each attraction gets booked up completely for the day. The more popular attractions often get fully booked in the morning, while the less popular ones may not fill up until later in the evening. We’ve compiled the list for the entire year so far and put the average times in these charts. Happy planning!

NOTE: These charts and data points do NOT include live-action shows available with Lightning Lane Multi Pass (like Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Festival of the Lion King, etc.). They DO include all rides and the short 10-15 minute theater shows without live performers (like Turtle Talk with Crush, Zootopia: Better Zoogether, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, etc.).

Magic Kingdom

Starting out at Magic Kingdom, the earliest Lightning Lanes (on average) to disappear are Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Peter Pan’s Flight, Jungle Cruise, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Since most of those are Tier 1 Lightning Lane Multi Pass attractions, it makes sense.

Another important thing to note is that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad has been closed most of 2025, and Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin closed partway through the year. Both of those rides will reopen with changes in 2026, so their Lightning Lanes may grow in popularity when that happens.

But based on this data, the best Tier 2 attractions to book with your initial selections would be The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Haunted Mansion. Even though Mickey’s PhilharMagic fills up quicker than some other attractions, we don’t typically recommend it as a Lightning Lane booking because it’s a show with a usually short wait time.

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EPCOT

Heading to EPCOT next, the ones that fill up the quickest on average are Test Track, Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, and Frozen Ever After. Those are the three Tier 1 attractions, so that’s no surprise. Mission: SPACE is the next most popular, but that one doesn’t fill up until the evenings, usually.

We wouldn’t necessarily recommend booking Turtle Talk with Crush since it’s the same situation as Mickey’s PhilharMagic — a show you can easily get into without much wait. But similarly to Magic Kingdom, most of the Tier 2 attractions here start to fill up around 7 PM.

In general, Lightning Lane Multi Pass tends to be less of a necessity at EPCOT, as long as you have a strategy for how to tackle those big three Tier 1 rides. The rest of the attractions in the park usually have manageable wait times later in the day.

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Hollywood Studios

Heading over to Hollywood Studios, the results look VERY different from EPCOT, proving that this park brings a bit more value to your Lightning Lane Multi Pass purchase. Slinky Dog Dash (to no one’s surprise) has the earliest “sell out” time with 8:23 AM. The only other ride that frequently books up in the morning is Toy Story Mania, which is, surprisingly, a Tier 2 attraction.

In the mid-afternoon, Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway often fill up. Oddly enough, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run tends to be available for booking most of the day (it stays available second-longest out of the whole list), yet it’s a Tier 1 attraction. With this data, it’s pretty clear that booking both Smugglers Run and Star Tours doesn’t have to be a high priority.

There are four live entertainment shows in Hollywood Studios not listed in our data that are also available to book through Lightning Lane Multi Pass. Those shows aren’t usually high on our list of recommendations for booking unless you want guaranteed seating or a seat up close in the theater.

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Animal Kingdom

Finally, we’ve got Animal Kingdom, where the clear first choice to book is Na’vi River Journey. This is the one park that doesn’t have a tier system for Lightning Lane Multi Pass, so you’re free to book any three attractions from the list for your initial selections.

Based on the data, it seems that the other two best choices are Zootopia: Better Zoogether (which just opened recently, so that makes sense) and Kali River Rapids. The rest of the Lightning Lane slots tend to fill up around 4 PM each day.

Two things to note at this park are: 1) DINOSAUR is closing in February 2026, so that Lightning Lane will likely become very popular soon, and 2) there are three live entertainment shows here that aren’t included in the data — of those shows, we often recommend booking Festival of the Lion King as a Lightning Lane because that show fills up quickly.

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Hopefully, this data will help you with your Lightning Lane bookings for your upcoming trip! We’ll continue to track these statistics and keep you in the loop with any major changes.