Welcome to planDisney, Jesse! I'm excited to see you're heading to the Most Magical Place on Earth this weekend! Booking
Lightning Lane Passes is a great way to ensure minimal wait times for some of the most popular attractions, so let's dive into the details to make sure you make the most of your day!
Jesse, typically, the return window for a Lightning Lane Pass will allow guests one hour to redeem their pass; however, if you book a Lightning Lane Pass for later in the day, your return window will usually end at the same time that the park closes. For example, with
EPCOT closing at 9 PM this Saturday, when I went through the Lightning Lane booking process, I was able to select a return time that starts at 8:20 PM for an available attraction, but my window for redemption shows 8:20 PM - 9 PM since the park closes at 9 PM that night. In my experience, the Cast Members will sometimes allow guests a grace period of about 5-10 minutes on Lightning Lane Passes, including at park closing, so if you find yourself racing to your last booked attraction, you might still be able to enter the queue if it has not been closed by the Cast Members.
As far as early morning times, the first return window will usually begin right at park opening; if you're taking advantage of
Early Theme Park Entry, this is one of the reasons the lines move so quickly in that first 30 minutes; because no Lightning Lane Passes are intercepting the line, the standby tends to flow faster, allowing guests to experience popular attractions before redemption windows open!
Jesse, I hope this helps! With so much magic waiting for you this weekend, I know you're going to have a magical time! Enjoy every moment, and remember that once you've tapped into an existing Lightning Lane reservation, you can select a new one for an available attraction! It's such a fun way to maximize the magic!
If you have any other questions, come back and see us again real soon here at
planDisney! We're always here to help!
See you real soon,
Alison