Hi Beth,
Thanks for visiting planDisney! I am so happy to be your guide in planning your Disneyland trip. You have purchased Lightning Lane for your upcoming visit, so you'll be able to save on your wait time for rides. Like our friend Lightning McQueen, you'll be speeding past the normal queue with your Lightning Lane access. You can check the Disneyland Resort website to see a current list of attractions at
Disneyland and
Disney California Adventure. You'll be saying "Ka-Chow!" in no time!
To get the most out of your Lightning Lane, I recommend arriving at the park as early as possible. The sooner you get into the park, the sooner you can start using your Lightning Lane. You'll need the Disneyland app to book your Lightning Lane reservations, so make sure to
link all your tickets to one account. This way, you can book all your reservations at once (rather than each individual making their own reservations).
Familiarizing yourself with the Disneyland app ahead of time will make booking Lightning Lane on the day of your trip much smoother. To see the reservation times available, launch the Disneyland app on your phone. In the bottom-right corner, you'll see three bars to click on. Then, scroll down to “Today’s Plan” to see the reservations available for that day (they'll be under the Tip Board). I like looking at the Tip Board because you can see all the reservation times in one place.
With Lightning Lane Multi Pass, you can make reservations for one ride at a time. You can book another reservation as soon as you use one or after two hours have passed, whichever comes first. When I used Lightning Lane in the past, I’ve found myself in the following two scenarios:
Scenario A:
It’s 8 a.m. I’ve made a reservation for Space Mountain at 9 a.m. I grab a quick picture in front of the Castle so there are fewer people in the background, then dash over for a ride on the Astro Orbiter. At 9 a.m., I head over to Space Mountain and scan my park ticket to redeem my reservation. After that, I get on the Disneyland app and make my next reservation.
Scenario B:
It’s 8 a.m., and my reservation for Space Mountain is available for 11 a.m., so I grab that time. Since I have more time, I get in line for a high-demand ride like Rise of the Resistance or Peter Pan’s Flight. I try to get on rides like these early while wait times are still low. Many of the rides in Fantasyland do not have Lightning Lane, so I might also spend some time in this area. Then, at 10 a.m., I can open the Disneyland app and make my next reservation because two hours have passed since my last one.
The key to success with Lightning Lane is balancing getting on rides as soon as possible and being efficient with your time between reservations. Remember, if you have a Park Hopper Ticket, you can use your Lightning Lane for both parks.
I hope this information was helpful, Beth. Don’t forget that your Lightning Lane Multi Pass allows unlimited downloads of any photos you take with
Disney PhotoPass. Take at least one photo to have a special memory to look back on. If you have any other questions or need help planning, feel free to write back to me or one of my fellow panelists. We’d be happy to share our thoughts.
Wishing you a magical trip!
-Melinda