Welcome, Carolyn, to planDisney! I'm so excited to help you plan your upcoming trip to the
Walt Disney World Resort! Let's get your
Lightning Lane question answered!
You can purchase Lightning Lanes 7 days before your check-in date for your
Disney Resorts Collection Hotel. As such, you should be able to purchase them 7 days in advance for any theme park day during your stay at one of these hotels, starting with and including your check-in day through your check-out day. You would be eligible to purchase them 3 days before all other theme park days. These passes go on sale at 7 a.m. EST on the day(s) you're eligible.
Now, to be sure of your exact days and times, did you know that you can actually check on the
My Disney Experience mobile app a few weeks ahead of time? Here's what you do:
- Click the three horizontal lines (≡) in the bottom right-hand corner of the app.
- Select the "Lightning Lane Passes" tile.
- Select a product. If you're just checking for dates that you're eligible for, it doesn't matter which product you pick. So for this exercise, you can go ahead and click "Purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass."
- If your dates are selectable on the calendar, select one of them.
- Select a park, either Single Pass or Multi Pass, and click the blue "Continue" button.
- On this screen, you should see yourself (and any Guests attached to you through the My Family & Friends list) and when you'll be eligible to purchase for this particular day.
- Repeat for any other days you're curious about.
Now, if you want to prioritize the newest experiences at the resort, be sure to look into
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin at
Magic Kingdom Park, both of which have undergone big refurbishments recently. Then, you have
Test Track, which reopened last year after a delightful reimagining, and
Frozen Ever After, which upgraded its Audio-Animatronics earlier this year. When it comes to
Disney's Hollywood Studios, be sure to check out
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster featuring The Muppets when it reopens on May 26, 2026, after a totally psychedelic and groovy reimagining. And don't sleep on
Zootopia: Better Zoogether!, which reopened inside the
Tree of Life last year in
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park.
Carolyn, best wishes with scoring the Lightning Lanes of your dreams. If you have any other questions,
I'm here for you!
Make those parks sparkle with a little Muppet-style mayhem,
Matt