Welcome back to planDisney, James. I'm so happy you found your way back to us to ask your question!
If your theme park ticket requires a
Theme Park Reservation, you must secure it before you can purchase
Lightning Lane passes. The exception is for
Annual Passholders visiting on a Good-to-Go Day or entering a park after 2 p.m., when a Theme Park Reservation isn't required (except at
Magic Kingdom Park on Saturdays and Sundays). So, if you have another type of ticket that requires reservations, once you know which park you're going to on which day, make those reservations so that, when your Lightning Lane reservation window opens, you're all set to go at 7 a.m. EST. As a reminder, Guests staying at a
Disney Resorts Collection Hotel can make these reservations 7 days ahead of their check-in date, while all other eligible Guests can do so 3 days before the start of their theme park ticket.
You can actually check to see if you're all set to purchase those passes ahead of time on the
My Disney Experience mobile app. Just open the app, click the three horizontal lines (☰) in the bottom right-hand corner, tap the "Lightning Lane Passes" tile, click the "Purchase Lightning Lane Multi Pass" button, and select the date, the park, and the product you'd like to purchase. Then, select the blue "Continue" button, and it will list anyone connected to you who is eligible and not eligible to purchase for that day. Just note that this can only be done a few weeks ahead of time, as dates become available.
Now, in case you're an
Annual Passholder, I have a warning. Because most days you're eligible to enter the parks after 2 p.m. (except, as I said earlier, Magic Kingdom on weekends), you'll likely be listed as eligible without making Theme Park Reservations. The catch is, unless it's a Good-to-Go Day, when you go to secure your Lightning Lanes, you will only see return times after 2 p.m. Two trips ago, I found this out the hard way when I'd thought I'd secured my reservations, went to purchase Lightning Lane passes, and was incredibly confused as to why I couldn't get any return times before 2 p.m.! So, if you're a Passholder, learn from me and just double-check that you've made those reservations!
James, best wishes for securing the Lightning Lanes of your dreams! If you have any other questions,
just send them to me!
There's a great big beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day,
Matt