Hiya Priscilla,
Thank you so much for stopping by planDisney with your Lightning Lane questions! It sounds like you’re preparing for a magical adventure, and I’m happy to help.
Let’s jump right into it! Think of
Lightning Lane as your personal magic carpet ride — a way to skip the standby lines and wait on a shorter line for select attractions and experiences. It’s important to know that Lightning Lane passes are entirely optional. You don’t have to purchase a Single or Multi-Pass for each guest — it really depends on how your party would like to experience the magic! Lightning Lanes can save time and squeeze even more fun and snacks into your Disney day.
If you do decide to sprinkle a little extra magic and purchase Lightning Lane access, each person who wants to experience the attraction would need their own Lightning Lane selection. Here’s where staying at a
Disney hotel gives you a little extra pixie dust: you can start booking Lightning Lane
passes seven days before your park visit!
Now, how do you decide between a single pass and a multi-pass? Here’s a little example from my family’s adventures: when we visit Hollywood Studios, my husband and daughter always ride
Rise of the Resistance! Since I usually stay back with my youngest, they grab a Single Lightning Lane pass for that one fantastic experience.
But when we head to
Magic Kingdom — where there’s so much to explore from Peter Pan’s Flight to It’s a Small World — we typically go for the Multi-Pass to maximize our magic. With a Multi-Pass, you can choose up to three experiences (and arrival windows) in advance. Once you tap into your first experience, you may even be able to make another selection, subject to availability.
And if you have
Park Hopper tickets? Even better! You can sprinkle the magic across multiple parks in one day. Maybe start your day riding
TRON Lightcycle / Run at Magic Kingdom and end riding the
Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom.
Priscilla, I hope this helped clarify some of your Lightning Lanes questions. If you have any more questions while planning your magical getaway, feel free to visit us again.
See you real soon!
Christina