Hi Nicola!
Welcome to planDisney!
I’m happy to let you know that you will only need to purchase
Lightning Lane services for those in your party who will be going through the Lightning Lanes and are 3 years old or older.
Little ones under 3 can enter the Lightning Lanes of attractions as long as the rest of their party has a Lightning Lane booked. And if you have someone in your party who won’t be riding attractions at all, they definitely won’t need to purchase a Lightning Lane service. You’ll get to pick and choose which members of your travel party you’ll be purchasing the service for as you go through the prompts.
There are a couple of things that I want to go over, though, based on your specific situation.
First up,
Rider Switch. When using Rider Switch, you’ll break up into two groups. If you’re using the service without Lightning Lanes, the first group that will be riding will need to wait in the standby queue. Then, the second group will get to enter the ride through the Lightning Lane.
If you want everyone in your party to be able to enter through the Lightning Lane when using Rider Switch, then everyone riding will need to have a Lightning Lane booked for that attraction.
Next up, the use of
wheelchairs at Disney World. Many of the attractions at the parks accommodate wheelchair users. While wheelchair users are often
required to transfer from the wheelchair to the ride vehicle, there are some attractions that allow them to remain in their wheelchair the whole time.
So, if you think that member of your party might want to join in on the fun of the attractions here and there, they’re more than welcome! In order to enter through the Lightning Lane, though, they will need to have purchased a Lightning Lane service.
I hope that gives you some guidance, so you can get an idea of who will need to be included in Lightning Lane purchases (if you choose to purchase one of the services) and who won’t. If you have any other questions, feel free to come back and visit us!
Jenn J.