Welcome back to planDisney Aaron! Thanks so much for stopping by with your question. I’m excited to help you understand how to make sure everyone in your party can enjoy the rides they want, skip the ones they don’t so your day runs smoothly and magically!
For
Lightning Lane reservations, not everyone in your party has to ride. You can make a reservation including only the members who will actually be riding. At the Lightning Lane entrance, only those included in the reservation need to scan their MagicBands or tickets; non-riders do not need to scan.
When you’re booking or modifying a Lightning Lane reservation in the app, you have the option to adjust your party. This is done at the moment of booking, and you can select only the members who will be riding. It’s not possible to set this in advance for all future Lightning Lane reservations. You need to make the adjustment each time you book or modify a ride if your party will not be riding together. Importantly, deselecting some members for one ride does not impact future reservations. You can include those members again for subsequent rides without any issue. The app treats each Lightning Lane reservation separately, so the party you select for one ride only applies to that specific ride.
For families with young children or non-riders,
Rider Switch is also a great option. It allows one adult to wait with the non-riding guest while the rest of the party rides. After that group finishes, the waiting adult can ride without having to wait in the main line again. This way, both adults get to experience the attraction without doubling wait times. You can combine Lightning Lane and Rider Switch to make your day smoother. You can book Lightning Lane for the riders first, then use Rider Switch so the adult who waited can ride later. Each Lightning Lane reservation is adjusted per ride, so deselecting non-riders for one attraction doesn’t affect future bookings. You can always include them again for the next ride.
Aaron, I hope this helps you get everything set up for your magical adventure at Walt Disney World Resort! Thank you for visiting planDisney, and have a pixie dusted day!
Kay