Welcome to planDisney, Bri.
You've asked a great question.
You do
not need to be inside the theme park in order to purchase an
Individual Lightning Lane. If you're staying at a
Disney Resorts Collection hotel, you can make your purchase from 7:00 AM on the day of your visit. However, if you're staying off-site, you can make your purchase as soon as the theme park opens. So let's say you wanted to visit
Magic Kingdom Park one morning, however, you wanted to ride
Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at
EPCOT later that day. You could enjoy your morning at Magic Kingdom Park and use the My Disney Experience Mobile App to purchase an Individual Lighting Lane for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind. Just make sure that your ticket has the
Park Hopper Option.
Bri, like you, I am really excited about the opening of
TRON Lightcycle/ Run. When I heard the news earlier this week I jumped for joy! I'm sure this attraction is going to be worth the wait. If it's half as good as it looks then we're in for a treat. However, I noticed that your arrival date is February 1. Unfortunately, TRON Lightcycle/ Run doesn't open until April 4. Oh, bother! Hopefully, that just means that you'll have to come back again to "enter the grid." There are still plenty of other magical things to experience and enjoy during your trip.
Thanks so much for stopping by planDisney!
Mike