Have you done Lightening Lane with a larger group?

[SteveInOmaha]

My wife and I, our 2 sons, and their spouses are going to WDW for 5 days starting January 5. We have one day in each park, and a repeat day at Hollywood Studios. We're staying at Pop Century and plan to take advantage of Early Entry every day. We will splurge for Genie+ every day, and we are not purchasing Individual Lightening Lanes.

Due to budget, we are infrequent visitors, going once every 5 years. This trip is to celebrate me being 5 years cancer-free, going from remission to cured. Because of that, it's really important to me that we do this trip "together" and not have to break the group up.

I was almost frightened by how-to videos on youtube of people constantly on their phones as they arranged their Lightening Lane choices throughout the day. I decided that I would be the one to do all that so my family could enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells as they walked instead of being glued to their screens. Only recently I begrudgingly admitted that we will not be able to do that, since a group of 6 won't get the same Lightening Lane opportunities that 2 smaller groups would. So one son and I will book Lightening Lanes simultaneously during the day.

1) How much of the time could I reasonably expect to get overlapping Lightening Lane times for two groups of 3? Remember I said earlier that splitting up and not doing attractions as one group would be extremely disappointing.

2) I've seen in the videos how to modify a Lightening Lane to get an earlier or a more convenient time. Assuming that our first attempt gets us overlapping times, is it at all possible to modify both those times and still end up with overlapping times?

This is most likely the last trip we'll take as an entire family, so I really want it to be enjoyable. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I would not worry about having 2 of you checking. If you're all connected in MDE, one person can make the LL. Remember, LL assignments are on a 'next time available' criteria. You'll have no trouble getting a time slot for all 6 together. You don't need to make it more complicated than it is! Enjoy your trip, and congratulations!

 

[Minnie1222]

Only recently I begrudgingly admitted that we will not be able to do that, since a group of 6 won't get the same Lightening Lane opportunities that 2 smaller groups would.

I've never heard of this. I know two families just went to Disney in group of 7 and 9 and used Genie+ without an issue.

 

[scrappinginontario]

There is no need to break up your grouo. As long as you are all listed on family and friends, one books for all. In Aug we were a group of 10 and one booked for all without any trouble.

 

[jessicadisneygirl]

Agreed with other posters about keeping your group together for booking LL. We went at a very busy time in June with a group of 12 and I was responsible for booking our LL as one group. We used it to the maximum. We got between 5-7 rides at every park (except AK, we did not use it there). There were immediate return times available for some attractions and we used it for all the headliners.

 

[SteveInOmaha]

I would not worry about having 2 of you checking. If you're all connected in MDE, one person can make the LL. Remember, LL assignments are on a 'next time available' criteria. You'll have no trouble getting a time slot for all 6 together. You don't need to make it more complicated than it is! Enjoy your trip, and congratulations!

Thank you!