Is it worth buying Lightning lanes for a party of 1 if staying for two weeks?

[OP95]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to get some opinions on if it is worth it to purchase the lightning lane for my next trip? I have been solo previously which I purchased the passes but just hated being on my phone all the time As well as the cost adding up slowly for them all. Now that the main rides like Tron and guardians do not need to be purchased is it still worth investing for the time I’ll be there? I’ll be trying to visit every park twice whilst I’m there.


Any advice is appreciated!

 

[CarolynFH]

To me it would depend on how much I liked or disliked standing in lines. My extrovert DH loves striking up conversations with people around us, so he doesn’t mind a long wait. Introverted me, not so much!

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

I think it's worth it, but we go during busiest times due to school break travel. If you are going in a slower time, it might not be worth it. That being said, just my husband and I went in October and I still bought it for us in MK and some ILL's and it was nice to have.

 

[tetera]

.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Is it necessary? No.

But maybe a better approach is a mix. Splurge on a couple days of LL and the rest of the trip old-school style.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

I watched a YouTube video yesterday where a guy was able to get 13 Lightening Lanes as a single rider at MK and he didn’t arrive until 5 pm. That looked worth it to me.

 

[OP95]

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/single-rider-lines-disney-world-tips-tricks/

I never realised there was a singled rider for Everest!

 

[HopperFan]

I like the mix approach but then again the cost for only one person is something I would budget for. I'd just cut back on table service dining if it was going to put a crunch on me.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I watched a YouTube video yesterday where a guy was able to get 13 Lightening Lanes as a single rider at MK and he didn’t arrive until 5 pm. That looked worth it to me.

He had to have been obsessively on his phone and riding a chunk of low level rides with practically no waits.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

He had to have been obsessively on his phone and riding a chunk of low level rides with practically no waits.

It was the guy from the EarScout videos. He had 3 prebooked then was able to add, refresh and modify throughout the evening. I believe he did everything except Barnstormer, Speedway and Magic Carpets.

The point was that refreshing and modifying still works very well with the current system.

 

[loves to dive]

It depends on your goals and if you want to ride all the rides or just the ones you want to ride, if you hoppers, what your tolerance level is for waiting in lines. Personally, I usually go solo for 6 nights, have an AP (but if I don't have an AP I always have hoppers) am not ride centric so don't need to ride every single ride and go at least twice a year up to 4 times a year so if I don't ride something that trip it's no big deal. I would think over the course of two weeks, even if you can't stand to wait longer than half hour and it's not the busiest time of year, you should be able to hit everything you want to without it. If I do early entry I'm usually there within the window and not right at EE, I can't remember the last time I did the late night thing that deluxe resorts can do. I always take a break mid day of at least 2 hours, always use Disney transportation or my own legs if I'm staying at an Epcot resort, and often eat at TS restaurants some meals during the trip. I have never bought any of the extra skip the lines services and ride every ride I want to (note I said I want to, not every single ride there is). I do skip Space Mountain and Star Tours and often skip RNRC cause those hurt me or make me sick. I don't mind standing in line, I have the Kindle app on my phone and just read or people watch. The good thing about going solo is you are on no one's time but your own. What works for me is to hit up one park in the morning and go to a different one in the evening. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Pluto777]

I personally had enough of the money grabs and decided that our family will not pay for any LL's. I also refuse to spend my precious vacation time staring at a phone screen. If the line is too long, we will do something else. I only wish everyone else would stop paying for all these extras - maybe then they would bring back some of the old free perks like fast pass, etc.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I never realised there was a singled rider for Everest!

It isn't always open. It usually saves some time, but as with RnRC, the SR wait is variable.

As to your original question. First, two weeks of being in the park all day would be too much for me. About 7-8 days is my upper limit. After that, the rudeness of other parkgoers starts to get very tiresome, IMO. Like people who mindlessly block the path, drop trash everywhere, cut lines, etc. And the me, me, me! parkgoing attitude that WDW fosters.

So if I was going to be at WDW for two weeks, I don't think I'd hit the parks every day.

I would probably get LLMP some days, but also have some low-key days. It would depend on my budget. I could see not getting it most days.

On my slower-pace days, I'd maybe relax by the pool, have a slow meal, go for a walk outside the parks, ride the shuttle boats, watch the birds, mini-golf, etc. (okay maybe not mii-golf by myself) I might also take the slow approach on some park days, too: instead of focusing on the big rides with lines all day, I'd spend time doing mostly the no-wait shows and attractions, like Country Bears, the musicians in the World Showcase, and the pianist at the Grand Floridian.

(For me, I would also almost certainly get outside the bubble for a bit, at least if I had transportation, even just to get some non-WDW food.)

As a solo guest, you also have the ability to move around the parks a bit faster than you can as a group. Keeping a group together at WDW takes a good bit of time. Little thigns that add up, like regrouping after every ride.